Entertainment Level: Japanese Game Show and the IPL

Hey Golden Boy,

So, let’s start with the fact that I got my 2^nd year grades, and I am now officially in my final year of college. That too, in the honours class, woot woot!

You must be chuffed about Arsenal’s win against Reading! That was great news! Sam and I got together and watched the Chelsea vs. United match while munching on pizza. It was good fun, because although we lost, it was a good match. Also, living in hostel, I don’t get to watch a lot of matches, so I enjoyed it.

Lately I’ve been watching a show called ‘I Survived a Japanese Game Show’. It is very entertaining. As the name suggests, it is a game show. It basically involves ten Americans who compete against each other in the show, in order to win 250,000 dollars. They have to participate in some really whacked out Japanese games, and while the winners of each round get VIP treatment for the day, the losers face a day of menial labour around Tokyo. It’s quite funny, and I have a good laugh every time I watch it. The host of the show is quite mean about the contestants, but he says it all in Japanese so they don’t understand; only the audience does. The Americans define the Japanese as “bananas”, and the game as a “clown show”, because of the level of crazy it takes to come up with the games they play.

So, the IPL is on, and KKR seems to be doing pretty well. Sad thing is, the only person I go watch matches with, is you. Since you’re not around, no chance of watching any of the matches live this year.

The Indian Premier League, or the IPL, is a T20 cricket tournament that has been taking place annually since 2008. There are currently eight teams in the IPL, and the teams have players from all over the world, who are attained through an auction. The IPL is the most widely watched Twenty20 tournament in the world. What’s great about the IPL is that it acts as a platform for a lot of Indian youngsters to showcase their talents, as well as certain greats who have otherwise retired from the sport. We also get to see amazing sportsmanship and camaraderie between players of varying nationalities who play together in the IPL while otherwise battling it out against each other the rest of the year.   

The defending champions are Kolkata Knight Riders, who have won the IPL twice since its conception. As of now, the League table leaders are Rajasthan Royals (RR) with 10 points, followed by Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) with 6 points each. At this point, though, RR’s have played 5 matches while CSK and KKR have played 4. The team with the lowest rank is Royal Challenger’s Bangalore (RCB) with only 2 points. However, they’ve only played 3 matches till now, so there is still hope for them.

The teams I support, as you should know, are KKR, RCB, and KXIP. KKR comes first, obviously, because I am a Calcuttan through and through. RCB, because Bangalore is my second home. KXIP, I support for a number of reasons. For one, because of my Panju-ness, but also because when they started out, KXIP had Adam Gilchrist and Brett Lee, two of my favourite cricketers.

With this, I come to the end of this week’s article. And as per the tradition I wish to start, since most of this article is based on something desi like the IPL, I thought I’d share with you something by a desi poet, Kamala Das.

My Grandmother’s House

There is a house now far away where once
I received love……. That woman died,
The house withdrew into silence, snakes moved
Among books, I was then too young
To read, and my blood turned cold like the moon
How often I think of going
There, to peer through blind eyes of windows or
Just listen to the frozen air,
Or in wild despair, pick an armful of
Darkness to bring it here to lie
Behind my bedroom door like a brooding
Dog…you cannot believe, darling,
Can you, that I lived in such a house and
Was proud, and loved…. I who have lost
My way and beg now at strangers' doors to
Receive love, at least in small change? 

Until next week, Dods.

Love, Zee.  

The FA Cup Semifinal

Happy Friday Ziggy,

First off, I must say I have absolutely no idea to what you refer when you speak of embarassing things that have happened to me at Saturday Club. Surely you must be confusing me with someone else.

I wish I had a definite answer for the sisters. At this point, I am just as informed as they are about what my future holds. I hope that I'm going to be home sometime within this calendar year - possibly in the winter, but I don't know.

Onward to the FA Cup Semifinals this weekend! Now, I know that you're a United fan and so probably haven't heard of the FA Cup in a while and so let me refresh your memory. The oldest association football cup competition in the world, the FA cup is administered by the Football Association of England and is open to teams from the football leagues of England and Wales. The charm of the prestigious cup is that it has become renowned, over the years, for pitting the smallest and largest teams of the football leagues on a more level playing field than anywhere else. One only has to go back a few months to recall the absolutely hilarious 4-2 trouncing Bradford City (a league 2 side) meted out to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in the 4th round of this year's competition. The memory of the preeminent bus valet of our time, Monsieur Mourinho's face after that defeat never fails to cheer me up when I'm feeling down and a picture of the same spent three weeks as the screen saver image on my phone.

What makes the FA Cup so romantic is that such upsets aren't limited to the playoff or preliminary stages and that one doesn't have think too hard to find examples of shocking results in the latter stages of the competition. Eventually relegated Wigan beat premier league defending champions Manchester City in the 2013 final to lift the cup. In 2004, division 1 Milwall defeated premiership Sunderland in the semifinals to book a meeting with United in the finals that year. Indeed, in 1991 mighty Nottingham Forest lost the final to the obscure, non-league Tottenham Hotspurs (or the cock-and-ball as they're affectionately known by their three fans in Al-Basseh, Morocco), whose greatest claim to fame until that point was that they were controversially crowned Northwest White Hart Lane (blocks 31-47) Hopscotch Junior Runners-up in 1952. So basically, anything can happen.

