tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-47477005748179029982024-03-05T18:48:54.224+06:00Commoner's Viewpoint- Uncommon view of a CommonerThis Blog is a place where I, V Sreenivasan, express my opinions on everything from Romance to Finance & Astrology to Zoology! Zany yet subtle, Irreverent but Relevant are some adjectives I would like to use for my blog. Currently, this blog is being renovated. Sorry for the Inconvenience.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4747700574817902998.post-56761941860404402312010-04-15T10:48:00.002+06:002010-04-15T10:57:18.740+06:00Hi Everybody!To my readers<br /><br />My last post made it to the in-house digest at XIC without any changes. In addition, my blog was voted as <span style="font-weight:bold;">one of the best blogs</span> in the Online and New Journalism module. (Yay!) However, it was also mentioned that it was <span style="font-weight:bold;">visually unappealing</span> (Boo!). Therefore, I am playing around with different themes and layouts. <span style="font-weight:bold;">I request you to kindly bear with the unkempt look. </span><br /><br />Until next time<br /><br />V SreenivasanUnknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4747700574817902998.post-1927460281972323002010-01-23T23:16:00.007+06:002010-04-15T11:08:03.200+06:00Sarcastic Santa writes to the average Mumbaikar<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjubUdTl76esqjNiXFyB5gO3bj29b925Y0bGQqcORTAl5L9WQIUZAL3rw7FWeCuugdL2Fc4rxEBe_9S1zC79OUockvL2jcXjbxEThU4q-F2uhJ4mIdv43xAzSAPSbXVj_-9EyZA-YihKmw/s1600-h/crowd+photo+2.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjubUdTl76esqjNiXFyB5gO3bj29b925Y0bGQqcORTAl5L9WQIUZAL3rw7FWeCuugdL2Fc4rxEBe_9S1zC79OUockvL2jcXjbxEThU4q-F2uhJ4mIdv43xAzSAPSbXVj_-9EyZA-YihKmw/s320/crowd+photo+2.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5429986559450282930" border="0" /></a>
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mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0cm; mso-para-margin-right:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0cm; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} </style> <![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:shapedefaults ext="edit" spidmax="1026"> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:shapelayout ext="edit"> <o:idmap ext="edit" data="1"> </o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; font-weight: bold;font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:100%;">From Santa</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; font-weight: bold;font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:100%;">North Pole</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:100%;">The last time I sent such a letter was some time back, way back in 1942 to a certain gentleman called M. K. Gandhi. The letter did play a major role although it never made it the history textbooks. I am sending this letter in the hope that what follows will be something similar.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Mumbai is a ruthless city, or so the inhabitants say. During one Christmas season, I was unfortunate enough to board a train from Ghatkopar during the peak hours. Surprisingly, I did well for a first-timer emerging out of the EMU at CST in one single unit. Of course my bones were squeezed for the next few days and my clothes reeked of sweat, and not at all of it was mine. The joyride did not end there as I went to urinate at the public urinal inside the place. Immediately, my nostrils were assaulted by the overpowering smell of ammonia. With closed eyes, I could have presumed it to be a school experiment gone wrong. But ruthless and thick-skinned as you are, even my eyes were not spared the agony of people relieving themselves with absolute indifference, nay uninhibited revelry in filth. In fact, my fellow Santa who was on his first visit to India was amazed at the blood coloured stream that people used to eject near corners. I tried to pass it off as the latest way of graffiti but 15 minutes later he had become one amongst you when he paid no attention to a brawl near a temple. And to think that some people found ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ too much to handle!</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:100%;">After the assault on my senses, came a redefinition of tolerance. In the aftermath of what you people called 26/11, I saw a lot of processions, panel discussions where everybody from Rakhi Sawant to Sreesanth had become ‘<span style="font-style: italic;">experts in the prevailing geopolitical tension</span>’. But in the end, it all seemed a lot of hot air, and wasted time. As things stand today, Kasab is concocting tales more wondrous than Arabian Nights and it is being given a fair hearing by the judiciary. The surprise does not end there as we have established ourselves as the world leaders in promoting world peace. Therefore, I have seen a bald gentleman ‘<span style="font-style: italic;">condemn</span>’ Pakistan in unintelligible English and another in ethnic wear trying to ‘<span style="font-style: italic;">bring the guilty to justice</span>’. But then why do you blame them? After all, as a seventh grader should be able to say- The Government is by, for, and from the people. And how wonderfully have you helped the cause of democracy by staying at home on Election Day? My mood was greatly improved after watching a few news channels which had breathless anchors battling motormouth celebrities and asphyxiation at the same time, clearly providing unintended hilarity. Mumbai makes the boy into a man, and then makes him a eunuch, or what people call a ‘hijra’.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Mumbai is a wonderful place, a place where the rich share the same road with the nameless and socially invisible, albeit for different purposes. The rich use the road for parking their cars, while the poor use it to get a night’s sleep. And when, the ‘sons of the soil’ don’t get jobs, an upstart politician uses that to grind his own axe. And soon enough people follow him, while you the average Mumbaikar remain a silent spectator. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Perhaps you do not need any reminders for this. But like what happened decades ago, you need a revitalizing energy to see the rot, apathy and poison that has seeped into the veins of this city. And then, the change has to come, and come from within. As somebody famously said, a few sincere men and women can do more than in a year than a mob in a century. 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<br /></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> Unknownnoreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4747700574817902998.post-34160525392940395762009-08-11T10:14:00.001+06:002009-08-11T10:14:13.178+06:00Book Review- The World Is Flat<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 12"><meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 12"><link rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CHari%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml"><link rel="themeData" href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CHari%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_themedata.thmx"><link rel="colorSchemeMapping" 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mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Arial Black","sans-serif";"><span style="font-style: italic;">I wrote this book review as a part of my assignment at college. However, I intend to modify it in the days to come so as to look like a better blog post</span><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Arial Black","sans-serif";"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Arial Black","sans-serif";">SYNOPSIS(WORD COUNT:299)</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The title of the book is apt because the book is about the flattening of the world and its consequences. The flattening, of course, refers to globalization which in this book is largely about the movement of work caused by dissolution of boundaries and distances. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The book starts off in downtown Bengaluru, our very own silicon valley, titled ‘How the World became Flat’. Surprised at what Bengaluru stands for in the globalised world, the seeds of the book are sown when Nandan Nilekani tells him that the playing field is being leveled. In the next chapter, Friedman chronologically explains the forces that flattened the world and brought in Globalization 3.0. These forces/events include the fall of the Berlin Wall, Netscape Navigator, supply chaining amongst others. He then goes on to explain a triple convergence – a convergence of the complementarities of the flatteners, its awareness and the inclusion of three billion people from India, China, Russia and East Europe. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">In the second chapter, the American perspective is introduced. Thus, the merits of free trade and outsourcing are dealt with in this section. The next section talks about Untouchables- those who are not just ‘plain vanilla’ and will remain untouched by outsourcing. In the last section, the quiet crisis of complacency and mediocrity is deconstructed and Friedman appeals to Americans to realize that “Indian and Chinese kids are starving for your jobs”. