5 Years a Banker – The Story of a misfit who flourished

Sometimes in life, it just happens. There are no explanations, not even a warning signal. About 5 years ago, a slightly nervous yet excited young man stared at the “Allahabad Bank – Vellore Branch” board for a full minute before walking into the manager’s cabin. It was his first day at work as a probationary officer. He was not related in any way to the field to have chosen it as a career path (Expect that his dad was a banker), having graduated it Bioinformatics and worked in a corporate giant like Wipro (albeit for a few months). Yet somehow it all just clicked for no reason at all. This is not just my story but could be related to any of the hundreds and thousands of youngsters who join this grand old industry.

Part of the reason why I joined a mid-tier bank like mine despite having offers from two other highly ranked banks is what I thought would be a moderately good working culture. And boy was I right! Especially with the kind of people I got to work with and more specifically my fellow officers. I have never called myself as a complete banker, probably never will. And a lot of my fellow mates have been more surprised than the people who recruited me on why I am in this field. It’s true that I am bit of a misfit in this industry not only because of my background but also because of my interests that could vary from writing to making a movie (all of which my job allowed me to do). But two things made me stay put and enjoy my work. One is that I have always done what my heart told me to and second is undoubtedly my fellow officers. You see, it can be mildly frustrating (to put it mildly) to answer basic doubts from a fellow officer who has been here for more than 3 years. But that’s what I did. God knows how frustrating it can be. But they all had a smile on their face and a willingness to help me no matter what. That’s not easy to find and I am incredibly lucky that way. And it’s not every day that you sit down with your managers at the end of a hard day’s work and talk travel, literature and exchange books. That’s dream if you ask me.

It frustrates me when sometimes people look down of a bank job but it also amuses me on how less people know how good it can be. Yes, there is pressure and yes there is work and lots of it and every branch is always under staffed. But the greatest thing that being a banker had done to me is that I never had a phobia of Mondays. It just doesn’t make any sense to me when I see people post about Mondays because there had not been a single time where I thought “Oh My God! It’s a Monday!” The fact that I am writing this on a Monday evening says a lot. There is a lot of work but it’s never monotonous. There is pressure but there is also satisfaction. The sense of achievement that you get when you make some stranger’s life better is unparalleled. This is say despite working exclusively as an urban banker. It multiplies exponentially if you are a rural banker. This is a field where its personnel actually make a difference to the society. It’s not a “Facebook will pay 1 dollar for every like” world. This is the real deal and it’s tremendously satisfying to be an agent of actual change.

It just felt right to write this because my friends in banking proved me wrong you know. I never thought I will find these many good folks in my line of work given that I work in an office that has 10 people. There is great camaraderie and respect. There is hardly any rivalry even when appearing for promotions together and a genuine sense of happiness when a fellow officer is promoted and a responsibility to get everyone up to the next level. I mean, name one corporate where you can find mates like this. I may not end up retiring as a banker but whatever time that I spend here will most definitely be some of the most special years of my life and I have my mates to thank for. 

The Revenant – Welcome to Hell, on Paradise

Very few movies provide its audience one particular experience that can only be given by a book, getting lost into it. While other movies let us watch the story unfold, these select few let us be part of it. We struggled to differentiate reality and a dream state (Inception), we felt grateful to have touched the soil after passing enormous hardships to get back to ground from outer space (Gravity). Likewise, we have now felt pain, hunger, anger and solitude in a barren tundra and know what it is like to be left to die alone. There have been a lot of Man Vs Nature movies before but none have left us this beaten and bruised as Alejandro Innaritu’s exceptionally shot, The Revenant.

Legendary Rocky Mountain Frontiersmen Hugh Glass (Leonardo DiCaprio) is injured in a vicious bear attack while guiding a fur trapping expedition in the northern Missouri river. Left for dead by members of his hunting team, he needs to find extraordinary skills of survival to stay alive and extract revenge on John Fitzgerald (Tom Hardy) who had done him great wrong.

In what is essentially a simple tale of revenge, Alejandro Innaritu manages to create an unforgiving masterpiece of grit, determination and survival so raw that you can even smell the breath of the characters. The intimacy of the work is such that you wonder if what’s giving you the chills, is the air conditioning of the movie hall or the landscape depicted in the movie come to life. It is minute-after-minute of arrow stricken men, butchered animals and ghastly moments that are downright visceral and can leave you with a disturbed gut but it is also of visual brilliance and great acting. While you could literally feel the drooping saliva of the grizzly, you can also taste the water when Glass sticks his tongue out to drink water from the falling sleet.

