Fairer the better..

Right from the time the Harbhajan-Symonds issue crept up, I have been wanting to write on the topic of racism in our country but somehow never got down to penning it down. Much has been said about the controversy itself and I have no intention of broaching that issue again. It is done and dusted now, and Harbhajan as we all know has already come a long from there.

Soumya Bhattacharya has a nice piece on the inherently racist nature of Indians. Our society's general "preference" for fair skin is fairly obvious to anyone who has come across any matrimonial pages in newspapers. Apart from this, the implicit assumptions about certain communities like people from the north-east is quite revolting as is obvious from this article.

I had a chat with my dad on this topic and outside the numerous examples we could think of within our family, he recounted a story from his bachelor days. Those were the days when Bhilai had a constant inflow of people from Russia who came for short stints at the Steel Plant. There was a separate colony called Russian Complex (the name and the colony still exist) especially for the Russian people. Of course, there were Indians as well as other foreigners who stayed in the colony as well. During one of the summers, a group of Nigerians had also come for a training stint along with the Russians. My dad does not recall any untoward incident as such during their stay. However, on the day of their farewell, one of the Nigerians went on stage to give a farewell speech. After thanking all the people for being nice to them, he mentioned that while there were a lot of managers who invited the Russians to their homes for lunch or dinner, none of the Nigerians received a single invitation to any of the homes. I wonder how many people in the audience really would have got pinched when he said that. Would they have even cared about what the Nigerians think? While there may be no answers to these questions now amd the incident may have happened decades ago, but has the scenario really changed?

See, I told you...

I was wondering when one of the Aussies was going to start off about Harbhajan, with the 'Turbanator' presenting such a wonderful opportunity for them to look at everyone and say - "Look, we told you so!" Here's what their skipper Ricky Ponting has to say about Bhajji.

Thanks Ricky for leaving the judgment bit to us. I do not wish to imagine a day when people like us start depending on you to form opinions about anyone. And it would definitely suit your cause to focus on your batting. Speaking of which, Australia may be touring the best possible place for any of their batters to strike form again. With Zimbabwe not competing in test cricket, there aren't too many better options than West Indies for any batting side to find some form.

With nearly half the IPL season over, it is fair to say that it has been a welcome timepass for people like me, who have nothing better to do than analyze the matches so far. I hope BCCI has better sense from now on than selling broadcasting rights to Sony Max. Their coverage has been pathetic to say the very least. The cameramen always seem to cover every part of the ground except where the ball has been hit. We are now used to missing one ball per over, thanks to the pup licking stamps and running with a tie. And can someone ask Arun Lal and Ranjith Fernando to retire from the commentary box. I can still tolerate Ravi Shastri's cliched statements but the completely redundant statements from the other two mentioned makes me want to throw the remote. One hopes that the commentators seriously do better home-work and earn their money than just spouting general gyaan which anyone who has followed even two matches of T20 would know.

Obsession with Centuries!

Mr. X scored his 26th century in 112 balls in his 218th match and it was the 11th time he scored it in the second innings of a match. With this he also completed 7000 runs in international matches with an average of 37.83 per innings.

You might wonder what the heck am I writing about! Well, this is how a lot of our cricket analysts end up trying to prove a point about the quality of a cricketer. We Indians especially have a fascination for numbers over a career instead of bothering about the performance on the field on a particular day. Rather than focusing on whether the team won or lost the match and why, we tend to get carried away by these stats and figures. While these stats may give some idea about how good a player is, it really doesn't matter so long as the team wins. I don't think any of us should care for how many runs any of our batsmen scored in the entire World Cup as long their contributions helped the team win matches. Does anyone really need to bother about how many runs any of the Aussie batsmen have scored in recent years! What the heck, they have been winning next to everything.

