My First First Week in the US

Flying over the Atlantic in a nice flight with some nice european air hostesses tending to my needs. I can also see a huge mass of water below me. What lies ahead is the 'Land of Dumbasses" as one of my friends calls it. A land where it is totally different from the one I have been in all this while. The flight would soon land in the capital of the Big Apple and I would set foot onto the stupid superpower called US of A. From there I would be taking a flight to Syracuse where I will be spending most part of the next two years doing my MS. I have a lot to look forward to since Syracuse is apparently a beautiful city and the university is one of the oldest and finest. And its situated in New York state. I would be a mere five hours drive from the City that never sleeps-NY City. Times Square, Wall Street...... an endless list of amazing things to look forward to. On the other side I need to drive only for a little more than two hours to get to horseshoe falls or Niagara falls as it is known to all. Its going to be one hell of an experience living and studying in the US. So much to look forward to and its all just a few hours away. Its going to be a dream come true. I am going to have an awesome time...................................................... SLAP!!! "Get up da... Its 12:30pm!!"

Back to reality!! Harsh reality I must say. I am still in my same old bed in my dusty room cursing the strike going on at Frankfurt. I spent most part of the night in the Check-in area in the Anna International terminal. All packed and set to make my first visit to the US, I entered the airport and slowly made it through the snakelike long queue to the counter only to find out my connecting flight from Frankfurt to Washington DC has been cancelled due to the stupid strike at Frankfurt. They took my ticket and asked me to wait for a 'few minutes'. I waited with a few other people who had the same problem. A bunch of eight who had a connecting flight to Atlanta were also stranded and sidelined because of this issue. The Lufthansa people took their own time to set things right. I was there at 10:45pm. After a while we were asked to move from where we were standing because they were setting up that space to check in passengers for another flight to Dubai. We were just being pushed around like mere pieces of baggage and not given proper information as to when we would be put on a flight. It took them quite a while to find out they could not put us on any flight within the next few hours and that I would have to travel the following day.

I was keeping myself occupied by making phone calls to tell my friends I would be in India for at least another day. My parents and relatives were waiting eagerly to find out what action was being taken by the Lufthansa officials. It was 1pm and still they had not found an alternate arrangement for me. The patient lad that I am, I did not create a big scene over there. It took a lot of pressurising and some blasting from my father to finally get me a ticket to my final destination. They handed me my new plan at 3:15am! What an experience! more than four hours at the airport on a night when I knew in a short while that I would not be travelling anytime soon. The flight plan they had come up with was not favourable and my dad took it up with our travel agent and came up with the plan of having me flown into the US on the 8th of August. So here I am, sitting at home with a very funny feeling.

Having said Goodbye to the whole of India, it feels very weird to meet and speak to all of them again and tell them I got screwed by a stupid workers strike in Frankfurt. Every few minutes I just think about what I am going through and laugh my ass off, for that's all I can do. What a superb way to start my journey to the US. What was supposed to be my first week in the US, I am now spending in Chennai. God knows what more he has in store for me. I will just hope its all positive this time. And that I dont have to do a Tom Hanks(The Terminal- for the uneducated) role again and that I can write what I have written right at the top when I am actually on the flight to the US.

Long live the Rivalry! All Hail Fed vs Nad

The score was 8-7 in the fourth set tie-breaker and Nadal was serving to take the Wimbledon gentlemen singles championship for the first time in his career. At this moment only one amazing moment came back to my mind. The 4th set in the 1980 marathon five setter between the great Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe. McEnroe took Borg to a tie-breaker and in a similar situation fought off Championship points that Borg had and forced a fifth set. I wondered if Federer was looking to do the same and take it to a fifth and final set against the unrelenting Nadal. And it did happen, with Federer playing some mind-blowing tennis to win the next three points and push the final into a fifth set.

What a comeback the spectators were witnessing. They had already earned their money's worth when they saw both the players play out-of-the-world tennis in the first three sets in which Federer showed his determination to come back from being two sets down (4-6 4-6) to take the third one in a tie-breaker 7-6(7-5). And now with every additional point being played, each person sitting in the stands of Centre-court at the All England Lawn Tennis Club was sure that they would witness one of the greatest comebacks in a Wimbledon final and also that they would probably witness the best ever Wimbledon final in the modern era. Federer, according to me, played the best tennis he has played in the year 2008.

He proved why he is the champion that he is by repeatedly saving break-points and closing the door for Nadal each time. How he did this is a different story altogether. He served those impeccable aces when he needed them most- the most significant being the four that he served in the third set tie-breaker itself- and also played some sensational ground strokes to keep Nadal in check. From the point when Federer forced a fifth set, there was only one thought running through my mind and that was - Is Federer going to win the match and set a new record of six straight Wimbledon titles to beat Borg's record of five and do it in an Epic battle like the 1980 finalhe won against McEnroe?? Well, the answer was a disappointing NO. I sat through the whole match which lasted nearly 4h 40' and when Nadal served out to take the final set 9-7 I realised that there was never going to be another better Wimbledon final for a long time.

Federer may have lost to Nadal after staging the greatest comeback, but according to me he has announced his return to form with a classic display of his skills. I believe he is better equipped to face the Hard court encounters that will soon resume as we build up to the last Grand Slam event of the year at Flushing Meadows in New York City. Nadal on the other hand has shown to the whole world that he is the one player who can keep improving with every single point that he plays and at a young age of just 23, he has a lot of tennis left in him. I believe he will remain the undefeated man on clay for the next three years at the least and will easily surpass the record that Borg holds at Roland Garros with six titles against his name.

I am soon heading for Syracuse University situated in Syracuse City, situated about five hours from NY City. I was planning to save up money to visit the Flushing Meadows next year to witness the great Roger Federer play in the final at the Arthur Ashe stadium at a minimum cost of 80$(thats a lot, but to see such tennis be played I consider it dirt cheap :) ). But having seen the quality of tennis that these two greats have brought out of each other I am thinking about reconsidering my decision and making a trip this year itself to the Championships to witness another staggering display of tennis. Will I get tickets after going there is a big question but if I do and provided that my parents agree, I will be the first person into the stadium on the day it will happen. For all you know maybe noe of them may not even make it to the finals with a player like Novak Djokovic around, but if either of these two players plays even half as well as they did against him then they will easily breeze past him. Such is the quality of these two greats.

I had earlier written about a great rivalry between these two players that has grown and grown over the last few years(The Great Rivalry that is... dated June 8th) and while I was writing that piece of text, I deliberately shied away from comparing this rivalry to the Borg-McEnroe and Sampras-Agassi ones. But now I am proud to say that this rivalry has reached the same standards, if not bettered them in terms of the sheer brilliance of the tennis, the emotion in the games, the extent to which each player pushes his own physique and also the magnificent tennis that each player is able to force out of the other.

Long live the rivalry and may these two entertain each and every soul that comes to watch them play(Well I want to be one of them... :):) And I am hoping to soon be one too!) and bestow upon them the best quality of tennis they can deliver.