Gabbu Singh Diaries 7 | The Ipad Rehab.

It was almost 2 years back that I ordered the new Ipad Air 2 with ‘Avyaan’s Ipad’ engraved on it. He was 18 months old then and the idea behind ordering the latest tablet was to introduce him to the world of rhymes and supposedly educational videos for the toddlers. So much for being a good parent ensuring an early all-round development for his beloved kid. And it wasn’t long that he became self-sufficient in operating the device and also having his clear favorites.

The Ipad went on for hours now and the entire household kept buzzing with the nursery rhymes. And as he started recognizing those rhymes, his elated reactions, giggles and excitement towards them made us jump in joy too. So much so that these rhymes started to play in our subconscious mind too. Being in office, I suddenly started humming ‘Old MacDonald had a farm…’, while working out in the gym, out of nowhere I found myself mumbling ‘Mary had a little lamb…’ and the bathroom singing soon changed from ‘London Thumkda’ to ‘London bridge is falling down, falling down, falling down…’. It was a rampage J.

But very soon he got bored of these rhymes and graduated to being a superhero, watching Spider-man, Superman, Batman, Captain America, Hulk and Co. And thanks to you tube that throws all kinds of suggestions while you are watching something,  not all what he watched was apt for his age, as it ranged from the vulgar, violent and obscene versions of superheroes doing all kind of things. Gradually, it started to show up in his behavior as well. He started jumping anywhere and everywhere like one of those superheroes, he was up to do ‘Dishoom’ to us if we did anything to his disliking and he even talked about the Hulks and Captain Americas of his world while he was asleep.

And it wasn’t long that it became an addiction to him. He wanted it all the time, so if we wanted him to have his meals switching on the Ipad became as essential as having salt in the food. If we are dining out somewhere he should have the screen on, for us to have a quiet dinner and likewise on lot of other things. To an extent, that he almost went in a state of trance when the Ipad was on and we could make him do anything and everything in that state. We did try a lot to cut down on his addictive habits but the resistance that we faced (from him) coupled with the convenience that switching on the Ipad gave us, made it all the more difficult.

But it was high time this menace had to be dealt with. So it was decided that his beloved Ipad had to be taken off in one go, there is no such thing like gradually pulling him out of this addiction. So one fine day it was decided that he will be told that if you watch Ipad you will turn into a skeleton (the very skeleton which his superheroes fight against). And on being told so he reluctantly agreed to not touch his Ipad, though he kept pestering us to let him watch his favorite videos but the mere mention of the ‘skeleton’ scare kept him at bay. We agreed to continue this for 21 days, as doing anything  consecutively for 21 days turns it into a habit. And its almost 2 months now that he hasn’t touched the Ipad or has asked for it. Though it can be argued that scaring him and getting him out of it wasn’t the best way to do it but in the hindsight I believe the final outcome outweighed the manner in which it was executed. In a sense, the rehab has been successfully executed, to an extent that even I am not allowed to surf on the Ipad, as he fears that his dad will turn into a skeleton by doing so J.

So what does he do now? He still watches his superheroes but these are new super heroes who don’t do those vulgar and unwanted things. His new-found super heroes are Hanumanji, Ganeshji, Shivji and Ramji, so much for his and his dad’s love for mythology. But even that is being done in a very guarded way, so that he watches it for a maximum of 1 hour and that too on TV. Rest of the time he is busy playing around with his toys or painting,  or reading his story books. And the real joy lies in seeing him transform from ‘HULK SMASHHH’ to ‘JAI SHREE RAM’ J.

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Is Kohli already India’s Captain Marvel?

When Virat Kohli led India clinched an expected test win over Bangladesh earlier this month, Kohli became India’s most successful Indian test captain ever after 23 tests. A feat that should certainly make him proud about himself and his team. And given the way he has led his team he will surely win 13 more matches in the years to come, making him the most successful Indian test skipper ever, overtaking MS Dhoni’s tally of 27 wins as the test skipper. But is Kohli already India’s best captain ever?

