Dreams of childhood

“Bade Hoke Kya Banoge?” is I think the question kids have to answer the most. Childhood is the time when you can imagine and dream of anything. Nothing seems out of your reach and everything looks possible. And better still, nobody frowns at you when you state your wish.

I too dreamed of becoming an astronaut, a scientist, a cricketer, a police officer, and who knows what!! Of course, nobody told me the kind of physics you need to master to become a scientist. I could not handle the physics of class XI alone and my scientist dreams went down the drain. Astronaut is something which I think most kids dream of becoming. But you need to be a scientist first to do so, and you might have to wait all your life for an opportunity to actually go into space. Things look so good and easy on TV…..

In India, who does not dream of becoming a cricketer? So did I. And I was quite serious despite being a pretty poor player. I used to go play on weekends apart from street cricket almost every day. I tried for trials once for the school team but could not get through. I tried for cricket coaching at a sports complex near my place, but could not continue after a few days due to studies and all…

Indian movies sometime wants you become a police officer, not knowing police officers in India are the bad guys and not the good guys as shown in movies. Well, such are childhood dreams. Wild in imagination and endless in possibilities. For most students, these wild dreams change to more realistic dreams of becoming an engineer, a doctor or a CA during the last years of school.

Share with me what all you wanted to become as a kid. How wild were your imaginations?

Best Match I have ever seen

Australia had their best team ever in 2001 under Steve Waugh. They had won the previous 16 test matches on a trot, including the 1st test against India at Mumbai. The 2nd test match was to begin on 11 Mar at the Eden Park, Kolkata and Steve Waugh was finally going to conquer the final frontier. Australia batted first and started in trademark fashion, reaching 193/1 at tea in 53 overs. But a very young Harbhajan Singh had other plans. After tea, his deliveries were like bombs for the Australians. Ponting, Gilchrist and Warne fell in successive balls, giving Bhajji a hat-trick and Australia slid to 291/8 at the end of play.

India would have thought (and wanted) to get them out early 2nd way, but Steve Waugh, the captain was still batting with Jason Gillespie. India’s hopes faded out soon, as Waugh got to his century and Australia to 400. He kept full confidence in Gillespie and McGrath and rotated strike with them, unlike other players who try to take full strike with tail enders. The partnership of 133 for the 9th wicket and 43 runs for the last wicket showed the world his confidence in his men. Australia finally finished at 445 with Bhajji taking 7.

India started in trademark fashion, losing their first wicket with no run on the scorecard. Those days Dravid was an opener who did not open in most of the matches he played. The conquering Australians had McGrath, Gillespie and Warne and India’s score of 128/8 at the end of day 2’s play was no surprise. Australia were looking at their 17th straight win and a test series win in India after some three decades. On day 3, India folded out of 171, and as expected, Australia imposed the follow on, unaware of what awaited them. India finished day 3 at 254/4, still 20 runs behind Australia’s first innings total and their last recognized pair at the crease.

Walking off after batting the whole of Day 4

Walking off after batting the whole of Day 4

March 14, 2001 would be the longest day in test cricket for Australia. For, India finished day 4 at 589/4. 90 overs, 0 wickets, 335 runs. Well, the last recognized pair of India have batted the whole day. Laxman made the highest individual score by an Indian going past Gavaskar’s 236. Dravid gave him able company at the other end. Both played some exquisite shots all round the park that day, and even McGrath and Warne were seen helpless. Laxman’s wristy strokes and Dravid’s class eroded Australia’s pride in that one day like a desert storm. Atleast India would get a draw now, the whole country was hoping.

On day 5, Ganguly declared India’s second innings at 657/7, giving Australia a target of 384 runs. Whole India and the cricket experts thought why did not he just bat till draw was the only outcome possible. But the south paw had other plans, he was thinking of winning the test match after following-on. Only 2 times have that happened before in the history of test cricket, and guess what, Australia have lost against England both the times. Some 75,000 people have turned up at the Eden Gardens on the final day to watch history being made. At tea, Australia were 161/3 in 43 overs, will all 3 results still possible. After tea, Harbhajan removed Waugh and Ponting in quick succession. The score read 166/5. Enter Tendulkar, with his off breaks, leg breaks and the occasional seam delivery. Gilchrist, Hayden and Warne just could not figure out what was happening, with all three falling lbw to Tendulkar. The score now read 174/8. Bhajji completed the formalities and Australia folded out of 212, handing India a victory by 171 runs.