This obsession with statistics is not just limited to cricket or sports. No matter what it is in life, numbers always play a big role. Don't we view somebody who scored 97/100 in an exam in 9th standard as better than someone who scores 91/100. Isn't a 9 lakhs per annum salary better than an 8 lakhs package? Isn't a 17% growth in earnings better than a 14% growth managed by some other firm? Why is there always a need to differentiate on the basis of numbers? I daresay it is a sort of security we have that we can't be wrong in our judgment because we have quantified stuff. While I agree that there is some logic in having numbers as a measure to keep things in perspective, we definitely have a tendency to go overboard with numbers.

Coming back to cricket, does any of us really care how many runs were scored or wickets taken any of the Indians during the recently concluded T20 world cup? What really matters is that India won the world cup, playing better cricket than most if not all the other teams. What got me started on this topic was the disappointment I sensed in all my friends here about Sachin Tendulkar on a century yet again. While he played a scintillating knock and helped India win a match, what people were more worried about was his habit of getting out in the 90s. As far as I am concerned, I would rather have him play the way he did today and score 90s or 80s or whatever so long as India wins matches rather than Sachin scoring centuries and India losing matches. It is a simple enough point but somehow always seems to enrage all the Sachin devotees!

Having said all this, I would also like to place on record the successful completion of my century today after two years and nine months of blogging! Yes people, this is my 100th post... You see, I am not so different from those analysts after all!! :P

MBA - not enough to be a good manager!

For someone who has spent a long time in the field of management (first as a student and now as a top level manager) to say that management education lacks this is something. There seems to be a growing sense of dissatisfaction and incompleteness about the experiences gained as management students.

More and more people seem to be writing about the things lacking in B schools worldwide. Or maybe its just me who's reading too much into a few articles written by certain disgruntled people!

Is this love?

Nowadays, I've got a very convenient explanation for anything that's happening in life. Let me make it clear that this explanation is not to satisfy anyone else. Its just that I feel that everything that's happened so far was all written in DESTINY. Not that I am worried about what's lined up ahead. It is a convenient way of explaining a lot of pleasant and not-so-pleasant memories.

I've been told that most people think about destiny only when something untoward happens. However, I feel quite the opposite. I tend to think about it when I am quite happy, like if I've had an unexpectedly pleasant day in office. In fact, last Monday was a perfect example where I was feeling really good about myself and everything seemed to work out just perfect. Just one of those days when you feel everything will fall in place right from the time you wake up.

A few days back I got a rude reminder about how life can change within a second. I was driving back home at night from the railway station. It was raining quite heavily and as I turned from the "Outer Ring Road" in towards my street, I got hit by some bird right next to my eye. Not that I fell down from the bike and got hurt. Nothing serious happened. The unexpected blow just knocked the wind out of me for a few minutes. I was lucky that my reflexes were sharp enough and I managed to close my eyes before I got hit. And everything was back to normal within some time. However, it made me realize how one's life can be completely affected by such an innocuous incident. I still don't know what bird it was. Poor thing may not have survived the accident.

I don't know what I'd be thinking had it been a very serious accident. Maybe I might have again cursed "destiny". See, doesn't she provide a convenient explanation for everything that happens. I think I am in love with destiny right now.

"Time of my Life"

I read some astrological prediction online which tells me that september is a speculative month for me. I shall be re-thinking my career path, etc, etc..

Now, I am not one who believes in any of these astrological predictions. Sure, some of them turn out to be true. In this case, it ain't entirely false. I have been wondering what I wish to achieve in life for a while now. It started WELL before this month started.

I was reminded of my musings when I saw this post. Well, its just that "time of my life".

Here's the lyrics of an awesome song by Green Day. Its called "Time of your Life".

Another turning point, a fork stuck in the road
Time grabs you by the wrist, directs you where to go
So make the best of this test, and don't ask why
It's not a question, but a lesson learned in time.

It's something unpredictable, but in the end it's right.
I hope you had the time of your life.

So take the photographs, and still frames in your mind
Hang it on a shelf in good health and good time
Tattoos of memories and dead skin on trial
For what it's worth it was worth all the while.

