Success,Failure...is there more to it ?

Suck-The-Success….Flail the failure…

It has taken me 26 good years to realise the fact that human kind`s greatest gift from the house of god is failure.

Failure!! its the most dreaded of the words.It gives you headache,it leaves you with pangs that aren`t cured easy.But it is the greatest gift to mankind.The teacher that everyone searches for-within himself or outside,that sagacity is bestowed upon us in the virtues and vices of the act of failing.

 I recall the first failure that I experienced was in the class test in sixth standard.It made my cry.I cried in earnest at not getting the grade I deserved and more importantly the ignominy of that letter "F" on my grade card.But did I learn something that day?The answer that reverberates to me is a 'No'.Failure/disappointment has a strange pedagogy.It teaches with time,it prepares its lessons to coincide with our lives and times.It is a thing that we have to fail to learn.Sure enough the eternal dichotomy of sage and satan,of david and goliath,of darkness and light will construe that failure and success are two sides of the same coin.True! Very true indeed!! Both act as a matural catalyst for our body and soul to act suo moto.But which is better of the two?I personally feel it depends on when this question is asked and to whom.And also where that person is standing in terms of social ladder and personal pulpits.The question of life and death gets merged and becomes that much murkier as the age goes by,we loose our ability to tell life from death,it seems both are the same,just the frame of reference is alien.Same goes for defeat and success too.First you run after success,wealth,recognition and then you are denied and then you again run and then again you are denied!and then again!and again!again!!

Finally after an age of wisdom and learning you are allowed to drink that nector.But for how long?just a whisker? and then again the learning starts.

       “It is only when the tide goes out that you learn who’s been swimming naked"-the saying is true for any situation.Give man a tough situation and the tough will survive and the lesser tough will toughen up.The toil,turmoil and trouble is what we dread and despise but it is the very tree the fruits of which are success,glory and paens.Its only after a rough ride that the savant gets inducted.

                            The teachers in my childhood who were bad to me are the ones I fondly remember.Not to discount the ones who were nice to me,but the lasting impression of that punishment,those scars of insults remain with you as an adjoinder that you have evolved,that you have learned enough not to deserve those punishments again.The act of punishing is very amusing.It takes out more from the punisher than the punishee.We have to be greatful to those who seek revenge from us,who inflict upon us humiliation,for they are taking us on a detour of their own graveyard image.I learned the great lesson somewhere that the wise always learn from other`s mistakes and the lesser wise from their own,and the buffoons always help others learn from their mistakes.

                   

  Failure just means that help is around the corner and  demands just our patience and willpower.Imagine that if life is only full of highs,only crests!then it would be more of a plateau and again you would search for that high!So failure makes success successful.It teaches us how to devalue success and take it with a pinch of salt.Imagine what success and failures are in probalistic terms!If success is hitting the bull`s eye than you are left with atleast 2/3 rd of your life sans success.The halcyon days are always counted on fingers and recounted on dreary nights.So the good memories need that boat of failure to come sailing to the shores of your conscience.So for me to identify the wolf in ship`s hide is more important.Failure is the wolf outside and sheep inside,and success is the sheep outside and wolf inside.We always cry out to gods for being unfair to us,for doling out only failures to us!imagine!!why is that?actually god is kind to us!he keeps the hypnotic success at bay and lets you toss in the real tempest of failure.

             To have a clear understanding of the success-failure odds,you got to have a neutral scale and a neutral point of view.To see results without the classification of the two words would actually merge the crests and the throughs and the deliverance will tend to infinity.so if we are caught between the schisms of success and failure,then we would never get to experience the doppelganger of life that is known by the eupheny of salvation.

    Its a shame that people are remembered for what they did.They should also be remembered what they failed to do.That would be a more encompassing compendium of human lifes and times.Its very easy to frown upon a not-so-successful person and very easy to get your autographs book out for the successful people.But what is to be learned remains hidden.Its veiled behind the tortuous smile that is taught by a concern for your loved ones or is surreptitious in cover of that candyfloss face which only hides the many stabs in the inside.So what life wants us to learn is what we never want to go through.It wants us to learn to fail so that we enjoy our success,but we only want to succeed and hence are forced to enjoy the failures.It wants us to see the means to the end and we only see the end.That forsight,that seer vision, comes later in your life,when you have seen it all.

