When WIll and I stopped to compare our rides on a Maharashtra Freeway!! :P

More Flings with Photoshop :P

I've been an ardent fan and avid collector of cool footballer wallpapers, when it struck me - hey, I'm supposed to be a player too! So here was my (yet another ) feeble attempt at 'designing' a wallpaper with the a new footballing protagonist - that's right - me! :P

These feeble attempts at Photoshop were made during my 2nd yr, I hope I can do better now... but just posting them up for nostalgia's sake. :)

ICEMAN in a dilemma :D




ICEMAN and SINBAD hailing Pingu :P

My Fling with Photoshop

Due to my course Creative Multimedia this semester, I've been dabbling around in Photoshop.. though my work is like that of a noob, :P, am still giving it a hand. Comments please! ( I know the pics are not perfect, but as is said, Practice makes it happen. :)

My Fling with Photoshop

Due to my course Creative Multimedia this semester, I've dabbled around in Photoshop

Ambigrams... \m/

Found a cool site which generates ambigrams.... tried out my nicks ;D
Ambigrams read the same from left to right as right to left, or upside down, etc.

The "Igo" Concept

Hmmm.... no wonder the topic will raise an eyebrow or two. Igo ( to be pronounced : I-ego ) is a concept I wanted to add to... furthering the original ego - era.

Confronted with a soul-searching dilemma earlier today, I just had to delve a little into this tiny word. And in this tiny word, I found something exceptionally huge.... the world of the ME.

Just including a couple of definitions here for reference...

e·go·tist
n.
1. A conceited, boastful person.
2. A selfish, self-centered person.


e·go·ist
n.
1. One devoted to one's own interests and advancement; an egocentric person.
2. An egotist.
3. An adherent of egoism.

What do these definitions make me? An I-goist or an I-gotist? Well, for the time being, let me just be an I-gologist - studying the I-go.I realized today, that it takes only a minuscule change of circumstances, a word here, a deed there, a push somewhere else, for everyone's Igo to shoot up. For example, when I play football, whether I am captain or just a member, I give my hundred percent out there. It is not to impress anyone... but at the very least, it gives myself the satisfaction of being a hard player. Of course, when I have juniors on my team, I try to set an example wherever I can, on the pitch or off it. I do not need titles or recognition, and I won't have a problem with someone who does have titles or recognition. Or so I thought.When I complained a few days ago ( rather tactlessly, I must admit ) that some people do not work when it matters, and need to be out there leading the way for the others ( read: inexperienced )to follow, one of my closest friends retorted, " Well, it's not that we don't work. It's that we know when to work. We can go without food during the job, and unlike you people we do not take breaks or stop to rest. " Well, maybe they didn't pay attention ( in all probability ) but even I didn't eat much the last time around. See what I mean? Just the mere mention of it made me one of the you people. Subtle, but worth a look into.


(Note: It is probable that my thinking might also have been affected by the unconvincing attempts to stay in the limelight by some of today's "celebrities", esp. getting engaged on the telly, revealing personal lives on reality shows, et cetera...Talk about egos that can never be quenched!!)


Anyways, with time, I guess the mind matures enough to deal with these petty problems... what astounds me is that unknown egos which has been dormant so far, burst forth and what not. However, what can an idealist do at a crossroads like that? Put his head down and go with the flow, or let his own Igo dictate terms and rebel against the Powers?

I have decided to go with the flow, hoping that my sensible self will pull me out of this crazy dilemma without scars. But if things get worse, I might have to give in to my huge Igo as well... and just back out. After all, life is not always about compromises.

Yes, We Khan!!

Yawning uncontrollably, one weary hand holding a cup of coffee, the other hand just done scratching out morning wax from his sleepy eyes, the average Indian must have taken the day's paper from under his armpits to glance at the day's headlines - to be treated about an 'ordeal' that our 'global Bollywood icon', let's call him SR Khan, had to go through. Of all the unimaginable horrors that a celebrity could face in this strife-torn world, he had endured one of the very worst - he had been frisked at the Newark Airport, and later requested for a check, in the US of A. All this because ( SR Khan ) he had a last name that belonged to a certain community of a certain continent, and ( unnamed US official ) that he was asked to go through a very 'routine' checkup because Khan had a substantial amount of money on him.

The actor, claiming that his pride has been hurt to an extent that he does not feel like 'stepping on American soil anymore', also said that it is the 'love of his fans', that'll bring him back. Politicians all over the country have started the usual name-calling and effigy-burning, bickering about tit-for-tat tactics to be doled out to American citizens landing on our soil.

