World Cup 2010, Fixture Wall Chart

For the past few months I have been searching for a good 2010 Football World Cup Schedule on the internet and could not find anything good, so I made this schedule. Its in pdf format and its best if you take an A3 printout. The schedule has South African timings, venues and even boxes so that you can enter the match score. I cannot wait for the World Cup to start on July 11th. This is dedicated to all the football lovers out there, Enjoy the spirit of Football.

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Godly Abundance

We humans worry a lot, always wondering if our future will work out the way we hoped it would be. There will be times in our lives when we lose hope, when there is no light at the end of the tunnel. These are the times when we need to sit with God, and ask him through prayers. God always answers our prayers, sometimes even a "NO" is an answer. We need to learn to respect his answer. God says

I alone know the plans I have for you, plans to bring you prosperity and not disaster, plans to bring about the future you hope for. (Jeremiah 29:11)

We cannot wrap our mind around such a plan, his wisdom is beyond human comprehension.

The plans God makes are wise, and they always succeed! (Isaiah 28:29)

How many times has he given us success? but yet at the time of despair we cry as if he is not capable. We lose our faith when we need it the most. God wouldn't let you settle for the second best, he will give you the best. You might have lost years of your life with nothing to show for it. But God assures us that he will give you back those lost years.

I will give you back what you lost in the years when swarms of locusts ate your crops. (Joel 2:25)

and when he does, he will bless you abundantly. God opens the flood gates and there are no limits to his blessings. Have faith in Jesus and throw your fishing net where he tell you to, and when you do, make sure you have brought a bigger net because the catch will be great, much much more than you can handle.

And with all his abundant wealth through Christ Jesus, my God will supply all your needs. (Philippians 4:19)

Nurturing to the Image of Christ

It was 29 AD in Jerusalem city, 120 "believers gathered together in one place. Suddenly there was a noise from the sky which sounded like a strong wind blowing, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then they saw what looked like tongues of fire which spread out and touched each person there. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit" (Acts 2:verses 1-4). These were the blessed few who were anointed with the Holy Spirit and who had witnessed the resurrection of Jesus few days earlier. They praised and worshiped God, healed the sick, sold their property and possessions and distributed the money among all. This 120 consisted of former fishermen, tax collectors and prostitutes among others. There were no discrimination, Jews, Gentiles, Masters, Slaves, Rich, Poor, Women... all were equal in Christ. The pagans around them were amazed by this extra-ordinary group that came together. What the world saw as misfits were the first true Christians! Christ had entrusted this few with the task of spreading his ministry and God used them. These believers laid the foundation stone for Christianity by following what Jesus taught and they loved Jesus with all their heart. Their life mirrored the Image of Christ.

Two thousand years later the 120 has now become 2 billion strong, but as Christians we need to ask ourselves if we are living like the first 120 or have we completely lost the Image of Christ? A deep probe into our souls will reveal that we have lost it by being selfish and loving the pleasures in this mortal life. Jesus teaches us to work towards an eternal life so that we can reap our riches in heaven. But an eternal life asks for a spiritual life and a spiritual life needs spiritual nourishment. As food is to nourish our body, reading the Bible is essential for the nourishment of our soul. To reflect the image of Christ we have to reflect his attributes, therefore it’s crucial to learn the life of Christ.

Some Christians seem to be concerned with only evangelism and all they want to do is preach the gospel to souls. Other Christians only seem concerned with changing society and making the world a just and fair place. But Jesus wasn't one sided in those ways. Jesus preached and healed. He helped the sick and the poor. In helping others, we act the way Jesus would. We learn by experience that service gives us more life satisfaction than selfishness does. Being involved in the work of God is the most satisfying feeling of all, for it will be of eternal value.

Many people throughout history have been moved by the life of Jesus Christ, moved by his Humility, Compassion, Grace, Holiness and his Divine Authority. Jesus was a complete man, a role model for Humankind. He is not just an example of how we ought to live our life – he is also an example of what salvation means. What astonishes everyone is his Humility and Meekness. The Son of God being born in a manger, the King who rode a donkey and the Teacher who washed his disciple’s feet, it’s a life that taught us that the greatest must become the least.

