Lover, lunatics and poets are made of same stuff..

Lover, lunatics and poets are made of same stuff

--Bhagath Singh

Independent India just completed her 66 long years and entered her 67th  glorius year. We the people of India are proud to stand in the land that has borne innumerable souls who have shown light to the entire world at every step of evolution. The soldier standing far at the border stands tall because we  assure him that when he returns he is coming home to smiling faces.

We the members of Bangalore SHG and TISA acknowledge that freedom has not come for free and there is a cost. People gone by have paid for this freedom with their livelihood, spirit, tireless work, blood, sweat and life.

Glory to my nation and a very happy Independence Day to you all.

Greetings everybody!!

First of all I apologise that I took this long to come up with the report. I understand that things committed for must not depend on your state of mind- (courtesy- Anonymous)

10th August 2013- The SHG day started for me as  I rode the way from north to south east, on the ever long, ever narrow, grey road. The session had already started with Dinesh, navdeepe, thenna, chandan and Avnish. I joined a good fifteen minutes late.  The moment I settled down, I heard someone saying ‘Gupshup’ and that stuck in my head for the entire class… was waiting for this thing to happen( atleast in gupshup we are- normal. Not superhumans ARGUING INTELECTUALLY! ).

This week  was about sports and outdoors! Thenna had collected some interesting articles about ancient outdoor games and sports of India and shared the context of the session. Further to this we went on to address the nation with SlooooW reading.

As always my mind was having its own naughty time to settle down to be Sloooow. But lo!

After the reading, there entered our Shasitha, dressed in a pearly white satin, with deep blue shrugs embroiled top. On a closer look it was Jithu in his usual style- denims and shirt! Shasi tha abhi jithu ho gaya (old PJ)…  soon after this activity, Thenna suggested we have a discussion on the read article, and there started the talk.

The class put forward its various thoughts and ideas about what differentiates sports and games. As I was taking a good ½ min to tell the word ‘competing’ with my breath running out after every 5th eye blink, Nishil entered. The crowd got a little distracted towards his entry and I finally uttered ‘competing’!

I am not sure why we started giggling about ‘game in love but yes it turned the mood lighter. ‘’Girl and boy play games but don’t tackle sportingly’’ was the very serious conclusion of the difference between games and sports!

The next activity was that every individual had to talk about the sport they like/play or a sports personality they admire.

Thenna talked about football and explained the ‘curve’ kick. Most of us who have watched football matches must have been amused by the curve kick executed by many and made famous by Bekham or Ronaldo. Thenna explained in a simple languge as to how its done.

Nishil spoke about various outdoors he was into and then taking up indoor games. Chess is a game he enjoys and has quite a mastery over it. He spends half of his working hours playing chess (Wonder if that generates a lot of money for HP).

Dinesh dodged the topic cricket for marbles. He recollected his childhood when although he  managed to win several marbles of Taj Mahal which came in green  and circular in shape, how he could not show off his achievement at house and why his mom was not happy about he bringing Taj Mahal to his home.

Navdeep a.k.a Navdeepey spoke about her interest in badminton and how they used to play while in school. She still has a flair for the sport but Bangalore conditions, land. air are pretty hostile towards her :p (atleast she feels so)

Chandan narrated his hands in different games.  He has some good knowledge about computer gaming and is quite tactful with it. Although his initial interest was in cricket why and how he too chose indoors.

Avnish spoke about how his fitness was while in school and what best he did back then! he enjoyed and excelled in the Indian sport kho-kho. (upto which level you played, Avnish?)

Jithu enjoys playing cricket and manages to make time for it on occasions. On the whole though he changed his city on the lookout for better prospectus, cricket managed to set him going along with the challenges.

I ….. parkouring. Although I enjoy playing football and watching it, I am quite drawn to this urban street-sport called as parkouring, which literally means the art of displacement. This is quite an interesting activity that is slowly gaining takers in India and over the globe.

Post this some of us were ready with prepared speeches.

Navdeepey presented about ‘India and the craze it has towards cricket’. She showcased why the game, cricket, is so madly followed. Her relating this craze to the pre-Independence time from when it originated and how Indians felt it was very important to play the sport right and win over the English was something that kept the crowd in awe.

Dinesh gave a speech on why cricket for him is not just a game but a way of life. He showed this by associating the cricket field to life’s arena and the players to each one of us donning different responsibilities at different points of time. The strongest and fastest need not always be the man of the match!

We again got back to the discussion. We talked about the view an outsider has about India and why describing India as a whole is not justified with only a few examples and observations. When we talk about a nation that does not bring medals from the Olympics, is it just because we lack good encouragement and trainers? Or also because we are a nation beyond a Milkha, beyond a Paan Singh-we are varied. And this variation also manifests in the way one thinks. A country that has 2/3 BPL can it afford to sport and excel in that sense?

The class dispersed with these questions…

(Write-up by Pramod)