Tennis WAGs

The first thing that comes to your mind when you say WAGs is Football. Yes, we can credit football for introducing the term WAGs (Wives and Girlfriends in short) to all of us. 

However, there are other sports too where WAGs play an equally important role in the success of the sportsmen. And with the Australian Open 2012 just concluding, it would be worthwhile to have a look at some Tennis WAGs.

Is there a better way to start the post than to start discussing about the most fabled man in Tennis in recent years. Yes,I'm talking about Roger Federer.

All of 30 years, he is considered as the icon of tennis after Pete Sampras. He has won a record 16 Grand Slams (more than any other man). Supporting him in his endeavor to become a champion tennis player is his wife Mirika.

Roger Federer with Mirka and Twin Babies

Mirika herself, like Roger, was a Tennis Pro playing for Switzerland. She retired from professional tennis is 2002, and took on the role of his PR Manager. She married him in 2009 and has since then given birth to twin girls.

She is usually present on court for all of Roger's matches and is an epitome of calmness. Needless to say, she is a reflection of uber cool Roger Federer. 

Next in line is Jelena Ristic. I wouldn't blame you for asking Jelena Who?

Novak Djokovic's Gal Jelena Ristic

Well, Jelena is the girlfriend of the Serbian World Number 1 Novak Djokovic. Little is known about Jelena in the public domain. She is considered to be a student and has been with Djoker for the last 5 years.

She is a vociferous supporter on all his tour matches. And with Djoker being World Number 1 for the last year or so, her contribution to his success cannot be understated.

How many times do you think she would have asked him before a Final match - "Can you win that match for me?". I bet, a many times. Maybe that's the  Djoker played his heart out, winning 3 of the 4 slams last year.

Next is Maria Perello. Her claim to fame? Well, she is Rafael Nadal's lady love.

Nadal's Lady Maria Perello

Nadal has been a top performer for the last many years. He has won 10 Grand Slam titles and is often considered as Federer's nemesis. At the moment, he is the strongest challenger to Djoker and looks to be the only person who can dethrone him from the number 1 spot.

Nadal exhibits tremendous physical fitness on the court. And Maria's contribution in maintaining his mental fitness would be stupendous. 

Then you have Kim Sears. Kim is the girlfriend of the British Star Andy Murray. Andy is considered as Britain's best bet to win the Wimbledon. 

Kim Sears

And come this summer, Andy and Kim would be drawing out plans to help him take giant steps to win the championship. Andy has often thanked Kim for his on court success. 

At one time when his lady was travelling with, while his coach was not, Andy commented - "Hopefully she'll come to a few more tournaments. He (his coach) was a bit worried I was going to sack him and hire my girlfriend. It is the first time she has come to a tournament with me, and maybe I have been a little more relaxed on court."

Next one is Brooklyn Decker. For all practical purposes, she is more famous than her beau - Andy Roddick.

Style Icon Brooklyn Decker

Andy Roddick has had modest success on the ATP tour. Brooklyn has been tremendously famous, as a super model and SI model. She has also featured in TV serials, and has made her movie debut recently. 

She reassures you that WAGs are not only about gloss. They can be stars in their own domains. 

Bridgette Wilson is another lady who is Tennis WAG and an actress. All of 38 years, she is the wife of ex super star Pete Sampras.

Bridgette Wilson

And with Pete having retired now, Wilson is enjoying her time under the sun as an actress.

Finally, if there is any WAG who is a right mix of style and substance, it is Steffi Graf.

Steffi is all of 42 years, and has won a total of 22 Grand Slam single titles during her Tennis career. She has also won a Gold Medal in the 1988 Olympics. 

Steffi Graf

Needless to say, she is superbly attractive. When she was not playing tennis, she was upping the style quotient and setting the hearts racing. To add, she has been wife to another tennis star Andre Agassi for the last 10 years, making her a Tennis WAG.

Andre Agassi Steffi Graf

All in all, these Tennis WAGs have contributed to the success of their men during their hey days. They have been successful in varying proportions in their own lives. 

Boris Becker, winner of 9 Grand Slams, once said - "Girls had never been important. I'd had a girlfriend or two and had liked them a lot but it wasn't love, because my first love was tennis." 

The men featured in this post have been equally successful as Boris and would disagree with him. After all, their wives and girlfriends have been equal contributors (if not more) in their success.

A Girl's Mind

Overheard :-

"You know, it's very difficult to decipher and understand a girl's mind!!", said someone.

"Why do you say so?", asked the friend 

"Well, decoding a lady's mind is much more complex than solving a Rubik's cube", was the reply.

