The idea of applying for host had germinated even while I was in Imperial in 2006/7. It took more than two years to take root. The idea of soaking in british culture and getting to know more about english people has always been high on my agenda. And host provides just that. So with a glimmer of light visible at the end of the phd tunnel, and effectively an end to the bliss state of life called 'student-life' in sight, I decided to apply for host in September this year. The application moved swiftly and I was intimated that my 'host' family would be somewhere in Wales. After a lull in communication for a while, I finally learnt (towards the end of september) that I would be hosted by the Nocks. Now the Nocks are a joint family - Roland and Margaret in their 40s, 18-yr old son michael, 16-year old Rachel, a dog, 6 ducks, 3 ducklings, 3 rats. or so I was told in the introductory mail. I was immidiately excited. On calling up Roland, I realised that Roland and Rachel had ...
The protagonist of our story, Mr. Wimby is a fan of Wimbledon. Its been ages (atleast his age) that he has followed Wimbledon. Be it watching Boris becker making delightful volleys, Be it Goran climbing up to his father upon making it finally to where he belonged, Be it staying up late hoping that the stupid television channel realises that paes is playing on court 10 - please switch to it, Be it hoping Nirupama vaidyanathan becomes first indian woman to make it to round 2. Wimby is no novice at the art of crashing in early at wimbledon to get ground entry on the day. But this time, there is more in store. Sunday, June 29 (6.30 pm): Wimby is languishing in his room at southampton. The distance to Wimbledon has gone up from last year (when he was based in london) but perhaps the urge is commensurate. An idea is seeded. A quick check with BBC weather and the idea takes root. A sunny Monday and Roger Federer on centre court. Sounds like an invitation to Wimby's ears. Just as a fail-sa...
Yesterdays incident at Cuttack when Dinesh Kartik hit a stupid six and denied tendulkar a chance to score his 89th century brought many thoughts to mind - Did tendulkar advice Kartik to play freely ? Did Kartik feel pressurised to score at a slow rate to allow tendular a century ? How must tendulkar be feeling ? I think to me the answer is clear - Tendulkar, is not only a brilliant cricketer, he is also a role-model for cricket itself. He is upholding the standards of the game by rating an indian victory much higher than individual records. In summary, I think he advised a budding cricketer call Mr. Dinesh Kartik to play each ball on its merit - a loose ball with 6 written over it - dispatch it to where it belongs. And in the process Mr. Tendulkar has given us a lesson on what is 'cricket' !
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