A Tribute, Long Due !!!

I take the opportunity of the ongoing Universal Basketball Alliance (UBA), to present a tribute which  has been a due since long to a person who has played such an important role in my life. Some people just arrive into your life without any prior notice, and stay. And I’m very glad that this person, with whom my interaction just started as a mere ‘coach-pupil’ and then slowly but very strongly graduated to Well-wisher, then a friend and finally as a brother! And he is none other than the Charismatic, Who’s jaw dropping moves on the court need no introduction  its none other than the skipper of Hyderabad Sky: Prasad Salla!!!

Our meeting happened out of sheer accident (albeit, a good one) in one of the public basketball courts (which eventually became my home). I had just joined college then and had picked up the ball after  a long gap. I was playing basketball just for the love of it and had very little technical know-how of the game. Since our college did not have a court then, so a tournament meant that we teammates dropped by at nearest public courts for practice.  It was here that I first saw this person, who was already drenched in sweat by the time we came. He used to continuously shoot, practice his moves, take a break, repeat and by the time we finished our so called ‘hard practice’ he was still going on. Almost a week passed by and one day myself and a friend decided to play a little longer. As the other team-mates left we continued to play 1-on-1 and finally stopped when we thought it was ‘bad-light’. Then at this point we got to see what was happening on the other end of the court. This ‘person’ was still shooting in almost darkness and once he finished his routine with the ball, cycles of push-ups, crunches and sprints followed, endlessly.

The next day, we were back to practice with our team, and trying to play with the best of our ‘negligible knowledge’  we had of game plays. Finally this ‘person’  who probably laughed the entire week watching us dumb-heads play, walks up and says that he’d like to suggest a few moves/plays and we followed his instructions. So far so good. Now he says, “let’s put these moves you've just learnt to practice in a match scenario”. Here, I can assure you that we weren’t good players, but definitely not bad as a team. Coming back, he further adds, “we shall play 1 on 5”. Yes us 5 against just him!!  This statement stumped us clean.  Anyway what followed next was his unforgettable display of incredible talent, flawless skill and sheer athleticism.  The next day he ups the ante to 1 on 8 and we lost, as usual. Ladies and Gentlemen, that’s Prasad for you!

We lost the tournament that we were preparing for, but then it dawned on me that if I had to realize my dream of playing well, I needed a coach. And I exactly knew who that should be. At that point, apart from the name and team he plays for, I knew nothing of him. To my bad-luck, I visit the same public courts to get hold of him and he’s not there. The same result every single day. Finally, after  a month or so I bump into a team-mate of his and request his number. I call him up and I ask him if I could meet him. He gladly agrees and that one meeting, from that point on changed everything else for me. He starts to teach me basketball from the very fundamentals and his repeated emphasis on strong basics, which I always hated, but nevertheless followed. I realized the importance of these fundamentals, years later when I played on a higher level, in a foreign land. 

This man has an immense level of patience off-court and if you take him for granted, get ready to face exactly the opposite on-court. Make an unfair play, and he beats you down to the ground with the ball, literally. Talk trash to him and he answers first with the ball and then with his Devil’s level of sarcasm!! He teaches you how to beat him, but yet beats you time after time, even after letting out his secrets! Such is the level of confidence of this hoopster

He’s the perfect example of ‘age is just a number’  and this ‘Scoring machine’ manages to nail all his shots, without any excuses that we mortals usually make:

-       “I’m too tired”. Beats youngsters half of his age.

-       “I don’t have shoes”. He plays barefoot, even today.

-       “The ball is out of shape”. He does ‘nothing but the net’ with the same

-       “I don’t have my shorts”. He breaks your ankle,  in his jeans.

These are just a few examples of his prowess when it comes to the game of basketball. Not many know that he’s a natural athlete who covers almost every other game with equal ease. Football, Badminton, Cricket, Table Tennis,….. he got them all covered!!  Off the court, he’s none less than a celeb. And mind you that this status is no where related to his exploits on-court. He’s pure mischief and the laughter that follows will leave your stomach in pain, each time!!! Never to say ‘no’ to anyone who comes to him for help and does everything he can, within his reach and stretches further!

More than a great hoopster, he’s a wonderful person at heart, who has been playing the different roles in his life as: a son, a brother, a husband, a father, a player and a coach with effortless aplomb!!

As your pupil, I only thank you for one and only one thing: for taking me under your tutelage! And life has never been the same for me, ever again!!! Today I dedicate every: win, high performance play, impossible shot and every DUNK that I ever made to YOU!!

