I love Sri Lankan Cricket; in victory and in defeat!

The writing was on the wall long before the Indian captain Dhoni hit the winning runs and the Sri Lankan fans watching the game on a big screen at the CH and FC grounds new that. The roar of the crowd when Thisara Perera hit the last ball of the Sri Lankan innings for six; the jubilation felt when Malinga took the prized wickets of Sehwag and Tendulkar seemed like a life time ago. A lot will be written about what went wrong but I think that no matter how much you analyze the game you will find that at the end of the day the better team won.

As a Sri Lankan fan the hard reality is that for the second consecutive world cup we have ended up as loosing finalists. On both occasions the journey to the final was not easy and was only possible due to the hard work that the team has been putting in over the last decade. We have consistently been one of the better teams in world cricket. The looks of disappointment were clearly evident in the faces of the crowed as they prayed for a miracle that was not to come, not this time at least. However, those very same faces were full of pride and anyone there would have told you how proud they were of their team. In defeat as much as in victory Sri Lankan fans have always been loyal. There was just disappointment and a hell of a lot of pride, and there was certainly no room for anger.

Once Dhoni had hit the final blow the crowd finally started to disperse trying to beat the traffic. However, a large portion remained to watch the presentation ceremony and cheered their team on as they collected their runners up medals. The skipper Sangakkara’s message was to the point and as brilliant as ever. He made no excuses for losing to a better side and was full of praise for his opponents and once again the pride that he took in his teams magnificent run to the final was evident.

There was even some applause, subdued yet full of respect for the Indian team as the crowd watched the winners collect their medals. They listened to the Indian Skipper Dhoni answering his critics and praising his team. If there was one thing that I would have liked to see that would have been something directed at the Sri Lankan team from both Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh, the man of the tournament. They were both quick to emphasize how they had answered their critics and were more intent of praising their own team that they seemed to forget the team that had given them a good run for their money. A little message of encouragement or a ‘better luck next time’ would have been a nice touch but it was their moment and I wish to take nothing away from them. As the Indian team lifted the trophy up in Mumbai the crowed in Colombo started to leave, there were even scattered outbursts of fireworks. Of course it was nothing of the sort that would have erupted had Sri Lanka won the game but it goes to show how graciously Sri Lankans accept defeat.

The team was then welcomed by thousands still waving Sri Lankan flags proudly as the team returned home the next day. The media conference was held at Independence square and the crowd were cheering their heroes on and they were there to bid adieu to a legend of cricket, Muralitharan.

All that I can say is that I am very proud of the Sri Lankan team but even more so of my country. Our fans are simply the best out there. The Indian and Pakistani crowds get violent and disruptive, the Aussies crucify their captain, and the English ridicule their team through the media, while we see it for what it is a sport and defeat is a part of it so we move on. We were right there four years ago when Gilchrist came at us with a squash ball in his glove, we were right there yesterday when Dhoni tossed the coin twice and more importantly we will be there four years from now supporting our beloved cricket team as they mount another assault on that coveted trophy!

  

Saying Adios to a Dream.

I recently read a text that asked a rather thought provoking question. It started off by stating that when we are young we live as if we are immortal and that there comes a point in life when one realizes that there is a time limit. It went on to ask “…at what point or after what experience does one become aware of this mortality? “

I think that for some people this truth dawns when they witness a tragedy like an earthquake, a Tsunami or a terrorist attack. Witnessing death on a large scale can indeed make one evaluate one’s life taking the ticking clock into account. The death of a close friend/family member can have the same effect. I myself am not immune to such triggers however; I also start thinking along the same lines after making a life altering decision.

Almost everyone who has had the opportunity to get to know me within the past five years is sure to think of me as someone who is undecided about the future. They will tell you that I know not what I want out of my own life. Although this line of thought is flawed, in the absence of my defense it becomes the only plausible assumption. Contrary to popular belief I actually know exactly what I would like my life to be. I know every little detail of this life and thanks to many years of day dreaming it actually seems rather real. This life however is not within the realms of what is possible. I am too much of a realist to pursue what is clearly not meant to be and yet too naïve to give up on it completely.