God created man in his own image, but Adam lost his Grace when he sinned against God. Christ gave us the possibility to reacquire that lost Grace. Christianity as a religion teaches us that Grace is vital as we cannot be good no matter how much we try. With Grace come Love, Forgiveness, Righteousness, Faith and Obedience. A single capsule to become a complete person.

“If you say you have everything, but if you don't have God's Grace

Then you have nothing.

If you say you have nothing, but if you have God's Grace

Then you have everything.”

The next step is to transform our lives into new beings. But we ourselves are not capable of changing our lives but God gives us the power to change it. Salvation comes from Christ. To transform ourselves into the image of Christ we need to have the Holy Spirit living in us. It is the Holy Spirit that gives us the power to change our behavior. It will be arrogance to think that we can change ourselves. This transformation into a new being will kindle within us a Love for God. It is then that God works in us as we submit to him. God does not force us to Love him, Love has to be willingly given. It’s a choice we humans are left with to make.

Everyone will agree that Jesus Love for us is the most beautiful thing to happen to this world. Once a small girl asked her Sunday school teacher, "How much does Jesus love me?" The teacher told her to stretch out her hands to both sides, "This is how much he loves you". Take a look at Christ on the Cross with his arms stretched out wide, and the enormity of his Love for you and me. Even if you were the only single soul to ever live on the earth, Jesus would have still come to earth and died for you on the cross. Yes, he would come back for that one lost sheep. How can we even comprehend the magnitude of such a Love? How heavenly it would be, if we humans could emulate a fraction of his love to our fellow human beings and if only a small percentage of the 2 billion Christians could bring out that Love, the world would be a different place to live in.

Mother Teresa was one such person who was successful in practicing this Love. She once said, "We can't do great things in life.... We can only do little things with great love". What a difference a small action of Love can make! Christianity is all about this trickling drops of love and kindness to the people around us. It’s these drops that make an ocean of Love. To Love you have to learn to give. What better way for Christ to show his love, than giving his Life for us on the Cross. Every cross is made of two parts, the horizontal part represents the love between God and mankind and the vertical part represents the love between our brethren. It makes much sense why Jesus gave us the new commandment to Love one another. As I have loved you (John 13: verse 34) because no cross is complete without both the parts. We learn more about love when we love people who are hard to love; we learn more about forgiveness when people sin against us. Our character is shaped more like Jesus not so much in good times, but in difficult times. The Love teaches us to be grateful to God. If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, "thank you", that would suffice.

The 2004 Hollywood movie, The Passion of the Christ directed by Mel Gibson which depicted the final moments of Jesus before his crucifixion, was an eye-opener to many Christians. Made one wonder how did he undergo so much sufferings for me? How did he endure all these sufferings so silently? One thing Jesus taught us silently on that fateful day was that, without suffering there is no cross and without cross there is no Crown. Let it be our prayer to God to give us lot of crosses to bear, but to strengthen our shoulders so that we can carry all of them. God often uses suffering to drive us deeper into our faith. Christian life is not exactly a bed of roses; sufferings are part and parcel of human life. Christ's message gives us the courage not to falter as we walk the path of life and we learn to walk with the Lord, one day at a time. When God leads you to the edge of the cliff, Trust him fully. Only one of the two things will happen; either he will catch you when you fall or he will teach you how to fly. We can be confident, even in our trials, that God has something wonderful planned for us. Our trials are only temporary, but the glory will last forever!

It is crucial to understand the value of our life. Our life is equal to the life of Jesus Christ because he sacrificed his life so that ours can be saved. We need to value the eternal life that Jesus offers us—and we need to act like it is more valuable than the temporary rewards of this mortal life. We should love God more than we love money, physical pleasures, or the success that this world offers. Those things are temporary, so we need to keep our eyes on the goal of eternal life, with eternal pleasures and eternal significance. We have a choice. If we want a meaningful life, a satisfying life, an enjoyable life, then we need to look to Jesus as our model, and as the power that can change our life.

Follow in the path of Jesus, becoming beacons of Love, Compassion, Obedience, Faith and Hope to others around you. This beautiful transformation into Genuine Christians will send ripples of everlasting joy to our inner and outer being as we become one with Christ.

“All of us, then, reflect the glory of the Lord with uncovered faces; and that same glory, coming from the Lord, who is the Spirit, transforms us into his likeness in an even greater degree of glory” (2 Corinthians 3: verse 18).