Blessed are people who taste failure early in their lives!!I am new to this walk of life.I hope before I get old,I learn how to succeed to learn to fail and how to without fail come to terms with success of achieving and learning from failures.

New Year...

New Year:::

 

A year that came bundled with energy and promise,

Its now ushering in another 365 days of rise and surprise.

The gliterrati that you see marks the end of the last 4 seasons,

Leave the misgivings,steal the moment,Rejoice!,sans any reasons.

The day that`ll come tomorrow would never come again,

Every year a new dawn breaks,counting your darkness hours won`t be of any gain.

The number that belonged to the year goneby,

would reverberate in the increment of celebrations in the year on standby.

Open the palms of the your hands,let go the sadness and deeds,

Seek ablution,the warm eyes of the new sun may cleanse your soul,may answer your pleas.

Its another day alright in your burdened life,

just try to cut the smog of burden with a positive edged knife.

Greet every soul,for life is too small to not to be nice,

Give alms to everyone,lets distribute to all the happiness slice.

Sangeet

Sangeet::

Mridang ki taal par jo swar lahriyan uthi naach,

Sabhi hatprabh khade rahe,nihaar is mohak mrigtrishna ko aaj.

Sangeet ghul gaya lagta hai is vayu pravah main,

Swar madhurya ab hai chahun ore,dhara bhi kaanp uthi hai par taal main.

Sitaar ke sau taar mano tarango se kar rahe hai shringar,

Table ke thaap se madmast ho rahi ye bayaar.

Har ek vadya ab jugalbandi me piro raha hai anand ke moti,

Raagon ko chhed gayak urvara kar rahe is desh ki maati.

Gher liya hai aamokhas ko shehnai ki lambi taan ne,

Veena ke swar me swarg ki apsara avtarit ki hai maano swayam bhagwaan ne.

Samet liya hai sabhi bhavnaao ko in saat swaron ne,

Harek bhav-bhangimayein taktaki lagaye hai is mousikhi ke muhaane pe.

Raagon aur tarano ka aaj ho raha adbhut sangam,

Apne karnon me sun aanandit ho rahe sabhi ye kampan.

Kya dev kya daanav,sabhi mila rahe hai taal se taal,

Aakansha hai sabhi ki is sargoshi me ho jaaye nihaal.

Sehar

Sehar

Un pehli paanch kirno ki naachti hui chamak,

dastak de gayi mere aankhon par,drumak-drumak,

andesha nahi tha mujhe,andhere ka tha main bramak,

ab kirno ki nahi,sooraj ki hai mujhe lalak.

Nashtar ho rahi ye nisha,pathar ho rahe ye sitare,

kohre ka top pehni ye aabohawa,thithur rahe jeev bichare,

kaali raat aa gayi hai,layi hai andhad hawa bin vichare,

samay to ab lop ho gaya hai is kaalima me,ghadi ko kya tu nihare.

Badra ki chata he sooraj kar raha hai galbahiye,

is aadrata aur is sthirta ko kaise sahiye,

is andheri duniya ke chilman ke ab kaise rahiye,

apne dil ke andar ki roshni ko kahe ab kaise mukh par laaiye.

Jab falak par bhaskar hua udiyaman,

andhera hua kafoor,kaalima hui seeman,

Os ki kirne chamchama uthi,ravi ne ki jab apni drishti pradan,

khil utha ye sansaar,naach uthe mor,jab ishwar ne diya apni saltanat ka praman.

Aangan me chhayi lalima,harit chadar hi ab dhara ka shringar,

panchhi ab har vat-vriksha par hai chahchachaye,sfoorfit hue hai beemar,

maveshi aur insano ko hai ab prachur aahar,

jalod me jal dhara kar rahi hai ufan prahar.

snayu tantra me ab madhur vayu ka hai aagman,

swachanda jantu kar rahe is madhurya ka sevan,

ujwalit hue ab din aur digpal ka daaman,

sooraj ki vihangam lalima de rahi hai pranay aur jeevan ko nimantran.

Niyam yahi hai pratyek diwas ka aur har jeevan ka,

ram rajya ya samridhi vanshaj hai lanka ke dahan ka,

Paritoshik yahi hai is intezaar ka,

tere hi chakshu par pade dharshan us achhoti kiran ka.

