The Mangalore Diaries - Walking to Central Maidan

Started walking at 730 and headed towards Central Maidan which is a central part of Jayanth Kodkani's book on cricket in Konkan. 

Passed some interesting places on the way - a chapel, and old movie theatre Prabhat Talkies, the University building, the clock tower, St Paul's Church and right in front of the church, the Central Maidan or Nehru maidan as its called now. 

The city was just waking up and people were hurrying to work, to college, to play. There were people sleeping on the sidewalk, a few waiting for daily work, street vendors selling clothes setting up shops early. 

I took a few pics of St Paul's Church which is one of the oldest churches in Mangalore and stepped into Central Maidan. 

There's not a blade of grass on it, it's full of red, hard mud. The walls are lined with trees and there are almost 10 practice nets, all matting.

The pavilion also houses the office of the Uttara Kannada Cricket Association with a prominent score board. Young cricketers were warming up for a match. A few parents hung on. On another side is a statue of Jawaharlal Nehru.

It is surprising that there is no turf wicket and if this is the head quarters of UKCA I'd expect it to be a turf ground. Can't imagine kids playing matches on matting and suddenly playing selection games on turf. 

From the Central Maidan I walked past a lovely astro turfed soccer ground where a lot of kids were training. A vollyball court was filled with amateur players enjoying themselves, egged on by a sporty couple sitting in the bus stand. A few weekend cricketers were playing by the side.

I went past the clock tower, and found the University College of Distance Education which was such a beautiful building that i stepped in to take a closer look much to the worry of a suspicious sweeper lady who suspended all work to keep an eye on me. I normally shrink under any severe eye, and this one was especially severe, so I eggressed from the nearest exit.

Down the road I saw the beautiful Milgres Church, massive, and turned towards the St Aloysius Chapel which is the first sight to see in Mangalore. It was a nice walk uphill to what's called the Lighthouse Hill and I passed the Mangalore Ladies Club and entered the St Aloysius Educational Institutes. 

The watchman guided me to the chapel which one cannot access when a service is on - luckily there was no service and I walked into a quiet chapel with not a soul in it. I sat for a while, looked at the beautiful paintings by an Italian artist, donated some money in a box for the upkeep of the paintings, and stepped out.

Next I descended the steps to the cricket ground which is credited with the beginning of all cricket activity in Mangalore. The year 1878 was when 7 Jesuit priests started the college and cricketing activity which was publicized by Father Moore's lively coverage in his Mangalore Magazine.

Some young cricketers played in the ground, shirtless. One of them bowled real quick too. They guided me to the Academy ground which I think was where those matches happened all those years ago. I passed the gents hostels and walked back to the hostel.

Good walk.

People - Anita Nair - Maitreya Gets Married

Anita sent me the marriage invitation for Maitreya's wedding more than a month ago. He was marrying Anvita Pereira who is from Mangalore so the wedding was in Mangalore at Holy Cross Church. Now, my nephew Shrinjay studies in Mangalore and he was due to get engaged at around the same time so I just left that open.

Turned out that my nephew was getting engaged on the 12th and Maitreya's wedding was on the 10th so I decided I could go a day early. 

The Holy Cross Church was beautiful with stained glass windows, well maintained interiors, huge parking space, a massive function hall for the reception. It was beautiful. 

Everyone dressed up so well that it looked like one of those movies set in Italy like Mama Mia or something. The Bishop was gentle and loving and it all went off beautifully. I met Jayanth Kodkani, ex Editor of Times in Bangalore and we caught up.

The reception was in Cordel Hall next door, another beautiful place that was excellently decorated. A stunning cake, champagne, bar, food, live band and the works. I was too tired from an early morning flight that kept me up all night so left early. 

I realised that Mangalore was full of quaint old houses, churches, buildings, clock towers. 

It's a heritage lovers paradise. Can't wait to go on a walk tomorrow and check out some places.

The Wall of Happyness - Lovely Idea

Saw this lovely concept called 'The Wall of Happyness' at the Fiza Nexus Mall in Mangalore. There's this place with huge open boxes where people can leave clothes they don't need, and if they need any clothes they take it. 

I didn't realise it until i saw a bunch of people just checking stuff and taking stuff away. In Hyderabad we would give away clothes to an NGO owned by Dr Reddy's until they stopped it, and then to Goonj who went far away. Now I have no place to give so I give it away to Ann who gives it to her church I think. 

Loved it. Well done Fiza Nexus.

People - A Wedding - Mohib

Mohib Ali Khan was a stylish batsman and useful off spinner from our University days. He was a high contributing member of our Osmania University team that won the South Zone Championship at Vizag in 1991.

Mohib unfortunately missed out playing for the South Zone varsities despite scoring fifties and a six wicket haul in the final. The University zone selections, now that i look back, were atrocious 

Mohibs daughter got married recently and he invited the entire cricket team from our Osmania side.  He shifted to Uganda early on because he got an opportunity to play and also work. He is now in a senior position in a finance company.

 Our skipper Vijay. Bansi, Venkat Dhatrak and I went together. At the venue we met Shujath Ali Khan. Other cricketers who were present included Riaz, my co-selector and exRanji player, Masood Junior, an elegant left handed batsman, Shujauddin, a right arm fast bowler who bowled outswingers and several others. 

