Perspective

I love this World Cup

2007-03-23T17:26:00.000+05:30

For the first time, we have 16 countries vying for the cricket world cup… or is it just 8? Somebody would have asked till last week. However, the kind of upheavals that we have witnessed over last few days has made even leagues an ‘interesting affair’. Like mentioned in my last post, most of us were made to believe that the real competition starts only once Super 8 begins. But not anymore.

Many of us follow soccer as well. And more often than not, the leagues as keenly contested as knock-outs. You hardly see the score-line of 5-0 in any soccer world cup match. As a matter of fact, we always have some big team losing in the initial rounds. Who had expected Czech Republic losing to Ghana in the leagues? Who had expected Brazil not reaching even the semis? Such stories were unthinkable in cricket for there always was a huge void between top 8 teams and the bottom 8.

However, this world cup has seen some inspired performances – that has already pushed one team out of the tourney and the other is very nervous at the very possibility of it. What it means for the game is certainly good times ahead. More the competition, better it is for the game. I just hope that more such new teams come up the curve.

One more thing that ICC can learn from FIFA is about scheduling of matches. The world has come to such a stage that no sport where the stakes are high is devoid of lobbying, fixing, whatever you wish to call. It especially happens when future of a particular team is heavily hinging upon the outcome of some other match that it is not part of. FIFA, in world cup games, ensures that last game of all the countries in a particular group takes place simultaneously and thereby obviates possibility of any fixing. Something ICC should strongly consider implementing in the times to come.

All said and done, the cricket world cup has come alive sooner than expected. And India being alive in the tournament means a treat for 3/4th of the world’s cricket watching population!

It's down to NRR

2007-03-21T10:38:00.000+05:30

The cricket world cup has truly come alive. And certainly earlier than expected. Hardly anybody had expected the leagues to throw any surprises and we all were conditioned to believe that the ‘real’ world cup starts only on March 27th.

But last week has turned the things on its head. If India losing to Bangladesh was a shock, Pakistan’s loss to Ireland was a disaster.

India now finds itself in a familiar territory. The territory that’s ruled by NRR - Net Run Rate. On so many occasions, especially in triangular formats, has India found itself with its back to the wall and remarkably escaped as well. This is one of those occasions, when Indians are badly praying for a stellar performance to find the team’s way to Super 8.

These are the times when mathematicians in cricketers come alive. The game is now in the realm of permutations & combinations – about margin of victory, about result of matches when India has no active role to play. But one thing’s for sure – that mammoth score of 413 is certainly going to come handy. Why? Read on…

The NRR is calculated based on cumulative of runs scored and runs conceded. Thus larger the absolute margin of victory, it carries more weight when accumulation is done. Hence, assuming the group will not throw any more surprises – read, SL beating BD and BD beating Bermuda – Indian are praying for a repeat of Taunton – a la ’99 – when Dravid & Ganguly went on a rampage. It’s just that with the above results, BD, SL & India would be tied at 4 points and a larger margin for India against SL could actually mean SL being edged out of the t0urnament. And believe me, that’s not a good news for India because entering into Super 8, BD would carry forward 2 points with India carrying forward nil.

Hence, it’s necessary that in today’s match SL scores ~275 runs and beats BD by a good margin, say upwards of 50 runs. India beats SL by ~25 runs or 2 overs. Icing on the cake would be Bermuda batting first in their match against BD and getting some 150 odd runs. That’s all we are expecting for India’s safe passage into the Super 8 with SL being the other team :-)

When 2 and 2 adds up to 5…

2006-12-11T11:26:00.000+05:30

The other day, I was advising somebody to invest in entities that are diversified in nature and predominantly the ones that are spinning off their Strategic Business Units (SBUs) as separate incorporated entities. While I could easily drive home the point of investing in diversified entities by giving the analogy of not putting all your eggs in the same basket, the later one was a little too difficult to explain.

A layman that the other person was, or rather quite logical that he was, I was unable to explain him as to why 2 plus 2 could actually be 5. And when they are together they just add up to 4. His reasoning was quite simple: The business pre and post de-merger are the same. The management, more or less, is unchanged. As a matter of fact the economies of scale that are available when those SBUs are together as a single unified entity are no more exploitable in the new scenario.

I was scratching my head.

I tried to give him the Reliance example and tried to reason out. But even I knew that with two brothers splitting their empire, Reliance is a too complex story to use it as a case study for spinning off a diversified company’s SBUs.

As I was grappling for answer, my door bell rang. It was my cable operator, who had come to pick up payment of monthly bill and also that of my broadband connection. As I was settling those bills, the postman came with a bunch of mail. Inter alia, he handed over to me three Hutch & two MTNL bills.

Postman & cable guy gone, I continued my discussion with that gentleman about state of financial markets and the direction in which Sensex is likely to move. As I was unwrapping the mail, the discussion moved to the growth of communication companies. “It’s so obvious that these companies are doing so well. Look at my bills.” I said and showed him the 3 Hutch bills, pertaining to myself, my wife & dad, totaling to some 3000 bucks. “Add to that this landline bill of 1800 and my sister’s MTNL cell bill of some 700 odd. Plus broadband & cable TV. My family spends 6-7 K only on communication! Not more than 10 years ago, we didn’t have broadband – but we had a landline, that was more than sufficient – and we were still connected to the world through dial-up.”

In those days, I used to call up home may be once a day, in all probabilities just before leaving office. Today, in the form of mobile I carry a GPS instrument. And make numerous not-so-necessary-what-am-I-doing-update calls. 3 youngsters in the family spend 70% of their waking hours in office where we have access to internet and the broadband at home is used only over the weekends, for which I pay hundreds of rupees.

So, how do I justify my family spending 6-7 K on communication today vis-à-vis a thousand or two per month then?

Hey, haven’t I been actually a victim of de-merging of industries and unlocking of value? Same needs, similar means, separate service providers and I pay each of them an X amount towards fixed monthly rentals and actual usage charge over & above that. In earlier times, all of it was offered by one single service provider as a combined solution and the cost used to be much lower. What’s happened in last decade or so is that my wants have been converted into needs and different service providers fulfill only a fraction of those wants, thereby creating market for each of them.