While I have no disrespect for Mr. SR Khan, owing to the fact he IS a big name in the Bollywood industry, I would like to point out that a certain VVIP, former President A Kalam was asked to do something similar ( though he didn't have to wait an hour to get through ), him being from the same community as Khan. This, too, was not too many days ago. What with the other piece of 'sensational' news, about another actor E Hashmi claiming that he was denied a house because he belongs to a minority, I feel that things are getting a little out of hand. I mean, the former Prez himself didn't create a ruckus and start bad-mouthing the Continental Airlines, inspite of him being frisked in New Delhi itself.

How is it that after overthrowing around 200 years of colonial rule, and 63 years ( just yesterday, that too ) of independence, we still cannot shed the veil of second-hand? Or was it just clamouring for attention? After all, celebrities are demi-Gods in this country. And like they say - any publicity is good publicity.

While I sympathize with Mr. Khan about his predicament, I wonder why a different article, in the same paper that the same average Indian read at the beginning of my post, that too reaching that page after scratching other unmentionables, didn't create such waves among Americans. I am, of course, referring to Bob Dylan being asked for identification by some rookie cops, because neither the cops, nor the residents who reported Dylan as a 'suspicious man', could recognize the great man. For further references, however, for the American residents, the rookie cops, AND anyone else interested, I am posting a couple of profile pictures of Bob Dylan and King Khan. :P

Considering the furore it has raised, one must at least appreciate the irony that SR Khan was in the country to shoot for his next film venture, titled ( quite coincidentally) 'My Name is Khan'.

Street Kings of India: A Compilation

For the last few days, I've been looking around for professional performers to participate in the college's cultural fest, WAVES 09 - Winter... Being a core member of the Department of Creative Works, I've been pretty busy.

I don't know, maybe it's the football background in me, or just Goa's fanatical football populace taking it's toll on my way of thinking ( and way of life :) ), I've looking around for freestyle footballers in the country. And I've come up with some pretty cool groups, the most amazing of which I've come across, is the S.K.I, The Street Kings of India. They are now also a member of the F3 - the Freestyle Football Federation.

I've just embedded a few of their videos. Check them out! \m/

Ikron - April Video


S.K.I on TV


Ikron VS Fye BEYOND FOOTBALL INTERMEDIATE ROUND 1


Will post more later... BITSian net is too slow for all videos to load, anyways!! :P

My Journey as a Footballer - The Story So Far...

Now before any misconceptions that the topic might trigger, let me first clarify that I am NOT the next CHristiano Ronaldo - not by a long stretch :P. Takes some balls ( and probably some self respect) to admit it, but although I was (and am) a good and competitive sportsperson, I was never a child prodigy or anything. That, and combined with the obsession with Engineering, Medicine and Higher Studies by the Powers that be, (read: family) I played for my school and now play in my University team. But football has been a part and parcel of my life for so long... in fact as I admitted recently, it was my first crush. We have been going steady since :D

Am in a very nostalgic mood, and have just realized how much the sport football, has shaped my life course. I've been playing since my childhood, and still remember getting into the school team with absolutely no experience and that too, after my very first training session. I was selected for the role of a center-back, to the left, partnering Bhavesh in defense. My school, Apeejay Nerul, had a decent team, I remember I was 11 years old at the time.

Most of the matches of the NML, the Navi Mumbai (or New Bombay) League U-12, in that year, 2000, were held in our school grounds. I don't remember much of the matches, except that I broke my glasses during a game with St.Mary's. We had white jersys, and navy blue shorts... since it was my first tournament, I didn't have a jersey of my own, so borrowed Yadnesh's, who had in fact introduced me to the sport.

Anyways, we reached the finals that year, but lost to St.Lawrence 2-0. Our best player and captain, Aditya Giriyalkar, was a guy of outstanding speed and agility. I think he scored in all the games we played. I still remember the blue jerseys of the Lawrence team...and in fact, when the final whistle blew, I was the guy with the last touch.

It was heart-wrenching, to lose in the finals... but back then, I wasn't so experienced that I felt by any measure I had not played well. I thought I was so-so, playing my role to perfection, but probably not flexible enough to help out with the attack at any point.

Anyway, I'll be posting more about my other tournaments ( or what I can remember of them), and delve a little deeper into the sport that defined my life.

Also note - the picture above is NOT my school team from U-12, but I don't think I have any pics from that time, or of the team... this one's of a team I played for later in my life - The Galactico Football Club. But more on that later..... :)