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Chapter nine elucidates the implications of flattening for developing countries whereas chapter ten gives seven commandments for business organizations to adapt in the globalizing world. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Chapter 11 talks about those yet to benefit from globalization, Islamist terrorism and globalization’s effect on the environment whereas the next chapter talks about its role in harmonizing international relations. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The book concludes with how we can use globalization to create a better world. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; font-family: "Arial Black","sans-serif";">COMMENTARY(WORD COUNT:386)<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Pros: The biggest strength of the book is the ease with which the author conveys his ideas. Friedman’s writing is devoid of jargon, uses simple analogies, and includes innumerable real-life examples of friends and acquaintances from across the globe. For a book that is largely about businesses, corporations and technological changes, the author does a commendable job of steering clear of mind-boggling statistical information and engaging the reader with his empathy, </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";" lang="EN-GB">humour</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"> and occasional witty aphorisms. For example-“When you lose your job, the unemployment rate is not 5.2%; it’s 100 percent.” – is one sentence worth remembering.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The book is intended to be read not just by social scientists but also by the layman. Thus, it aims at a broad cross-section of readers.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Cons:<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">For someone in search of convincing arguments to answer disturbing questions posed by anti-globalists, this book is not very useful. The author sees globalization as a positive force that will be the panacea for many global problems. It is in the tenth chapter that Friedman acknowledges the threat of global warming and also makes no attempt to include the other valid concerns of those opposing globalization.<span style=""> </span>For example<o:p></o:p></span></p> <ul style="margin-top: 0in;" type="disc"><li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Isn’t ‘flattening’ a euphemism for cultural homogenization, a force that threatens to wipe out most of the world’s ancient cultures and languages?<o:p></o:p></span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Thanks to globalization, are we not hurtling towards a global catastrophe with three billion all set to become a part of the developed world?<o:p></o:p></span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">By attaching undue importance to exports, are countries not running the risk of losing their self-sufficiency in essential commodities and services?<o:p></o:p></span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Undoubtedly, globalization does increase the size of the pie, but the question is- What share of will it be enjoyed by the poor, if at all any? Hasn’t globalization lead to an increase in the social disparities? After all, for example in Mumbai imported SUV’s zoom past perilously close to the poorest who have ‘encroached’ pavements as their shelter.<o:p></o:p></span></li></ul> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Thus, the book is among the many recently published that have taken a very selective view of globalization and would not be of much use to readers already conversant with the subject.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">To conclude, for those trying to understand globalization THE WORLD IS FLAT can be a good book to start off with, but for others it is just old wine in a new bottle.<o:p></o:p></span></p> </m:defjc></m:rmargin></m:lmargin></m:dispdef></m:smallfrac><div class="flockcredit" style="text-align: right; color: #CCC; font-size: x-small;">Blogged with the <a href="http://www.flock.com/blogged-with-flock" style="color: #999; font-weight: bold;" target="_new" title="Flock Browser">Flock Browser</a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4747700574817902998.post-6718712827752388382007-08-20T20:36:00.001+06:002007-08-21T16:42:47.085+06:00The cynic is back after almost 2-3 months. Keep coming back as what you are seeing is only a teaser. I will be sharing much more in this <span style="font-weight: bold;">intelligent layman's blog</span> after a few days.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4747700574817902998.post-49699193486915620852007-08-20T20:28:00.001+06:002008-08-19T17:45:09.957+06:00Ideas, Encounters and Observations<p class="MsoNormal" align="justify"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" align="justify">Realizing that my older posts assumed many things of the reader and demanded a lot of patience from him/her, I decided to make things easier for them. Simply put, whatever I have written here are issues anybody can understand and hopefully like reading. This is in many ways a preview of what I am going to write about in the future. Also I passionately request the readers to tell what they feel about my blog by posting comments with names. It would be a waste of time if the reader has nothing to say after spending time reading all that is written there.</p><p class="MsoNormal" align="justify"><?xml:namespace prefix = o /><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" align="justify"><b>Age is in the eyes of the Beholder: </b><span style="font-size:+0;"></span>Of late I am seen sporting a beard which has become a staple topic for all those with whom I interact. One consequence of having such an appearance is that I look older than I am. So the other day, I went to enquire about the items placed on the shelf in a mall to the lady arranging them. Not to be admonished by her for deficiency of deference and etiquette, I started by addressing her as Aunty. She replied icily that she was not an “Aunty” and disappeared before I could get my confusion cleared. Probably I did not pay much attention to her face and the fact that with a beard I could have been looking older than her. Customer satisfaction was chucked out of the window.</p><p class="MsoNormal" align="justify">This has happened a few times in the recent past. For reasons of convenience and politeness I address most people as Uncle or Aunty. Most of them have taken it quite lightly, particularly men, which should be obvious.</p><p class="MsoNormal" align="justify"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" align="justify"><b>Our obsession with the Trivial: </b><span style="font-size:+0;"></span>A different way of looking at things should tell us that many of the issues and headlines we are debating are very petty. And I am not referring to the trash going by the name of Page 3, Gossip, and Entertainment etc. The latest headlines have centred on the nuclear deal, the 123 agreement, but has anyone asked whether we really need a nuclear deal? Will it solve our energy problems? God forbid this, but what if a <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 /><st1:city><st1:place>Chernobyl</st1:place></st1:city> occurs in <st1:country-region><st1:place>India</st1:place></st1:country-region>? What about the radioactive waste? </p><p class="MsoNormal" align="justify"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" align="justify">183 people died in the serial bomb blasts that rocked Mumbai about an year ago. But spare a thought for the those people, almost equal in number, who are killed in rail accidents in Mumbai’s perilously crowded boxes of metal called trains, every month.</p><p class="MsoNormal" align="justify">Forget a nuclear war, if experts and the pile of evidence they have compiled is to be believed, then global warming will submerge many of the world’s coastal cities in a few years from now. Laughable and lamentable it may sound, but a possible cure for erectile dysfunction garners more attention than the people who die out of such seemingly simple water borne diseases such as diarrhoea, cholera etc. If newsprint is something to go by, then obesity is more dangerous than malnutrition.</p><p class="MsoNormal" align="justify">Steven Levitt so wonderfully highlighted it in <i>Freakonomics-</i> travelling in car is thought to be safer than a flight whereas it is the other way round. What we think about so passionately need not be so important after all?</p><p class="MsoNormal" align="justify"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" align="justify"><b>Indian Idol is Indian Idle: </b>How many of you have heard the latest song of Abhijit Sawant? Any idea of those <i>warriors<b> </b>who battled and emerged victorious </i>from the so called <i>talent hunt </i>shows? How many of you have seen A.R Rahman, India’s most respected music director and the man behind many memorable songs, on the panel of the judges of such shows which have attracted TRPs even in the regional channels?