It was a good evening catching up. Thanks Mohib. We took several pics, this one has Mohib in it in a white coat.

Miranda Days - And a First at Lady Irwin College

 And so Orpheus wins the first prize after many seconds and thirds and as it happens with most things, happened when they (A at least) were least expecting it. Isn't it a fact that most artists hate their most popular works - like Guns and Roses do not like 'Sweet Child of Mine'. But that's life, we want to be known for something and the world likes us for something else.

Well done Orpheus (named after the legendary Greek poet musician who had superhuman powers)! 

And the Orpheus journey before they got here - St Stephen's, Kirorimal, Hansraj, DCAS, LSR, Jesus and Mary, Gargi and so on and so forth! More power to you girls!

Thought for the Day - Recreating the Magic

When we miss someone in our life, what do we miss? We miss the things we did together, the way they made you feel, the way you were with them. When the person goes away, we miss these. The laughter, the excitement, the madness, that feeling of understanding and being understood. Waiting for the person who left will not help, so one must find ways to fill that gap and enjoy life as before.

One way to get over the hole in our lives when people move out is to identify what they made you feel, what you did, how you were and then recreate it - with another person or persons or even with oneself. Can I still enjoy a laugh with someone, share a chai with someone, pull someone's leg, share stuff that I learned or discovered, open myself to someone, make plans, sit quietly, listen to music, watch a film, go for a drive...well I am sure they can all be equally fulfilling with other people, with oneself. It should be as much fun I should think. 

To be in that state with oneself is ideal, and if we can be as much fun with ourselves, it will be very easy to attract the right kind of people too. Life goes on as usual - fun, invigorating, learning, sharing, feeling cared, a feeling of belonging.

It's an experiment worth trying.

Talk at Daksha School - Goal Setting

I had asked Anita if I could do a session on goal setting for the senior kids in school a month ago and she said I could and that she would figure out the right time for it and let me know. Today was the first day of the new year and she asked if I could do a one hour session starting 830 am and I was glad to grab the chance.

Receiving the thank you card

Over the years I have been doing many workshops and lectures and always found that the most effective parts of the workshop were the strength finding exercises and goal setting exercises (somehow seemed to generate a lot of energy). Both get the students to think a bit. I also found that goal setting needs a bit of expansion of their own limits - so I start with a wish list - sometimes as many as 50 if we have the time. It just opens up the mind to possibilities and then we could always discuss how to go about them.

Making a point

The classes 7th to 10th were in attendance and it was nice meeting some of Anjali's old teachers. So I stayed true to the format and asked them if anyone had goals. A few hands went up and some were clear about getting 97% while others were vague like 'cricket'. I then asked them to list out 20 things they wished for  - a wish list if God appeared before them - and asked them to list stuff about their careers, academics, hobbies, passions, material things, crazy dreams etc. They got down to it and soon some were chugging away nicely while others struggled a bit but eventually got going with some prompts. I told them not to impose any limits and just go for it.

Another section - glad they are smiling

After 10 minutes we stopped and I asked a few of them to share. From being an artists, dancer, actor, cricketer, intelligent person, IITian, basketball player, rich, time traveller, inventor of an arc reactor, build a house, author and so many more dreams and wishes came up. I asked if they had any difficulty coming up with their wish list - whether they felt some were beyond them etc. To one prompt whether anyone wanted to be the Prime Minister one boy said he would rather not simply because it appeared like a lot of work! I told him that any high position in life would require work and that they must be prepared for it. When I asked him if he thought Virat Kohli's job was easy he said it was - and I had to tell him that Virat Kohli trains the hardest!

A section of the audience

I spoke about the concept of SMART Goals which some of them were aware of and told them to apply the filters of Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time Bound to make them a bigger possibility. The clearer one can see their goals and put a time limit on it, one improves their chances of achieving such goals. So I asked them to put a number (how many marks or how much money), name (wherever possible such as x college), a visual (if its a house, a car, a job). They all were told to add to their list of goals and then make them more SMART. Anita also told them to add academic goals for the year, to have bigger goals and to write these goals down as an assignment.

A tic I picked up - touching my ear while speaking

When we opened up the stage to questions I expected one or two but I was deluged with a load of questions - what were you when you played, how much did they pay you then, do you have any regrets (I said I regretted not having a clear goal), how to write, how to get better at stuff, which IPL team I liked (I said none and when I asked them which team they liked they said RCB!) and so on and so forth. We finally had to cut down on the questions and ended the session. One of the students came and gave me a lovely hand made thank you card and also a fine vote of thanks. I found the students very tuned in, bold, clear, intelligent, unafraid to ask questions and also very patient (they sat for over an hour!)

Treasured gift - a lovely card

I chatted with Anita about why I want to do more of these classes - just to open up students minds to possibilities and hopefully make a difference to their goals and lives. As usual it was very satisfying to have a session like this. I asked Anita if we could get some feedback from the students.             

Vote of thanks!

Thanks Anita for giving me an opportunity to interact with the students and I do hope it will help them a bit as they go forward.