If Cricket is Religion... Ashes is it's most revered celebration!

Day of Reckoning: Thursday November 23, 2017: Gabba, Brisbane

Cricket's greatest rivalry is back. We in India will wake up earlier than usual on Test match days this winter to witness the best form of the game. Two debutant Ashes skippers Steve Smith and Joe Root will dish out some exciting fare for the World to watch.

In the past, Australia have been ruthless against England in Brisbane and Perth, especially in the past 3 decades. The first Test will be no different. The hosts will surely get the head start. I am keenly looking forward to the 2nd Test at Adelaide Oval, which I presume will see some challenge from the Englishmen. Hope the newly crowned vice captain - James Anderson and the wily Stuart Broad will make the pink Kookaburra swing to their tunes in the day-night Test.

While the Boxing day duel at Melbourne will be keenly fought, the hosts could prevail over 5 days, the New Year's at Sydney could well be Nathan Lyon's way of saying happy 2018 for the Aussies.

Players to look out for

Of course quite predictably the numero-uno left-arm swing bowler in the world Mitchell Starc will be spearheading the Aussie attack, but shall look out for the Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins to wreck havoc on the English batting that will sorely miss Ben Stokes.

England will bank heavily on skipper Joe Root, but I shall also look out for old war horse Alastair Cook, new found delight Mark Stoneman, the mercurial Jonny Bairstow and the ever reliable all-rounder Moeen Ali to spring some special performances.

It is the Australian batting that is bereft of the usual star-studded line up. Skipper Steve Smith will have to shoulder more than the usual responsibility. David Warner will lead from the front, hopefully. I am big fan of the Sunrisers Hyderabad skipper and would love to see him score a few tons in this edition. Then there are Shaun March and Glen Maxwell, who will do well to improve their reputation.

I somehow see a 4-0 series win for Australia in this Ashes down under!

As always, I would love end with the same cliche that I used for my earlier Ashes posts:

November 23, 2017 is a day of reckoning, an eagerly awaited date for the connoisseurs of the game, for this will decide whether the longest version of the game will bite the dust or rise from the Ashes.

-------------------------------- pics : Internet----------------------------

तुझको चलना होगा... तुझको चलना होगा...

मैं जब भी यहाँ आता हूँ... यहाँ पर घंटों बैठा रहता हूँ, और देखता रहता हूँ इस नदी के बहते हुवे पानी को... यह चौड़ा पहाड़ और दो किनारे जो हमेशा एक दूसरे से उतनी ही दूर

... यह मांझी... यह कश्ती... और यह लहरों पे लहराता हुवा नाचता हुवा गीत...

मैं जब भी इस गीत को सुनता हूँ ... तो मुझे ऐसे लगता है जैसे मेरा इनके साथ एक बहुत पुराना मेल है... जैसे इस धारा के साथ मुझे भी कहीं और जाना है...

कहीं दूर जाना है... जैसे मुझे भी किसी नाव का इंतेज़ार है... किसी माझी की ज़रूरत होती है |

A jumbo leap over the Mumbai cricketers’ support Yojana

Anil Kumble’s appointment as Indian cricket team’s head coach is not just an overwhelming recognition of the genial cricketer and his abilities but a refreshing change from extending the dole to Mumbai cricketers in general and Ravi Shastri in particular.

While much is being written all across the media about the credentials of Anil Kumble and how he is the deserving candidate, I shift focus to why Ravi Shastri did not deserve the job.

The cricketer-turned-manager-turned-commentator-turned-Director had a long enough association with Indian cricket and it is simply time to put his clichéd commentary to rest too.

Yes, Mumbai has won 41 of the 82 Ranji Trophy championships. 70 of the 285 Indian Test cricketers have represented Mumbai in the National championships. Mumbai cricketers have served well and have contributed enormously to Indian cricket, but then so too has Indian cricket administration (read as BCCI) served these cricketers for life.

