Liquor Money to the rescue of Mahatma's legacy!

Mahatma’s legacy saved – thanks to the liquor money!

What could have been a better anti-climax than the above?

The past few days, another event being tracked as a time-ticking explosive device, is the auctioning of some of Bapu's personal belongings. It all started when one of the news channel aired the news about Bapu’s grandson Thushar Gandhi starting a collection with an intent to buy some of Bapu's personal belongings being put up for auction in the US. Since then, every media channel has been tracking the entire episode so closely.

Soon, we came to know about one Mr. Otis, who supposedly collects these Gandhian memorabilia and all of a sudden decided to auction them for reasons, only he can comprehend. Whatever be the merits of his intentions, to him, this entire episode came as the best possible publicity stunt ever, to be on prime-time television. He, claiming himself to be an astute Gandhian, tried to hold the Indian Government hostage, threw a policy challenge to increase the GDP allocation for the poor to 5%, overnight! I ask, why not more? Or, sponsor his road-shows in some 78 countries (god knows, why 78 and not 79) for the next 10 years, towards promoting non-violence.

If he were a true Gandhian, taking a walk, as Bapu used to do, would have been a better option to spread the message of non-violence.

Enough of spicy masalas on the plate, we soon had a prime-time concoction of debates and exchange of views between the Indian Government, Mr. Otis, historians and few other millionaires offering to buy those items - all in the interest of saving the nation!

What struck me is this?

Have we become so infatuated with a sense of tokenism? Agreed, the iconic spectacles and personal watch, which rather symbolized Bapu himself, are so important, and part of the rich heritage for us to cherish as a nation. Did anyone even care to know the existence of these items put for sale till a month ago? What are we going to do next? Go search for the personal stuff of all our national leaders all over the globe?

We as a nation, have all but lost sight of the very values upon which he based his life on, while we cry amuck about some of his material belongings. If his personal belongings going under the hammer is considered defamatory to Bapu’s stature, so would be the various heinous acts conducted by our politicians and our society, under the very name of the freedom for which he fought his entire life.

Contrary to the simplicity with which the Bapu lead his life, even he would be bemused and amused by the fact that few of his personal belongings could fetch millions of dollars towards whatever nobler cause and by the tale of a liquor baron coming to save his legacy!

Slumdog Part II

The scheme of operation for a prime-time TV channel appears quite straightforward these days. Put your muscle to fan up any issue or event, create a mass hysteria with non-stop nonsensical coverage of an event and then debate about the rationality of the public reaction to it.

Last night, one of the major TV Channel, debated the entire hoopla about how the creators of Slumdog Millionaire exploited the dark side of the Indian reality and had supposedly served it as 'poverty porn' for the western society.

Their claim is that the movie concurred with the majority of the western nations' perception of India as a land of snake charmers. Agreed, that is the sad reality of predominant western xenophobes, who, still a few years back, used to ask me if I had TVs and A/Cs in India. If we consider that opinion as disgraceful ignorance, so should any of the acclaim they shower upon us, like the Oscars or the BAFTAs.

We should be one of the shameful hypocrites in the world!

If Slumdog favored their opinion about the sad state of affairs of a Mumbai slum, that perception to most extent is also the reality. So, while we take pride and celebrate the accomplishments of a Resul Pookutty or ARR, we denigrate the medium that provided them that opportunity.
But, why do we fail to accept that sad reality? Because, we think, it is no one's business to showcase our miseries, while we hide behind the ugly reality of a supposedly shining India?

Contrary to our claims about India as an emerging power, we are (still) living with a vast majority of our society yet to benefit the fruits of the acclaimed economic growth. With lack of basic sanitation, more than 40% of our population still defecates in the open! We are toping the world hunger index and consistently bad in the corruption index. Whatever political reasons we attribute that to, how can we disassociate ourselves from our responsibility to fix that, for we are the ones electing our in-efficient administrators - if they are to be blamed for the grim reality.

Invariably, any success story in India would be a fight against odds, for life here is a winding road in every aspect, which would bring out specks of these ugly realities, be it our slums, corrupt politicians or irresponsible citizens - us.

Instead of pushing the skeletons under a shining carpet, let’s have the tenacity to face the reality – whoever portrays that- and only that can lead us to fix the maladies one day!

An Oscar, at last !

From a subtle Dillip to Alla Rakha Rahman, from Jingles to Roja to an awe-inspiring ensemble at the Kodak Theatre, sure has AR Rahman come a long way to hold the much-coveted, if not one, two oscars on his hand. Given our passion towards anything Western, there had been various futile attempts at the Oscars for an Indian, be it from the Satyajit Ray times, Water, Lagaan, and for whatever reasons - to lack of familiarity of the local language or a good marketing theme - no one individual on their own merit could hold that statuette till now. No wonder the media, both video and print, spent a good amount of space to cover the achievement.

Call it a poverty-porn and you could argue that we still needed a portrayal of the typical Indian dichotomy of slums and new age uprising to win the stamp of approval from the West. I still believe the West is not yet ready to acclaim an Asian encore on its true merits, primarily their prejudices to blame.

So, who lead us to the final destination? Did we really need a Danny Boyle and his well-orchestrated marketing machinery, to take us to the ultimate destination or a typical ARR would have made it on his own merit?

Definitely, there are much better singles that have come out of ARR's repertoire than Jai Ho! It is just that, being at the right time at the right place with the right people made a big difference for this unassuming individual. I would definitely rate Ilaiyaraja's tunes in Hey Ram or Anbe Sivam above a Jai Ho. And so would I rate a Chinna Chinna Asai or a Konjam Nillavu or a Nenjinilae of ARR, above a O Saya.

As was widely claimed, it was India's day at the Oscars and never would Hollywood have seen so many Indian faces or its contributions put to enthral what would typically be a show for a western audience. What more was also at display was, the humility and simplicity of this man, while walking the red carpet with his wife or while giving his acceptance speech, that was more obviously less plastic compared to the unrestrained clamor of the others.

If this event marked the arrival of India in a bigger scene, to me, that humility and less extravagance would what keep us right there. It does not matter how high you get or how West you venture out, still there is some fundamental Indianess that would help us firmly footed on the ground!

Kudos to ARR and hope he takes the Indian Music to far-reaching heights.

Welcome Mr. President!

From the Plantation fields to Pennsylvania Avenue, it sure was an arduous journey for a community and its leader, Barack Hussein Obama, who took oath as the 44th president of the most powerful nation in the world (may be!).No surprise that the entire world is waiting in awe of, how this frail looking individual can stroke his magic wand to ring in miracles and to stroke the confidence, which gets eroded everyday. Credit sure goes to the Americans for they had to make a wild choice of a woman or a coloured individual for the top post and sure they did put to display their free spirit and egalitarianism in choosing Obama over a biblical, rather, less hawkish white. Not sure if any of the European country is ready for a moment like this.

While the world celebrates the ascendancy of a black from the backdrop of apartheid, it is no news to India. While the world talks in length about the transformation from the days of Rosa Parks, our nation does have an exemplary track record in affirmative action and in providing an equitable society. A backward class, a women, a Muslim, a Sikh in Presidency, a Dalit as the Chief Justice, a powerful Dalit Chief Minister and we can go on and on. Not so surprisingly then has been the successful adaptation of our Gandhian metaphor in civil rights movements across the globe - be it in South Africa or the United States.

