I'll be away for a while

I've been busy lately with my favourite sport - Cricket. I'll be representing my organization in bienneal tournament. This time it is at Pune, about a thousand kilometres from here and around 24 hours of rail journey. I'm the captain of the team whose average age is around 40. Some guys have a big girth which is undesirable for sportsmen. I have to manage such guys on the field. On the other hand, some are young and fit. Let's see how we perform in the initial matches. The team tends to depend heavily on me! While this is a matter of personal pride for me, this should not be the attitude with the others. They also have to contribute their effort to the team.

So, I will be away till December 2nd. Then again, I will have to go to Calcutta (now called as Kolkata) on the 7th. This is for my HQ team where a team is made up of players from other sister organizations (there are a total of 38 around the country). I'll be missing all the action till then. I have asked my maid-servant to help with watering my plants since it will be too much for my DW who also goes to work what with attending to all the daily chores.
Au revoir.

bon voyage mon ami :). good luck on ur tournament. have a great time, but try not to get hurt in the process. hope ur team wins!

good luck dinu and teammates-go get em!
go fight win!

Have a nice game :)

24 hours by train? How far away is it? =)

Best of luck to you and your team!! Jo

We'll be rooten' for you here!!! Good luck!

Have a safe trip and enjoy your tournaments, Dinu.

Good luck and hope you have a safe trip.

Have a safe trip Dinu, I hope your team does well. I will be looking forward to hearing about your wins..

Whew!!! So happy it's your Cricket, and not something else!! Gonna miss ya, best of luck in all your matches!!

"eyes"

Came back last evening. Safe, sound and VICTORIOUS. (But our Volley Ball team lost). It is a much-waited for tournament amongst us because it is held once in two years. Now we have qualified for the final to be held at Hyderabad in January end. Qualifiers from the four zonals meet there for the championship. We got to play two matches and won both of them easily. I was the top scorer with 39 for our team in the first and the bowlers shared the wickets more or less equally. In the second game there was an opening partnership of 165 runs which appears to be a record here. I went in at No.4 and scored only one run! But they couldn't reply to our huge score of 262 (25 overs) and they were bundled out for 115. I got 3 wickets. I should say that the opponents were clearly weaker than us and offered no resistance. I don't enjoy that! It will be surely tougher in the final round and we have to prepare ourselves better and raise our game to offer good fight to win there.

The city of Pune (about 1000kms from here, nearer to the west coast and Arabian Sea) was having similar climate as Mysore. Only thing is that it gets a lot cooler during this month. It was the capital of the legendary Shivaji who ruled the Maratthas some centuries ago.

Opposite the place where we were put up, I found black-eyed susan vine. Tried to collect seeds but they were a bit raw. Another vine had dried up but the seed-pods were intact. Collected them. No idea which one it is. It is like some morning glory seeds, black. Have to wait till they grow here with me.

Another important thing happened. I had known from a friend that a classmate of ours was living there in Pune. I was in touch with her on e-mail for a few months. So she knew I would be visiting. I called her up and my Pune-friend-colleague offered to take me there. We went and met her and I had asked my friend to identify himself as me. But she could recognize me. We had last seen each other back in 1970 when we had passed out the 7th class. I can tell you that it was a nostalgic meeting over a cup of tea and some snacks. We took our memories back to the school days. Remembering the names of other mates and all that.

Congradulations on your victories. Yes, the next round will be tougher for sure. Your reunion with your classmate must have been very enjoyable for you both, it is nice to renew old aquaintances. Be sure to let us know how the tournament goes.

How wonderful for you, Dinu! I'll bet the reunion with your classmate was as great, in its way, as the cricket victory. One of my friends goes to Pune every two years to study yoga with B. K. S. Iyengar ("the Lion of Pune") -- she goes in July and the climate is very moist and hot, I'm sure it's more comfortable at this time of year for sports and exercise.

Well done Dinu!! Yes, keep us posted please :)

hooray Dinu, on top of your Victory, meeting with your childhood classmate must have been great!
Good to have you back among us.

Whiterose, when I read Iyengar and yoga, my hairs stood up in excitement! Yes, Pune was absolutely pleasant this time of the year. It gets cooler in a month. This was my 7th visit to Pune. And in one of my early visits there, probably the 3rd or so, I had the opportunity to shake hands with BKS Iyengar. He was the chief guest that evening for the valedictory function. (It was obviously for cricket - I think it was a training camp) You know this Iyengar is from Mysore? He settled in Pune and became famous. He is a tremendous person. I felt the strength of the person when he shook my hand!! That is what Yoga can do to your health. What we call 'robust health'.

Certainly, this visit to Pune is memorable because I was able to meet (I should say, yet another) a childhood classmate. Wonder of wonders -- that was the first time we spoke to each other!!! She had joined us in the 3rd and we were in the same class till 7th. I being of very shy nature, never or barely spoke to anyone, leave alone girls! That couple of hours was truly nostalgic. I will post a pic which she took when she sends me a copy.

I have collected/hunted/located/met/listed about 36 old classmates. WE were about 70 in the class. Some are in the USA too. I can tell 35 stories how I met/found each one of them. Many are very happy about this reunion and they keep thanking me for this job.

I will be going to Kolkata this weekend and I will be away again for about 11 days. Cricket yet again. It is 2020 kms away and about 45 hours by rail. I'm going through a very hectic schedule.

Thanks everyone for your good wishes.

How exciting that you got to shake BKS Iyengar's hand, Dinu! The friend I mentioned who studies with him is my yoga instructor. I believe that Sri Iyengar is 85 years old at this writing, and still going strong -- he practices yoga from 2-4 hours per day.

What a thrill it must have been to connect with so many former classmates on your recent trip. Please accept my best wishes for your journey to Kolkata, and your cricket match. Your schedule is indeed hectic. Am praying for you to have safe and pleasant experiences all around.

Thanks Whiterose. Yes indeed, Mr.Iyengar IS 85 and his daily yoga routine is about 4 hours as you say. He has written many books which has great popularity. He is such an authority on the subject, by sheer experience.

Dinu, are you a student of yoga?

No, I am not. But a follower of Homeopathy. There are many yoga teachers here in Mysore and I see many people from abroad come and learn. There is one such school near my home. Yoga is a wonderful thing.

There are so many wonderful healing studies open to people these days, and homeopathy is one of the greatest. Best wishes always!

Thanks.

Congratulations on your victory, Dinu! I am only now catching up on the threads. Safe travels and good play to you on this next round!