LIFE is a series of breaths... Punctuated with experiences to draw our GRATITUDE to Breath

Life brings to you a spectacular feast of every emotion that you MUST experience and through it all, be able to take a DEEP breath and withdraw from the CIRCUMSTANCE and Truly BE in ACCEPTANCE of the PRESENT MOMENT.

I was filled with a lot of AWESOME thoughts as I heard EVERY media CHANNEL draw to the ATTENTION of India, the fact that CRICKETerrs that they WORSHIPPED were truly a SHAME to the COUNTRY… It amazes me, to see such CLARITY of THOUGHT and POWER of AUTHORITATIVE ANGER, as they continued to draw parallels to other forms of sport. It is so easy to draw into their emotion and sway the NATIONAL SENTIMENT of the WEAK In EMOTION to ANGER. Anger, we’ve known what it does!!

It is AMAZING that SACHIN decides NOT TO PLAY FOR INDIA at the T20 WC and that is RESPECT. Sehwag’s INJURY is the robe an EXPECTANT father wears to steer clear from the WC. ROBIN UTHAPPA is side tracked for reasons best known to LEAST ;) Dinesh Kartik still doesn’t understand the REAL reason why he isn’t GIVEN DUE respect… He hasn’t learnt to GIVE DUE RESPECT… especially to juniors on the field. Ashish Nehra’s body language says… I STILL NEED TO PROVE MYSELF. Bhajji, well, the brilliance of you is when you are charged up… excited and are your natural self… Pressure has never been your face. You see GAUTAM GAMBHIR, someone who I have a lot of respect for as a batsman and a captain (DD) who was now suddenly having to report to MS and be told what to do… Heck NO… why should I be taking anything seriously, I’ve been CAPTAIN and I KNOW!!! and you know what Gautam it SHOWS!! Yusuf, brilliant as you are, the fact still remains that you just ARE, you need to stand out among EQUALS to truly shine out, you have the talent! For the first time, it was evident that Murali Vijay was left to himself in his first international outing, was he going to do well… na na na… there wasn’t a chance in hell… sadly, his only mistake… CSK boy ;) thankfully.., you see RAINA… Who really is INDIA’s brightest STAR right now, for the fact that he is there to ENJOY his game… isn’t letting down the country by still thinking CSK.

Personally I would be horrified to be Dhoni in this scenario… It is evident, if an outsider can draw these vibes, the CAPTAIN is living them with his team. The team is living these thoughts in their minds. While Dhoni, puts on a very brave face and gives the media enough to take his ass for the next 7 days if not more! When I look at that brilliant smile and brave words to try and save face in his very casual matter of fact way. I’m drawn to seeing this picture, which, if it HORRIFIES me to IMAGINE… what must it be like for him to deal with. He is dealing with EGO’s that are present and EGO’s that are OMNIPRESENT.

In each of the lives this situation has reached, touched, affected… REMEMBER… this is JUST A PUNCTUATION… the joy of this LIFE is to draw into your experience GRATITUDE for this MOMENT. For the LOSS will teach you more about THE DRAW and yourself, than JUST VICTORY ever can.

Take a little while to SLOW down and THINK… REMEMBER to REMEMBER the JOY of WHO YOU REALLY ARE!

I guess the important questions to ask ourselves

Are these the PUNCTUATIONS of the MEDIA in the LIFE of A SPORTSMAN? Is a LOSS a PUNCTUATION on them as people? What are the PUNCTUATIONS I’ve created in my own life that are having a SIMILAR IMPACT on MY LIFE?

In Gratitude to ALL THAT IS for ALL THAT IS!

Technically ... I’m not a fan

There are times when a thought just doesn't let you sleep. Its quite unlike me to wake up with a thought I must write about, there are times though when thought needs action... and when its a special thought... well!!!

