Arrival

So finally after a long, painful wait :P, wifey dearest is about to land. And so will begin a new phase.

And oh yea here is my Visual DNA ;)

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PS: There is some problem with the html code here, comments link and "Get your own VisualDNA" link which you cant see are overlapping each other so for people using IE click on comments counter to post a comment that is if you want to :P.

Update 2: apparantely after writing some text has put up some space between the two links so all kinda fixed :P

Bob Woolmer

Tough, you think you've got the stuff
You're telling me and anyone
You're hard enough

You don't have to put up a fight
You don't have to always be right
Let me take some of the punches
For you tonight

Listen to me now
I need to let you know
You don't have to go it alone

Last couple of days have been a shocker, after our humiliation at the hands of Ireland I thought nothing can get worst but just after few hours I was proved wrong. Bob Woolmer our team coach left us. The circumstances in which this event took place, it hit all of us deep down inside, it was shocking I still cannot believe it. Sports taking life of someone, it is totally unimaginable. As soon as I heard the news on TV I called up my friend but I couldn’t gather the strength to tell him, I just asked him to switch to Geo it is about Bob Woolmer I told him. Emotions got better of me and I was struggling to hold on to my tears. Soon smses started to flow in, people called and everyone I talked to was in complete state of shock and grief. It felt someone very close to us has left, someone very dear. It is very rare that death of a person who is not even a fellow countryman can hit a Nation so hard. Such our love to game of cricket is and such a love we had for one who was serving our cricket team with all his commitment and determination. I don’t think I have shed these many tears since years. But it wasn’t just us, everyone who is associated with cricket was equally upset. Tributes keep pouring in from ex players, current coaches, current stars, respective boards which goes to show how much he was respected and loved by everyone.

In 2004 when he joined the Pakistani team as coach, there was a feeling among us the cricket fans that the good days are not far away. Though they arrived slowly but eventually once again we were beginning to challenge the very best in the game. Our Test and ODI rankings got higher and perhaps that is when we(fans) got rapacious and started demanding more, a pressure which could very well be the cause of his sad demise.

Woolmer was a true professional a wonderful innovative, his services to Pakistani team are tremendous, he had his short comings too but then who doesn’t. But he completely changed the outlook of our side. He gave them the direction, mental strength and self belief. And as a result we witnessed some miracle performances from our team. Along with Inzamam he transformed this team from a bunch of talented but erratic individuals to a formidable unit. The unity which was visible within the team was an effort of both of these two. That is why even after losing three key players for the world cup we still believed that we can if not win it can achieve a lot in this World Cup. Maybe he believed in that too and our shameful exit took its toll on him. Whatever the reasons maybe but its hard not to believe that if he had been coaching some other team then it may not have happened, but as Muslims we believe that death has its time and circumstances are just a way of it.

Woolmer was famous among journalist and fans for his kindness and importance he gave to them and their opinions, that is why I remember before the world cup me and Abid chatted about to suggest him our playing eleven and our preferred batting order. Though we never managed to do that (call it laziness) but we were hopeful that if we do email him he would respond, such an access to national team coach was unimaginable before him. And when yesterday I met Abid on chat we could hardly talk to each other.

Tomorrow Pakistani team will play its last match of the world cup, it will be very hard for them to concentrate on cricket he was like a father to them. But they are dedicating this match to him. I just hope they give such a sort of performance which would have pleased Woolmer. Plus it will be Inzi’s last game I am just praying that he leaves the ODI stage with a thumping performance.

In the end I will end this post with the great man’s own words

“Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery. Today is the present - a gift to make the most of.”

He lived for cricket, he died for cricket.

PS: picture courtesy of sportinglife.com

Pakistani Tujeh Salam

And so it all begins today 13th of March 2007, wait of four years is over. In just about 2 hours time it begins the mega event of cricket. The event for which, us cricket lovers start the waiting as soon as the last one ends :). So are you feeling the pressure? Oh yea I am, its pressure , excitement , anxiety and all those emotions combined. So let it begin!!!! I am sure all of you have read , analyzed and re-read and re-analyzed chances of Pakistan in this world cup so I wont bore you people with that.

Though severely depleted, written off by almost all the pundits and low on moral this team still has what it takes for a very successful campaign and that doesn’t necessarily mean winning it. But like the two world cups in which Pakistan did great that is 1992 and 1999 this time around too some of the individuals must have a big tournament.

In 1992 we had Javed Miandad, Aamir Sohail, Rameez Raja , Inzaman-ul-Haq featuring in leading scorers and Imran Khan and Wasim Akram chipping in with useful all round performances. It had a perfect blend of experience and youth. Javed Mianded and Rameez Raja the experienced ones and Aamir Shoail and Inzamam-ul-Haq the youth. Likewise it was the pair of Imran and Wasim.