Lastly, not to forgot, I’m still training to beat you in our forever 1-on-1 which you’ve beaten me every single time till date. And yes the day I beat you and when you buy me that beer we always bet on, that beer will be the best tasting one! Get ready coach, I'm coming!!

Cheers to you bro !!

Cheers to Basketball !!!

A Story, 'The' Message.

                                                PART-I: The story

Close to around 11:00 pm on a Tuesday night, I head out to my usual late-night desert binge. Soon I am at the red light on an intersection, and see a young lady trying to start her 2-wheeler. I instinctively have the thought to offer help to her, but I back out thinking, "Oh she'll think that every guy will come to help when a girl is in trouble and later become over-friendly...." As the green flashes by, I somehow get over my ego and ask her, "Do you need any help madam?". And without the slightest sign of hesitation comes the reply, "Actually, YES". I park my vehicle aside and walk up to her and ask, "can I know what's the problem?". She says, "I'm out of fuel. I did have a back-up bottle in the boot but somehow the cap got undone and now it's also empty." And to her bad luck, tonight for a change, I swapped my motor-bike with dad's scooter, and one can't take out fuel from the scooter without the help of an external tube. The only way was to tow her bike to the nearest petrol bunk approx 2kms away. I convey the same to her. I give her instructions to hold the bike still and maintain her balance, while I use the power from my bike to put some momentum into her's. She sticks to my instructions to the T, and since there is no traffic at that hour, things were running smoothly. 

As soon as we covered a few hundred meters, she started saying this very often, "I'm so sorry, you are taking so much of a trouble for me". And I kept on telling her either one of these- "It's okay, absolutely no problem / your folks at home must be worried, so better get home soon." But she keeps on saying the same thing and it's kinda getting on to me. And I finally say without mincing my words, "madam, unfortunately these days, very bad things are happening with the women in our country. so it's very important you get home safely, asap." Having said that, for the remainder of the tow, she only says, "Am I holding the bike steady? are you fine?" I say, " yes, please continue the same way." 

Finally we arrive at the petrol bunk and I ask her one last time, "Madam, are you doing fine? Is there anything else that you need?" She walks up to me, removes her helmet and scarf underneath, extends her hand to follow it with a firm hand shake (stressing this because very few women do that) to say, "Thank you very much, it really means a lot to help at this hour." I say, "no problem madam, you take care and reach home safe".

                                         PART- II: The Message

My blogging habit is such that unless something really happens to me from deep within, I really can't come up with anything worthwhile to post. Among the host of things that are on my mind especially about the Nation's affairs from corruption to bifurcation of states, the security of women was really bothering me. But I couldn't have a say on any of them. All the major incidents that have been reported, starting from Mangalore, then Delhi and now Mumbai; Seriously, what's happening people? Can't we just simply sleep in peace without the worry that the women from our household will return home safe?

To the entire womankind: do not live in fear. Let this fear not be a 'Weapon of Concern' for your parents, brother, husband or whoever; that they use it so effectively that your freedom is snipped. But most importantly, each of you women need to take a different, smarter approach of something like "fight fire with fire". A forest fire is put out not by pouring gallons of water but by simply lighting another fire from the opposite end. Now, over here, this is a forest of thorns made up by filthy men who have done things that shouldn't have been done to women. Women out there should brace up themselves against such filth, armed in various ways so that such people will be nipped in their thought of committing a sin. Irrespective of you are in India or abroad, you must follow the below :

•  Outing: Step out in at least a group of 2 when you now that it's going to be a late-night or a distant trip.
• Vehicle: "Take care of your machine and the machine takes care of you". It could be your car or bike, always keep them well maintained, as an empty fuel tank situation can be avoided 200%.
• As for the unexpected engine breakdowns, flat tyres, etc. Keep your phone ready to dial up your SOS person. 
• Phone: Assign speed dial to your most important numbers. 
• Phone: students yes, all of you have a very tight budget. And keeping your phone always with balance might be a problem. Call 100/ local emergency numbers. You can dial from any mobile even with zero balance. Call a cop and they'll at least come down until your personal help arrives
• Phone: Have some discipline to keep it well charged at all times, just like you trim your nails without fail.
•  Pepper spray: Yes they are now a common commodity in all of the medical, cosmetic, beauty-care shops all over the country. Carry one in our hand bag, your car, your bike. And be smart, READ THE USAGE INSTRUCTIONS. And they cost less than what you spend on a facial.
• Pepper spray: order one now:  

                  http://www.healthkart.com/personal-care/women/self-defense

• Instincts: Nothing will beat your gut feelings. When you are out, always stay alert. Pay attention to the surroundings. For example: in a building that you just entered for the first time, quickly glance the number of exits it has. Such little observations will make a lot of difference during an emergency.

