Stress...
Stress is everywhere. Exam time - it's around even more. Everyone, everywhere, is going through 'shit'. So what all us "going-through-shit-ers" need is more stress. Confused? My theory - "Beyond a point, shit stress converts to fun stress, so get stressed above that point." I really don't know what I am saying.
"Calm is for wimps. Get real. Get stressed."
Some stress-increasing maneuvers:
- Choose friends you don't like.
- Be late. Always.
- Behave like a sardar...
- Go to the premiere of Casino Royale. Sit next to people. Talk loudly.
- On your way out of the cinema, discuss the end of Casino Royale loud enough for the world to hear.
- Record the sound of a dentist's drill. Play it at bedtime.
- Recognize your limitations. Then ignore them.
- Recognize other peoples' limitations. Then tell them what to do.
- Before reaching the paying counter of Carrefour, remove all the bar-codes of your shopping so they won't scan.
- If you can't do it, don't let others do it.
- The best policy - Be honest. All the time. With everyone. About everything.
- The better policy - Lie. All the time. To everyone. About everything.
- Practise rudeness, not just to make others feel bad, but also to make you feel bad about yourself. It's a win-win situation.
- Fart in confined spaces. But only if other people are present.
- Burp, and then say "Bless Me".
- Hear others burp, and then say "Bless You".
- Whine daily.
- Become a politician.
- Have Red Bull before going to bed.
- Never return things you borrow.
- Get a job writing junk mail.
- Blog about "how you open the bathroom door".
- Take credit for successes you have nothing to do with.
- Buy a multi-alarm clock. Set the alarm for every 30 minutes. Then go to sleep.
- HFZ - Make yourself a Humour Free Zone. If you ever find yourself laughing, go to the bathroom and get yourself together.
- Always borrow money from your friends. Forget or put off repaying them for as long as possible.
- Make study schedules you cannot keep up with.
- Leave everything to the last minute.
- At family get-togethers, start talking about the following: sex.
- Be a wet blanket.
- Write down your worries. Read the list before you go to bed.
- Learn to snore.
- Shout at people at least twice a day.
- Try your best to make every competitor know that you are licking ass to become a prefect.
- Buy shoes one size too small.
- Always criticize everyone's clothes.
- Become like Karan. (sorry, I am in the mood)
- Blame everyone else for your failure.
- Remember that there is absolutely no point in talking about someone behind their back unless they get to hear about it.
- Never have a bath.
- Forget brushing your teeth.
- Eat lots and lots of garlic, and then ask your crush for her number.
- Make rumours. Spread them.
- Intentionally fail in your exams.
- Join the "best" school.
- Try and enjoy the stress...
- Do you have any more of these?
P.S. Gone are the stress-free days so make use of the stress-ful ones. Most of the above quotes were taken from "The Little Book Of Stress" written by Rohan Candappa. One of the quotes in it is, " Take credit for successes you have nothing to do with." Thanks Rohan.
No offense intended.
Oh Vice Captain, My Vice Captain!
One person I haven't formally thanked yet is Aaron Luke Gomes, my vice-captain. The deadliest finisher of our team who spear-heads the attack, Aaron has been great support throughout the 5 years that has ultimately led to this mammoth victory.
From the Al Diyafah U-16 Inter School Football Tournament victory, to all the Inter House Football victories, to last year's elimination, to this year's victory - Aaron has always been there beside me, and I have always prized his opinion. Besides that Aaron, our combination on the field has been more than deadly, and I love playing with you. This time 5 of the goals we scored were because of our combination!
Respect Aaron! Tomorrow, when we get the trophy in front of the school, the both of us will lift it, with the team and everyone else beside/behind/around us. =)
P.S. I did not forget, it just kind off slipped...
VICTORY!