The team’s  recent records certainly suggest so and if we take into account how his batting has blossomed further ever since he has been the skipper, it easily makes him India’s most emphatic captain ever. Though, I feel it’s way too early to do the coronation yet. Not until, he leads the team on tours to England, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand at least once. As that might remarkably alter his prolific CV as a skipper, till then he is doing what every test captain should do, making the most of a long home test season. So who are the erstwhile skippers that feature in the elite all-time best captain list. Though, we have had a bevy of greats leading the team over the years where the likes of Gavaskar, Kapil Dev, Dravid and Kumble have led the side valiantly but my all-time favorite skipper list features Azhar, Dada and MSD.

Azhar, as it was under him that we became a very potent side and a force to reckon with in home conditions. His numbers as the skipper are a testimony to that, no wonder he held the record for being the most successful Indian skipper for a long time. So much so that it took a man of Dada’s caliber and indomitable style to eclipse his captaincy record and become India’s then most successful skipper across all formats. Though, it wasn’t just the no. of wins and big trophies that we won under him, that made him stand out, it was his remarkable aggressive style that instilled confidence in not only his players but also in all the fans cheering for Team India. He almost single handedly changed the way Indian cricket was perceived worldwide. But few years later came a man who changed the landscape of Indian Cricket forever, M S Dhoni. And after leading the side for almost 10 years when he signed off his captaincy stint earlier this year, he not only had all the nos and the big trophies in his cabinet but most importantly, also had the respect of all his opponents. He was neither as stylish as Azhar nor as aggressive as Dada or may be as conventional as Dravid or Kumble but his street smartness and calmness were his weapons that made his rivals fear him the most.

So Dhoni marginally pips Dada as my all-time favorite captain, primarily for his longevity and enigmatic calmness. Being the skipper of the side for almost 10 years without an inkling of controversy or a stain on his conduct and character does speak volumes about the impact he has had on Indian Cricket. There have been question marks on him being too defensive in his test captaincy during the later stages of his captaincy tenure but I believe with the dearth of good bowling options (neither Ashwin nor Jadeja were at their prime then) and with a legacy to protect, you are bound to focus on not losing then pressing on for a risky win proposition. But if you consider his captaincy across formats over the years, there won’t be many who can challenge him for being India’s captain marvel neither statistically nor tactically.

So, can Kohli the captain go past Dhoni the Captain Marvel? One. It’s too early to pass that judgement, at least not until he has toured all the major test playing nations once. Two. He will have to win at least one T20 World Cup, one ODI world cup and one Champions Trophy amongst other things to be reckoned in the same league. Three. He will have to keep scoring runs the way he his scoring now (which is humanly impossible) and the likes of Jadeja & Ashwin will have to keep taking wickets even outside India (which again is improbable). Why so, because Dhoni didn’t have to perform as a batsman or a bowler all the time as he had the luxury of having the likes of Tendulkar, Sehwag, Dravid, Laxman, Ganguly, Kohli, Zaheer, Kumble, Harbhajan et al for rescue on most occasions. Kohli’s team on the other hand has been piling on wins mostly on accounts of either Kohli scoring runs or Ashwin/Jadeja taking wickets in heap (not to discount the performances of other good players in the team), but what if both these match winning super power go through a lean patch in tandem? And lastly, Four. Find a perfect balance in being calm and also being aggressive in leading the side, at the same time. Dhoni had this natural ability to stay calm in the most unreal situations too akin to Kohli’s natural tendency of being aggressive. Though, Kohli has shown remarkable maturity in the last 18 months to channel his emotions and aggression in the right direction but it won’t be easy for him to curb his natural instinct and strength (aggression) and don an aura of calmness for the larger good of the team. Statistically, he might eclipse all the previous records set by any Indian captain but his real test would be to match and go beyond the legacy left behind by the likes of Dada and Dhoni.

But if there is anyone who can be India’s Captain Marvel for years to come, it’s unanimously Virat Kohli.

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Post Script – Personally, I feel Kohli’s India will do well overseas too, but for that to happen consistently Kohli can’t afford to just have himself and Ashwin as his only match winners.

The Magical 18th!

The quest for 18^th always gave a sense of dejavu, it was almost similar to the quest for the 100^th a few years back by someone as great, in a different sport though. In both the cases the fans hoped but knew of the improbability of the task. The 100^th did happen, much later than it should have been and is now synonymous to the great man that Sachin Tendulkar is considered in the game of Cricket. Similarly, 18^th might as well become synonymous to the great Roger Federer, unless of course he surprises us all again as he did on that unforgettable fortnight in Melbourne J.

