The 7 deadly sins

Well, I have been away for some time and while I have a genuine reason for it, I'm not really happy that I had to hit the pause button on my blog. I couldn't help it then(had exams :( ) and can't help it now( just have to get back to blogging :) ).

Its kind of ironic that I got the idea for this post after my computer crashed. I was pretty crushed myself, but then I thought, I finally have some time with myself and got to thinking about the things I have done in my life so far. The things I did wrong, the things I wish I tried and came up with my very own version of the 7 deadly sins.

Now, we all know the most famous ones. They are wrath, greed, sloth, pride, lust, envy, and gluttony.
But I honestly don't believe that a very large percentage of us can live a life of 60-65 (the average) years without actually committing most of these sins. I understood that there are no selfless good deeds pretty early in life. Every good deed has a motive that makes us happy, and I feel that is right. I believe in a single important concept, we all have a brain, and are all responsible to make ourselves happy.

The 7 deadly sins: (Now, most of these are derived from my personal experiences, but as general as they are, many of you should be able to relate with 'em)

• To not make long term friendships - I don't have too many, I know how lonely it can tend to get sometimes, sadness or elation.
• To not take a few risks - I wouldn't be here doing what I love and would still be stuck in Bangalore blaming he system, the city, my job and my life.
• To accept you won't fall in love - There's 2 kind of people, ones that have never fallen in love, and ones that have loved and lost. Some people in both categories give up, and force themselves to not fall in love. You guys don't know what you are missing  missing out on. I know who I missed out on, and trust me, you guys don't want to be in my position.
• To sleep too much - I am a big movie buff, so I will keep quoting movies. One great dialogue was, you will have enough time to sleep when you're dead. I wholeheartedly believe in it. You miss out on a lot in life when you excessively sleep.
• To not tell your family how much you love and miss them - This is one thing you should never stop doing. And this includes all the people in your life you love, not just relatives, every body you love is in a way or another, your family. Tell them you love them (as much as this is an instruction to help you guys, its also for me too!)
• To accept boredom / to accept crazy is always bad - Accepting boredom is among the worst things one can do. You allow incomplete results, don't have an aim, never obsess about anything, life isn't worth a lot. Never get bored, if youhave to be something be crazy, about a goal, about the stars, about the night, about love, ABOUT LIFE.
• To hurt people you love/ the people who love you - Well, I unfortunately hove done both of these things. And let me tell you, I have never felt worse about myself. Besides the fact that I miss the people I hurt so bad, it just kills me to think I could do that, and was able to justify it to myself then. This is specially for a couple of people, If you guys read this, I know you will get it, and I'm sorry, you don't know how much. I miss you, I miss the me I was with you guys, with more love in the heart, more faith in the mind, more life in my soul.

So, that's my list. These aren't in any particular order but they will haunt us, well at least me. These are mistakes that I have committed in the past, and I am unfortunately even committing right now. I cannot imagine how different my life would have been had I read this exact post and stopped committing the sins a few years ago.

I know coming up with a list like his is probably not the easiest thing to do, I mean, it took me a few days, so if you guys have 1 sin you guys think is the "deadliest", leave it in the comments.
Also, if you guys like this post and haven't checked out my previous post, please find it here - TheTruth.

P.S : You might notice a lot of these sins are catered to not missing out on things in life. That's because in life, you're gonna regret stuff you didn't do more than the stuff that you did.

Until next time,

Cheers,

Dhiraj

The truth is - I miss you all

They say the thing that people regret most is not the stuff they do that they shouldn't have but the stuff they wanted to always do, but didn't. I have 1 such thing in my life, something I always wanted to do but never got around actually doing it.

I still remember each one of those expressions on the faces of a few people’s faces when they said they would miss me, when I left to come to the US. It was probably the most humbling feeling in the world. I am so lucky to say there were so many people that said it to me. My friends at Manhattan Associates, a few special people in Bangalore and Mumbai, about whom I will be talking soon, and of course my family. They all deserve a special mention because its words like this that give me the strength to believe in myself. I am a man of logic, of science, of proof, yet, with no proof, or possible sense of security in the US, I came here, all the way from home, by myself. It was definitely my hard work, my families love and prayers, and my thirst to be the best I can be, but it also was these small (well, small but extremely important) things that were the spark plug to the engine.

