I know...I know...I know...I did not keep up my resolution (yet again!) that I made earlier this year, of coming back to blog. I apologize...for probably the 10oth time! Thanks to DFs Amit and Sundari for bugging me to get back to writing again. I enjoy writing; I really do! Now only if there were 26 hours in a day, that would probably do it.
A lot cooking at our end and some exciting times to look forward to! For one, dear parents are visiting again! It is of course an unusual time of the year to invite them to a "cold" north eastern USA. But, I'd like for them to experience the fall and winter seasons -- my favorite time of the year to spend with friends and family! As much as I am looking forward to having them here, so also am I bracing for the amount of weight that I expect to put on after loading up on some delicious home cooked food. I hear an inner voice yell at me everyday -- "Dude, you need to workout!". Predictably however, I'm back home gorging on junk that I buy from the local Indian store. Aaarrrggghh!
The summer was super! We kick started it with a trip to DFs Tessa-and-Rohit's beautiful wedding (see picture) in May. It was great catching up with fellow squadians in the USA, who attended the wedding as well. We then moved onto some incredibly fun activities with the usual suspects (FYI - we're much older now, but I love this picture) including our first time at the Oscar winning musician AR-Rehman's concert, beach weekend at Atlantic City, DW’s 30th birthday celebration in June, the July-4th BBQ and our yearly summer camping!
DFs Tessa-and-Rohit’s beautiful wedding!
Our beach weekend at Atlantic City! Summer Camping!
DW’s 30th birthday cake! DW’s 30th Birthday get-together!
DW and I at the Boulder field DF Sundari cooks awesome chicken kebabs at the July 4th BBQ
One of the highlights of my summer though, was captaining the Lehigh Valley Cricket Club (LVCC) through the 2010 Philadelphia Cricket League (PCL) season. I had the privilege of playing alongside some inspiring Cricketers like Kishor Kharecha, Bhavik Patel and Naazer Ashraf (who vice-captained the side). We had a talented but relatively inexperienced side, which showed in our results during the first half of the season with a 0-6 record. This honestly was a tough time for us (Naaz and I), trying to deal with the building frustration coupled with decreasing morale among the team members owing to the string of losses. It was time to take responsibility and turn things around for the team. The senior members began to deliver the goods and pulled the team out of the hole that we were in. This included a flawless July, which we finished with a 3-0 record. We finished the season with a 5-8 record that we are proud of, given how we started the season. Some of the key highlights of the season included Naazer’s unbeaten 112 against Mobil; Kishor bhai’s 19-ball 46 vs. British Officers; Dada and Shiva’s first 50 of their cricketing career in the US vs. Masters; 5-wicket hauls by Bhavik bhai, Dada and Amarjeet; and some incredible fielding performances by Bhavik bhai, Naazer, young gun Mayank and yours humbly! :) The season however, was also plagued with a couple of bone-crackling injuries to “superman Naazer” (who returned to play the game that he absolutely loves and scored a 100 soon after!) and another player who shall remain unnamed upon request (ahem!). Below are some (of the many) glimpses captured during the LVCC season by our official team photographer and DF, Viju (thanks a million!). Most of us cannot wait for the next season already! Looking forward to many more years of playing with LVCC!!!
Fancy photography of the LVCC team kit by DF Viju DF Naazer returns after a great knock!
Yours humbly trying to get some footage! DF Dada sporting the “good-boy Cricketer look”
We call these pictures -- “love bites” from Cricket!
DF Dada plays a picture perfect cover drive!
The cream on the cake-of-a-summer that we had was our latest edition of the Boogdee Productions! This time we went after a song called “Just Do It”, from the movie Chance pe Dance. Cannot wait for our Thanksgiving get-together at DF Ankit’s home in Boston, where we went the extra mile last year and made our best home video yet -- “Koi yahan nache nache”.
Alrighty then folks, it is time to sign off for now. I hope to continue to write and update our family/DFs around the world about the happenings at our end. Eagerly waiting for an exciting holiday season later this year with dear parents in town! Have a nice and fulfilling fall y’all!