In 1999 another successful campaign and it was the turn of Inzamam and Saeed Anwar to play the role of senior campaigners and Mohammad Yousaf , Wajahatullah Wasti and Abdul Razzaq to provide the youth flare. But more often than not it was our lower middle order in the form of Wasim Akram, Moin Khan and Azhar Mahmood which rescued our batting from the embarrassments.

Similarly in both these tourneys our 3-4 bowlers did tremendous jobs and featured in highest wicket takers. In 1992 those were Wasim Akram, Mushtaq Ahmed and Aaqid Javed and in 1999 we had Saqlain Mushtaq, Shoaib Akhtar, Wasim Akram, Abdul Razzaq and Azhar Mahmood all bagging 13 or more wickets at breath taking averages.

So who will be Miandad, Aamir Sohail, Imran Khan and Inzamam this time around? And who will feature in leading bowlers like Wasim, Shoaib, Saqlain and Aaqib did. Tough questions and we will have to wait and see that which one of the individuals grab the opportunity and follow the foot steps of several greats before them, only time will tell. As for likely contenders I would name Mohammad Yousaf, Younis Khan, Mohammad Hafeez and Kamran Akmal in batting and Umar Gul, Danesh Kaneria Mohamamd Sami and Rao Iftikhar in bowling with likes of Shoaib Malik, Afridi and Inzamam making useful contributions.

In the end I would say no idea about you guys but I would surelly miss Shoaib and Asif not because of what those two promised but because of the moments they gave us, the moments we cherish all our lives.

Stomach infection and Data loss but for the real thing keep on reading...

"The relative importance of files depends on their cost in terms of the human effort needed to regenerate them." -- T.A. Dolotta

Couple of posts back I shared this quote and now I know exactly what it means. Yesterday when I started writing a new post, my laptop’s hard disk crashed and with it data worth of two years. Some of you might not feel the intensity but those who have gone through it will exactly know how I feel. The loss included all my work related files, my documents, pictures I took with my cam, music I collected, softwares I downloaded, ebooks I collected, not to forget recipes. Everything digital I had gathered or gerenarated from past two years was on that laptop and stupidly of stupidies I had no backup. An IT techie and such carelessness, unbelievable. It is simply heart breaking. Although I am trying to move on and accept the reality but as soon as any specific file comes to mind emotions start running high. It is actually quite weird that how we become attached to something which is digital. I guess we have become used to our digital selves. Loss of pictures have hurt me most, those were the memories, memories which were reflection of past two years of my life. I haven’t given up yet I will most probably hand it over to some company which specializes in data recovery though it will cost me fortune but I might take the chance. And all this followed my return from illness which saw me hospitalized for two days. A minor stomach pain which lasted for couple of days forced me to see a doctor and after 2 hours I found myself in patient’s gown and admitted. After series of painstaking tests and procedure whose details I would prefer not to share :P(the docs among you can very well guess). Thank God everything seems fine now, my stomach is functioning perfectly and fears of block in my colon have been evaporated, but again not before some serious pain. I choose to inform my parents straight away, though some of my friends believed it was an act of stupidity. But I have different opinions, for me parents are everything and in every step you need their prayers. Though I must admit I provided them huge amount of tension but just knowing they are with helped me a lot. And one thing I know that the only true love in this world is Parental love nothing beats to it, that’s it fullstop, there is no other love sorry folks the verdict is here.

As a result of that I am on diet for two weeks, I am supposed to avoid spices and food items which can make my stomach go balloon. Hence I am surviving on soup, yogurt and bread. I would like to thank my friends who were constantly messaging or calling me and getting updates and praying. Thank you guys it means a lot.

Oh well now coming to the actual thingy for which this post was supposed to be written but events mentioned above and my laziness keep dragging it back. On February the 21st 2007 Roger Waters performed in Dubai Media City in front of a huge crowd and I was one lucky soul to be there. It was a breathtaking performance from the ex Pink Floyd guy. Just imagine you have been listening to these songs from past 10 years, they are tour absolute favorites and you get a chance to attend the concert, totally awesome experience. Atmosphere was electric, Sound quality and visual effects mind blowing. It was pure magic especially when he sang The Wall, I definitely wasn’t in this world then. Pictures are uploaded on flickr here and video clips on youtube, enjoy :).

World Cup is about to start , already warm up matches are underway, hopefully by Thursday I would have written an exclusive World Cup post.