The legend and boxing great Muhammad Ali once said:

“Champions aren’t made in gyms. Champions are made from something they have deep inside them – a desire, a dream, a vision. They have to have last-minute stamina, they have to be a little faster, they have to have the skill and the will. But the will must be stronger than the skill.”

The fist fighting art of boxing is often misinterpreted as a violent sport; it is considered to be a fine art by enthusiasts. Those of you who have watched the movie Million Dollar Baby will realise that boxing requires hard work and training, skill, discipline, commitment and more importantly a strong heart to stand up when you go down. The last instructions which both fight referees and the corner men utter to their fighters before a fight commences is a gentle reminder -

“Protect yourself at all times.”

In the summer of 2004, a young and explosive kid from Bolton, England began to make a name for himself. He entered the ring at the Athens Olympics, and round after round, fight after fight, outclassed his opponents until the final, where he lost to the legend Mario Kindelan. This kid goes by the name of Amir Khan.

After turning pro, his explosive style, and rapid hand speed obliterated his opponents, until he faced Breidis Prescott. He lost the fight in 56 seconds in round 1 to record his first career loss. He picked himself up from that loss, and went on to claim the WBA (World Boxing Association) Light Welterweight title (previously held y Kostya Tszyu and Ricky Hatton).

Fast forward to December 2009, Khan had a Saturday night date with Dmitry Salita – the number one contender for his belt. The result of the fight – feast your eyes on this!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P19NgoTS5hs

Look at the difference in size between the two fighters…

Nikolai Valuev (left) standing at 7ft2in, weighing 316lbs(144kg). David Haye (right) standing at 6ft4in, weighing at 218lbs(99kg). On Saturday night, they fought for the WBA heavyweight championship belt; the fight was an absolute mis-match. Any guesses who won?

If you guessed David Haye – you are spot on!

David versus Goliath is a term which is used very frequently, and while watching the re-run of the fight on Sunday morning, I saw, possibly for the first time, what this term actually meant!

Saying that, we face the David vs Goliath scenario far more frequently in our day to day activities than we think we do. The way we deal with it – well, it is different for each person. A lot of people freeze in this moment, a lot of us want to take a step back; perhaps we underestimate our ability against the situation we face.

Life has been kind to me [sarcasm] … it has dealt a huge number of challenges, pretty much on a week on week basis;watching the fight on Sunday morning and keeping on top of the buildup to the fight over the last month, I can compare some of my experiences to those employed by David Haye to become world champion. These are my top 5:

1. Respect the task at hand; there is nothing like slipping to failure because of overconfidence.
2. Maintain a positive intent, but be conservative in your approach.
3. Talk the talk, but don’t forget to walk the walk.
4. Ask questions. No matter how stupid they are, have the balls to ask questions.
5. Focus on profiting in whatever you do. Profit is in terms of results or experiences in both success or failure.

According to the Free Dictionary, the definition is as follows:

hon·es·ty (n-st)n. pl. hon·es·ties

Honesty can be defined or viewed from a multitude of angles; not one of them will be 100% accurate (it’s a harsh truth). It’s very narcissistic (I think) to have an honest opinion of yourself; everyone likes to believe they are x, y or z, but the truth can only come from the mouths of those who observe you…. yet theirs is just an opinion too…

A fair few bloggers have posted 10 honest things about themselves; I have tagged myself via Americanising Desi. Have you watched the movie Reservoir Dogs (one of the best movies EVER btw!)? My 10 answers are the strangers which gang up to commit the perfect crime that is Me. Here goes:

1) Mr Reliable – This is a nickname which I picked up at uni, and also at the cricket club where I played for 3 years. Reliability is a tricky thing – there is no scale to measure it; how do you trust someone with a task, and know that it is in capable hands? How do you know that past experiences are a benchmark for future forays?

My reliability comes from 2 facts – When I say that I will take care of it…. it gets taken care of, as expected. Always. I also keep things simple and clear so that everyone can see and knows what is what. My past results and failings prove that in every instance I have been the best choice. My reliability is my greatest asset, and hence comes out at the top of the list.

2) Mr Take it Easy - Patience is something which has taken years to develop, yet even now, it is lacking in me. I am an observer. I look around me, I look at people, I look at events, I look at happenings. I watch events unfold, and I react accordingly. The art of patience is something which one learns and develops as they mature. My parents, and my mentors demonstrate their knowledge upon me, and I am quick to absorb what they spill around me. My belief is that patience is the greatest gift given to a humankind; use it and enjoy it wisely.