But how did the 18^th happen? The great man himself didn’t see it coming this early after his comeback from the injury. Neither did his fans, as they were just happy with the fact that the maestro is back in action and they might be able to see some of his signature shots for the 2-3 rounds he survives post his comeback. And he himself summarized it the best when he said ‘ I thought I will do well to last 2-3 rounds, may be 4 or quarters max, if the draw is kind to me’. But he kept going, lasting back to back 5 setters, outclassing one top 10 player after the other and finally setting a dream date with his old nemesis, Mr Rafael ‘fighter’ Nadal. And the rest is now history, history written in golden words.

And once the finale date was set with Nadal, there was a sense of that old dejected acceptance that the inevitable will happen again (as it has happened so many times before) and the great man will succumb again to the resilience of the Spanish warhorse. And to add to that there has been a recent pattern to Federer’s grand slam performances, he keeps playing supreme tennis round after round and when he looks almost invincible he produces his most ordinary game that day and chickens out rather tamely. Interestingly, I was also chatting with one of my close pals during the finals and we both agreed to another pattern of his in the last few matches (including the finale), that as soon as his serve gets broken he almost gives up for the set and literally rushes to the start of next set, without an inkling of fight to comeback in that set. And this in addition to the other depressing patterns made fans like us very nervous and to some extent irritable as well J. As we all knew, if it’s not now, it’s never.

But four sets and a game later, the picture was almost clear,  with a break in hand Nadal wasn’t going to let go his 15^th grand slam title at any cost. But what happened in the final 8 games of the match was unexpected, un-Federer like and very Nadal-esque in nature. Breaking all recent patterns, Federer was on break point on all subsequent Nadal serves, finally breaking through to bring it back to serve. And then breaking Nadal’s serve again to serve for the Championship. Now if you are told a story that someone was a break down in the very first game of the final set of the championship final and he fought back hard to be on break point on all his opponent’s serve and finally breaking him twice to lift the trophy, you would without a hitch say that fighter someone would have been none other than ‘Nadal’. So yes, Federer actually did a Nadal in that final set to complete his quest for 18^th.

And that feeling, that joy, that happiness which that win brought has been surreal. Nothing could have been sweeter, the wait has been for almost 5 years now and even without the 18^th he would have still continued to be the best and the greatest players to have ever played the game, in our hearts. But the 18^th was probably his way of thanking all his fans for the unparalleled love and support for him over the years. The class, the finesse, the aura that he emanates through his game and through his conduct gives you a joy and high of its own kind, which probably can’t be expressed in words. And there are very few moments  in life that give you that feeling of inherent happiness and satisfaction in whatever small things you do post that joyous moment, this certainly was one such moment.

We don’t know for how long we would be watching your mind-blowing backhand winners, magical drop shots and unbelievable tweeners but with this magnificent 18^th you have won us all over again, and this time for life.

Thank you Roger!

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The 2017 Date with the New Years Resolution Monster.

It was new year’s eve and Santa was back home up north after a long and arduous journey across the globe. As he crashed on to his couch he summoned the Resolution Monster to set off on a similar, across the globe trail, to register the new year resolutions. Resolution Monster being his lazy-self decided to visit only an interesting few; and there resolutions for 2017 are as recorded below.

Donald Trump – My resolution for the year is to also run the country and try not to focus on just highlighting how dumb witted Hillary and her likes are.

Shahid Afridi – I vow to play for the U-19 world cup for Pakistan and Insha Allah bring glory to my nation.

Rahul Gandhi – My resolution for the year is to help the poor of the country by providing them one ‘aloo factory’ per household.

Yograj Singh -  I decide to make Mahendra Singh Dhoni the captain of Indian test team, so that I can blame him for Yuvraj’s ouster from the test team.

Arvind Kejriwal – My resolution for 2017 is to expose Mr Modi and his government on all fronts without compromising on my weekly movie reviews.

Navjot Singh Sidhu – I plan to be part of Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party and CPI in 2017 and also be the judge on at least 5 more comedy shows.

