Already missing you Ron.....

Well, the dust has finally settled over the most-hyped transfer saga in world soccer in the last decade, arguably ever. Cristiano Ronaldo has finally found his peace-haven with the most decorated club in world club history. The season-opener for the English Premier league, the Community Shield has been played out between Manchester United & Chelsea, and the latter has won it through penalties. But all that is irrelevant, as the shield is hardly taken seriously by any manager in England, other than being a final proof-sheet of their respective squads' preparation. But what is significant and is worthy of a post-mortem is United's performance without the presence of perhaps the greatest player on earth right now. United midfield and wing was hardly functional other than Nani's occasional bursts down the left. There was a huge void in the team sheet and on the field. No sudden bursts of speed to mesmerise the defenders, no trickeries and stepovers to flaunt, no audacious attempts from absolutely anywhere in the field. And mark my words, no matter how much Fergie tries to project Antonio Valencia as the able replacement on the wings, he's just not in the same league as Ronaldo. He's hardworking, enterprising,yes and might even prove to be a great buy for Fergie, but he can't just fill in the shoes. He shouldn't even try to.
Which brings us to the probable performance of Manchester United in the forthcoming season. Needless to say, Sir Alex Ferguson has time and again proved that he is the ultimate genius in building a winning squad, even with supposedly unknowns. Manchester United won without Beckham, without Nistelrooy, without Keane, without Cantona; so there's not even an iota of a doubt that Fergie will again inspire them in the foreseeable future. But we, the die-hard fans of Manchester United and the neutrals around the world, will no doubt miss our favourite hero; his arrogance, his wizardry, his petulance, his genius.....his overall impact on the game; that even Fergie can't possibly dream to replace, unless he can lay his hands on another gem from relatively unknown hemisphere, like he did some seven years ago, in the bylanes of Madeira, bringing a precocious unpolished gem to the Theatre of Dreams, and turning him into the Kohinoor of world football. But as even the naivest of football fans know that gems aren't discovered everyday, they come once in a decade or maybe in a life time. So we should just be grateful for the fact that the World's greatest footballer graced Old Trafford, played for our favourite Club,and privileged us with his artistry over the last 7 years. So long Ron, but we will definitely miss you....there will never be another of you in Old Trafford, not at least in our lifetime.

Give me my golden days back !!!!

Phew!!!! A lot of venom I had spewed in my last blog, mainly because I was hurt, sorry and disgruntled at the state of affairs in my own state, the place where I was born, brought up and which gave me an identity, of being a Bengali, a proud one at that. Don’t get ideas that I’m promoting regionalism, but one does develop a deep and distinct relationship with his/her mother tongue; no matter how many more dialects he/she can speak fluently. We all are deeply attached to our roots, roots that lie in that cemented courtyard of our homes, that small square patch of grass in the locality, which we proudly used to pass off as a field and brag to other neighbourhood kids about it size, how cricket balls would be lost in the bushes adjoining to it if one hit them far, etc; those snacks stalls in the local market serving up delectable items; which today we wouldn’t dare touch in fear of gaining untimely kilos; then nobody thought of those, as all the fat we would accumulate over one feast, more than that would be melted off in a frenetic game of football the next evening, ending only because of sunset (and not at sunset). Evenings and nights would be spent only planning strategically about how to gain revenge for the days adverse result in the next evening’s game; at the end of it all though, everyone would be bosom buddies once again. I am quite sure that everyone has a secret wish deep within; of developing a power to roll back all those years, just to become child once again. Herein lies the dilemma and contradiction of human psyche; all through our childhood we wish to grow up overnight, just to skip the parental disciplining, to teach the neighbourhood bullies a lesson, to be able to marry that cute looking girl staying two blocks away that one developed a crush on; and now when we have indeed done that, some maturing beyond years, we all want that elusive childhood back. We thus continue to live in a contradiction all through our lives, unable to decide for ourselves what we actually want; continue to live constantly in a state of denial of who we want to be and who we are; trying to act happy and content; but the tragedy lies in the fact that none of us are who we wanted to be in our childhood. That is the only honest and spotless dream we used to nurture, because it was not tainted with the smell of money, not breached by the hunger of power, of trying to dominate others, not fuelled by insecurity or pumped by jealousy.

Of course we cannot roll back the years, but we can still push that little dream of ours off its slumber, and make it walk towards the destination it deserves; because now most of us are not bound down by those fetters which themselves produced the dreams; now we are free to chase them in whichsoever manner we like, as long as we follow them honestly. But then having a re-think, do we really want to achieve those now? Isn't the lure of money strong enough to pull us away from emotional burdens, to take that hard step towards realistic, practical world, which has no place for dreams which can be only termed now as foolish and immature? I leave it upto you to decide.

The anarchy that is West Bengal...