3) Mr A Lotta Words - Communication is one of my strengths. I can listen, and then respond to anyone on anything. I love being involved with intimidating and stubborn people because the challenge to drive home a point is even greater; the manipulation of words to the desired effect is a tool in the skill set of a good communicator. I like to keep things simple; I break things down for you, I will draw pictures for you, use my hands a lot (A LOT) to signify my point. The most important point of communication is listening – if you don’t listen, you cannot sensibly respond. I listen well, and respect someone else’s opinion. Without listening to a point of view, one cannot cover all bases – which ofcourse is violation of all sensible thinking.

4) Mr Respect – Respect for any person or anything is something which has been instilled in me as a child. I am lucky enough to have had good parents, family, friends and teachers around me to make sure that my feet stay on the ground. Experiences have taught me that no matter how annoyed or angry you may be at a grown up, you should always respect the fact that they are an adult; you can restrict your talk to just a greeting, but greet them with the respect that you would command for yourself.

I have realised that little people deserve a lot of respect too! Those younger than us look towards us as role models, and our behavior towards them will dictate (to a certain extent) their behavior when they are in our shoes. Each person is unique, and each person deserves their own respect… but the respect must be at par or greater than the minimum that you would expect for yourself.

5) Mr Connoisseur – Over the last 27 years, I have learned to appreciate the finer things in life. There are 4 distinct individuals with whom I can be open with on almost everything. They probably don’t know this themselves, but their value and existence in my life means a great deal to me. I call these 4 people my friends; I know two of them will be reading this. I appreciate the roof above my head and the food on my plate; I have spent time where these basic necessities are a luxury for people – I am thankful for these blessings.

I am a great believer in “I came here with no possessions, and I will depart in the same way” – hence I live a minimalist lifestyle, owning only the essentials. However, I take care to enjoy and own the essentials in the right way too. Enjoying the finer points in life is largely down to fully enjoying what you already have as opposed to what you COULD have.

6) Mr Competitive aka Gen. Stubborn – My competitiveness, drive to win, wanting to never give up – my stubbornness in both a  positive and negative form comes from my mom’s side of the family. I grew up in an environment of excellence in education and sport; in both areas, it was the fittest who survived and the weak dissolved into the background. Right through the ages I have been driven to achieve, with varying results I must admit, but I have pushed hard nonetheless. Sometimes, in the heat of competition, I forget that there is an edge to the cliff, and I go falling down like Wile E. Coyote.

In competition, you will face defeat, and acceptance of defeat with grace is a requirement for a true competitor… although it is probably a violation at many levels of the code of conduct of stubbornness. Defeat intensifies the hunger to win, and ofcourse – in the words of the king – Eric Cantona – “You play to fight the idea of losing!”

7) Mr Smile’n a Laugh – I was given the most amazing and surprising compliment last week while on a lunchtime walk with a colleague; we were talking about how each one of us deals with difficulties at work, and I supposedly deal with everything with a smile and a laugh. I never thought others would notice, but it actually is pretty damn true!

Life has dealt me with a lot of lemons; I stopped counting the number of times that I have dusted myself while standing up again after a fall – at the end of it all, one could either sulk and mope at the misfortunes, or pick out the lessons to be learnt, smile at the past and move on. Laughter is a permanent fixture with me, and I try and surround myself with the people who smile, grin and laugh with me, and people on whose faces I can bring a smile to.

Life is a dark alleyway; show it your smile, and its warmth and brightness will show you the way.

8 ) Mr Perfection - It would be dishonest of me to highlight qualities that only show the positive side to me. Here’s a newsflash – I AM Arrogant. Period. I am very subtle about how I portray my arrogance, and I mix this trait like carbon monoxide in the open air. My arrogance is driven by my pride in who I am, what I do and the ideals that I represent. This playground called life is a tough place, and moving ahead requires looking  after number one. Too humble, and you will get sucked into a black hole, never to return.

9) Mr Non Conforming Non-Conformist – Everyone is a non-conformist – how? Well, everyone is unique; but my style and ways are above the rest. I always stand out on my own but not on purpose; you can be my mentor, but I will lead from the front – follow me if you like. Maybe I don’t meet the expectations of those around me, my mannerisms don’t match my personality; my decisions are always made by me, based on my thoughts. I am who I am and I do what I do; does that make me a non-conformist….. or does that make me… me?