It's something unpredictable, but in the end it's right.
I hope you had the time of your life.

Sports Icons

The papers nowadays seem to be more enthusiastic about reporting the "rise" of a teenage sensation Sania Mirza more than cribbing about the sorry state of Indian cricket.. Yeah I know they do it because Sania would obviously sell more.. But that's not what I wish to talk about right now..

As I write this, India's heading for yet another defeat in the finals of a tournament.. I can't remember any final apart from the Natwest Trophy final which we have won in the past 5-6 years.. This is, sorry I should say "was", supposed to be one of the best Indian teams right.. Then why such a pathetic record.. Losing 8 out of 9 finals (i think it may be more).. And with all of 1300 Crore Rupees, the BCCI has FINALLY got one national level academy going.. Applause.. What a noble thought and initiative taken up by the unsurpassable members of the BCCI.. We must be grateful to them for taking such giant steps in selecting the best team.. The Board of selectors have a meeting in Bangkok to select the team.. while all our aspirants slog it out in the Ranji matches happening all over the country.. Is anybody even bothering to see HOW a particular player performs? What is the criteria for selection in the Indian team? Have we given a proper chance to all the hopefuls? Well, whats the point in being the richest board in the world if the money isnt invested in the right channels.. Ok, I rest my case here..

Coming to the team itself, I think our captain needs to be true to himself.. It is about time he realized that he may not be one of the top 11 cricketers in our country any more.. He's done a lot for our country's cricket, there's no doubt about it.. But I think his time has come.. I'd be glad if he can prove me wrong (like England did), but he's been given a chance too many one feels.. His batting has become a household joke now.. It is sad to see him such a state.. The once admired "Dada" has now become the object of ridicule everywhere..

Speaking of England, they have FINALLY made sure they won't lose this Ashes series.. To be honest, I am not fond of Australia.. I think they deserve to be beaten.. There couldn't have been too many people happier than me the day they lost to Bangladesh in a ODI.. However, the only thing that irks me is the fact that it is England who's doing it.. The English media doesnt need much to go overboard about their players.. But, for them to have beaten this Aussie team, I do not even wish to imagine what would happen if this comes true.. The Aussies are still hopeful that they'd square the series.. And I do not want either of the things to happen.. I mean I want neither England to win the series nor Australia to win the last test.. Wish there was some way out of this situation...

Finally, coming back to Sania Mirza, it is indeed pleasing to see that she is making rapid progress in her career.. Even if she is not able to sustain it for too long (which I sincerely hope she can), the amount she's achieved is simply incredible considering the standards of women's tennis in our country.. She is very rightly a huge icon already.. Of course, her good looks aid her cause in a BIG way.. And in the midst of all this Sania-adulation, I remember reading somewhere that certain sections of our society are asking her to "dress properly"!! My response to such people is simply this: GET A LIFE!!

Something to believe in..

Was listening to a song called "Something to Believe In" by Poison.

A deeply touching song which once again emphasizes the futility of war. I wonder how many such lives were wrecked due to the Vietnam war. And still you see the Iraq war happening. Can somebody tell these people that nobody ever "wins" a war. Guess its too late to talk about it now . Sigh!

What about the contest!

As much as the Englishmen might hope that they can upstage a not-so-invincible Austrailan side in the current Ashes series, one would have to say the chances of that happening are pretty bleak if the first test was any sign of things to come. The inept batting display especially in the second innings is a real cause for concern. All the top order batsmen, with the exception of Kevin Pietersen, were clueless when confronted by Shane Warne's guile. And that is of course after most of the damage was inflicted by the peerless Glenn McGrath.

As much as I hate to admit it, the combination of Warne and McGrath is probably one of the best that will ever be and Australia will definitely struggle to fill in their shoes once these two hang up the boots. Even the other real superstar in their team, Adam Gilchrist, is not going to be around for too long. Ideally for England, the first two names mentioned above should not be participating in the next Ashes series for them to have a realistic chance of victory.