Freedom..

Freedom::

I soared in my thoughts and heart,

the flight would come later,my eyes smart,

I don`t know how it happened,I kept missing the dart,

I revel in the lucky escapade,for once the horse was driven by the cart.

The years gone by flash past me,

The failures I kept looking at,joy I never see,

I wanted that lowest fruit hanging on the tree,

finally god also acceded and said-"let it be"

The train of thoughts now was stranded in bliss,

Pain I no longer felt,depression!I gave that a miss,

The fangs of the devil were broken,futile were his hiss-hiss,

The fairy of success stooped,over & gave me a kiss.

Expressing my desire to take the plunge,

All excited I leaped ahead,I readied the lunge.

The galoshes were torn,the siege was over,

The janitor was now the courtesean,he was now sober,

I smelt the freedom of the flesh and the grey clover,

I took the sip from the freesdom fluid of the brewer.

Game..Set...Match....

See who is opposite the opponent...

You cannot take your eyes off this.The battle royale gets everybody`s heart to throb.The aura of the confrontation begins as soon as the umpire calls on the two players for the opening toss.One of them in his ususal bustling style,hopping on his side legs while the other just calmly swinging his racket as the umpire tosses the coin and make them shake their hands.

Then after the warmup the action begins...

Let...first serve...

I have watched many rivalries in the past.Becker-Edberg,Agassi-Sampras et al but none matches the energy and tension of this one.Federer-Nadal!!!.The one match that the world watches..the match that the world awaits for.I personally get the fever of expectations one day before.Primarily owing to the playing style of the two players,watching the contrasting style of play resulting in a dazzling strokeplay is a delight.Secondly due to the battle of the two personalities,rafa emerging as a great of the game,and federer a proven bot in the gentlemen`s tennis.And most importantly for the head to head record.Many people take the record of 14-8 in favour of nadal as something that dilutes this rivalry.But to me that is the most important ingredient of it all.The history!!the difference in numbers aren`t reflected in the play on court,its just an indication to the federer fans that rafael has the edge and in equal measure a silent memo to the rafa fans that roger is keen to erase the equation.
We all take sides,and almost all of us are biased in watching there matches.All of us root for either federer of nadal.Its like the voldemort-harry potter prophecy.None can live while the other survives.I haven`t met anyone who supports both.In short this rivalry is far from being neutral.So when you are in front of a TV( or in stadium if you are a lucky soul) you are either in the fedex corner giving him the gracious applause or in the rafa corner shouting vamos!vamos! in sync with the AV with rafa himself.
I have stopped analysing the graph of the two players purely because they are sitting at the pinnacle.They are at the summit in terms of the game that they possess.Numbers no longer matter.whether federer ends up with 20-22 grand slams or nadal eclispsing the grand slam record is meaningless,maybe to historians this number would matter.But just imagine!after one of them retires,what can you deduct out of it?Just the fact that who is the GOAT?Well I say bigger things are on line.The sweet taste of that victory over your prime opponent when you have given your heart,body and soul to every serve,every volley,every retreive,every forehand/backhand and every tweener.No one of the two will cry when the GOAT results are finally out,but they certainly shed a tear or two when they prevail a tough match in which if one was david then the other was certainly not goliath.

Let.... second serve...

The battles these two have had over the years are something to be cherished,the rivalry far from over is already ensured a golden mention in the great annuls of historian`s work.Somehow when these two enter the stage the court looks a tad short,the linesmen are under pressure(as both take the paint of the sidelines so very often),and the crowd numb and expectant.when I look at the sets these men play,I somehow get the wiff of the way a game is going.It is very difficult to discern who is the heavier of the two opponents but,just that extra,just that magic defines that differnce on the day.Indeed!!! both of them are magical to the core.Both of them make the arena unnecessary,the game is played invariably between the two only,in their minds,in their instincts and in their disposition,the few thousands in the stadium and the millions watching need not be for the occassion.
Many people have said it and I concur that both roger and rafa are completely different players when they play against each other.Rafael might bamboozle many with his top spin but he cannot outfox federer with that.Also roger might run away with the game against others if he is a break up,but certainly you cannot take it easy against the spanish matador himself.
But if you see through many things are common in their lives.I am not a paparazzi that I will peep into their personal life,but except their playing style both don`t say much expect when on court and those are the 3-5 hours I love to sit and stare.The balance of their rivalry is hanging on the very thread of how many times in near future will they meet.Last year of 2010 saw them meet 2 times only.So lets hope we see a dash of federer going against the spice of rafa more often in the season of 2011.

