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Monday 13 October 2008

The dazzling panoply of a rivalry



The easel was set-up. With a colourful palette, a ready brush, a myriad ideas and a plethora of strokes in his repertoire, the artist was ready. Movements so elegant, so graceful, so profound and ever so sublime would have the audience spell-bound and rapt at attention. There was a surreal touch to his work. Oh the finesse of it all! His actions were exquisite and par excellence. More often than not, the way he would go about his job would be lucid and ethereal… For, his competitors would be left far behind gaping, seemingly tactless and wondering what had just hit them. Such was his dominance when he and his challengers took stage.

All but one. It is known that Mother Nature has her own unique way to deal with dominance. And so, it seemed only too fair that such great a talent should be bogey to 
someone. Enter the warrior. One who was not to be intimidated by any show of invincibility or ‘Godliness’. One who gnawed at the artists back. One who more than just troubled poetic pulchritude with a polar brilliance- puissance. Reminiscent of the tireless Heracles himself, this raging and rampant marauder was no cheap mercenary or bounty hunter. He was on a mission, too.

And what happens when irresistible force meets immovable object? A spectacle for us mere mortals to behold in awe. A wonder… A phenomenon that has to be seen to be believed. For, one of the said mighty has to fall, albeit momentarily, in an exhibition of contrasting art- however unique their ways may seem. The enchantment that holds those who witness the contest is worth every moment. These novae tend to illuminate the grandest of stages ad infinitum. The legacy left behind becomes the talk of raconteurs for generations till another equally (if not better) august exhibition of talent comes to the fore. And such narrations of prowess and fortitude are never ad nauseam!

It is a funny issue, the one we call a ‘paradox’. How beauty and monstrosity can charm the beholder in their own subtle ways. No wonder the captivation factor reaches its zenith when such wizards cross each other’s path in their quest for immortality. For, they are the exultant ones of the highest order… The elite Excellencies of execution… They reach heights which plebs and puerile characters can only dream of. Their mastery of the light and dark arts is put to a litmus test.

Spirit, they say, is indomitable, unending and unyielding. Indeed… The spirit of competition is ever-lasting and even vengeful! In a work of note- Ode on a Grecian Urn - the inimitable John Keats expressed how the seen are ephemeral and how the unseen are eternal… When Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal contest one another, Father Time may seem to have a sepulchral aura about Him and willingly takes the back seat to revel in a feast not for the eyes alone, but for Time immemorial. Moments, ephemeral and eternal, unite…


40 comments:

Praveen said...

1st of all, new look is nice, more readable in this background..

coming to the rivalry, it has changed tennis in a way never seen before.
am a big federer fan..and i love to see him winning. :D

Preeti said...

lovely lovely lovely :) err.. i confess I had to look up dictionary.com umpteen times :P federer rocks ever :)

Priya Joyce said...

yupp :)

y tennis alone ..even cricket is affessted by it u seee..its not the same as before..
The gentleman's game is no more one.

Kartz said...

@Praveen
Thanks a ton bro'...

Oh yeah, it has done a world of good for the game. I am a fan of both :) but sliiiiiightly tilted towards HRH RF ;)

Kartz said...

@Preeti
:) I am sure dictionary.com helped. ;) Thanks buddy... And yeah Fed does 'rock'!

Kartz said...

@Priya Joyce
Rivalry is there in any sport... I dunno if you were able to comprehend what I tried to bring out.

And well, cricket... was *never* a gentleman's game. And it'll never be, either.

Anonymous said...

Beautiful as it sinks in. Disturbing (thinking of the senseless wars btwn the stars we adore), and "quotable". Its a fine piece of literature fused with modern thinking!

WarmSunshine said...

hi Kartz..

First of all I'm really sorry to be late with my comments, I saw a new post by you but couldn't find time to read it properly.

Hmmm, coming to it, first of all, I love your new layout. It's bigger and the text is more readable in this one :)

Well, you have a brilliant vocabulary dude. Really enjoyed reading it... The way you wrote had a "classical literature" touch to it yet the idea was modern and all.. I liked the amalgamation.

Keep writing friend!

Unknown said...

i guess competition is heating up everywhere..

not only tennis.. its there in cricket.. football.. f1.. guess its part of the never ending charade of change..

Kartz said...

@verbivorehere
:) Gratias... But don't rivalries light up the otherwise mundane lop-sided matches?

Kartz said...

@WarmSunShine
Thank you for those kind words... They will surely keep me going.

Kartz said...

@Ani
:)

Competition makes any sport worth watching... Of course, the analogy that I have tried to draw here can go with cricket too... A Sachin or a Lara or a Murali as the artist and a Donald or a McGrath or a Sehwag as the warrior...

I do not follow football... And I dunno if this write-up can be applied for that sport.

