How Do We Spell God? S.A.C.H.I.N.

Pre-Script :
 This is a re-post of my blogpost http://flibbertigibbetsurbhi.quora.com/How-do-we-spell-God which I posted when His Highness Sachin Tendulkar got retired. I am posting it again here since it's His birthday today :)


Is it ok to call Sachin god?
No...it would be a non sequitur...God isn't as great as His Highness Sachin Tendulkar.
For He is the answer to how just one man can hold a nation's breath...how can one person put a smile on a billion faces with a single stroke of his bat...

On a train from Shimla to Delhi,there was a halt in one of the stations. The train stopped by for few minutes as usual.sachin was nearing century, batting on 98.The passengers, railway officilas, everyone on the train waited for Sachin to complete the century. This genius can stop time in India!

(Peter Roebuck,former Somerset captain and journalist)

200 matches...329 innings...15921 runs...51 centuries...68 half-centuries (Test cricket)

463 matches...18426 runs...49 centuries...96 half-centuries...154 wickets (ODIs)

But when it comes to Sachin, don't just look at the stats.

Cricketing abilities allied with a greed to bat and an excessively healthy appetite for hardwork, intense focus that is unswayed by praise or criticism, a passion so deep that it's hard to distinguish cricket from Him and Him from cricket...that's Him...that's Sachin Tendulkar...a cricketer who defined His generation.

He has created records, challenged Himself and the world, averted controversies and above all, He has maintained as low a profile as a man constantly in the focus of world media can...He is a shining example of merit eclipsing all odds.

One God saluting other


There are a lot of things that we can learn from the Master Blaster's life...

Focus
That's perhaps the biggest reason of His success...He epitomises perfection...and perfection, undoubtedly, is a result of His focused practice.

He has been a genius when it comes to ability, a trojan when it comes to work ethic and a maniac when it comes to focus.

(Viv Richards)

Do what you enjoy doing
That's what drives Him to create the magic on the field...He simply is in love with cricket...and the happiness that He derives from playing is evident in the countless records that He has broken during course of His journey between  22 yards...As His better-half,Dr Anjali Tendulkar aptly puts it -

I can imagine cricket without him but I can't imagine Sachin without cricket.

When the going gets tough, the tough gets going
He has never let His injuries,failures bog Him down...He took all criticism in His stride and proved that He is the true superstar...

Don't let success go to your head
Even at the top of His career, He never took the game lightly, nor His success too seriously...His hardwork and respect for His profession have lasted all throughout His career..He has His own impeccable ways of doing things - He lets His bat do all the talking.

Be humble

Harsha Bhogle's words to Sachin: 

I have often said that you could have, with the pedestal we put you on, looked down at the game below, that you could have allowed yourself to think you were its biggest star. Instead, you remained a servant, always putting the game and its traditions first. Much has changed around you but your respect for the game hasn’t. It is a nice lesson for those obsessed with stardom and its trappings.And that is why I think one of your biggest contributions to Indian cricket was in not behaving like the star you were.

Dear Sachin,
Nobody stirs as many emotions as you do...you make us smile, you make us cry (the farewell speech was so heart-rending.) you make us proud, you unite us all in our love for you.
You are a gift from heaven.
You are the pride and joy of India.
No doubt you are the youngest Bharat Ratna. 
There won't be another one like you.

Happy Birthday, my hero :)

P.S.

1. I wanted to write so much about Him but could articulate only this bit...because words wouldn't suffice.
2. Apart from the stats and quotes about Him, I collected this little information about him from various newspapers which I could not fit in above -
 He doesn't just hit on the field but in the kitchen as well...He is a great cook..He once cooked baingan barta for the whole team.
His favourite movie is sholay.
His favourite song is main zindagi ka sath nibhata chala gaya from the movie hum dono.

o-Office o-Office

तेरे इश्क़ ने बना दिया सरकारी दफ़्तर मुझको,

ना किसी की बात सुनता हूँ, ना कोई काम करता हूँ !!!

My dear Ghalib-fanatics, lovesick, infatuated ishaqzaado, please come out of your reverie of your last date with your beloved and focus not on ishaq but on the sarkaari daftar.

How many of you remember Musaddilal ? He was the protagonist of this fabulous serial called office office.