Post their cricket playing days for the country, many a Mumbai cricketer has went on to make huge career (and of course enormous money too) in various capacities of the game - from Cricket coach, to administrator to selector to commentator. They have been endlessly supported in their quest for monetary benefits. Not that they didn't toil in their roles, but then it is quite surprising that Mumbai gets pride of place in selection for any plum post.

Until Jagmohan Dalmiya and subsequently N Srinivasan took over the reins of Indian cricket administration, it was always the Mumbaikars who called the shots, even while the Bindras were at the helm of affairs!

Some Mumbaikars who had a longer than deserving innings in public view through their cricket associations much after they retired from playing were/are Ajit Wadekar, Ashok Mankad, Chandrakant Pandit, Chandu Borde, Dilip Vengsarkar, Lalchand Rajput, Pravin Amre, Sandeep Patil, Ravi Shastri, Sanjay Manjrekar, Sunil Gavaskar. The last three have been the prime beneficiaries of the Mumbai cricketers’ eternal support Yojana. 

While at this, the time has come to rethink the commentary contract of the two ‘Kars’ too, the legendary Sunny needs to hang his ties and the irritable Sanjay needs to explore roles in Marathi cinema.

Hope, in the near future, Rahul Dravid joins his state-mate in mentoring the national team to continued glory. Meanwhile Indian Cricket is sure to see some achche din ahead. 

Kudos Anil.

----------------------------------------------------- Disclaimer----------------------------------------------------

I am a Big fan of Mumbai City and its cricketers Dilip Vengsarkar and Sachin Tendulkar, but not the appeasement of the retired players!

Pics courtesy: World Wide Web.

On second thought…

Sharath Dev was turning 30 in a month and his parents were eager to see him married soon, they felt it was already late. He had a plum job in the technology sphere with a good salary and owned an apartment in the high profile IT residential corridor, most of his childhood mates were married and settled with a family of their own. Proposals were sought and match making was in progress. One such prospective bride's parents found Sharath a suitable match for their convent educated daughter, who had her own fashion design studio.

All things seemed perfect and then the girl's father Raghav took time out from his Central Govt duties and travelled to the tech company to meet Sharath's employers. He made discreet enquiries about his future son-in-law with the receptionist, the HR executive, the security guard and also the parking assistant. Raghav was more or less convinced, but for the little bit of information of Sharath's partying habits everything seemed fine.

Sushil just completed his post graduation in management following his civil engineering and was busy scouting for a placement in an infrastructure company, he had given an interview a week back and was excited about the thought of working with a start-up. His weekend plans were to meet a few friends in the industry to make enquiries about his soon-to-be employer’s credentials. On receiving the offer and almost having decided to take it up, Sushil was advised by his father to meet Surinder, a senior executive in a competitor infra company. Surinder spoke at length to his friend Raghav's son, leaving the young man quite perplexed.

Mohan was a manager at one the branches of India’s largest private banks, an independent thinker and a social media buff. With the recent appraisal and the salary hike he was keen to buy a sedan for his family, well he and his wife Shruti, also a banker – with a National bank, lived on the other end of the city to Mohan’s parents’ residence. The couple had made up their mind to buy a Japanese car, well almost. Neha, Shruti’s college mate, advised her to speak to Kishore, who was a happy owner of an Indian SUV.

Kishore was a popular cricketer turned real estate agent, known for his penchant for latest gadgets among other things. He was quite a gentleman in the business, making money out of sensible and honest advice to his clients. Recently Kishore celebrated the launch of his new venture and the next day bought a smart phone in an instant, he picked up an expensive android and was checking out the features when a middle aged man shrugged at his choice and suggested to go for the upgraded variant of an iconic American brand. Kishore did not regret the choice he was influenced to make, albeit he consulted the showroom salesman before splurging. He seemed to recognize Mohan, with his sharp features that resembled the man in the mobile shop, he didn’t take long to place Surinder’s son. Soon the choice of car was made!

Shruti thanked Neha and promised to make it to her best friend’s wedding the next month without fail, her fiancé smiled. The duo drove in their SUV to the Lebanese restaurant for a quiet dinner. They both loved Mexican food, but the place they originally planned to eat at was too crowded, and the online App suggested Lebanese. While they were skeptical about the spread, the chance call from Deeksha, and the validation from her made the evening quite memorable for the soon-to-be married young couple.

