"The Wall" shall always stand tall

I have often bred a distaste for cricket of any form in the near past as I feel the game is the bane of Indian sporting fraternity. So while other sports have been languishing for want of funds, the BCCI, governing body of cricket in India has been awash with it. So much so that it is the envy of even the ICC. With money comes power, amply illustrated by the impunity with which World Cup hosting rights were gazumped by the Indian body despite it being Australia's turn to host the big show. The mass marketing and appeal of the players attract imitations and hero worship from parents and their kids alike, which is why every street can be seen with makeshift stumps hunched kids, rather than a football and kids running helter skelter. The cricketers, every other one being hailed as the next genius by the commentators increases my distaste for the game and the word genius itself. While players obviously riding the cash wave and the celebrity status flaunt girlfriends and cars and bikes which make the other athletes look downright pauper-esque in comparison. But in all this hubris, one man has been my sole so called bright star in an otherwise dark night, the only man who has displayed dignity on and off the field, who has behaved like a Man both in victory and defeat and hasn't batted an eyelid when all his years of servitude to the nation have almost been overshadowed by every new kid on the block. The man is Rahul Dravid.
Starting his career on the English tour, with the seaming,swinging,overcast and cold blustery conditions is not the easiest introduction to cricket. Yet, in typical fashion, the successful introduction to cricket that Dravid had was overshadowed by Ganguly in the series. Coming in with India at 5-202 and just the tail enders to follow was not the situation for a traditional top order batsman to commence his test career. Yet Dravid took to the task like duck to water and gave a sumptuous display of strokeplay which had the purists cheering. With the South African home and away series next, it was baptism with fire for him. Yet Dravid gave a glowing account of his talent. People would forget statistics over time. But ask any cricket lover, and he would tell you that India folded up for 100 and 66 in the two innings of the Durban test in the 1996 season. Few would remember that Dravid stood unconquered in the second innings scoring nearly half the Indian total. He went on to top score for India on the unsuccessful tour, almost setting up a stunning victory in the final test, only to be denied by a Messrs Klusener and the timely intervention of rain.
Statistics confirm that Dravid has been the best away batsman for India over the past decade. Indian batting for long was also termed as the paper tigers, good only at home. Yet Dravid would be sole exception having averaged better on away matches than at home. It is then unsurprising that he has been the mastermind of many a famous victory, the one against Australia in Adelaide in the 2003-04 season being the most remarkable. For until Tendulkar's recent maturity in closing out matches notwithstanding, Dravid was the most dependable batsman in a run chase in difficult conditions. McGrath regarded him as the most difficult batsmen to get out in the Indian batting order, better than even Sachin when India toured in 2003. Nicknamed "The Wall" for his tight defence and ability to shut out opposition seamers, Dravid was again the unsung hero when Laxman became the toast of the cricketing fraternity in the famous Kolkata test against Australia, many forgetting that it was Dravid who held forte at one end while Laxman butchered the Aussie bowlers at the other. Many attribute that turning point to be the turning point of Indian cricket, when we metamorphosed into a team of believers. Fitting then, that Dravid was one of the vanguard of this change.
Few have been shuttled up and down in the batting order like Dravid has, having played at every position from 1 to 7 in tests. He donned gloves despite being a top order batsman in the ODIs to provide balance to the team. He opened the batting when no other dared to, made the number 3 position his own. Not surprisingly, it is the most important position in a batting line-up, coming in when an opener has fallen early with the responsibility to shied the middle order from the new ball. He accepted captaincy when others had declined, gave it up of his own accord, convinced that it was time for the younger brigade to take over, and lost his place in the ODI team shortly thereafter despite a healthy record. Protests broke out when Ganguly was dropped from the ODI side for poor performance, barely an eyebrow was raised when Dravid was. That in essence sums up Dravid's contribution to Indian cricket. Always willing to fight it out and ready to be the fall guy, sacrificing glory in the greater good of the team, but significantly, always staying out of the limelight and below the radar of any controversy, Dravid has quietly penned his name in the list of all time greats. As the sun sets on his brialliant career, it is time for us to appreciate and applaud a true gentleman, the likes of whom the game may never see again for generations to come.

Writer's Block??

Been a long time since I put pen to paper (or my fingers to the keyboard to write more than a scrap or my email id). So today I write. Hmm…but what to write on. No, not the sorry state of the economy, the sorry state of my investments or the sorry state of placements in college affecting all my friends. That is a saga that has been going on for far too long and will proceed for another year if all economists and analysts are correct, which they seldom are. Hmm..So what to write on. No, not the idle time I spend in office daily, fretting on losing my job, doing a little more than sipping on vending machine brewed coffee, working out in the gym and going through the news which has made me a walking encyclopedia of corporate news, bankruptcies etc. No, not of the time spent with friends, visiting places just to kill the time and that of others too. Not of the expensive gaming console that I have bought which I stay glued to for a couple hours every night as a religion, the kaam-waali related issues which keep coming up every month and the recent movies, the over hyped slumdog which has captured everyone's imagination. The roadies and the made up banter and profanities therein which have all eyes glued to the show and its re-runs. Not even of the terrorist strikes, the meek Indian reaction to it, or of the first black president who has promised much en-route to his arrival on the big stage, towards whom the entire world is looking for some cues to bring an end to this crisis. I don’t even have the will to write about game which has me hooked to the tele, and my favourite club which must be setting records for tarnishing all previous game records recently. Not even of the exam that I have enrolled for, sunk in half a lakh rupees for and the books of which are attracting everything except my attention from me. So, I have pretty much exhausted all possibilities, and am left with nothing to write about. A heads up from any eves-dropper on my blog will be appreciated.