I have always been a great fan of this serial.The plot revolves around the plight of a common man and his fight with the corrupt employees of governement departments...a perfect satire on the scenario in a sarkaari daftar...

My personal experience with DU taught me the same about the government employees. Whenever I had to renew my DTC student pass- 

Monday, KMC Admin Dept, DU 

               10 am - nobody has arrived in the office yet.

               11 am - the official sips his tea while the students wait 

(there is no line...wake up dude, this is DU...I mean it's Delhi...I mean it's India...we don't have any lines here because His Highness Amitabh Bachchan taught us ages back that  hum jahan khade hote hain, line wahin se shuru hoti hai)

               12 noon - I am still waiting...trying to get my form signed.

               12:30 pm - I am right next to the window and WHAM !

He shuts the window saying "lunch time"..."but it is 12:30 and lunch timings are 1-2pm", I try to reason with him but in vain.

               2:30pm - the window is still shut (lunch timings : 1-2pm, just saying)

               3 pm- Form signed but the battle has just begun.

Tuesday, DTC office, DU

               10 am- I am waiting.

               12 noon- I am waiting

                3 pm- I give up and return.

Wednesday, DTC office, DU

(repeat the above procedure.)

Thursday, DTC office, DU

               10am- I am waiting.

               12:30 pm- I submit my form

               1 pm - I get my renewed bus pass.

So with such experiences during three years of my graduation at DU and my years of watching the show Office Office, when I was recently sent to audit a Government company, I had in my mind the image of lethargic people trying to harass the common people to vent out their personal frustrations. Plus my friends placed in government companies tell me their stories about how the whole department tries to procrastinate the work, never listen to any reason or logic whatsoever and spend the lunch time (official lunch timings 1-2pm, actual lunch timings12-3pm) talking about desh mei hai kitna bhrashtachaar, ab ki bar modi sarkaar :D

And so I reached the office of National Insurance Company, DRO- II...Little did I know that a huge surprise awaited me.

Expectation : A boring office full of files and irritated government employees.

Reality : A clean, nice office full of files and cheerful employees.

I asked for Mr T.C. Gupta...The manager...

Expectation : a fat aged man with loads of quintessential government-official-attitude.

Reality : a lean and extremely humble person who knows his work.

He told me about the company...about his own experiences...that this was his first and last job...he began at a mere Rs600 and how paved his way to the top with his patience and perseverance.

He then introduced me to his staff - 

         

 (left to right)
Mr T.C. Gupta, Radhika Sabharwal
The girl in saffron kurti is a great CA in making who would conquer the whole world
Just kidding, that's me. :D
Mr Gaurav Dixit (My Sir),Varun Bansal (a fellow article), Mr P.K. Singh.










Mr Sunil Dua, Mr Bhupinder Kumar and the lady standing behind me is Mrs Sunita Mittal.







Expectation : lazy and uncaring people whiling away their time in gossips.
Reality : Warm- hearted, caring people actually concerned about their company's growth and the associated people. 
(Dua Sir is by far the most jovial person I ever came across. He has the capability to guffaw at anything and everything. Sunita Ma'am ensured that I ate my lunch and got tea/juice on time)  


And so I began my work...I started studying the last year reports...I was supposed to audit the regional office which had 19 branches under it...the data from the branches was consolidated at the regional level...I read the CAG report, the audit report, the tax audit report...It was hell boring (Shh, as a CA I am supposed to love this work so please don't blurt this out.)

Apart from the swivel chair, when everybody calls you Ma'am, it feels good too :P

 To prevent my mind from constantly drifting away to thoughts of shahi paneer and naan (yes, you guessed it right I am a hardcore Punjabi) that I was going to order for my lunch, I looked around the office.
My observations - 

1. Files...FILES...F.I.L.E.S...

nothing new, that's normal if you are doing CA.

2. Everybody, EVERYBODY [except me] was working.

(Though it is unnecessary to point out but I hope you noticed the files.)

3. Each person seemed so polite, helpful, humble and cooperative.

( Am I still in Delhi?)

4. Lunch timings 1:30- 2pm and people follow it. No plus one hour  each to the lower and upper limit.

 (Is this really a government office?)

5. There is a constant sound buzzing through the office whole day as the old dot matrix printer keeps churning out paper.

