The Man and his name

This is the real story behind my name. One of Amma's cousins suggested I be named for this Vaishnavite deity in Kanchipuram.

Yes, I was originally Deepaprakash. That is one Tamil word right there - until things HAD to change.

I was in me pre-preparatories in Gitanjali, Hyderabad. The teacher was a certain Mrs. Bajaj, a Punjabi lady who probably didn't know languages besides English and Hindi. On the other hand, Amma is as militantly Tamil as they get, schooled for the most part in Tamil. I was caught in the melee.

The Bajaj lady couldn't get Deepaprakash right, and she conveniently transmuted it to Deepa Prakash.  Amma's fixation with keeping things the way they are precipitated a rather disastrous situation for me. For the school concert later that year, Deepa was stitched a goddamn skirt. That's when Deepaprakash "Deepa" Mohan became the legendary Deepak Prakash Mohan.

Appa hates that cousin of Amma's with everything he has and hasn't. When he figured it was he that gave me my name, he contemplated changing my name all over again.

Stuff happens...

Whatever...

PS: I stood at the back that day. No pictorial evidence exists of that calamitous event. At least, none that I know of

The Sky'er' is the limit

I remember the first time I played with a cricket ball, sometime when I was 11 or 12 in a 7A vs 7B match, scoring 10 odd. Back then,while fielding. the sight of the ball hurling towards you, at presently innocuos speeds, would cause you to move your hands away from the ball in the last second- obviosuly a very very stupid thing to do. The high catches were especially scary. I remember how I'd wriggle my hands in pain, thanks to some awful catching technique.

The catches weren't even remotely high back then. It's just that we were scared- and scared as hell. Personally,a lot has obviously improved in the 13 yrs since then.

So has the equipment( though I haven't used this stuff and would love to). Check this thing out- it's called the Fusion Skyer- a new and revolutionary practice bat, made from some patented German rubber cut into a smaller bat two-thirds the size of a regular cricket bat.

The rubber apparently causes the ball to bounce off the surface to all kinds of heights, aiding fieldsmen to practice at par-match conditions. It apparently helps for infielding as well, with the ball traveling at great speeds for just the smallest of touches. And at under 1 Kg, sounds like cricket's own ping-pong paddle.

The catch here is the price. Each one of these costs an estimated $160. There is a cheaper version called the Skyer Boom that comes at an estimated $50, but is obviouly not as effective as the regualr piece, and comes in a terribly gay pink.

By the way, remember the kinds of suggestions that would keep passing around in our schooldays about Jayasuriya's bat having a spring in it that helped him hit sixes( or still worse, those contact lenses he wore to make the ball look like a football :D ). Well, here it comes my friends.

And oh yes!! There's another reason to like it. It's orange :-).

Whatever...

New reason to like the Indian Railways and Team India

I have always liked the railways in India. Now, I have a newfound reason to like them.

Photo Credits-http://chennaidailyfoto.wordpress.com
I picked this image up on Ram's blog, and found this ticket vending machine painted in Orange and Blue. Now, that's cool.

That's no it. It gets cooler. The Indian team jersey is also Orange and Blue now. I guess it's now time for the Men in Blue to be called the Men in Orange and Blue.

The University if FLorida is in Gainesville. The Gatornation is everywhere. Or, so they say .

Whatever....

The beginning of the end

This post is dedicated to my closest inner circle of friends- the people I have had the most fun with, hung out the most with, played the most with etc. etc.

"Deepak, Anuj just got engaged. He's getting married soon", said Harsh over the phone- WHAATT? That was a little incredible, given the fact that all these guys had bluffed me a few months ago that Sid was getting married.

This time, sadly, it was true. Sad, not because the wedding is happening- It's cool that it’s the first wedding in the bunch. Rather, it's sad that it marks the beginning of the end of all the good times we had together. And with a couple more weddings (and God knows how many over that) lined up for later this year and next year, it certainly makes for a recipe for the end to be scripted.

Guys, I won't have a chance to lock Anuj's grandma up in the loo again. We wont have a chance to take a pic of Kundra (you know what I am talking about :D). I cant spit out a whole bottle of water on Sid. No more teen patti while Kundra and I sleep and get pillow bashed . Anuj, save that door latch dude :D .

Sourav gone. Sachin, Dravid and Zak will be gone very soon I guess. The people that made your childhood- your friends and heroes, wont be the same any longer. It's a very stark realization that it's all coming to an end.

Whatever...

Paines Prairie trip

My friends and I went on a road trail to the Paines Prairie reserve on US 441 some 8 miles from Gainesville,FL. Chari threw in idea, and Phani joined us. We took a bus up to Florida Works and walked from there.

The suck-up here is that RTS buses dont have room for more than 2 bicycles, and we were 3 people walking with 2 bicycles :D ( reminds you of the father, son and donkey, doesn't it?)

Good trip all in all. A few dead snakes on the way, and Phani (which incidentally means snake in Gult) was dead against photographing them. Then there were the usual gators, and we saw one ruffling up a nest and eating it's eggs while two birds watched on helplessly.

Thought I'll upload a few pics here. You'll find the whole bunch on my Picasa page soon

Phani and I at the preserve



Gator( unfortunatley still, and hence no GO GATORS!!)



Phani and Chari

You'll find the pics on my Facebook page as well/ And oh!! BTW, we're planning on biking even deeper into the preserve to see a little more wildlife. People are welcome to join us. Make sure you bring along a bicycle .

Whatever....

India- The land of many mothers

I am amazed at the rate at which many of my friends swear and curse so very flippantly, fully well knowing what the words mean. In an attempt to refrain from using distasteful language on this blog, I shall use "X" in place of Maa( Mom/mother in many Indian languages), and Y in place of behen(sister).

Maa/Behen gaalis are a way of life for many people in India, so much so that when someone gives you such gaalis, there's a good chance that he is a good chum. These gaalis with all their might convey affection in most cases, and not disgust.

Fine, but upto apoint...beyiond which, well...read on

For e.g

....arey, X chu*&^ padi hai,
Fitness ki XY ho padi hai
Arrey, prof ne aaj X C#$^h di be

Seems like people have no dearth of moms. I was taught that all Indians are my brothers and sisters, but these fellas seem to have taken this teaching a step further.

Whatever....

What's in a name??

Do you know your friend's name?? Well ,yeah!!! of course you do. Ok, so let me ask you this. Have you known your friend's name at all times since the time you became good friends? Sounds weird?? Here goes...

We had a presentation to make in class today. Two of my friends, one virtually a roommate, and another person that I have known for the last 8 or so months teamed up. It all went fine, till for a brief while( beat this) I forgot their names, and instinctively turned around to ask them their names. WHATTTTT?????And to add to it, I was born with a sub woofer in my throat. So ,even the softest of whispers from my mouth reverberates across a small classroom.......I had the whole class giggle silently at this sloppy gaffe......embarassing, to say the least.

God knows how I forgot their names for that small instant.