Boris Becker - the player

I stumbled upon this book by chance when i went to the Landmark book sale.
I am a huge Boris fan. The blond lashes, the rocking of the racket twice back and forth and then the booming serve, the man was charismatic as well as a great tennis player.
This book takes us through his long journey on the court (and off it), his moments of great distress, his friends, coaches, lucrative contracts, women etc..
He won the Wimbledon in 85 when he was 17 years old. He did it again in 86 proving that the previous year was no fluke beating a hapless Lendl that day. He went on to win everything there was to win but the elusive title at Rolland Garros. Along with Michael Stich he won the doubles gold at Barcelona.
The book also gives an insight to his tax evasion problems, his illegitimate daughter but for me his recollection of encounters with Stefan Edberg, Agassi, Mcenroe, Sapmras et al. is what makes this book a stand out for me.
A must read for any boris fan...

There seems to be no fun no aim in what i do these days. My life has become so mechanical that i can now do the job of the lathe i used to work on back in college. All the rush to get into the top colleges and schools and choose the right subjects now seems a waste of time. Work is so bloody over hyped. You study and slog like a mad person trying to do well for yourself and try and get into that job which will make you happy and you could then feel a sense of accomplishment. I feel nothing of that. I have a good job, a decent enough salary and yet i feel incomplete. Getting up in the morning rushing to work and then coming back exhausted with no will or time to do anything is fast becoming the story of my life.

Office is fun but it takes so much of my time. I can hardly believe that i have been here for 1.5 years. I love the work that i do but i will soon hit a plateau and god save me after that. There are new avenues to look for but the existing workload does not let you venture into those avenues.

The less said about personal life the better....

I feel increasingly restless, irritated and disoriented these days. I miss my metro stops, leave my ipod at work. I cannot read books anymore, haven't watched a movie at home since god knows when. My temper has become worse and i am a lazy lump .

I have not blogged in ages and there is no motivation to do anything these days. I don't even feel the need to do a spellcheck on this post or think for a title...i just dont care.

And the Aussie juggernaut rolls on...

Love em or hate em, they are the best.

There is simply no stopping this team. Hats off to them for putting on a show that throws light on the fact that the rest of the world is nowhere close to this team which is simply superb in all aspects of the game.

Bowl first or bat first, they will outplay you.

Many congratulations to the punter and his team.

Shimla - Lost in Transition

Traditionally, Shimla is supposed to be one of the most visited hill stations in the country. It is well connected by road, rail and air. The British made it their summer capital in the early 1900s.

I remember going to Shimla first in 1997. I was in awe of the place. The scenic landscape, the picturesque surroundings and the whole environment took my breath away. I remember vividly walking in the mall area, admiring the NG trains and appreciating the colonial charm associated with the city.

The Shimla of today is a concrete jungle. You see buildings everywhere and the city is not what it used to be earlier. A recent notification, that states that the roofs of the buildings should be either green or red, has done little to improve the "commercial" look that the city has managed to take. The number of tourists visiting the Queen of Hills is gradually decreasing. I was surprised to see the number of hotels, resorts coming up in places like Solan etc which are en route to Shimla. Many people no longer like to come to Shimla and instead stay at places like Solan, Tara Devi etc..

The Mall has become a farce. It looks like a Mumbai local train at peak hour and you constantly step on people's feet to move forward. There is litter everywhere. Mobile magistrates are not efficient enough. This New Year turned the Mall into a free for all. People were up to all kinds of nonsense in this public place.

Parking is an eternal problem in Shimla. Multi level parking's are being constructed but they never seem to be enough. There is a traffic jam almost always at the bus stand and the Bye Pass road to Kufri is bad in patches.

The locals are disgusted by the amount of commercialization seen in their city and some claim that their place of birth is slowly being strangled to death.