Paul says here that once we have become Genuine Christians we reflect the glory of Jesus as though reflected from a mirror. And day by day we are in the process of being changed, becoming more and more like him, i.e., the Image of Christ.

- written for 15th Gulf Marthoma Youth Conference 2009

Product Review: Panasonic KX-TG7331BX

Panasonic KX-TG7331BX is a sleek and sophisticated digital cordless phone, probably one of the best of its kind in the market. It comes in two colors: black and silver. It has a bigger brother, the Panasonic KX-TG7341BX which has an answering machine but with the same features. Both these models come with a hands-free Speakerphone on both the Handset and the Base Unit. You can expand your phone system by registering upto a maximum of 6 KX-TGA731BX handsets to the base unit (which is optional). What I like about this unit is that it lets you do an intercom between the base unit to the desired handset and between handsets, which is ideal for a big home.

The base unit is well-designed and looks much like a mother-ship awaiting its capsule to lock onto it. Inspite being a charging point for the handset, the base unit comes with a num-pad and lets you call outside without you even reaching for your handset. In case if you have a bigger home and you want to expand the range of your base unit, you are advised to buy a DECT repeater (KX-A272) unit and register it to the base unit. One might find it very odd that this phone plays only 5 polyphonic ringer melodies, all of which were not upto my liking. It would have been nice if they had incorporated an option to add your own ringer tones to the phone. The base unit can also be wall-mounted, if you are planning to put it in a hallway.

The handset with it LCD screen and lit-buttons make it look more like an elongated mobile phone of the 90's. Even though the LCD screen may throw you few years back, its smooth design, glossy curves and light weight does make you want to hold on to it even after a tense phone call. It can store upto 100 contact details in its phone book. Other features include Call transfering, Conferencing, Intercom apart from the basic call features.

The box includes a AC adaptor for the base unit, a telephone line cord and 2 rechargeable batteries for the handset. This unit is ideal to use in an office PBX-system as it lets you to include a pause when you make outside or long distance calls. You can also enable the Call Privacy feature so that other users do not join your conversation. Most of all, for guys like me who have a habit of misplacing their handset, the base unit is equipped with a button (Intercom button) to locate the handset and the unit is also equipped with an alarm feature to wake me up in the morning if the numerous other alarms fail to do so.

My Tooth Fairy

I am sharing my write-up which happened to me in January of 2005. It took me like ever to relocate this old write-up:

How I met my Tooth Fairy!

Visiting the Dentist is a nightmare for everyone and I am no exception. Even an apple a day won't keep these guys away.

Today morning I was left with no other option but to visit my dentist. At around 10am I went to the dental clinic which is near to my house and runned by a married couple in their early 40's. All along the way to the clinic I was grumbling to myself, how much awkward and agonisingly painful will it be today? As usual I left my sandals at the door and entered the clinic.

I was startled to find a beautiful young lady in the doctor's room. I was so stunned that the moment I saw her my mouth automatically went ajar and she had the loveliest of all smiles on her face when she saw the expression on my face. Then it struck me that she was my dentist today and the whole clinic was empty except for the both of us. I felt as though God has brought me to CANDY LAND where there were no ANTS!! I never did believe in fairy's, but now I really do believe in tooth fairy's!!

She came forward and asked me for my OP Card, I could see that she was stammering with her words. She asked what my problem was. Strangely, I was also struggling with my words. Surely there was some chemistry boiling........ I was really hoping for the best. Moments later I was lying on my back on the chair and she was staring into my mouth. She took a step back and intellectually told me that I needed a filling in my tooth, as if I didn't know. Truly, I needed a filling in my heart more than my tooth. Then she confessed that she was new to this clinic and that I will have to come later in the evening for the filling as she didn't know where the temporary filling base was kept in the clinic.

I knew it was either now or never. I lied to her that there was no possibility that I would be able to come this evening as I have lot of work today and won't be able to leave work early. She smiled as though she understood what I REALLY meant! She took her time in finding the filler base and minutes later she was fixing my tooth. Her hands were all over my face. Who needs anesthesia when she is around? She did the filling for free, like she wanted me to come back again. I started shooting some doubt 's about my tooth as if I was really curious. Finally I asked her when I was supposed to come back, to which she replied "whenever you feel the ache". We smiled at each other. I thanked her and exited.