During the course of the election process, there were some statistics on how the entire world preferred Obama over McCain, if they had a choice of voting. By theory, in a bi-polar setup, human preference could be a factor of true merit of one individual or by a sheer rejection of the other.

Take for example the political situation in Tamil Nadu - it is always one of the better evils among the two dravidian parties - not that one definitely overpowers the other in ideology, performance or governance.
Over the past two terms of ruling, George W has been successful in garnering so much animosity across every nook of the globe, that no wonder such positivity in abundance came in favor of Obama. People had no other choice, but, to welcome Change from a menial, who has landed the country and the globe in a ditch.

Overblowing of this 'Change' trumpet could possibly out-smart Obama himself, for he is treading into territories and acceding challenges which can become humanly impossible for anyone to manage. The legacy he inherits and the environment both within and outside the United States is simmering with issues that are extremely volatile and the expectation is so huge on an apparently frail shoulder.

Two major wars being waged on as of today, a middle-east scenario that is more precarious than before, the unruly brat in the house - Israel - is only making the task much worse over a fragile piece of land, the dire need to conjure an exit strategy out of Iraq - all leaves him with not too many allies across the globe. Sure enough the bullies in the form of Putin and Medvedev would give him some migraine on the missile-shield front, so would Iran. The once 'super power' situation being challenged by a stronger China, and the possible shift of power focus across the globe from a weaker europe, are all realities that he has to confront with. Already there are signs of few grey hair showing up on his head and that could keep him think for a moment - 'What a mess did I get into?'

Internally, the nation as such is confronted by ironies of contrasting proportions. An economy that is sagging down the drain by the day, while a cosmopolitan president spends more than a hundred million dollars for inauguration. Ever growing line of the jobless versus the madness of equal magnitude to buy an iPhone 3G or to watch a star trek thriller. Too much ofa fiscal deficit to surmount versus the Madoffs who still manage to make mockery of the regulatory framework and make wall street look like vegas strip!

As David Letterman recently put it in his Top 10, Obama's new rhetoric could be "Yes we can...or may be not, it's hard to say"

But, history makes us believe that the United States as a nation has put to display their resiliency and enterprise spirit more often and the world(still) needs a stronger United States for its locomotion and expects a change at any cost.

Extraordinary situations mandate extraordinary men. Unlike his predecessor,Obama, who single-handedly ran a campaign with the best of spirit and faith, appears to be the right person for the resurrection.
Hope he can proclaim for his next term - 'Yes, we did!'

Welcome to the Reality - Mr. President!

Resilience may not be a Virtue!

So, what is different this time other than the magnitude of the tragedy and the targets? White collared elite and Westerners got caught in the ire of the heinous act of terror that ravaged high-end hotels rather than the usual crowded market places. So, instead of the hue and cry from hapless shop-keepers, middle-class citizens and office goers, thanks to the media that has almost converted this national tragedy into 24x7 soap opera, we got to hear the accented voices of convent educated, Versace shades clad citizens, corporate and tinsel horde, who suddenly appear to have every possible solution to root-out the menace of terror.

Our Attitude – the primary culprit!
Bomb the neighbor, shun away from politics, blame the intelligence agencies, don’t pay taxes, kick the bureaucrats – just a few of the solutions offered!
We as a nation, are increasingly shifting our locus of control to factors external to us, rather than looking inwards. It is always him or them and not me or us! External factors do not even mean the forces across the border, be it tasteful or stateless, and seldom do we ever realize that, it is our own Self that is responsible for anything that has happened to us or that is knocking at our doors.

Not a surprise, even a modest and highly sensible person like our prime minister, for obvious political compulsions, could not fall into the trap of pointing fingers across the borders, within hours the incident happened. Not to renounce the fact that, there is every possible reason to believe that it is the forces across the borders that caused this massacre. But, we have been doing this blame game for nearly 60 years with zilch a result.

Even if the neighbor honors our demarche, how assertive is our legal system and our political will to reign-in justice on the culprits?

Now some hard facts.
Think of us measly souls who would do anything to outsmart each other – to jump a traffic light, to venture into the wrong side of the road. Bribe to get anything done - to jump a line anywhere, be it cinema halls, government offices, ticket reservations or even in a temple, to see Mr. God - all in the mad rush to be the First. Be the First to shoot ourselves on the foot and thereby, we have a built a system that now breeds itself on corruption in every walk of life.

When was the last time we willingly offered to wait in a gate to be frisked or to display our id cards for verification? We all want security, but seldom do we realize it is all-pervasive and seldom are we ready to compromise even an inch of the comfort we enjoy.

Whatever security cover we have is merely symbolic. Remember the scenes during the parliament attack, when our poor security guards were fighting the terrorists with guns from World War 1 period. When was the last time we patiently let the security guards examine our baggage at the airport? The metal detectors put up in many railway stations, temples and malls; either does not function or keeps beeping all the time. God knows what they are detecting. Most of us would prefer to give it a skip, with no one forcing us to get thru the detectors.

When have we seriously paid respect to any policeman or security guard on the road or how much pride do they carry on their job? We still carry forward the colonial tradition, where the policeman was used for tasks other than policing – to help the master with his domestic chores. More often, the puny cop thinks he gets paid to get dressed-up and watch the world pass by, from where he stands on the streets.

More happily do we run away from the customs authorities, when we cross the airport or ready with our own payments to make a safe exit? Why are we then surprised, when the terrorists managed to smuggle so much of ammunition into the country? If you can pay, so can anyone! How reasonably possible it is to watch every inch of a coast, especially in a country like ours with so much of porous borders we share with enemies across the borders, which are increasingly becoming unstable by the day.

Look at the way the media reported the entire episode and thereby competing to be the First to disclose the operational procedures of an army, all in the disguise of bringing it live to the people? It was an appalling scene to see even responsible news anchors, emotionally charged up and running around the crime scene, even amidst the shoo-shooing of the security guards at the Taj. That’s how much we respect our Security Guards. Given the economic compulsions of running a successful news channel these days and with TRP Ratings in mind, given an opportunity, the media did not fail to stoop down to these pitiful levels of exploiting the Freedom of Press.

Just paying taxes does not absolve us from all our duties as a model citizen. It is easier to blame others and the system, when we least realize WE are the system and WE shy away from our basic civic responsibilities. Mere posturing alone would not lead us anywhere and we go in circles, waiting for another tragedy that might have already lined-up on our nook.

Post 9/11, it was a lifestyle change for the Americans, to add additional hours to your travel plans, to be ready to open and repack your baggage at multiple places and on the way, one got ready to be strip-searched at the airports. People got used to the painful frustration, all done in the need of a better protection against the enemy, who continues to out-smart us at a faster pace, both in technology and motivation. Agreed, dubiety and austerity in a hospitality industry is a misnomer. But, unprecedented events like these mandate unprecedented changes and we better get used to this.