A Girls Mind is complex than A Rubik Cube

A pregnant pause and raised eyebrows followed.

"Unlike a Rubik's cube, the answer does not lie in arranging the same color on all the faces of the cube. The mysterious solution lies in a jumble of colors on each of the faces. And if you plan to ask about the mix of color on each face, let me tell you that it is a far cry from the fact that the sun always rises on the east."

A stony silence followed for the next 5 seconds. It seemed like hours.

"What do you suggest? Is there a solution?" asked the person who made the initial statement.

"Well, it's quite simple." the friend replied. "When you can't solve her mind, figure out her heart. The rest, as they say, will be history!!"

A Complex Mind

And before the conversation could continue, the elevator had reached the ground floor. And I walked away.

P.S. A Rubik's cube has 43 quintillion (43,252,003,274,489,856,000) combinations.

In Celebration of Women

On the occasion of International Women's Day (celebrated on 8th March), I am sharing a small composition, a tribute to women.

Happy Women's Day - In Celebration of Women

~~~~

She is the one who gives you birth,

She ushers you onto this dear earth.

A towering angel, A protective armor,

She is your dear Mother.

At loss of words to describe her,

She deserves the highest honor.

She may be junior, She may be senior,

Dearest to you, She is your Sister.

She helps you take the steps nimble, 

She prepares you for the long battle.

She teaches you lessons galore,

She is the Teacher you adore.

She is a helping voice,

She helps you relax and rejoice.

In her, your faith you repose,

She is your Friend close.

Wearing multiple hats in a single soul,

She completes you, shares your goals.

She is the companion of your life,

She is your dearest Wife.

She protects you, 

She blesses you.

You succeed under her aegis,

She is a divine Goddess.

~~~~

P.S. Who is She? She is a Woman.

Happy Women's Day

Going Bonkers

India is Going Bonkers. Period.

The events of the last one week or so have left me completely disillusioned. Every single day I hear some news which confirms one fact - there is no dearth of people waiting to be climb the pedestal of stupidity.

Going Bonkers

Let me start with our Honorable Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee. The railway budget was presented on 14th March by the then Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi. A bold man (or so he said) that he was raised the railway fares for the first time in 9 years.

His actions were appreciated both by the PM and FM. They lauded his "progressive budget".

However, his boss - Mamata Banerjee of Trinamool Congress - saw red, and had the Railway Minister sacked in the next 10 days. Her appointee cancelled the fare hikes across majority of the travel classes.

And what did our PM and FM do? They kept mum. It is an absolute shame to see the minister presenting the budget not being responsible in the Parliament to answer questions on the budget. It's an absolute disgrace for the Government of India. 

As for Mamata Banerjee, she should be crowned as the alter ego of the communists.

And just a few days back, the GoI announced India had 5 crore less poor people. 

As per them, if you earn Rs. 28 per day, you are not poor. It means that if two people work in a family of 4, then Rs. 56 is sufficient to get you out of the poverty bracket. 

Rs. 56 for 4 people certainly means that the person is living in difficult conditions. Our Government thinks otherwise. 

All through our lives, we are taught to aim for the skies. However, our Government and its educated policy makers are setting an abysmal targets to show themselves in better light.

Mr. Montek Singh Ahluwalia, the Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission had the guts to say "Whatever way you measure, poverty has come down." 

Mr. Ahluwalia :- "Whom are you comforting with such rosy words? If the poverty would have increased, you would be out of your job. And aren't you ashamed to say that in a nation of 125 crore people, with all the machinery and money at your disposal, all you can do is get 5 crore people out of poverty? And that too with a scale which appears to have been set in Athenian times?"

A couple of days later, another scam came to light. We, Indians, lost a whopping 10.67 lakh crores ( 10670000000000.00 INR or 209 Billion USD) thanks to the GoI (again) not auctioning coal blocks. "Coalgate" was born.

Coalgate

Now, I am completely flummoxed by these numbers. Is the coal really worth so much that we could have got 209 Billion USD? And if yes, why on this very earth didn't we try to earn this money, which could have solved a multitude of other problems?

Or is the CAG (Comptroller and Auditor General) exaggerating the figures? 10.67 lakh crores is too huge an amount to be true.

Consider this calculation. 

• India's population is 125 crores

• Number of poor people - 30% = 375000000 = 37.50 crores.

• Distribute 10.67 lakhs crore rupees among the 37.50 crore people. Each of them would get Rs. 28453. For a family of 4, it would mean Rs. 113812.

Wouldn't this be a very substantial security for someone who earns just Rs. 28 a day?

Only God knows the truth in this case. The stand of the GoI is standard, as it was in other scams. They comfort us by sayhng India hasn't lost so much of a money. 

