:: Tennis
No sport quite like it. Tennis is a way of life for me. I play for fun these days and it is a wonderful way to keep fit and make great buddies. Since I got here, I have played quite a few tournaments. Winning the singles event at CHOC (2001) and being awarded the winner's trophy by Roy Emerson himself, was definitely a very memorable experience. Yes, I did win CHOC ( see draw) again (2003). Check out some pictures of my final match with Robb. Winning my first doubles title (The Irvine Winter Classic) with Derek Martin (Big-D) was also special, as that was my first victory here in the United States. I also won the Evening Tennis Classic at the Palisades tennis club (Newport Beach) last year and the Moonlight Classic at Whittier Narrows this year. I played TopGun recently and lost early. I lost the men's open doubles semi-final at the Irvine Winter Classic this year in a closely fought match. It was great to be back into competitive tennis after a brief layoff.
:: Concert
On Nov. 21, I went to see Sigur Ros (Victory Rose) in concert at the Sprekels Theatre in San Diego. They are an awesome band from Reykjavik, Iceland. The lead vocalist of this band Jon Birgisson sings in a language that is an "otherworldly mutation of Icelandic" and plays the guitar with a violin bow... producing some inspiring music. Amazing stuff indeed. Truly, a concert I will cherish for a long time to come. I look forward to seeing some more of such amazing concerts.
:: Books
These days I hardly get time to read a lot of popular "fiction". I often read a few books here and there, but I no longer have that greedy urge to go after them with the same exuberance as I used to earlier. I have read most novels by the following authors : Jeffery Archer, John Grisham, Ken Follett, Michael Crichton, Dean Koontz, Wilbur Smith and some others. A few of my favorites are listed below:
- Into Thin Air ............ Jon Krakauer
- Lord of the Rings ............ Tolkien
- Foucault's Pendulum ............ Umberto Eco
- Tuesdays with Morrie ............ Mitch Albom
- The Fountainhead/Atlas Shrugged ............ Ayn Rand
- Roots ............ Alex Haley
- English August ............ Upamanyu Chatterjee
- The Inscrutable Americans ............Anurag Mathur
- Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman ............Richard Feynman
:: Travel
I have traveled quite extensively over the past couple of years. I have visited New York and Boston quite a few times and have enjoyed every single one of them. Vancouver was awesome as well. This year i have been to India a couple of times, France (Paris, Normandy), Belgium. I really had a lot of fun in Aruba (central America) and my visit to Machu Picchu, Peru was a dream. Over the past couple of years I have been to Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto. This summer i was in London and finally managed to see Wimbledon.
:: Inspirations
- Tom Whittaker ( Talk about beating the odds !!! )
- Stefan Edberg ( He is my favorite tennis player of all time )
- Howard Roark ( Can there ever be a person like him ? )
- Jim Corbett ( The best game hunter ever. )
- Jerry Seinfeld ( Love his humour )