Summarizing it all.

I know I have been very lazy and havent got blogging as high as my prio list as I should have. I hope all that is going to change. I hope seriously it does.

Lots of things to update of whats happening around me. Firstly, the cricket season ended late September. It was a bit disappointing not to go to Seychelles as planned. I would have liked to go on that trip - just so you know, the trip fell through the crack - because of inconsistent planning.

This year I had played for two clubs, KCCC and MCCC. I decided to go the dual way, its quite rare actually. People around me mostly play for one club and stick to it.
Given that I have very few years to spend playing cricket in London, its not going to be that easy for me to stick to a given set of challenges every year. I have to reach out and try different things. Thats the way I am inbuilt. MCCC - the club I had played in 06 as well - I was the Sunday Team captain. (This was to tune my already decently polished captaining skills from the HP Bangalore experience)

KCCC - the club I joined in April, after a lot of googling, was to keep me challenged as a player. Simply that. I did do some justice for both clubs I should say. Saturday was to be KCCC's turn and Sunday MCCC's turn to keep me engaged and challenged. In total I scored around 600+ runs this season (both clubs combined) ( 1 century and 8 fifties) - Also took some wickets - including one 5 fer for KCCC.

The captaincy was really the tricky part. I was literally rebuilding a new squad and the fixtures werent really that easy. The Sunday fixtures were the most difficult of all MCCC's fixtures. I had a lot of support from my team mates. They really backed me and took me seriously on the field ( I made sure I told them what I wanted out of them:) )

It was also like working on the different cricketing mindsets. Back in the Indian subcontinent, the mindsets are slightly different from how a SouthAfrican cricketer or a KIWI one would approach a situation in the game, leave alone an Australian. We are not talking about the game at the international level, but trust me, the geographic traits can be seen even at the club level. I learnt a lot from these different characters and vice versa. Overall, we won 14 of the 16 games this season. A season which was totally a dream come true for the team. 87.5% success is a total captain's delight and it bettered last year's success rate of 85%. Fairly enough, the annual meeting had some polite words of appreciation for my efforts from the Chairman and the Fixture Secretary. I consider that as one of my 'Oscar' moments in life. There were a lot of requests for me to carry on as the Sunday skipper, but I couldnt take it on board.

As much as I was being successful on the cricket field, life off it wasnt as rosy as it should have been. I was missing out on the family front, unable to manage my time with Suja and Shloka. Suja was at her graceful best, in supporting me wherever she could. I wanted to make sure that from next year onwards, I dont play two days every weekend, unless it comes to that.

This was the reason I put down the captaincy at MCCC - not that I put it this way, while detailing my decision to them. I think it was a good decision I took. My family is important to me as well and I have to take them into account in the way I spend my time.

With the advent of winter, it was going to be tough to sit it out at the weekends, doing nothing. I have always had a task in front of me, something which has kept me going and I needed something difficult to overcome. Whats next was the million rupee question.

After a lot of thiking, I arrived at 'learning how to play the piano'. Not that it is difficult, I used to consider this impossible when I was young - me getting to learn a musical instrument - but this time around, I decided I was ready for it.

In came a 20 pound Acoustic Solutions basic model Piano. Did some reading on the net on the basics of the keyboard. Western notations were quite simple. Chords are slightly tricky - they need you to be ambidextrous - thats something which I have to work on.

I can now play a small list of songs. - kal ho na ho; kuch kuch hota hai; uyirin uyire; snehidhane; chinna chinna aasai; thee thee from thiruda thiruda; swasame amongst other attempts. I have to go through formal training to ensure that I learn it well. I want to learn it, but need the conviction of time to think likewise.

Workwise, life has been quite interesting. Literally, every day had its own set of situations and some of them were quite dramatic. But I am learning to go through them, take the positives and the negatives in my stride and go on. Its not going to be a very easy month - December 2007 - I hope it goes on fine.

Finally, I have learnt a lot of things about how to prioritise time between family, friends and work. In the past month or so, I did a lot of introspection, thanks to some good advice, and trust me I have really re-aligned my parameters of importance -my circle of concern.

And the recent news of my boss suffering a health condition, has also been difficult to digest. She is undergoing a surgery this week and my prayers are with her. I wish her a quick recovery and hope she comes back to work soon.

Life, is not what it really is. Its what we think it to be. Mostly, we are wrong in our thinking. Such situations help us realise our mistakes and make corrective actions. Actions which can enhance the value of our breathing system.
Why we breathe is only important as long as 'When we breathe'.

Lets see what the future holds from now on.

Satish.