However, stranger things have happened before. England can definitely boast of a very lively pace attack with Harmisson, Jones and Flintoff. All of them will have to be at their best right through the series for England to do well. England has dominated in the last two years against most of the other test playing nations and one hopes they have the ability and the spirit to bounce back from defeat against an opposition which is in a different league altogether compared to all the other teams England has beaten. From a neutral perspective, an English victory in the second test will really liven up the series and might produce a memorable Ashes contest for a change.

Hopeless and Helpless..

Ever since I can remember, I have always been fond of train journeys. And when I say train journey, I mean travelling sleeper class, not in AC compartments. The variety of people one gets to see is quite interesting. I have had some really memorable experiences and journeys, both long distance as well short ones.. Some of those journeys seemed like nightmares at that time. However, given a chance, I don't think I'd mind going thro' them again..

Most people would say the worst part of the journey would probably be the unlimited number of beggars who keep bugging you throughout the journey.. One also gets harassed by Hijras at times.. I remember what my dad told me once about giving alms to beggars.. He said something to the extent that if he paid a rupee to all the beggars in our country, he'll probably go bankrupt..

Every day when I go home, I find this father-son duo on the way.. The father's handicapped and the son would probably be 5-6 yrs old.. Without fail, every day the son walks up to me and begs for alms and every day, I pretend to ignore him and walk past him.. (Reminds me of the song "Another Day In Paradise") .. I am not sure how much money they make everyday.. I dunno whether they actually eat everyday.. However, I am not really sure it'd help matters in any way if I paid 1 buck to them everyday.. What is the solution to this problem then? Here's a post in the Dog Journals which has inspired this post of mine. I admit I haven't been as kind and generous as the author of Dog Journals..

I wonder what to think when people talk about Billion dollar companies, Richest Men in the world, Exotic locations, Best Hotels, Luxurious Cars and Flights and a whole lot of other accessories which that kid and his father would be least bothered about. This is the earlier post I had written on similar lines.

As I thought about this, I realized that I am just about as selfish as anyone else.. And I am right now not really feeling too good about myself.. I think I might just give a rupee to the little boy today.. I am not sure how much of a difference that would make, but I think I'd be slightly more at peace with myself tonight.. As for what to do to improve the situation, I am as clueless as anyone regarding this..

At this point, although I don't really believe in god, I can only think of the song "Krishna Ni Bhe Gha-ni" by the Colonial Cousins.

Underwriting 60 years of war-making - this is an article in The Hindu written by Richard Drayton.

It only makes one wonder how much of what you read in history books is true and what sort of facts have been distorted in order to cover up atrocities committed by the victors themselves.This reminds me of a conversation I had with one of my friends on Da Vinci Code, about the part where it says "History is always written by the winners".

Would the facts be the same if the outcome of the world wars had been any different? Isn't it very convenient to imagine that only the Nazis and their supporters were capable of atrocities? The Allies were all fighting for a holy cause and everything they did was pardonable. Indeed, this is what all of us want to believe.. Just like the war on Iraq which will be hailed 50 years from now as a great vistory over one of the "worst dictators" seen in the world after the II world war! And the US along with its loyal ally, Britain will be seen as the "rescuer" of democracy.. Sigh!!

A woman and a communist..

Although I have seen a lot of Brinda Karat on TV, especially whenever there is anything in the news about feminism or women's rights, I never really understood why she would wish to join the CPI(M)..

She explains here about how she was brought up and what influenced her to join the Marxists.. It is interesting to note that she left a job in London to join the communists in India.. I wonder how many of us would do so even if we were influenced by any new ideology.. Kudos to the lady.. There is more about Brinda Karat in the next part of the rediff interview.. And I am eagerly waiting to hear the full story!!

Random Ramblings..