That gentleman was now convinced that demerging actually creates revenue making opportunities for each & every spun off entity and thereby makes shareholders of the erstwhile combined entity richer. Even I was happy to have got a good analogy to explain the phenomenon but at the same time was feeling low for being at the receiving end of it.

Driving Test in Mumbai

2006-12-02T00:32:00.000+05:30

All of us are aware about drink-drive-dash incidents that have become such a common place in Mumbai. It started with bollywood macho-man Salman Khan running his car over people sleeping on the footpath. Next was a Standard Chartered Bank senior official manging to do the same in Prabhadevi. The recent one happened in Bandra, again, when a 20-something, under the influence of alcohol, ran his car over the ones sleeping on the footpath. The following pic is a very interesting take on the same.

Perform for Paycheck

2006-11-26T15:07:00.000+05:30

Indian cricket has been going through a metamorphosis of sorts – good, in terms of rookies getting flavor of international cricket; bad, in terms of on-field performance; and innovative, in terms of the way players’ pay packet is being decided.

More than a year ago, the players were categorized into A, B & C – criteria being their current performance & seniority. And the match fees that each player would earn became a function of the category that they are part of. And now comes another proposal that would tighten the purse strings of BCCI – Performance Based Pay (PBP) system – whereby every player would earn the check basis his individual performance in a particular match.

There has been a sense that’s increasingly voting in favor of this system. Why? Quite simple. There is so much investment that’s taking place in this sport by followers- in terms of time & energy and by corporates – in terms of sponsorships, that a sub-standard performance, like the one in Durban, should call for some kind of penal action.

Thus PBP system would ensure that batters score well and at a decent speed as well. Bowlers would strive to take wickets without being frivolous and fielders & wicketkeepers dive to save runs and take catches.

Apparently it seems little difficult to capture all above on a numerical parameter, but believe me, it’s not too difficult to reward

Batters who score above the average score scored in that particular match
Batters who have scored at strike rate above that of average strike rate in that match
Bowlers whose economy rate is lower than that of the average of that match

So on and so forth, and vice versa penal action for sub-standard performers.

There would certainly be some sections of the society that may not like the very idea of PBP system for cricketers – for they may think that after all it’s a sport. But as every faculty in life gets professional, it needs to get fair & just to all stakeholders. Businessmen work hard for getting that extra percentage of profit & may incur losses for sub-standard product. A salaried person earns his annual bonus basis his year-long performance. So conceptually there seems nothing wrong in weighing cricketers as well by a similar scale.

Churchgate station does an airport !

2006-11-16T16:48:00.000+05:30

Maharashtra State Government recently happened to stumble upon this brilliant idea – That of frisking all passengers entering into Churchgate railway station. A full scale dry run was done on last Sunday and it got wonderful results with 100% of entrants being frisked and baggage screened.

The real test was to be on Monday – a working day. It was an evening as usual for passengers till they hit the station. There were welcome by security mechanism to ‘clear’ the passengers. And what followed thereafter can be described in just one word – Chaos.

In the peak time of evening, as many as 100 trains leave the station in just 3 hours. In that span of time 200,000 passengers hit Churchgate station. Well, what it means is that there are 1000 passengers landing on Churchgate station every minute.

Yes, you’ve read it right. 1000 people entering the station in just a minute. I think the best of the airports are unable to bear this kind of load. No wonder, the mechanism of hundred-odd security staff and handful of screening machines got choked in 12 minutes flat.

No wonder, passengers were frustrated because of having missed their regular 6.14 and 6.31, etc. Let me tell you train-goers in Mumbai are so very particular about not only the train they take but also sit in that train they occupy that any deviation therein is just unacceptable. I was told by many that to avoid this madness at Churchgate, they took a cab to Marine Lines to ensure that they avoid the security drill and catch their daily train!

Indian, I am…

2006-11-14T11:25:00.000+05:30

"The Church speaks out: We’ll leave no stone unturned to ensure that the culprits in the Bandra case will not go scot-free..."

…goes the headline of today’s Mumbai Mirror.

My immediate reaction was why church should be involved in this altogether. The boys causing the accident being Christian was just incidental to the case. Why should that be a pre-cursor to make church play safe & ‘secular’? I rather find it communal. For it necessarily pastes Christian identity on the accused, as against that of ‘reckless rich youngsters’. Why do we need to make accused wear mask of Christianity and make people say “oh boy, they are Christians”. And may be make people start putting colors to the community.

How different is this from political parties that seek votes basis caste, creed & religion. Those parties play communal card to project themselves as evangelists and the church, in this case, is donning similar role. As a matter of fact, I would expect the accused to be treated equally irrespective of what religion they belonged to, and am sure that’s how the matter would be dealt with.

This over defensive attitude of the church was absolutely uncalled for.

Similar is the case with class X exams that are conducted by the State Government. When the results are announced, we have 1st amongst scheduled castes and 1st amongst scheduled tribes, etc. Why do we need all these classifications? By making these distinctions, the students are actually made aware of their communal backgrounds and unnecessarily sensitized about them.

I believe that this hidden communalization of society is much more dangerous than anything else. When we are pledging that we all are equal Indians, the matter ends there. While it is perfectly valid to be religious and be proud about one's community, there is no need to create these artificial facades for ourselves. We are much better off without them.

Boston Tea Party

2006-11-08T09:49:00.000+05:30

Some trivia to start off…

How many partners Boston Consulting Group (BCG) has?
How many rooms Taj Palace, Delhi has?
When was last a November BCG Partner Conference had taken place outside Boston?

Cut to Hans Paul Burkner, CEO, BCG. This is what he has to say:
“Indian courts may take a long time to deliver the justice, but at least there are courts – the Chinese system is hardly as well developed.”

And mind you, these are not the bytes given out by him at Big Apple to appease Indian media. Nor are these quotes made by him during his flying visit to India.