Himesh Reshamiya – My 2017 resolution is to (re)launch myself in Bollywood as an action hero and register Bollywood’s first 1000 crore movie.

By now the  resolution monster has had enough with these bizarre resolutions. So as the last shot, he happened to visit me to register my 2017 resolutions. But by now he was furious, so rather than just registering my 2017 resolutions he started by asking me how did I fare in 2016 with my resolutions. I wasn’t having a very rosy report card but I confided with whatever I had accomplished –

·         2016 Resolution 1: To write at least 2 blogs every month, plus 4 technical blogs in the year –  Couldn’t match up to this and out of a target of 26, I could only churn out 14 (11+3). No apparent reason for this other than laziness.

·         2016 Resolution 2: To read at least 12 good books in the year – Did well on this one and read as many as 15 books across genres. And if not for the Game of Thrones book 1, which took a lot of time to complete, the overall count could have been much higher.

·         2016 Resolution 3: To go on 1 solo vacation this year – The most fun of all the 2016 resolutions and I accomplished this with flying colors by being to picturesque Cinque Terre, Italy, all by myself.

·         2016 Resolution 4: To work out for at least 150 days in the year and giving away on Pizza for the year – Yes and No. The most satisfying bit for 2016 was my gym discipline throughout the year, as I was in the gym working out from the 1^st day of the year till 31^st Dec with over 200 days of workout in between. Gratifying indeed. Though, giving away on Pizza for the year didn’t happen, and how can it happen if one happens to be in Italy 3 times in the year. But over 200 days of working out kind of compensated for it J.

·         2016 Resolution 5: Spending some quality personal time with parents and old friends – Did well on this as well, spent real quality time with not just my parents but with old pals too. Blissful!

The resolution monster was all teary by now and he couldn’t stopped himself from giving me a bear hug and roared in full gusto ‘go on superstar, announce your 2017 vows and I am sure you would be the only one among st the many I have visited today, to keep your head high when I come back again on 2018’s new year’s eve’.

And that got my 2017 resolutions officially registered –

·         2017 Reading Resolution : To read at least 12 good books in the year – This one stays as is, though I would want to outperform myself by reading far many interesting books this year around. So much for the joy of being in love with a beautiful book all the time J.

·         2017 Writing Resolution : To write at least 2 blogs every month in the year –  As much as I love writing, I have been failing to clock this one from last 2 years, I hope I show better discipline in 17’ and nab it this time.

·         2017 Me Time Resolution : To go on 1 solo vacation this year – I am in so much love with this one that I couldn’t think of doing away with it. Though, it’s not easy to plan and execute it for obviously ‘scary reasons’ but clocking this resolution in the year is the real icing on the cake.

·         2017 Fitness Resolution : To work out for at least 200  days in the year  – With the kind of discipline I have exhibited on this front, in addition to other activities like playing tennis and swimming, I feel confident to raise the bar a bit higher than the last year, all with a goal to stay fit and get fitter by every passing year.

·         2017 Family Time Resolution : Spend more quality time with Avyaan by reducing my daily screen time – Unfortunately, post office hours are primarily eaten up by the Facebooks, Kindles and Netflix of the worlds, all at the expense of Avyaan also spending more than usual hours on his ipad. So I vow to reduce/negate my screen time while he is awake, to spend more quality time with him.

The resolution monster gleefully registered all my 2017 resolutions, wished me luck and signed off for the year by greeting me ‘Happy New Year’.

So like every year the goals have been set and the set resolutions would be chased to keep the year interesting till the 31^st of Dec. And like always, there would be lot of other soft resolutions too that would be chased, something on the lines of ‘buying that expensive watch that I have been eyeing for last 2 years’, ‘being in Wimbledon Championships again with a hope to see King Federer in action’, ‘attend one of India’s matches for the 2017 Champions Trophy edition’ and lastly try to be happier.

Happy New Year 2017!

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Post Script – There are only few of my friends who indulge in resolution ‘making and keeping’ exercise but one of them who always manages to impress me with the sheer simplicity of his resolutions is Nitesh. So while he vowed to brush before bed every night in 2016, he has taken a resolution to get up and take bath at 6 every morning. As always, way to go bro J.