The NIC staff has been given Samsung Galaxy smartphones (ain't it so cool?) and the best of PCs to work on but the printer remains the one that my great-grandfather used after he borrowed it from his father. (who on earth uses the dot matrix printer nowadays?!).

6. Talking about printing, one thing that greatly bothers me is the fact that there is absolutely no regard for the paper that is wasted in mindless printing of vouchers, bills, debit notes blah blah.

 The signed balance sheet along with annexures and other schedules comprised almost of 100 pages and there were 8 sets prepared for the same. And the final set was printed after making a hundred thousand changes as asked by the auditors (read surbhi makkar and jay) so roughly we printed about 1000 pages today (the day the balance sheet got signed).

7. Tea is to government employees as cricket is to India. 

Need I say more?

Thank God, the canteen had this saviour that I sipped away daily - 










 (Don't miss the files)

8. The Ramacharitramanas.

Gupta Sir has been following this routine since 1980 (I asked him this specifically). During the 30mins lunch break, he reads out aloud to the whole staff two chaupaai of The Ramacharitramanas.Daily.Without fail.
I have never seen such a thing in any office. It was something novel in a very inexplicable way, if I am making any sense !
When I started the audit, Lord Rama was leaving for his 14years long exile...when I wrapped up the audit, almost after a month, it was time for bharat-milaap.
I am not a religious person at all. I hardly go to temples. But I felt that there was always an atmosphere of utmost serenity in the office during these 15mins.

Oh I almost forgot to mention that the government audit enhanced my knowledge as well as exposed me to an entirely different domain. Since CAG audits the government companies as well, I got to learn quite a lot...esp about the section 619(3) of the Companies Act. :P

NIC totally changed my notions about a government company...oh by the way, the company achieved its target of 10,000 crore premium in this fiscal year...highest ever by any company in India...I think it's really really commendable.
See you next year, NIC :D

Yours sincerely
Statutory Auditor



P.S.

I would like to thank Jay for helping me click these pictures, for eating whatever I ordered, for answering all my stupid doubts and queries, for lending me his phone to play fruit ninja when I got bored of all the files surrounding me and last but not the least for waiting for me at the metro station daily because I got (unintentionally!) late almost everyday :P

दास्तान-ए-ज़िंदगी...

Pre- script: This post is dedicated to the most beautiful language, the language that conveys the depth of the emotions like no other means- URDU...I was introduced to urdu by my baba, my grandfather, when I was a kid...It has stayed with me ever since...and my love for the language has only continued to grow as I progress along the road of life...

ज़िंदगी ज़िंदादिली का नाम है

मुर्दादिल भी क्या खाक जिया करते हैं... !

(Life is for the brave hearts...cowards don't live a life.)

बात तो किरदार की होती है

वरना क़द में तो साया भी इंसान से बड़ा होता है...!

(It all zeroes down to the character of a person, else even the shadow is bigger and taller than a man.)

 

इस यकीन पर अंधेरों में सफ़र जारी है

कि मिल ही जाएँगे उजाले मुझको... !

(Carrying on with the dark journey of life with the faith that I'll someday find light.)

अगर रास्ता खूबसूरत है तो पता करो किस मंज़िल को जाता है

लेकिन, अगर मंज़िल खूबसूरत है तो रास्ते की परवाह मत करना... !

(If the journey is beautiful,worry about where it leads you but if the destination is beautiful, don't care about the journey, no matter how tough.)

ज़िंदगी जीने का मज़ा उस वक़्त आता है जब जीने का कोई ख़ास मकसद हो

वरना तो जानवर भी ज़िंदगी गुज़ार ही लेते हैं... !

(Life has meaning only when it has got some purpose. Only animals have a life without any special purpose.)

अभी आगाज़-ए-सफ़र में यूँ घबरा गये तुम

अभी सफ़र-ए-हयात में बहुत मंज़िल बाकी है... !

(Don't get scared at the inception of this journey called life. It has a lot to show, this is just the beginning.)

पूछो तो हर एक है तनहा सुलग रहा

देखो तो शहर शहर है मेला लगा हुआ...!

(Every place is buzzing with people and yet in reality, each of us here is lonely.)