Had you ever imagined Executive Committee Meeting of a global giant taking place in India? If not, then reality has already overtaken your imagination.

As Indian companies go global and manage to get every piece of processes done out of India, this is one of its sorts. BCG has all its partners, 426 to be precise, from 36 countries in Delhi for BCG’s Annual Partner Conference at Taj Palace. If this is not enough, the take this – For the first time ever , that the Partner Conference in the month of November is taking place at venue other Boston and it’s in India – BCG has a May Partner Conference that typically moves from country to country.

By the way, Taj Palace, Delhi has 420 (no pun intended) rooms.

And the police force gets innovative!

2006-11-04T13:23:00.000+05:30

Still reeling under the trauma of 7/11, Maharashtra Police with Mumbai Railway Police announced a very very innovative initiative to involve the masses to create awareness and alertness amongst them. Also to make them responsible for their own well-being.

In first of its kind initiative, the joint police force has decided to "plant" one-rupee coins at various stations in Mumbai - on the platforms, staircases, over bridges, near food stalls - and even within the railway compartments. Sure enough, lots of commuters would spot them and a lot would pick them up as well.

As soon as the commuter picks up the coin and flips it over, he will find a message pasted on the other side of the coin, which would read as:
"If you are as alert to unattended baggage, lives can be saved."

Quite innovative, ain't it?

Now comes a twist in the tale.

Even before this idea has been executed, RBI has cracked down saying "it shows disrespect to national currency and writing or pasting messages on currency is a practice discouraged by RBI".

Well, I just hope that the police authorities find a quick work-around and the awareness campaign sees the light of the day.

Hum Hindi Aise Likhate Hain !

2006-11-01T21:06:00.000+05:30

“Dakshin Africa ke daure ke liye Bharatiya cricket team ka chayan kiya gaya hai Kumble or Zaheer ne phir se apne liye team mein jagah bana li hai Jaffer ke roop mein ab team ke paas salami ke liye ek paryaay uplabdha hua hai Bharatiya team 12 taarikh ko Dakshin Africa ke liye ravanaa hogi ”

If you could read the above paragraph with reasonable ease then you truly represent India’s new youth that is more comfortable in reading the regional languages in English script than the native one.

Actually I stumbled upon this phenomenon when I read about one actor having demanded the dialogues in English script, instead of Hindi script which was already given to him. I found it very weird at that point in time. But then as I delved deeper into it, I found that the milieu is actually moving towards this.

1. We have our actors that earn their bread on Hindi serials / movies, but invariably break into English when they are being interviewed.
2. I have so many friends of mine who speak their mother tongue – Gujarati, Malayalam, Punjabi – whatever it is, but are too lost when it comes to reading or writing the same.
3. To a greater extent, numbers in regional language have been disappeared from the public domain.

So, what next? Where would this anglicization of our languages take us to?

It’s anybody’s guess.

I’m sure many of us do send SMS / e-mails in English script but primarily written in regional language. And to an extent, we are quite comfortable with it. Let’s take this argument a little forward.

We may have our regional newspaper in English script. A Maharashtra Times headline may read as “Bharatacha Pakistan var Vijay” in this very manner instead of Marathi script. Thus our entire newspaper could be in English script but the language would actually be regional.

Move over to the modern means of communication – website. We could have Anand Bazaar Patrika’s website in English script, but very much Bengali at heart.

Many regional language collateral / billboards have already started being scripted in English. “Jeete India, Jeete Aap” is the Reliance Telecom ad that gets flashed during ongoing Champions Trophy. And I haven’t seen these words in Hindi yet.

So what sounds far-fetched may actually be right at our door steps. It’s just a matter of time before it bakaayda enters our house.

Give them their due

2006-10-27T23:52:00.000+05:30

Like every year, the festival of lights was celebrated with much fervor in all parts of the country. After a long time, I’d a long holiday during Diwali to enjoy the festival in the true sense. All five days that I was home, I was hosting somebody or the other – so from one perspective quite busy that ways, but it was very much satisfying break nevertheless.

As soon as Diwali holidays started for them, I’d my niece and nephew chasing me to take them to the Queen’s Necklace to see crackers and also to burst bagful of them. I think, I myself have not been to the Marine Drive to burst crackers for quite a few years now. So this was a perfect opportunity for me to happily oblige them.

So, just before sunset we had hit the shores with a couple of bags in our hand – all set to celebrate Diwali. I’ve always loved watching sunset. Every sunset presents you with a new variant of nature’s landscape. As I was busy clicking snaps, the kids were feasting on bhel, paani-puri and all sorts of ‘Indian junk food’.

In no time after sunset, it was dark and the people were coming in hordes to see the spectacular skyline. The variety of crackers one witnesses at Queen’s Necklace on Diwali evening is only to be seen to believe. As the crackers started going up in the air, the kids just couldn’t wait anymore. And then it was our turn to empty the bags on the floor and be a part of the hoi polloi.

The celebrations went on till late in the night and we had one of the most memorable evenings of our lives. As we were leaving the Marine Drive – a glance around, and it kind of made me nervous. There were empty boxes scattered all over. Add to it the rubbish created by the burst crackers. What was a beautiful place just few hours ago, was turned into a horrible waste-land.

I left the place with a heavy heart.

Next morning took me to Churchgate at early hours. And as I turned left from Wilson College, something hit me hard. The place that was in mess only last evening was sporting absolutely spic n span look. I was mighty impressed. And certainly it wasn’t a miracle that the magic wand had done.

For once, I really appreciated the efforts put in by the municipal corporation staff, who am sure would have worked overnight – at the cost of celebrating Diwali with their family members – to clean the 3 KM-long stretch.

I think the municipal corporation staff deserves appreciation – from the state administration and from caring Mumbaikars as well. While we take potshots at them at every possible opportunity, we must give them their due, when it is due.

Batting (Dis)order

2006-10-07T19:54:00.000+05:30

There is a Hindi saying that goes as “jo garajate hain, woh barasate nahin”.