</p><p class="MsoNormal" align="justify">By now it must be obvious that other than generating hype and money, such shows have done nothing else.</p><p class="MsoNormal" align="justify">Extending this to cricket, I have forgotten the number of time self-proclaimed cricket pundits have hailed newcomers as the “face and future of Indian cricket”. Neither the number of sixes nor the brands endorsed is in any way indicator of a player’s worth. The last time any Indian film was a serious contender for the Academy Awards (i.e. the Oscars) was a Marathi film called ‘Shwaas’ and here we are obsessed with “Rang De Basanti”.</p><p class="MsoNormal" align="justify">As Warren Buffet so succinctly put it “Opinion poll is no substitute for thought”.</p><p align="justify"><br /> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify" align="justify"><b>Bollywood: <i>The Fountainhead of the ideas of the youth</i></b>. I have observed that most of the ideas in the minds of teenagers have their origin in films, which given the kind of films produced, is very deplorable. The electronic media, especially films are supposed to act as mirrors to the society. In our case they are the other way round. If my 7<sup>th</sup> standard Civics textbook is to be believed, films are meant to be medium for spreading social messages.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify" align="justify">Anyways I have often heard the statement “It is because of the politicians”. Great, but where does that take us. For starters, we have to bear in mind that the people called as politicians are elected by us and that prior to election they were one among us. Just as good, bad and ugly as our countrymen and a lot smarter. So in the film Nayak starring Anil Kapoor and Amrish Puri, a utopian world is painted where the root of all evil is the Chief Minister. In one day, Anil Kapoor transforms the State into a Ram Rajya, the ideal crime-free state. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify" align="justify">Nothing could be farther from the truth. For many of our current problems the solution requires not just participation but sacrifice from certain sections of our population. It may be even perceived as a zero sum game where A’s loss is B’s gain.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify" align="justify">Take for example, the problem of slums on encroached public land. Legally, the slum dwellers are on the weaker side and evictions can only create law and order problem. From where will a state with an astronomical debt of one followed by 14 zeroes get the money from? More importantly where will they be rehabilitated? In politics it is a battle between idealism and populism and an equation of votes. Surely they do eat our resources more than they should but it also must be understood that they must appease their voters to stay in power.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify" align="justify">Is is it not strange and ironic that the heroes-heroines and role models who talk about pati-parmeshwar, the ideal bhartiya-nari and one life-one love theory should have marital problems for which the easiest answer is divorce Where else can such double standards and hypocrisy be seen?</p><p align="justify"><br /> </p><p class="MsoNormal" align="justify"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" align="justify"><span style="font-size:14;">To be continued….<o:p></o:p></span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4747700574817902998.post-54332877953573622702007-08-20T19:57:00.000+06:002007-08-20T19:58:59.400+06:00Pens: A Trip down Memory Lane<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><br /><st1:street><st1:address><b style=""></b></st1:address></st1:Street><b style=""><o:p></o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">A few days back, I happened to see a pen of the brand name Hero (popularly known as the Chinese pen), with its typical needle like nib, smooth round body and a golden cap. It was ages since I had seen it and I was transported back in time, the time when I had first started writing with a pen, back in 1997 when I was in the fifth standard. It was a time when, for students like me, a pen was as much an object of attention and discussion as it is today for mobile phones and other gizmos.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Back in 1997, our teachers did not allow us to use ball pens thinking that our handwriting might get spoiled in the initial years. Instead we had to use good old fountain pens to write. Gel pens were just making their appearance in the market. Writing with a fountain pen was a joy for me and a pain for the one who diligently washed my clothes.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Early in the morning I would go to the school in spotless white uniform and return with ink stains on my shirt and fingers smeared in ink. A drop of rainwater could wipe the pages clean as if nothing was ever written on them. Writing with pencils would have been much better.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Pens were symbols of prestige and to some extent were like the clothes one wore. So the typically reserved and intelligent students and toppers of the class preferred to write with the Hero pen or some other fountain pen of which they took special care. Then there was a student who was ambidextrous when it came to writing and could write so beautifully and uniformly that it was difficult to make out if it was a computer printout or not. This fellow always wrote with a Pilot pen, the ones with a special ink and recommended only for advanced users who knew how to handle it. For the rest of us, pens were mere writing instruments and thus had no preference as such. </p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">I was in the 8<sup>th</sup> standard, when Amitabh Bachchan started endorsing Parker Pens. Soon it became a craze and everyone from executives to constables to students in my class had their own Parker. It had nothing other than a curved and conspicuous symbol on its cap which served as a status symbol. In the same year, I met a slightly eccentric character who used to get a new pen every day. In the morning he would start dissecting the pen to understand its intricacies and working and by the time he was about to leave for home, the pen had been rendered useless. In one such experiment I started sucking the ink out of a ball pen refill and before I knew my mouth was full of ball pen ink. I rushed to the wash basin and kept scrubbing my tongue, teeth and all corners of my mouth. Given my fear for such substances, I felt for a moment that my end was near. This did not deter me from continuing my experiments. I owe my knowledge of the understanding regarding the construction of pens to this guy who soon left my school. In the 9<sup>th</sup> standard, Pierre Cardin made its entry and started competing with the Parkers. Many times our discussion revolved around which was the best pen, the costliest, the smoothest and other details which today seem petty and irrelevant to me.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p> </o:p><br />I progressed to the 11<sup>th</sup> and then to the 12<sup>th</sup> standard. During these days it was believed that no study was possible in school and therefore school time meant playtime. So a new game called pen fight was invented. As the name suggests, the aim of the game was to dislodge the pens around you such that they fell from the table or bench wherever it was played. The last pen standing would be the winner. Any number of pens could take part. It was very simple and even more engrossing. <span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">By the time I had come to college, everybody had been bitten by the cell phone bug but I remained immune to it, as I do to this day. Since then I have never come across a fountain pen, let alone someone using it.<span style=""> </span>So to conclude, in this world of extravagance and exaggeration, your pen could be your fashion accessory. It might even tell something about you. </p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4747700574817902998.post-48522914128979258362007-05-13T12:38:00.001+06:002007-05-13T12:40:09.568+06:00<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style=";font-family:";font-size:14;" >The best innings so far<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Cricket commentators, like politicians, suffer from a common but largely unknown disease called as commentator incorrectness (I am the one who has coined this term).<span style=""> </span>Basically it is the inability to call a spade a spade. The best commentators do not suffer from this disease and speak on terms and subjects which a commoner like me understands and enjoys. The dissection on contemporary cricket commentary has been reserved in this <i style="">blog cum lab</i> for some other time. </p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Thanks to this disease, we often hear the phrase referring to a century or an innings “one of the best”, with variations like “one of the best you’ll ever see/ in a cricket world cup/under pressure”. It must be obvious that the title of the <b style="">best </b>can be awarded to only one and that <b style="">one of the best </b>can be shared by a few who have to be in a minority. Unfortunately this does not apply to the “great knocks” which we see so frequently. </p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">This article is about the innings, that I believe, is the best I have seen so far this year.