And oh yeah... F1's going down the wire this time! :)

AV said...

nice nice.. but seriously! do u use too much of thesaurus or u got a 1600/1600 on GRE?? watis it? :P
but well written.

cheers.

Kartz said...

Hmmm... Let's just say it comes with the flow. :) Thoughts in motion...

Thanks for reading. :)

Shruti said...

My first time in ur space and I'm thrilled. Had to look up dictionary.com as well...
But all in all...
*Thumbs Up*
Am blogrolling u.. Finally!!!
:)
Cheers

Kartz said...

Gratias. Much appreciated...

Welcome to Contorted Reality. :)

Heart'n'Soul said...

Loved these lines **how the seen are ephemeral and how the unseen are eternal

As far as competition goes, i thin its a good things most of the times... atleast till u ur competitior is worth competing withu know

Well written :)

Gauri Mathur said...

Really got to peep into dictionary many times:D
the post is very nicely expressed,i loved the expression:-))

n ofcorse ur new look of the blog is too good..!!!
:-))

Anonymous said...

You're turning out to be quite a wordsmith. Good. I like the way you let your mind grow catholic in taste, an ability so rare these days when people let narrowness rule their lives. It is as if the mind has ceased to diversify and grow branches as it did earlier.
Congrats from an old teacher. A word of caution-don't become too difficult!

Kartz said...

@heart 'n' soul
:) Thanks!

Kartz said...

@Gauri
Shukkar ho... :) And welcome back...

Kartz said...

@Sudeshna ma'mam (who happens to be my English teacher!)

:) Welcome, and am so-very-ecstatic reading your comment. It means a lot to me... Yes, I will have to tone down [a lot] on the grandiloquence. I will work on it.

And the credit to my supposed wordsmithy goes to you ma'am. Although I was under your classroom tutelage for for just a year... :)

Thanks again for the drop-in...

Lena said...

i just realised my vocabulary sucks... need to take lessons asap :D

Kartz said...

Hey Lena... Welcome back! And nope, I don't think you need lessons my friend... :) You write well too..!

Si_Lee said...

dude .. please show some mercy on us with your vocab .. please .. :P
Its a test of whether or not i still remember my vocab .. he he .. and btw that line taken from dark knight .. well you aptly put it in context .. liked the post .... though you shud not have put the fre-nadal eg. i feel .. you see then it wud be clasic piece of literature ...and as far as the templaqte goes .. font is good but I don't think the theme suits your blog .. but thts my view

peace.
;)

Anonymous said...

No art is dark,Kart... monstrosity only does not follow the path of truth...its when beauty is misused :)...and it gets destroyed in evolution.
I would like to call it a relentless show of beauty, a vehement show of truth,of art, aah...rivalry brings it out...dazzling in our eyes...such exquisiteness...I love it, and your description...

No, do not lower your vocab to the masses, please, its they who must come up to yours! Be yourself,its better to shine so exquisitely that no one is able to see you than to moderate and destroy your art,feelings,expressions for them to be able to see it....plebs dont matter... when you like your art so much,you do not need their cheers, nothing but that show of true art like the rivals...to tell you that you are the best!

Keep going...I loved this post!

WarmSunshine said...

hey kartz.. i tagged you
check my page :)

Kartz said...

@descrying the shadows

:) Thanks for the feedback bro'... Yeah, it wd ve been pure literature; just that the eg. sounded most apt (along with some others I mentioned above)

Yeah, the template mite not suit my content; just that I was having trouble with the other templates! Wd ve some prob or the other. This one showed some mercy. :)

Peace.

Kartz said...

@Ayushi
Heh heh heh... Gratias. :)

Kartz said...

@WarmSunShine
:) Ummm... Tag?

Preeti said...

you ve been tagged :) visit my blog for details :)

Kartz said...

@Preeti...

:) Tag..?

Kartz said...

@Sachin

Thanks for the drop-in... But I dont quite think this is the way to promote your blog! Anyway, will drop by soon...

Happy Diwali to you too...

Peace.

Matangi Mawley said...

fab.. i must say- u'r vocab rocks! bt again.. well.. tht s nt new is it! ??

brilliant! :)

Kartz said...

@Mats
Gratias... :)

Sameera Ansari said...

Competition just sees no logic these days.Cut throat world it is,and all are just clockwork mice.

Kartz said...

But that's the world we live in, right..? Ah... Reality!

Anonymous said...

you should definitely consider us mediocre vocabbed people and play it a little easy my friend ;)
yes inedd, a classic piece of writing and i cant help but be charmed by the monstrosity in my own subtle ways :D

indeed competition is exciting yet very hurting!

Kartz said...

Come on, di... :) Don;t include urself in the *mediocre* category, ok? ;P

** indeed competition is exciting yet very hurting!

Spot on!

Thanks for reading... :)

kanagu said...

Wonderfully written Kartz :)

I enjoyed it much :)

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