Victory is sweet. It's the sweetest. There is nothing like total victory. We are champions. Champions. We are the best among those we compete with. And with conquering your opponents, you conquer your dreams and desires, and then the pure joy that flows out, the emotions, the passion, the sheer ecstasy is the best feeling anyone can have. A feeling that you are on top of the world, and nothing, nothing can stop you from feeling happy. The adrenalin is pumping, and you find this hidden energy within you, that comes bursting out. You reach the pinnacle of satisfaction, and at that moment, nothing seems better. You forget all other pleasures and woes. Sometimes it takes time for the victory to seep in, "shit we have actually won!". It seems like a dream, a dream you don't want to snap out of, and you don't snap out of it because that dream is now reality.
All the practices we had, during Ramadan, under Al Maktoum bridge, in Romit's play area where we endlessly tried to improve our volleys and touches, from grade 7 to now, that preparation, that hard-work, that commitment to the larger cause, that feeling that every time we played football, we played only to win that single tournament we take part in every year, for the biggest bang, the bang that is like a historic legacy in its own small way in the Dubai Modern High School for football, all the seemingly "years of preparation" has led us to a victory that we wanted the most. Screw the medals and the cups, what we wanted was the glory, the glory of victory, because it's that glory that makes everything seem worthwhile. We wanted it, we got it. Hell yeah!
As Captain, I have to specially thank a few people. I would like to thank my team, for their oneness, great spirit, great teamwork, great sportsmanship and for the respect they gave me. I respect you for that. Beyond all the glory-takers, i.e goal-scorers, a special thanks to an unsung hero - Neil Jonathan D'souza - our small Neil. He played with all his heart, and his determination, strength, speed and purposeful tackles played a major role in giving us that once-elusive victory. A special thanks also to Edwin Mathew for a gritty, strong and reliable role as Defensive Midfield. He was brilliant too.
On behalf of the team, I would like to thank all those students and teachers that supported us, from the frantic phone calls of Tejas and Govind, to the "good luck" comments on this blog, and on your MSN nicknames. Thank you - support is always good, and many a time, crucial. Lastly, we would like to thank our passionate and energetic coach - Mr Mahesh Sharma. Thank you sir - you got the best out of us, and made us believe in ourselves even more. Thanks for everything. A special thanks also goes out to Venu Sir, for attending every match, and giving us spurts of inspiration. Thank you sir!
Shit, it feels like the Oscars. I am going to stop. I didn't want this post to be too long, but hey, I really can't control myself at the moment!
More than winning, the whole campaign has been this enchanting and enriching experience of tackling people and emotions, literally and symbolically. Wow - it's been one hell of a roller-coaster, a roller-coaster that we have enjoyed so, so much.
P.S. The obvious song to listen too: "Queen - We Are The Champions"
Monotony?
Yes, the past posts have been a little monotonous - I'm sorry, we just can't stop winning. :P
No really, my posts have been monotonous - football, more football, more victories, more detailed goal explanations, more randomness, more Our-Own-Sharjah-Press-Reporter type posts.
The reason - these posts are for me, and to a certain extent our football team - to serve as pieces of memory, years down the line. The goal explanations are for me to visualize 10 years down the line, and chuckle away with sheer delight. Most of you haven't been able to read through all of them, and it's cool, I don't expect you too.
Selfish? Well this is my blog, so-
For those of you that have supported us, the football team, with your 'congratulations' and 'good luck' comments on this blog, along with your MSN nickname encouragements - RESPECT! Thank you, it is much appreciated - by me, and by the entire team, any support is.
P.S. For some reason, I loved writing this post.
Finals! - Finally...
Finals:
Modern: 4
Charan - 15'
Dusty - 20'
Anish - 33'
Charan - 40'
Indian High School, Dubai: 1
Some Dude - 50'
For the first time in 20 years, Modern High has won a senior inter-school football tournament. Actually, leave alone "won", for the first time in 20 years, Modern High has progressed to the next stage of an inter school senior football tournament, and boy, don't we feel proud having the honour of creating history.
The finals was interesting. The first 10 minutes saw Indian High dominate completely, and it seemed like they would score any minute. But a good counter-attack led to our first goal. Romit's cross from the right-flank was met by Charan, who slotted home another volley, this one involving less luck. It was taken really well, a great finish - thanks Charan!
