Farewell to a hero.

 We will not see him wield the willow. Sachin Tendulkar decides to retire from ODI matches. The master blaster will have to rest . His baton has to be passed. But the legacy lives .And we hope to see some more action in other forms of cricket.

  With his retirement certain part of Indian cricket would be lost forever . Nothing could replace it. Cricket for many of us meant Sachin.

Perhaps Rudyard Kipling had a crystal ball looking at Sachin when  he wrote this.

IF you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: 'Hold on!'

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
' Or walk with Kings - nor lose the common touch,
if neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son!

Farewell my Hero. India will miss you on the cricket fields.
But we look forward to a new role that would instill your greatness for many more years to come.

Rahul Dravid - A true gentleman to play the game.

A picture from his most recent knock at England

I always love reading tributes .That too about great men. It is a great feeling to read about ones work .Especially when they have been pretty successful in whatever they do.
So recently one of my favorite cricketers announced his retirement.Predictably everyone had some thing great to say.

Nothing about Dravid could be considered flattery or an overstatement  .Those following international cricket would concur that everything written about Dravid  is true. People liked  him because he demonstrated a character that is really lacking these days.

When this author wanted to explain about Rahul Dravid ..he gave this nice quote .Very nice one :

" Gentlemanliness is not mere surface charm - the easy lightness of confident sociability. Far from it: the real gentleman doesn't run around flattering everyone in sight, he makes sure he fulfills his duties and obligations without drawing attention to himself or making a fuss. Gentlemanliness is as much about restraint as it is about appearances. Above all, a gentleman is not only courteous, he is also constant: always the same, whatever the circumstances or the company. "

Read the full article here : http://www.espncricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/557122.html

Steve Jobs - Walter Issacson .

I am currently reading Walter Issacson's bio on Steve Jobs. Its fascinating to learn about one of the greatest innovators of our time . But more than that ,Walter Issacson's narration has kept me spell bound .I have never read biographies earlier so I dont know how good the other ones are . But to me this bio will set the standard .. Even if i read new ones I would end up comparing it with Walter Issacsons master piece.

If you are interested with books , then SteveJobs bio is a must read .You could never learn about the man better than by reading this book.

Here is another piece he wrote on New York Times. I have put it here for my own reference.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/30/opinion/sunday/steve-jobss-genius.html