10) Mr Smooth Criminal – I live life with a passion which I love to share. I am a people person, and connect with almost anyone; I am easy to trust. If a friend sits in front of me, and talks, bitches and moans to me all day – I will sit and listen, and give my opinion – I have plenty of it, and I am always fair. The respect which I gain from anyone is in proportion to what I give them, and I am always grateful of that; these are all small things, but the little specs of paint make a bigger picture. I will fight for you, and I will fight alongside you, I will share this life with you with a hundred smiles and a thousand laughs. I strive for an imperfect perfection in the place where nobody goes hunting; this is a testament to who I am. But there is just one thing more.

I am a heart breaker. I will make you spill those tears…. but of the good kind. Gals, beware… guys, i’ll get you too! I can’t help it if I love you all so much… but love you all, I do.

I picked up this brilliant post on Wired, and wanted to see what level of geekdom my readers can achieve!

For the record – I can relate to 30 /100 (I am still a nerd…. I am NOT a geek!)….although check out #95 in the original post (#27  on my list)… and then check out the pic…

1. Properly secure a wireless router.
2. Leech Wifi from your neighbor.
3. Work from home or a coffee shop as effectively as you do at the office.
4. Understand what “There’s no Place Like 127.0.0.1” means.
5. Identify all computer components on sight.
6. Troubleshoot any computer/gadget problem, over the phone.
7. Install a Linux distribution. (Hint: Ubuntu 9.04 is easier than installing Windows)
8. Remove a virus from a computer.
9. Dual (or more) boot a computer.
10. Boot a computer off a thumb drive.
11. Boot a computer off a network drive.
12. Protect your privacy when using a public computer.
13. Buy a domain, configure bind, apache, MySQL, php, and WordPress without Googling a how-to.
14. Basic *nix command shell knowledge with the ability to edit and save a file with vi.
15. Google obscure facts in under 3 searches. Bonus point if you can use I Feel Lucky.
16. Build amazing structures with LEGO and invent a compelling back story for the creation.
17. Understand that it is LEGO, not Lego, Legos, or Lego’s.
18. Build a two story house out of LEGO, in monochrome, with a balcony.
19. Fix anything with duct tape, chewing gum and wire.
20. Know the difference between skills and traits.
21. Be able to calculate tip and split the check, all in your head.
22. Explain that the colours in a rainbow are roygbiv.
23. Understand the electromagnetic spectrum – xray, uv, visible, infrared, microwave, radio.
24. The meaning of technical acronyms.
25. Understand the difference between a comic book and a graphic novel.
26. Know where your towel is and why it is important.
27. Sleep with a Cricket bat next to your bed.
28. Identify evil alternate universe versions of friends, family, co-workers or self.
29. Be able to convince TSA that the electronic parts you are carrying are really not a threat to passengers.
30. Talk about things that aren’t tech related.

In the corner of the room, next to my bed, sit my 2 cricket bats… they’re always there, and are my sporting pride and joy. Yes… no trophies for me because I have never been part of a tournament winning team – rather, the tools that win trophies.

How much of a geek are you?

For a change I have more words to put down, and fewer ideas to play with; so when I sent out a call to my Twitter folk to throw me a line, and give me a subject to blog about, an interesting character popped up and said “ME!”.

No really – she said “write about me!“…

Since I don’t know how to say no, I ofcourse said – “It’s on!”

Aiysha and I connected on Twitter a few months ago via two awesome Middle East tweeties (Humera and Dotty); infact, our subject of connection was mainly long distance running. Aiysha is a resident of… umm…. well, with the amount of traveling she does, a global resident really, but originally from The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. While she hung out in Kuwait city, I was influenced by her tweets on her daily 15k run in the crazy heat and dusty surroundings; as a result, I began my attempts at running 5k (for a start) – and boy was it a great idea!

Now, hailing from a conservative country, Aiysha seems to be very liberal and outspoken. I have never met her personally, however browsing through the love child which she has produced with AgentWhiskers , they have some interesting views of society in KSA. Ofcourse, their views are their own, and not of a grander society. Or are they?

One of the most interesting things about Aiysha is that she is a technology freak! Some would go to the extent of calling her as a geek. The woman is also a compulsive online shopper…. she buys EVERYTHING online – like EVERYTHING! Dude – even I go to the shops to buy stuff! She is married to her iPhone… infact, the iPhone survived a drowning in the pool, and also goes with her during her 15k wanders – now that’s what you call love! This is what she caught a few days ago while out on a run.