For last year or so, we Indian cricket fans have heard a lot of ‘garajanaa’ from our not-so-new coach, but when it comes to ‘barasanaa’, it’s been only the case of untimely rains during cricket matches.

Greg Chappell is like any other Australian cricketer – loquacious. And like any other loquacious person, he has talked a lot & at length, but has done hardly anything that can be called as spectacular. If there is anything worth calling spectacular then it’s collapse of once great Indian batting order.

Just a cursory look at Indian cricket history will tell you that most of the success that India has achieved, is on the back of its strong battling line-up. While the country has had its share of great bowlers in the form of spin quartet, Kapil Dev, Srinath & Kumble, there are only a handful in the 70-year long history. Indian middle order has always been an envious lot of people for opponents, with the best of domestic talent finding it impossible to crack into. In last 10 years, we have done well in test cricket because of the strong backbone (middle order) in the form of Sachin, Dravid, Laxman, Ganguly & Sehwag.

All this, however, has now become a history in ODI cricket. With all the jumbling of batting positions, the only set of people that comes to one’s mind for middle order are Dravid, Yuvraj, Kaif, Mongia & Raina. And there are no back-ups if any of these is woefully out of form (which unfortunately is the case, of late). By the way, except Raina, didn’t the same set of people played World Cup 2003 as well? So what’s this ‘Chappell’s Theory of Youth Experimentation’ has given us apart from instability. I remember, prior to WC’03, each and every place in the team was so fiercely contested, that as a Indian fan, I felt proud of it. No wonder, the team made it to the WC finals.

Yeah, our last coach didn’t do too much of ‘garajanaa’ but he ensured that there is enough ‘barasanaa’ in the form of WC final, series win in Pak, strong performance in England & Australia – overall, a very satisfying four years. And the same period also gave us gems like Dhoni & Pathan.

Next World Cup is not too far away. We need to settle now.

Pathan is a bowler. Please let him concentrate on that. We would like to have him as an all-rounder, but not at the cost his bowling prowess.
And please stop that 5 + 1 + 5 nonsense. While 7 + 4 demanded too much out of Dravid, making 5 bowlers play is equally stupid. 6 + 1 + 4 is the best bet.
Last year has seen 10 to 15 opening pairs. That’s just horrible. Sachin – Sehwag remains to be our best opening pair. May be we can have Uthappa / Gambhir as a back-up, for they have played some fantastic cricket in the Challenger. Kaif performs very well at #3. May be Dravid should drop back to #4 for he can strengthen the batting low down.

We are badly waiting for a dramatic turnaround and sincerely hope that that the Hindi saying doesn’t hold true in case of Chappell and Indian cricket team.

Highly Deplorable..

2006-09-30T12:38:00.000+05:30

If he had even an iota of shame left in him, he wouldn't have proposed something like this. I was seething with anger as soon as I unfolded the newspaper in the morning today.

Earlier this week, the prime accused in the Parliament attack, that took place in 2001, was given capital punishment. And the way the state of J&K has reacted to it is very unfortunate. Since the verdict, the state has seen widespread violence with the masses taking to streets against the decision. And today's newspaper carried the news of J&K CM Ghulam Nabi Azad pleading to PM for clemency.

I fail to understand what precedents this "politician" is setting. Is he advocating for the attack on the parliament? Does he think that these attacks are justified?

At the same time, I also fail to understand that what has made this terrorism-infested state back a terrorist. Is there any important point that I am missing here? Or is it that, this is just a facade that's being created by those who wish to breed unrest in the valley to create anti-India sentiments?

Other "politicians" like Mahbooba Mufti of PDP has also joined the bandwagon saying that when Indo-Pak relations are improving, Indian Govt should take positive steps. What relations is she talking about? The ones that are 'In The Line of Fire'?

The situation getting really messy here. Hope the Indian Govt acts in a responsible & matured manner.

Lage raho FM channels

2006-09-12T10:43:00.000+05:30

Radio, as a medium of communication, has come of age in India. 2 of the biggest hit movies in last one year has had radio channel playing a pivotal role. So much so that, that without this medium the very treatment of the movie would have been significantly different and so might have been the impact as well.

For long, radio has been a very powerful means of communication in India. While prior to 1971, it was the only electronic means of communication, in recent times it got a new lease of life once private radio FM channels made their entry into India. These channels have a very affable ‘voice & feel’ to them that listeners can connect themselves to.

Apart from the entertainment bit of it, one big positive about these channels is they being true to the news rather than sensationalizing them – something that TV channels thrive on. Be it floods in Mumbai or 7/11 or traffic guidance during Ganapati immersion, almost all these channels spread the useful info to its listeners.

Cut to movies. Lage Raho Munnabhai had this ‘good job’ of radio channels used effectively – this time to spread the message of Gandhigiri across masses. And the act is so convincing that one really tends to believe that this medium does have the power to bring in the kind of ‘revolution in the system’ that many of us are waiting for.

The first ray of hope was shown by ‘Rang De Basanti’. Once again a movie, the climax of which relied heavily upon the radio channel. And you have large gathering of people on huge grounds with hero of the movie screaming loudly in the mike, quietly replaced by an air-conditioned studio room with the hero softly conveying his thoughts that reaches not thousands but millions of people.

The way both the directors have used dial-in Q&A format of radio communication has been very effective. Not only it makes the entire drama convincing for the viewers but also does not sound ‘preaching’. And still manages to convey the right things.

Can we really expect this medium to bring in some degree of social revolution? Or it happens in movies only?

Sequel to ‘The Gora Arrogance’

2006-09-05T12:22:00.000+05:30

It’s a kind of sequel to my last post about Darrel Hair and what I call ‘Gora Arrogance’.

This one’s about submissiveness of Indians and their lack of confidence to stand & fight for one’s basic human rights. This incidence happened in Amsterdam a few days back when the India bound flight was turned back and 15-odd passengers with ‘suspicious behavior’ were tortured & grilled for 3 days only to release them as ‘innocents’. Just in a span of few days, a US-bound student was deplaned in Frankfurt, once again – the common factor being an Indian Muslim.

