Crazy for cricket, Crazy in my head

I was crazy to stand in a 2 Km queue on a shivering cold morning 5 am just to get one ticket for the India South Africa match on saturday at Chinnaswamy stadium. Thank god i had my friend with me who was as much excited as me to get a ticket. No food, no water, we stood there for more than 6 long hours. Finally i got the ticket at 1 Pm. So did my friend. the ticket cost me 200 rs. and more than 6 hours of rush and congestion.
If the rush was soo much for a ticket, how many people will be there for the match ? Its a day/Night match and the best thing is , it is on saturday. so sunday we have for rest. Such a moment comes once in a decade. When i got the ticket and came to the company, showed it to my team mates.they were obviously jealous of me :) Yesterday one of them had said ,"There is no chance to get a ticket if u dont stay at the counter the whole night." Since 1 ticket per head was sold, there were enough tickets to get the queue moving and make me the proud owner of one ticket. If i plan to sell it in Black, i could earn 1500 rs easily, but i dont want to miss the first match of my life, that too INDIA-SOUTH AFRICA and a DAY/NIGHT on a SATURDAY. The seats for 200 rs are just steps, but the fun is double than the stands. If you get to see the match, try to spot me :) coz we will be right at the boundary line fences.
The day before this match, My company had sent me for a induction programme at a very expensive Hotel. I said, its better to go to a hotel for a free Lunch than sit idle in the company. Many of my friends had come to the hotel. As i stepped near the reception, i saw a bag which had 'Sachin Tendulkar' printed on it. I looked around, and i found many bags with the Indian cricketers names on them. I couldnt feel the ground beneath me. I knew why i was able to see the luggage. I said to myself, " What a luck i have brought with me !! The Indian Cricket team and Me in the same hotel !! " During the training i was in the conference room but my mind was wandering near the reception hoping to see the Master Blaster. As soon as there was a tea break, i ran down with my camera, Again what a luck ! the Bus was waiting at the entrance and all the cricketers were getting inside. I guess very few people get a chance to see the superstars soo close.
The team had just finished a quick meeting and were on their way to the stadium for practice. Couldnt believe, i saw all of them !! and the master blaster waved at us ! Oh, God (and my company) , thank you for this day !! Once the bus left, we all went back to the conference room, had another sleepy session...when we were about to leave the hotel, we saw bus coming straight to the hotel. "Damn, they are the South Africans !" someone shouted. I once again took my camera and began taking pics of the players.
What a day it was...and whats more, i had the ticket for the match tomorrow !! I went home, showed the pics to my friends....one of them said, " these snaps are of no use.......you are not there with any of the cricketers here" . Suddenly i realised what i had done......." Why didnt i realise this when i was taking snaps ??" where was my mind ??? i had a once in a lifetime chance to take snaps with the cricketers and i had blown it up. My friends started laughing at me............" You get snaps from some website and claim that u had clicked them......how do u prove that u were with the cricketers ? "
I had no answer for this....i kept cursing myself, i knew what a golden opportunity i had missed. I kept browsing through the photos to find myself somewhere, i could find nothing except a photo with their luggage. In case you are still laughing like my friends, see this photo . Believe me, i was there.

This happens to everybody

It was wednesday morning and tomorrow was my company Picnic to a resort. I was very happily surfing the net inside my cubicle. Everything was going fine, and suddenly at 7:30 pm i get a mail from My team leader, XYZ- Failed !!! (FYI - XYZ-was a work assigned to me a month ago and i had finished it and submitted it for User testing.) It had come back and the deadline for it was saturday ! And on top of this i was supposed to go home friday night (14 hrs journey) to attend a marriage. The picnic was mandatory and i was supposed to go with the team, no excuses. I was totally out of my senses.
I asked one of my team mates what to do ? He calmly said,"Relax ! Dude, this happens, and had happened to me too ! worst than yours. And after all you are new to this project, they wont blame you." This gave me a bit of strength. But still, my legs were shaking. Today i was supposed to leave early and do a bit of shopping for my Mother before I leave for my hometown. Finally i decided to wait till 8:30, hoping to finish as much work as I can. Then go with a friend to do that bit of shopping.
At 8:30 i was not able to do it, now i was really frustrated. I got out of my office, decided 'Come what May, I will not Stay' called my friend, we both went to a shopping complex, but it was already 9 pm and it was about to get closed. After a bit of roaming, we came to a Metal mart. He too was in a hurry to close his shop. I saw a Bajaj OTG kept outside, i asked him the price of it. He made me listen to his Loooooooong cassette about the product. Without opening the box, i grabbed the OTG and said,"I'll take it."
The next day(Thursday) , got up at 5 am, went for the stupid trip.It wazzunt that stupid as i had supposed....My office girls were just like those in my college, but in the resort i saw many unknown faces (i dont know where do they hide when inside office ?!?) I forgot what had happened yesterday and enjoyed the resort facilities.(Since this is a sad post, i wont mention the happy times i had at the resort :) ). We came back at 9:30 pm fully exhausted. Went home, had food and slept......Tomorrow was going to be a veeeerryy loong day.
On Friday morning, i came to the office at 8 am (I generally come to office at 10 am) With empty eyes, i had a look at my Monitor and the papers besides them......"How am i gonna finish this all before 6 pm and catch my train ?" (remember i told you i was supposed to go home friday night ?) Anyway, my cubicalmate is a good buddy, he knew my dissapointment and promised me that if it doesnt finish before i leave, he will stay in the office on friday night and complete is before saturday. I thanked him, and started to work. (He was in the office before i entered at 8 am). By lunch time, he was ready with the solution. As the day progressed, my assigned task got solved, and finally my tension was relieved.
Now it was 2 pm and according to me the work was over. I gave it back for review. and took a deep breath. i wrote a mail to my collegue saying that i will not be available on saturday and sunday (though they are holidays, My team has to work 24x7 ) and gave him my submitted work details, got out of the office by 6:30, packed my bags and boarded the train. Now no more worries till monday. Reached home safely, attended the marriage, Mom was happy seeing the gift. On sunday evening again i was travelling back, monday will be a great day i said to myself.....i finished the tension filled work in time after all.
In the meeting i gave out my work status and it had already passed the testing stage. (Hush) Now my Team Leader said," You've Finished XYZ just in time, but what about ABC ? it has already crossed the deadline !"
Now tell me it was all my fault. How didnt i recognise that the deadline was so near ? My cubical mate said," Not to worry, I will do it for you." (He was there in the office at 8 am even today)
After the meeting was over, he said, " Did you notice the tension we have in our project?" I said," No i have not noticed the tension in the office, but i have surely seen the 'Everyday' you spend in the office. Thanks for the help."