Stories i tell my daughter: SpiderGirl

(A friend of mine got my daughter Spiderman, Doc Ock and Green Goblin and she loves them. So i make stories of these characters. She does not like the standard stories but something different. These stories are mostly irrelevant and follow no rules.)

"Oww", the young voice shouted that made Spiderman look behind him. A small someone was falling to ground. Spiderman, without a thought, extended his arm and shot the web to catch the person from hitting the ground too hard and injuring themselves. Who is it, Spiderman wondered as he jumped to the ground.

It was a small girl. A small girl? Spiderman was not sure if he was amused or irritated. What was a small girl doing following him? Looking at her, he could see that she was wearing a cape similar to his own. Most probably an imitation copy from the stalls that were selling Spiderman costumes to young kids. They were remarkable similar to one Spiderman was wearing.

"Who are you, little girl and why are you following me?" Spiderman said. 

"Spiderman, i am your big fan and i want to become like you too."

"But who are you?"

"My name is Sarayu and i live in building right opposite yours."

Oh my god, what am i to do, Spiderman thought as he removed the web from around the girl.

"Why were you following me?"

"I want to help you catch bad guys. I jumped right after you and was holding the webs that you were using to jump after you. I am very good at it. The last web dissolved too quickly and i fell down."

"Do you know that if you had fallen, you would have broken a bone or worse?"Spiderman said. Inside he was wondering how to get out of this situation. Tough criminals were much easier to deal with for him than small girls. 

"It would have been ok. I have shoes with springs and i would have bounced once or twice."

The girl was quick at responding back. 

"You can never be sure. Will you go home now?"

"No. I want to come with you and catch some bad guys."Sarayu had balled up her hands and seemed in no mood to listen. 

Spiderman sat down and said in slow and deliberate voice, "Sarayu, catching up bad guys is not that easy. Lets make an agreement. You grow up and learn things. I will allow you to go together with me once you have grown up, okay?" 

"No. I want to come today."

Can she go back to her home by herself, Spiderman was not so sure. The girl was resolute but she was a young kid. He decided to take a direct route. 

"Come with me."

Spiderman picked the girl and took a route back. 

"Spiderman, we are returning home."

"Yes, i forgot something."

Spiderman saw that the window right opposite his own was open. 

He said, "Is that your room?"

"Yes, it is. Would you like to come inside. I have all your stories in comics format."

Spiderman was amused that they had made him a comic book superhero. Not very popular, apparently as he had not heard of them yet.

He said, "Some other time."

And he quickly dropped the girl at her room and jumped away. 

He could hear the girl shouting, "Spiderman, Spiderman"as he sped away. 

Do i need to change the house, Spiderman thought as he hopped from one building to other. His life had become even more complex.

 

 

Fare thee well Tito and welcome Tata

Tito Vilanova has recurrence of cancer and has left the Barcelona job. I wish him all the best. What is a job as compared to life. He is young enough that if things turn out well, and i hope they will, he can have shot at coaching position again. Tito was head coach of Barcelona only for one year. Year in which Barca became La Liga champions matching record points by Real Madrid though were humiliated by Bayern in CL semi finals. Overall a good season though not a great one.

Gerard "Tata" Martino is the new coach for Barca. He has a good pedigree and is coming off a successful season with Newell's Old Boys in Argentina. Tata appears to be more pragmatic in his approach. He has made right noises about commitment to Barca philosophy and attacking play. For me, this is a good thing. One of the thing which i have felt Barca lacking in last year or two is dose of pragmatism.

Coming to team and the season ahead, Tata has a few puzzles to solve if Barca are to re-claim the mantle of the best.

First challenge is integrating Messi and Neymar in same team. This should be relatively simple though. Neymar has already professed his admiration of Messi and two of them play in complementary positions. Though it will take maybe few months, i expect both of them to play well together by December at the latest.

Second challenge is buying a center half. This has been a toughie for Barca and the need for a good partner to Pique, who is fast and tall, has been apparent for quite some time. Simply put, Barca need to have a good center half.

Third challenge is how to counter high balls. Bayern effectively destroyed Barca by exploiting the tactic of going for high balls. Though this will not be a problem 90% of time, it will be against some opponents and normally these opponents will be in crunch matches so Barca needs to find a solution.

Final challenge is refreshing the hunger of the team and finding balance to make it work together. Last season, the balance was simply off. Messi was the difference maker too many times. He will always be but as a team, Barca needs to maybe add the pressing back to its game.

Overall, Tata is unlikely to find the job easy. Ancelotti is smart cookie who will guide Madrid to the title. I think that Barca will not win the Liga or CL this season. Barca will most probably come second in Liga and out at Quarters in CL. Anything better will be a bonus.

As a fan though, i do not care that much about result. I shall be happy if the team again plays with joy and provides some excitement.

Narendra Modi and Indian education system

I came across a tweet on incredulity about Modi saying that ancient Indian education system was excellent as compared to western education. I did not understand the outrage behind this comment so started to think about it. The tweeter seemed to imply that Western (i.e. US) education system was much better and Modi was somehow wrong in saying that ancient Gurukul system was match or even better than current western education. 

Without knowing too much, i will hazard the guess that the said tweeter is US educated and thinks that his education is the best. Fair enough for me. After all, everybody's mother is most beautiful for them. 

I did start to think though. I have been educated in western education system, all through my life. And i do not believe that western education system is the best ever. It is good for sure as it has contributed a lot to human development. At the same time, if i look at the basics of the ancient indian gurukal system, it seems to be excellent too. 

If i look at ancient gurukul system, the system worked on all students living together and learning at equal footing. The teachers were dedicated to education and supported by the wealthy people and royalty. The students learned the theory and at the same time, they learned trade by actually doing it. They lived communally and learned to contribute to society. 