If only she knew that the real ache is in my heart, I am already feeling an aching feeling on all my tooth. I am eating my apples and praying for the next ache :))

OWWW! I feel it already, I think I need to visit my tooth fairy soon, can't wait.

2012: The End

Lately, its spreading across the globe like wild fire that 21st December 2012 is going to be the dooms day for whole of mankind. I am not sure as to how true this is, but lot of uncertainity does loom around the year 2012. Why 21st December 2012? Because the Mayan Calander ends on that day. The Mayan Civilization lived from 2000BC to 250AD and their calendar was based on the Sun. According to them the Sun will be hidden by the dark rift of our galaxy (The Milky Way) on this fateful day as the Earth, Sun and Galactic equator align. The Mayan's believed this could result in unknown consequences, maybe even spiritual transformation of mankind into new beings. How the Mayans understood all this is beyond my comprehension, but the earth without the sun for even a single day can be a catastrophe.

If that is not bad enough for 2012, there are astronomers who claim that a large planet called Nibiru may collide with Earth in the year 2012. Also the Earth's magnetic field has been weakening in the recent years, which has convinced some scientists that there is a likelihood for geomagnetic reversal to take place during the next 3 years. If the magnetic pole reversal takes place, all electronic communications will stop since they all use EM waves and the human race could be condemned back to the Stone age. The worse that is said to occur during this time are solar flares from the sun that could hit earth which has a destruction force of 100 billion atomic bombs, making one wonder if even bacteria would be able to survive on what is left of Earth.

Even though no human wants the world to end, but deep within everyone realizes that it is inevitable. The world is currently changing at a rapid pace, which makes one wonder if its the last raging fire before its ultimate demise. Every religion says about the end of days and the day of judgement. Jesus Christ said in the book of Matthew that "Soon after the trouble of those days, the sun will grow dark, the moon will no longer shine, the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers in space will be driven from their courses. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky;" (Matthew 24:29-30). How true!! and how agonising it is to realize that this is all happening during our lifetime.

In November of 2009 Hollywood is releasing a movie titled "2012", which will bring out the ghastly horrors that will happen during the final moments of our planet. No hollywood special effects can depict the actual horrors that the world is going to see to a magnitude as the Bible says "For the trouble at that time will be far more terrible than any there has ever been, from the beginning of the world to this very day." (Matthew 24:21).

The Bible also says, "No one knows, however, when that day and hour will come - neither the angels in heaven nor the Son; the Father alone knows." (Matthew 24:36), so I think 21st December 2012 being the end of days is only a reasoning from mere human minds. But what we can draw from all these is that, its a whistleblower to the what is yet to come. The Judgement Day and to be prepared for it. It is here, very near than we think and we are running out of time!

Force India pulls out a Stunner

Force India achieved their first ever podium finish today with Giancarlo Fisichella finishing the race less than 1 second behind the race leader Kimi Raikkonen in his Ferrari at the Spa Francorchamps F1 circuit in Belgium. On Saturday Fisi stunned everyone when he took the pole postion during the qualification round. Nobody gave Force India a chance, and probably laughed off at the pole result as a fluke....the team surely did prove everyone wrong on race day. Even the Ferrari's were lacking speed and Kimi was struggling to keep the Force India behind him. The Finn won only because of his KERS system which gave him the 6 second boost in every lap to keep Fisi from overtaking.

Fisichella could have easily won this race, if he had a different pit-stop strategy. But it was not to be... and a second position was enough for millions of Indians around to world to be proud of Force India. The result was good enough to hand Force India their first points and straight away go ahead of team Toro Rosso in the constructors championship points table. Force India is slowly growing into one of the best teams in F1 and they will surely fight another day for the top place on the podium. I can't wait for that day to come and to hear the Indian National Anthem play at a F1 ciruit when Force India clinches their first ever race win.

My Fifa World Cup 2002 Software

I was recently going through some of my old software CD's when I saw this particular software that I had made many years ago. 

