Mahboob's Journal

Years ago, I had two TV obsessions: IPL and Zee Saregama. As time went by, my interest dwindled in them. I remember the inaugural season and how the late Shane Warne captained Rajasthan Royals to be the champions. I enjoyed fully well when the then Hyderabad team Deccan Chargers clinched the trophy. Enjoyed the histrionics over the years of Virat Kohli, A.B. De Villiers, MSD, David Warner, Chris Gayle, Bhuvi, Malinga, Rashid Khan and so many more. But then there was a ban, the number of teams increased and though the interest was still there, it was not the match to match, ball to ball, glued to the screen kind of interest. Until this year. It was on a late evening in March that I sat with a bowl of haleem to watch a few overs of the SRH-MI game and I was hooked. Both to the game and the tournament. Felt good to see India’s richest family members sitting subdued. A shade of schadenfraude in me, maybe. Kavya jumped and danced like a kindergärtner. Records started tumbling. The IPL fan...

Nobody ever gives me gifts :) One can be philosophical and say, this life itself is a gift from the Almighty; the oxygen, the water, Nature, all are gifts and blessings, so make most of them. Yeah, I know, I know. Philosophical / spiritual is good, but once in a while childish is better. Therefore, just before my birthday, which is in July, when I saw the banner Apple Days at a neighborhood Vijay Sales outlet, I made up my mind. I will gift myself, the world be damned. Deal at the store was price reduction plus some moneyback splashed additionally, if you use specific credit cards, and ICICI was one of them. I got myself an iPad with Apple Pencil. Next day I purchased Procreate software from the Apple Store and installed it. A self-gifted birthday, one of my happiest. Apple’s tablet product and its accessory the Apple Pencil are less celebrated or popular than its siblings the MacBook Pro and iPhone, but I think the iPad when used with Procreate [or Fresco for Adobe fans] is the best...