Its strange, we lost a match we so wanted to win... and yet the bitterness of the loss is all but forgotten the moment Mahi, the losing captain speaks to Bhogle, was it Bhogle... oops... will need to check the statistics of the match... It is always so pleasant to watch him... each time... I just get more fascinated.     What happens when you get fascinated is that often you see no fault, feel the pain and wish you could just quickly bring back a smile. Mahi makes the Chennai Super Kings the coolest team in the world. It is fascinating to see this team on the field... it's always a team performance... they all either play really well... or inspire their opponents to play even better cricket. Amazing to just get a chance to watch them.

People are talking about Chennai being the possible winners of the IPL this year and yet the statistics as we know them now, Chennai stands at 5... DD won a brilliant match earlier today to take possession of place no. 4. Have to mention the most brilliant catch I've seen of recent times... AB rocked!!! For the next 10 balls, each time the camera focused on him... you could see his expression was still... "that most qualifies for the most exemplary catch of the season... and I still can't believe I took it." Delhi did real good to let Bangalore know that they need a wee bit of grounding once every few matches, that is how the semi finalists will be a last minute surprise... oops... did that sound like I meant that the IPL seems rigged to perfection! Sources tell me that Chennai doesn't stand a chance and that this year, it will be the Mumbai Indians who will walk away with the title... ahem ahem... With Watson coming, Rajasthan Royals will get the much needed extra punch... KKR needs a complete make over... Gilli has Deccan under control... Punjab has such a talented team, just short of confidence when they need it the most... beating Chennai the other night made them a little over confident, which is why it was easy for Rajasthan Royals to destroy their confidence with a few quick wickets... someone needs to tell them that all matches don't end in Super Overs... that they are lucky that Hayden played the mongoose... or they would've lost the match... Oops!! I've done it again... shot my mouth off about things I don't know much about... just observe a trend and give my Honest Opinion about it ;)

Back to my favourite subject...Mahi's return to the team today.

I believe the race to the finals has begun, much to my surprise, for the first time I noticed him upset... the fielding was all over the place, the bowling needed more discipline and I guess the Chennai Boys just needed to lose this one for sure to come back in a big way in the rest of the IPL. Mahi manages, I guess, to bring out the best and worst in his team. They dote on him and seem to be mortified as well... often trying to win, instead of purely winning. I am so proud of Raina, what a brilliant and responsible knock today... 83 off 52 ... being captain for 3 matches has brought out the star in him... maybe... a brilliant idea would be to let the boys be captains for a day in practice sessions for them to understand the power and trust that one person needs to have in the 10 others to be able to lead them to victory, the fact that Mahi is back shouldn't mean that they'll just let go of their individual strengths and WAIT for him to play a captain's innings in every match.

Chennai Chennai Super Kings... well... darlings you ROCK my IPL world... especially your captain... while he so humbly talks about how much every cricketer can learn from watching Sachin play today. I think people can learn so much more just following Mahi more closely. This man has truly fascinated atleast the most non cricket person I've known... ME. There is so much to learn from the determination and confidence and brilliance of Mahi that the lucky people who know him well can vouch for... and my fascination for over 2 and a half years is witness to. I could go on and on and on and on... if given a chance... but then this post won't remain technically fascinating ;)

So, technically, this is my first post on the IPL... just to let you know... that the 4^th Umpire is a woman fascinated by the captain Mahi enough to not only support his team, make it her own and learn more about a sport so she can make her 'silly point' about.

Before I sign off... Here's my prediction... Its DD, CSK, Mumbai and KKR in the semi finals and CSK Vs MI in the finals... My gut instinct says its Chennai Super Kings year... its special... not because it's MY team... it's because it's a consistent team filled with fantastic cricketers who deserve to win. All the best to the rest of you and all your teams for the Semi's.

I guess my next CSK post will come on Sunday... when they play RR... a match to truly watch out for... I know I'll be watching it with hardcore RR fans... Mahi will make it look easy... Hayden and Raina will shine bright... for now... Chennai Chennai Super Kings :)

MahiFesting II

When I first chanced upon the joy of manifesting 11 years ago, the point of introduction was FAITH. The place: Divine Retreat Centre, POTTA. The understanding WHOOPIE!!!