It was January 2002, I was really excited about the upcoming World Cup in Japan and S.Korea, the first in the Asian Continent. As I was learning Visual Basic Programming during that time, I thought why not make a software which would be helpful for football freaks like me and also such an effort would make me into a solid VB programmer. The latter part didn't happen, but I did make a really nice software - atleast my friends say so!! Don't remember how long I took to make it, but it did really test my patience as I did the whole project on my old 486 processor PC (boy, those PC's were really slow) and also I had to spend countless amount of hours at Internet cafe's trying to download pictures.

The software provides details of all participating countries, their rankings, star players, venues, stadiums ...etc,. The major feature is the schedule for the first and final rounds, providing users the ability to enter the final scores for each game in a database and to maintain a points table for each group. Another thing I added was the history section, which had information of all world cups since the initial 1930 world cup. The problem was that this software was only useful till July 2002, so I made sure I passed it to all my friends, even my chat friends across the globe. My Malaysian chat friend said that the software was a big hit among her friends in Malaysia. That was nice to hear, atleast my effort did not go to waste. I really enjoyed the world cup that year and my software did play a major part in adding to the excitement.

Download Sofware

Why Get Married?

Marriage is said to be an out of world experience, atleast we have been told so. We find that special someone and vow to take care of them in sickness and in pain till death sets them apart. What a corny line, but how many of them truly follow this with their heart?! I always thought of marriage as an eternal bonding with that special someone with whom you could share everything in your life with and who enjoys growing old with you.

The media of the 20th century have been tirelessly bombarding our youngsters with images of an utopian world of big houses with white picket fences and inside there would be this perfect and happy couple basking in their luxury. How much we all long to be in that happy world .....or dare I say, we would do anything to get that life. The new generation is left to believe that married life is a piece of cake and luxuries can bring happiness, but majority of them are in for a BIG surprise when they get into their married life. Few months down the lane they face their first hurdle and they give up so fast... and after another few months they find themselves picking up their broken hearts as they split their ways. Married life is not hunky dory 24x7, it calls for hardwork. Its a real challenge for two individuals from 2 different backgrounds, with different opinions and attitudes to stay together. Its calls for sacrifice and patience. Family is all about sharing, forgiving and putting your love for your spouse before youself. Most of all its about doing those things that you really hate to do but at the same time what your partner loves to do. No one is perfect. Be happy that you have found that special person who was made beautifully imperfect for you.

"In the end, its these small things that you remember. the little imperfections that make them perfect for you." - www.thinkfamily.sg

Susan Sarandon in the movie "Shall We Dance", gives a beautiful answer to the question - Why people get married? It has stuck with me ever since.

(As quoted from the movie)

"Because we need a witness to our lives. There's a billion people on the planet. I mean, what does any one life really mean?

But in a marriage, you're promising to care about everything - the good things, the bad things, the terrible things, the mundane things........All of it. All the time, every day. You're saying, "Your life will not go unnoticed, because I will notice it.

Your life will not go unwitnessed because I will be your witness""

My Dream Bike

The Bonneville Trimph, I became a big fan of this bike ever since I saw Matthew McConaughey ride this baby in the movie, "How to lose a guy in 10 days". Its so simple but mean looking.

The Truth Of Life

How True!!

Forgive and Forget

Many of us can't forgive people who have wronged us, I guess that's human nature. But when we can't forgive them we can't forget them and eventually we become chained to the very thing we hate. To break this chain we need to be strong, like Mohandas Karamchand Ghandhi once said "The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong".

I think to forgive someone you need a big heart. Forgiveness is about "thanking" that it happened to you. True forgiveness is when you can say to the person who hurt you: "Thank you for giving me that experience". After all, you can't have anything new in your life, unless you are grateful for what you already have. Now that's the secret to having a new life.

Movie Review: Bachna Ae Haseeno

Newcomer Ranbir Kapoor had given a superb performance in this movie and has cemented himself a permanent place in Bollywood. The storyline of this movie is not that enthralling, its about the "love life" of a guy called Raj (acted by Ranbir Kapoor), who during his teenage days had a brief relationship with two girls, but only to dump them when his idea of "having fun" with them was over. After about 10 years of carefree life, he finally falls madly in love with Gayatri (played by Deepika Padukone). But when she declines his proposal, he realises that what he did to other two girls was torture and he repents for breaking their heart(s). Its a story that most guys my age can relate to (but not like in the movie, going back to these girls asking for their forgiveness).