That said, something that definitely won't happen is Reading beating us on Saturday. Arsenal are actually playing very well right now. The last two games provided a microcosm of why we've won 16 out of our last 18 games in all competitions. Against Liverpool we were at our fluent best, especially for the last ten minutes of the first half. The midfield were slick in possession and we drove forward in numbers, secure in the knowledge that Coquelin would sweep in and recycle possession if one of our passes didn't work out. The vast majority of them did and Alexis, Ozil, Giroud and Cazorla buzzed around the Liverpool defensive line taking advantage of the obvious lack of confidence in their centre halves. Toure in particular was very poor on the day. As the cherry atop the victory flavoured cake, we were lethal in the final third. All four of our finishes were from the top drawer and Alexis' goal in particular will be one of the goals of the season.

Against a stubborn Burnley side fighting tooth and nail to stay in the premiership, Arsenal displayed a satisfying steel in their game. In what was a very difficult game against a very fit and organized team, the gunners were disciplined, tireless and did the basics very well. We held onto the ball comfortably when we had possession and kept our shape when we didn't, leaving Burnley no space in which to work in our half. They pressed us well and tried to break us down but each Arsenal player defended well and to be honest, apart from Boyd's scuffed shot, Burnley weren't incisive enough to merit a point. Our defense held up and maintained their good form and Coquelin was imperious in front of them, making an absurd 11 interceptions in the game! That man can't put a foot wrong currently.

So two games and two contrasting, but equally satisfying, performances which bring our winning run up to 8 in a row. On the other hand, Reading have a string of poor results behind them and are languishing at 18th in the Championship. They've been struggling to score at one side of the pitch and leaking goals at the other. They're safe from relegation, and have a great manager in Steve Clark, but I just don't see Reading standing up to us right now. I predict a 4-1 victory and Arsenal making their way through to their 19th FA cup final!

Oh and Liverpool play Villa on Sunday in the other semifinal. Sherwood may just nick that one...

All right! Unfortunately I can't watch the game live tomorrow cuz I have an exam at the same time so I should really be there instead. Dang.

I love the idea of you ending your posts with a poem and I can't wait to read them. I really enjoyed the one you posted on Tuesday. Made me think.

Looking forward to the next one,

Dada

Of Family Time, Internship, and Decisions...

Dear Golden Boy,

Congrats, again! All I ever seem to be saying to you is congrats, because you’re always doing something amazing.

Before anything else, we missed you today. As per tradition, Chacha and Chachi took us to Saturday Club where we all went for a swim, had lunch, and raided the club shop. Since your presence was missed, we made do by bringing up all your embarrassing Saturday Club experiences, and laughing at your expense.

Your sisters keep asking me whether or not they’re going to see you this year, and if so, when. They’re like broken records about it. I’ll be meeting you in exactly a month from now, and I know that these 30 or so days are going to pass by in a flash because my internship, family, and friends are going to keep me busy.

Speaking of my internship, I’m working under a clinical psychologist, and I really enjoy it. I not only get to sit in and observe the sessions with the clients, I’ve also learnt to administer a number of IQ and behavioural tests such as the WISC, MISIC, Conner’s, and the like. I’ve also been taking the client’s case history, and due to this I’ve come into contact with people suffering from various disorders ranging from mental retardation and dyslexia, to severe ADHD and OCD. This practical exposure is an amazing experience for me, because I’m learning so much. It is also helping me equip myself to deal with and understand certain situations I may face later. For example, some of the sessions are very emotionally draining, and due to the ethics of counselling, it’s not as if you can take your client’s problems back home and unwind or vent it all out to someone. We had been told earlier during our course that it will be tough, but now I actually understand how tough it can be. To sit all day and listen to the troubles people go through, to ensure that you do not get emotionally attached to a client, to form solutions and be confident that you can help the client face his/her problems, to be a vault for all your client’s issues...it’s not an easy task.

Even so, doing this internship has given me the confidence that this field is right up my alley. It is something I know I will excel at, something that comes naturally to me. However, I’ve been thinking of the future a lot. I love planning, and I’ve always had a set plan about what I want to do after college, but not anymore. For the first time, I am confused. Should I walk down the well planned, concrete path, or venture into one more unsteady and challenging?

My confusion reminds me of one of Robert Frost’s most famous poems, ‘The Road Not Taken’. He ends the poem with the line, “I took the road less travelled by, and that has made all the difference.” I’ve always thought that this poem, and especially the closing line, is inspiring, and urges you to stand apart, follow your dreams, and experience life on your own terms.

So, what I’ve thought is, since I love reading poetry, I am going to end my posts by sharing with you a poem that I’ve read, and that I love. While talking about the future, and following dreams, I was reminded of a poem by Yeats named, ‘He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven’. It is a short, but beautiful piece that can be interpreted in a number of ways. The amount of emotion this work of art can evoke in the reader is simply remarkable.