Bhajji’s 13 wickets in the match (including a hat-trick), Laxman’s 281 and Dravid’s 180 in a partnership of 376 runs for the 5th wicket, and Tendulkar’s 3 wickets in the final session, all played their part in triggering the Australian collapse when they lost 7 wickets for 46 runs. Whole of Kolkata and India was celebrating like they have won the world cup. And Steve Waugh was given a high voltage shock by the Indian Team led by Ganguly. They went on to lost the final match in Chennai and the final frontier remained unconquered for Australia and Steve Waugh.

Is it ok to be “Like That Only”?

We have the most affluent / rich people of the world living here in Mumbai which also has the largest slum in Dharavi. We have people as educated as Manmohan Singh, Amartya Sen, and yet half our population is illiterate. We have people who are using the latest technology in every aspect of life, yet there are villages where there is no electricity yet. We have become the healthcare destination of the world, yet 1000 people die daily of diarrhea, TB, and many other diseases. We have rivers like Ganga, Yamuna… yet we have floods and droughts, every year in different parts of the country. Our child malnutrition rate is pathetic, and even basic amenities are eluded from many Indians.

Somebody has rightly remarked that India lives in many generations. People have become used to live and co-exist with each other. We dont feel strange when a beggar comes asking on a traffic signal while we are sitting in our air-conditioned car. We dont feel bad when we spend thousands of rupees drinking at a bar when that money could sponsor the education of many children for a year. A traffic cop once stopped me when I jumped a red light in a hurry, I took out a Rs 50 note, and he said “Mininum 100”. I said “wow, minimum amount as a bribe”. If you discuss these issues with people, many will reply “We are like that only”. OK. Agreed. We are like that only. But is it OK to be like that only. It is certainly not right to be like that only. Where the inequalities between the rich and poor is increasing day by day.

Why we dont think / act about the issues facing the neglected segment of our population? Being privileged with education, jobs and a good lifestyle, we should be the people who should make efforts for the unprivileged. But no, we are happy to go clubbing after a day’s work and see the plight of the poor being exploited by some news channel on TV. We will blame the politicians, crib about it with friends, but one thing we will not do is ACT. And to justify it, pat comes the reply “We are like that only”

This is an issue which all of us must have felt deep regret for sometime in our lives. While going ahead with the world, why are we leaving our unprivileged brothers behind? When will this change? I am going to leave this issue open for discussion. You are free to comment on why our attitude has become so “sick”. How long can we continue to be “like that only“?

Accountability

India is a huge nation. And it has a lot of problems. Problems that make the perfect water cooler discussion topics in every part of the country. Everybody has solutions to every problem of India, but yet the problems remain. We have come to accept that “We are like that only” when we come face to face with various problems which the country faces. Some say the large population is the problem, some say poverty, some think lack of education and literacy is the problem, and our politicians and babus are more like road-blocks than smooth flyovers.

So, the question is, how do you manage a country with a diversity as large as India’s. As a democratic country, the pillars of a successful India are its legislative, judiciary and executive. I would like to add “media” as the fourth pillar of any vibrant political system. All these systems exist in India, but are not working as they should be. Or in other words, they are not “Accountable“. Anybody in a powerful position has a lot of responsibility. In our system, those in power are not accountable to anybody if they do not perform their duty as expected from them. It has become too easy to escape a punishment after doing something wrong. It could be as small as jumping a red light and bribing the traffic policeman to escape a challan to a minister framing policies for corporates in return for financing for his party activities. Why? Because the traffic policeman has no fear of accepting bribe. Even if caught, he will not be given any strict punishment. Even IAS officers cought taking bribe are suspended with 70% pay while an enquiry / case is going on. Which can take ages to complete? and so on and so on…

Everything sitting in a position of power in this country can escape easily if he does not do what is expected to do? Because he is not “accountable” to the people of the country. If he does not perform, he should be punished / penalized so hard that others think twice before committing the same mistake. People say that people in government jobs , employees dont work while private employees work as expected. The only difference is in accountability. The same people will work when they move from public sector to private sector, but not in the government. And the same people, be it politicians, bureaucrats, babus, police, or a peon, will start working as expected if they were made accountable and every irregularity be harshly dealt with.

