Symmo- A Super Guy!

I had this wonderful opportunity to meet and interview Andrew Symonds, the highest paid player of Deccan Chargers and former member of the Australian Cricket Team; the so called bad boy of the cricketing world. My knowledge of Symmo was about his famous clash with Harbhajan Singh, his drinking habits, his fishing expeditions and what not! This was what I had read in the newspapers and watched on television. Anyway, I had not formed any opinion about him and went to meet this towering tall, very talented, and famous cricketer for the first time. My request to him was to give his fans a message. He added a bit of humour to our brief conversation . The second time I met him after a couple of days, was for a more formal interview .

Symmo came on dot to the venue and was polite and very cooperative. He sat on his chair and popped a Wrigley's bubble gum in his mouth. The day before some newspapers had carried photographs of Symmo distributing Wrigley's Bubble gums to Children from an orphanage at one of the Wrigley's and Deccan Chargers Event.
Symmo was requested by the video photographer Julian Dismore, not to chew the gum as it wouldn't look appropriate on screen. Symmo immediately agreed and disposed it. As a warm up, exercise, Julian casually spoke about the nice flavour of the gum, etc and I too added, they were good as they had different flavours, and how kids love them and I continued saying my daughter too likes them and I will take some for her. We then started off with the regular questions and Symmo answered them extremely well .


After the interview, I was waiting in the lobby of the hotel with a colleague and I saw Symmo walk by and after a few minutes he walked back and I was sitting alone at that moment. He quickly walked towards me and handed over an envelope and said these are for your daughter! I was pleasantly shocked! And before I said thanks, he was gone. Wow! what a sweet gesture from this man who is publicized as a bad boy of the cricketing world. I am glad to have experienced the very humane and wonderful side of Symmo, the dynammo...my title for this hulk.

I am a Symmo fan! My daughter, Adithi too is...she loves him.

Remembering Mom...

I miss you mom. I miss my daily telephonic conversations with you. I miss your ever cheerful voice. I miss your encouraging words. I miss your hugs. I miss your criticism. I miss your physical presence. I miss your prayers for our well being... But you are alive in my memories, heart and mind. A year has gone, but it seems yesterday I bid you farewell! I love you mom.

Having lost my dad very early taught me my first lesson in interpersonal communication. As a kid, I was in awe of my dad. Though we were close, I still maintained a distance, spoke little out of respect and sometimes out of fear. We were taught to speak carefully to elders, no back answers, no tantrums, etc. In the process, there were some positive aspects, like my creative side, my feelings for him, my thoughts that went unsaid. I still regret having not shared my feelings with dad.

Since then, I have given a lot of importance to sharing my positive thoughts , experiences and feelings with family, relatives and friends. I value communication, networking and connecting which I think, makes us more human.

As a Psychologist and Counsellor, I have encountered kids who find it frustrating having parents who are uncommunicative and overly occupied with their work life; kids who actually have no clue of their parent's work profile. One instance I remember vividly , the frustrating face of a student who went to attend the visa interview at the US Consulate and was rejected visa as he stood dumb, when asked about his dad's work profile. It was because he had no clue about what his dad actually did at the work place. And the student felt remorseful and angry about his dad for being aloof and non communicative.

There are instances where kids complain of parents who hardly spend any time with them, in the name of heavy work load and often are subject to the standard speech, "I am doing all this for you, your comfort etc". Most of the kids loathe it. Some kids find it convenient having a parent, specifically dad, away from home as long as their materialistic needs are fulfilled. They don't want to be policed. It is really a sad situation.

I am glad, my dad exposed me to his work environment. He was a mining engineer at Hutti Gold Mines in Karnataka State. He always encouraged learning. I spent fourteen years at this small and cozy place, since my birth. Hutti and my childhood memories of the place, have a special significance in my life. Those wonderful memories and people have resurfaced in recent times. I credit the Internet and social media networking sites for this.

I am an avid blogger and active on Facebook. My write-up about my mom on this blog, surprisingly, had friends who knew my parents and were not in touch for years, messaging me here and conveying wonderful things about them, which I did not know or instances that had just faded away from my memory. It is indeed a feel good factor!

Facebook has got me in touch with my childhood friends and people from our Hutti days. The old photographs posted on Facebook, transports you back to those golden days. Again, these are people who knew my parents and remembered such minute details about them. One of them described how pretty my mom looked when she first arrived in Hutti as a bride and also the colour of saree she wore for the wedding reception at the Hutti officers' Club. This event took place in 1969, 40 years ago! These are emotional and mind blowing moments for me. I feel blessed for having such wonderful parents. They were karmayogis in the true sense. They lived short but meaningful lives.

Don't shy away from sharing your feelings, experiences, achievements, concerns and thoughts from your loved ones. Let's share good things about our lives and keep in touch!