As being widely acclaimed, Resilience is not a virtue anymore; rather it symbolizes resistance to change. Change from our age old beliefs, lifestyle, comforts and idiosyncrasies. What 11/26 could usher-in from all of us is to look more inwards, to bring in more civic sense and we become more responsible for our own actions, all for one important reason – that is our own existence!

Terror in Mumbai - Shame on the News Media!

While the media talks in length about the inept handling of the Mumbai Blasts by the Government, Security Agencies and the Politicians, it is high time they put themselves in front of the mirror and reassess the media freedom that is offered in this country, again could be due to the negligence of the politicians running this country.

What we need is a total black-out of the media from the crime scene, atleast till the action is over. Let the men in uniform do their job and let us do our part to NOT interfere in their way by disclosing their strategies. Media camera zooming in to report how the aircrafts are dropping our men in uniform, which building they are using to launch their attacks, which way they are coming. Yeah, what a way to report! "Yes, Mr. Terrorist, I just gave you an idea of where our people are and how you would be attacked. Please take cover"

We hear the terrorists carrying sat phones and communicating with the external world. What would stop them from hearing from someone watching our media, putting in display all the attack plans? The height of disgrace is each media claming it to be the 'First to Report' or 'First to Bring these scenes Live'. Yeah, be the 'First to disclose national secrets' and do your part to fall into the enemy hands. Be the 'First to add to the fuel'.

While the Home Minister shamelessly goes public with his mockery of stats, on exactly how many NSG commandos are sent and when they are sent, it is the time of the media houses to not add to that shame.

My humble request to the Arnab Goswamis, Barkha Dutt, Rajdeep Sardesais is to, please put on hold your analysis for some time, till our security folks take control of the situation. You have the days ahead to pull up the people and to rant about it in length. Stop claiming to be the 'First' to deliver any news. If you were the 'First', please be the First to prevent such incidents or the First to bring about any revolution against the petty politicians running our nation. That would be of excellent credence and will take your channel to heights that no one can dispute about.

I Went to the Moon, too !

Agreed, we have joined an elite club of countries that have the capability to launch an extra-terrestrial object in the lunar orbit and we are only one of the FOUR nations to have its national flag set foot on the moon. We have a strong neighbor who just had sent its own men to the space and we need to show strength. Never would I underestimate the hard work that has gone into make such a precision guided mission, a grand success. I do share the passion and delight of the scientists who have worked tirelessly towards this maiden venture, amidst the isolation imposed on us and the restrictions in transfer of technology across nations.

While skeptics question the justification of the millions that is spent in our space adventure, all I would like to question is the relevance of such mission and the application of its results to our citizens.

Thanks to the astute leadership, at least, I am glad that we are seeing some return on investment in a public sector organization, compared to that of the various other institutions that provide a zilch for the government allocations that they get to enjoy every year.

My concern is only on the returns - more than the information on water-bodies that might exist in the moon and mapping the lunar terrain, why not focus on what is more relevant to our country and its people. Decades together, the only weather map I get to see is the INSAT image, that appears in my daily newspaper and some useless statistics that I hear in the state-owned All India Radio, on, which parts of the country received how many millimeters of rainfall and a very generic weather forecast that even my grandma could predict looking up at the sky! Value-add is the key and what is the value addition in the knowledge of temperature numbers from major cities and a very vague prediction of the weather patterns that day.

The monotonous rants of our meteorological weather men who show up their face only on the days it rains hard and that too post facto. We have had numerous instances of the cities getting deluged and office goers and school kids getting stuck in the middle of a storm completely unaware.
Needless to mention the loss of thousands of crores to our economy in the form lost cultivated produce, with unseasonal rains. Better weather forecast and reach of this information to the masses is the key. These are the days of doppler radars, animated weather maps and ever pervasive information.

I have seen in the US, where the local weather man is treated with an iconic status and the time they spend in the schools educating the kids of the nuances of weather patterns.
What we need is change in the priorities of how we spend our money, according to the changing times and needs.

To quote the father of our space program, Dr. Sarabhai himself:
"There are some who question the relevance of space activities in a developing nation. To us, there is no ambiguity of purpose. We do not have the fantasy of competing with the economically advanced nations in the exploration of the moon or the planets or manned space-flight. But we are convinced that if we are to play a meaningful role nationally, and in the community of nations, we must be second to none in the application of advanced technologies to the real problems of man and society. "

Importers of 'Bad News'!

Importers of 'Bad News'!

In this difficult time of market turmoil, if you are an investor with a decent exposure in the stock markets, I suggest you stay away from the business channels, whichever one be it. It is the time for 'Say No to watching Business News Channel' similar to the 'Say No to Drugs’ campaign; for both of them are intended to inoculate the individual from peer pressure and social influences . Yes, it would be a blessing in disguise, if you realize how much of damage these channels and the rants from their so called financial experts can cause.

For the Indian Markets, where I think, anyone having a good skill at the dart boards can anoint himself to be an analyst or where investing in stocks is very much equated to a stroll down the strip in Vegas, no wonder there is so much of bad vibes circulated – thanks to our business channels – thereby contributing so much to the deluge over the past few weeks.

It has reached the stage of a mass hysteria to lead the poor investing public of this nation into almost a bottom-less pit. For the past month or so, it has been raining bad news after another in every form of media and they have successfully spread the fear psychosis among the masses.

Call it the curse of knowledge, to pick up a Behavioral Finance terminology; more than the liquidity crunch or the over-leveraged financial institutions, it is also the information overload that has played a significant role in the market collapse over the past few weeks. If you happen to frequent Market Watch, they pick up the largest of the fonts on their home page to convey the bad news- so large that it can wreck havoc on any decision you might make that day.

These market commentators appear to have forgotten the thin line between being a news anchor and thereby facilitating the flow of news, to becoming an analyst themselves, thereby making over-arching claims that could cause irreprehensible damage. Irrespective of all the disclaimers and disclosures these channels publish, there could be a potential cartel using these prime-time media to their advantage.

While it is beyond doubt that we are going through a difficult time, it is the way in which we have bought into other people's bad news is causing us more damage. We have become the biggest importer of Americanism, which is seen failing even in their own land, right from their missiles to colas to garbage and now - their bad news!

I doubt if it is a question of liquidity crunch anymore and the markets seem to either ignore whatever actions the RBI can deliver or whatever words of comfort the finance minister can offer; the blood bath readily bursts open any band-aid provided in the form of government intervention.

How would you explain the drubbing of some of the blue chip stocks over the past few years? Agreed the beleaguered FIIs are pulling back every buck they can garner from any part of the globe and agreed we are living in a crazily flat world, where, if the greenback sneezes, the world catches pneumonia! But, in these tough times across the globe where the R-word or the D-word are talked about every day with almost a negative connotation, in every developed country, when did the markets start neglecting a 7.5% growth rate and you call that a slow-down? Less than 5% of Indians have direct exposure in our stock market, which many people still perceive it to betting on horse racing and land their hard-earned money in FDs in public sector banks.

It can only be prudent for the investing public to listen to the words of the PM and show some patience, than to get submerged in the illusion of knowledge put to display in the business channels, by the self-acclaimed experts. It is not Armageddon yet and most of us have better things to do in life. Tough times are the best teachers and we will survive this as we did with any other crisis.