Back then, I knew no technique or didn't have too much insight on the working of miracles. I just BELIEVED and life manifested its glories one at a time. The gift continues to be faith that Jesus created me super special... for super special reasons and even though it may sound way out of the normal... well it has been true for me today, as it has been for all the years I've chosen a path more through instinct than distinct knowledge about it. I have believed this for so long that super special reasons to be thankful come up each and every moment of my life. Keeping a gratitude journal can sometimes be a true pleasure and very time consuming... when you truly assess all that you need to be grateful for.

The other day, as I sat and wrote in my gratitude journal, while I thanked, I thought, I heard, I was confused and then I decided to dwell on the thought and figure out the trigger or the reason why the thought is repeating itself. I have come to realise, when you do reach the trigger of any change in your life, it has an unlikely HERO of an incident that initiated that shift.

In the last 3 years, I've been developing my ability to follow my instincts and that too has come from a very unusual source. For those of you who have known me and know me, know about the Dhoni chapter. My fascination with the man and the many manifestations seeded by instinct and confirmed by results. It's such a brilliant rush to even remember them right now that it fills every thought with a million memories that seem to have created super impact points in my life. Where I am today is a result of the trigger of that one moment and the brilliance that it has brought to every other area of my life.

While being fascinated with Mahi, well, I learnt a trick or two about following my instincts... I learnt how to take an action immediately, based on an instinct. Learn to look at the brighter side of things (this applies, especially to the few matches we've lost), control on my cigarettes... ha ha ... it makes us lose games ;). For the first time I am a fan of a cricket team... I know all the players by name and slowly getting to know their game ;) I find it easy to take up a challenge and simply believe that it shall come to pass and the bigger lesson... well... letting go. Brilliance, is to find the pattern and predict. I've even learnt how to visualise and manifest... many lessons ONE crush and growing strong each day.

What all did I manifest before I discovered the hidden lesson of following my instincts??? Well, 2 phenomenal matches at Delhi... both times, Chennai Super Kings beat Delhi on their home ground. Actually meeting with him and chatting up with him... can't complete this without mentioning Divya Puri, who actually dragged me and made me say "Hello" and stood beside me, whispering in my ears about this being MY DREAM... and the pumping up statements of JUST DO IT!! Love you Divya for the bestest present as a friend ever. Another person who I cannot finish this piece without mentioning, well Tania Suri, who did a number special little things for me and made me smile. Whenever she would get a picture of him, she'd promptly mail it to me or call me the moment she saw him or spoke to him. I guess I spoke so much about him to so many people that most of my friends often think or call me the moment they see him. How exciting, since it has resulted in more calls from friends and the trigger is something as omnipresent as Mahi on a hoarding. What was even more fascinating than meeting him, was the ability to differentiate between being a fan and being fascinated and actually telling him about it. Maybe, in a brilliant way, not closing the circle of the meeting, he still owes me a picture which I took a rain check on ;) I was surprised to have noticed the fact that the meeting was a manifestation of exactly how I thought it would be, nothing more, nothing less. Also, made me realise that anything is possible with me I just need someone to drag me to do it. The phenomenal result, well, I've heightened by manifesting prowess.

He doesn't even know me... He met me only once... I just know that there are more special moments that will manifest from this manifestation someday soon, triggered by the acknowledgment of the lesson. Someday soon, you may hear him mention me : ) another manifestation waiting in the wings.

Here's what I want for you, when you read this. I'd love for you to flip through your memories to search for your lesson, acknowledge it. Think of all the UNLIKELY Hero's in your life, that have created the person you are today. Acknowledge the brilliance of your life, special, just the way it is. I feel blessed to have a story to share and I hope I have been able to trigger a new process of manifesting... or as I would like to now call it... MahiFesting. The very name feels like a celebration in itself.

To all my friends who giggle and grin... love you for listening to me ranting about him all the time... like a love sick puppy... a few manifestations later, these will be the stories you tell of me... glad I created a memory you won't forget. I'll remind you to tell me... 10 years from now... when we laugh then... it will be nostalgia of own growing older and kinkier ;)