It’s been a really long time since something worthwhile has caught my imagination, which explains part of my forced absence from the blog scene. The other part however and obviously has been my self-imposed laziness; which I have nurtured and fed devoutly for so long, that it tends to devour a sizable portion of my life, simply through sleeping and long periods of inactivity. However, there have been things going around me and everyone else’s life, and quite tumultuous and disturbing, at those. Such happenings finally shook me out of my slumber and forced me to share some thoughts with everyone, thoughts which are simmering beneath the surface, at our disillusionment, at our apathy, at our ineptitude, at our acceptance of the shameful incidents as inevitability….
Where do I start? At the disgustful dance of the anti-democratic forces in West Bengal, all in the name of “aandolon” (revolution)? Or at the ongoing farce in the name of trial, for an event which shook the world, but didn’t do so much so as move us an inch out of our comfort zone, the 26/11? Or shall I spell out the shock, disgust and (daresay) shameful truth of the rape and murder of two innocent Kashmiri women in Shopian, allegedly by Indian security forces; an incident which only came to my notice after the highly dramatized event of an opposition leader in Kashmir Assembly daring to throw a microphone at the deputy speaker, all in the name of protest? The truth is that the list will never end, but will always find a new seed to germinate elsewhere.
We Indians love the drama, to hold the centre stage, without actually doing anything worthwhile; that iota of spotlight sprinkled on us on a random day, is enough for us to last a generation, to brag to our children and grandchildren. That is why we see our beloved Mamata “Didi” to sit in a ‘dharna’ and hold rallies in the midst of the busiest metropolitan city junction, causing citizens paramount inconvenience, throwing the traffic system of a dismally-administered city, completely out of gear; all apparently for those people’s cause whom she herself is causing irreparable damage. The government and ruling party of West Bengal is a disgrace, make no mistake about it; major parts of the state still hasn’t seen the light of development, corruption is just an addition to the babus’ nameplates, unemployment level is shooting through the roof, inflation is making it impossible for the general public to reach adequate morsels of food to their stomachs, the state capital and one of the nation’s major metropolitan is lurching in anarchy, ill-management and utter chaos; all this while the ministers and white-collared educated fools fill their pockets and gleefully watch the state go to the dogs; but the party trying to projecting itself as a glorious alternative in the nearby legislative elections in 2011 is in fact a rudderless ship and a political disgrace, simply because the woman at the helm is a highly confused, ill-tempered (they call her a firebrand for that!!) and power-hungry lady, whose only goal is the chief minister’s chair in an anarchic state. The logic is simple; enjoy as long as it lasts and fill your coffers. Although Didi herself is too principle-oriented (read foolish) to touch as much as a penny, but her accomplices won’t let this opportunity slip by. Amidst all the humanitarian hue & cry over the Nandigram-Singur issue, it was conveniently forgotten that a powerful and constant-in-the-long run source of income for the poor people of West Bengal had been frittered away; what did our beloved Didi do to provide an alternate source of income for the people? Aah yes!! A train connecting Singur to Kolkata in the rail budget; people of Singur should really expect a preference in the recruitment of maintenance personnel (sweepers & cleaners, in other words) for the aforementioned train!!! A job well done Didi, we are all looking forward to your coronation as the newly-elected chief minister of anarchic Bengal-simply because you will elect yourself, despite more able and sane-minded individuals existing in the party.

Final frontier conquered for the master; and the clay has an Indian fragrance to it...