For the moment, just Say NO to the business media!

Jet, Set, Down!

Jet, Set Down!

Last week saw a classic drama of unnerving proportions, which could eclipse any Broadway show, with actors from the corporate, political and social setup playing their role to perfection. Though the end appeared to be a toast, the show did showcase the ability of a wild concoction of a politics and corporate arrogance which influenced the shameful reality of an irrational exuberance, which is buried under rugs of economic growth.

Look at the players, a group of bright tunic clad younger generation of our country, a business-man who till recently has been proclaimed as the czar of one of the growing airlines industry, a politician who is more and more becoming a self-proclaimed alcapon of Mumbai, a shrewd minister who cannot but sit on the sidelines given the electoral implications of this show-piece, a labor minister who by all means is as clueless as a common man in a remote village in this country. All these showmen provided a royal feast to the craving media who, are all set to spice up the any episode in prime-time television boxes.

It all started with a bunch of airline employees given pink slips by their employer and they started making a big hue and cry. Some of the smart ones decided to take their case up with a local political party and what a perfect photo op for its leader, standing beside a bunch of bright lads and lasses. Public and disruptive politics playing in tango is a deadly combination for this country, if at all it is concerned about its economic growth. If Singur was a shame, then what is becoming more common in Mumbai with the goonly behavior of this party is adding insult to that. What empowers them to wield law onto their own hands?

While being on the receiving side for a pink slip is always painful, yet, the whole episode some harsh realities for the young that is being enticed into a fairy-tale ride on the shining India. It is rather unfortunate that there is no safety-net for the working class, be it in the organized or un-organized sectors, in the form of any social security. While the Left considers it politically fashionable to rant against any of the capitalistic moves of the government, it is a shame that they have not spent any hours to bring about any reforms in the social security sector during their association with the ruling UPA for the past four years. Taking up the personal fight on the nuclear issue with the PM was much more enticing than fixing the maladies of the labor laws.

The icing in the cake was the hurried-up news conference by Mr. Goyal himself, who in all likelihood beat the politicians in putting up a dramatic show. Where in the world would a corporate executive be unaware of its managements' decisions? He thereby, set a very bad precedence in corporate governance and social responsibility and thereby causing an irreprehensible damage to the airline's image. Wonder the confidence level of the employees within Jet.

In the end, it was a strong dose of reality check for all of us to decide which path we are heading into – capitalistic or socialistic – or a middle ground. It is high time, the corporate, politico and the working class decide on that or be prepared for a rude jolt like these.

Save the Food!

Save the Food!
The entire politico went up in unison to decry George Bush when he made those aphorisms on the growing Indian middle-class and their growing appetite - literally - leaving a dent on the global food supply-chain! To many, what Bush said was the quite the obvious, and he did have the concurrence of many economists worldwide who attribute the crisis to the burgeoning demand for food from the developing nations, rather oddly combined with a global supply shrinkage. If not for the tersely phrased Bushism, spare a moment to reason the food crisis and try to relate it to the world around us, especially at a time when the global food prices are at the highest in more than a century. May be Bush should have rephrased his statement to mean, that, it is not the increasing consumption alone, but along with that, the increase in wastage of consumable food that contributes to this global food crisis.

On your next visit to a marriage hall or any party, look around to see how much of food is really left untouched on every plate or the banana leaf - if you happen to be from the South. Or, when you go out dining with your family and order a sumptuous thali, spare a moment to the number of cups of supplements that are thrown away. Or, when you visit a south-indian restaurant, look around to see how many people really consume all the multiple variants of the chutneys and sambhar that get served with the delicious dosas and idlis. If every drop could make a mighty ocean, it is no trivia to infer that every grain of devoured food could turn out to be a pile. This in turn can feed millions, especially in a country like ours which is attracting the global attention for its surging count of billionaires on one hand and still has a big portion of its mass not able to afford one decent meal a day. Every grain of rice and every piece of vegetable that goes into making these delectable, add up. We may lag way behind the western nations on the average per-capita consumption of food. But, I bet, we Indians, could be leading the pack on average per-capita wastage of food.

In this context, it is quite interesting to pay attention to few common practices in the West, where people at the end of a meal, do not hesitate to ask for their ordered left-over to be packed for future consumption and the availability of smart customization of a meal based on preference and measure. Why would the wealthy nations do this? Simple economics - extend the value of the commodity got in exchange for the money you paid plus being a smart consumer - why pay for things which you are not going to consume?

Ours' is a society of certain very amusing parodies. Why would us, brought up in a predominantly conservative mind set, with our elders who with their thrifty lifestyle had always planned to save for the future, not adopt this practice when it comes to our food? There were days when we used to eat our rotis or rice from previous day for their own nutritional values. But, along with the newgen lifestyle cometh our disregard for our beliefs, our own conscious rejection of our age-old value system and a contrarian outlook that takes everything for granted. With newly acquired wealth and money, we feel we can get anything for money, even with a sole idea of wasting it. Somehow, we attach a sense of pride towards having everything fresh. No canned food, except for the pickles, and food Processing as an industry is still at its nascent stages in this country with a significant chunk of what we cultivate going as wastage sans proper storage and lack of transportation logistics.

The sky-rocketing food prices could be a blessing in disguise for us to realize the economics of food over the pleasure of buying food irrespective of consuming it. What we are going through as part of the global food crisis could just be the tip of the iceberg of an impending reality. With agriculture losing its economic value-proposition in many parts of the country, shrinkage of arable lands across the globe, and the decline in the ever miserable lifestyle of the farming community, it is only a matter of time when we start paying little more attention to the food we pay for. If not just for the MTV culture and an hip-hop lifestyle, there is much more to be learnt from the West. If double whopper with extra cheese, pickles and a latte of your size, is the norm in the West, perhaps we soon should start sizing up our meal based on what we can consume. May be we would soon be paying for two idlis with extra chutney and an order of sambar, rather than assuming a plate of idli coming with an array of four to five supplements which we let go the drain. Sambar and chutneys in a sachet more like the sauces could be the order of the day.

Time for some serious thought; we have Save Oil, Save the Tiger, Save the Trees campaigns, why not Save the Food campaign for a change? The days ahead could see the food grain becoming the much conserved commodity, almost on the verge of extinction - at least to a select group of people across the globe.

Judgment vs Experience !

Another interesting topic of discussion from Jim Heskett. Should grab that book sometime soon and some of the comments were really thought provoking. Here is the link with my comments too. Does Judgment trump Experience?

Bottomline...

Bottom-line...

Not sure if Sydney ever figured in the conversations of fellow Indians this much. Neither could I recollect a test match being torn apart by pundits across the board. Few questions do linger on why all these happened in the first place.

Why did the Aussies go after Harbhajan? Why do the Aussies think it is a war against India? Things appeared to be on smooth sail with Brett Lee having more fan-following in Mumbai than Melbourne and not so long ago did the BCCI lined-up the Aussie greats of Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath for its much touted IPL to rival the ICL. What has changed so drastically that would make the world champions relish a win so much so that they un-gentlemanly ignored to shake hands with the opponent, who was dragging himself out of the arena in sheer disbelief on how life could become so fickle all in a matter of 5 deliveries. Sixteen consecutive wins – alright! But the frenzy that followed after the last wicket was sheer madness – much more than a world cup final victory.