The second goal was even better. I chipped in a ball for Dusty from the left flank, it rick-o-sheyed off a defender, and Dusty smacked (well volleyed) it home which was clearly the best goal of the game. The third goal came in the second half, where I outran the defence and push-passed it beyond the goal-keeper. The fourth goal was created by Dusty. He himself had an opportunity to score, but missed it. However he got hold of the rebound, and from the left flank, set up Charan. Charan thwarted it, and the ball went flying into the goal, after hitting a Indian High hand and experiencing several deflections. 4-0 to the good. Brilliant.
Ali got his second yellow card of the tournament, and it was yet another proud moment for him. However the resultant free kick resulted in a goal. So there, IHS got a consolation. Big deal. By the end of it all, we all seemed tired. "Seemed" because god knows where the energy came from for celebrating the way we did. We went officially bezerk. Hugs and kisses, and more hugs, and some uncomfortable handshakes, in addition to the victory lap and the jumping huddle, exemplified the pure ecstasy we were experiencing.
Personally, I would like to thank the 11ths and the 12ths that came and supported us today. It helps - it's encouraging - so thank you. Another thank you to Tejas and Govind for videotaping our match, hopefully they will give us edited copies. Yeah Tejas, I am hinting. Also, thanks to all the teachers that supported us through out.
Thanks everyone!
P.S. Right now I can't stop typing. We have frigging won! Brilliantly unbelievable!
Semifinals - HAH!
UPDATED: The Khaleej Times article on the semifinals...
Semifinals:
Modern: 1
Charan - 2'
NIMS, Sharjah: 0
We won, again. The match summary is simple. From the kick-off, within a couple of minutes, we raced into the lead. I received the ball on the right flank, went past a couple of defenders, and put in a cross. The ball got slightly deflected by one of the defenders, but it somehow reached Charan. The deflection obviously put him off a little, but he got his shin to the ball. The ball went towards the far post, struck it, and went in. It took time for us to actually realize that we scored, it was as if we were waiting for some kind of confirmation. I bet everyone asked themselves - 'did that actually go in?'. It did. One-nil to the good.
After that, however, we became Italy-like. We switched to defence mode, and our opponents switched to turbo attack mode. They struck the bar twice, and had an open goal to score into, but didn't convert any of their chances. Thank god. Luck was on our side, and I hope it stays with us for the finals too. And beyond the luck, our defence was pretty strong too. Our small Neil was simply brilliant. His pace, strength and determination underlines the fact that he is the best defender in our team. Hats off to him for a great display, not only today, but throughout the tournament. Attack-wise we had no real chances after our goal. The whole team was defending, and I guess that's a game of its own, a game lateral to the fast-flowing attacking that everyone likes to see. Anyway, it's the result that matters.
Our final is against Indian High School, Dubai. Now Indian High is one team that have been lucky throughout. They qualified from their group as the second place team without scoring any goals. 0 goals. How did they go through? They got a walk over and got 2 more points from 2 goalless draws. Their luck did not stop there. In the quarters, they faced arguably the best team of the tournament, Our Own, Al Warqaa. They beat them on penalties after playing out a 2-2 draw. It doesn't stop there either. In the semis, they faced Our Own Indian, Dubai. Indian High won on penalties, again. They had drawn 1-1 in normal time, and guess how they got their goal? The OOIS goalkeeper had the ball in his hand next to his goal. An IHS player nudged him, and the keeper dropped the ball into the goal. The referee did not see it. The goal stood. Unfair? Or plain lucky? Unbelievable, definitely.
So luck also seems to like IHS, but I guess it is less hypocritical towards them. To add to their luck, we have some sort of voodoo against them. In the past, we have always lost to them. 5-0 - when I was in 8th, 3-2 - when I was in 10th, 7-1 - when I was in 11th. This year, football wise, they are definitely not as good as they were in the past, and we are hungry for revenge. We want to kick their ass. That's it.
P.S. For those who don't know, the whole of 11th and 12th grade boys will get to see the finals on Sunday!