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">I am referring to the unbeaten century (120 off 133) by Paul Collingwood in the first final of the Commonwealth Bank series against the Aussies. </p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b style="">The background</b>: <st1:country-region><st1:place>Australia</st1:place></st1:country-region> had completed a whitewash in the Ashes and were all set for a similar performance in the ODI series. <st1:country-region><st1:place>England</st1:place></st1:country-region> had made an unexpected comeback in the series by winning matches against NZ and <st1:country-region><st1:place>Australia</st1:place></st1:country-region>. In the final at 170-1, Hayden and Ponting have laid a firm foundation and the Aussies are expecting a score of 300+ when against an inspired English attack they collapse like a pack of cards to end with a score of 252. <st1:country-region><st1:place>Australia</st1:place></st1:country-region> make the early breakthroughs and in comes Collingwood.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b style="">The innings</b>: Collingwood and <st1:city><st1:place>Bell</st1:place></st1:city> do the rescue act by stitching together a vital partnership of 133. <st1:city><st1:place>Bell</st1:place></st1:city> plays his natural game by exhibiting some classical and delightful strokes. Collingwood compiles a composed and mature knock and along with <st1:city><st1:place>Bell</st1:place></st1:city> takes <st1:country-region><st1:place>England</st1:place></st1:country-region> closer to victory. To maintain the run rate, Collingwood does not hesitate to take the occasional calculated risk when he hits McGrath straight for a six. <st1:city><st1:place>Bell</st1:place></st1:city> departs for 65 to be replaced by Flintoff who plays a useful cameo of 35. Along with Flintoff, Collingwood steps on the gas and reaches his century at a decent strike rate. <st1:country-region><st1:place>England</st1:place></st1:country-region> are heading towards a win when Flintoff and Dalrymple are dismissed in quick succession. England need 25 off 18 when Collingwood takes the responsibility and plays two cheeky sweeps off Watson’s over which eventually costs 12.<span style=""> </span>Nixon and Collingwood complete the formalities to seal a famous win with 4 wickets and 3 balls to spare.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">For statistics and reports you may go to:</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://www.pcboard.com.pk/Archive/Scorecards/98/98957.html">http://www.pcboard.com.pk/Archive/Scorecards/98/98957.html</a></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cricket/england/6341673.stm">http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cricket/england/6341673.stm</a></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://content-aus.cricinfo.com/cbs/content/story/279766.html">http://content-aus.cricinfo.com/cbs/content/story/279766.html</a></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b style="">Why is it the best</b>? It is summed up by the fact that it came against the best team in the world in hostile conditions and helped the team win the match. <span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">The hallmark of his innings was that only (7 × 4 + 1 × 6) 34 runs came from boundaries in an innings of 120 with a strike rate of 90.22. Contrast this with the many flamboyant innings we have seen in the recent past where more than half of the runs have come with the help of boundaries. Years ago, Steve Waugh scripted a similar win in the match in which Gibbs “dropped the Cup”. </p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">I harbour no grudge against the flashier and more attractive batsmen but the point to be noted is that flamboyance and pressure rarely go hand in hand. A good temperament is also a realization of the fact that one bats to win matches and that the crowd cannot be entertained sitting in the pavilion.<span style=""> </span>Not just in cricket but also in life, the people adore the charismatic and flamboyant and ignore the workman. But it is the workmen like Collingwood who come to a team’s rescue when they need it the most. No wonder Sehwag still features in more commercials than Dravid who is “The Wall”. <i style="">For more on this click on story (Cricinfo-The workman strikes back) I have dugg.<o:p></o:p></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p> </o:p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4747700574817902998.post-13676785106829107252007-05-13T12:30:00.001+06:002007-05-13T12:30:14.766+06:00Cricinfo - The workman strikes backFor more on this<br></br><br></br><a href='http://content-aus.cricinfo.com/cbs/content/current/story/279763.html'>read more</a> | <a href='http://digg.com/other_sports/Cricinfo_The_workman_strikes_back'>digg story</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4747700574817902998.post-85597922091161378882007-05-12T22:46:00.000+06:002007-05-12T22:47:59.738+06:00<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Bookman Old Style";">Your attention please!<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Bookman Old Style";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <div style=""> <table align="left" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" hspace="0" vspace="0"> <tbody><tr> <td style="padding: 0cm;" align="left" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 41.35pt; page-break-after: avoid; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: 56pt;">M<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> </tr> </tbody></table> </div> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">ost likely, you would have come to this blog after being told about it. Presently, this blog is one of the million blogs in this wide world of internet, a needle in a haystack. However I have many grand plans for it, which after execution, I hope, will give you reasons to keep coming back.<span style=""> </span>This blog essentially presents my opinions, which I believe, are radical, blunt and convincing on issues that demand our immediate attention. Half of the articles are devoted to cricket, given the time I have spent on watching cricket matches without missing a ball and watching highlights of matches that I could not see. However I have expressed my opinion on other issues too. So I hope that this blog of mine will have something for everyone.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; font-weight: bold;">Why did I start blogging?</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style=""> </span>Since the time, I developed the brains to understand all that is going in this world, I started reading newspapers and listening to news channels. As a result, I developed an above average general knowledge and awareness. As I grew older I started thinking on the various issues (like global warming, pollution, cricket, terrorism, fundamentalism etc.) and gradually polished my <i style="">Weltanschauung </i>(it is still evolving). </p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">It helped that unlike other boys of my age, I had few academic engagements that bothered me. Soon I had answers to the many questions where no consensus had been reached. I could put questions that would leave the self-appointed pundits and hypocrites speechless. I felt that it was time people heard what I had to tell. However I wrote many articles expressing my opinion to newspapers and they were never published. About a month ago, I discovered blogging and the rest is in front of you.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p> </o:p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4747700574817902998.post-79593457531425019722007-05-10T22:18:00.000+06:002007-05-10T22:25:41.713+06:00Why the Australian team is unbeatable?<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p> </o:p></p> <div style=""> <table align="left" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" hspace="0" vspace="0"> <tbody><tr> <td style="padding: 0cm;" align="left" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 41.35pt; page-break-after: avoid; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: 56pt;">I<o:p></o:p></span></p> </td> </tr> </tbody></table> </div> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style=""> </span>assume that the reader is aware of all the events that have taken place in the cricketing world in the past 2-3 months, especially the Cricket World Cup.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style=""> </span>Many teams in the past have shown a tendency to underestimate the World Champions and this is most visible in the ICC rankings. <b style="">Consistency</b> is the hallmark of champions and this separates the Australians from the rest. I have discussed this topic in one of my previous articles, i.e. <i style="">In Search of Excellence.