To Virender Sehwag with a lot of admiration and respect

It’s the first over of the match. A batsman is coming out to bat. He is swinging his arms in a 360 degrees swing. The batsman takes the strike in his nonchalant manner. But the bowler is worried about being hit for a boundary on first ball because the batsman is Virender Sehwag. That’s the fear of the man. The era of Sehwag is over. He gave us thrills and heartbreak, joy and frustration, instant happiness and grief; all through his playing career. He batted like a thriller movie keeping the audience gasping for some more, making them sit on the edge of the seat wondering in disbelief on what will happen next and giving them a treat for most of the times.

There are some things you wouldn’t want to explain. You just feel it. You enjoy that moment. Tendulkar’s straight drive. Laxman’s wristy flick. Dravid’s forward defense. All these are moments to treasure, to revel but not to explain to anyone. Sehwag’s whole batsmanship was like that. He was above explanation. He would surprise you at every moment but had an uncluttered mind. And that was the magic of Sehwag. He kept it uncomplicated. Purists and those whistling at road side stalls, all enjoyed Sehwag’s batting.

He attacks the ball because the bowler must worry about where to bowl next. "The batsman is nervous," he says, "but he must make the bowler nervous too. When the bowler is nervous, he will bowl a bad ball." And with that Sehwag challenges the bowler, almost makes him move away from his strengths and then he capitalizes. All his finest knocks have come whenever he has taken the attack to the opposition; he scored 284 in just a single day of a test match in Mumbai in 2009, 83 against England in that famous win at Chennai, 201 not out against Sri Lanka when the whole team could manage only 329. These are just the snapshots of his sparkling career. He did much more. He created fear, made captains to change strategies, gave bowlers a lot of time to get 20 wickets.

Sehwag; an experience to savour

Triple centuries at a strike rate which you would have to rub your eyes to see whether it’s true or not. He changed the dynamics of the game. His ability to live in the present is extraordinary. And as Jarrod Kimber put it whether the ball went into a scoreboard, into a crowd, onto a roof, or safely nestled in the keeper's gloves, it was gone. Finished. That moment, that euphoria, that danger, doesn't matter anymore. The greatest leg cutter, the sexiest doosra, or a mystery ball fired from a cannon, it doesn't matter. It could be a long hop. A full toss. It just goes past him. When you bowled to him, you weren't bowling to a batsman; you were bowling to a belief system.

His composure is exemplary. It would be difficult to gauge from his expression whether he is batting on 0 or 150. He has hit a six to reach 300. He tried to go for a six to reach 200 but did not get the desired result. But tell me; is there any other batsman who would have dared to do that? His simple approach towards not just cricket but for life as well is something we need to admire and learn from.

Some of his shots will remain etched in the memory of those who have watched him in his prime; especially the upper cut, up and over the gully fielder and sometimes over third man too. The bowler and his captain discuss something animatedly after that but quite often Sehwag has found a way to disrupt the proceedings with his uninhibited stroke play.

His comparison with Sachin Tendulkar seems unfair to me. Because Sehwag is something else. He is his own man. He has his own method although he has many times said about how he used to shadow practice the shots played by Tendulkar. Over the years, Sehwag never compromised his natural game and even now if he gets a loose ball on green pitch outside off stump he will play the ferocious cut.

Let’s talk about few other aspects of Sehwag’s game. His reading of the game is as good as anyone in the business. Mind you, he was an under-rated captain. He wasn’t afraid of trying out unorthodox methods to get batsmen out. His off-spin before the shoulder injury lent provided a lot of support to the bowling unit. The loop and drift which he generated with his bowling was very good for a part time bowler.

He played with a smile and brought many more for us; his fans and admirers. Some of the best days of my childhood were spent watching Sehwag smash best bowlers out of the park. Sadly, he has retired; though the memories of childhood remain as fresh as ever.

On Death and losing people in life

Death, the sound of the word is enough to send shivers down our spine. Few enlightened souls are not afraid of this reality but for ordinary human beings like me, death is something which is tragic and it is all about tears to me. No one wants to die. And yet, death is the destination that we all share. The question which comes up is that are you afraid of dying or are you afraid to see your loved ones go before you?

It happened. 3^rd October, 2014. My grandfather left this world. I went numb as things went by. As the ashes of his body went up in the sky, my memories came back. I had returned from Mumbai to be on time for his funeral and it is was a painful journey. It was like as if someone had opened chambers of past. Time went by, we all moved on in our respective lives and now it is close to one year to that day but still, I tend to reminisce a lot about my childhood in which he played a crucial part in shaping my knowledge about stock markets.

That brings me to my dilemma about death, Am I afraid of dying or am I afraid to see my loved ones go before me. I shudder to think what will happen to me if I am at the receiving end of losing the people whom I loved dearly all through my life. It would be dreadful. I surely don’t wish to lose them in front of me but then I don’t want to be someone who is insecure about living without people. Because for life moves on irrespective of whether a person has his family by his side or not.

 

But to look at the other side, am I afraid of the reality of the life? Frankly I don’t know. At 23, you don’t think about life and death; you just go through the motions. But, somewhere deep in my heart I understand that life moves on, no matter how hard it seems. We all find a way to hang on to some threads which keep us moving. This is a reality which we (including me) have to embrace in life. Every person who is born is destined to leave as well. Some leave early which is very depressing but we need to take the fight and emerge as winners and not merely survivors.

Many times, I have been told that it is better to forget the people who are no more alive in this world. I still don’t get that. Because you find peace when you let go of your emotions and accept the reality. Forgetting is temporary but acceptance is permanent. It is this acceptance of the reality which has made me stronger during various times of my life. I believe it will work for you as well. Don’t try to forget but accept the reality about any untimely demise of a loved one and move on as soon as possible. Pick up the pieces of your life and do your best.

Why being insecure/vulnerable is not a bad thing.

Very recently, I was talking to my mom about how important it is for us to be strong and not reveal our deep fears about life. She said it is very crucial for us to be strong but it should not cast a compulsion in your lives to not to express your fears or emotional vulnerability. I feel expressing your fears, isn’t a sign of weakness. It shows that you have the courage. When everybody says ‘I’m fine’, more often than not they do not mean it. Most people have a tendency to hide their day-to-day problems because they don’t want to show any weakness. They fear being judged.

 The grim reality of our lives is that right from the childhood we are conditioned not to express our insecurities or fears or anxieties. Parents, teachers often scold those kids who talk about the issues plaguing them and which in turn makes us to falsely believe that only emotions which are to be expressed are that of happiness and anger, while sorrows and fears are to be grieved in solitude or in other words one should bottle up such emotions. But research has proved that this tendency of bottling up emotions and not sharing them can cause some psychological problems and sometimes physical pain too.

Vulnerability to me is not a weakness but a symbol of us being human. It is often been wrongly associated with emotions like shame, grief and sadness – the type of emotions which we are not comfortable discussing about even as these affect us in more ways than one. It is because of this vulnerability that we sometimes get to enjoy love, courage and joy. Many authors believe that it is the source of hope and empathy.

Things which we should share but we don’t do it in reality;

• If we are going through a tough time in our bonding/relationship with anyone.
• When anyone has lost the job or is enduring a stressful environment at their workplace.
• If a person is suffering from a major illness.
• Insecurities about life.

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