What is he looking at?

Book Review - The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga

I have always held the notion that books that win accolades with the critics and literary prizes are almost always boring and not worth the read. But this book dispels all that. Its a simple story (something that can be summarized in 2 pages but presented nicely without complexities) was the recommendation from a friend of mine. And true to her word, the book had depth of story without the usual intricacy that tags along.

The story is that of a young man, who rises from the "darkness" of his village, a place called Laxmangarh to become rich and powerful on the dint of his hard work, predilection for eavesdropping and clear decision making of when to do the right (or wrong) thing to move ahead in life. The story captures the image of a deep rooted lack of ambition in the lower castes in India, and how they voluntarily give up a life of freedom to embrace slavery of the rich and powerful, who are elevated to the status of Gods and who become a law unto themselves by this meek surrender of the villagers. It also captures the images of corruption that plagues the top echelons of the potilical and social hierarchy in India and paints a gloomy picture of the society as such. Gloomy, yet very accurate. And it captures the two visions of India, the poor yet moral and the rich yet amoral. And it does so with the simplicity of narration that is hardly the flavor with critics. That it won the "Man Booker" is a testament to the wonder that Adiga has created. A sure-shot read.

Politics and progress dont go hand in hand (click the title to read the article)

I was thrilled and saddened at the same time reading the above article. My heart had yearned for some political personality to rise above the idiosyncrasy of religion, to make decisions that are not religiously colored and who upholds the law against all else. So i was overjoyed when I read this report of Narendra Modi demolishing unauthorized religious constructions in Gujarat. Unauthorized constructions of religious structures for long has gone unpunished, and mostly due to the predictable yet obnoxious tendency of politicians to keep distance from all religious issues lest they attract controversies. For a very long time now, people have grabbed government land and the first thing they have built on it has been a temple or mosque and then their homes around it, safe in the knowledge that the structure would never be broken down, that even if it is touched by the authorities, they would take out a religiously colored protest against the govt and force them into submission. I have watched in dismay as the road widening operations right opposite my apartment building have been stalled as an unauthorized temple has come in the way, making that stretch of the road a bottleneck for motorists during rush hours. And then there are numerous other such cases as well, which i come across in my daily commutes, brazen lack of respect for the laws of the land in the name of religion. So, i hope that politicians see through the veneer of their self-created soft-spots and uphold the law of the land come what may. I hope Mr. Modi continues on his demolition drive and set a standard for others to follow.

Who lost what

For the best part of this week and last, I tried to put pen to paper and jot down my agony as Lehman became bankrupt. I grappled for words which could best depict my helplessness, anger and desperation in the past week. I tried to put into words feelings which I realized I could not. And it is in these times of pain and agony that you realize what someone in a similar situation in another company or georgraphy would have undergone. For the duration of the uncertainty, you become brothers with that other unknown person. It is also these times in which you realize that fine line between friends and pretenders. And though I'm not out in the clear yet, I can still recall the events of the past couple weeks and have many takeaways from it. But most of all, I realized that I hadnt lost anything. Sure, my job and career was and still is at risk, the prospects in the job market dim and all my dreams and plans with the near and dear ones shattered. Yet I have a family to fall back on, my prior savings to keep me going for months and no real liabilities, wives or children to provide for. For all my senior counterparts, who have been in the firm for years, the loss has been substantial. Years of loyal service and hardwork were rewarded with handsome pay packages and benefits but most of them being in the form of stock options. What was designed for the benefit of the employees and the firm, with a view that employees with vested stock options in the company would have a sense of ownership of the firm, became the cause of grief for many. It was cruel irony for people who held on to the shares and watched it dive from $70 to around $20 and then down to zilch. It was as if they were being castigated for showing loyalty. The older the employee, the greater the loss. People lost their entire savings in the bankruptcy. Many had taken up huge mortgages against the securities and are now saddled with huge interest payments which have become unaffordable. For many, the Lehman Stock represented savings for the college education of a young one, for others it meant retirement savings. I had a conversation with my analyst immediately after bankruptcy and he sounded more despondent than anyone I have ever spoken to. I had naively thought then that it might have been a late night for him and therefore he was still drowsy after waking up. I recall that same tone now and realize that there may not have been much sleep that night for him and for many nights thereafter. He had some months ago talked avidly of the investment he had made in Mumbai and the plans he had of visiting his family in Jaipur and going to visit the Taj Mahal. All that went up in smoke in a matter of hours on that fateful Sunday. One newspaper had reported that Lehman's failure was personal for its employees. It couldn’t have been truer.

What have I lost in comparison. A job….Not my entire future.