Ofcourse Aiysha, Geeks are so 2008, and Nerds are the way to go as we move into the new decade. Seriously, switch over to a crackberry already!

You cannot talk about Aiysha, and not mention deserts… or food for that instance. Since I promised you cake in the post… I shall deliver you cake! I get my desert ideas from ADigitalNomad, and she baked this a couple of days ago – it looks OZUM!

You have to admire anyone who believes in keeping healthy, and working out so that they can enjoy every type of food; although I haven’t baked it (as yet)… this one goes out to you!

As little as I know about you, you seem to have the right sort of energy to live life in the best way possible! I’ll leave you with this track from Outlandish – it’s a song which I very much like, and has your name written all over it…. enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8krO7Q3vSys

I saw this postcard on this Sunday’s PostSecret, and the question really hit home – the same question seems to be repeated endlessly at the moment; maybe I am sensitive to it now than before, who knows… but

I spent a large part of Sunday thinking about this. The context was a conversation with a friend which seemed to go ‘foul’ on Saturday night. I thought about what was said and what was said back…and wondered if something was said wrong, if anything was out of line…?

There is a saying in Hindi, which translates to – “Words which leave your mouth, the arrow which leaves a bow and time which passes by you – these three never come back”. Regrets, are something which I don’t believe in… you cannot regret something which happened in the past, you can only make sure you don’t repeat it in the future; but in hindsight, would you have done or said something differently, so that the outcome ‘could’ have been different?

My thoughts say “no..”, they always do; sometimes, hindsight is that mask which you put on to show a pretty face, but the truth will always remain hidden underneath it. Why become someone you are not and step away from your norm? However, what is important is to always be clear about every word you say – you then raise no room for doubt or misunderstanding.

As for Saturday… well, time will tell how that conversation went.

While getting through my reader this weekend, I came across this awesome post … thought I’d share it with all of you Standing just around the corner from turning 27, I think I can relate to a lot of these… I have starred the ones which I have yet to learn or come across.

1. Being an adult can be fun when you are acting like a child.
2. Love has nothing to do with looks, but everything to do with time, trust, and interest.
3. Laughing, crying, joy and anger… All are a vital.  All make us human.
4. The greatest truths in life are uncovered with simple, steady awareness.
5. Greed will bury even the lucky eventually.
6. Bad things do happen to good people.
7. *Paving your own road is intelligent only if nobody has gone exactly where you are going.
8. Uncertainty is caused by a lack of knowledge.  Hesitation is the product of fear.
9. Time heals all wounds… regardless of how you feel right now.
10. Most of the time what you are looking for is right in front of you.
11. *Your health is your life.
12. Chance is a gift, so act on chance when given the opportunity.
13. Kindness and hard work will take you further than intelligence.
14. People deserve a second chance, but not a third.
15. *Marry your best friend. [update (01 Nov 2009): I've met my best friend, and I will marry her soon!]
16. Take lots of pictures.  Someday you’ll be really glad you did.
17. *Money makes life easier only when the money is yours free and clear.
18. Carelessness is the root of failure
19. Your actions now create memories you will reminisce and talk about in your elder years.
20. Stepping outside of your comfort zone will put things into perspective from an angle you can’t grasp now.
21. Motivation comes in short bursts.  Act while it’s hot.
22. Purposely ignoring the obvious is like walking backwards toward the enemy.
23. Taking ownership of failure builds the foundation for success.
24. First impressions are completely worthless 50% of the time.
25. Personal glory lasts forever.
26. If you never act, you will never know for sure.

I look at this list and I smile… I’ve come across most of these in the last 26 years… yet, there is one which comes out and dances in front of me almost everyday -

If you never act, you will never know for sure.

Atleast the memories of the last 5 years act as my witness – sensible actions have made me learn the answers to the questions who when where why and how.

THIS will never go away from me.

Life is very strange, and nobody should question it. Why? Well, the conundrums that come with it are just almost impossible to solve.

Life has been generous and spicy for me over the last 5 years. I think I have experienced so many emotions in such a short time, that quite often confusion kicks in and I am now not quite sure what I am looking at and how I should react when something is dished out at me.

For example, in 2006, on precisely this day…. I was sitting at the tip of this beach, around the corner of the Blue Lagoon.