</i> However I shall briefly tell you why the Aussies are way ahead of the rest. </p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">I read somewhere just prior to the CWC that the Aussies have won almost 90% of the tournaments they have played in the last 4-5 years. In the CWC 07, with the exception of <st1:country-region><st1:place>Bangladesh</st1:place></st1:country-region> with whom they played a match similar to 20-20 and <st1:country-region><st1:place>Sri Lanka</st1:place></st1:country-region> in the finals, they bowled out every other side they played against. Their tailenders or the bottom three never had to bat in the tournament. Combine the last two facts and you reach the obvious conclusion that no side managed to give even a decent fight back to the Aussies who have been on a CWC winning streak for almost 30 matches. </p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">The Aussies have so systematically “terminated” their opponents that luck has been reduced to an irrelevant factor. For example, you are unlucky to be given out when you are not or you get run out while backing out from the crease. You can be unlucky if your key players are not in the field due to injuries. Similarly you are lucky when you are given reprieves while batting or given not out when you are not. However it does not matter to them whether they lose the toss or don’t have their strike bowler.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">The Australians had their share of luck but it did not seem to matter them. They were coming into the tournament having lost the last five matches. Their strike bowler, Brett Lee was not a part of the squad thanks to injury. The reasons are the same as I wrote in my earlier article i.e. <i style="">In Search of Excellence</i>. Let us have a look into the three core departments of the game to understand why they are better than others.<br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b style="">Bowling:</b> Ian Chappell said that the Sri Lankans had a more varied and therefore a stronger bowling attack than the Aussies. However much of the difference was compensated by the quality of the Australian fielding. Such thinking seems to have been influenced by the performances of the Australian bowling just prior to the tournament. However, as I have said before, <st1:country-region><st1:place>Australia</st1:place></st1:country-region> managed to bowl out almost every other side in the mega event of cricket.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b style="">Fielding:</b> Aussies dive to stop the ball and hardly concede any run. They throw flat and straight onto the stumps and have fielders who with their reflexes and athleticism practically pluck catches from the air. What else can you ask for?</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b style="">Batting:</b> They have six specialist batsmen (Hayden, Gilchrist, Clarke, Ponting, Symonds and Hussey) and almost all of them have occupied the top 15 ICC rankings for batsmen for quite some time. All the batsmen mentioned here have an average of 40+ and strike rate above 80. </p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style=""> </span>The formula for Australian success is simple but effective. Almost everyone in the team is very talented and more importantly professionally trained. Simply put, they don’t have to rely on one Ponting or McGrath to win and have a team where everyone is a match winner. Thus they have backup options more than any other team. </p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">The Australian team we are seeing today is the product of a system that identifies the best and trains them accordingly. Unlike <st1:country-region><st1:place>India</st1:place></st1:country-region>, they have a domestic system where there are fewer but much more competitive teams. They play tough cricket on fast, bouncy pitches and bigger grounds. Most importantly they expect everybody in the team, irrespective of age, to be fit and athletic. Do I need to tell you more on why they are the best?</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4747700574817902998.post-47437492202681966822007-04-21T12:29:00.001+06:002007-04-21T12:34:45.382+06:00Andheri to Powai.<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:verdana;" >Andheri to Powai. </span><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Well, I got it right again!</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">In my previous article (JVLR & Singur) I had indicated what has now become very clear after the BEST strike. The BEST has a fleet of about 3500 buses which carry lakhs of passengers everyday. Now let us do some simple mathematics here. </p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">The density of passengers is most in certain routes and directions and depends on time. Generally commuters go to the city in the morning and return back to their homes in the suburbs in the evening. If we assume that 2000 buses carry almost 70 passengers per trip, it translates into 1,40,000 passengers depending on BEST buses at any given instant during the peak hours. A reasonable estimate should be that almost 30 lakh commuters depend on the BEST daily.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Now imagine that the 3000 buses are replaced by auto-rickshaws, vans, taxis and cars to transport 30 lakh commuters. In such a situation, roads, arterial or otherwise, will be clogged and that there will be a steep increase in the occurrences of a phenomenon called as traffic jam is obvious. </p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">This is what happened with me and this is what I observed. I left Andheri station (E) at 9:15 in a bus that was to go till Saki Naka. It took the bus 10 minutes to cover a distance of 100 metres and I reached Saki Naka, which is no more than 5 kilometres from Andheri (E), 45 minutes later. I saw a similar scene at the carrom-board smooth roads of Hiranandani Gardens where chauffeurs and drivers were honking their cars in synchrony. The traffic updates on the radio channels were longer than usual. Taxis, autos and private buses, which on any other day would have been parked in an unknown corner near stations, malls and other landmarks, were clogging the roads and an aerial view of this great place called as Mumbai would have looked like the smoke and soot filled bronchi of the lungs of a chain smoker. </p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">During the journey, I pointed to a plump man drenched in sweat about the space the cars and other private vehicles were occupying and their contribution as a major factor responsible for this congestion. He replied “Just because we can’t own cars does not mean that those who can should also not own cars? If I had had the money, I wouldn’t have been here in this bus. He was right when he said that he and majority were getting squeezed in trains and buses not by choice, but out of compulsion. This should not make us ignore the fact that in a city like Mumbai (which has the lowest ratio of open spaces to people and where thousands of people live per sq. km) most people do not have the legitimacy or the moral right to possess a car. This point has been discussed in my previous article. I would like to ask some questions to those who own a car and see nothing wrong in it and by doing so I would like to put forward my clinching argument.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="">When you cannot make a small sacrifice, how on Earth can you expect shop owners to compromise on their means of livelihood so that flyovers and widened roads for you be built?<br />Why should you expect the United States to stop polluting or become a signatory to the Kyoto protocol when you are no better than them?<o:p></o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="">If you think might is right, then you are not the mightiest!<o:p></o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">The BEST strike has indicated that there is no guarantee that flyovers and widened roads will not be a stop-gap or temporary arrangement. There is every likelihood that the flyovers being built today may prove to be inadequate tomorrow. Give it a thought if you want to change the way you travel and see a cleaner and greener Mumbai.