Have I become a "Screenager"?

Like everyone else, I grew up passing a stage where I was addressed a “teenager”. As a kid and as a teen growing up, I played outdoor games outdoors; played chess on a chess board and indoor games indoors. I loved watching movies on a celluloid screen in a cinema, loved reading books, comics and novels on a print version and the smell of the print every time I picked them up from a bookstore gave me joy.

I had different applications for different purposes. I had music cassettes to listen to my music on a tape recorder and player and I had cricket bat and a ball to play cricket in a play ground. And with the technological advances; I accepted the change and started listening to music on CD’s on my walkman and now I have moved my music collection onto something called an Iphone which came as a gift to me.

I use this gadget primarily as a telephone and to listen to my music although I have learnt that there are many things that can be done on this palm sized machine which basically acts as one-stop-shop-for-all purposes with an application for different purpose. I wouldn’t go so far to use them all as I find most things that are not to my taste. For instance, I will never use this piece to read books, watch movies or play games. Why would you want to do that? Aren’t reading books or novels or even for that matter, newspapers fun when you read them on traditional print format?

I fail to understand today’s kids. They should be called “Screenagers” for their entire life depends on these tiny screens. One kid even had the cheek to ask while playing with my Iphone. “You don’t know how to use this?” referring to an application called e-book. I replied, kid it’s for no-brainers. Like the traditionalists, I barked back with couple of questions. What's wrong with the printed word on paper that's worked fine for centuries? And why would you want to read a book on a telephone anyway? He gave me a look which I think meant “you are obsolete” and went on to say that his generation plays Cricket, Tennis and Football on screen, read books, novels and comics on screen, watch movies and TV episodes on screen and communicate and keeps in touch with friends on screen.

Then I wondered. If they do everything on screen, what do they do outside? Does “outdoor games” ever exist in their e-dictionary?

The latest reports indicate that, especially throughout the summer months when kids are out of school, teenagers spend an average of nearly ten hours (nine hours and 54 minutes is the exact average) on some sort of screen - computer, gaming console or TV. That is about 4 solid months a year.

But then, we too are on the computer screen most times. I am writing this story with the help of my computer screen; you are reading this story on your computer screen. You think we both are becoming screenagers also? You think I should start using those applications on my Iphone like that kid suggested or continue to live my life that of a traditionalist?

From unsung heroes to unstrung heroes

When Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathy got together on a tennis court, they became the instant hit in the world of tennis and more so in the cricket crazed nation of India. They gave more joy to tennis followers than anybody else could with their fantastic partnership, with those high flying chest-bumps each time they won the point and with those numerous slams they won together. Those days, apart from Cricket, in India, any other sport story to hit the front page of national dailies was as difficult as trying to find a Cricket story on New York Times front page. But these guys not only managed to get plastered on every front page of the newspapers, they got discussed by TV pundits on Prime Time News too.

They were unsung heroes then. Today, they are unstrung heroes. Separated and facing off each other in the doubles section of the-singles-minded-tennis world.

One can always enjoy watching John Travolta and Nicolas Cage face each other off in that movie “Face Off” but it certainly hurts even an ordinary tennis fan like me to see these wonderful players face each other. Aren’t they both made to play doubles together and not against each other?

At the time of writing this piece, thankfully, the rain god in the New York sky is postponing their match at the US Open 2009 Men’s Doubles Finals and lets all hope for the sake of their fans who loved to see them play together, this match never commences and they both get declared as joint winners. Who would want only one of them to win and the other to lose? But then, I know this will remain a wish and also know that all their fans are left with no choice but to see the inevitable happen in just a few hours from now.

Very soon, the Arthur Ashe stadium will witness everything except that famous partnership of Leander and Mahesh.

Quite a masterpiece it will be and doubtless, it will be breathtaking hard court doubles match we have not seen for a long time. There sure will be a touch of magic, a speck of inevitability, a plethora of class and a glimmer of hope from both Leander and Mahesh that we all will enjoy. But can we enjoy the veneer of sadness and the joy of victory from the vanquished and the victor? Yours truly certainly cannot.

The reason behind their separation is well known but I certainly want them to re-unite again quickly in what could be their last days of their careers and bring back that joy, that smile on millions of their fans’ faces who are craving to see them play together.