I think, all this ill will and bad blood could be traced back to the T20 world cup. The Aussies just could not believe that some other team could be anointed the World Champions on any format of the game. The win has just not settled on them and neither could they believe that they have to relinquish the exclusivity of a world champion title to some other team. May be call it irrational exuberance, as with any other mass hysteria in this country, neither could they digest the money and the accolades that were showered on the Indian players, post the T20 championship. Remember the comments Andrew Symonds made, when he saw the cavalry of the welcome parade in Mumbai?

To add insult to injury was the reality they had to confront with when the young blood of Harbhajan and Sreeshanth retorted back to their sledging, word for word, during the home series, which again left the Aussies aghast in disbelief that they could also land on the receiving end. “That's weird – are we losing our monopoly?” At the end of the series, did they not forget to extend a cold-blooded invite to Sreeshanth – reminded me of my gully cricket in school days, where we would offer a threatening invite to our next-street boys to come and face us in our own street!

Unfortunately the Aussies missed Sreeshanth and found a good enough sitting duck in Harbhajan, who could have fallen into the cleanly laid trap, set by the exponents of sledging. Credit their strategy and the timing of the incident, when the Aussie captain was getting clueless against reading the deliveries from Harbhajan, he became their victim. It could not have been timed better, when the BCCI and ICC were getting serious against racial slurs, be it a monkey or a donkey or any words that could defy cultural issues.

What about Anil Kumble's comments in the post match press conference? Anil is a gentleman and when he was chosen for the top post last month, I wondered why we are even deliberating so much on a person who would have single-handedly contributed to most of our test wins than anyone in the history of our cricket. He got the exact moment to re-live Bodyline. How frustrated can someone be, to have weathered hours of Aussie torture to score those 45 runs and not a single Aussie turned up to shake hands at the end of the game. It was a shame on the umpires and the Aussie sporting spirit.

Why did the players stay put and why is the BCCI reluctant to act?
Sachin's ego got hit. When the integrity and spirit of most of the Aussie players were there for everyone to see, Mike Procter ignored Sachin, when he was the closest witness on the crime scene. Poor BCCI had no option, but to walk a tight rope with the players and public fury flamed by the media hype (more on that later) and the ground realities that can leave a dent on its future plans with the IPL and Pawar's ascent to the ICC top job. But the truth is - the game of cricket is much more than the eleven players who play. The money, media rights, the economics that revolves around the game these days is phenomenal. No way can the BCCI rain on Lalit Modi's grandeur plans of commoditizing cricket or stuff it on the Aussie players when they very badly had to parade the most glittering of the cricketing elite this April as part of the IPL.

Why does 97% of the Indian public want the team come back?
Media fodder served in the most delectable style by Rajdeep, Arnab Goswami, Sidhu and the junta of ex-cricketers and anyone who had the least association with the game and waiting for a photo op. Nothing much happened on this country to deserve prime-time TV attention than Cricket. Why on earth would you pull in Harbhajan's mom on national television?

Mike Dash, the renowned British historian notes that studies have identified six elements that are required for a case of mass hysteria to afflict a population:

1. "Regional conditions must be conducive" to the mass hysteria's plausibility.
2. "Channels of communication must be available for the reports to spread."
3. "Social and economic stress, as well as a lack of faith in the authorities, predispose people to embrace unconventional interpretations."
4. "[E]very culture has marginal traditions that offer alternative explanations."
5. "A triggering episode often serves as the pebble that commences an avalanche of reports."
6. "[O]utbreaks of unusual manifestations are aided by breakdowns in official control."

Tell me which one of the six was not available for the media last week to fuel the frenzy. Peter Roebeck became the oft-quoted sage of Indian cricket lovers and the media. Did anyone pay attention to what he had written on Yuvraj and Dhoni after Day 3 of the Sydney test? Not to mention the ramblings from Sidhu, whose decibel level is only getting worse after he joined politics – a natural phenomenon, perhaps! Anyone, who did not want the team to comeback, was considered an anti-national. Wish the TV networks display their sample size when they yell out these percentages of truth from their SMS polls.

And, Steve (pitiful) Bucknor?
If there is any live example of a product that is well passed its shelf-life, don’t look further. But, why Steve, when his good buddy Mike Benson was equally, if not more, pitiful? Repeat offence or disgrace? Steve has chased Indian cricketers like one bad omen, right from the days of the 1992 test incident involving Jonty Rhodes’ run-out. If you call Day 5 at Sydney as one bad day at office, then showing Steve the door is such a bad precedence. I wonder the mental state of the two gentlemen who are going to stand in Perth – Assad and Billy! How nervous would they be, given the insane frenzy that may erupt after any bad decision? Let us leave the game to the umpires and the uncertainties add to the beauty of the game and let us not chase the adjudicators with a butchers’ knife.

So, where do we go from here?
Credit to the Aussie media for standing up for the game of cricket and had there be an incident like this in India, not sure how unbiased our media would be to discredit the villains. We are living in an era of make-believe hysterics flamed by the media, where the truth could very well be conjured by clamor.

Credit to the Aussie crowd, who un-equivocally cheered for every one of the FOURs that caressed from VVS’s willow and who all stood-up in ovation celebrating Sachin’s ton. Thank God, the instantaneous cheer need not flow through the media’s SMS poll; else it would have been a different result.

Credit to the Indian players, especially the Fantastic Five, for putting up such a good fight in Sydney, yet leaving the umpiring blunders, it is a shame that we could not withstand four sessions on the final day. You have much larger problems to worry about than a monkey! True, you are the T20 champs, but you also need some good people to play this classic longer version of the game. It is time to tell the young guns that neither would it help to have your heart-throb on the box seat, when your foot moves so nimble on the crease. Not sure if we have enough ammunition left to take the Aussies on the field, especially in the ultra fast wicket laid out in Perth.

Sorry Ricky, for having run your unit like a mob and especially that appeal you made for that catch you took of Dhoni. Hope you frame it up on your porch as a showcase of true Aussie spirit.

Brian Lara’s fascination for the ground was so much that he named his daughter – Sydney. Not sure if anyone in the Indian camp would ever follow suit!

Honor by Compromise!

Ladies & Gentleman, presenting to you the most likely President of India, Ms. Pratibha Patil! Who? What? Don't feel bad, just like you, many of us were scratching our heads and flogging our memory cells to recollect who this person is. I would most likely believe, so were the majority of the media sirens, who in their constant debate of presidential hopefuls, were delivered a googly, that they were really trying hard to stay on feet by gathering some facts about this women and tried to salvage some videos and pictures from their vaults. This woman sure would not have hit the top of their PageRank when they did a search of their archives.

So, is this really a historic moment (finally!) towards women empowerment in this nation, as being propounded by all the politicians, as we celebrate 60th year of our independence? Even Shoba De could not take so much pride on this occasion, as she cried foul over Pratibha Patil being used as a symbolic gesture, as there was an utter lack of consensus among the UPA partners. Even though I tend to disagree with majority of her comments, this one I could not, when Pratibha Patil appears on all accounts to be a mere compromise candidate at the fag end of heated negotiations among the UPA constituents. What are her advantages? Gender advantage, of course, she is from Maharashtra, a staunch Indira loyalist and, not the least, she is from the Shekhawati community which can put the other likely candidate, the current Vice President, Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, at some unease.

