Harry's Spacebar

Legends are born in the month of April they say. While one legend is an iconic cricketer from India - fondly called as the 'God of Cricket', the other one is an iconic footballer from Brazil - known for his 'deadly left foot'. Call it a coincidence, both these legends were born in the year 1973 and went on to achieve the highest in their respective sports. The hero of this write up is none other than the Brazillian Bull - Roberto Carlos !! Brazil is blessed with a huge amount of talent in the field of football - akin to the cricketing talent in India. Hailing from an underprivileged family, Roberto Carlos was forced to take up a factory job at a tender age of 12. Just like most of the Brazillian children, Carlos fell in love with football and started playing the sport whenever he had time. When talent meets opportunity, a legend is born ! Carlos was called up to play for a State Club and his raw skills were honed with every match that he played. With the unique agility ...

Music in Tamil Nadu ! Goes back to thousands of years and has a significant contribution to marriages, temple festivals and the entertainment screen. There's a typical tune for each occasion - be it the ' Maalai Matrinaal ' during the exchange of garlands between the bride and groom in a wedding or the electrifying introduction of Superstar Rajinikanth on screen. But the real unsung artists are the one's who churn out the emotions from deep waters. They are termed 'unsung' not because of the fact that they don't sing the lyrics, but they lend the base over which the lyrics float - the "Hummers" !! AR Rahman, the man with Oscar Award in both his hands made sure that he had a hum for every mood and situation. The 'hum' is also called as a backing vocal. They're often overshadowed by the lead singer in the musical track. However, when the backing vocals are removed from the track, so are the emotions !! Music buffs go on a humming spree b...

Across the globe, most of the proper names bear an affectionate secondary reference which serves as a substitute to the main name itself. This additional name which synonymously binds to the original proper name is termed "nickname". A nickname gets easily associated with the characterization / individual and in some cases gains more popularity than the origin name. The best part is that the recipient does not get to choose his / her own nickname and is instead conferred upon them by their closest circle. A nickname which is well within the line of conduct without any ridicule is always welcome (the 'acceptance' bandwidth should not be breached). Nicknames for a person can arise from either of the following (common examples associated with cricket / Bollywood) : 1. Concatenation of the initial letter from first & last name (Dinesh Karthik - DK ; Suryakumar Yadav - SKY) 2. Derivative of the first name (Yuvraj - Yuvi ; Gautam - Gauti) / Derivative of the last name (...

Headbutt Footballing year - 2006, Italy won the FIFA WC. Thanks to Marco Matterazzi. He riled up the opposition's best - created a peer pressure which resulted in a famous headbutt... Guess what happened next - France's talisman Zinedine Zidane was shown the red card and he was walking off the field along with France's title hopes ! The provocation did create a peer pressure in Zidane's mind and boom - came the brain fade moment. Materazzi was still on the field taking his defensive position on field and France were short of an attacking midfield. In the end, it proved to be costly for France as they had to wait for 3 more editions to get their hands on the trophy again ! While Zidane went on to coach one of the most celebrated clubs - Real Madrid, while Materazzi became one amongst us by coaching Chennaiyin FC. Singh is King Rewind to the year 1999 - a domestic cricket match between Punjab & Bihar - U19 Cooch Behar Trophy. On the 1st day, Dhoni batted well and scor...

To improve is to change, to be perfect is to change often. With the retirement of Sehwag & Sachin from ODI cricket, the Indian team was in search of a solid opener. Cometh the year 2013 - there was a masterstroke from MS Dhoni to promote Rohit Sharma as an opener. A guy who had averaged in the late 20s while batting in the mid order was asked to open the innings. MSD walks up to Rohit & says - Since you can play both the cut and pull shot well, you have the qualities to succeed as an opener. A decade later, when we see Rohit Sharma's record as an opener, we sit back and say 'success of the lazy elegance'. That one change propelled Rohit Sharma's career and he now holds the record for highest individual score in ODI cricket as an opener ! Well, why look out for Rohit Sharma to adapt to change - when it can be found within each one of us ! Right from our toddler days ! - The first change is when we enter school for the very first time. A new environment and no one...

Safety is one's own cup of tea! To relish the cup of tea, one should be able to hold the cup in their hands which are to be kept Injury free. Also, it's quite metaphorical to say that one's fate lies safe in their own hands - this is literally true! Go to a palmist, and he reads out through your palm lines to assess your fate - for which your hands are to be kept Injury free. We constantly use our hands to express themselves as well as to engage in varied manual activities throughout the day. Sizeable attention needs to be given to every physical stretch of the hand – be it the grip on a knife that’s used to chop vegetables or the clench of fists around a hammer. Our daily yet simple routines involve multiple hand motions to perform a designated task. A simple example that accentuates the importance of hands to us – ‘tying up shoelaces’ by tucking the thumbs inward (or) – Not so simple… Right? That’s the power of thumbs up ! Hand injuries are caused mainly due to ab...