The Red Devils are Suppressed.

A Football Fan Rant

This is a period of frustration for the fans. The transition of the club and its players might anger some fans. This year has been a turbulent time for the club, new manager, the players under the new manager, new coaching staff and the fans. But this period also exposes a lot of things. For example, we will know who the real fans of Manchester United are. All these years, they have been chanting about their loyalty to the club. "We will support you through victories, and defeats. We will not let you down." All these years, they have basked in the glory. This year, an imminent defeat, a trophy-less year is on the horizon. We will know who the true fans are. The 2013-14 season will be a milestone, not of success, but of the truth. Those who support the club through this period are the loyal ones. Football is not a game of wins and losses. It is a game of morals.

We have supported the club through great victories. Now, we have to support them through the defeat. This is not the end for the club. This is a new beginning. A change from Sir Alex's ways, And every change is not instant. We have to help them change smoothly. Meanwhile, I wish the clubs which are title contenders the very best.

As everyone says, Christmas brings joy and spreads happiness. Christmas is the time where the Red devils have traditionally done well. Many titles have been won with fixtures during Christmas. It gives the fans a hope for the future. Christmas is where miracles happens, and the new year brings with it a new hope.

I am optimistic about this season, i don't have hopes of winning the title, but the club will surely land up in top four. 

Forgive me if i bored you with the above. It was just a united fan expressing his thoughts. A united fan, and more importantly, a football fan.

Mother's day

Dear Amma,

Eighteen years ago,when you first held me in your arms

the day you brought me to this world,the day you became a mother,my Mother.

That moment when I first opened my eyes, 

I saw your divine face which greeted me with a smile.

I remember the day when you first held me,
when I took my first step,you watched patiently.
The first words I uttered
and the first fall I encountered,
you were always there.

The endless sacrifices,countless excuses you  made,
just to be there for me, to take care of me.
You hated me for my grade,
yet you let me live comfortably.

The childhood days, I will never forget,
though I have made things hard for you
troubling you has filled me with regret,
now I understand, your words which I ignored back then were true.

The Transition phase

He has just turned 18. Thrown into the adult world, with endless responsibilities, he was confused. Not the teenager-like hormone-induced confusion, but confused as in what decision he would take. For the first time, in his life, people have recognized him(as an individual) and accepted his opinions.  Kids started addressing him as 'Uncle' (a word commonly used in India for adults) or other adults start calling him 'Sir'. At first, he was surprised that people are treating him with respect. He realized that he is not that rebellious teenager anymore. He cannot hang around with friends all day and waste time. He has responsibilities. He wasn't happy with the fact that he has been wearing the same length of trousers for the past year. His height has been static since he touched 6 Feet. His facial structure has changed. He lost his cute baby-ish face. To sum it all up, he has become an adult. Physically and mentally. But what about his emotions. He is still confused and helpless. As helpless as a new-born baby. But as a mature individual, he has to have opinions. It need not be everything under the sun but only the essential. Even this, he should have an opinion, the transition phase. He will not survive if he always sees the glass half empty. Neither will he, if he sees it half full. He has to be realistic about life and take everything as a challenge, not as a threat. 

Transitions exist everywhere. In nature, universe, human life, man-made phenomenon etc. The simplest
example of transition is Metamorphosis. Metamorphosis is a biological process by which an animal physically develops after birth or hatching, involving a conspicuous and relatively abrupt change in the animal's body structure through cell growth and differentiation(Wikipedia).

 As I mentioned before, this phenomenon exists everywhere. Human life also represents metamorphosis. Not in a literal way but metaphorically. The adolescent phase represents the phase in which a butterfly emerges from a pupa(plural- pupae). Their slender bodies and long thin antennae represents maturation of body and mind. The intricately decorated wings represents a person decorated with unique characteristics. Fluttering around, the butterfly fascinates everyone around it. Every butterfly is unique. Wings are of different shapes and sizes and they have different features. Every individual is colourful in their own way(not in terms of skin colour). The similarities to a butterfly are many. But of course, we can find similarities with any other animal, species, objects, celestial bodies etc. I just wrote about butterflies because they are the most beautiful insects I could think of. Also, their life cycle, though different from humans, it is similar to the way we live our lives.

Now coming back to the topic of adulthood transition. There are many challenges one has to face. Some may be perceived as trivial but those trivial challenges can teach you things. By facing small challenges, you will be well equipped for a bigger and more important one. Students can relate to this easily, especially Indian students. They have tests throughout their academic year and at the end of the year, there are exams. Now only if we put effort in each test, we can prepare for the exam without any fear. Life is full of tests. There is no exam, only a bigger and more challenging test. Sometimes we successfully overcome it, sometimes we fail and sometimes we avoid it. The third one, in my opinion is a bad habit because if we avoid every test, we will be clueless during exams. If we are successful, we celebrate it. If we fail, we try to learn from it. That is the best way to live life and survive through the transition and then the joyous world of adulthood. It is what we choose to do, what decisions we take, we create our own circumstances. So, we need to deal with things ourselves, whether good or bad. It is also important to know that we are humans and it is acceptable to make mistacks mistakes. Imperfection is not a flaw, but it is our characteristic. A characteristic which cannot be changed by anyone. But we also have the ability to strive for something. Striving to be perfect is achievable. It is just like the speed limit of the universe(speed of light). There is nothing in this universe which can go faster than speed of light but it can achieve 99.99...%(add infinite 9's)of it. 

