Cricket fans will immediately recognize the name Sachin Tendulkar. Most of them would concede that he is one of the best cricketers of all time but among many Indians the admiration goes much further and he is venerated almost as a god, with even some Hindu temples being dedicated to him and some even referring to him as ‘god’.
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There was one ugly incident during my recent holiday in Sri Lanka. We traveled around by two coaches and stayed at hotels. Naturally, when the 75 of us descended on a hotel all at once, the hotel receptionists were really busy trying to check everyone in as quickly as possible. I tended to wait in the lobby until the crowd dissipated before going to the counter but at one hotel, I saw one of our party who is not a close relative of mine and whom I did not know growing up in Sri Lanka (let’s call him K) gesticulating angrily at the receptionist for some time.
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I am back from my break. During this time, I was in Sri Lanka with my wife, older daughter, and her husband to attend a big family reunion. I grew up with a large and close-knit group of cousins. Sri Lanka being a small country, even though we lived in different parts of it, it was easy for us to all get together regularly. School holidays would see many of us spend extended periods of time in one another’s homes where our aunts and uncles treated us like their own children, and the bonds that we forged when young are strong.
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I’m sure that many of us have taken part, usually as children, in a ‘backwards race’ where everyone is required to run backwards. You may at some point have wondered what it would look like if you filmed such a race and then ran the film of the race in reverse. Well, wonder no more because here it is.
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Now that the Rugby World Cup has reached the semi-final stage in England, there is increased interest and I have come across more articles dealing with the game. I stumbled upon one that should be a source of concern for rugby fans because it involves concussions.
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Whenever I attend a play by William Shakespeare or just read it, I have to confess that I only understand about 60%. This does not prevent me from enjoying the performance or getting the gist but the lack of complete understanding does leave me with the sense that I am enjoying it less that I might. Of course, I could take the trouble to study up the play before I attend but that seems like too much work.
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The 2015 Rugby World Cup is currently underway in England. Of the sixteen original teams that qualified, Australia, Wales, South Africa, Scotland, New Zealand, Argentina, Ireland and France made it to the knockout rounds. Host nation England was eliminated and Japan, despite a sensational upset win over South Africa in their opening pool game, just barely failed to make the next round despite having the same won-loss record as South Africa and Scotland.
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I have linked before to flash mobs where musicians appear to spontaneously arrive at a location and perform in public spaces to the delight of people who just happened to be passing by. Here is another case of a flash mob, but this involved dancers in a New York City pedestrian crossing.
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