Deeksha spent an hour everyday calling friends and random people from her friends’ shared database to tele-market her new offerings at the boutique, that call she made to a dining-out Neha was just the one before she called an elderly man Vinay Dev. While the man was not keen about modern designer apparel, he had a worry of his own, he casually asked her if she knew any urologists in her directory. Vinay found Dr Ravindra the right specialist to concur with about his septuagenarian father’s reports for an impending surgery, he was overwhelmed by the referral and wished to thank the young lady, but neither knew her name nor her contact number, which he lost through the numerous call notes. 

Chandra Dev, a retired military man, was ailing but extremely overjoyed today, he had just overheard his daughter-in-law speaking on the phone - a confirmation call about his grandson’s engagement. Vinay walked in, touched his father’s feet and told him he will have a painless surgery much before his son Sharath tied the knot with Deeksha.

Next week, Raghav and his wife went to invite the Inder brothers for their daughter’s wedding. The older Inder brother was not at home, he was busy operating on an ex army officer that day.

A month later, the young Dev couple were going on their honeymoon and it was Sushil’s first day at work, at the office entrance stood his boss’ gleaming new SUV.

We all live a life well connected through a Second Opinion! 

Disclaimer: All characters and incidents in the story are a figment of imagination, any resemblance to anybody living or dead is purely coincidental

Indian media fanning politics of religion and polarization

A minority that is giving the majority a bad name and defaming an entire religion and a slanted media narrative that is adding fuel to the fire – welcome to the new style of ‘politics of polarization’ taking roots in India.

 No, I am not referring to the now clichéd “minority community”, but the motley minority of extreme thinking Hindu politicians who have voiced opinion adverse to the tenets of Sanatana Dharma* and the concept of Vasudaiva Kutumbakam^, that is now the basis of a media generalization – happily lapped up by the political opposition and a ‘magnanimously-fed-by-left-liberal’ media houses.

National Democratic Alliance (NDA) 2.0 coming to power in 2014 with an absolute majority for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) meant that every step of its parent body Rashtriya Swamsevak Sangh (RSS) would be scrutinized. While there has not been any drastic approach of the Government in imposing the “Hindutva agenda” as the Indian National Congress and its alliance partners have been mongering the Indian electorate for securing the power for itself for decades, few insensitive remarks by BJP MPs began to give enough fodder for the starved-for-sensationalism media to play up.

Every action or speech of a few outspoken Sangh background ruling party MPs gave discomforting moments for the popularly elected Government, causing enough embarrassment to the democratic fabric of the nation of diverse religion and culture.

There is a rising wave of anti-Hindu political reporting in the media, thanks to the jealously driven hate against Narendra Modi. An outspoken politician whose popularity gave his party the massive victory in the general elections and one that has only grown through the endorsement of his Government’s vision by the international community, Modi is continued to be undeservingly hated by the media for quite too long now.

It is really saddening that Hindus are being shamed just because the Gujarat chief minister, a Hindu icon, aspired to become the prime minister of the country and succeeded in his very first attempt, while dozens of ageing politicians across the left and left leaning socialist parties have been dreaming of and failing to grab the coveted post without adding much value through constructive debate in repeated stints in the parliament.

Vying with the opposition politicians are media houses, writers, film actors, celebrities of any and every kind - all ganged up against Modi’s idea of India. The vicious anti-Modi hate narrative is tilting its target towards Hinduism, which is becoming the victim.

While no opportunity is missed to highlight the repeatedly headline making quote “Terror has no religion”, justifiably too, there is always a “saffron terror” tag attached to one deranged Hindu’s act of crime. ‘Hindu’ and ‘Hindutva’ are fleetingly generalized, a commentary that has been built by a pseudo secular political mileage driven agenda.

.

Sample these two excerpts from the recent media reports:

“A mob of two hundred Hindu men, incited by the village priest, killed a Muslim neighbour and nearly killed his son on the strength of a rumour that they had been eating beef.”