The songs in this movie are really good, especially the song "Jogi Mahi", a sort of fast punjabi dance number and it could get addictive. I really liked the first romance Raj had with Mahi (played by the attractive Minissha Lamba) in Switzerland, its the kinda romance that can soothe your senses. Really felt sad when it didn't work out between them, they looked like a really good pair. If there is any moral to this story, its "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you" and ofcourse "Not to play with Hearts".

Soulmate: Natasha Bedingfield

Natasha Bedingfield has a talent for making beautiful touching songs (so does her brother, Daniel Bedingfield). I like most of her songs. In the past I must have listened to this particular song many many times, but today as I was driving back home from work with the FM Radio playing in the background, this song ("Soulmate" by Natasha Bedingfield) came up as if on auto request. This time the words seemed more clearer and made more sense. Every single one of us must have asked this question to ourselves atleast once in our lifetime. No matter how much we cover up the fact that we long for a soulmate, it will eventually drop on you like a rotten tomato. Here goes the stanza of the song.

Who doesn't long for someone to hold

Who knows how to love you without being told

Somebody tell me why I'm on my own

If there's a soulmate for everyone

By the second stanza I was singing along with Natasha... I felt like I was in the middle of the Pacific Ocean on a small air-inflated raft all alone singing this sing. Need I say that this time the drive back home was a long one.

Bindra is Kinng

Abhinav Bindra won the first ever individual Olympic gold for India. This shooter from Punjab is the current World and Olympic Champion in the 10m Air Rifle event after shooting a total of 700.5. None of his shots were below 10.0. His win was no fluke, he was consistent and precise on his target. Hope this inspires lot of other Indian sportsmen to aim for an olympics gold. You rock Abhinav, I stand in awe of you man for making all of us Indians proud.

Beijing 2008: Spectacular Opening Ceremony

On 8th of August 2008 (08/08/08), at 8pm after 8 minutes and 8 seconds, the Olympics of the modern era was inagurated at the Beijing Olympic Stadium, nicknamed "The Nest" because of its resemblance to a Bird's Nest. The timing was not a surprise as the number 8 is a very auspicious number for the Chinese. That night the world witnessed the most spectacular opening ceremony ever made by human race. The display was so colourful and well co-ordinated making everyone wonder whether it was really done by humans or by machines.

Billions across the world watched it on TV. For 2 hours everyone's imagination was suspended into a surreal Chinese Dreamland. A display that made a lot of minds in the West wonder if the power has really shifted to Asia. With Japan, Korea, China, India and the Middle East growing like anything, those days are not far away. China has shown that determination and hardwork will bring it to the top. Its no secret now, that man power is real power. Kudos to China for the spectacular show.

My First Crush

I really don't remember how it all started. But all I can remember is that I was in 6th grade and there was this beautiful girl in my class called Anna Solly, who I had a BIG crush on. She was silent and used to sit in the front of the class while I sat in the back (yeh, typical back bencher) giving me the advantage of occasional peeks at beautiful Anna (movie stuff, rite?). Anyway, looking at her everyday really made my day(s). As if that was not enough, we shared the same cafeteria for 3 meals a day. God really made sure I was happy throughout the day. She probably didn't even know that I existed, thanks to myself for being so insignificant during my school days. The academic year flew by so fast. Before I knew it, I was packing my bags for a different school in a different country. I always regreted moving away from her, most of all not ever talking to her.

Slowly I started forgetting her facial features one by one, hardly a year had passed and all that my imagination had was her silhouette. To rightly put it, I was madly in crush by a factitious Anna Solly. Years passed, but she still remained inside my mind like a dormant volcano only to burst out when I was really lonely and her thought was like hot soothing lava completely melting me on the spot.

After 6 years I came back to India. I never looked up for her but where ever I went, I found someone who knew her, her whereabouts or what she was upto. I slowly started putting the pieces together. Sometimes it felt like a wild goose chase and sometimes like an unexplainable purpose from God. Maybe I was closing in on her, or may be not.