Why should not these people sue the Dutch & German governments for the anguish that they have to withstand during these testing times? All of them have had horror stories to tell on their return to India. All TV channels had a great interest in extracting exclusive bytes from these people, but nobody willing to take up their cause.

What these people have undergone not violation of basic human rights? If yes, then what’s stopping Indian Ministry of External Affairs to take up their case and raise a stink at the international level? I’m sure, having experienced mercilessness of the westerners; these poor people will not gather any courage to fight a case on their own. But I would like to believe that that’s where and that’s why the government should step in, and help the victims get due compensation.

I think these small steps are necessary to make India’s voice heard at the international level. And if not nipped in the bud, it may only increase. If Israel can launch an attack on Syria for the 2 of its soldiers being kidnapped then shouldn’t India at least stand by its citizens to get due compensation for the broad daylight torture.

The Gora Arrogance

2006-08-28T17:33:00.000+05:30

There are very few occasions when I feel like taking side of Pakistan. One of them happened a few days back at The Oval. A lot has been written & talked about what happened between the Pakistani cricket side & Darrel Hair. However the real drama was to unfold only a couple of days later when the latter made a demand of $500,000 if he is taken off the Elite Panel of umpires.

Now I must say that it takes real courage to make this kind of demand and that too to a global governing body. And the most surprising thing is that till date Hair has not been booked for any offence, while Inzamam has been charged with couple of, at best, ‘technical’ offences.

Hair’s demand is one of the best examples of ‘Gora Arrogance’. I don’t think any non-goras have guts to even think on these lines, forget actually making such a demand. And mind you, despite of who’s who, which includes Dicky Bird as well, taking pot-shots at him, the guy is absolutely unfazed about the entire situation.

Recently I read about winners of this year’s Stella Awards – these are conferred upon the successfully contested weirdest of the law-suits. One of the awards went to a thief who broke into a house when the family was away on vacation. Through the back-door of the house, he entered the garage only to find that the gate of garage is non-functional and the door has closed behind him. For 15 days till the family returned, he had to survive on the dried dog food that he found in one of the corners of the garage. Unbelievable, but the thief successfully sued the family, whose house he had broken into.

If Mr. Hair really manages to get that moneybag out of ICC, am sure he would be running for the Stella Award.

Apathy towards national interest … explained !

2006-08-28T17:05:00.000+05:30

A newly married couple. First anniversary being just a few days away. Husband on his mandatory "community service". Just a few days to go before he gets back to his 'routine urban life'. And then - the disaster !

No, it’s not the story of the latest Hollywood flick.
Meet Ms Karnit Goldwasser. The most brave & courageous lady I've ever come across.

Wife of one of the two Israeli soldiers that were kidnapped which triggered tension in the middle-east. With the tension mounting on either side, she was asked about what is she expecting from her Government and what’s her take on the entire situation?

And there I got the most remarkable answer: “We want the killing to be stopped, both in Israel and in Lebanon. We want everything to be back as it was before, no killing, no kidnapping, we want them back home. I love my husband very much. I think there is a reason for what is going on across the border, the way it is going on. I'm looking forward to reuniting with my husband."

A perfect blend of love, maturity & patriotism. Nothing more, nothing less.

Having heard this, my mind traveled back to that last week '99 when Indians were kept hostage in Afghanistan as the flight from Kathmandu was hijacked. The kind of emotional pressure exerted on Indian Government was not funny. I still remember the clippings of families of 200+ hostages outside PM's residence seeking safe & early passage for their dear ones. In his much talked about book "A Call to Honor" the then Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh speaks about how he was unwilling to free some of the dreaded militants in exchange of these innocent Indians.

So were we right in holding our Government hostage to take the step that it took.. Don’t know..

On second thoughts, Ms Goldwasser's response has more dimensions than meet the eye. Israeli Government has called for a full blown war on Lebanon for latter’s 'misadventure of kidnapping its 2 soldiers'. A common Israeli can repose so much faith in their Government for the Government knows how to reciprocate it.

Cut to India. After serial blasts that killed not 2, but 200 people, all that Mumbai received was an apology speech from its PM. Citizens' apathy towards national interest explained.

Good Artist – Bad Artist

2006-08-28T17:03:00.000+05:30

There are good artists whose work is a sheer enjoyment. And there are ones that don’t even deserve to be called artists. You can safely ignore their work & move on. And there is a third category - bad artists. It’s unfortunate to see their talent going waste.

In a span of last 10 days, I’d the opportunity to witness the good art and the bad art. While the good art made me seek the original work that inspired this art, the bad art that followed, left such a bad taste that it robbed me of an opportunity to remain under the spell of the good art. As the good artist is making me happy with each of successive product, the bad artist is making me despise his successive product.

Othello’s Indianization as Omkara couldn’t have been any better. As one of the reviews said, if Shakespeare was alive, he would have indeed smiled. The Indianization was so complete that a 2-bit role of Bianca was made into more than 2-song role of Billo Chaman Bahaar. If there was any chink in the armor, this was the one.

Mind you, Othello is not an easy story to tell. The script is quite complicated. And even more complex is the screenplay. But a music director has achieved the impossible with aplomb. Hats off to Vishal Bhardwaj. Devgan’s forte is intense role. And having got a tailor-made role he does it to perfection. But the real treat is Iago – Langda Tyagi by Saif. In early 90s people used to talk about Khan trio – the bare-chested one never anywhere close to the other two when it came to acting. Saif however, now can claim to have completed the acting triangle of Khans. He is come of age and proves that his national award wasn’t a fluke.