Eddie Redmayne’s reaction when Julianne Moore declared the winner of best actor at this year’s Academy awards perhaps encapsulates just how much the World wanted to see Leonardo DiCaprio lift the Oscar statuette. Some might question the choice given that there were two other power packed performances last year from Bryan Cranston (Trumbo) and Redmayne himself (The Danish Girl) but perhaps its poetic justice and a culmination of all his previous nominations that tipped the favour towards DiCaprio and now the World has one less thing to worry about. The performance itself resonated with his Oscar misgivings: Beaten, Bruised and left in the cold, he eventually crawls and fights his way to get his revenge.

Mark Rylance’s phenomenal work as the captive US spy in Bridge of Spies was the only thing that stood between Tom Hardy and a first academy award as he spits venom in his role as John Fitzgerald who is as cold and unforgiving as the landscape of the movie itself. Tasked with a role that is more challenging than DiCaprio’s, Hardy captivates the audience with so much of dark side that you are forgiven to have missed the humanity in it. How much he communicates through those powerful eyes! The premise of his character is not new to him specially after The Dark Knight Rises, Warrior and Legend but he brings something fresh to it every time he laces up his boots as a Villain. This complex, power packed performer will be one of the best performers of this era.

Alejandro Innaritu’s vision is a testament on how to convert what in essence an art house making into a commercial blockbuster. The Revenant is grand, brilliant and spell binding but ultimately exhausting. In an attempt to elevate the movie from a simple revenge tale Innaritu poses a lot of questions from race to climate change to humanity to a brutal system that helped build a nation. But he leaves no attempt to answer them but simply lets his characters be victims of all these problems. In doing so he has left a sense of incompleteness which is akin to Glass’ final moments in the movie, a long stare into the emptiness. Is that the point of it all?

It is not customary to finish a review with a take on a movie’s cinematographer. But Emmanuel Lubezki’s work is so captivating that you really wonder what this feature would be without this triple Oscar winner and multiple time nominee. His work in the Revenant is not just visual but also the way he lets the audience feel the movie or in his own words, immersive. Shot exclusively in natural light which is limited in the terrain where they shot the movie (Canada and Argentina), Lubezki brings us every sunrise, frozen plants, shooting stars, frozen waterfalls, every wound in Glass’ body and the fear in the men’s eyes. What could be equally or more challenging than shooting landscapes is capturing human emotions in its micro detail. So, the idea a movie like this involves the camera to be more emotional than mechanical and that is exactly what Lubezki achieved. Shooting for this movie was termed hellacious by the cast filled with unnatural hardships but the end product is heaven. The movie itself is a grand statement of what happens when the director and cinematographer works perfectly in sync with each other.

While the Revenant falters on content and grace, it more than makes it up with its unique style of moviemaking that’s brutal and awkward to watch but ultimately manages to floor you with knock out performances and out of the world cinematography. 

The Conjuring 2 Review – The Sequel that does just enough

I don’t watch a lot of horror movies, simply because I am scared of them. I remember watching Darkness Falls back in the day and keeping a torch next to my bed for a week because the ghost, Matilda is afraid of light. But then, that’s what they are supposed to do aren’t they! I remember watching Conjuring and thought to myself, this is the sort of horror movies that I want to watch! Good investigative storyline, no over the top acting or short & wet dresses and really good light and sound effects. But then Annabelle happened and ruined it for me. I mean what kind of horror movie was that predictable. But when they announced The Conjuring 2, I started hoping again and I have to say that they did not disappoint although that is another way of saying, they did only just enough.

Ed (Patrick Wilson) and Lorraine Warren (Vera Farmiga) are back, this time in England to investigate the supernatural incidents happening to a family of single mom and 4 young children. The Warrens themselves experience strange visions not necessarily relating to this event. How they manage to solve both (In an extremely well thought out twist in the end) forms the crux of the movie. The template doesn’t change at all. A family experiencing strange and horrifying incidents during the night, a resident ghost who just won’t leave and finding a medium to fulfil its demonic wishes. Then comes the warrens who investigate the matter, collect proof of demonic activity and with the help of the church manages to get rid of the resident evil. Same old same old, but what separates the Conjuring series with other horror movies is how they have managed to convince human powers to fight a higher evil. It is like how Gandalf explains in the Lord of Rings Trilogy that it’s not great power but the everyday act of kindness from simple folk that keeps darkness in bay. While in the first part it was the love of a mother that fought the demon inside her, here it is a family sticking together. This concept makes the Conjuring series more endearing to all audience alike.

Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga has forged a simple yet formidable chemistry between them that it’s impossible to think of another pair doing a better job at it. Their simple acts of kindness like Wilson fixing the poor family’s household items or the Elvis song that puts a smile on the much affected family’s faces. But the breakout star of the movie is Madison Wolfe as Janet Hodgson who is used by the ghost as a medium. There is an underlying sadness in her eyes that lets her go through the sheer range of expressions the character demanded with aplomb. Like I said earlier, the movie steers clear from predictable horror movie stereotypes and therein lies their success. The fact that they used real haunted locations and simple engineering mechanics to create the horror scenes and not relying too much on CGI makes the movie that much more authentic.

The movie has got its moments, quite a lot actually. But it isn’t the scariest that I have seen and it definitely does not get you to the edge of the seat all that frequently. Although the reason why Lorraine could not sense anything in the house is revealed in an exciting climax twist, the climax itself was a bit of a let-down. But what it quietly does is, let you travel with the Warrens and experience demons in an unassuming way that you actually feel relieved for yourself as much as for the Hodgsons. It’s not the most riveting but it is not a franchise killer either. I am already expecting a third part, only this time a bit scarier.  

You can finish that book now Sujatha Sir

Heaven must be overloaded with geniuses by now, especially in the last year or so. Writer Sujatha left a few years ago, creating a void that may not be filled. The triple shockers from the film industry happened next, with Balu, KB and MSV. And now, the man who inspired a nation to make its own missiles, rockets and even atom bombs is no more. Despite the achievements his biggest inspiration was not in science after all. It’s in the minds of the youth of India where Dr.A.P.J. Abdul Kalam sowed the seeds of a better India. In a country as diverse as ours in every sense of word and its people who had given up on the very leaders they had so emphatically voted for power, it needed a miracle man to unite them all in self belief. And along came Kalam. How could a man,  quiet, soft spoken with the most genial smile and all of five feet five with no political background manage to do that? 

As a nation, we have witnessed for the past so many years, two faced leaders who would beg for power and crush the very people who put them there. The problem with diversity and large population is that, any reform that can and should happen almost never happens. Vote bank politics has managed to divide the nation more than what the British ever did. So how did Kalam manage to get through all these barriers? Truth! A man who lives by the very principles he preachers is endangered in this era. Plus, he was clear where his teaching must reach. Not the politically brainwashed seniors and middle age men whose very ambition is family and just that (not that I find fault in that) but it is in the uncluttered minds of the youth is where he found the path to a better India. Which is what made him write books, made him travel all across the country and take up presidency when it was offered. To him it was not a seat of power or a route for personal wealth, like how a certain lady showed later, but a chance to reach out to more people and elevate their minds. Although for the most part, he was nothing more than a glorious final signature, he did manage to stamp his authority in various areas without being public about it. His legacy as a president was not in the documents but the change he made in the minds of people either by his speeches or by his sheer personality (Remember his refusal to shed his locks after he became president!). One look and you know that here is a man I can believe and follow. 

Although I am deeply moved and happy for all the posts that bombarded the whole nation in social media since last evening, I am deeply worried about what is going to happen next. In a time where news reporting is so dramatized and everybody is looking for the next big incident to talk about, are we going to let the memory of this great man slip away from us like any other news? We talk about it for two days frenetically and move on to the next Bollywood controversy. How long before this gets boring? He told us to dream. He himself dreamt of a nation, strong, just and powerful. Are we going to keep dreaming or we going to make his dream and vision come alive? India 2020 is not viable anymore, not at the rate we are travelling. But sooner, rather than later, we can all make it happen. That is what we can do to the man who rejected the idea of family and liaisons just so he can work on his vision. “Unlike the political leaders, we are his heirs.” It is in what we do for our nation and humanity that will make him rest in peace. 

Writer Sujatha, who was a classmate of Dr. Kalam during his St. Joseph’s days, recalls in his memoir “Katradum Petradum” the times he shared with the great man. He recalls how Sujatha and his friends, apart from their studies, would indulge in movies, dramas, cricket and stuff while he was always about work and learning more. He also recalls an incident in the Russian Consulate in New Delhi where Kalam was offered Vodka by the Russians. Unable to refuse the drink as it might seem rude, he accepts the drink, secretly pours all the drink in Sujatha’s glass and poses instead with a glass of water. Needless to say, our writer was not himself that night! They were planning to write books on various topics including the nation and ways to make it a superpower. Now wouldn’t that be a masterpiece! Every time they met to discuss, either of them would become busy with some work or the other. Now, safely aboard in heaven and far away from the magnificent chaos that is India, you can finish that book now Sujatha Sir. Just find a way to drop it on to us.                  