     

I am writing this message from a group of like-minded men-> a friend, a brother, a boyfriend & a husband who are very much concerned about his- friend, sister, girlfriend  & wife. All of us respect you to be independent, self-reliant and self-sustained. Trust us, we will be more proud than anybody else seeing you to be indpendent, etc. But we request you not to confuse our concern for Male-Chauvinism. We care about you more than ourselves. We don't mind when you all are going out  on your own in a bike/car, to late night parties, or whatever. We believe in you and really don’t care where you go to have fun; but practically, we want you to keep us informed about your well being at all times, so that incase of an emergency, we will be the first to be by your side. Therefore, during these testing times for the Urban Indian Woman, we want you to be more smart, instinctive and aggressive in the approach towards your goals. Together we can.

                                          PART-III : The Bottom-line

I might have never come up with this post had I not encountered this incident. In the end, as I see; it all boils down to that one millisecond when the light turned green and had I gone away....... not that anything would have happened to her, but simply reading about the past incidents in the daily news will be enough to poke my conscious for a life time. I wish that if not all the women in the entire world, at least those in my circle will understand this post and take care of themselves.

Beauty, Enigma.

      The Great Indian Railway after so many years, finally put one odd in favor of me. It’ only in the movies that one gets to travel a long journey with a beautiful girl sitting right across your seat. But, one cannot deny that movies are mostly inspired from true events of life.. blah blah.... Any way, let me not waste any more time.

     I am on an official trip to another city and as I keep running on the rail station’s platform to check the seat reservation charts, I see this girl, definitely not from my region, with the most impressive fair complexion and I say this because even though I’ve seen women much fairer (No racism here and personally I have a thing for the dusky types), she caught my eye. She’s as plainly dressed as possible, where we definitely can't find such types in the big cities, atleast for a girl who has such beauty and charm.

     That’s about it and past experiences have taught me well that it would be the last time I’m gonna see her at the platform. The train arrives and I head to  my coach searching for my seat. For already sulking that I am about the journey, I find her right opposite my seat and I decide for myself that I’m gonna find not some, but enough excitement all through the journey, that was supposed to be boring!

      As  the train pulls of the station and everybody settles down, I quickly bury myself in a book and throw my ears into ‘hypersensitive’ mode. The girl is accompanied probably, by her overweight mother (I leave the reason of doubt as only a few facial features suggest to be her mother but all the other things point to  the possibility of she being her grandmother can’t be ruled out) and a couple of guys.

      My ears slowly start picking up the conversation from them. One guy in their group happens to be her cousin and the rest his friends. My instinctive impressions about the girl at the rail station which I mentioned earlier, turned out to be true. It happens that they are from a not so big city in the western part of the country and her attitude, body language reinforced this fact.

      Now, I bet had she been from a big city, even with a quarter of the looks she has right now, she would have thrown her attitude around and with a guy like me throwing the glances every now and then, she would have been all haughty. But  she seems to be totally opposite. Frankly, it seems to be a real fresh, totally new feeling that one usually doesn’t get looking at women in a metro.

      She’s neatly dressed in a salwar kameez, very tidy from tip to toe , neatly manicured nails, skin seems to be no different in tone or health from the face, arms and feet; smooth as silk. Which could suggest that she hardly ventures out and might be from those children of wealthy business/agri families in the small towns. Cosmetics, seem to never have adulerated her skin.  Bespectacled, I guess only to provide a shield from a guy's prying looks into her brown eyes.

     Solid black stone ear-rings are a bold contrast to her creamy skin tone and are like loud speakers shouting “look at my beautiful ears”. A simple plated gold watch adorns her wrist and with not even the slightest of sun-tan further proves that she’s probably a princess from a palace elsewhere.