Moving over to the other Khan – The Bollywood Badshah. His was the only character that was sketched properly. And what he managed to offer was one of his worst performances till date. In the entire movie he appears to be not interested in acting. He just comes, blabbers loudly & nonsensically and moves on for there is no reasoning for the way the other three characters behave. This despite of the movie being longer than 3 hours. Karan Johar still lives in 90s when Indians used to go gaga over huge castles & sprawling lawns. He doesn’t know that they are found in every other movie. The very opening shot of Ms Mukherjee in her full wedding attire sitting all alone on a solitary bench far away from her house where sangeet is going on, defies any logic. It is followed by SRK & Ms Mukherjee going away from each other turning back alternatively to see each other & blushing – am transported to Anil Kapoor & Sridevi times – please give me a break. Mitwa is a good example of how a nice song can be picturized in an equally bad measure. Very pathetic visualization and cinematography. Sr Bachchan rocks and again proves that he is an institution of acting. Interestingly, nothing would have been robbed off the story even if he wasn’t there at all.

I have always believed that movie-making is an art first and business later. Johar’s turning this notion upside down. The movie is such a callous waste of time & money. And Johar finds himself ensconced in the third category – that of bad artists. Being artist, nevertheless, it’s saddening to see his talent go waste.

Get your domestic act right, guys !

2006-07-26T10:30:00.001+05:30

‘It’s very difficult to get rid of one’s behavior’, goes one of the sayings. Hence, after 7/11, when Indian administration didn’t point fingers ‘across the border’ it was kind of surprise to me. But the surprise didn’t last long. Something that was expected to happen – did happen. Only change being instead of it happening immediately, it happened a few days later – when our agencies failed to find any concrete clues.

My simple hypothesis is “It’s not possible to bring one’s home down unless there is a mole within.”

No way it’s possible for anybody to spread this kind of terror in any foreign territory unless it has support in that country. One can certainly press the button on the remote control from across the border, but somebody physically has to plant the explosives in this country for remote control to be used. Does our administration really think that people are coming from across the border, studying the DNA of our cities, finding loop holes and then trying to exploit it? No way. People from across the border can, at best, only facilitate the entire process but executing this entire plan with this kind of precision - I think, only fools would like to believe that it’s done by foreign entities ONLY.

This brings me to my second point. Before we call for international attention to clear problems stemming out of a foreign land or a disputed territory, shouldn’t we try to first set our own house in order. We have been facing cross-border terrorism since independence. Going by the above hypothesis, there has been domestic support to these acts of terror. Aren’t 60 years long enough to at least clean one’s own house before crying out loud about the neighbor throwing rubbish in our backyard? We have banned SIMIs of the world due to security reasons. But having established them to be anti-social elements, what stops us from uprooting them. Why do we allow its leaders to go to media and openly support and defend their cause? Why don’t we punish them so hard that forget claiming leadership, nobody would even dare to talk about such organizations? Just to save so called ‘secular’ face of India. Just to protect vote banks. What kind of wisdom is this? Administration is to protect us or to destroy us? Is our administration so thick-skinned and insensitive that it can jeopardize civilians’ lives to protect vote banks & come to power?

And then on one not so fine day, when the terrorism shakes the system, the security agencies go to the Muslim localities and round up the suspects. Suspects could be a local tailor, a grocer, a baker or a butcher. Most of them are later released, having found them innocent. What message is our administration trying to convey to this community? Have they ever thought of the possible implications of such actions on the consciousness of this community? What faith would this instill in the minds of this community? Even if they don’t harbor any love for our neighbor, these acts certainly give them reasons, sufficient enough to hate India.

They are made ‘suspects’ in their own country for doing nothing wrong. No wonder, our neighbor exploits these tender nerves to the maximum.

Noted lyricist & writer Javed Akhtar recently challenged these SIMI-types, who claim to be messiah of the community to contest elections. His hypothesis being they won’t garner even one percentage of the community’s votes for even the community doesn’t buy their philosophy.

So my dear Indian administrations, as per your records whoever these suspects are, please round them up for once and all. Put them through a thorough enquiry, and give the strictest of the punishment to those found guilty. And please let others live a life of an honorable Indian.

Before pointing your finger across the border, please get your domestic act right.

Live Tutorial for Indian Diplomacy

2006-07-26T10:20:00.000+05:30

What we haven’t managed in last 60 years, Israel has managed to do it in just 6 years – “Win over US, and get it to one’s own side”. Nobody can undermine the role of United States in the global relationships and their is the way to go.

Since long, Israel has had only a handful of friends. However what we have seen over last few years is a systematic & continuous diplomatic policy to create its own niche.

9/11 gave the countries world-over an opportunity to re-establish the equations with global superpower, for it was for the first time the superpower had experienced terrorism at its home. And suddenly all that terrorism seemed very ‘real’ to US leading to ‘war against terror’ world over.

Recently I heard Shimon Peres, Deputy PM of Israel talking to an international news channel. In no uncertain words he said that “Lebanon is not our enemy. As a matter of fact it can be one of our best & closest friends. And it’s not too difficult. If the Lebanese Government stops the insurgency then we are more than willing to talk across the table and all the issues that we have could be sorted out”.

Just 10 minutes thereafter Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Seniora had to rubbish these words of truce. He claimed that this statement of Israeli Deputy PM is just a façade and he doesn’t really mean it. What happened in a few hours’ time is quite remarkable. For once, US issued the statement which asked Lebanon to take Israeli stance in a positive spirit and have the mutually agreeable resolution arrived at, at the soonest.

This statement means a lot, not only for Israel, but also for the world. It gives us the idea of the shifting balance of power and how Israel has managed to extract the most out of a tragedy. A tutorial in its own way for the Indian diplomacy.

From ‘3-Piece Suit’ to ‘Pajama’ to ‘Chaddi’

2006-07-26T10:09:00.000+05:30

"I dont want Sales Managers. I want Business Managers".
Myself being in sales, this is one of the quotes that appeals me very much. I think the statement conveys what it intends to.

Salesman sells what sells. And salesmen are right in doing so.

Businessmen sell taking broader perspective of the health of business. And hence they are supposed to be taking a more long term, balanced & matured view of the opportunities that come their way.

And that’s why ICC’s recent decision to bring 20Twenty into mainstream surprised me immensely. For ICC is not a ‘David Dhawan Production’ that would bring out run-of-the-mill sellable commodities. We are talking about serious business here that’s going to have long-term repercussions.