He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven

Had I the heaven’s embroidered cloths,

Enwrought with golden and silver light,

The blue and the dim and the dark cloths

Of night and light and the half-light,

I would spread the cloths under your feet:
But I, being poor, have only my dreams;

I have spread my dreams under your feet;

Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.

Until next week, Dods!

Love, Zee.

P.S. Happy Bengali New Year! 

Awesomes, The Chris McGrath Award, and Closing Time

Happy Friday Ziggy,

I don't know how aware you are about Neil Pasricha's 'Book of Awesome' series but it has been a pretty big part of my life for the last year. Pasricha's the author of a blog called 1000 Awesome Things where he has discussed one awesome thing every weekday since 2008. These can be absolutely anything that makes you happy or makes the world better by existing - big or small. Some awesomes Pasricha has written about are walking on grass with bare feet, mothers' love, peeling an orange in one go (a personal favourite), an old comfy t-shirt (something I know resonates with you) and broccoflowers (look them up). Today's awesome is 'dogs with jobs'! If you don't follow his blog already, I highly recommend checking it out (1000awesomethings.com).

Anyway, the Books of Awesome are collections of such awesomes in book form. I know of three of them: The Book of Awesome, The Book of Even More Awesome, and The Book of Holiday Awesome. The awesomes are so many and varied that you can almost always find one that exactly fits your mood or reflects what you were thinking. Even when you can't, Parischa makes it a point to include blank pages at the end of the books where you can add your own awesomes. For the last year, we've used the Books of Awesome at our weekly meetings for our RLS team - each week someone shares an awesome and passes the book on to somebody they thought was awesome/did something awesome during that week. We've had whimsical awesomes, funny awesomes, serious awesomes, jesting awesomes and heartfelt awesomes and they always add a dimension of personality and depth to our meetings. I'm a big fan of the tradition.

Awesomes have been in my thoughts this week because it so happens that it's been a very awesome week for me. You know that my presentation on Wednesday went pretty well in my opinion. You also know about the Gordon Cressy ceremony yesterday and that was incredible (mostly because the food was very good). This morning, I got my grades back for my last undergraduate classics course and I got a 4.0, which is good for two reasons. It means that I did well in what was probably the very last classics course I will ever take and this is gratifying. It also means that unless I assiduously fail all my remaining courses, it's statistically impossible for me not to graduate with honours and this is also gratifying. However, the most awesome thing that that happened to me this week by far was the Chris McGrath Award I was given on Monday night.

The Chris McGrath is awarded to one Residence Life Staff each year who "demonstrates leadership and excellence in all facets of Residence Life." Of all the things I have been insanely lucky enough to have won over the years, this award is right up there with the most meaningful - simply because UTM Residence Life is probably the most meaningful experience that I have ever stumbled across. The three years I have spent as part of the Residence Life Staff have been magical and deeply life-altering. My RLS family has given me so much. What I have learned on Residence goes far beyond technical and transferable skills. Over the years, my fellow RLS have exemplified patience, compassion, virtue, togetherness, initiative, energy, and understanding. They have been among the best human beings I have known and I have been lucky enough to be able to forge a personal relationship with each and every one of them. They have left an indelible imprint on my heart and I will carry the lessons they have imparted to me throughout my life. To me, the Chris McGrath Award isn't a certificate or a plaque on a wall: it's a homage to every RLS I have lived, worked and laughed with. The fact that the award means that I have left some sort of a mark on the legacy of UTM's RLS and that I too have made a difference in the lives of the people who have made such a difference in mine is why it's so special to me. That's why it's my awesome.

Monday night was very bittersweet for me. The RLS banquet celebrated the last year of Residence Life but it also marked the end of it. The next morning the 2015-16 Residence Life team met for mini-camp and looked forward excitedly to the next amazing year. I was not invited to mini-camp this year. In a few short weeks, I'll be graduating and leaving UTM behind. Residence Life at UTM will thrive without me but I really don't know how I'll ever thrive without it. It's closing time.

It's closing time.

Amanda, my team coordinator, read a chapter titled 'It's Closing Time' from a book about Residence Life written by a former Residence Life Staff member at our last team meeting on Monday morning. A ritual of sorts. That night, at the RLS banquet, the Semisonic song 'Closing Time' was played as the picture slideshow for the year wound down to mark the end of the banquet and of the year. Another ritual of sorts. In my last two banquets it was never really closing time for me: I always had mini-camp to look forward to and the whole of the following year as an RLS. An eternity. This year, as the last few pictures faded off the screen and I clutched the plaque surrounded by my RLS family, it really was closing time. And in three weeks it will be time to say goodbye.

I know that there are other great experiences for me out there. I know that next year will be just as amazing as this year has been. Moving on is challenging, yes, but as awesome as the last three years on RLS have been, I'm excited to find out what the future holds. I'm excited to find my next

AWESOME.

'Till next week,

Dada