Equipped with these words(as told by his elders/teachers/parents), he can live an adult life independently. He is just another individual who is 1 in 7 Billion. He can choose his own fate, mark his path to success. He can look back at his past without brooding over it and plan his future without worrying about it. Living in the present and staying happy is the most important thing. His mission is to spread happiness around him, celebrate life and live happily till death. Not like fairytale endings which wrongly says "...and he lived happily ever after". Death is inevitable and mortality is another characteristic of humans.

Awful addictions to Alliterations.

“Billions of bilious blue barnacles and ten thousand thundering typhoons!"

The above line sounds familiar?Yes, that is how Captain Haddock, from 'Tintin' comic book series,swears.This insult is one such example of a literary device called an alliteration.For the uninitiated, alliteration is the repetition of a particular sound in a sentence or a phrase.The  words do not necessarily start with the same letter, but it seems like a lot of the time it does.Alliterations are commonly used in tongue twisters(remember "she sells sea shells by the sea shore"), advertisements, poetry, comics and news headlines. 

So why do people use alliterations? It gives them a personal pleasure to pronounce phonetically. If used in the right way, it can alternatively attract and annoy the reader. It may distract the reader from the main content but the reader will surely love a laugh or two when the content is too serious for comfort. This reminds me of an article I read long time ago. It was posted in 'The Telegraph' website. The article was titled,

Awful author addicted to alliteration achieves acclaim again

(Here is a link if you're interested- The Telegraph)

It was just an innocent article about a British author. The title made the biggest impact and it lured me into reading that article. Alliterations are usually used in newspapers to catch the readers' attention. There is something about the human brain which gets attracted to creative use of words. Be it tongue twisters, puns, onomatopoeia, they always catch the readers' attention. These are some clever tricks in the English language used by writers to attract more readers, to fascinate them and to entertain them with words. 

Many popular writers have used alliterative words or phrases in their books. My personal favorite is in Harry Potter. The founders of the four houses in Hogwarts are Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw, and Salazar Slytherin. Luna Lovegood is a living(fictional person) who has an alliterated name.  Moreover, there is a character named Moaning Myrtle who is a ghost in the girls' bathroom. Robert Frost's poem Acquainted with the Night has the following line of alliteration : "I have stood still and stopped the sound of feet." Another one, I had this poem in my english textbook in high school. It was called "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. "For the sky and the sea, and the sea and the sky" and "the furrow followed free..." were two lines which helped them make up a lot of questions for the exam. Many classics have been titled using alliterations. A Tale of Two Cities, Pride and Prejudice, Great Gatsby, The BiBle(see internal alliteration).

Brands have used alliterations to promote their products. Some famous names are:

Coca-Cola,Paypal,  BestBuy, American Airlines, Dunkin' Donuts, BlackBerry, Keloggs Chocos(not sure if it qualifies).Many video game titles have alliterations. Prince of Persia: Warrior Within, Two Thrones. League of Legends. Alliterations in popular comics/cartoons:Beetle Bailey, Daffy Duck, Donald Duck, Mickey Mouse, Spongebob Squarepants. Stan Lee(a comic book writer)  has stated that he used alliteration extensively when naming his superhero characters because such names stand out and are more memorable. For example, Scott Summers, Peter Parker, Sue Storm, Reed Richards, Matt Murdock, Bruce Banner and many more.

Some people say that Alliterations seem to offend people. From what I have observed, people never notice these repetitions in sentences. That is because people literally don't read between the lines. Most of them read superficially just for the information conveyed in the text. Only a few appreciate the art and science of writing. Those who do that can spot these subtle tools used in the text.Sometimes, writers intentionally mask information by using such tools. Only the clever ones can decipher professional writing styles. As the world famous detective frequently quotes,"You always see my dear Watson but you never observe!"

Humorists and comedians seldom use alliterations, but when it is used, it has to tickle your funny bone. There are some cases where  alliterations in titles  have gone horribly wrong(just like the title of this post.) This gives an impression to the reader that the writer is desperate for attention. In some cases, it shows that the writer is a novice and is still learning(take me for example.) 

Usage of alliterations can get annoying. Just like how I overused the word "Alliteration" in this post, overuse of alliterations(not again!) can anger some readers. There are isolated cases where the reader jumps off a building after reading a text decorated with Al..(never mind). (If you are one of them, stop reading right now and seek help!) Of course, the writer is not responsible for the consequences. He is just expressing his thoughts and illustrating them with literary tools. 

Hopefully, I haven't bored you with my mediocre monologue.This is my first post. I know I have used an awful lot of alliterations and my aimless article annoys you. I have just juggled some words with my opinions about the English language.So to relieve you of this mental torture, I'll leave you with the following quote,

"The men of my islands are all a bit mad," William said proudly.” ― Umberto Eco, The Name of the Rose.