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Time to say good-bye! See you next time. </p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">V Sreenivasan</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p> </o:p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com22tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4747700574817902998.post-80925341911504807782007-04-19T15:26:00.001+06:002007-04-19T15:27:20.340+06:00By V Sreenivasan<br /><br /><strong>The Greatest Cricket Match Ever</strong><br /><br />After seeing Monday’s match between Australia and New Zealand, I was reminded of the match between Australia and South Africa almost a year ago in the Wanderers. In that match more than 800 runs were scored, something which almost all cricket lovers must be knowing. This may not be the best time to write on such a topic, but it is interesting and debatable at least. There have been many dramatic, unexpected and nail-biting finishes in ODI cricket. For example, Miandad hitting Chetan Sharma for a six off the last ball, India successfully defending a modest target of 120 odd runs against Pakistan, South Africa chasing a target of 434 runs or Donald getting run out with one run needed in semifinal of CWC 1999 have been some of the unforgettable finishes in the shorter version of the game. All of these finishes have confirmed that cricket is a game of glorious uncertainties. But which is the best among them? Many if not most, will say that South Africa successfully chasing a mammoth target of 434 was the best they had ever seen. Understandably so, given that Australia could not retain the honour of having scored the highest total for more than a few hours. Undoubtedly, very few sane men would have imagined that a target of 434, a score unheard of in the three decades of ODI history would be chased by the Proteas against the mighty Australian team. But that was all it had, and that alone does not make it the greatest match ever played. Different people have different views. I will present my opinion.<br />For those who were not privileged to see, what in my opinion was the greatest match played here is a brief description. The match I am referring to is the CWC 1999 semi-final played between South Africa and Australia in Edgbaston on June 17, 1999. Just four days earlier in a must-win match for Australia, Herschelle Gibbs dropped Steve Waugh in 31st over with the score at 152 for 3. Waugh went on to make an unbeaten 120 and guide his team to a victory and achieve a better net run rate than South Africa. Later he is said to have gone over to Gibbs and said that the latter just dropped the World Cup. How correct he turned out to be!<br />In the semi-final Australia bat first to have its top-order back in the pavilion by the 17th over thanks to some brilliant bowling by Pollock and Donald. As usual, Waugh and Bevan steady the ship and do the repairing. Donald and Pollock return and account for nine wickets between them as the Australians are all out for 213.<br />In reply the South Africans make a decent start before Shane Warne comes and picks up three quick wickets. Rhodes and Kallis do the rescue work only to perish in the end. Some shots to the fence and a couple of dropped catches later the final over comes. Fleming to Klusener and nine needed of six balls. The first two balls, close to being yorkers, are dispatched to the fence with ferocious power by Klusener’s battering ram. The Australians are stunned into silence and disbelief. With all fielders inside the circle, all Klusener has to do is to get the ball past any of the fielders. 1 needed off four balls. Klusener tries to do the same again but this time hits it straight to the fielder. Donald backing out a long way from his crease is almost run out by Lehmann. 1 off 3 needed. Klusener manages to get the ball past the bowler and scampers to the non-striker’s end. Donald, who is busy watching the fielder, fails to respond and by the time he realizes where he is supposed to be, it is all over. Australia, having a better run rate go into the final and South Africa’s World Cup aspirations ends tragically. Lance Klusener who terrorized bowlers during the tournament is named ‘Man of the Series’ for his all-round performance.<br />South Africa have played in four editions of cricket’s biggest event i.e. the World Cup (1992, 1996, 1999 & 2003). The closest they ever came to winning one was in 1999. With nine batsmen, five specialist bowlers and some of the best fielders they were clearly the favourites to win the World Cup and remained so till the last ball of that unforgettable semi-final.<br />It had its share of controversy, as well. Replays showed that Cronje was not out as the ball had come off his boots. By then umpire Shepherd had already sent him to the pavilion. It didn’t end there, four years later in their own backyard, they were ousted of the league stage of the World Cup as they fell short by one run and Sri Lanka were declared winners as per the D/L method. Again, Klusener was stranded in his crease when needed one run to go through to the next stage.<br />Cricket has never been the same since that epic battle. South Africa has never been able to regain their lost glory and the Australians have ceaselessly dominated and demolished oppositions. Klusener and Donald have faded into the background. <br />For the purist, the match at Wanderers was merely a bloodbath of sixes and fours on a placid pitch and in a small ground with short boundaries. The bowlers, helpless and clueless, were not very different from goalkeepers during penalty-shootouts.<br />On the other hand the semi-final was a perfect combination of Shane Warne’s bamboozling balls and guile, accuracy of McGrath, guts and courage by Bevan & Waugh, aggression of Donald and fierce display of power by Klusener.<br />If the S/F of CWC 1999 was a tragic blockbuster that swept the Oscars and the box office, then the match at the Wanderers was merely a run of the mill Bollywood film. If the former was a clash of the titans, then the latter was a merely a street side contest of amateurs.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4747700574817902998.post-19369653604379672852007-04-19T15:14:00.000+06:002007-10-16T18:51:42.133+06:00By V Sreenivasan<br /><br />In Search of Excellence: Lessons from the Australians<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">(I wrote this article almost a month before the CWC - 07 began and it was rejected by many newspapers. As I write (today is April 19, 2007) I am very surprised at how true my predictions have come. Recommend this to others if you like it.)</span><br /><br />This article should have appeared on this page almost a month ago, when India had returned after the South African drubbing and England were all set to receive the same from Australia. Procrastination is the reason why it is appearing a month later. Some how, after the 3-0 whitewash by the Black Caps, the present time seems to be just ideal for writing this article.<br />That the Aussies, minus their key players, will have a tough time against old rivals Black Caps was obvious. That they lost 3-0 to the Kiwis, especially having posted scores in excess of 330 on two occasions was unexpected and pleasantly surprising to many who are seeing the Aussies lose so bitterly after quite a long time. In this context, it is interesting to note that the four highest successful chases in ODIs and the highest successful chase in the Tests have been made against the Australians. Of course the situation is not bad as it is being made out by some and here is why.<br />Every team revolves around a bunch of key players. In India, it is the trio of Ganguly, Dravid, Tendulkar, and Yuvraj & Dhoni who were the architects of the record breaking straight successive chases. For Pakistan Asif, Akhtar, Inzamam and Yousuf are the key players. Similarly for West Indies-Gayle, Lara and Chanderpaul do the same job as done by the above mentioned for their respective countries.<br />Without their key players and experienced and reliable campaigners, almost all teams are vulnerable and there is a significant likelihood that they might even lose to the minnows of cricket (i.e. Zimbabwe, Kenya and Bangladesh). However despite all this, I must concede that at 41 for 4, I didn’t give the Kiwis any chance of even coming close to the target, let alone to go on to win the match. The last two months have been a roller-coaster ride for the cricket viewer which will be discussed in the coming articles.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Please try and find out the similarities in the following.<br />(a)Bangladesh Vs Australia. Mohammed Ashraful scores a century.<br />(b)India Vs Australia. VVS Laxman scores 281 in Eden Gardens.<br />(c)South Africa Vs Australia. Herschelle Gibbs scores 175.<br />(d)England Vs Australia. Ashes 2005.<br /><br />These matches will be remembered not only because they produced nail-biting finishes, but also the most unexpected and dramatic results. In all the above cases, the opponents snatched victory from the Australian jaws of defeat. After every such defeat self-proclaimed pundits and gurus predicted-This is the end of the juggernaut. This is the beginning of the end of the invincible Australian Team. But they were all proved wrong. With every setback, with every defeat, they emerged older and stronger like the proverbial warriors whom we have about in stories.<br />Some reminders to those who have a very short memory.<br />The sensational win over Australia was the only one Bangladesh could muster in the entire series. David Vs Goliath was over.<br /><br />Australia won the ODI series that followed the test series. Three years later Ponting fulfilled his predecessor’s wish by conquering the ‘Last Frontier’ (i.e. India).<br /><br />After the unforgettable defeat at the hands of the South Africans, the Wizards of Oz made a clean sweep of the test series that followed it.