Showing posts with label woodstock school. Show all posts
Showing posts with label woodstock school. Show all posts

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Woodstock School win Win Mumby 2011



There was a tiny, yet personally significant news that came out over this last busy weekend. This year, I had spent the past weekend in Mumbai, watching the exciting Indian All Star Game, but the same time last year, I was up in the beautiful mountain-town of Mussoorie, the place where I spent most of my formative boarding school years. I was volunteering at Woodstock School - my alma mater (Renegades 2003 REPRESENT!) - and Woodstock was hosting its biggest event of the year, the All India Win Mumby Basketball Tournament, one of the most important school basketball championships, at least in North India. Some of the best schools from Mussoorie, Dehradun, Delhi, and even Punjab attend this exciting tournament, and last year, it was held for the first time in Woodstock's fancy new gymnasium.

Anyways, despite all the hype, the Woodstock teams, long heralded as one of the best school teams in the region didn't do well last year - and they haven't been doing too well pretty much since my class graduated (when we won EVERYTHING, including the Afzal Khan). Anyways, the 2011 edition of Win Mumby was sort of a comeback year for the Woodstock Tigers. After long years of suffering, Woodstock Boys finally lifted the Win Mumby trophy in front of a jubilant crowd at the gym.

The Boys team went on a rampage, beating every team by an average of close to 20 points into the final. The final, against Modern School of Delhi, was perhaps the tightest game, but even then the Tigers prevailed for a 46-35 win. Special shout-out to Coach Phil Jackson aka Mr. Mark. Woodstock's Atif Hussain was named the tournament's MVP.

Sweet. Go Tigers.

Thursday, April 22, 2010

Woodstock School hosting Win Mumby All India Basketball Tournament



I'm gonna send a big shout-out today to my alma mater / the school where I currently volunteer: Woodstock School in Mussoorie. The Win Mumby All India Basketball tournament began at Woodstock last night. This is the 10th edition of the tournament, which is affiliated to the Basketball Federation of India (BFI).

17 teams from some of the finest schools in North India are taking part in the Boys and Girls divisions. The Woodstock Tigers will line up against teams from St. George's College, Wynberg-Allen School, and Tibetan Homes School (Mussoorie), Doon School, Welham Boys' School, Welham Girls' School, and Hope Town Girls' School (Dehradun), Modern School and Sri Ram School (New Delhi), Yaadvindra Public School (Patiala), Bishop Cotton School (Shimla), and Sherwood College (Nainital).
The tournament was tipped off by chief guest and Woodstock alumnus actor Tom Alter.
The semi-finals and finals of the tournament will be held on Saturday, April 24th.
Aaah... I love basketball season... Go Tigers!
In another news, boarding schools kick ass.


Thursday, December 3, 2009

The Hoopistani Is...

So, welcome... Or welcome again to those who have already read my work before... Thisisme: Karan Madhok, and this is the new blog I'm starting, 'The Hoopistani', in an effort to get some of my passions and experiences together in one page. The blog, as its subtitle states above, will feature "Basketball, India, Philsosophy, everything else in between..."
I'm a die-hard NBA junkie and a die-harder confused Desi. If you like your hoops and Indian flavour presented on a meaninglessly absurd dish, then this blog is for you.
A few of my articles have already been featured on SLAM website, which happens to also be my favourite magazine since I first started reading it nearly 10 years ago. I've added the three articles below on this blog, too, and their original versions can be found on the SLAM website.
Additionally, this blog will also be featured on up and coming Indian basketball website India Basket, and I'll be collaborating to help them in their mission to help basketball evolve in India. Apart from spreading news and awareness about basketball in India, India Basket also manage players and coaches.
I'm currently a Communications Volunteer at the Woodstock School in Mussoorie, and formerly a Correspondent for the Times of India newspaper in Varanasi.

Here are links to the articles I've done for SLAMOnline.com so far:

Temple of Bounce: A look at the state of basketball in India
In India, routine is religion. Every stone is a temple, and everything is God.
The clings of the temple bells, marigold garlands around stone idols, squeaky marble floors dirtied by muddy bare feet. A devout of the Ganga River takes dips in the river everyday, bowing respectfully to his deity. Followers of Lord Ganesha will visit his temple, touching the floor as a mark of respect before they step in and fold their hands together…


Peace, Freedom, and Basketball: A pick-up game in the Tibet-influenced city of Mcleodganj
Dhondup is wrapped inside a thin orange robe, much too thin to provide adequate cover from the chilly November temperatures of his Himalayan abode, but he is well acclimatized to the weather up here. He is short, stout Tibetan, with a shiny bald head and a shinier smile pasted across his face. Around his neck is a prayer mala, a garland of beads, which he tucks inside his robe. The robe barely reaches up to…


Breaking Old Habits: JD Walsh's Basketball Movement in India
Amongst our several unique nuances, we Indians have a particular slogan, which is repeated multiple times daily by tens of millions, like a mantra across the country’s wide, three million square kilometer area:
“Chalta hai.”
Translated literally from Hindi, it means ‘it goes.’ The Dictionary of Indian English emphasizes it further as ‘it will do,’ or ‘anything will do.’ It describes the fatalist philosophy of most of the country’s population, that everything happens because it…



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