I myself am a fan of entertaining forms of cricket like double-wicket, six-a-side, etc. But yes, there role ends at entertainment. That can’t be the mainstream cricket. Okay, what’s ICC is possibly trying to achieve through this new format.
1. Increase popularity in existing cricket playing nations
2. Spread cricket to other countries
3. Appease Mr. Money Bags

As far as existing cricket playing countries are concerned, I don’t think ICC needs to do anything special to push the game. Non-cricket playing nations – Yes. It’s a great format to popularize cricket in the non-playing nations. And I think ICC has been arranging events at places like Hong Kong, Canada, Europe, Gulf to popularize the game. Thanks to Mr. Dalmia, in the past Indian & Pakistani boards have readily obliged to play anywhere in the world.

What remains to be seen is the role of sponsors of the game. No doubt, they have deep pockets. And they are ready to put in any amount of money in a short, thrilling, speedy and quick-result game that has more entertainment value and hence greater ability to pull crowd. No wonder sponsors poured a lot of money when pajama cricket was introduced. ICC can earn even more bucks in this ‘chaddi cricket’ format. The big question is “should that be the only yardstick?”

No doubt, this format of cricket is very well suited for the likes of Dhonis & Afridis. But what happens to the overall health of game? What happens to the psyche of the bowlers who are butchered all over the ground? What happens to the class & elegance of the batsmanship? If I like only airy shots then I would instead start watching baseball.

I think BCCI, for once, was right in resisting to this format. We, in any case, talk about burnouts, injuries, niggles after playing close to 12 tests and 40 ODIs a year. Add to those bilateral, triangular & world cup tournaments of this format. What are we heading to?

Chaddi cricket is like fast-food. Great entertainment & popularity value but does more harm in the long run than good.

Hats off Kannadigas!

2006-07-26T10:06:00.000+05:30

‘Wouldn’t Mumbai respond the Kolkatta-way if Sachin is dropped from the side?’
Asked most of the Bengal-based newspapers after Sourav Ganguly was shown the door. I don’t know the answer to this but Bangaloreans certainly showed a lot of maturity after selection of Indian cricket team for Sri Lanka.

BCCI has this funny way of behaving is no secret. And they are the way they are since they exist. In Mohinder Amarnath’s words – “Jokers”.

After the fantastic debut performance, if ever Ajit Agarkar looked settled, it was in the recently concluded India – WI ODI series. He knew the way pitches were behaving. He knew where to bowl. He knew what his role was. And despite of that he was dropped from the test squad. Most knowledgeable cricketers & critics found the verdict rather surprising.

Similar verdict was repeated couple of days ago in case of Anil Kumble. One of the best match-winning bowlers of recent times… in pink of his form… and part of the ‘scheme of things’ for the ensuing world cup.

When the reports came in that Rahul Dravid, a state-mate, is the person who’ll take a final call about his place, I was almost certain about his inclusion. Considering Kumble being in the reckoning for the world cup squad, his exclusion was a surprise to me.

However I was more surprised, albeit pleasantly, at the maturity & restraint that Bangaloreans have shown towards reacting to his exclusion. I think it’s something worth emulating by one and all. Rising above the local interests and thinking for the country as a whole.

Hats of Bangaloreans! Hats off Kannadigas!

A request to the President

2006-07-26T10:03:00.000+05:30

Evening of Monday July 17th brought a pleasant surprise.

As usual, I was traveling in a slow train from Dadar to Goregaon. Standing in the door of the first class compartment. The city was barely rising from the trauma of 7/11. The train was still chugging into the Mahim station, and my weary eyes noticed something very soothing….. A reformed Mahim station!

And at once I was very happy. Spanking clean platforms. Freshly painted walls. Brand new neon signs to guide passengers. Refurbished ticket booking office. Working fans for passengers in the queue.

No paan stains. No beggars around. No out of order fans, clocks & indicators. No cobwebs on the ticket booking windows.

Everything was just so perfect. The entire station was so very nicely illuminated. I felt nice... I felt really really nice.

Mahim was one of the worst hit stations because of bomb blasts. I myself had seen broken roof of its platforms and the other stains of the disaster at the station. And this look of Mahim was certainly a welcome change. I kind of liked the urgency with which Railway Administration has got into action to erase those unfortunate memories of what had happened just a few days ago.

Thoughts were running, So was the train. And my mind was getting ready to see similar face-lifts at other stations as well. The train entered Santacruz. I was eager to see the station with makeover. However, the scene looked familiar. As it was for years. May be the blasts didn’t do much damage to the station.

Jogeshwari! Yes, that is the suburb where the blasts occurred right at the station. ‘I’m sure that station would have got the facelift’, my mind was telling me. Alas, that wasn’t the case. I was wondering why only Mahim has been singled out for the special treatment. Why not other stations that were equally hit.

I reached home, freshened myself up. But this question was still coming back to me as I unfolded the newspaper. Got it!

‘President visiting Mahim station on Tuesday evening’.

The entire story got unfolded in a moment’s time.
Mr President, for sake of Mumbaikars, please travel on Churchgate – Virar slow train just once and ensure that you get down on all the stations. You’ll be doing a lot good to the city!

Ruminations of an Honest Mind

2006-07-17T18:10:00.000+05:30

Events over last few days have put me in a difficult situation.

I truly love India and would be really happy to see it growing in stature on the global platform. As an Indian, I think it’s my duty to contribute my 2 cents. This feeling has so far managed to hold me back in this country.

But then there are events which hugely let me down. Gives me a kind of feeling that am wasting my time here. Gives me a feeling that we are regressive rather than progressive. Gives me a feeling that those occupying seats of power have really nothing to do with the wellbeing of the country and they are merely interested in amassing uncountable personal wealth.

I feel lost. I feel helpless. I feel cheated.

These are the people who collect money from us and what do we get in return?

Lack of safety & Security. Unrest. Bad Roads. Waterlogged Conditions. Bomb blasts. Riots. Floods.
So why do we pay ‘honestly’. Just for administrators to make merry.

