I just moved into my new place last night and by the time all things were done it was past 11 p.m. Suddenly I realized I did not have any milk, bread and my bag of potato chips. Yes, this my diet, just underlines the horrors of living alone. (Hint: Women, I am single and almost entirely eligible). All stores are closed obviously. But I realize there is a 24 hr Pathmark nearby. So I hop into my car and drive straight to it. After doing my shopping, I arrive at the checkout and what do I see, all counters have been abandoned. I get a little scare thinking even the doors might be locked and I have to spend the night in the supermarket but then it is open 24 hrs isn't it?.

Then an attendant comes out of nowhere to my rescue and says "Sir, you will have to use the self checkout scanner"
'But, I haven't used one before," I say looking at the short man with distrust.
'It is easy, just follow the instructions'

So I go and as soon as I am within 2 feet of it, a sprightly voice surprises me definitely not one you expect to hear at almost midnight.
'Welcome, to the Pathmark self checkout.' the voice from the machine says. From the sound of it, I think it belongs to a young lady, a beautiful one at that(Hint: the sort of woman I am looking for) ). 'Place item with bar code on scanner' the voice continues
I did what she or rather "it" told me to do and whoa one by one everything was scanned. 'That was quick' I thought. I was half hoping to have a bar code inscribed on me so that even I would be priced which would be pretty cheap going by the rate at which I am going in the marriage market. (Hint: Yes, I am sounding desperate for a wife I know).

Oh yeah so where was I , yes self checkout is pretty neat. I will try that again next time. Oh the wonders of automation. I wish some automated machine would also choose my spouse for me according to set criteria. Do I need a self-checkout then?(Hint: how many hints you need you dumb females?)

27th March 1994, Eden Park Auckland, New Zealand vs India. NZ wins the toss and decide to bat. With some brilliant team bowling effort, New Zealand get bundled out for a paltry 142. In the absence of Navjot Sidhu, captain Azhar decides to send a 20 year old boy to open. I get a shock suddenly, not from seeing the dimunitive batsman but from my elder sister who starts screaming madly
'Its him, its him,' she yells jumping up and down in front of the TV.
'So?' I said. 'He has never opened, wonder what he'll do now'
'Just shut up okay. he is the best.' my sister said who has as much idea about cricket as my mother has about computers. Both just stare emptily at the screen and get excited by any sort of movement on it.
So I did just that, started to watch the match in silence and expected the boy-man to get out anytime to the likes of Danny Morrison and Chris Pringle, probably bounced out or to some swinging delivery since he was not a natural opener. I was always repelled by the fact that why is this young fella being given so much attention, labelled "wonder boy", touted to be a legend even before he has earned his stripes to become a good batsman. Admitedly I had not seen too much cricket myself to be convinced of the little man's ability so I had my doubts.

82 runs and 49 balls later, all those doubts were not only laid to rest but were ground to dust as the legend they called Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar decimated the kiwi bowlers as if they were chickens in a butchery with shots so breathtaking that only a genius could have executed them. And mind you this was before the Jayasuriya days. It was an audacious assault from this rough untested diamond. I was a convert and have followed almost each and every innings of his till date. (My sister did lose interest in the game and fell from grace and started worshipping SRK :))

All that and more came flooding back yesterday when the Little Master played one more knock of calculated and ruthless proportions to register a magnificent 163 at Christchurch almost 15 years to the day he had announced his arrival. If only for stomach cramps, he would have perhaps become the first man to make a double hundred in one dayers.

He was a wonder boy then but is the Master now. Hope he never retires. :)

I was listening to the FM and the presenter had invited Kapil Dev over for his comment on the Lahore attacks. And Kapil paaji was in ever so anti BCCI mode again. But his comment on the Lahore incident took the cake. This is what he had to say

'We have to find some solution to this situation and find the good things in Pakistan and uplift them for all to see'

For all the sympathy I have for Pakistani cricket but this was a joke. As if he was interested in the upliftment of the masses in the first place. Talk about vested interests. Apparently ICL has more viewers in Pak than India and perhaps that reminded Kapil Dev that uplifting bank balances would be a better idea. We'll see Paki cricket later (if and when that happens now)

Its barely been a week since the Mumbai police filed a chargesheet against Kasab and other perpetrators behind the November 26 attacks, the terrorists are at it again. This time they targeted my favorite game. It was past midnight here and I was watching Sehwag going hammer and tongs against the Kiwis, when the news filtered in that the Sri Lankan team had been attacked in Lahore. It was shocking and I did not feel like watching the game anymore. All those thoughts about sportsmen will not be attacked seemed hollow and baseless as the Indian government's claims on providing security to our major cities.

NDTV went as far to report that perhaps this attack was meant to be for the Indian team who were scheduled to tour but fortunately canceled it. This was frightening itself and I am just shuddering at the thought of what if the Indian players were on that bus. Just imagine a bruise to SRT(revered as God by certain people) would have perhaps brought out unequivocal cries of war with our neighbors.

Just wishing a speedy recovery to all Sri Lankan players and officials affected by this cowardly act . I leave you with this excellent article on rediff - http://in.rediff.com/cricket/2009/mar/03prem-panicker-sri-lanka-team-attacked-in-pakistan.htm

As I type this, I read that the IPL is in doubt as well. Damn!!