Meghana, Anusha, Sango, Swagath, PB, Mitali, BG, Arun, Hoorulla, and definitely Dhokebaaz (Sayeda) at office, all the wonderful bunch of young ballers who I had the most fun playing with and teaching sometimes at Springfields (Mayank, Arun, Boris, Shashank, Sudhanshu, Karthik, Daksh, Deeksha) and a few more people who will get their own posts (Yeah!!! :P).

Of course I can’t forget about Manu and TimmyD, but I've spoken about them already, so guys don’t mind :P.

I don’t even know how I can thank my family, or that I ever can. We only hear stories about parents earning as much as they can just to spend the money and their time, and efforts on their children, but I felt that (it increases the pressure, but that’s more fun, isn't it?).

I don’t know why, but I never did really say this, not then, haven’t since. I miss you guys, and I really enjoyed every moment with you all. Some of the best times of my life. Thanks a lot for being there, thanks a lot for all the fun, thanks for everything, oh and of course, thanks for missing me! (Helps a narcissistic like me stay narcissistic :P)

P.S - I hope I haven’t forgotten anyone, if you think so, please forgive me, I know I miss you!!!

Cheers,

Dhiraj

Hoops on Haasephalt 2013

Hello World,

I wasn't really planning on this post, but the event that I just witnessed basically compelled me to write about it. It is a detour from what I generally post, but trust me, it was worth it.

So, just to introduce the event to you guys who don’t already know about it, Hoops on Haasephalt 2013 was the second edition to the annual event that kicks off the basketball season.

Now, moving to the fun part, there was everything one can hope for, food and drinks, free t-shirts, a wheelchair exhibition game, a dance competition featuring the women’s basketball team, men’s basketball team, the men’s soccer team and the softball team, performances by the cheerleaders of UAB, and the tantalizing UAB golden girls, a 3 point shootout, a DUNK contest, a lot of fireworks, and believe it or not, a damn helicopter. Yeah, the head coach of UAB Men’s basketball landed just north of the outdoor court in a freaking helicopter. I was stunned for a couple of minutes to be frank.

It was an amazing evening watching the USA national women’s wheelchair basketball team, and the contests.

The highlight of the evening was the dunk contest, the highlights of which are on the youtube link below. Please like and comment on the youtube video too,if you like it.

So, now, I get back to work and leave you’ll with my favourite quote on basketball by Michael Jordan (the G.O.A.T)

“I've missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”

Cheers,

<<<Dhiraj>>>

Ballers around the world!

Well, hello people!!! I hope you’ll are having a great day, week, month and year. I was sort of packing my bags today to go play basketball, but couldn't find my keys. Duh… happens all time.

So, I decided, if I can't play, I can at least talk about basketball.

(Now, it’s not in any wrong order, I am talking about the second love of my life J. Stick with me for some time, and maybe the order in which I do things will start making sense. And if they do, please let me know too :P ).

So, I loved the game, played a little in college, and once in the 3 months in Chennai during my training with Wipro, but the real story begins in Bangalore. It was a hot sunny afternoon. I am going from my ODC (my cubicle) to the canteen, and I have to cross the basketball court. I notice a bunch of guys playing, and I’m thinking to myself, really, in the hot sun… What I was happy about, is I didn't say that to anybody, coz in a couple days, I was there on the court, in the hot sun, playing with those guys.

That’s when a lot of things changed. I had something to do that I really loved, every day, with a bunch of really great guys, better physique, coz I run that much every day, met a lot of new people, learnt a lot about the game, and most importantly, met my first 2 coaches of the game,  Mukul and Pavan. I never told them this, but I always considered them as my coach. They knew a lot more than I did, and taught me all they could. I am in the US today, and I have the courage to play with the amazing talent here because those guys gave me the confidence and helped me with the skills. As important as that is, unknowingly they helped me out of probably the toughest time of my life. Okay, a little background knowledge, I am not very comfortable talking about my problems with anyone. (Okay, back to the story) So, these guys ensure I always have someone to have dinner with, something to think about. I never said this to them, but THANKS…

A couple guys I truly call Brothers and mean every syllable of it. It was a pleasure sharing the court with you guys. Hope we do it again.

Of course, a special mention goes out to a lot of other fantastic people who let me share the court with them and enjoy their company
Arjun, Preetu, Umesh, Priyamvada, Sajay... Thanks.

To TimmyD and Manu, I miss you guys...

Cheers,

DR9

PS: 1 other thing I never told you, when we do ball together, I am totally gonna kick ur asses! :P