But where will this “Accountability” come from? Who will make the rules? Who will implement them? And the answer is a Leader. India today needs a leader who is strong, tough and can implement and stand on what he/she says. A leader that can inspire from the words he speak, and from his/her actions. We have a few examples here and there, and the departments under such tough leaders have always performed better than the average what is expected of any government task.

Unless such a leader comes, who thinks beyond himself, his party, his state, his religion and thinks for this country as a whole and who has the courage to take tough decisions and stand by them, the problems will remain. But India has the power to become the most developed state in the world if led properly and accountably. In a democracy, we cannot make such a leader, we only have to wait for him/her to come!! And that is the irony of being a democracy.

Cricket and Me

At the Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore

At the Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore

I went to see a Champions League T20 Match between Delhi and Bangalore at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore in 2009. What I saw there was a confirmation of what I have always heard – “India is a Cricket Mad Nation and Cricket is a Religion“. But the extent of it even surprised me. It was like seeing a pothole in the middle of Indian roads, you always knew it was there, but were still shaken by it!

Cricket!! This word means a lot (I mean “really LOT”) to cricket crazy Indians. In fact, how cricket unites India is amazing. And to me too. My earliest memory of cricket is watching Kapil Dev playing on my black and white TV set with my father sometimes. It was before Sachin Tendulkar came onto the scene in 1989, but I dont remember the exact year. My first properly followed cricket tournament was the 1992 world cup in Australia. Those were the days when pitches still used to be green, bowlers still used to get batsmen out by bowling amazing deliveries and a test matches series consisted of 5 matches. In other words, there used to be contest between bat and ball. Today, batsmen and bowlers are like USA and Iraq, with Iraq only allowed one bomb per day (aka one bouncer per over), and they will be attacked from air where they cant do anything (Powerplays).

Like many other Indians, I too dreamed to be a cricketer once (though I was never a good player). I used to play in school, near my home, even attended cricket coaching for sometime, but then the school books crushed my cricketing dreams. But watching and following cricket continued as ever. I have even watched a Test Match on television with missing a single ball. Yes, craziness can get to this level sometimes. But you can’t blame me if you get to see Kumble taking all 10 wickets in an innings, or India winning after a follow on, or Sachin gatecrashing Australia’s party at Sharjah.

My most amazing cricket memories are 1996 world cup and Sachin Tendulkar, Ganguly and Dravid making their debut in 1996 in England, Sachin and Ganguly opening on ODIs, Kumble taking all 10 in an innings at Kotla, Test Victory over Australia after following on, Sachin’s back to back centuries in Sharjah and his duet with Shane Warne, Sehwag hitting his triple hundreds in amazing style and many more memories of Lara, Warne, Steve Waugh, Wasim Akram and other greats.

Looking back at the last 2 decades, cricket is still played with bat and ball, but a lot have changed. Test Matches are less, there are no practice matches on tour, ODIs and T20 rule the roost these days. Players are refusing board contracts and preferring to play as freelancers, making more money by playing in cash rich T20 tourneys.. Many have retired from Test Cricket to focus on T20s and ODIs… Money has come into cricket, and we (read BCCI) have started it. Lalit Modi has changed the game with his innovations. Players rely more on power than technique now….

I don’t know what the future has in store, but I hope that cricket still gives chance for bowlers like Warne, Kumble, Akram, McGrath to flourish and bowling remain an important part of cricket and not overshadowed by batsmen. I will continue to follow cricket, but the pleasure of watching a Rahul Dravid cover drive or a Sachin Tendulkar straight drive is much more than watching Sehwag or Dhoni or Symonds in bang-bang mode.