These dreams were never really within reach for reasons too complicated to be put down in writing. However, I did have to make the decision between either remaining on course hoping that the circumstances may change or veering off course in search of an alternative. I chose the second option. It was a quick and impulsive decision but that was the only way that I was ever going to tear myself away from my obsession. As feeble an attempt at justifying my actions as this may seem I did find solace in the words of Marcus Aurelius. “…But those who do not observe the impulses of their own minds must of necessity be unhappy”.

Each time that I think these things through I am left with the same conclusions. We all try to live the life that we feel will make us happiest. There are those that reach for the stars, fail and yet remain happy in the knowledge that they tried, and those who settle for the consolation price and yet find happiness in that. As for me, I want to be able to look back on my life without any regrets. However, when that time does eventually come to pass I will be robbed of that pleasure because of a certain dream that I gave up on. No matter how good or how happy a life it ends up being I will always wonder what would have happened had I stayed on course? Would the circumstances have changed? Would fate have given me a chance to play the game? In the days, months and years that will make up my life I am sure to revisit that moment and think…..what if?

Do friendships have a time and end? Does Facebook immortalize friendships?

                The new online social network, Path.com sites a research study that claims that one person can only maintain on average 150 relationships. As a result unlike Facebook where you can have as many friends as you want on Path you are limited to a 50. I did seriously consider switching over but then realized that I don’t know anyone else that is on Path so that would negate the point of being on a social network.

                Facebook will tell you that I have 600+ friends but I think that I only constantly communicate with about a 100, maybe even less. So those 100 make up my network of friends both online and offline. The other 500+ ‘Facebook friends’ are actually acquaintances and the advantage of being connected to them through Facebook is that in case you wish to re-connect with them they are only a wall post away. It also makes me feel good about myself by feeling connected and loved.    

                Just like everything else in life, friendships are also in constant flux. While some relationships develop from acquaintanceships into friendships others go in the opposite direction. Some of my closest and most treasured friendships have turned in to acquaintanceships over time. The findings of the study should not be surprising to anyone and clearly show that most friendships do have a time and end. When life rolls along and we meet new people, our network expands to levels that we as humans cannot keep up with. So it is only natural that the ascendancy of certain friendships leads to the decline of others.

This raises the question whether Facebook can stop this process and in a sense whether it can immortalize friendships. I personally believe that while Facebook and other sites of similar caliber do a wonderful job of connecting people across the world, it does not stop the decline of certain friendships. It can of course help maintain and develop friendships especially long distance ones as the internet in general helps us communicate faster and more efficiently than ever before. Also being able to see pictures and videos of friends in distant places and being able to communicate in a group setting makes the friendship feel more real. The old world order of pen pals could have never done that although the effect of a handwritten letter once in awhile cannot be underestimated. The internet like postal mail is simply a tool that enables us to communicate and keep in touch but whether we value our friendships enough to make full use of these tools is up to us.

                So for the most part the internet, Facebook etc have only changed how we interact and not whether we interact. 

Welcome to Cricket Crazy Sri Lanka!

Oh Lanka how I adore thee, I love your sandy beaches, your mountains, your supreme natural beauty, your spicy food and the people with perpetual smiles on their faces, but above all I love the many public holidays that I get to enjoy all of my favorite things.

A couple of days ago while I was surfing the web (I am an addict) I ran out of things to read. More precisely I ran out of things that I perceived as being worthy of my time. It was while I was indulging in this addiction of mine that I came across the Sri Lankan Calendar for 2011. I knew that we had plenty of public holidays but 27? That’s only a few days short of a month! 

I grew up in the hill capitol, Kandy so I will from time to time post about my native land. Anyone who has ever set foot on Lanka will tell a tale of a country so unique that not even its own citizens will ever fully comprehend. To fully understand the country and its people one would have to study its 2000 years of History which thanks to Buddhist roots is well documented in the Mahawansha. It describes the life and times of the people who forged our nation, from the coming of Vijaya in 543 BCE to the reign of King Mahasena (334 – 361) (6th Century BC to 4th Century AD). A companion volume, the Culavamsa or Choolavansha ("lesser chronicle"), covers the period from the 4th century to the British takeover of Sri Lanka in 1815.