This is one of the most beautiful places in the world – Oludeniz, in South West Turkey; I was enjoying what was definitely the best 3 weeks of my life. I was in the company of 3 other people, one of whom I thought was THE ONE. The other two – we became such good friends during the trip, that there was almost no separating us. I actually thought life couldn’t get any better.

Ofcourse, I AM naive!

Positive and negative experiences have followed, but yet again there are hints of something else, and I don’t know how or why to react. It’s the constant curveballs which cloud the vision, or chain of thought; if only one could walk to first base in reality!

Everything feels like a game of football (soccer) at the moment. Sometimes you can just stand around, and out of nothing something happens and you stick the ball into the back of the net – easy. It’s those other times which have made me ponderous. You build up the play, work hard on every move and every pass, sometimes maybe work too hard; and as you hit your shot goalwards while losing your footing and sliding across the floor, you see your effort hit the post and get cleared off the goal line. It’s time like those that you have you hands on your head and eyes on the sky – wishing it was inches the other way.

I can see a move starting again… should I stand in the box, or drop deep in the field passing the ball and making the moves?

Conundrums.

Recently, I invited you guys to ask me 10 questions…. on ANYTHING…

The three four five which I have got so far – have given me an opportunity to explore my thoughts a little bit more! The questions for today:

… were asked by The Media Junkie…

(I think the questions can have darker detailed answers… but here are snippets of my thoughts…)

If you could be bad, really bad, and face no moral or afterlife consequence, what would you choose to do?

Hmm.. interesting question – and another one where I had to think a little about….

Very few people know this about me – I am generally a very very laid back person. My modus operandi is that of silence – I get about doing things with little noise or fuss…. call me the eternal ticking timebomb…… until it gets competitive!

See – the only things which get me excited are those things which mean a lot to me; things which will affect me, change me, evolve me… and when things get competitive, I am there to achieve and push anyone and everyone really really hard around me. I don’t like to lose, but am a gracious loser in defeat; however I have never visualized defeat until I have lost!

I don’t worry about consequences – my actions are always well thought out and planned – call it my arrogance, call it my confidence, call it what you want!

When it comes to competing, I am a firm believer in two things – firstly, applying your skill and ability to achieve your target or goal. However, something which has to couple that ability is the right frame of mind. I ALWAYS compete with the mindset of “I AM better than you”. Picture Garry Kasparov vs Deep Blue, England vs the Aussies, Man Utd vs Liverpool, Cubs vs the White Sox – if you haven’t got the right frame of mind to compete under pressure, your skill has almost no value. When the desire to win something is strong, oh so strong, there is no line or boundary to the mind games you can play to couple your skill; rules of engagement – SCREW ‘em. The fittest of the mind and the fittest of the heart ALWAYS comes out victorious.

When I have had to switch to this mode, mind games have reigned supreme. I will either bring out the ultimate best or more often than not, the worst in you. It has never been sledging, I merely ask questions… question their motive, ability, skill, decisions; throw in conundrums, tell them how I would have done it better, work the mind to doubt itself…

This Pandora’s box has been closed for a while… and thank god it doesn’t open easily!

Ofcourse…. you WOULD open it at your own peril… Wanna try me?

——-

Which of the seven deadly sins would you be? [the list]

This one – not too tricky… and I knew the answer even before you asked it!

What is the deadliest of all sins? Pride. Pride – self-elevation of oneself to a level which demonstrates no boundaries. This isn’t just an answer to the question, this is my actual belief and perception. The pride in my beliefs and actions compliments my existence – this makes me who I am! Pride is classed as a deadly sin, and inverse to the virtue of humility; but how do you carry yourself ahead, justify your existence without pride in your beliefs?

I am proud of who I belong to and because of whom I exist, I am proud of my heritage and culture, I am proud (and thankful) for the life that I am leading, and the future that I aim to build; I am proud of the name that I carry, and the legacy which I want to create for this family; I am filled with immense pride when I walk side by side with my family and friends; I am proud of the actions and decisions which I make, and lessons which I learn from them every step of the way. I am proud to participate in the global society, and make a difference. Pride my friends, is not a sin, but merely a controlled by-product of humility – a podium to recognize your standing and belonging in this life.

If you cannot be proud of what you are, and where you stand in life – what is the purpose of your existence?

——-

What’dya say there MJ….. wanna rate me?

This is why I love Jeroen….

I read these two together and smile… I think my perfection is not something much to ask for….