Hope and Courage

When absolutely nothing seems to go your way.....

When an unknown, unexplainable force keeps you from moving ahead.....

When failures are all you are going through.....

When your mind breaks the spirit of your soul.....

When you start questioning your abilities.....

When unintended accidents have taken their toll.....

When you throw a dice but never get a six.....

When the All Mighty, with you, starts playing tricks.....

It is then that you've got to stay undeterred and undiminished.....

Its then that you've got to say,"Tides will turn".....

And hope for good.....

After all, succeeding an odd number is always an even integer.

Your fate will get even with time.....

If it doesn't, then its not THE END.

The Giant Elf : A Satire On SRT

Imagine yourself to be a 5 foot 5 inch dwarf, facing hostile short-pitched stuff on the wickets of South-Africa or England. One hit on the head and you'd question,"Why has God made me so small?",or instead,you'd be utterly surprised and ask yourself, "How did the ball climb so high?". Add to that, the pacemen taking advantage of your short stature and giving you a long scary stare after every bouncer. At the end of it all, you'd reach the conclusion,"Cricket is not my cup of tea". This is what one would expect from a normal low-height Indian. Sachin, apparently, had a different mindset altogether. What was a shoulder-high short delivery for a tall Australian, would turn out to be a big wide in the case of Sachin and this thought probably gave him the confidence to go on and achieve,what he ended up achieving.

#15 Wonder Woman vs Hulk

Wonder Woman uses her lasso to bring a victory for Justice League in the Match #9 against She-Hulk. While the other Avengers members accept it with grace, Hulk really isn't going to digest his cousin's defeat. He flares up and charges at Wonder Woman.

Name : Diana of Themyscira

Affiliation : Justice League

Background : Born as a princess in Themyscira, an ancient Amazonian tribe of Greek Mythology, she was carved from the clay beaches of the island by her mother and Queen Hippolyta. She was given various powers by the Greek Gods and ultimately donned the costume of Wonder Woman to act as an ambassador and emissary from Themyscira fighting against crime along with Justice League.

Name: Dr. Bruce Banner
Affiliation : The Avengers
Background : An emotionally reserved genius scientist, Bruce first transformed into Hulk when he was subjected to a gamma bomb explosion as he tried to protect Rick Jones who had wandered into the testing range. The Hulk possesses a little of Banner's memory and intelligence, and is easily enraged making him a menace to the society. After the Asgardian trickster Loki trapped Hulk into destroying a train, Hulk joined the likes of Wasp, Iron Man , Thor and others to take revenge on Loki.

LET THE FIGHT BEGIN!!!!

'The Little Master' Part 2

I watched with joy as the West Indian batting line-up fell apart but as soon as the 9th wicket fell, my eyes became watery and I got a lump in my throat. I waited for the inevitable to happen as all sorts of ridiculous thoughts came to my mind. Finally, off a Shami in-swinger, the formidable 24-year cricketing career came to a close. As Sachin walked towards the dressing room one final time, he burst into tears and with him,cried a billion people. He had been playing the sport constantly for the past 24 years; it was difficult to imagine cricket without him. Sachin later went on to deliver a farewell speech, an emotional one indeed.

My Son Failed By An Inch : Chapter 12

I Kissed Him Goodbye

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Water drops tick my skin and the wind tries to induce a tickle but fails to do so and I stand near the Santo's coffin and the priest tries to intimate the Lord about his arrival. I was looking at him; he sleeps so peacefully and without any hassles. He left me wondering if I was as spiteful and despicable as I am feeling now. He left me asking why I hadn't told him the truth about his mother. He left me guessing what I could have done to help him stay at the zenith of his career and hold him from succumbing to his greatest fear, the fear of failure. All it took was an inch to fail. The rain drops got heavier and the wind blew stronger as petals and leaves caressed Santo’s body and bid adieu to a world; a world that instilled hope and fight in him and when he met with his destiny, took his values as a token of sacrifice to induce pleasure that was painful and unworthy. They were about to close the lid. I ran to the coffin and asked the boys to wait; I wanted to see Santo for one last time. I could neither stop the tears that kept rushing nor resist the guilt of failing him. I bent closer to him and kissed his forehead as a symbol of our love that went beyond the pitch and preaching. Finally, the lid was closed and the coffin was lowered. I had nothing but a fistful of soil to give him as the last offering. It was done. Santo was done. I went to Alberdo and asked him to go back to Spain with Danilo and Liusio. I walked back, head hung low and eyes swelling in shame and sorrow, heart trying to beat out the grief and mind hovering over all those questions that shall haunt me for years to come.

'The Little Master': Part 1

In the cold winter nights of December in the year 2003, when the chill in the air lulled everyone to sleep, I stayed awake. It was during the World Cup, that very year, that my father instilled in me an enormous interest towards cricket.Though I give my father the majority of the credit, there was one other man who ensured my eyes were glued to the television set. He went on to score a total of 673 runs in the World Cup tournament and won the 'Man of the Series' award but most importantly, he won my heart. Sachin Tendulkar made me a cricket-crazy person. He gave me something I could build a career in - Cricket.

Evolution Of Comics Through The Ages : Post 1980s

Jason Shayer

Jason Shayer is an expert in the field of Marvel and DC Comics. He has half a dozen short story credits and is a regular contributor to Back Issue! magazine. You an find him nostalgically revisiting the 1980s in his Blogs - Marvel 1980s and DC 1980s

In the previous article about Comics Evolution, several highs of the comic book industry have been highlighted along with a few lows but none lower than what hit in the early 1990s. The 1990s were a decade of surplus and greed as all sorts of promotions, like die-cut covers and hordes of family related titles (like the X-Men, Batman, and Superman titles), flooded the comic book market and led to its significant downturn as the speculator boom imploded on itself.

The explosion of the X-Men titles was led by Jim Lee and Chris Claremont as they launched another monthly X-Men book, simply entitled The X-Men, with variant covers. This event proved to be Marvel’s most popular as the sales figures were reported to be over 8.1 million copies. DC Comics responded a few years later with their Death of Superman story-line which culminated with Superman #75 which sold 2-3 million copies. While it was a commercial success, what proved to be entertaining and rewarding for fans was that the follow up story-line, which introduces four different characters, all with their own approaches to carrying on the legacy of Superman.

Tall Man Small Shadow by Vipin Behari Goyal

Tall Man Small Shadow starts of very smoothly showing a happy family where the young girl is just about the best possible fir for the handsome guy next door. The chapters are short and crisp. The slow narration is filled with rich imagery which really brings out the cheerfulness in any human being. The introduction to the characters is quite delightful and their emotions and feelings are well portrayed. The author also analyses simple situations through multiple points of view which results in the reader getting a wholesome picture of the effect of any situation on the society.

Gratitude is a way of reducing the importance
of what somebody has done for you