Thursday, July 04, 2013

Game. Set. Match. Who cares!

I have played tennis--more like hit tennis balls with a racquet (might as well be a racket!)--for perhaps a grand total of two weeks in my entire life.  That was two decades ago.  The tennis elbow that I am dealing with now is one heck of a delayed reaction, it seems!

Months it will be before this contraption goes into the trash :(

Anyway, it is Wimbledon time. I couldn't care.

I look up the news and scan the line about the latest from there only because I am a news junkie.  Even if I didn't look it up, I am confident that I would not miss any damn thing.

It wasn't always that way.

I recall Ivan Lendl's frustrations at Wimbledon, which led him to a sour grapes comment that grass is for cows to feed on.  It was on the tiny black/white television set that I watched Boris Becker serve his way through to championships as if he were born only to roll around at Wimbledon and to do nothing else in life.  Even before all that, I was upset as a kid when Bjron Borg lost his groove and then hastily retired from the sport altogether.  Tracy Austin I followed with my heart beating just a tad more for her.

The Hindu's  reports on Vijay Amritaraj winning even a set on the grass court was always exciting, and even more it was when another Tamil, Ramesh Krishnan (no, not the sports-crazy friend, K_Ramesh, who is my debating partner here at this blog) achieved quite some success at the tourneys.

But, with every passing year, I lost that much more of an interest in following sports. Cricket, badminton, hockey, football (soccer,) tennis, baseball, football (American,) ... one by one, they have all become additions to the graveyard of my past sports interests.

"Entertainment" is the very bottom-line.  I don't care to be entertained anymore.  If I am an active participant, then it is fun. But to be a passive spectator became such a bore.  A painfully boring experience.

I cannot understand anymore how I was once an excited spectator.  Once, when recovering from typhoid that was surely from the water at college, much against the doctor's suggestions, and my father's worries, not to exert myself, I sat up for hours to watch Wimbledon during those Becker years.   I should have sued Becker for compensation, for the relapse that I had!

And that compensation was another reason I quickly lost interest in entertainment.  It was an epiphany, that was further reinforced in graduate school, when I realized that I watch entertainers--be they in sports or movies or whatever else--and laugh and cry with "their" victories and losses, when, at the end of it all, I have lost time and money, whereas those entertainers had by then amassed quite some wealth.  They were doing that proverbial laughing all the way to the bank.  A fool and his money are soon parted, indeed!  I think I am wiser now.

Over the years, I have found a lot more entertaining activities to pursue.

My work itself is pretty entertaining--hey, other than that grading, my work is no chore at all.
Blogging is a whole lot of fun.
To know that blogging leads to stalkers is even more exciting!
Experimenting with cooking is fun, though when once the oil exploded and caught fire, it was no fun when it scalded my skin.
Traveling is one heck of an engaging entertainment, though expensive.
Walking is fun--there is enough and more in nature to entertain me.
Yesterday, when driving I spotted a few geese by the roadside.  Afraid that they might get run over, I slowed down to a crawl and passed them.  And watched the birds in my rearview mirror.  The lead goose checked both directions, and then led the group to cross the road.  Absolutely entertaining that was for which the birds charged me no money at all.

The entertaining "fruit soup" experiment yesterday!

To give up all those and more that I could do in which I am an active participant and to, instead, watch two people hit a ball back and forth, often with accompanying horrible grunting sounds as if they were suffering from acute constipation?  And then to read about the millions of dollars they earned for doing this!

Nah!  I am not entertaining any such thoughts!  Maybe later in life, when I am senile.

For now, if I need to be entertained, I will simply walk up to the river, looking forward to the show the geese and the ducks have planned for me!

5 comments:

Ramesh said...

Ha Ha. To each his own ......... I shall humour your eccentricities instead of arguing about the glory of sports !!!

But some interesting titbits in your post, which I have to seek clarification on :)

- What is this about blogging lead to stalking. Plizzz to write a detailed thesis on, in your next post.
- What is the infatuation between Oregoners and geese. I know the special bond between sheep and the Kiwis ( Hey Kiwi, in case you are reading this) but GEESE :):)
- What on earth is a "fruit soup" ?????
- Guffawed like crazy at your association between female tennis players and constipation :)
- Traveling is expensive only if you are chauffeur driven by Luis. Get backpacking Prof Khé , ease up on those pastries and live on a dollar a day !!

Sriram Khé said...

Muahaha ... you decided that it was not worth it to duke it out ;)

- i always think of the anonymous ones as my stalker friends ... hey, a man has to have some fun!!!
- it is true ... i am not exaggerating one bit about the geese. they are in plenty here. there is always something those birds are up to, and one can easily spend quite some time watching their antics
- a fruit soup based on a recipe i had come across years ago ... and i improvised on it, of course. this one had dried red cherries and dried apricots stewed in rosé and sugar and a drop of anise and rosemary leaves, and strawberries added at the end of it all ... decadence!!! bloody rich it felt!!!
- if the female players had this fruit soup, no reason then for those sounds, if you know what i mean ... hahahaha
- ahem, i am one heck of a cheapo traveler ... but, i can't do hostels. i need my own space, a comfy bed, and a good shower. once i do all that, a taxi is relatively cheap!

all cleared up?

i assume you will read these while your television set has one one of those picture-in-picture deals, with two or more sport events simultaneously on the screen ... you enjoy yours and i shall mine ;)

Indu said...

A pity -you dont qualify for ideas on why Radwanska reminded me sooooooooo much of Chris Evert Lloyd - Let me throw this question to Ramesh!!!

Is the fruit soup recipe on your blog or elsewhere? -not that i need it as a remedy for constipation ;-) It definitely looks interesting.

Caught up on the blog space after a few days..

Sriram Khé said...

ahem, the ball is in your court, ramesh .... muahahaha ;)

really? you want my recipe for the fruit soup? omg, my head has swollen so big!!!

ideally, this time of the year, it will be with fresh fruits. but, only strawberries i used were fresh, and the apricots and cherries were dried because i was lazy to remove the pits and get the fresh ones ready!

also, i used rose wine. but, it was way too alcoholic for this teetotaler. so, next time i plan to experiment with apple juice instead.

1. remove the pits from cherries and cut apricots to bite friendly size. together about 1/4 lbs ... clean and halve the strawberries
2. in a saucepan, add a cup of rose wine (apple juice), 1/4 to 1/2 cup of sugar (depending on how sweet u want it), sprigs of lavender or rosemary or some fresh mint leaves. heat this until you see steam starting to rise. no need to boil ...
3. while off flame, add a drop or two of anise extract. skip if u don't care.
4. after about five minutes, remove the lavender or whatever, and add the cherries and apricots.
5. if strawberries are firm, add them after 30 minutes. if not ...
6. after one hour, this is ready for eating. if strwberries are soft,add them at this point.
7. ladle the fruits and liquid and garnish with fresh mint (if u have)

Sriram Khé said...

oh, i forgot ... because i used dry fruits, i separately stewed them in order to soften them ...