      Until here, I keep throwing my spying looks and I’ve still not decided to write this until one thing happened. We’re into a good 2-3 hrs in our journey which was a late afternoon departure and the sun now began to set. By this time, I was perched atop my berth and fell into a quick nap. I opened my eyes and looked at my watch to check the time and instinctively I look down to check her out, again. I see not a woman in flesh, but in the purest form of Gold. It was as if the rays of the downing sun bounce of her skin taking away all the flesh and depositing pure gold! It was at this instant that I decide to put my thoughts into words. But again, I hold back for a while thinking what will happen if the co-passengers even have a glance of what I’ll be typing in my laptop?  And at the same time I realize that if I don’t pen (electroniacally) at this moment, everything will be gone. And out of no where, thank’s to Sherlock Holmes' stories, he lights up an idea. I pull out my laptop and adjust to this particular bold cursive font on the word sheet and voila! It's only me who can see the text straight on and any attempts by people beside me to look from the corner of their eye, will see nothing but an ECG!

      All of a sudden I am like a combat pilot manning a stealth fighter! Now it’s twilight zone and I see yet another miracle from the lady. The gold is now gone. I definitely could not locate the moon in the sky, but it's only then I realize that I was looking for it in the wrong place. It was right before me, minus the spots; such was the glow on her.  Its absolutely not that I am exaggerating but truly, I don’t remember the last time I’ve appreciated such beauty in it’s purenst form. As I keep writing this, my glances have picked up the frequency quite a bit. I keep looking for the intricacies of this beauty and  these ‘looks’ of mine get interrupted by the looks from the ‘Overweight Mom/granny’. This happens not once but more than twice. I take this as a warning and bury my head only into my screen. And it does not end here, my eyes which are already on a reconnaissance mode, have found their target- her feet.

      I’m now pleasantly shocked. Not by her feet but I glance at the bottom of the document and I’m already in the 3rd page, Woah!!!!! “Lotus Feet”, is the my favorite term of reference for  women with  simply great feet. People who know me well from the inside and who will read this part, will now confirm that “Kamal’s sold”. I don’t now how or from where did this start, but neat, clean feet for me are one of the most important turn on in a women. And this one, seems not just any other lotus. The lotuses I’ve seen until now are something those that I’ve been artificially planted in man-made ponds/landscaped gardens. This one is that which has blossomed in the  untouched lakes and ponds of the country-side.

       Right from the time of departure and a whole 5 hours until this very instant, she’s been  silently looking out of the window. Forget about smiling, I’ve not seen a hint of a ‘smile’ on her face. Why is she so gloomy? I have a urge to shake her so violently that her mind would reboot and she’d be normal. ‘Normal’ because she does not even react normally the way humans do, to the happenings of the surroundings. The only thing I observe is she reaches to her hand bag to attend a phone call , drinks water (only when offered) and stares into the darkness. Yes, it’s night fall and I wonder what she stares into. At least I am better as I am too looking out into the darkness, but I’m enjoying the starlit sky as it near impossible to do the same in a polluted city !

  And a sudden jolt to my creative flow!!!!!! as I plan this to be a even more long write up but the 'Overweight Mom' now looks out into small station that has just past by and declares, “Our station is next”. Dawng!!! Seriously, “Fuck those movie scripts”

     Oh lady, I wish I could write even more and further wish that you read this. You’re an enigma and I wish I could find what nothing you’re staring into. They say ‘good things come in small packages’ and I take respite from this saying as within no time she’d be gone. And I bet that 'the mirror on the wall' without having the slightest hesitation will say “you’re the fairest of them all”. And my last question is, “before she steps out of the train and I happen to see a smile on her face, what will happen to the already existing beauty”?

Note- This is my chaste appreciation of  a flawless beauty. Under no instant I was imagining like in the movies as I consider myself to be not even 50% pure as I perceived her to be. But yeah, I wish she’d read this :-) ;-)

Thing, Nothing and Everything

         Today, a Monday; was a real Lazy one. Workplace was practically dead and everything was happening equally slow. Like a sudden shower in mid summer, my boss tosses in the most unusual words to be spoken on a Monday, "you may leave early today, if you wish to". I contain my excitement, finish the remainder of the work and pack up for the day. 

             As I ride home, I keep thinking of what all should I be doing with this extra time on hand, without knowing what exactly should I do. In the mean time, I come to a halt at a particular traffic signal,- my usual way home and by default I look to the left where one of my city's oldest Basketball Court lay. Each day as I pass through the same route, I see many people playing and every single day by heart pounds saying 'wish I was there'. Firstly, blame it on my injured knee and secondly my new busy schedule had kept me off the game. But today, the court was empty. And I decide without a second thought, ''let me grab my kicks and the ball to get back to basics''. 