15-0

"The past"

Lucky me,I was born when pete sampras and roger federer played that wimbledon match.In more ways than one,it was the passing of the baton that took place that day.Federer tapped the ball once-twice and lo!there he was,in two-three years from his first GrandSlam win ,he was already threatening pistol pete`s record.Everyone was going Ga-Ga about his talent and his future.Those who were born in a time after pete left,it was a delight to watch another champion exhibit the game that made the legends.Of all I watched of federer,the thing that I look for most are the unbelievable shots or the 'aliens' as I prefer to call them.The supple movement that this 'once a ponytail boy' has makes it so much delightful to look at the ball just caressing the net of the racquet and bouncing on the other end of the net just to find nobody home.Just as the game of tennis has been elevated by this man,in equal measure with each success of his,he continued to widen the gap between him and other players to a yawning and inevitable level.
But as I got lucky the second time that nadal came around and brought that very much required spice in men`s tennis,we got to see
what lamborghinni had to offer while ferrari was running amok.The bull rafa very much brought out the human in roger as roger`s already dominant strature brought out the god in rafa.Past between them has been very famous if in any means less entertaining.Though federer and rafa were both categorised as surface players initially,they were quick to adapt.Federer winning the French open 09 and nadal winning the US open 10 meant that now both are above that par line.And in the past as their meetings have been majorly in semis or finals of events,they traded titles between them with exceptions like nole in aus open and del potro in us open.Though sports pundits like to call the past between them as tilted in favour of nadal,the really competitive matches have never been a watershed.But one can`t discount the bruises nadal has inflicted on the psyche of federer.So all in all,the past has been a lopsided bagel with more duff on the nadal side of pie.

30-0
"The present"

The present times are the most interesting ones in their rivalry(atleast I think so!).Not only they have to face each other eventually,but also have to go past the "already arrived and emerging" lot of murray,nole and soderling.Roger is according to many has past his prime,but to me he has been in his prime since his first wimbledon win in 03.The present form of roger can be best described as exploratory.He is exploring the possibility of improving his skills,many a matches I have watched him that he has tried different things and lost,even genius can be boring sometimes.As for rafael,his serve has really taken a big kick and his hard court play also has come leaps and bounds(literally!).There aren`t many players who can threaten the pedigree of nadal at this point of time.Federer and murray come close to eclipsing his ongoing rampage.
So at present sits a genius at number 2 spot,now above the numbers trying to immortalise himself with every game he plays and every shot that he makes,and at the other end is the numero uno who is making short work of historian`s ink and work.

30-15
"The records"

Nadal at 9 slams and fed at 16,a difference of 7.Throw in a olympic singles gold and the balance is almost on the keel.I am sure records matter to these guys but afterall its the years you have played tennis at the top level is what matters,longevity matters.
The day murray stops thinking about winning his maiden GrandSlam,he would win one.Sure,nadal has a decent chance of surpassing federer`s almost all records(23 straight SF is bit too much to repeat!),but then again federer would leave him a legacy that is marked by his almost amaranthine longevity,his almost divine fitness and his angelic demeanour.Its interesting to watch nadal behave in a federer match,he is all pumped up and fiery.He ought to be,there is cold ice at the other end,those players who just play without aggression(remember Del potro in US open?) tend to sink that much faster as they cut thru the ice of this fedex icerberg.
Maybe we can give rest to the record writing for few years and watch the action as when these two meet again.

30-30
"The game"

I feel that the game has been inordinately benifited from the presence of these two deities,well all of us know that.But imagine a game of tennis after sampras and agassi and no federer and no nadal.Woof!So much talent is there in these two that even the game looks smaller to them.I pity those federer fans who implicate and villify nadal and also I detest those nadal fans who pray for roger`s downfall.But that doesn`t mean I don`t take sides.I have my favourite and I root for him.But I love the game.And I positively feel like a child who is given his favourite toy when this mouthwatering clash takes place.