<br /><br />As for the last case, it is assumed that the reader is aware of current state of affairs of the English team.<br /><br />Great successful teams are famous for their defeats than for their victories. As the above paragraphs have proved by now, this is a fitting description of the invincible Aussies. The opposite is true for the rest of the teams, especially for the current Indian team. Consistency is the hallmark of all successful teams and individuals. Australia is no exception to this rule. The same consistency is missing consistently among the rest of the teams (Bangladesh, Zimbabwe, Kenya excluded). It must also be noted that Australia has not budged an inch from the topmost spot for almost eight years in a row. In contrast, all the other teams have oscillated from one extreme to the other like a pendulum. It is no surprise then that the ‘kangaroos have won more than 90% of the tournaments/contests they have participated. If this consistency were to be taken into account, the ranking system would point to a greater disparity among the teams.<br />But if this Australian team is really so great, then why did it lose the Ashes in 2005? The answer is simple. England’s high coincided with Australia’s low and with some luck and a lot of guts the Englishmen snatched the coveted urn for the first time in 18 years. A year and half later, the tables have turned and the Australians have bounced back. Looking back, the revenge could not have been any sweeter and the script couldn’t have been any better.<br />What about the Rest of the World eleven match with the Australians? Again the answer is simple. Almost the entire Australian top-order and middle-order is in the top 10 of ICC rankings. Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath have more than 2000 wickets between them in both the versions of the game. Gilchrist is unanimously considered the best wicket-keeper in the world and is way ahead of others in the race. Ponting, Clarke and Hussey are currently one of the best fielders in international cricket. Barring a few, most of the players in the Rest of the World 11 team was just not good enough to beat the Aussies.<br /><br />What can we learn from them?<br />In a democracy those who should be selected do not how to get selected and those who<br />select do not whom to select. The following questions should clarify my point.<br /><br />Why was Sehwag retained (never an all-rounder, now a non-performer i.e. a liability) at the cost of Irfan Pathan (who was at least batting better than others)?<br /><br />Is it surprising that Ganguly, a player with 10,000 + runs in the shorter version of the game and someone who was discarded by the team and the media, should emerge as the highest scorer in the Test series for India?<br /><br />In a game dominated by batsmen and in a country which has produced some of the best batsmen of our times (Sachin, Ganguly and Dravid have more than<br />30,000 runs between them) and very few bowlers who could be called reliable and consistent performers, again is it not inexplicable that we still hesitate to go with five bowlers when it is the bare minimum required?<br /><br />Except for two players (Brett Lee and Michael Clarke), all the other members of the team which I described in the preceding paragraphs are above 30. That being the case, why are we obsessed with trying out everyone who has scored a half-century in the domestic league? Why are we hell-bent on creating successors of Sachin, Ganguly and Dravid out of players who are not capable of being one and when there is no need to?<br /><br />(One of the main reasons why we lost to Australia in CWC 03 was that Ganguly preferred Zaheer & Nehra over Kumble and Agarkar. Besides we had seven batsman and four bowlers. The seventh being Dinesh Mongia, who was at best, a part-time bowler.)<br /><br />Even in Sunday’s match against West Indies, we had Dinesh Kartik as the seventh batsman? By the time the seventh batsman comes out to bat, he has very few overs left to “spend some time at the crease”. It means two things-Either the batsman should be a bowler or he should be at least a pinch hitter. When he is neither of the two, he becomes a liability. Dinesh Kartik may have a produced a match winning effort in the next match, but he shouldn’t be expected to do what the top six could not.<br /><br />Many such questions can be raised, but they all point to the same answer. The first step in creating a successful team is in selecting the right player. No matter how you many times you rub a piece of glass, it will never become a diamond. Batsmen may have glamour and may be seen doing commercials on your TV, but what India needs is bowlers. Bowlers who are good as the batsmen in the team they are playing for. Bowlers who can fit into the league of all-time greats like Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Curtly Ambrose, Shane Warne, Muttiah Muralitharan, Glenn McGrath etc. Great teams are great because they have a bowling which is generally stronger than their batting, instead of being the other way round, as it is in the case of India.<br /><br />Now let us look at the answers.<br />The reason why we won the ODI tournaments against Pakistan, England and Sri Lanka was due to match-winners like Pathan, Yuvraj Singh and Dhoni. During this period there wasn’t any significant or noticeable contribution from Sehwag. Besides it is obvious in ODI cricket that a player can remain in a team if he is an exceptional performer either with the bat or the ball. In case of Sehwag, he is just an impulsive, entertaining and at times intimidating player who happens to be a decent fielder and at best, a part-time bowler. In contrast, Hayden despite having an average of 40+ is finding it hard to secure a place in the Australian team.<br /><br />The selectors hesitated to drop Ganguly when he was facing a drought of runs. Later when he started scoring runs, the selectors opted for ‘Young Turks’ like Raina, Kaif and Jaffer. The selectors forgot that “A known devil is better than an unknown angel”. It is no wonder that the batting line-up crumbled like ninepins against hostile fast bowling. It is no surprise that Ganguly emerged as the only player to have a 40+ average during the Test series. In contrast the Australian selectors will drop a player at the first signs of inconsistency and will pick up a player only after rigorous trials.<br /><br />The Caribbean team of the 70s and 80s were feared for their bowling than for their bowling. A quarter of a century later, the invincible Australian team has given the world some of the best bowlers modern cricket has seen, in the form of McGrath and Warne. On the other hand we are still obsessed with our batting and hesitate to go with five specialist bowlers in conditions that are favourable to the batsmen. In this context, it must be noted that every team (Zimbabwe, Bangladesh and Kenya excluded) has at least two batsmen with a 40 + average, 70+ strike rate and 3000 runs in the shorter version of the game. However there are very few bowlers with an average below 25 and an economy rate under 4.5. For Example McGrath and Bracken.<br /><br />By now the adage “Ignore youth at your own peril” has been proved wrong. Thrashing inexperienced and depleted bowling attacks in one’s backyard is child’s play whereas standing up against aggressive and hostile fast bowling in alien conditions calls for a big heart and unwavering determination which was not surprisingly found missing in our half-baked, lily-livered and spineless ‘Young Turks’. At 33, Ponting is the best fielder around and McGrath at 37, is doing his job better than anyone else. What everybody, including the selectors and pundits missed was “ Apne galli mein to kutta bhi sher hota hai”<br /><br /><br /><br />Talent is debatable, utility is not. I am certainly no fan of Raina and Kaif, however the selection of Kartik over them has left me stumped. A comparison between a typical Australian team and the average Indian team should clarify.<br />Gilchrist Sehwag/Uthappa<br />Hayden Tendulkar<br />Ponting Dravid<br />Clarke Ganguly<br />Symonds Dhoni<br />Hussey Yuvraj<br />Hogg Kartik<br />Lee Zaheer<br />Bracken Pathan/Sreesanth<br />McGrath Patel<br />Tait/Clark Kumble/Harbhajan<br /><br />In Lee, McGrath and Bracken, the Kangaroos have the most reliable and lethal bowling attack in the world. Hogg is a specialist spinner who can turn the ball both ways. Symonds and Clarke are useful and effective part-time bowlers. The Australian fielding complements the bowling and takes care of any bowling lapses. Almost all the batsmen are in superb form and have been consistently in the top 10 rankings for ODI batsmen.<br /><br />Now contrast this with the state of affairs of the Men in Blue.<br />Tendulkar and Dravid are trying to regain their touch and Yuvraj needs practice. Dhoni and Ganguly are the only ones who have been scoring the runs for India. Pathan and Kumble are trying hard to secure their spots. Munaf and Zaheer are the only ones to have troubled the batsmen.