Another hectic week. A little more so than what I'm used to. As always it was work that was the cause and if the daily routine was not enough, I signed up for a 2 day training that needed me to attend the training from 9AM - 6 PM and then come back to office for work till 2 AM.
Translation : Sleep deprivation!!!
But the training was nice and nice for a very different reason. Well its done and on a Saturday I'm in office again conducting some interviews for my team. One of my potential interviewees decided to skip it and that allowed me this 30 mins to update my blog. I often ask myself why I choose to run this hard. Isn't it is easier to shift to a lower gear? Isn't it a little easier to care less? Well, truth be told, it isn't. Trust me, I have tried.
Blame it on the last few years of college where I never lived up to my true potential which is one of the things that I keep kicking myself over. Or maybe, I should blame it on the fact that the moment my mind is idle it begins exploring questions that leaves me more mentally exhausted than I would be after a draining work week. It's mysterious sometimes, what makes us do the things we do. Its the beautiful quirks that makes us who we are. At home, I will not get off the bed for hours, perfectly content flipping channels. At work, I have been accused of being dedicated, hardworking and couple of times, *gasp* dynamic!! Who knew that's the tag I would have?
Last weekend I had the chance to cook a little. I am not a great cook but I can create. My parents on the other hand are brilliant at cooking. Stories of their prowess have traveled far and wide and I know the potential resides in me too. Whenever I get a chance, I love to get into the kitchen. Funny thing is, I never do it at home because I know what I cook will never compare to my parent's cooking but when I'm out I feel liberated. I feel that I have nothing to prove and that allows me the peace of mind and clarity that one needs to create. And make no mistake, cooking great food is akin to an artist putting together a masterpiece, the intense please of creation rivaled only by the pleasure of tasting a well cooked meal and having friends go Ooh and Aah over your creation.
So once I'm done with the interviews, I can look forward to catching up with friends and chilling out. I am sure I will get to listen to their stories and I know I will enjoy sharing mine with them. Bet we will even have a few laughs. It's good to have friends. They make me realize there is more to me than being "Mr Dynamic-Office-Going-Man". After a hard week that's what I most look forward to.
No man is an island. Everyone needs someone don't we?
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Dying To Win
Mellow Sunday afternoon today. Laziness fills my senses. I loathe the thought of even brushing my teeth or worse, having a shower. The Jack D (Best Whiskey in the world..Woohoo!!) from last night's get together with friends is still in my body and it does not help. Not one bit.
As has been the case for years and years now, it does not stop me from waking up in time for the Chinese GP and hey, I got my prediction half right. It was a McLaren which won but the one driven by Button and not by Hamilton. Alonso drove brilliantly too and I am still convinced Alonso will clinch the driver's title this year. He is just too good a driver and he looks at home in the Ferrari. He just needs to have some luck coming his way. But still the race sucked for one very painful reason. Schumy came a cropper. Again.
Today, the conditions were wet and changeable. Five years back it would mean just one thing. A Schumacher masterclass performance and a demonstration of why he is the best F1 driver of all time. But today, every Schumy fan would have felt a knot in their throat. It was yet another race where Schumy struggled. He did not get the start right. He worked his tyres too hard and wore off the inter's threads way faster than he should have. He just about slithered his way to a very humbling 10th place finish. The car was just not working for him and I would not complain all that much but for the fact that Nico Rosberg got his second consecutive 3rd place finish. Schumy has to spend the next 3 weeks doing some much needed soul searching. Was the comeback really necessary? Was it worth the ignominy of bringing in the car so far down the order? And yes, Was it the right decision to join the Mercedes team and turn away from Ferrari's open arms?
Schumy is not over the hill. I am sure of that. What made Schumy brilliant however, was that he was light years ahead of his contemporaries in every aspect of the game. He brought a ruthless, single-minded approach to F1 that saw him being the fittest driver of his generation. A driving approach that leveraged shrewd thinking on the pit wall with blinding speed when it mattered the most, at the end of, and at the start of a tyre and fuel change. Hell, he did not even shy away from the politics of F1, getting himself in close with Bernie and then with Jean Todt. By the time the field had upped their game he had built Ferrari into the unbeatable colossus they were, sewing up back to back to back to back...to back world championships. I think Fernando Alonso heralded the start of the first wave of Schumacher-esqe drivers. Then Lewis followed very closely by Sebastian Vettel. I dont think Schumy has lost his edge, except that all the drivers and teams have realized how he and Ferrari had become such a devastating combination. And now that Schumy returns after a 3 yrs hiatus he is being made to realise that, for the first time, he is the guy who has to play catch up.
The question is, Can Schumy raise his game now? At the age of 41 one cant see it happening. But then what is a fan, if not a fanatic? I tune in every F1 weekend hoping to see the magic returning. I tune in hoping to see him finding that last missing piece that is holding back. For one race, just one race, I want to see him step up to the top of the podium, holding the winner's trophy aloft. Detractors proved wrong. His decision to return, validated.
I can guarantee that it would be the sweetest win for Schumacher and atleast for this lifetime fan.
As has been the case for years and years now, it does not stop me from waking up in time for the Chinese GP and hey, I got my prediction half right. It was a McLaren which won but the one driven by Button and not by Hamilton. Alonso drove brilliantly too and I am still convinced Alonso will clinch the driver's title this year. He is just too good a driver and he looks at home in the Ferrari. He just needs to have some luck coming his way. But still the race sucked for one very painful reason. Schumy came a cropper. Again.
Today, the conditions were wet and changeable. Five years back it would mean just one thing. A Schumacher masterclass performance and a demonstration of why he is the best F1 driver of all time. But today, every Schumy fan would have felt a knot in their throat. It was yet another race where Schumy struggled. He did not get the start right. He worked his tyres too hard and wore off the inter's threads way faster than he should have. He just about slithered his way to a very humbling 10th place finish. The car was just not working for him and I would not complain all that much but for the fact that Nico Rosberg got his second consecutive 3rd place finish. Schumy has to spend the next 3 weeks doing some much needed soul searching. Was the comeback really necessary? Was it worth the ignominy of bringing in the car so far down the order? And yes, Was it the right decision to join the Mercedes team and turn away from Ferrari's open arms?
Schumy is not over the hill. I am sure of that. What made Schumy brilliant however, was that he was light years ahead of his contemporaries in every aspect of the game. He brought a ruthless, single-minded approach to F1 that saw him being the fittest driver of his generation. A driving approach that leveraged shrewd thinking on the pit wall with blinding speed when it mattered the most, at the end of, and at the start of a tyre and fuel change. Hell, he did not even shy away from the politics of F1, getting himself in close with Bernie and then with Jean Todt. By the time the field had upped their game he had built Ferrari into the unbeatable colossus they were, sewing up back to back to back to back...to back world championships. I think Fernando Alonso heralded the start of the first wave of Schumacher-esqe drivers. Then Lewis followed very closely by Sebastian Vettel. I dont think Schumy has lost his edge, except that all the drivers and teams have realized how he and Ferrari had become such a devastating combination. And now that Schumy returns after a 3 yrs hiatus he is being made to realise that, for the first time, he is the guy who has to play catch up.
The question is, Can Schumy raise his game now? At the age of 41 one cant see it happening. But then what is a fan, if not a fanatic? I tune in every F1 weekend hoping to see the magic returning. I tune in hoping to see him finding that last missing piece that is holding back. For one race, just one race, I want to see him step up to the top of the podium, holding the winner's trophy aloft. Detractors proved wrong. His decision to return, validated.
I can guarantee that it would be the sweetest win for Schumacher and atleast for this lifetime fan.
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