“A play titled 'Agnes of God' has been called off after religious groups objected to it.”

While, the lynching of a fellow human for the food choices he makes is inhuman and barbaric and needs to condemned univocally, where is the need to paint the incident as a general ‘Hindu” mindset?  The Church is justified in its objection of the play about an American nun who gives birth to a dead child and claims it is the result of a virgin conception, which has been made into a film and has played all over the world.

Isolated acts of crime including arson and looting at religious places get reported as “Attack on Christianity” and “Burning of Churches” by HINDU RIGHT WING. There are no follow up reports on the antecedents of the criminals nabbed in such incidents and stories die natural death when the purported crime has no religious hate attached to it.

Strangely the Freedom of Expression brigade in the media goes to town only when the sentiments of a few minority “religious groups” are hurt by the Hindu men and saffron terrorrists, but it is never the other way round. This polarizing trend is increasingly becoming the norm by the media with its ‘reporters’ who are happily peddling opinion in the garb of news and reporting. Equally deplorable is the intolerant few in the Hindu right wing support group on the social media expressing their disapproval through extremely acerbic language, easily avoidable in a democratic debate.

No editor has ever questioned the usage of the “hindu men” for mob, and the “religious group” for the minority presence in a crime scenario.

Changing times for India where the words ‘ethics’, ‘neutral, ‘unbiased’ and ‘objectivity’ are losing their relevance in journalism.

Notes:

*Sanatana Dharma: in Hinduism, term used to denote the “eternal” or absolute set of duties or religiously ordained practices incumbent upon all Hindus, regardless of class, caste, or sect.

^Vasudaiva Kutumbakam: A Sanskrit phrase which means "the world is one family".

Celebrating the Silver Jubilee of R & D

Set the alarm and wake up at 4.00 am, brush and get fresh, have coffee and leave home by 4.30 am, park the car and rush into the railway station by 5.00 am for the 5.15 am train. Wait patiently for the announcement of the platform number, with no news till 5.30 go to the enquiry counter and get no response. More waiting, a round of bland machine coffee, pick up a newspaper, sit in a corner of Platform no. 1 and read through most of it while the ear reaches out to the announcement amidst the cackling noises and glancing eagerly at the far end television monitor for updates. Finally at 6.15 the ‘Chennai Express’ is sounded on the loudspeaker, to arrive ‘shortly’ on platform no. 6. Tuck the newspaper under the arm and climb the stairs to descend on the now already full ‘stage’. Some more waiting and a round of crossword in the now crumpled newspaper, with patience waned, the train chugs in slowly at 7.00. The frantic glance across the windows ends with the sight of the ‘relative’ standing at the door of S 12.

I proclaim with open arms: ‘Welcome to Hyderabad’, and uncle responds with ‘we are at Secunderabad right’, a broad grin masks my disapproval of the PJ.

The day went by with the usual ‘guided tour’ of tourist spots in and around the twin cities. The next day is for the shopping at General Bazaar, garments, pearls, Karachi biscuits and more. Late afternoon siesta plans are abandoned for its time for the return journey. Packed dinner in tow we leave home at 4.00pm to arrive at Secunderabad at 4.25pm exactly an hour before the Chennai Express departs. Some extended small talk while straining my eyes to sight the train which arrives grudgingly late by 30 minutes. The customary good bye done, I drive back home with the car stereo playing Kishore Kumar’s “Chala jaata hoon kisi ki dhun mein…” and the mind goes back to over two decades of R and D and gets nostalgic. Yes, Receiving and Dropping in short the R & D, of friends, relatives, cousins, aunts and uncles from and to Railway Stations, Bus stands and Airports seems to have been a practice, now over 25 years.

I recollect my college days when it was early morning travel by local bus to the railway station followed by the auto rickshaw ride home with cousins, then as years went by the pickup and drops by two wheelers and later by four wheelers. From summer holiday jaunts to business visits to attending functions of friends and relatives, to study related visits of younger cousins and nephews and nieces the innumerable R & D had brought lot of cheer. 

