DEATH TO COKE

Well, the ritual is complete. This was on my mind for quite some time now, and finally it has materialised. On this day, the 25th of February 2007 I hereby solemnly vow:

"I shall not henceforth drink Pepsi or Coke
Both colas are injurious, it's no joke
I shall strive to keep up the pact
I suck at poetry, it's a fact"

The ritual was performed with the emptying of unused coke cans, and also donating a few. Always wanted to try out the MENTOS experiment as a fitting ritual of final rites, but it will be performed some other time. I remember the first time I drank pepsi- it was sometime when I was 8 . No sooner had I downed a bottle of pepsi, the fizz started to play on me. And I actually slept off in order to prevent the gas from escaping through my mouth! It was funny, and I have had many bottles and cans since then... but my stomach has already seen the last of these colas.



To drown the sorrow (or to celebrate?), I am going to drink lots and lots of milk! (Dhoodh, Dhoodh, Dhoodh, Dhoodh.. Dhoodh hai wonderful pee sakte hai roz glass-full) And yes, Dhoni ROCKS!!

SKI THRILLS

It was great, awesome, magnificent, fantastic, superb (and all other positive adjectives). Skiing downhill can be real fun, though at times a bit scary for first timers. We went to Wentworth ski resort last friday, some 2 hrs drive from my place. The whole trip was scripted to perfection- we rented a car and drove in our own sweet time, reached there and rented out our equipment at a deeply discounted rate. And then... fun for the next 6 hours! Though I had a tough time putting on the skis, it was smooth sailing (oops, skiing) from there on. We had a few basic lessons, and then we were on our own. Trust me folks, skiing is not as easy as it seems.

I had three nasty falls on the larger slope, one of which freaked me out! I went tumbling downhill quite some distance, snow all over my body. That was the nastiest fall and everything else was smooth. This is a small video clip of my downhill descent from the smaller, less steeper hill (so obviously much slower speed) just for the sake of photography. Photography at the larger hill was tough due to the curves and distances, and was not attempted.



If you have a chance in life to ski, go for it! You won't regret it.

OF JUMBOS AND PIGEONS

I have utmost respect for my man Glenn McGrath, the Australian fast bowler who can be best described as a ruthless annihilator with a robot-like action: accurate and deadly. The Aussie sportsmen have a tradition to have a nick name, and Glenn's nick does not refer to his bowling prowess. He is called "PIGEON" as he has rather small feet compared to his height of 6 and a half feet.

Closer home, Anil Kumble is called "JUMBO" for the same reason- his large shoe size. Well, it is also due to his flight in his deliveries. Another interesting character Ian Thorpe, (THORPEDO or TORPEDO as he is called) the champion swimmer from Australia (where else?) has a flipper-like foot of size 17. Shaquille O'Neal (NBA, Miami Heat) sports a monstrous 22. I could never imagine your shoe extending nearly 2 feet away from your legs! My mom used to say that having large feet would make you have more balance while walking and standing- well, having such sizes would make you rooted, then!