40-30
"The others"

Murray: I feel his time will come,he needs that luck in form of an injury to either nadal/federer or a easy draw or early exit of the two.But he is surely the star of the future.I can envision him taking the place of nadal in the current nadal-federer match and challenging nadal as nadal challenges federer.
Djokovic:The laugh riot serbian is a cool customer and a good shotmaker but needs to get his confidence back by winning another GS,best chances at the Aus open.
Soderling:The swede after running both federer and nadal close at french open in successive years needs to make it big now.He is the eternal dark horse and can take out any player on any day.
Del potro:To me the future champion of the others lot.The very young argentine is immensly talented and has the credentials and the hunger to make it big.He can very well end being the best of his era.
Roddick:Can spring few surprises in th years to come.I personally back him to win a wimbledon and another US open before he hangs up the racquet.

40-40
"the future"

I think we all have about 5-6 years of federer-nadal rivalry to savour.With about 20-24 potential GS Finals/Semis to go in this duration,I wish that we have these two making to the top two positions in every tournament(with due respect to the others contingent)
 Its early to call who will take home the GOAT crown,and its still undecided who is better of the two..Lets leave that discussion open and lets revel in their galaxy of strokeplay and root for these two geniuses.

Advantage....

Game..Set...Match....

Sher-O-Shayari..(4)

1.
Jab Jab tere chehre ko apni aankhon me utara,
Salakhon aur zanzeron main apne dil ko jakda paya,
Chhod de ye zid,azaad kar is quaid se mujhe,
Bol de aye bala,kyun is zakhm ko sheeshe ke dhaage se tune silwaya.

2.
Dekh le apne maathe par bichi silwaton ki shikan,
sun kar dekh tere ruh ki awaaz,uski sihran,
pher na lena apne gunahon se tu nazar,
apne rukhsaar par aane de tu sharm ki thodi fikar.

3.
Chhod diya hai ab paimane ko humne,
teri aankhon se ab piya karte hain,
khol diya hai is mehkhane ko sabhi ke liye kabse,
akele to ab jaam bhi ruswa kiya karte hain.

4.
Phirdous me aapke aane se hi khile hai ye gul,
aapki udan ke hi kayaal hai ye panchi,apni udaan gaye hai bhool,
kahi chale na jaana is jannat se,aap se hi hai yahaan ka har sool,
kirdaar hi hai hum sab is duniya main,pyar to baanta  hai sirf wo rasool.

5.
Tashreef jo laye aap is aashiq ke janaze pe,
Do katre mitti jo dal gaye aap meri kabra ke muhane pe,
mil gayi is ruh ko jannat,karzdar ho gaye hum aap ke is nazrane se,
zindagi to pesh kar hi chuka hoon aapke hozoor main,jannat bhi mil jaaye tujhe ye aah nikalti hai dil se is diwane ke.

6.
Har darakht par teri mehandi ke nishan hai,
Har kalrav me teri hi muskaan,
har shokh ada ki ho aap begum,
har mehfil ki ho aap jaan.

7.
Falak par kuch chamakta jo hai,
Ye sitaare nahi,aapke hasi ke sharare hain,
is mardood dil me kuch dhadakta jo hai,
wo dhadkan nahi,aapke hi kiye ishare hai.

8.
Sambhal ja aye namuraad,kehta hai wo peer,
muhabbat na kar,pachtayega,ro padegi taqdeer,
Par ye kambakhat dil kahan mane hai,phisalta hai ye balbeer,
Ishq to hum karenge hi,chahe khud sanam bhi utha le shamsheer.

9.
Afsana-e-muhabbat bayaan karne ka de zajba sabhi ko aye khuda,
na katl kar tu majnu,na kar kisi heer-raanjhe ko juda,
ata kar apni roshni ke noor tu sabhi aashiqon ko sada,
muhabbat hi dastoor hai zamane ka,ibarat me ishq lafz hi hai khuda.

10.
Taraane hum gungunate hai aaj teri yaad me,
Salaam karte hain beshaq, teri wafa ko apni fariyaad me,
Kahi bhi raho tum magar,ye zehan me rakhna ya rakh lo zubaan pe,
Har lafz tere hi aankhon se milta hai is zubaan ko,har jumla tere intezaar se.