This apart the numerous trips to the old Begumpet airport for R & D of friends embarking on chasing their American dreams and studying in the land of opportunities, too have been countless. In the course of this R & D, I have done lots of research and development to improve the ‘service’ with the emphasis on punctuality being never compromised.

While most brought cheer, some brought gifts, some carried light luggage others carried huge ‘baggage’, some reciprocated the ‘favour’ at their home towns while others had none of it in their dna, nonchalantly arranging the neighbourhood taxi driver to engage in the R & D or simply see off from the local bus stop unemotionally.

The fast paced life and with changing times, the visits have been dwindling, the R & D reduced to an occasional affair. These days friends and relatives book their cab from their source city, prefer staying at hotels, drop into the city and take off uninformed, some even come and make this city their own, but remain incognito. 

Life goes on, as I await the next call for that much loved early morning mission and another update to my long list of R & D! 

What ails India?

In Conversation with a young lady journalist

A middle-aged middle class hard working salesman in a private manufacturing firm recently met a young lady journalist in a train and then they got talking on varied subjects… eventually the salesman realized the answer to many an Indian’s never answered question – What ails India?

The setting: winter evening - in a second class train compartment. Salesman travelling to headquarters to attend a two-day meeting sitting at the window reading a weekly magazine with the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi featured on the cover page. Lady sitting at the opposite window reading a voluminous Ayn Rand novel with her spectacles perched over her head, occasionally glancing at her older co-traveler.

After exchanging few glances and bored of reading their respective books, they strike a conversation.

Here are the excerpts:

Sales Man (SM): Hi, that’s an interesting book you are reading, are you a student?

Journalist Lady (JL): No, I’m a journalist with a leading English magazine.

SM: That’s nice to hear.

JL: Do you actually believe that the man on the cover of the magazine you are reading is going to bring Achche Din (good days)?

SM: (Taken aback with the pointed question) Of course. He’s a proven administrator who has the wherewithal to lead the nation grappling with many ills into a better future.

JL: Humbug, he is a mass murderer … a man responsible for the death of thousands of innocent people in the 2002 Gujarat massacre… a right wing conceited leader who has no family, no respect for the constitution. I think he’s a huge blot on the secular fabric of this country.

SM: But wasn’t he elected with a huge mandate to lead the nation after a highly disappointing and corrupt administration crippled the economy?

JL: A mandate that is not a majority of the Indian populace, just a 30+ percentage that chose his party. He is going to destroy this nation. He is the worst thing to happen to India.

SM: You are being judgmental. Your prejudice is born out of excessive media hounding of the left-liberal kind that has been ever cynical of anything that is not conforming to the western ideals.

JL: Now you are bring judgmental and branding us with your fleeting generalization. We are the modern generation of Indians who like to be democratic in the true sense. We don’t like to be told what to do and when to do – we love to do things our way…

SM: … by compromising on our values and culture?

JL: What values and what culture are you talking about? We don’t need this government to thrust itself upon us… we know don’t need to be forcibly “Hindu-ised” with this culture thingy!

The conversation now had more spectators and heads turned with other passengers listening intently too…

SM: (Not wanting to be argumentative – digresses from the issue) so what do you write about as a journalist?

JL: (Beams, pleased to be talking about her work) I write on rural India, issues concerning women and the under privileged, travel a lot on the countryside.

SM: You are a young knowledgeable person, the nation needs citizens like you to set an example by contributing to its progress. Glad to know of your writing works… so what do you write about?

JL: I highlight their misery and how the government has turned a blind eye by promising big before the elections and now catering to the large corporate – we are doomed, the poor are getting poorer and committing suicides in Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh. Our PM is busy touring the world has no time for these issues.

SM: Oh, you are back to your pet peeve – bashing the PM and his Govt. Isn’t this government just a year old and the poverty and the poor conditions prevalent for decades with successive governments having done little to improve? Have you ever been to villages in Karnataka and highlighted the farmer suicides there?

JL: Are you a RSS guy? A sort of Congress basher?