Yennai Arindhal Review

What do you do if you get to direct your favorite hero for the first time? You mix your previous movies into one predictable cocktail and present it straight up, no twist. I may sound a bit cynical but Gautham Vasudev Menon’s Yennai Arinthal with Ajithkumar in the lead did not satisfy the appetite of the fan inside me who craved for this combination for a long time. Let me get one thing straight. It’s not a bad movie. It had its moments sure but I did not go in there to see Anbuselvan IPS lose another Maya and do a Raghavan IPS sort of investigation, get involved in a Major Surya-esque rescue of a child only to lose his own and finally puts another Aradhana-like life in danger to beat yet another Pandiya/Amudhan. Even though Gautham insists that the mix was done knowingly and as insisted by Ajith himself, you come out of the theatre feeling a bit let down by brand GVM.

Brand Ajith however, did not disappoint. You finally get to see the brilliant actor that he is, after Kreedom (Even though my Mallu friends would probably be sharpening their knives by now!). That’s seven long years and it was worth the wait. Ajith has underplayed his image as a mass hero and delivered a soul stirring, near to life performance as an honest cop, a caring father and a passionate lover. You see him crying, searching, yearning and losing which you cannot associate with his brand. Gautham Menon’s movies always show the lead actors in an elevated scale as far as looks are concerned. But what happens when you Ajith in the lead? You vehemently agree with Anushka’s observation as “the most handsome man on earth”.

In recent times it is only for Anushka that I have seen an equal response for a female actor as much as a male actor on screen. But these days you sense that she is simply trying to accommodate a lot of movies in between her two major projects, Bahubali and Rani Rudramma Devi. You can feel the strain in her and it reflects in her performance. So it’s Trisha as Hemanica (How GVM comes up with these names!) who leaves a lasting impression in an extended cameo. To call this as a lifetime role of Arun Vijay is wrong for this wonderfully gifted actor. But he had stood up against a colossus and comes up with a performance that is appreciated by even the most hardcore of Thala fans. The support is a plethora of GVM’s cliched set of actors and you almost end up counting to see all of them made it to this movie too. But thanks be to the good lord for not letting Gautham voice over his villain again.

Dan’s cinematography gives a gloomy and dark feel to an erstwhile Gautham movie and suits the mood of the script perfectly. Harris’ songs, except for the “Unakenna” number, leave a lot to be desired and so is his BGM. It’s a classic case of “What could have been!”

Gautham Vasudev Menon as a director must be applauded for leaving his mark (albeit cliched) while working with a larger than life hero. But then if you can stand out of a Kamal Hassan movie, I don’t see why not. But it’s the script itself that I have problems with. He will convince you that Ajith wanted it to be a G

VM movie and that it’s just another episode in a police officer’s life. I don’t deny that and I think that’s how it should be. But no matter what, I am not entirely convinced with the idea of rehashing all of his old movies. It unfolds as an honest flick with realistic performances that’s sure to go well with the critics. But as a fan of GVM’s direction and Ajith’s acting, my expectations were sky rocketing into something else altogether. It could be down to the fact that the movie just happened out of the blue with him already gone shooting for his movie with Simbu and he had to get a script ready in the last minute to make a movie with an actor he had wanted to work ever since his first movie. The movie did not disappoint for sure and it was refreshing to see Ajith in a performing role but you can’t help but feel a bit let down by the writing despite having Sriram Raghavan and Thyagarajan Kumararaja on board. May be this is only the first chapter of a long and fulfilling partnership. I’d be happy to see Gautham direct a full fledged romantic movie with Ajith in the lead.

As for Yennai Arindhal, well, nothing much to know about it!  

The story of my Birthday

“It’s going to be legend-wait for it-dary… Legendary”

Barney Stinson’s most famous tag line from “How I met Your Mother” is what my friend quoted when she reckoned how my Birthday is going to be.

Midnight phone calls, FB messages, parties and treats constitute any Birthday. But it has also become a routine isn’t it. The human touch to it, the effort that goes into putting a great Birthday party is missing these days. Mostly it’s booze and restaurants. My 28^th birthday celebrations had all the above along with the element of human touch to it. In fact, I felt the overwhelming feeling of being loved by everyone on that day that I just had to write about it.

So, how lucky can a guy get on his birthday?

