Big Time Final Loser!!

I am a kind of person who is always happy with his past, never giving a thought to what I did - right or wrong. But lately some one's comment forced me to give a thought about it, though it was a sub conscious try but resulted in a factual conclusion. I do realized it and logically deduced it from my past life - I AM A big time FINAL LOSER.

I have almost always been able to come up with flying colours in whatever field I have given a honest try-most of the time in top 2. But may be I never gave that extra punch which separates the first from second, gold medalist from silver medalist and topper from others in the top group. May be being happy with my good satisfactory performances, I never strived for the best. At least, thats what my own history suggests me-

• Silver medalist for 5 district/state TT championship but won only 1 Gold in my whole TT career in school days.
• 2nd in class from VI to XI but never 1st, continuously for 6 years.
• 2nd in XII board results in school.
• 2nd in so many school events- kho-kho, carrom, chess, etc.
  
• Around 98 percentile in my CAT attempts but never crossed 99 percentile, the mark which makes the difference.
• In IIT always remained among the 2nd tier performers (may be top among them:)) but never moved to the top tier performers group.
  
• Lost the elections for House Secretary after coming up as top two consensus candidate; almost guaranteed victory before the election and the small losing margin made the loss worst.
• Most of my skits and plays fell short of the 1st position (always 2nd/3rd) for some or the other reason, irrespective of the applauses. (MM, my best creation, is the only exception which broke all records)
• In campus placement got interview calls from almost all dream companies from different fields (consulting(Mckinsey)/banking(Lehman)/analytics/tech) but finally made into a 2nd tier tech company.
  
• In professional life too - solution developed by myself is contesting with a competitor for the top slot, and is presently placed at 2nd position.

Though there have been few exceptions- JEE, MM, BTP. May be I have always been a jack of many trades but expert in few. But I seriously think that it is the attitude for the top slot which makes the difference. And as it is always known, best is always remembered while next i.e. second, though may receive applauses for very short time, is always next to best. May be someday I too will strive to move from rest to best category with that extra - I need to find that!!

I would DIE for THIS!!

I am in a old style house in a small town, sitting in aangan and reading the newspaper. The house resembles the one used in the film Swadesh. It is around late afternoon with dark clouds hovering around.

There is a gentle knock on the door. I being happy alone with myself got annoyed with someone's arrival at this time. I got up and went to open the door thinking some one from the credit card company must have come for promotion. On opening the door the person whom I saw standing there swept the floor under my feet. Oh my God!! It was SACHIN TENDULKAR, a person who required no introduction.

Me: Are baap re!!Aila Sachin!!
It was almost a shout.
Sachin: Looking at your expression I believe you definitely recognize me.
His childish voice immediately made a mark.
Me: hmm......Yes!
Sachin: Hope I didn't disturbed you?
Me: NO, definitely No; its just that I am not able to overcome the excitement.
Sachin: OK, you will settle down. Come...
He kept his hands on my shoulder and took me inside.

Sachin and me, both are lying on a mat laid in the aangan with a light drizzle outside in the courtyard and talking as if we were good old friends. This went on for long time.

Sachin: Hey don't let anyone know that I am here. Very rarely I get a chance to be away from the limelight and be of my own.

Time passed and it is late evening now. I realized that Sachin did not had anything to eat since he arrived at my house. So I thought of ordering pizza from US Pizza.

Me: I think yo umust be hungry by now. Is Pizza fine with you?
Sachin: No Yaar! No Pizza, no item from outside.
He paused for a second.
Sachin: Can I share the tiffin that you have ordered for the night.
This was like the moment of my life. Sachin Tendulkar, whom everyone in their life would like to at least see once in their lifetime, is sitting beside me and asking to share my tiifin with him.

But sometimes too much of excitement is really bad. It takes from you even the moment you are enjoying. I immediately tried to get up to inform my tiffin wallah to increase the quantity.

The moment I sat up, I realized that I have got up from my bed and may have slept a bit long than usual. So need to hurry up for office!! But yeah each and every moment of this dream remains in my memory.

P.S: Things to connect with the dream- recently I have been receiving too many credit card calls, even I accepted one of the offer after getting annoyed; recently had an argument with one of my friends regarding Sachin's down to earth qualities; have kept a tiffin waalah for dinner since May; once in a week the number or quantity of tiffin needs to get altered for various reasons; weather has been too good in Bangalore for a month or so which i keep telling to my friends who have recently moved in or out of Bangalore; newspaper has been a source of argument in my house; whenever we order Pizzas, we do it generally from US Pizza, the closest one.