Who really is Pratibha Patil? Try googling her name and you could find majority of the hits being about her sudden rise in prominence over the past few days. Even most of the details in the wiki seem to be updated later to Jun 14th. A good portion of the comments that flood the web recognizing the concept of a woman reaching the echelons of constitutional authority of this nation also seem to act with a sense of skepticism. That's precisely my point, so much as Shoba De's. I am entirely for women ruling the world, if one can orbit around our planet for so many days and break all sorts of records, why not to fill-in a rubber stamp position in our nation as well?

What put me off is the way in which the women folk got this so called recognition on this particular instance. Look at the names that were doing the rounds and the reasons why they were shot down, before this magnanimous gesture by Sonia Gandhi. Pranab Mukherjee - no we need his excellent maneuvering skills to work around the UPA coalition to somehow sustain two more years in office - even though the toughest component of the UPA - the Left - liked his candidature. Dr. Karan Singh - in spite of his excellent scholarly credentials was too theistic for the Left. Shivraj Patil - no way - too congressy for the Left and others. Sushil Kumar Shinde - in spite of carrying the most trusted brand name among the politico - a Dalit - was even despised by another dalit CM, Mayawati.

There emerged Pratibha Patil, bolt from the blue in the face of near ignominy for the congress, as a gender-based consensus candidate. As if Sonia saying, at least let the congress men have their say in picking someone of the preferred last name and 'see if you can counter this and do so at your own peril'. As a candidate of mere symbolism, where credentials and stature appear to have been so blatantly ignored. Except for the intuitive interview by CPI's Bardhan on CNN IBN, no where did I ever read or hear about the magnanimity of the political parties in planning to recognize the woman folk for the highest ceremonial office in our land. If all we were concerned about was giving the woman folk its due recognition, what has changed in the last four years when we could not do that to a Captain Lakshmi Sehgal?

Agreed, this role at the Rashtrapathi Bhavan itself is more allegorical, so why not utilize the opportunity to showcase yourself as a savior of equality, with the elections just a couple of years away. With all indications of yet another coalition government, why not have someone who can go soft - as characterized of a typical Indian woman folk - when it comes to government formation in another two years. Whatever the reason might be, call me a hypocrite, the way to the top for the woman folk in this nation still happens to as an 'why not?' rather than by pure merit. Playing in the sentiments of the politicians who have mastered these skills of divide, unduly recognize and rule, can only make the case even more dubious. Till that time, I am really not sure if having a Pratibha at the Rashtrapathi Bhavan would be considered the height of acclamation for the woman folk.

Sorry Ladies!

Performance and Pay!

Another interesting discussion thread on Jim Heskett's forum in HBS, where I was able to voice my views. How should Pay be linked to Performance? I guess more relevant for these Indian times, where every day pay and performance seem to go obtuse, in whatever way you look at it. Some of the really talented individuals get paid zilch, while many of the so called IT Professionals (read hi-tech clerks) of these days seem to rule the roost.

Life Down the Six Lane Highway!

Life down the Six Lane Highway!

One of the recent addition to the concrete clusters cropping up within the Chennai city is the so called 'IT Corridor' - perhaps one of the dole-outs of the erstwhile Maran phenomena that brought in many of the IT majors to the city, lining up all along the coastal stretch from Adyar up to Mahabalipuram. The erstwhile 25Kms or so stretch of Old Mahabalipuram Road - rechristined as IT Corridor, has in it a plan to lay a six lane divided speedway, weeding through many small townships and as with any other infrastructure adventure in an Indian city, had land acquisition as its primary bottleneck. As one who commutes thru this stretch for the past few years, I had the fortune of seeing this project from its inception and trust me, after so many years of axle breaking travail through all the rubble of the construction work, this is one stretch of the road that certainly lived up to its promises and can leave any visitor to the city agape.

For reasons unknown, the project almost hit a roadblock during the fag end of the JJ's tenure, but got a fresh dose of energy (read funding) as soon as the DMK government took over. Bet, the late IT minister had a big role to play in this shift in gear and a good 5 KMs stretch from Madhya Kailash till the SRP Tools Junction saw its fruition few months back. Hold your awe at the pace of progress, when I say 5 KMs in four years! Let us refrain using relative measures when we try to compare ourselves with Shanghai's rate of progress and unfortunately democracy does not let us bulldoze our own way to growth like our northern neighbor!

There we have now, a well laid out six lane highway with beautifully maintained patch of vegetation along the median, artwork adorning the walls (very creative indeed), futuristic bus shelters, excellent street lights, prettified water fountains, wide cable ducts that eludes the road breaking mafia of Chennai city and what not. But, what caught many by surprise was the grandeur plans to have a US like expressway with exits and ramps right in the middle of a crowded city like Chennai, where the heterogeneity in vehicle composition using the highway, poses a tougher challenge to the survival of any commuter.

The hefty paycheck loaded IT techie trying to zip-thru in his shiny newly acquired MPFI vehicle or a 100 CC motorbike, when all you encounter in front of your bumper is a moped in the middle of the rightmost lane defying to move or an auto rickshaw on the prowl for a potential customer (read victim of day robbery) inching at his own pace. You would have no clue when that guy might step on the brakes. Or, you have the monstrous buses of the various MNCs or water tankers driving in the middle of a lane; you venture near them or try to outdo them at your own peril. The cast does include guys swerving out of the buildings into the rightmost lane or talking on a mobile phone and crazy jay-walkers. Perhaps, what we have in display is a classic irony of 'India Shining' and the 'India Reality' trying to compete, coexist and out-smart each other.

Along with a shift to the six lane highway culture, what we need the most, is a shift in mindset of the people using that as well. More space does not necessarily mean exclusivity or the freedom to rove around as you wish. It also means, you are obligated to share it sensibly with the rest of your community. Many of the folks need to be trained on what lane discipline is; else they perceive the white lines to be yet another art work on black and white adorning the tarred roads.

A six lane road in reality gets shrunk at many places; the left most lane invariably is used at many places as additional parking space especially for the contraptions called share-autos or people strolling along even though there is a well laid out pedestrian walk-way just a few inches to the side, and the occasional junkie driving on the opposite direction to avoid a roundabout U Turn. There are stretches which requires you to cover a good amount of road before you can make a turnaround, and you would see people (read IT professionals) leaping across the median even carrying their bicycles, doing so they risk their own lives, more than saving a stroll. Agreed, it is a design flaw to not think of a foot bridge when you have a majority of your junta going by foot, to not think of a pedestrian sub-way when you have various institutions, hospitals and train stations on either side.

Makes me wonder, are we really ready for life on a six lane highway, when we within ourselves are lazily cramped to a gully living. As we get to enjoy the comforts of new age living offered by the so called economic boom, we need to learn to live by some fundamental principles of civility. To respect each other's space, to abide by the simplest of laws even sans the enforcement and above all to learn to take care of ourselves! If not played by the books, life can get a bit perilous because of the inherent elevated pace at which life goes about on a six lane speedway!