One of his best friends makes her folks believe that it’s an OFFICIAL work, travels all the way from Bangalore to spend the Birthday weekend with him.

His best friend defies family, claims that he is going on an OFFICIAL work and joins his friends and starts planning for the day.

His best friends tricks him to believe that they are busy, but in fact, help arrange in secret an amazing set of gifts (28 for his 28^th Bday) handpicked by the darling of them all who also masterminds the timing of each gift.  

The evening before his Birthday, they take him to one of the city’s most happening clubs to kick start the celebrations. (Agreed the music was only okay, but still…) They have the DJ wish for him but he barely remembers anything coz he was absolutely sloshed by then. He cuts the cake before blowing the candles (“Dei Panni..! Modalla Candlea oothura..!”) J Guess what he gets as a gift at that time? A cough syrup and a strip of Paracetamol tablets, cutely gift wrapped because he had not been well for the previous few days. How thoughtful yet cute! He also gets an amazing set of Liverpool Football Club accessories because they knew how big a fan he is of the club. Then in an amazing sequence of events, each gift is unveiled at a specific time throughout the 24 hours of the day. Merchandise, Puzzles (Apparently my intelligence is on the LIGHTER side it seemsL), Cards, Coffee, Books, it just keeps coming. His close friend, who is Manchester United fan, gifts him with a Liverpool Jersey (Gerrard 8… Yay. How is it possible Machi?)

He and his friends gather at CCD inside IIT to leave for the treat, when all of a sudden, the heavens open up… The racketeer of friends inside CCD, the sound of the rain outside, the view of IIT’s greenery from the glass walls as it rains, it was pure bliss.

Finally the climax at Zha Café in Adyar. The Birthday Boy chose this spot for the final act because of its close proximity to everyone and for its distinct Tamil theme. His friends close to his heart, who reside in the city comes to wish him. Despite his wife not keeping well, his childhood best friend makes time to come and wish him. His best friend who has become so much like family that she never really bothers to wish him on his Birthday before, actually takes time off to come see him. So what’s so unique about friends wishing? It’s the fact that except the birthday boy, no one knew everyone in the group. Despite the obvious awkwardness, they all came for one reason. They have heard him talk about every one of them but never really met them. But at the end of 3 light hearted hours of banter, they all become friends like they have known each other for a long time. And that is the return gift he gave to everyone, new friends. It’s amazing what silly school time games like Dumb Charades and Snakes & Ladder can do. But then what is friendship if not for the silliness. At the end of the day, he had everything. His room full of gifts, his heart full of happiness and a day full of memories that will stay with him forever.

I have never really been a materialistic person. I am an old world person who believes that the time spent by someone is the greatest gift that they can give to another. But what amazed me is that the gifts they gave would not have been possible without knowing who I am. They picked the gifts from their memory of me and not some random ones which really made me feel special. The most special gift of them all was… Naah I’m not gonna reveal that coz it’s just too special and too personal. This coupled with the amount of time they spent with me… I can say for sure that this is my best birthday ever.

Yes you were right sweetheart… “It was indeed legend-wait for it, no why wait for it coz everybody knows by now that it’s indeed-dary… Legendary”

EPL Season Review – A Generation Gone

Sports can be such a different career in a lot of ways. Sports persons peak at an age when young men and women take baby steps in their careers. They retire in an age where every other professional attain their peak powers. The moment their bodies don’t respond to the mind, they call it quits. Yet in such a short career span, sport can be so satisfying and fulfilling. As a professional sport, dominated by club games, football can be so demanding on a player’s body and mind. Yet with their endurance and skill set, they manage to illuminate our hearts as well as the stadiums they play in. This particular season in English football, many players who would be branded as greats in the not so distant future and one manager who is probably the greatest of them all, chose to call it a day. Here is a look at those amazing people.

He was the most naturally gifted striker that England has ever produced. Fast as a blur, boyish charm and with the kind of instinct inside the box, he was a nightmare for defenders around the world. But post his explosive start and prolific scoring for Liverpool, Michael Owen never really found that gear at Real Madrid where he found his chances limited among the galaxy of stars at the Bearnabeu. His career hit rock bottom after a plethora of injuries he sustained during his stay at St James’ Park. But that did not stop Sir Alex Ferguson from signing him (Being a Reds fan, I was livid to say the least).  Though he played fewer matches during his time at Manchester Unted, he did make his mark with a signature last minute goal in that amazing Manchester derby. Despite his move to United, he is still my favorite striker. Two moments still stays fresh in memory, that amazing goal at the ’98 World Cup game against Argentina and his brace in the FA cup final against Arsenal in 2001 where the Gunners did not lose to Liverpool but to Michael Owen.