People talk about spirit of Mumbai. What spirit are they talking about? It’s a ‘dog’s life’. However kicked, the dog has to come back to his master. He just doesn’t have any choice other than accepting the things the way they are. Is that what you really call ‘resilience’?

Malls & multiplexes is no development. Good infrastructure & high quality of life is.

These are the times when I really feel like voting by my feet.
I feel like taking my whole family with me, just leave this country and settle abroad. At least there is some hope there. People apparently are ‘not rude’.

But to be frank, when I put together my balance sheet later in my life, what would I get. Would I have had done anything for this country? Would I have had done anything for its people? Would I have had taken any pains to correct any of the aspects of my country? And a negative answer would hurt me immensely.

I am torn between devil & deep sea.

Resilience & Indifference

2006-07-14T13:34:00.000+05:30

Everybody’s talking about how quickly Mumbai has managed to get back on its feet. Like Citibank’s punch line, ‘this city as well never sleeps’. Kudos to all those Mumbaikars who showed the kind of resilience & fearlessness, as if nothing has happened.

But I think deeply and I wonder, is it really resilience or is it indifference. Like rest of the country, Mumbaikars as well have given up on administration. They don’t expect much from them. They no more believe in a long term solution to the problem. They have become numb. And hence they have chosen the next best route – Indifference.

Now that’s dangerous. Why don’t we see any civil uprising? As civilians we have some basic rights and our administration is answerable to us.

We are talking about corporatization in many areas. Let administration as well follow the suit. Let the administration come out with a time-bound program to restore the right to safety & security and publish a weekly progress report.

To put pressure on the administration to come out with a time bound program, we may have to call for a bandh that is “by the people – for the people” or may want to take a peaceful march. And no, we don’t want participation of any political outfits here.

For sure, water is about to go over the top, engulfing all of us in that resilience-cum- indifference. If our politicians are inactive, let’s get active ourselves to put state machinery into action.

Heroes of 7/11

2006-07-14T10:11:00.000+05:30

One of the management lessons goes as: “if you are wondering why a ‘useless person’ has got promoted, almost always it is due to his subordinates”.

World over front line people hog all the limelight while backroom boys are relegated into oblivion.

Something similar happened few days ago in Mumbai. When the entire city of Mumbai was in the grips of panic & shock, these were the people who worked relentlessly to ensure that normalcy restores before sun rises the next morning. In true sense they are “Heroes of 7/11”.

As we all know trains are the lifelines of the city. And on that fateful evening, all trains in the peak hours getting cancelled meant around 1.5 million people traveling on WR towards Borivli / Virar were stranded at different stations. They had to fall back upon alternate mode of transport. Now the question is how any city can offer an alternate transport medium in just an hour’s time to such a large number of people.

BEST, Mumbai’s local bus transport system, took up the gauntlet. Almost all the buses which were doing their last round of the day were put back on the road. Buses are machines. But what about drivers & conductors. They are human beings like you & me. As tired at the end of the day they were as anybody could be. These were the same drivers who had driven buses for whole of Tuesday. They turned into angels that night. BEST had its entire fleet on the road as soon as possible. This really proved to be boon for all those working in south end of the city, staying in northern suburb, and for whom cab was an unaffordable option.
A point not to be missed is that all regular buses were plying on Wednesday morning as well.

2nd hero was the Western Railway staff who ensured that normalcy is restored at the soonest. They had to clear debris, wheel away the affected rakes, correct the cabling, set right the station roofs and lot of other things. Since police had to collect 'suraag', they had very little time to do all of it. The pressure to put trains back on track before dawn was always there. And I must complement them to do all of it well in time. No wonder Mumbaikars could travel on the same tracks the very next morning.

While the above two were organized efforts to restore normalcy, there was an unorganized individual-driven effort that once again demonstrated the spirit of Mumbai. The spirit to help fellow citizens, the spirit to put the best foot forward in crisis, the spirit of “if it is to be, it’s up to me”. These were the people of Mumbai. Especially the ones in Dadar-Borivli stretch. I myself left office well past midnight and waded through residential lanes of Shivaji Park / Mahim, only to find people on road distributing water / biscuits to travelers. At every corner I found children, ladies & men, most of them in their night suits, offering something to eat & drink. They very well could have gone for a good night's sleep, but they stayed put to help us. But for them, the long journey back home could have been agonizing.

The very fact that there is somebody to help you in case of need makes one’s journey all the more comfortable & satisfying.

Mumbai 7/11 & Media Coverage

2006-07-13T15:32:00.000+05:30

Last 2 weeks have been one of the most difficult weeks in the life & times of Mumbaikars. It all started with heavy deluge, followed by desecration of a statue. As if these speed breakers were not sufficient, it was culminated by one of the worst tragedies in the form of serial bomb blasts on local trains in Mumbai.

While I’m let down by our administrators & intelligence agencies, I’m more saddened by the way in which media has approached the events.

On that fateful evening of 7/11, I was in office and since 6.30 PM was glued to TV. To my utter surprise & shock, TV Channels were just trying to sensationalize the things. They were busier dishing out those “exclusive bytes” rather than really helping the cause.

The questions being asked to the administrators (read bureaucrats, police) were like "how do you compare these blasts with '93", "what’s the material used - RDX or TNT" etc. Passengers were being asked “who do you think are behind these blasts”, “do you think Mumbai is safe any more”.

Not that these questions were utterly nonsense but they were post-mortem questions. These questions meant nothing to those who were stuck at that point in time. People wanted to know whether they should stay back or proceed. If proceed then what time, which route. Where could they find first aid and essential help. This would have really helped.

While I understand they being in the ‘business’ of news-making and any seller would sell what sells, they are times when media is expected to take onerous responsibility.

We want media to be ethical, reasonable & responsible section of the society which can act as a fourth pillar. I sincerely hope that TV channels, being the fastest & most influential of the media, would in future behave more responsibly and make constructive contribution to the issue at hand.