Performance Reviews

It is the time of Performance Reviews in most of the organizations and Jim Heskett's open forum in HBS gave me an opportunity to offer my views. Amazing to read the perspectives from so many individuals across the globe!

Priorities!

While the union health ministry continues to deliberate whether it is an epidemic or not, few more corpses gets added to the growing count every day. A stroll in the park may not reflect the true merit, but in how we jockey ourselves under moments of adversities. All we could see is utter pandemonium in the nation's hospitals in the crisis fabricated by the mosquitoes. People sleeping on the floors and corridors, sharing their beds with others and the nation’s health infrastructure is put to task the past few weeks. To the utter dismay, this is the scene in one of the most premium hospitals in the nation's capital, not in a remote nook of the country.

I recently read somewhere that nearly 75% of our health infrastructure is concentrated in urban areas where 27% of our population lives. If, all 75% of our health infrastructure could give is such scenes of gross dis-orderliness and confusion, it is just mind boggling what it would take to give decent healthcare benefit to the entire nation. While we try to take comfort under a perceived 9-10% growth rate, remodeling our airports and infrastructure, national crisis like this dengue outbreak just puts things in the right perspective in terms of priorities, when all we could see is the government health machinery in complete chaos putting in reality an almost non-existent crisis management system. It is time for all of us to put ourselves in front of the mirror and question the credibility of our economic prowess; if there is such! On the one side we claim to have made tremendous progress in the area of science and technology and on the other side we account for the largest count of illiterates and mal-nourished children and people affected by infectious diseases. It is such a common sight in all the metros to have dazzling five-star hotels and IT parks besides the dirtiest slums and waterways in the country. It is amazing to see people spend thousands to live in sprawling residential complexes near dump-yards and waterways infested with the deadliest of mosquitoes. If contagious, infectious and water-borne diseases are so much rampant in the rural areas and the scene in any metro is no different. Disasters keep adding to our jargon – how many people had heard about Tsunami before it wrecked havoc couple of years back. Chikungunya – people initially thought it was a disease that afflict the chickens, soon came to terms with the pain and the mosquitoes that spread those menace as well. The disease left no one – from the working class to the elite – anyone who can be bitten fell in its wrath.

In a democracy, it is the state’s responsibility to ensure adequate public expenditure is on health care system, sanitation and clean drinking water. Despite several growth-orientated policies adopted by the government and while the total government expenditure continues to rise, there has been an unfortunate decline on the spending on the social sector. Last union budget saw the defence allocation increased to a whopping 83,000 crores of rupees while a miniscule of the total GDP got allotted to manage the healthcare needs of a nation of more than a billion. Not that we need to go lite on needs of strategic importance, but the billions that are being wasted in the various scams in arms procurement and the public money that gets burnt in the number of fighter planes that crash these days and the billions that is spent in procuring a refurbished aircraft carrier while majority of the nation languish on basic necessities of sanitation and clean drinking water. Least to mention that each fighter plane can provide real coverage to hundreds of villages from the real threat of mosquitoes, instead of the perceived threat from our enemies wherever they may come from.

A nation where the cricket news tops the headlines in all the news networks and an anjelina jolie, brad pitt visit gets debated at prime time TV, it is high time we shift our focus towards more basic needs that would question our very survival. Needs of rural health care and a sincere effort to bring the poorest of the nation's population under the radar of national fiscal policies are the need of the hour. But, this requires people with vision to break the norms and set the priorities right. A health minister who rather prefers to set straight personal scores against people in his own backyard, fends his way towards the pesti-colass and questions the very basis of a scientific study that criticised the efficacy of the cola giants. While one half of our society keeps guzzling aerated beverages, the other has to satisfy with palm-full of muddied water.

At some point of time, we need to get our priorities right.

Let the Machines get in!

Last week saw the gap between the Aussies and the rest of the world getting wider as the fellas from down-under relished yet another cup victory. But, what kept me at awe was the continuous fall in the quality of umpiring standards on an equal rate these days. How much of 'human error' is really justifiable in any game and how much more can anyone control his disgust at someone just because they personify the rules of the game? Any human has an off-day at work, but it should come at the basal minimum in any profession for they carry larger stakes than anyone can imagine.

Atleast three horrible decisions in the crucial India-Aus clash last Friday. Sachin was the first victim (though Umpire Benson called him back to the utter dismay of Ponting) to go, when the ball had clearly brushed his shoulder before landing on the wicket keeper's gloves. Inspite of his ludicrous agression, Dhoni was caught of a clear Brett Lee no-ball. Harbhajan's was next, when there was absolutely no semblance of noise to be detected even for the snicko. All those dismissals at crucial junctures of the game. Next to pay the price was Brian Lara in the finals when all the replays clearly showed it was his bat that brushed his pads and not the ball.

Modern games, given their intricacies has a tough go at the refs as well. Every game these days consist of a collective crew. Take Tennis for instance, the chair umpire besides all those line officials. So is soccer or basketball. Baseball has one on each mound. Not that all those games are less wobbly and the decisions had always been human-error free. Fatigue can sure be a factor and why can't the three umpires share the workload and take turns during the drinks break, instead of having one guy staying inert at the pavilion watching the TV monitors. Why can't we give him equal powers to veto any decision made by an on-field umpire. Wire them up - encourage the on-field umpires to work with the guy upstairs. This is not anamolous to any sport. Look at soccer or the NBA or the NFL, the umpires do huddle together to put their collective brains to work before giving out any contestable decisions. Wire up the bowling crease with sensors to detect no-balls. Perfect the hawk-eye and snickometer technologies. Imagine an umpire's chore to watch Brett Lee's foot for a noball and within a fraction of a second, switch his angle of vision to track the line of the delivery for any potential LBW decision.

What is the ICC doing to spruce up the umpiring standards? A nation of billion people cannot even have a single member in ICC's elite panel. Why not a technology revamp for the officiators, which would make their utility better than a coat-stand? Instead, if we want to add a dose of uncertainity to the game all in the name of 'human error', so be it and you can as well go play some chips in Vegas!

Life has it that when human limitations are stretched, that is when machines take over. If that can be true with any aspect of life, why not this sport as well. What are we set to lose other than our own 'ego' to seek help from technology when humans continue to land ignonimously on the erring side. Everyone gets paid at this profession and it is everyone's task to bring some quality to the table. Lets accept the fact of human limitation and not try to seek cover under preserving the sanctity of a non-existant cachet. After all, "the continued opportunity to alleviate human distress is one important motivation for continuing technological advancement." (Laws of Accelerating Returns !)

Noted cricket writer, Neville Cardus had this to say about the umpires "The umpire ... is like the geyser in the bathroom; we cannot do without it, yet we notice it only when it is out of order."

Yes, we sure notice it when it is out of order and we scream about it.

Time for a Cricket Break ?!

