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Saturday, July 2, 2011

'Whim'-Able-Don...



Its raining!!!
Bare grass on each side of the player`s court gets barer as the spikes dig and bite hard as the feet move hither thither gorging out the last straw of the green grass under.The incoming rain gives a fresh waft of air as the symphony on court grows in tempo.The waltz from the court length apart draws gasps of various odours,lengths and connotations from the sitting gentry.Applause start to rain as the victory finally chooses his new paramour.Glittering gold,white dress on greens,tears in eyes and a silvery smile….
All is Wimbledon!Wimbledon is all this!!
“Shhh,Quiet please!Thank you!!”The famous umpire uttering from the SW19 was the inspiration behind the now famous saying that fed fans sport on their placards -”Shh! Quiet! Genius at work!”.Legendary grass lawns once again have opened their gates to the teeming concourse who after the strawberries and the tram and the brief tribute to the henmen hill(& now the Murray mound!),once again queue up to grab those elusive tickets.In the eyes of the purists,the grand slam marks the greatest bookmark of the tennis calendar.A dream that a small kid wakes to every-night since he/she picks up a racquet for the very first time-A dream of holding the “The All England Lawn Tennis Club Single Handed Champion of the World.” or the “Venus Rosewater Dish.” aloft on the centre court.
Lots of articles before this have already heaped praise on this so called ‘Mecca of tennis’ and this effort by my keypad will be one of those million.But anyone who feels the genuine serenity,the sanguine surface of grass and the almost ‘noble’ surroundings would confide that it is hard to suppress such beautiful and happy admiration for an arena such as the “All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club”.
The elements of green grass(can`t emphasize on it enough!),inky blue sky(mostly laden with dark white clouds!),white attire of players(How are they are able to tinker with the purest colour and create fashion each year out of it I wonder!!),the white hats and the ocular green umbrellas in the crowd all of-course when get reflected in the drops from the heavens create an atmosphere that inspires purity and greatness in equal measure.Throw in a couple of great matchups and there you have it-A perfect recipe for a tennis aficionado.
The seasons prior to 2011 have had their share of great matches(08-Roger Rafa,09-Roger Andy).But the grass now no longer a bastion of the serve volleyers,have produced some of the finest and varied catchup’s in recent times.Pete or Roger,over the last 17 years have whitewashed the lawns & have banished other names from the carvings on the”".Bound to happen,new forces have surged and we are lucky to happen to stand at a crossroad where the mystery of outcome engulfs the sherlock holmes within.In a perfect world of P.G. Wodehouse,Bertie Wooster would be asking the infallible Jeeves of his highly spoken of ‘opinion’ on the matters of the Don of the Grand Slams.

 

‘Jeeves!’
‘Yes Sir!’
‘They are knocking tennis balls at Wimbledon!Eh!’
‘Very good sir!’
‘But Jeeves..’
‘Sir?’
‘There is a thing.’
‘Ofcourse sir!’
‘Bothering me a trifle,if you can understand.’
‘I`ll try as might to do sir.’
‘Who wins this year old egg?’
‘Wins what sir?’
‘The championships! Dash it!!’
‘Oh!that very cup that has so very well fitted the able hands of “blood bereft-ice veined-long locked” Borg and then very fittingly passed to the ‘brat-o-ville’ hero John and then flirted with pistol laden cowboy pete after a brief affair with the blonde german in Becker and almost settled with a “not to be touched-swanlike genius in disguise” Federer and now currently warming the mantelpiece of a “Vamos uttering-short picking-bottle setting-biceps flexing” efficient clay potter?The very same sir?’
‘Yes Jeeves! you blighted soul,the very same.’
‘I wonder sir’
‘Tell me Jeeves!’
‘It can be the Joker of the pack sir.Too often his head has popped in the wanted dead or alive ,tired or fired column of the newspapers in spain.’
‘Hmm,Carry on Jeeves!’
‘The candidature of piston forced serve of a certain Andy Roddick cannot be overlooked.That may very well make the pretty weather a Damp squib for others!!’
‘Very correct Jeeves!That boy missed the glory not many years back,but have missed the tram many years,surely he is another in the pack of the good fellas! very good Jeeves!’
‘Then sir you must excuse me for declaring a “high handed-iron hardened-moth eaten” in short a biased opinion about a certain Roger Federer.”
‘You are Jeeves! You are.’
‘He sir is what you would call as a friend who would give you a tenner even if you have only dreamt about it.Generosity in Excellence is what he lives by and if I may insinuate,you can very well call the house if you like his name’
‘You mean I put my money on his racquet?’
‘Most certainly sir! Most endearingly certainly!However I must caution you coming to your bestest of interest.’
‘And what will that be Jeeves!’
‘About your money sir!’
‘What about it Jeeves?’
‘About you putting it on Federer’
‘But dash it! 4 seconds ago the very same thing I saw and heard escape from your in-between-lips space.’
‘I now include a clause,which I forgot to mention sir!’
‘Clause?’
‘A clause’
‘Which clause?’
‘This clause’
‘I don`t see it Jeeves! You are loosing me’
‘Perils of not being on the circuit sir! believe me,a completely normal condition if you still believe it to be 2007 instead of 2011 sir!’
‘Why I would be in 2007 Jeeves?’
‘Improvisation Sir! An ingenuous explaination of you not noticing the only plausible clause in the house`s favourite federer`s contract to lift the cup as many times as he wants.’
‘You mean.’
‘I mean sir.’
‘Ahhh!’
‘Would there be anything else sir?’
‘No that would be all Jeeves.’
Still raining!!

Random Musings...