“love all”- tennis season is here

The first month of a new year, it’s about a start. The start positive or negative depends and that’s not a point of discussion, here I am writing about the start of tennis season. After almost 3 months gap since we last saw a major grand slam, Australian open the first grand slam of the circuit is here and in progress.

Surprisingly this year the courts are faster and bouncy. The players are already getting used to it and the speculations in media are rife with less longer rallies pertaining to which the prediction is less viewership and a loss of interest in the game. The players are having mixed opinions with some scratching their heads over the issue while the top seeded ones are yet “getting to know the surface”. The prize has been increased to a whopping 2.6 million USD. Australian open being the very first of the grand slams of the year holds a special importance for the players because winning it gives a great head start and the momentum gained is carried into the next tournament.

For me tennis has always been a point of interest. Whether I watch the games being played or not I don’t forget to keep a tab on the progress of my favorite players in the tournament. I still remember the first tennis game I watched, it was the Australian Lleyton Hewitt playing in the Australian open and instantly like the first love he was my favorite although my loyalties changed with time but as they say “first love isn’t easy to get over with”.

This time a lot is on line with Federer at an all-time career low and the future isn’t looking so bright for the Swiss, I sincerely hope he does something more than being defeated by Monfills ( yes that wound still hurts), a tournament win would suffice. Talking of women’s circuit its again the big 3 against each other with Serena Williams looking strong, it will be interesting to see someone standing up against her.

This tournament is also a unique one because it’s not only federers, nadals or murrays against each other this time the legends of tennis are also competing with each other behind the scenes.  Djokovic being trained by six time grand slam winner Boris Becker while Stefan Edberg would help Federer on a part time basis and Murray is not far behind with eight times slam winner Ivan Lendl in his arsenal. With experts terming this as a “super coach trend”, how much of this off court expertise helps the players remains to be seen.

Thus whether this one be a one more feather in Serena William’s already over decorated hat or will it be a one more indication of passing off of an era a.k.a “Federer era”, it remains a final day call. Till then what Australian open will offer us is our share of awes and grunts .

2013- A year gone by.

 

It is that time of the year when the promises are made, drinks are served and for once everyone is forced to look back at the year gone by and say “good-bye” or in more rhetorical terms “alvida”. This time it is the year 2013 that has gone by.

Every media be it the idiot box or the slowly dying radio is abuzz with the 2013 recap which forces some to believe if this 31 December 31 is not just an day but the special one. So here I try to look back at what this year gone by was all about, what kept us mesmerized and what are things better left behind.

The year started with a public angst against the Delhi government and a public opinion for a change, well this was a new feeling because it is not everyday that you find the masses of India united against a social issue and when the issue is related to rape the worst form of sexual exploitation it is better to lend a deaf ear. The government swung into action and what followed was a series of parliament bills being passed and laws being made but majority of them such as “women welfare fund” are still waiting to be implemented. Then it was the Uttarakhand floods that resulted in a major loss of human lives and property that Uttarakhand is still recuperating from. It also highlighted the state of disaster management policies of the Uttarakhand government. At the same time there was a maoist ambush in Chattisgarh which took the lives of three very prominent leaders of the state. The less written about the details, the better.

With Roger Federer and Nadal both crashing out of the Wimbledon in the early rounds had set the stage for the history being written. It was Andy Murray who became the first British to win the Wimbledon. It also gave wind to the talks of Federer’s retirement. But I really want this great personality to continue on and on. In another sport the followers lamented because at last after dragging for so long the “god “ had finally decided to draw curtains on an illustrious carrier that had spanned 24 years. It created a public hysteria and the result was that the farewell test match was a “housefull” (shocking it can be included as one more record of the “god” ). Now that the “god” has retired lets see how the religion persists in the god loving India (strange but the religion is still intact and flourishing, maybe I misunderstood this whole god analogy).

The cases involving the “tehelka founder” and that of “ex supreme court judge” case hogged the media space for quite a considerable period of time and they once again reminded people of the atrocity meted out towards women in India and showed the extent of degradation of the humane feelings in these people who in the fizz of power consider they can get away with everything, truly implies “power corrupts the mind”. Then it was the supreme court order that rejected the high court order on the “gay rights” under the provisions of still intact section 377. The debate on this is still on on this issue.

But it was the latter part of the year that gave us every reason to remember this 2013 for. Everybody had there eyes on the 2014 Lok Sabha elections and a man with a wave was touted as the next prime minister of Gujarat until surprise surprise came the man “with a mission to clean” a man who vowed to clean every dam dust particle and give us spic clean Delhi. This man was underestimated by the ruling Delhi government who called him a seasonal worm some even wondering “Kejriwal who?”. But this worm infected the public with the result being swarms of flies( oops! Public) coming to attend his oath taking ceremony and the “others” the big ruling breeds with their slates wiped clean were caught looking for answers.

This was somewhat a summary of 2013 that saw Edward Snowden come with revelations that caught Uncle Sam off guard and the world demanded answers on snooping, the issue of an Indian diplomat in America being handcuffed and taken into custody resulted with India taking a stand and retaliating in an aggressive way which threaten of some political ramifications.

We sincerely hope to leave the ills of 2013 behind and move into a new year with good feelings because whatever resolutions or promises we make one thing is sure “2014  surely has presented itself and offers us an opportunity to start the year with zest and happiness”. Happy new year to all :).