SM: I am a law abiding Indian citizen, a voter without a bias towards caste, creed, religion or any political leaning. I expect the press to do its role of being a watchdog without being biased and expect it to be objective in reporting. I find your question very subjective. So what makes you think I am one?

JL: (Glances at the magazine cover) Ok, let’s leave it there.

SM: Ok fine… Do you watch movies?

JL: Oh yes… Mostly Hollywood… they make filthy movies here in Bollywood.

SM: …and Telugu, Tamil South movies?

JL: They are all garish, loud and show women in poor light. Cheap quality stuff.

SM: But then I heard Bahubali is an expensive movie with massive settings… on par with Hollywood magnum opuses.

JL: There is too much hype here… I hate them all – glorifying Indian myths with over the top masculine dominated stories.

SM: Hmmm…well not sure Hollywood was any different, any way what else do you read? Indian authors? Chetan Bhagat?

JL: Oh, I have never read his books, the guy is so jarring and obsessive – a trashy novelist from what I’ve heard about his works.

SM: Are you not on the social media? Did you read his recent column in a newspaper where he called the Modi fans on internet – the so called bhakts – "Frustrated and Complex Ridden Male" who speak poor English and claim to be Modi loyalists?

JL: I’m on Facebook. Oh, he said that? I’m beginning to love this guy. (takes notes) I will have to do an interview of him for my mag. I should soon read his “best sellers” too! Thanks for that ‘lead’ (smiles)

SM: …and Shobha De? What about her writings – read them ever?

JL: Yuck! Is she a writer? She is one hell of soft porn writer who titillates to sell stuff to voyeuristic regressive Indian men. Shame on being called a woman.

SM: Heard she has been going hammer and tongs over the Shiv Sena and BJP in Mumbai – taking up cudgels against their legislators and making terse remarks over the Government’s initiative to promote Marathi in multiplexes?

JL: Wow! What did she do?

SM: She tweeted - "No more pop corn at multiplexes in Mumbai? Dahi misal and vada pav only. To go better with the Marathi movies at prime time" 

JL: I am impressed, she is right… what a woman. I must follow her on Twitter.

SM: So are you on twitter? Do you use the social media much?

JL: I’m on twitter, but only follow films, film stars and entertainment news - isn’t that all it is about?

SM: It is much more! Have you heard of Shruti Seth, the Hindi actress?

JL: No – who is she? Has she ever acted in any popular film? Must be third grade flop actress… why do you ask?

SM: She made a name for herself through twitter by posting against the PM and his recent project of #SelfieWithDaughter

JL: Well, that sounds interesting – bravo woman – must have been a very right thing to do. What did she say?

SM: She criticized the PM and invited the wrath of the twitter users who felt it was insulting to be critical of a ‘beautiful’ online initiative – she ended up calling the abuse and played the victim card… she is now popular.

JL: Must follow her. Twitter must be a wonderful place to be in.

SM: As a journalist what’s your opinion on Sagarika Ghose?

JL: Does drab boring stories, very predictable… loud and irritating. Got to the top using her Dad’s connection. Bleh!

SM: On Twitter she is a revelation. Makes fleeting comments against Narendra Modi, mostly very inept juvenile observations. I feel she does them to basically invite the negative comments from the PM’s supporters and then as usual play the victim.

JL: Amazing, no wonder… she comes from a rich lineage and has to be right – I guess I will soon be more active on twitter. Tell me more… some more interesting people to follow.

SM: I am sure you will be ‘impressed’ with Kavita Krishnan, Teesta Setalwad, Priyanka Chaturvedi, Rajdeep Sardesai, Barkha Dutt and a host of Indian TV journalists and of course Ashutosh and other AAP leaders.

JL: You follow them all? So how do you feel being on twitter… must be a great learning experience?

SM: I don’t know how I feel… Yes, I learnt a lot about the modern Indian cynic and ‘What ails India?’ - They call me names: Internet Hindoo, Bhakt, Troll and more…

JL: Good night.

SM: (yawns)… Good night.

------------------------------------------- pic courtesy: internet ------------------------------

Disclaimer: The above is a fictitious conversation..