Nothing absolutely nothing feels better than returning home. I touched down in Sri Lanka last week for the first time in three years. This is also the first time that I am setting foot in a war free Sri Lanka (the three decade long civil war ended in 2009). To spice things up further the country is in the midst of co-hosting the Cricket world cup and a banner of ‘Welcome to Cricket Crazy Sri Lanka’ is the first thing one sees when entering the main terminal building at the airport. Life size posters of the nation’s star players line the walls while the employees sport matching blue and gold Cricket jerseys. Opposing teams are sure to feel a little intimidated and will know that they have entered the Lion’s den.

The last time that the tournament came to the subcontinent in 1996 Sri Lanka emerged victorious and will be hoping for a repeat. When the then captain Arjuna Ranatunga lifted the trophy in Lahore it set a nation off. The celebrations in Colombo lasted all night and in that moment an entire nation forgot that they were at war. It also made sure that Cricket became a part of the Lankan identity. The story of Sri Lanka Cricket since then is an amazing one that is worthy of its own blog.

In the last edition of the tournament held in 2007 the Sri Lankans went all the way to the championship game only to have their hopes shattered by a formidable Australian side on a rainy day in Barbados. Unlike in India where Cricket is a religion in Sri Lanka it is still a sport and the team was given a warm welcome. The country has forgotten that heart break and moved on and are now ready to mount a fresh assault.

There is of course more to Sri Lanka than Cricket and I will write a little more about it in the future. Whenever I write about Sri Lanka I am left with this sense that I did not do it justice because there is so much that I could write. However, I have no intention of writing a book so I will stick to short posts.    

For now it is goodbye from warm, sunny and Cricket crazy Sri Lanka!

The Best Seller of them all

“The World is a book; those who do not travel, read only one page”~ Saint Augustine

I came across the above quote the other day and it got me thinking and I do believe that Saint Augustine got the idea right and we shouldn’t forget who the author is either.  However I think that in a modern context it is probably more accurate to say that the world is a library and that those who do not travel only read one book.

The world today is for one thing a lot more accessible and travelling to far off places is almost as easy as checking a book out of the public library in your neighborhood. Easy doesn’t however mean cheap and rising oil prices have put a heavy burden on the modern day traveler.

Not even in today’s context does anyone ever cover the entire world; it is as close to impossible as reading every book in a sizable library is. There are bound to be books that you do not find interesting and ones whose content you will not agree with. Similarly the world is so diverse that there will be places that you will love visiting and others that you won’t enjoy as much. Two readers could read the same book and not agree on the message; likewise two travelers could visit the same place and come out with two completely different experiences.

However, the truth that the words of St Augustine hold is apparent to anyone who has turned the page. There are those who will spend the entirety of their lives not travelling and be content, not knowing what they are missing out on. It is when you venture out of your comfort zone that good things happen and travel is no different. For most people like me travel is as addictive as any drug that’s out there. If you are still wondering whether you should flip that page over or not all I can say is go for it! I promise you that it will quite literally change your world.      

It is kind of like Swimming

In the past couple of months I have started going to coffee shops more frequently. I am no coffee addict but I like having a cup of coffee while surfing the internet or while working on random projects. I have met a lot of interesting people during these times and had a considerable number of stimulating conversations. It was during one such conversation that I found myself discussing study abroad experiences with a group of friends. The conversation got me thinking about some things that I considered being blog worthy.  

            If you have ever travelled or if you have interacted with tourists in your own country then I am sure that you have come across those nice polite ones who seem to respect the people and the culture around them. However, you are also likely to have crossed paths with those who seem oblivious to what is culturally acceptable and what is not. They do not seem to realize that behavior which is culturally acceptable in their home country may be frowned upon in their new surroundings. To be fair by those who are new to global travel it is hard to know what to expect and how to behave in an unfamiliar environment. It is a skill that you learn the same way that you learn how to swim. You can’t learn how to swim without getting into the water; similarly you can’t interact with different cultures while sitting at home. Once obtained these skills will not only help you survive in this new environment but it will allow you to enjoy being there.