It was never a Vendetta for Pennetta against Sania

In Tennis, there are only three ways to end a point - with a winner, forced error or unforced error.

Today, we need to concentrate on Unforced Error. An Unforced Error is when the player has time to prepare and position himself or herself to get the ball back in play and makes an error. This is a shot that the player would normally get back into play. The real keys here are time and position.

Sania Mirza had neither the time nor got into position today in her second round match in US Open against the Italian No.10 seed Flavia Pennetta and ended up committing 28 unforced errors that forced Sania Mirza out of the US Open Singles campaign. The match ended as it started as Pennetta blew away the Indian Star out of the court in straight sets with the final result that read 6-0, 6-0. Flavia Pennetta completely destroyed Sania Mirza during the less-than-an-hour domination that belonged entirely to the Italian.

Those Sania fans who couldn’t arrive at the stadium to cheer their star for whatever reasons didn’t miss much. They sure would have regretted for having made it instead. The match got over in just 50 minutes and they would have hated to see their star getting beaten like this.

For a newbie watching tennis, this match sure would have looked like a practice session for Flavia Pennetta. There was nothing positive that Sania Mirza could take home from this match. The only positive she could possibly look at is “how not to play like this match” in her future matches. Flavia gave Sania a good tennis lesson. She reminded Sania how to play those famous forehand winners, passing shots and those perfect volleys that once made Sania Mirza a sensational tennis star in India years ago.

It was never a vendetta for Pennetta as this match was completely one-sided and a cake walk for the Italian player. She now moves on to the 3rd round as Sania Mirza looks forward to her doubles and mixed doubles matches. The sooner Sania Mirza forgets this match, the better it is for her matches in other categories. By the way, is there anything worthwhile for Sania Mirza to remember anything about this match?

Force India’s Success: Was it because of The Machine, The Driver or a Rabbit?

Luck, as ever, plays a big part in sports. Last week, luck certainly charmed on Force India team driver Giancarlo Fisichella. And as the life lesson teaches, if you mix your efforts with the available good luck, you seldom can go wrong. Fisichella sure did mix them well during the weekend. Otherwise who would have ever thought that this veteran driver from Italy would finish as a front runner on the grid which is a parking space meant usually for the likes of Buttons, Raikonnens, Alonsos, Hamiltons, Massas and Barichellos before they take-off?

It is very easy to predict those cars that start from the last rows in F1. They invariably belonged to Force India. To be able to break that shackle and end up winning the pole position not only requires amazing talent but also abundance of good luck.

In Sports generally, players are known to be very superstitious and follow some rituals to bring in or posses the luck factor. Indian Cricket legend Sunny Gavaskar always used to ground his bat first before bringing his right foot into position, while taking guard. Australia’s former skipper Steve Waugh used to carry a red handkerchief in his left pocket, which was given to him by his late grandfather. Spain's Tennis Great Rafael Nadal is very particular when it comes to his water bottle courtside; every sit-down making sure it goes back to exactly the same spot or position each time, right down to the centimeter. Croatia's Goran Ivanisevic, a former Wimbledon champ, was a fan of the food routine, reportedly sitting at the same table at the same restaurant and ordering the same meal of fish soup, lamb and ice cream with chocolate sauce during one tournament. Ivanisevic also always tried to rise from his courtside chair after his opponent, if he served an ace he asked for the same ball again, if he won he then attempted to follow the same routine as closely as possible the following day and he didn’t like to stand on the court lines.

Superstitions or rituals are followed because of the success a player has had due to the belief in practicing those sometimes weird stuff. What happened last weekend with Fisichella was also weird.

"I hit a rabbit during morning practice and damaged the front wing," Fisichella said. "My mechanics said: 'In England, rabbits are good luck.' Maybe they're right! I didn't expect to be on pole position. We had a few problems and the car was better than expected. It's amazing, fantastic; I'm so happy about this."

Let’s hope that the bunny coming his way doesn’t become Fisichella’s routine from now on. Actually, it’s a much easier investment option for Dr. Vijay Mallya to set some bunnies on his driver’s way than to invest millions on technical and car up gradation. Isn’t it?