Top 10 things on my mind right now:

1. How to stay awake till 2.30 A.M. tonight to watch the Champions League semi-finals..
2. I am going home on 24th night after almost a year.. hurray..
3. Need to wash piles and piles of clothes.. :-( ..
4. When do I meet the long list of people I haven't met in Bangalore for a loooong time..
5. Dire Straits is my favourite band..(this is subject to mood..I am writing this after listening to "Tunnel of Love")..
6. When will I start studying again..
7. What do I want in life..(this is a question which is at the back of my mind always.. and I've never quite managed to answer it)..
8. Will I ever meet "all" my friends from college again..
9. Why would anyone be interested in reading my blog? (Don't think I can answer that one..)
10. When I was a child I caught a fleeting glimpse, Out of the Corner of my eye,
I turned to look but it was gone, I cannot put my finger on it now.
The child is grown, The dream is gone.
And I have become Comfortably Numb......

The Real Offender

There's been a lot of hue and cry lately about Mumbai cops and their "worthiness". Now that I have broached the subject, these are two interesting posts from Amit Varma's blog - Supporting taliban and Fondling of memory.

It is indeed a worry that there are so many people who support Shiv Sena's views on women wearing "revealing clothes". And it is very surprising how they actually end up blaming the victim for "provocating" the offender. I do not give a damn to any such lecture or speech by all these so-called "protagonists" of Indian Culture.

The second piece is quite an entertaining read (more for the way it's written than the actual incident).. Amit Varma says:
"The bit that interests me here is how the memory of that event will shape itself in Mrs Sharma's mind. "
True, it is interesting.. But I guess it ain't in my place to dwell on such thoughts..

"Alcohol"ogy!!!

This one is for all those people who like to enjoy a chilled mug of beer/a glass of wine after a hectic week.. Yeah, the frequency and amount do matter - inspite of all the "startling" facts in this particular piece..

CHEERS to one and all!!

The "W"right thing..

With the end of John Wright's tenure as the Coach of the Indian Cricket team, it is but natural that there is a lot of speculation about his successor. With four months to go for the next series, the BCCI has more than enough time to haggle and bargain with all the candidates for the job..

Ashish Magotra writes in Rediff about the "Coach Selection" policy that BCCI believes in.. One thing you have to grant all the BCCI "honorary" members, they have always been following this policy.. Atleast they are consistent with it.. And of course, isn't this what the press wants!! Guaranteed headlines on top of the sports page as long as the coach is not officially appointed. The only people who stand to lose in the process is unfortunately the players!!

Lets hope whoever is appointed as Wright's successor is able to gel with our players well.. If he (don't think we'd have a lady coach for our men's cricket team!!) can emulate the kiwi's achievements, if not do better, I think all of us should be really happy..
But he's got a real task in his hand, judging by the current performances of the national team.. Only time will tell what happens.. Till then, all of us can keep enjoying the circus show..

The Indian Spirit..

It seems Sir Don Bradman really appreciated the number of fans he had from India during his time.. Here's his friend telling us about this fact.

It just made me wonder whether the same would happen today.. If there were another Don, would the Indians appreciate him that much? One would have to say no I guess..

And anyway, I do not think Sachin Tendulkar has that sort of following in Australia. Now he's someone who the great Don liked to compare himself with. I guess the likes and appreciations of people nowadays are governed a lot more by patriotic fervor than pure appreciation of cricketing talent, which is absolutely fine I think as long as it doesn't show its ugly face as it did during the last ODI in Delhi against Pakistan.

And crowd mis-behaviour is becoming an alarming frequent problem in our country.. The BCCI has to come up with up a solution to this problem to ensure that play doesn't get affected because of such interruptions..

Rambling on!

With every post, the urge to keep blogging seems to increase within me! I definitely know what people mean when they claim to be blog-addicts! Bala's blog has been a very useful source for me to pick up info about lot of other bloggers. I think I must have gone through as many as 10 blogs just today!

Bala's post today about philosophy/views on modern day "kids" was pretty interesting.. His observation about kids today not reading books is true to an extent. However, I would like to point out that kids today are a lot smarter than what I was atleast as a kid. I don't think even I cared too much for books when I was in school though I used to read all the popular novels.