Her name caught on with my college roommates. During my 3rd year in college, I had adopted a stray kitten and my roomie's happily named her Anna Solly. A kitten with a last name??Strange!! But the kitten was so cute that for me they couldn't have given her a better name. I looked after Anna Solly day and night and I was so happy when I was with her. Whenever I came back from college, there she was waiting for me (now only if it was the real person) at the doorsteps of the house. After some months when the college shut for summer vacation, I had to leave Anna Solly with our neighbours. When I came back after my vacation, she was gone and I was really sad. That was the closest I ever came to being with Anna Solly.

After many many years and many girls, Anna Solly still remains (a mystery). Sometimes I wonder if I am in love with an imaginary girl or if its God's way to keep my mind engaged from the pain's in real life. Whatever the reason, Anna Solly always brings a light at the end of the tunnel. The funny part is that I have no clue how she looks now and could miss her even if I saw her in a crowd. I have heard people say that she is still very beautiful, but like someone rightly put it, those unseen are even more beautiful. I know she is way out of my league but I have never given up hope of seeing her once again in this lifetime.

It's better to love someone you can't have than to have someone you can't love

The Spanish Conquer Euro2008

A lonely goal from Torres in the finals was enough for the Spanish to claim the Euro 2008 silverware. Spain was awesome all the way through the tournament. They played like they owned the field and eventually took control of all the games they played.

I am a big fan of this red team and the Spanish have always been one of the best teams in football. Luck however always seemed very cruel to them in major tournaments. But in 2008 they played like they had a purpose. They played as a team and in front of them, their oppenents looked like mere spectators. They dribbled and passed with such grace that the gods themselves would have favoured a Spanish victory. Congrats Spain, lets hope this is a start to a new era in football, The Spanish Era !!

Movie Review: Love In The Time Of Cholera

This movie is inspired from nobel prize winner Gabriel García Márquez's book with the same title. Inspite of not reading the book, I felt this as an awesome romantic movie. The story takes you to Columbia in 1971 where Florentino Ariza (played by Javier Bardem) who is a telegram boy falls in love with Fermina Urbino (Giovanna Mezzogiorno) when he sees her through a window at her house. Florentino realises that she is his soulmate and few love letters later, they were both in love.

Fermina's father objects to this and takes her away. A year later Fermina marries a wealthy Doctor and forgets Florentino. Florentino becomes heart broken and could not forget the love of his life. As time goes on, Florentino develops on his poetic skills and becomes a successful man. After 50 years of waiting, he finally learns that Fermina's husband has died. He again starts writing her letters and finally wins her heart. When they were young, her father objected to their love. Now when they are too old, nothing was going to stop them from loving. The movie brings out that there is nothing revolting about loving at an old age and that love is eternal. Finally after 53 years, 7 months and 11 days, Florentino's heart was atlast fulfilled. Finally a quote of Florentino from the movie:

"Age has no reality except in the physical world. The essence of a human being is resistant to the passage of time. Our inner lives are eternal, which is to say that our spirits remain as youthful and vigorous as when we were in full bloom. Think of love as a state of grace, not the means to anything, but the alpha and omega. An end in itself."

My Dads Ol' Car

Ever since I can remember, this has been our family car, I literally grew up in it. It took us through some happy as well as sad times. My father bought this Toyota Corolla in the year 1980 (yeh, a real old timer), its as old as my younger brother. Its been part of my family for the past 28 years. My father takes really good care of his car. No wonder, the car has always been a reliable piece of equipment even into its old age.

During the past couple of years, rust had creeped into some of its exposed parts and the rickety old timer had become grumpy making a lot of rattling noises during motion. On the roads, people look at it with fascination, while some with disgust. Nothing can hide the fact that this car has endured some unbelievable desert summer heats during the past 3 decades. Both me and my brother took our first driving lessons on this car. This 1980 Corolla did play a major role in moulding me to the kind of person I am today. My father has been dreaming that Toyota will award him for preserving this car for so long and probably take the engine back to their factory in Japan to do research on it (Ok, that part was my dream .. hehe).

Finally today my dad sold it to a Pakistani man for 1,000 Riyals. Its nothing much to sell a car for, but lately it had become a burden for us to carry around. When I was two and a half years old, I snatched the car keys from my dad and ran out of the house only to fall down just before reaching the car. The key pierced my cheek and it made a dimple on my left cheek which appears to this very day only when I smile. The car had made a mark on me as a reminder of the good ol' days. Even though now we miss it dearly, nothing can takes its place because it has made a mark in our hearts.