Roger Federer wouldn't have dreamt of such a script even when he was at his peak form during 2004-07, winning title left,right and center, with of course one common aberration. However, that is not to say that he is past his prime now, but his form definitely is not the flawless one he displayed in those three historic years. But such an anti-climactic final would not have been prayed for by even Federer, let alone his fans. Soderling might have been just overawed by the occasion, and Federer was just not going to let this opportunity go past. Whatever be the reason, the neutral tennis fans and millions of viewers around the world would definitely be disappointed by the lopsided match they got to witness. To be honest, Federer played three or four gears higher in the preceding finals, barring 2008; but he still lost to the Mallorca "freak", as Andre Agassi memorably referred to Nadal as. That just tells you about the ability of Rafael Nadal. But this is certainly not to demean Federer's feat by any means. His place in the pantheon of great players is already established. As Soderling said at the post-presentation ceremony, Roger Federer is indeed the greatest player of all time. Old timers might reminisce dreamy-eyed about Rod Lever and other pre-open era greats, but the reality remains that nobody, absolutely nobody has ever dominated the era of modern tennis like the Swiss maestro has done. In fact, one thing which got buried under the French Open and Nadal-Federer rivalry hoopla, is that Roger is the only man in the open era to win five consecutive US Open titles, a feat unmatched by any one, and even Nadal would need at least five years to emulate it, given that he starts winning it immediately. But even Federer would not even think of putting his feet up and rest on his laurels, until he beats Nadal in his present form in a grand slam final, which he has been unable to do in the last three opportunities. Otherwise it would lead purists to scoff at the very fact that he could not beat his immediate adversary in the latter's prime form. And the perfectionist that Federer is, he definitely would not want people to remind him that. To add to the build-up, contemporaries have still tipped Nadal to defend his Wimbledon title. Would Federer need a better incentive to stamp his authority on the modern era?
This piece on Grand Slam Tennis' greatest player would be incomplete without mentioning the greatest player in Indian tennis history. Whenever Leander Paes puts on his tennis shoes and arrives in the court, he has the Indian tricolour etched on his heart, and in his eyes, be it in a Grand Slam or in the Davis Cup world stage. The French Open Mens Doubles Win with Lukáš Dlouhý of the Czech Republic was his tenth Grand Slam Victory. He has completed the tennis Grand Slam, which is no mean feat, ask Roger Federer. The fact they have all come in doubles and mixed doubles events does not derogate the feat, rather it glorifies it even further, as it simply shows his level of adaptability with different players on different surfaces. Along with Mahesh Bhupathi, he is easily Asia's finest doubles player, and certainly one of the World's best. However, he saves his best for the Davis Cup stage, scripting memorable, jaw-dropping victories over some of World's Finest singles players. By his own admission, nothing motivates him more than playing for his country's pride, and his stirring displays only underline that fact. If only the Indian media had given him more deserved coverage and limelight. Its a pity that Roger Federer's grand slam win makes it to the front pages, and our very own 'Lee' gets his space only in the back page, in some of India's leading newspapers, and 2 minutes of airspace in the high-profile news channels. No wonder our trade deficit is so high, given the fact that we tend to worship 'imported' heroes, and leave our very own legends to languish in the darkness of media ignorance.
However, that will not prevent Lee and 'Hesh from doing what they do best, shine for the country, and put India on the global tennis map. There will be a huge void left in Indian tennis after they retire because there is a lack of depth in the talent pool of budding tennis players in the country. Which should compel us to treasure their achievements and value them all the more; coz just as there is not going to be another Roger Federer in the foreseeable future, similarly there is never going to be another Leander Paes and an alternative to Mahesh Bhupathi, in the very long future. We should just be grateful that we breathed in the era of such legends and of such immortal sportsmen.

Could this be Roger's honeymoon in Paris, finally?

This has been a strange year for Roger Federer, by his standards, to say the least, and by the expectations of his millions of fans. It began with yet another defeat at the hands of his arch-nemesis, Rafael Nadal. For the last four years running, Fedex has slowly, and by his own admission, painfully, started to come to terms with the outcome inevitable with a match against the Spanish one-man Armada. The battlefields kept relocating, the texture of the courts kept changing their colour, but the results never varied, with the odd reversals here and there. The Spanish juggernaut just kept rolling, expanding his empire beyond the clay kingdom of Rolland Garros, to finally stamping his authority on the Centre Court of the holy grail of tennis, Wimbledon; a result that must have put a dagger through Federer's heart. It was his backyard after all, a place where he could win day-in & day-out, sleepwalk through matches without maybe even dropping a set, perhaps even blindfolded. But in Wimbledon 2008, Nadal changed all that perception, and hit Federer where it hurt the most, in his mental framework. Federer now almost has a mental block whenever he gets down to face Nadal. What else could be the possible explanation behind the string of defeats in various courts and tournaments all over the world, including the recent Australian Open, which caused the ice-man of tennis to break down at the presentation ceremony? To add to it, he also lost to all sorts of random players in the run-up to the French Open. So much so that, his victory at the Madrid Open Final against his nemesis did not cause as much jubilation as surprise amongst the fraternity.
Which brings one to the clay court of Paris, where Nadal has ruled over the last four years, annihilating Federer in the most recent final last year. But the clay-court wizard was nowhere near his best against Robin Soderling, an also-ran in the tournaments till now, but now a national hero in his home country Sweden. The outcome propelled the clay court legend and Soderling's compatriot, Bjorn Borg to claim that he could even win the French Open this time round. One wouldn't have the audacity to call that high hopes, but would Federer let the opportunity, which destiny gift-wrapped and home-delivered to his doorstep, go past him? The fourth round match against Tommy Haas, and the semi-final against the gifted Argentine Del Potro, seem to indicate some thing else. Roger repeatedly came back from the brink in those two matches, and the final set in the semi-final brought back memories of that ruthless streak that we all have come to love over the years. Otherwise, it has more-or-less been a patchy tournament for the master. But perhaps, Federer realizes more than anybody else on this planet, that this is the moment for him to seize, which could propel him to all-time greatness, although he is one already. But winning this elusive French Open would help him attain the Tennis Grand Slam, draw himself level to Sampras' booty of 14 slams, and elevate him over the US tennis machine, as Sampras never went past the fourth round of the French, let alone win it.
Could Roger Federer bury his clay-court demons in the Philippe Chatrier Court this time round? Or would the demons devour him once again, this time in the form of a Swede, rather than a Spanish? We're keeping our fingers crossed.