            In the summer of 2009 I spent five weeks in the city of Oviedo in northern Spain. Famous for its mild winters which attract many a celebrity, this region of Spain has been untouched by mass scale tourism. Most of the tourists prefer the warmer Mediterranean beaches of southern Spain and the better known cities of Madrid and Barcelona. I enjoyed visiting Oviedo immensely as it provided me with a rare insight into the experiences of a traveler of an earlier generation; before globalization and the internet shrunk the world. Oviedo has remained small town Spain. The people speak Spanish and although most can understand a little bit of English they are mostly reluctant to do so unless you get them to have a couple of Cerveza’s (beers) in one of the many local bars.

            Oviedo was first place where I genuinely had problems communicating with people. Most of my previous experiences of Europe or non English speaking countries were in the major cities where the majority of the people can speak some English. In Small town Spain if you don’t know any Spanish then you are in for a rough ride. However, there are skills that will help you get through it. These skills work all around the world the same way that swimming does in any body of water.

            The first thing that I figured out that I needed to do in order to communicate with people in Oviedo was to learn to say a couple of things in Spanish such as ‘Hello’, ‘I do not speak Spanish.’, ‘Do you speak English?’ and ‘Sorry’. A Spaniard is more likely to engage in a conversation with you if you say ‘Hola’ instead of Hello. That’s a fact. The famous Sri Lankan smile also does tend to do wonders. When I started off conversations with strangers in Spanish by asking if they spoke English they were more likely to take their time to talk with me. In most cases we were able to use a mixture of my broken Spanish and their English with a touch of sign language to communicate pretty effectively. However, there were those who tried to walk up to people and speak in English and in most cases were left wondering why the Spanish seemed so rude as they would mumble an apology and go on their way.

It shouldn’t really be that hard to understand why locals prefer it when you try to use their language and customs even if you make a mess of it. Firstly it shows that you respect the fact that you are in their country. More importantly by embarrassing yourself you set a lighter mood where they are more comfortable using whatever little bit of English that they know. After all you showed that you are willing to embarrass yourself and you might even be able to get through a whole conversation just laughing at yourself. I am not suggesting that you embarrass yourself on purpose. If you can speak the native language fluently then by all means do so. Either way making an effort to learn the customs of the land will win hearts of its people.

 Think about it would you like it if someone comes up to you and starts speaking to you in a language that you don’t understand? Let’s say that you are American how would you feel if a tourist comes up to you and speaks Spanish?

In Oviedo I found myself talking to an older couple about the weather in a pub and I wanted to ask them if they thought that it would rain the next day as we had plans to go to the beach. I did know the word for tomorrow so they did know which day I was talking about but I had no idea how to say rain. So I resorted to pointing at the sky and making gestures of stuff falling from the sky saying ‘Aqua’ (Water) the whole time. They simply laughed it off and said that it should be sunny the next day by drawing a smiley faced sun on a napkin which I still have in my collection of random things from abroad.

None of this is rocket science if we take the time to look at ourselves in the cultural context. In doing so we will not only enhance our global experiences but we won’t find ourselves wondering why the locals seem so snobbish. Trust me they are not and I am not just talking about Spain. Locals tend to treat the traveler with the same amount of respect that the traveler extends to them. We often forget the age old wisdom ‘Do unto others as you would have them do unto you’. 

Learn without paying??

Today I was reading an article online about some things that are free today because of the World Wide Web. It talked about a website called Academic Earth. So I decided to take a peak as I had some free time on my hands. It has free online courses where one can watch videos of the lectures. Of course there are no tests and you don’t get a certificate at the end of it but for those who wish to educate themselves or learn more about a subject of interest it is an invaluable tool. Interestingly most of the courses listed on there are from well known Universities.

I found a course on there about the Conceptual Foundations of International Politics that I thought that I would check out. After sitting through 3 lectures I find myself hooked the same way that I get hooked on TV programs. I feel like a nerd but as I am always interested in International affairs so I think that I will sit through all of the 10 lectures and maybe I will walk away with some valuable knowledge on how this world of ours works.

This post is just a quick one to tell you about my find (that’s assuming that you do not already know about this). The site is full of courses ranging from classical mechanics to Roman art! So if you always wanted to take that course in college but just didn’t want to cough up the dough here is your chance.