            In the next 30 mins, I'm on the court with energy levels at an all time high. Like usual, I keep shooting randomly, laying a few shots; to warm myself up. Post surgery and through the ongoing rehab, I did hit the court a couple of times, purely based on the acquired skill, experience and confidence of the past, but never for a proper session of practicing or learning new moves. Today, I consciously decided and tell myself, "from today, I shall get back to the basics one step at a time and again reach out to the top". Having said that to myself, I start doing very basic ball handling drills. Being a baller who's game is definitely not holding the ball for a considerable period of time, I do real good on those first set of drills. With a feeling of accomplishment,  I move to the next level of drills and it's here that I had seen where I actually stand. The moves that I had previously done with lightening speed, is now at a snail's pace. Reflexes have gone from quick to blank. Like these, one after the other I tend to pick up all of my negatives and these kept bottling up my head, ready to erupt and it did. Yes, I was trying a set of moves whose objective is switching the hands over the ball and I fail. Result- I kick the ball into nowhere. 

          And then, I pause staring into oblivion. I have just done something which I had never ever done earlier. Right from the days that I was taught playing ball,  was always told and I did it sincerely- to respect your fellow player, the court and the equipment. I had just broken the strong principle that shaped me up as a formidable  athlete through the years. There I was at rock bottom, filled with frustration. I take a deep breath and like a ray of light in pitch darkness, I recollected the other principle which I had not really put into practice after the injury-  'Fitness is a journey, not a destination and acquired skill will always be there, but will need regular tune ups.

            I take a break and walk over the court in contemplation. ''I WAS quick, I WAS Strong, I JUMPED high, I ENDURED long hours of play''; whatever I figured out, was only in the past tense and nothing in the present. And then one and only one thing that was always part of me as a whole, enlightened me- my Stubbornness. It was only this quality of mine that took me miles ahead of others both on and off the court. ''This is it'', I commanded my self and quickly grabbed the ball and almost instantly I recollect a very valuable shooting tip my senior gave me in the morning. I start firing one after the other- 3's, inside the paint, off the board and I miss most of them. "What's that stopping me from scoring a basket?", I ask myself and keep on firing, tweaking my technique step by step, this time I do make a few but not as clean as supposed to be. Now, I say one Thing* to myself after which, I hear only one thing- Swoosh, Swoosh, and Swoosh. As this rhythm is going on and on for quite sometime,  I am interrupted by two acquaintances as they walk in and ask for a game of 21 and we start playing without any delay. The quicker dude  get's past me more than thrice (which again in the PAST, a playmaker would have to sweat out a pool to get past me, leave alone scoring a basket) and I say yet another Thing* to myself after which,  he does goes past me like usual but at the end of which I'm left with the ball turned over by him.

            What's the Thing* that kept me rolling? Even after I return home and analyze the- Thing*, I feel that it holds good for anyone to play a good game of basketball; and I put it like this-

"While on the Offensive, let there be NOTHING between YOU and the hoop,

 While on the Defensive, YOU are EVERYTHING between him and the hoop".

                                                                                                               -Kamal

p.s. On a literal note, I hope this was never said by anyone and I did not even dare try to search the web for similar quotes. I choose to leave the comparisons to my fellow baller's who read this and I shall end this by thinking that even if it does match with some one had said earlier; well, there goes the popular phrase "like minds think alike".

The Beauty & The Beast

The Beauty & the Beast

The lady is a brilliant cut diamond, while the man is of crude steel. She's a princess with utmost élan, while he's a brute with a child's heart. While she epitomizes grace, he's a paradigm of chaos. If she's got a voice that's gonna make honey sour, he's got one that's gonna bleed ears!!! Such where the difference in their personalities, akin to a deep valley between two peaks. Yet, Mother Nature had a different plan for them. She made a little stream of water flow through the valley and it flowed there without drying up, bearing all the elements. Then the little stream turned into a river and then slowly started to fill up the valley and the two peaks started to feel not too far away. Mother Nature was so delighted that she totally immersed the peaks with final gush and making it into one peaceful ocean.

I am personally so overwhelmed by this union that I already ponder about what plan is Mother Nature has in store for me. All through the time I've known this man, though I've really pulled his leg in the above analogy, is one of the coolest personalities to have come across. Ever-ready to help without thinking twice and never ready to say 'no'. And it's only through this man I've been introduced to the woman as his love, I got to see the uniqueness of each personality. Always heard, but never seen when people said "unlike poles attract", until these two came together under Vedic Mantras and most importantly blessed by the people who gave them life.