This was excellent system and helped India be the premier nation for hundreds, if not thousands, of years. The overall society did fail to stop the Muslim invaders and then got skipped in the industrial revolution there by allowing England to rule India for hundreds of years. And these facts have somehow made the nation feel as if the victors have best of everything. I think this view needs to be rethought. There is glorious tradition that is Indian and as Indians, we should think of how to revert to the roots, albeit incorporating modern knowledge.

Some people will say that Indian systems sucked because it perpetuated caste system. Irrefutably this is a major blot on the system. At the same time, Western education system did discriminate against african americans for hundreds of years. How is this different? I agree that way in which Gurukul worked was not perfect but the western education has not been perfect either. Western education has evolved and so can indian system. 

And if India ever has to achieve greatness again, it will have to marry the ancient with the modern. Trying to copy western model will not work and sooner we as nation realize this, we will get on right path.

Watching Test Cricket

The 5th test between England and Australia is going on and its lunch. 20 runs for Aussies to win with one wicket in hand. Poised at knife's edge. I do not want to predict who will win. I am loving the uncertainity.

As i watched the match today for entire morning session, i again realized how wonderful good test cricket can be. There are things happening, with enough interval in between to relax and think about what is happening. The pace of game gives enough time to admire what is going on.

Stories i tell my daughter - 2 - Volcano Witch Part 1

(My little girl loves Volcanos. I do not really know why. To amuse her, i have made up these stories. This is the first one.)

The ground was shaking and there was wonderfully threatening sound coming from the ground below. Athena tightened the grip on the hand of Shlava, the volcano witch, who had brought Athena to the mountain where volcano was going to explode any time. Athena could hardly hold her excitement so started to jump up and down next to Shlava. She could not believe where she was. She wondered if her mom had found out that she was missing from the house.

Athena had a completely unremarkable time on previous day. Her mom had picked her up in school and they returned to their flat in the suburbs of big city. In the evening, she had dinner with her parents, played some games in evening and then it was bed time. Athena's room was right next to her parents bedroom. She had a small pink room that was full of fluffy toys and pictures of Volcanos and stones picked from street. Her small bed was right next to the wall opposite of the window from where Athena could see the traffic on road outside. Her cupboard and play table was on one side of the wall. It was her dad's turn to tell her a bed time story. Atrhena's dad always loved to pick up story books with games and races and that day he had picked up story of race between animals in jungle.  Athena had fallen asleep even before the story was halfway through.

Next thing Athena could remember was that someone was in room with her. It was still dark though the night lamp gave enough light to see. Opening her eyes, Athena saw a women, closer to her mothers age, with flaming red hair standing next to the bed. Athena was not afraid though. 

"Hello Athena,"the women said.

"Hello,"Athena replied in sleepy voice. "Who are you?"

"I am Shlava, your friend. I know that you like Volcanos. Would you like to see one?"

Athena jumped up in the bed. She said, "YES! I WANT TO."

"Shhh. Do not scream,"Shlava said with a smile, "we do not want to wake up your parents."

"Ok. Shall i change my night dress?"

"No need. Just wear a jacket on top of your night shirt."

And Athena wore a jacket on top of her night shirt and looked expectantly towards Shlava. 

"Hold my hand,"Shlava said. "Close your eyes."

Athena felt something change around her. When she opened her eyes, she was on top of a windy mountain. It was warm there so Athena felt ok. There were people close by to her. Athena looked at the scene curiously. She could see girls with beautiful clothes. Some were even as old as her and some were as old as her great grand mother. Seemed that lot of them knew each other as they kept on breaking and meeting other people with a smile. 

"Where are we? Is there a volcano in front?" Athena asked to Shlava as soon as Shlava had parted from someone who had come over to say hello.

"Yes Athena. A volcano is going to erupt here.  All the women and girls here are volcano witches or are training to be volcano witches. "

"Are you a volcano witch too?" Athena squealed loudly.

"Yes Athena. I am one too."

"Will i be one as well?"

"Yes. You will be a witch too one day." Athena started to jump up and down. She was so happy. This was super.

After she caught her breath, Athena asked, "What are we going to do here?"

"As the volcano erupts, a magic that is deep within earth also erupts. We volcano witches catch the magic and fill it in our magic bag. This is the magic that helps us to do different things. Today, i brought you here to see how it happens and maybe you can catch some magic too."

"I do not have any magic bag," Athena said with panic in her voice. 

"You have one with you. You do not know it yet. "

Before Athena could ask more, there was loud noise and Shlava held Athena hand.

"Athena, when you see the first burst of lava, close your eyes and try to see if you can catch something. Its just like catching rain. I cannot explain more but try."

Athena looked around. On the mountain top, the witches had arranged themselves in semi circular shape. She felt suddenly very hot for a moment. She loved the feeling of heat. Looking towards the center of the mountain, Athena could see the first burst of golden red lava from the deep ground beneath. She closed her eyes.

After few minutes, "Were you able to feel the magic Athena?"Shlava asked. 

"I think i did. When i closed my eyes, i could see something golden that was spreading in air. I tried to catch it and i think i did some. I tried to put it somewhere but i could not."

"Maybe you did. Lets see. Try to push that stone in front of you."

Athena tried. "It does not move."

"Do not worry. It takes some time. Come let us meet some of my friend."

Athena went with Shlava. She said hello to few people, one women had blue hair. She also met one other small girl, Meena, who was her same age. 

Shlava soon took Athena back to her room. It was still dark outside. 

"Sleep well Athena, it will be day soon. And remember, this is our little secret. "

"When will i see you again Shlava?"

"Soon enough. You have lot of time to learn things. Sweet dreams."

"Good night."

Athena's dreams were full of weird haircuts and big volcanos that night.