किस किस को पेह्चानोगे इस शहर की भीड़ में

हर एक के चेहरे पर है हज़ार नक़ाब चढ़े हुए... !

(Everybody here wears a thousand masks, whom can you recognize and trust in this crowd of millions)

मंज़िल पे पहुँचने की होती है तलब जिनको

वो रास्ते में रुक कर सोचा नहीं करते... !

(Those who seek nothing but the success, don't stop and think about the obstacles in the path)

वो खुद ही तये करते हैं मंज़िल आसमानों की

परिंदों को नहीं दी जाती तालीम उड़ानों की

रखते हैं जो होंसला आसमान छूने का

उनको नहीं होती परवाह गिर जाने की... !

(Birds are not taught to fly, it is in their very nature.Those who seek success and have the courage to touch the sky,are not scared of setbacks and falls.)

 

कामयाबी बुलंद हौसलों और पुख़्ता इरादे वालों को ही मिलती है

डरकर जीने वाले कल भी पीछे थे, और आज भी पीछे ही हैं...!

(Success is tasted by the ones with courage, high aims and dogged determination...losers always remain losers. )

Benevolence for Blue, Glee for Green, Satisfaction for Saffron...My Real Holi.

"May this Holi fill colours of happiness, prosperity and love in your life"- whatsapp-ed my friend from her new Samsung Note III.

Samsung Note Series...My love for it began about 3 years back when I first laid eyes on the original Samsung Note- the first in the series...and my love only deepened further with Note II and III...

I was just trying to imagine the happiness my friend must be feeling when my brother reminded me that we were supposed to go donate our old stuff to the needy...that's how I had planned to celebrate Holi this time before the thoughts of Note III had clouded my mind.

And so we left.

The Cobbler.

I noticed how deftly he sew the shoes of the gentlemen, mended the heels that carry the models that the gentlemen so love to watch...it was then that I realized the paradox - he wore battered shoes.

The person who makes sure the world walks around in proper, impeccable shoes had those battered pieces of leather for shoes...I gave him an old pair of shoes and a few clothes for his children...The heartfelt smile that followed is something that the 13 mp camera of Note III would not have been able to capture...His sincere words "apki zindagi mei khushi ke rang bhare uparwala" made me feel so little...Though it was I who was wearing branded clothes and shoes but I felt he was richer than me in every sense...Here I was, cribbing over not owning the Samsung Note and there he was, happy with clothes and shoes that I no longer wanted to wear.

He taught me that we should be happy in whatever God has given us...Things are worse for others and are a lot better for us...We have what 90% of the people would do anything to have.

The Construction Workers.

The paradox again - people who build houses for everybody have nothing more than a temporary shelter made up of plastic sheets and bamboo to live...I gave whatever clothes and shoes that were left to the children and wives of the construction workers...One of the children started crying because he got clothes from me but no shoes...I felt so helpless...I chided myself for wishing to have Samsung Note III when there were people who had no houses to sleep in, no shoes to wear and no food to eat.

This was such an eye opener..I realized that I was so fortunate...I have much more than I need to be content...I pledged to stop complaining and giving out more to those who are less fortunate.

I wish to confess that these colours of benevolence, happiness and satisfaction have left indelible marks on my soul...Red, blue and green gulaal might come off after a few days but these colours would not...This was my first real, meaningful Holi...I now understand the significance of the festival...what the hackneyed Holi message of ' filling the colours of joy and happiness' actually means.I hope to continue doing such gestures not just because they make someone else happy but because they make ME feel happy...and alive...and human...and good.

I don't know why I am reminded of one of the poems of ZNMD here,

Dilon mein tum apni

Betaabiyan leke chal rahe ho
Toh zinda ho tum

Nazar mein khwabon ki
Bijliyan leke chal rahe ho
Toh zinda ho tum

Hawa ke jhokon ke jaise
Aazad rehno sikho
Tum ek dariya ke jaise
Lehron mein behna sikho
Har ek lamhe se tum milo
Khole apni bhaayein
Har ek pal ek naya samha
Dekhen yeh nigahaein
Jo apni aankhon mein
Hairaniyan leke chal rahe ho
Toh zinda ho tum

Dilon mein tum apni
Betaabiyan leke chal rahe ho
Toh zinda ho tum

Have a meaningful Holi :)