6 Runs 4 Balls and 1 Wicket....

...read the scoreboard. The match could turn either ways any moment.

Just finished seeing the 20Twenty world cup. What a match it was. Thrilling to bits with a nail biting finish. Haven't enjoyed a match like this in a while now. While I clapped with excitement every time a wicket fell, the Peapod and her cousin joined in too. Finally when sreesanth took that last catch, it was just amazing. We could see that ball rise high into the air, in a matter of seconds we knew it would be over, this way or that and yes indeed it was all over while we held our breath. India won the 20Twenty World Cup. This is what fairy tales or movies are made of.



With absolutely no hope, I started following the 20Twenty world cup. The first good match was with Pakistan, where it was a tie and they had to bowl at the stump to decide the win and we won. Second was England, the amazing 6 sixes by Yuvaraj. I missed the match because I never thought 200plus in 20 was achievable. The one with Australia, again I could not bring myself to watch Australia bat. I believed the target score of 180plus was easy with Gilchrist, Mathew Hayden and Andrew Symonds. I didn't want to see our poor boys panting like dogs running the field after their 4s and sixes. My loss, we won that match by 15 runs. I would have given up today. I told myself I hadn't watched a single match completely this season and should not jinx it by watching this one but it wasn't easy to keep away, since it was a India-Pakistan and a world cup final at that. A Superb match by all standards.

The best was the fact that the team had made it without the 3 senior players. Experience surely helps but you need the fire in your belly to take chances and believe you can do it when it seems practically impossible. For some reason, with the top 3 stars, there seems to be issues with ego, personal milestones and scores to be settled. The charm of the team inspite of having the best/right mix did not seem to work. Whatever little we got out of them, we were too happy to celebrate and felt content. The young team that played today, had nothing to loose. No personal milestones to reach, records only to be made. No pressure from the past. Yuvraj and Dhoni did not contribute in the final as expected but it was the never say die spirit of the team that won.

On a side note, Shahrukh was seen on the stands with his son cheering the team. Oh God he looks so ....yucks...I mean from that flamboyant Abhi in fauji, the love of my life then, to this God forbidden looks now.

Anyway, WAY TO GO INDIA!!!!! Thanks for the cup guys. This one's come in a long long time. In 83 I was just a little girl watching my cricket crazy dad jumping from his chair and cheering the team. Our house was full of neighbours watching the match. I have faint memories of Kapil Dev opening the Champagne and splashing it all around. Thank you team for reviving the magic of forgone years.
picture courtesy cricinfo.com

Partners in crime

While the Peapod's cousin is in town, they are having a great time howling, trying to scare each other & saying stuff only the two can decipher. They pass stuff to each other, applaud , say 'good good' and then grab it back once the applause dies. They have huge competitions for a place in granny's lap or her hip. Many attempts at getting them to play their shapes sorter and stacking cups have failed miserably. Even if I managed to get them started, it would end up with one throwing it at the other and then screams or flying objects(get it from the grandfather I guess) fill the room.Their favourite game is for one to make some kind of noise and challenge the other to follow.

The Peapod is having fun showing stuff that surprises her cousin. We have a light switch very near to my mom's bed. The peapod had discovered this a couple of weeks back and was delighted when she could switch it on and off. A couple of days back, the peapod was seen showing off her magic skills to her cousin. She put the lights on only for her cousin to scream in delight and then turned it off to smile at her and tell her 'I have the power' and repeat the performance with screams of delight every time the lights came on and looks exchanged every time it was put off. A very successful attempt by the peapod to impress her cousin. We were literally rolling on the bed laughing.


Both found making farting sounds.

The names we tag her with

Moppet's mom tagged me to list a few names we called the peapod.

To begin with, when she was born, I used to call her the 'aarti pandaram' which loosely translates to the 'greedy bag'. I used to get stern looks from mom but when trying to feed peapod she would just greedily grab and bite before she gets hooked on. Thoes initial few seconds were pure pain & agony. The name just served her right then.
Most times she is 'chakare', 'panchare', 'chakadu kutta', chakare pandare', Kuttai, muttai,kuttu all losely translates to 'sweetiepie'. MIL calls her 'appu' and 'appachikutta' from the day she was born with sole copyrights.
'Udukakundus' (bare butts) when running behind her with her clothes.
In the last few days the nicks have changed to 'varkali penne', 'chatambi penne', 'Kusurdi penne' (all translates to naughty girl)all sung in the same way as 'Kandari penne' from some malu movie.

And now I tag Boo, JLT & dear silin(I know she isn't here yet but I am sure you enough of these already)

You know you are always on your knees when ....

... you leave home for office without a rain-coat on your 2-wheeler and suddenly it starts drizzling and you start "Please God ..not now ..please please ..please mole(daughter) ...please Kuttai (t to be pronounced as in tea...) ...sweetiepie ...please" ...only to realize in a few minutes your sweetiepie isn't responsible for the rains but the heavenly Father or the rain Gods(aren't they the same?). My mol(daughter) is responsible only for the mess in my house, only for checking what happens when a glass is dropped, only for pulling out the long traditional curd crusher (from God knows where) and hitting it around on tables, chairs, glass panes. She is only responsible for pouring water around the house in the name of gardening and have me slip on it. She is responsible for only emptying the talcum on the floor and then applying it on her face. She is responsible only for undoing all the cleaning the maid does even before she leaves. She is responsible for just letting me live with my heart in my mouth by standing on the edge of the table and beckoning me to come and catch her and she will start running off in the opposite direction on the dinning table. She is only responsible for plucking leaves and flowers off her granny's garden and throwing them in the house for the fragrance I believe.

"God, please ...give me some patience ..please ..please ..Kuttai please ...please mole" ... Oops not Kuttai's department again!!