<br /><br />Moral of the Story: Perception and reality are never the same. I don’t want the reader to be a pessimist, however bear in mind that the higher one goes, the harder he hits the ground the ground when he falls.<br />The appointment of Greg Chappell hasn’t changed the fortunes of the Indian team. This should point to a more fundamental and deep-rooted malaise in the establishment. Hopefully this article has served its intended purpose i.e. to provide a different view of the way things work in India and in Australia.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4747700574817902998.post-77164806186275612232007-04-19T08:58:00.000+06:002007-04-19T09:03:10.129+06:00Materialism is neither development nor civilization.JVLR & Singur<br /><br />I have been born and brought in Powai, a central suburb in Mumbai which is more like an extended neighbourhood where I know almost every second or third person. Of late, it has become famous for three landmarks-Powai Lake which is fighting a losing battle against humans and weeds, IIT (needs no description) and Hiranandani Gardens (one of the earliest concrete jungles to come up in the suburbs). The lives of the residents of this small place are all set to change thanks to JVLR (Jogeshwari Vikhroli Link Road), a six lane highway that will make commuting between the Western and Central suburbs faster and easier. Many landmarks are set to be erased or relocated by the bulldozers and the prominent amongst them is a Hanuman temple that was built much before even India got its independence. The demolitions and road widening have started on what is now the Adi Shankaracharya Marg and what will soon become a part of the wide road that is one of the many vain attempts to transform Mumbai into Shanghai. <br />Singur is making headlines because it is the site where the Tatas are setting up a plant that will be producing the common man’s 1 lakh car.<br />Now what is common between Singur and JVLR?<br />In both cases land is being snatched from the poor in the name of development for projects that have no or little social value. Besides what moral right or legitimacy does the government have to promote such causes at the expense of the less privileged?<br />The answer to this question is that the society has to make sacrifices to move forward on the path of progress and development and such sacrifices are unavoidable. It must also be understood that such projects do not always yield immediate or direct benefits to those affected or involved. Therefore the least that the Govt. can and should do is to ensure that the following conditions are fulfilled.<br />Adequate compensation and rehabilitation is provided to the displaced and affected population.<br />The project is environmentally and socially relevant.<br />This article deals with the second condition which is ignored by most and considered only by environmental crusaders.<br /><br />I must concede that once JVLR is ready it will significantly cut down the time taken to commute between the Western and Central suburbs. However has anyone thought as to why does it take so much time for commuting in Mumbai in the first place?<br />Most people might say that the city does not have roads good enough to handle the traffic. This perception though popular is not the correct answer and it does not reflect the right approach to solve the problem. Some facts and statistics should make it clearer.<br />About 250 new vehicles get added every day to the streets of Mumbai and there are roughly 599 private vehicles per square km. in the city. Flyovers and widened roads are used more by the private vehicles rather than by BEST buses. One glance during the peak hours is all that it takes to understand the problem. Typically during the peak hours a BEST bus carries close to 100 passengers which is well beyond the permissible limit. On the other hand most of the space in roads is occupied by the private vehicles, auto rickshaws and taxis which normally carry one or two passengers which is well below their capacities. In other words, a BEST bus is equivalent to almost 30-40 cars. It is obvious that such fancy projects do not serve the needs of the majority but instead fulfill the desires of a privileged few. It does not take a scientist or a Nobel laureate to tell you that in a country like India projects of social relevance should take precedence over politically motivated or populist policies.<br />Just a few days ago a long caravan of cars was seen in IIT on the day when students appeared for JEE and as expected it clogged even the widest road in the institute. The cars belonged to parents who had accompanied them all the way to Convocation Hall where the exams were being held. Ironically this is the same institute where symposiums, conferences and festivals are held to solve the problem of Global Warming.<br />Moral: You can alter your shirt to clothe Stuart Little but don’t try to do the same for a baby elephant.<br />Coming to Singur, has anybody thought whether our country, which has 16% of the world’s population and 2% of the land, needs a car that can be bought for Rs. 1 lakh? Assuming that we manage to solve our energy needs and discover a fuel that can be used to run the Rs. 1 lakh car (an impossibility as long as the Govt. tries to subsidise petroleum prices instead of looking for cheaper, cleaner and renewable sources of energy), will things still be better than what they are now? What will be the costs the society and the environment will have to pay when every Indian has a car of his/her own?<br />The society and the government have two options in front of them:<br />Resigning and reconciling to the fact that this is India where not everybody can have a car of his own and therefore mass transport makes a lot more sense.<br />Or developing a radically and fundamentally different system of transportation like ‘teleporting’ as shown in some sci-fi films, cartoons and Poke’mon where people are transported through wires like e-mail and telephone calls.<br /><br />The total indifference to the social relevance of these projects is a reflection of our collective conscience and our attitude towards life. Therefore we complain that there is a shortage of power, water, adequate transport system whereas we are not willing to adjust to the situation. Therefore the spoilt brats of South Mumbai do not hesitate to fiddle with their gaming consoles and latest gadgets and thanks to them students in the suburbs and outskirts of the city are forced to study under streetlights. Would you get a new pair of shirts every fortnight for a man who is expanding laterally and getting fatter every day or would you advise him to become slimmer? Elaborating on this point will be a diversion and therefore I reserve it for discussion some other time.<br /><br />Luxury comes with two price tags. One is for possessing it and the other is for flaunting it. So one pays for the car or AC he buys but does he pay for the pollution it creates? Many of the problems that we are facing today is because people do not pay for the recurring costs. The recurring costs have to be borne by the society and many a times the harm caused cannot be always translated in numbers. Therefore we lose our precious foreign exchange on petroleum which is the economy’s biggest exchequer. Besides can the pollution so caused be quantified or translated in money? Real luxury can and should never be cheap.<br />I do not advocate a complete obliteration of private vehicles or luxury items. I don’t expect Shahrukh Khan or Anil Ambani to commute in a BEST bus. They are the ones who can afford luxury and deserve it. But the vast majority does not deserve such items<br /><br />Moral: If you want to display your opulence, do so by buying the latest Hydrogen powered car instead of the usual energy guzzling SUV. <br /><br />The Argumentative Indian (if there is one) does not sit back and watch politicians (a derogatory word for people who were once among us and who are unfortunately our leaders) woo gullible voters with their populist policies. He stands to be seen and speaks to be heard by those who are in power. Therefore Mr. Yadav, we do not need internet cafes or tea in kulhads at railway stations. Instead what we demand is quadrupling of the<br />stretch from Borivali to Virar where more than 5000 people get squeezed in a train meant for 1800 just to earn their livelihood. There are so many issues such as these that need to be urgently handled and handled in a way so that the purpose of the entire exercise is not defeated. Finally when you enjoy the ride on a highway or a railway line, just think about those who once lived there. When you buy a gallon of petrol just think about the rise in sea level in Hawaii and your money that goes to Middle Eastern countries to fund terrorism.<br />The readers cannot dismiss or ignore this article under the erroneous assumption that it has been written by a cynic, socialist or by someone who is plainly jealous.<br />To conclude, before we become the next economic superpower we must not forget that we have more than a billion mouths to feed. As for Powai, it will become the scapegoat and get dissected by the demolition squads because it is not Peddar Road.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1