What I think a lot of kids miss out on (especially in big cities) is outdoor games. The amount of pressure kids face nowadays academically here in India is pretty scary. I remember the times when I was in 10th standard when I never even bothered to go to tuitions. Nowadays, kids seem to attend tuitions right from 5th standard! I can't imagine attending tuitions every day after school right from 5th standard! I and my friends(some of them,not all!!) used to play cricket during our annual exams in school!! As a kid, I never missed a single oppurtunity to play Cricket or Football. Living in a place like Bhilai as a kid also helps I guess where you have loads of open spaces.

As for philosophy, I bought myself a book on Vedanta philosophy very recently and I should be in a better position to comment on this issue after reading the book. I must admit I have developed an interest in philosophy lately and I am making a sincere effort to collect info from different sources.

I was reading an interesting story (Thanks to Amit Varma's blog) about how poor women in our country are unknowingly getting affected by our traditional sources of fuel. It is an alarming thought that so many women have been/are getting affected. It is very difficult to see how we could actually tackle a situation like this.

Last but by no means the least, I read a nice review of this year's budget. I think it is the most unbiased account of this year's budget that I have read.

With that, I shall sign off for today!!

More food for thought!

"There is a romantic in me who believes that many of us watch sport for reasons other than the vulgar desire to win, that we enjoy the intrinsic charm of the game itself, removed from who its participants represent, and what they mean to us."
This is taken out of Amit Varma's cricket blog, 23 yards - "Cricket and Country".

He goes on to discuss how one's opinion on various aspects of the game gets clouded by one's love for the country. He brings out the point about how no Sri Lankan would say that Murali's action is illegal and no Australian would agree that it is legal!

This is one paragraph which really sumarizes the point very well:

"For those who feel deeply about contemporary politics, certain topics have become so infected by considerations of prestige that a genuinely rational approach to them is almost impossible. Out of the hundreds of examples that one might choose, take this question: Which of the three great allies, the U.S.S.R., Britain and the USA, has contributed most to the defeat of Germany? In theory, it should be possible to give a reasoned and perhaps even a conclusive answer to this question. In practice, however, the necessary calculations cannot be made, because anyone likely to bother his head about such a question would inevitably see it in terms of competitive prestige. He would therefore start by deciding in favour of Russia, Britain or America as the case might be, and only after this would begin searching for arguments that seemed to support his case. "
- Taken from an essay by George Orwell in 1945.

I would say this holds true not only for politics, but any issue which affects us emotionally.
As for Cricket, it is definitely an emotive issue with the vast majority and it must be attributed to patriotism/nationality!

Chaos theory!

As another day at office draws to an end, just thought i'd jot down some of the intersting stuff I went thru' today!

For starters, was reading about the Chaos theory and its roots.. Was intrigued by the very origin of this theory as well as some of the ideas stated in it. An example would be the Butterfly Effect:

"The flapping of a single butterfly's wing today produces a tiny change in the state of the atmosphere. Over a period of time, what the atmosphere actually does diverges from what it would have done. So, in a month's time, a tornado that would have devastated the Indonesian coast doesn't happen. Or maybe one that wasn't going to happen, does. "
(Ian Stewart, Does God Play Dice? The Mathematics of Chaos, pg. 141)

I picked up this info from Greg Rae's work which is available online:
http://www.imho.com/grae/chaos/chaos.html

Shall try to do some more research on this theory as well as the Fractal Theory tomorrow.

There's a treasure hunt lined up in office tomorrow!! It should be fun running around all the buildings in campus! Hope we don't get lost anywhere!

Listened to a lot of Led-Zep after a long time today! Was reminded of the times in college when I used to play their songs everyday! Have become a regular listener of Radio City nowadays. Dont think I've ever heard so much of Hindi music non-stop in my life.

Signing off for the day!