Month: August 2019

The ICC World Test Championship has just gotten underway. I say this about half a month late to the party, but for me, it’s only just begun because I’ve discovered that there are multiple test matches happening. That entertainment, coupled with the uncertainty of results affecting points tallies and positions in the Championship means that this should be a good thrill for the time it lasts. I hope it revives the interest in Test Cricket, which I believe is honestly one of the best sporting formats I’ve seen.

It’s so enjoyable. One day I want to attend all 5 days of a match at a packed stadium. The Ashes seem like the best bet to do that, but I think India v. England, or India v. Australia are also good shouts.

If you’d like a brief idea of how this works:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ponOdp1qzCw

My only qualm with this approach has to be the fact that its restricted at present to the Top 9 teams, which excludes the opportunity for teams like Afghanistan and Ireland to play high levels of Test Cricket.

Associate Nations without Test status also suffer – since a majority of attention might now go to this Championship. Maybe a promotion/relegation system might work out better – but lets see what the ICC decides to do.

This life of having classes only for three hours on a given day is extremely convenient. Classes end at 12:20pm, and I have a 15-minute break in the middle of the three classes I need to attend. All of this leads me to one conclusion. After making attendance difficult, University is pampering us before we head out into the real world. These timings reflect nothing that’s out there. So I will enjoy every single minute of it, and not complain, because I will never want any change to this. I’m looking forward to the next one year with this timetable.

Classes are also fairly uncomplicated. A bit of it is naturally a result of the kind of experience we’ve built up in the last four years of attending five hours, but these are easy to follow. I look forward to going to class each day because I know I can be back in my bed within three hours.

Since the junior batches are writing midsemester exams, campus has been pretty quiet in the evenings – which is a strange starting point to come back to. Can’t wait for them to be done so every time I step out of my room, or anywhere in the hallways, there’s just a cacophony of sound.

Another day has gone by.

Settling down has gotten easier as time has passed. That’s for sure. Getting the room cleaned doesn’t feel like a struggle. I walk around and I see familiar faces. I know where to source things that I need.

Another day of this and I think I’ll be ready to hit the ground running. Routine & everything. Hardcore.

Till then, I’m going to watch Veep.

I can’t believe it’s here.

I just boarded my flight back to Ahmedabad. This is one of my last flights for the start of the semester, and it’s going to begin a very, very long list of “OLT’s” which are popular on campus – “one last times”. I put out a tweet asking people what they missed from college and it yielded some fun results. I’m hoping to enjoy those, and several more things this year till it’s time to actually bid adieu.

It’s far too early for me to be doing any writing, so I’m going to pass out now.

Hit the gym with caution when you return from one month without using the gym.

Honestly, the trip I just took? It’s motivated me to get back to college and get into a routine right from day one. And I know it’s going to be a struggle, especially because I’ve made myself this promise every single semester since my second year, but I think it’s actually time to put it into action. Genuinely. Because if not now, then when? I’m literally in my final year now, and I think it’s a good year to spend time on the things I want to cultivate as habits to take forth with me as I leave campus.

I’m gaining clarity on what all that means. I know, for example, that I want to understand my faith more in the next one year. I also know that it isn’t something that is time-bound, because its something that’s ever-evolving and changing, but it is genuinely something I wish to understand – atleast at a level I’m comfortable with.

My faith is everything I believe in. Including Haji Ali Cafeteria’s Mozarella Cheese Pizza. I don’t know how I spent a whole month here without eating this, and I’m so glad my parents took me out to have the pizza. Genuinely – it’s one of the greatest times about visiting this city.

I found a show!

I found a show. I’m getting my parents hooked onto The Crown before I leave. It’s good timing too – the trailer for the third season, which looks positively stunning. And they’ve gotten hooked. Hopefully they catch up by the time the new season comes out.

I’m getting pampered a lot, being here. I wonder how I’ll cope with college when I do eventually return.

I’m truly blessed. I managed to plan the trip in such a way that I’m getting to spend 3 days with my parents before I fly off to University.

The only kinda sad part is that it’s after the Eid holidays. I’m grateful that the weekend here is Friday-Saturday, so my parents and I will get extra time together.

Nothing tastes nicer than the rasam my mother makes. And I’ve praised a lot of rasams on this blog in the past, including my own, and including Rasam cubes, but my mothers’ rasam is the first rasam I can recall tasting, and the only taste that lingers on my tongue throughout University.

Which is why the greatest thing my mom did was to make it for lunch.

Actually, scratch that. She made gulab jamuns.

I can’t believe she managed that. She’s been so so busy these past few days. I don’t know where she got the time, and I’m glad she had the confidence in herself, because I can’t remember when the last time was that I ate jamuns made from her hand.

I just need to find us a show to binge-watch, and this holiday will be perfect.

I spent one day on a flight.

That’s what I call, Airtime, Baby.

I’ve also fallen in love with flight reports, so here goes:

The reason the word count is reducing is not because I’m tired. It’s because I’m running out of adjectives, and it’s very, very difficult to adequately communicate everything I’m experiencing. This should help.

You should go, if you can.

Today I saw the International Court of Justice and made a new friend.

I don’t have words to explain how intensely passionate I am about public international law at the moment and how inspired I am to one day be in this city and hopefully have the opportunity of visiting the Peace Palace as more than just a tourist.

The kind acts of acquaintances have really touched my heart this month. Today was no exception.

In my first year, I participated in a moot court competition on space law, a field of public international law that doesn’t traditionally have too much literature. I was fortunate enough to do well at the competition. More crucially though, I got exposure and interacted with people I wouldn’t have ever dreamed of interacting.

Once I decided that I was going to Cologne, I ensured I got in touch with them.

They drove down to Cologne and spent the entire morning and afternoon with me. They took me all around the Center of the city and the cathedral, and were kind enough to spend time with me telling me about the history of the town and what its architecture represents. That’s all well and good, but they did this on a Sunday afternoon? With someone they met only once, four years ago?

I’m very, very blessed.

I’m also blessed that my University played host to a very, very kind person who has since become a friend, and I was able to spend the night at his place. I cherish the time he spent here in Gujarat – for he genuinely seemed happy here, and I was really happy to see him in his hometown, where he ensured my own happiness.