He would probably go down as one of the last one club player in the premier league. The great wall of Liverpool, Jamie Carragher’s legacy lies in his loyalty, commitment, using maximum use of one’s potential, fighting instinct and most of all, being the ultimate team man. He was the bedrock of Liverpool’s defense for the past 15 years and every time I see his name on the team sheet I feel secure and assured. Images of an exhausted Carra fighting cramps but still throwing his body around against a marauding Serginho in 30 tiring minutes of extra time at the Champions  Trophy finals in 2005 still stands out. Wonder if anyone can replicate that. 

He retired a year ago only to come back at his boss’ request. Though he had a very ordinary season by his high standards, one can’t take away the fact that Paul Scholes is one of the strongest pillars on which lies the museum of those glittering trophies that United won in the Ferguson Era. United will sorely miss and will need a midfield general that was Scholes. Who is going to deliver those killer passes from deep in the midfield? Who is going to dictate the game? Can Michael Carrick step it up? 

He is a superstar in more ways than one. Despite not being an exceptionally talented player, with his dead ball skills and that precise, defense splitting pass, he was such a potent weapon in any team’s midfield. But David Beckham’s footballing legacy lies beyond the pitch. He was an icon, a poster boy who drove people, especially women to watch the game. Though the game is much bigger than him, he became the reason why a lot of people watched football. That is something very few people can do. You can talk about Dennis Bergkamp’s technical acumen, laud Steven Gerrard’s leadership or wonder how cool Alan Shearer is every time he puts it past a keeper. But you always need a Beckham to make people watch all that in the first place. He was football’s brand ambassador. 

The English Premier League has indeed lost its sheen a bit after the decline and retirements of so many greats in recent years. When I first started to watch the game seriously, I remember the great battles between two amazing quartets. Sir Alex Ferguson’s trump cards Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs, David Beckham and Ruud Van Nistelroy for Manchester United against Arsene Wenger’s invincible geniuses Robert Pires, Patrick Viera, Dennis Bergkamp and Thierry Henry for Arsenal. When will we ever get to see something like that again?

 

And now the biggie, the actual reason why most of you are reading this article. Being a Reds fan it is such a difficult thing to talk, let alone praise someone from 40 miles away, especially one who vowed to knock Liverpool off their perch and did that successfully. But of late, Sir Alex Ferguson is held in such high esteem that it’s okay to do so. Looking at him from beyond my mental borders, I have to say, “Thanks Fergie”! I remember my time in Manchester when I used to work at the Theatre of Dreams as a bartender, interacting with the club’s long standing members. They spoke so fondly of Sir Alex and how he is the source of all the glittering trophies that begs for space in the Museum downstairs and that no matter who comes and goes, as long as he is there United will be fine. I wonder if they can still say that next season.  Yes they do have a credible replacement in David Moyes, handpicked by Sir Alex himself, but it remains to be seen how the Red Devils play from here. Of course in all those interactions, I had to put up with a lot of RED faced poking, making a mockery of Liverpool’s current form and I had to endure all that with a straight face. Damn me and my dignity! I also vividly recall the aura that he carried. I remember this one time in the 1969 Suite inside Old Trafford where I was working, suddenly there was a buzz around the place. It was strange because I already saw Christiano Ronaldo, Nemaja Vidic and Ryan Giggs walk into the suite a while back and it was all normal. But this time there was a lot of buzz and this time it was Sir Alex himself. In a flash, the whole place transformed into some sort of a hypnotized magic hut. Everyone, including the players themselves was looking at him and only at him as he moved from table to table greeting the members. That aura is carried only by one other sporting icon that I know;  a little man who got the most British of all crowds in Brighton buzzing when he walked in during a tour match, a certain Sachin Tendulkar. Very few personalities justify this increasingly over used term, but from the next season “Football will never be the same again”.

This season significantly closes the chapter of the end of a beautiful era in EPL. With only the likes of Gerrard, Lampard, Terry, Cole & Ferdinand left, let’s hope that the Suarezs, the Carricks, the Matas, the Hazards, the Wilsheres, the Bales and the Walcotts will step up and become the next set of greats to have played the beautiful game. There certainly is talent but it also needs careful nurturing. This is where I hope the Rodgers’, the Villas-Boas’, the Martinez’, the Ladrup’s and the Mourinho’s will step it up.