If anyone can play agony aunt, its the Government of India.

And if such puzzling news was not sufficient, the Indian judiciary too decided to join the circus. In a verdict given in Delhi, non consummation of a marriage on the wedding night was cited as a reason for a divorce.

Now this is completely mind boggling. Will the courts decide what people do before or after marriage? For something which is a very personal and mutual choice?

Maybe you can't blame the courts and the judges. When everyone around is playing a joker, everyone else would also love to join the party.

And today, our distinguished Army Chief let the cat out of the bag by telling the world that he was offered a bribe of 14 crore rupees for purchasing sub standard vehicles. 

I was attempted to be Bribed  - Army Chief

For most practical purposes, this incident would have happened more than 6 months earlier (after all, the Chief was busy fighting with the Government over his age for the last 6 months or so). And our honorable Defence Minister sat on this matter for a long long time, without initiating any action.

And today, when the matter became public knowledge, the minister ordered an inquiry. Once again, this is a very shameful response. It seems that the Government of India needs to be rapped on the knuckles to get into any action.

Or they love Status Quo.

Or to say it in a very sarcastic way, I would quote my friend.

~~

We Indians work on the "Principle of rockets".
It doesn't mean we aim for the sky.
It means that we don't start working unless our tail is on fire.
~~

Be it Lokpal, Coalgate, the Army Chief Bribe, each of the instances would reflect such my-tail-is-on-fire action.

All in all, the events of the recent past have made me realize that remaining sane in such insane times would be extremely difficult. Possibly one principle would work - Blinkers On.

P.S. I need some Ice Gate keep myself cool. Is Ice Gate in the offing?

Lamborghini Aventador J

Beginning with the daily 700-hp Aventador, Lamborghini taunted the bull even further by eliminating the ceiling, including several sleek sections and usually shucking weight from a car that only had 3,472 lbs. to begin with. Even the chair fabric have been swapped for something Lamborghini calls "Carbonskin," a fabric created from as well as materials that's at least a several years away from being used on a teen's hat. With windshield, the interior has to get some way of waterproofing; the rear mirror pops up like Wall-E's head from the middle of the dash. It and the roll bars behind the driver are the highest points in the car.

Designer and Stylish Bean Bag

Been bag seats are very comfortable and are seen now a day as a very warm and eye-catching style product. You can use them at the house in some get together, party and when your family or your friends visit the house. These seats look awesome and are available in all type of items in market. You can use them as seats or as bed.

The form of seats from which you can choose one for you are baked bean bag seat, topiary big ball bean bag seats, hot lip bean bag seat, football and shark bean bag seats, coach bean bag seat, hippo bean bag seat etc. I am sure you will like these bean bag seats and will rush to get one.

1. Snorlax beanbag Chair

2. Football Bean Bag Chair

3. Do Nut Bean Bag

4. Big Sleeping Grizzly Bear Bean Bag

5. Rock beanbag

6. Fatboy Marimekko Unikko The Original Bean Bag

7. Mountain beanbag

8. Bubble beanbag

9. Hot Lips Bean Bag Chair

10. LojoBall

11. Millennium Falcon Bean Bag Chair

12. Elephant bean-bag chair

A Plethora of Thoughts

They say, an idle mind is a devil's workshop. Well, it's true to some extent. 

An idle mind also offers an interesting opportunity to introspect. The realisations that a mind has in these simple moments are often deep and usually real. And we, in our busy lives, fail to identify with them.

I would like to make a note of few thoughts which crossed my mind - either at work, or before I slept, or in moments I was alone.

~~~~

• Common Sense is a misnomer.

• An unanswered question is an hydrogen balloon on the loose. The mind is your sky.

• Ignorance is not bliss. Never. In fact, it's a time bomb.

• Confidence is when I can look at you, into your eye.

• Nothing is more comforting than a friend who knows you well and understands you well. Be thankful to God for such friends.

~~~~

A Plethora of Thoughts

P.S. The sky is the limit for such intriguing thoughts.

The Graveyard Shift

How about picking up the phone at the first ring - at 2 am in the morning? Even though it isn't an interesting proposition, there are moments of time when you need to do it. 

On the Phone in the Night

A zombie me has done this the very thing on an occasional night or so, for the last many years. Courtesy - work. And there have been nights when such early early morning calls have been frequent. These are the moments when you realize the value of sleep.

Although I sympathized with myself for this situation, my heart went out to my friends and colleagues who made that call. They are the real heroes. I was just a spoke in the wheel.

Whilst I lost a couple of hours of precious sleep, I admire them for doing The Graveyard Shift.