Going back to my analogy, the ocean too has it's own storms. A tempest on the surface churns up the bottom of surface too, where all that has been settled down for ages comes up to the surface. But once the storm subsides everything becomes pristine, as usual. So you two are no longer two, so you've got to believe in each other that even the fiercest of storms will finally calm down.

So, I wish you guys your married life is filled with eternal bliss all over......... and now that I've taken such an effort to make this for you, wish that I too will find my own soon ;-)

A Letter to The Joker.

To

The Joker,

Inmate no.18072008

Arkham Asylum,

Gotham City.

Joker Sir,

I would like to introduce myself as a self-declared the greatest admirer of you- The Ace of Chaos. You are the purest form of insanity the world has ever seen. Your very presence has an aura of malice, sending down chills through every mortal's spine. Without the slightest doubt you were, are and will only be The Batman’s true nemesis. And I solemnly desire your return to the streets of Gotham City.

Unlike the other lesser psychopaths, you are 100% sinister; truly making you a ‘Better class of Criminal’. Your principles too are so simple, wherein we can’t make them even simpler. For example(s), “Whatever doesn’t kill you simply makes you----stranger”, “If you’re good at something, never do it for free”, "Why don't we cut you up into little pieces and feed you to your pooches? And then we'll see how loyal a hungry dog really is?", "I'm a dog chasing cars. I wouldn't know what to do with one if I caught it"; all these quotes of yours’ should be in the rulebooks of every School of Criminality.

You might begin to think that what is the purpose of an unknown mortal like me making this effort to praise you? Am I getting ready to rob a bank? Am I pledging to clean the streets of the ‘Rule Makers’? Do I have an archrival that has to be brought down? NO. Ever since I was a little child, I’ve been watching so many heroes and an equal number of villains all along. With each period I changed from one hero to another trying to emulate them. But, only until I saw YOU. All these years the society has become so forsaken that it was drilled into every mortal’s mind that heroes only win. Or rather it really did not have a ‘True class of Criminal’, to whom The Dark Knight had- fallen. With just one move of yours, all of my previous heroes have been swept clean from my mind. Simply because of your true sense of falsehood.

I intend to see, observe, learn and practice all your doings in my own life not to the extent of your capacity, but only up to the very thoughts of people I'm living with. I do not have the guts to rip of the guts of a fellow mortal, but yes I shall learn to remove the guts of their thoughts. Like in your own words, "Madness is like gravity, all it needs is a lil' push" I shall push my madness of breaking away from the normalcy in achieving my goals. What I actually mean by that is, I shall pursue my interests with the same insanity like you did, minus the blood shed.

Postscript- A few mortals from the Indian Cinema are trying to Duplicate you. One Rahul Dev tried it in a Telugu movie and another known as Vivek Oberoi is trying for an upcoming Hindi flick. I request you to contact your colleagues and put an end to these wannabes, because you are the only one, an Immortal.

Pondering on Chance-Choice

A little argument over breakfast made me come up with this post. I guess out of nowhere, I found some clarity in my thought. Though I had been a guy who believes in himself, yet never got a clear definition of myself of why exactly I do it. What I am trying to say is:

You've got only one life and it's only your choice of how you chose to live through it. Chose your choice with great attention, because:

1) Since you've got only one life with too many choices, but very limited chances. So, you can't waste a valuable chance in making a wrong choice.

2) And no matter what choice you've made, live by it. Day-in, Day-out, from the brightest to the darkest of days. If you can't do it, you've already started to waste your greatest of all chances- Life itself. Ratan Tata's quote might clearly explain what I mean, "I don't believe in taking right decisions; I take decisions and make them right"

Personally, this has been a very trying time for me in all aspects of my life. And human nature- if nothing goes right, you start to doubt your beliefs. The same thing is happening to me. Yet, I do not give up. But, the mind you see, plays a big game with simple but very effective strategies. It starts to shake the very foundations you're standing on. I guess it's a test. How would you know if something is strong? And even though it was proved that something was strong in the past, will it have the same strength now???? And the severity of the test is directly proportional to the strength. Also, now is the time to perform, with whatever you have. It's simply the oldest test known to humankind : Survival of the fittest, of not only body and mind but more importantly The Spirit.

Life, has just begun ;-)