I am Working Late through the Night

What exactly is The Graveyard Shift? Well, it's the work which you do in the night - usually after 11 P.M. It is a.k.a. the Night Shift.

Think about the watchman who works in the night shift. The nights are dark, lonely and cold. The empty roads are stalked by howling dogs. Yet, he goes about his work, doing the rounds and providing security to the people as they enjoy their sleep peacefully.

Unable to Carpe Diem

Recollect the receptionist at the hotel. As you check-in yourself into the hotel, she manages to give you a warm smile as she welcomes you, even though the clock might read half past midnight. Her smile sparkles brighter than the glowing moon.

And as you get the few hours of sleep before the long day at work tomorrow (sorry, it's today), she manages you to give the wake up call at quarter to seven in the morning. You wonder, did she sleep at all though the night?

How about the pilots and their team? Usually, they have to do the graveyard shift. Flying a super jumbo is a difficult task in itself. How about getting the jumbo to lift off in the middle of the night, making a roaring sound as the world sleeps? 

The Dreaded Night Shift

And then resisting the desire to sleep as the plane makes its way towards the destination carrying a thousand dreams, surrounded by darkness. As the mean machine grumbles on its journey, the men and women are chasing a sunrise.

Have a thought for the people who have to clock hours through the night, day in day out, as part of their job. The human mind is designed to sleep through the night. Yet, these people are supremely alert in the work. 

The business process outsourcing industry has made the world glocal. As a result, you have people in India responding to phone calls from America. When America is awake, India is asleep. Yet these people keep the American engines chugging, sacrificing their precious sleep, all in the name of a job, to earn a living.

The Graveyard Shift

I have also worked through the night sometimes. If there is one temptation which is overwhelming on such days, its the need to sleep. And if you have been working continuously (the previous day) without a wink, such desires are extreme.

And just yesterday, I slept off on my computer at 3 in the morning. No, I was not working, but talking to a friend. Incidentally, she told me that she was full of energy - even though the clock read 3. :-). 

Recently, a friend of mine asked a doctor as to what she was doing awake at 1 in the night. She indicated that a call from the hospital was the reason, and she had to stay awake for another call which was expected soon. She said that it was common. Hats off to her, for putting her duty ahead of herself.

It's not only about staying awake here. Some of the work done during the graveyard shift have an added important responsibility of taking decisions. And taking decisions is difficult to say the least, since such decisions would influence subsequent actions. And it can be as serious as a matter of life and death.

Who is your best friend on such night shifts? Well, it is a cup of coffee. Or a friend or colleague with whom you can talk to through the night. Or sleep herself.

Coffee - Best Friend in the Night Shift

Coming to sleep, there are nights when she takes you over - even though we are working. On such nights, its best to relent to her temptation rather than resisting her. After all, who would resist such a charming empress.

If I have recollect a few places where I would have caught a nap while working in the night, I can come up with an interesting collection. For some nights, it has been a 4 ft shelf. Om other nights, three lined up chairs have been my bed. Sometimes, even two chairs. 

Sleeping in Office

And on other nights, just a single chair - wherein you have to sit and sleep. On odd days, the office floor - although a bit hard and slightly dirty - has been a precious bed. When sleep is taking you over, everything else takes a back seat.

The examples I have quoted would not be enough glorify the people who burn their midnight candles for the benefit of the few. As the world takes a nap, they are full of energy, doing their tasks.

Robert Frost's lines would echo their sentiments in the best manner.

~~
The woods are lovely, dark, and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.
~~

And for anyone who has worked through the night, the advertisement would reflect your thoughts and feelings.

P.S. After every dark night, there is a sunrise. Maybe it is this thoughts which pulls the people through the Graveyard Shift.

Mysterious Miss

~~~~

Its been a long time,

Where have you been?

Awaiting a word, Missing a chime,

It seems to be a lifetime.

Where is my Miss Regal,

Shining on the runway?

Where did you vanish angel,

I miss you everyday.

Dazzling beyond midnight,

Is the alluring tigress.

A bright ray of sunlight,

Is the charming empress.

You will conquer the world,

Supreme is your glow.

Your dreams will rise and swirl,

You are a numero uno.

Dazzling is the Diva,
Enticing is your Aura.
You are a Prima Donna,
Lustrous Miss, Enamoring Delilah.

Without you, 

My life is amiss.

I adore thou,

Miss Divine Bliss.

May you always be a gal glamorous,

May you hold the world breathless.

Without you, something is amiss,

Come back soon, my Mysterious Miss.

~~~~

P.S. This is for You.

Rainbow in Fashion Outfits