So, yet another ‘chokers' tag and the men in blue are back home, perhaps an early exit would give some of their ‘stars’ more time to focus on their endorsement commitments - be it a pesti cola, or a soap bar or an idiot box. What is wrong in losing? After all plain logic would suggest there can only be one winner atop the podium in the end. Look at the two teams that made it to the finals - a team which is much ahead of the rest of the pack in world cricket today and another, which appears to be on a revival run of sorts ahead of hosting the world cup next year. Perhaps peaking at the right time to make the event next year a very well balanced one.

Already the game is losing out its charm amidst the minnows and the teams at the end of the rung are only getting worser by days. A World cup seems more to be a contest between the same old 8 teams and a bunch of minnows for whom a mere appearance in the world event seems to be a solace than any chance of pulling-out a surprise.

What caught me curious was a comment thrown by Tony Greig in the post-match analysis of the last India-Aus clash. ‘India is so much important to the world of cricket and their early exit is such a big loss’. Of course it would be, leave alone the array of talented batting line-up that once gets clicking can enthral any audience, but more than anything, the economics that revolves around these bunch of eleven and the association they are part of namely the BCCI.

Look at what lies ahead of us. If the BCCI is to be believed, cricket to be played in Malaysia, Europe, the Yankee land, Africa, where not. If you tell me, it is all in the name of ennobling the game of cricket across the globe, I can leave the pleasure of seeing a Malaysia or China at the helm of cricket to my great grand children, when I see the every day demise of the same game in Zimbabwe, Kenya and a Bangladesh. The newly appointed cowboys of BCCI are all set to milk the cashcows to the max and dont be surprised if the national team ends up playing against a Brunei X1, just because the crown king of Brunei wanted to showcase cricket to his son and sent his fat cheque book to Mr.Lalit Modi. Some financials in one of the news channels says, the BCCI would end up burgeoning its coffers by close to $25 million for each such tournament and majority of this money comes from selling television rights.

It is a street-fight between the media houses - ESPN, TEN Sports, Set MAX, Zee and Sahara - judicial intervention is so frequent these days. Anyone with a decent camera and a fat cheque book can get the telecast rights. Don't be surprised with all his clout as the communication minister, Sun TV may join the fray too soon. Where does the money come from for all these channels - advertisements, ofcourse. Right from the pesti-colas to motor bikes to consumer durables all targeted at a market that no one can resist. A society with an ever increasing midddle-class and whose spending habits are making every corporate entity drool over. While BCCI gets busy milking the cashcows, who ensures the quality of the telecast? 5 ball overs are the norm of the day. And the moment a wicket falls, all we get to see is a priyanka chopra. A fast bowler walking back to his bowling mark, squeeze in couple of commercials. Ball getting wacked out of the ground for a six - you get to see a dad trying to fix nuptials for his daughter thru BSNL. Its another story that the commercials have become almost like a mini documentary these days; few of them running to almost a minute. Soon it would time for a 'Cricket Break' amidst a conutinuous stream of commercials.

The TV screen is already cluttered with an animated advt at the bottom, the BCCI logo in one corner, the broadcaster logo in another corner and another advt animation between those two; yes the most important cricketer caught in between all these. Soon you would require a big screen TV, if you really want to watch some cricket or all you might get to see is the score ticker at the bottom and continuous relay of commercials with some cricket in-between.

Look at the number of spectators in these venues; all you could see was empty plastic seats in Malaysia. It was a pitiful scene during the India-WI series as well where the locals clearly had their preferences right and were more interested in seeing the Trinidad & Tobago at the soccer world cup than lining up to the cricket field. For whatever reason, all chennai got to watch on the first day of the DLF cup was a blank screen of Zee Sports. Later I read somewhere that there was a tussle between Zee and the local cable distributor.

So, where is the game of cricket heading inspite of the burgeoning coffers of all the cricketing boards? How much of all this money is used in the name of cricket, leave alone bringing in new nations under the bandwagon, reviving the loosing charm among nations like Bangladesh, Keyna and a Zimbabwe is the need of the hour? Soon, the cricketers may soon wear billboard shirts like the F1 drivers. Why not? They get a chunk of the pie as well. Wonder how much of a loss would it be for the sponsors on a final clash sans India? Tony Greig is perhaps right, it is not Indian Cricket that is so important to the world, but the Indian market that is becoming the cynosure of all these media houses to target their commercials.

(3 Days) Prince of Kurukshetra !

I had not watched the news headlines the previous night and on the Saturday morning when I saw the news flashing 'Nation prays for Prince - All out effort to save Prince'. I was puzzled and kept wondering who the Prince could be. My thoughts went back and forth and I tried my best to correlate the headlines with all the 'Princes' I had known. I couldn't remember of any of the crown prince either in India or the Middle East who could merit so much of the nation's attention. Could it be the Prince of Kolkata - poor dada, lady luck can't do so much of injustice to him. Could it be the funky pop icon, Prince of Little Red Corvette fame? But, I seldom knew he had such a mad fan following within the nation, who would gather overnight to conduct a mass yagna for his well-being. The Haryana CM, mobbed by a battery of media people, issues a status report on Prince and if I had heard it right, had sought technical assistance from experts in London and Holland! Young turk Navin Jindal, still trying hard to survive amongst the wily old foxes of the congress coterie, is personally supervising the entire melee and begging the media to stay away - more rightly so! An entire horde of dutiful men in the uniform lend their best hands in the rescue effort with mammoth machinery and air force coming to their aid. After few minutes of bewilderment, the news channels came to my rescue with a live report from the action site where a poor young boy by name 'Prince' had fallen into a narrow trench and there was all kinda harakiri over the rescue operation.

Aha, there lies our Prince, some 60 feet down below in a trench - thanks to the closed circuit camera dropped down the hole.

Needless to say, the sensation craving media - all trying to outclass each other - provided a breath by breath account of the incident. I even heard, it was one of the media house that managed to drop a camera deep inside the trench. I am not sure, how much it would have cost them to get this exclusivity of this entire incident. Giving a semblance of national harmony, almost every religious group had special prayers for the young kid. The PM and Sonia Gandhi all had a spot for Prince in their prayers that night. Needless to say it would have been a nightmarish experience for the parents of the poor kid, not just because of the precarious fall but the sudden prominence on the national radar would have definitely put them onto some discomfort. Almost every national daily carried a full-page coverage of the incident the next day.

What took me by surprise was the extent to which we have fallen prey to the sensationalizing of any incident by the media. This used to be a very common phenomena in the US where a kid getting sick eating a school meal would capture the headlines than a million kids succumbing to mal-nutrition or a landmine explosion in Africa. Least to say we are getting over-influenced by western way of living, especially the increasing middle-class society. Who else would have been awe-struck by the entire episode than the people sitting comfy in their sofa, enjoying a good weekend lunch and the entire media feasting their gory appetite of lunch time conversation.

I am not so inane to personally go against the help lent to save a poor life, especially the efforts of our brave men in uniform. But, the attention that was given to this particular instance, while similar incidents are a commonplace happening in so many parts of this country was appalling. How many Princes die of starving in so many tribal belts of this nation? How many kids languish in pain working in tanneries, quarys, restaurants and sivakasis, slogging out more than what their physical structure can allow them to - all in the need to feed their hungry soul atleast one meal a day? The single malady that exists in most of our villages is not just deprivation of food, but deprivation of vital nutrients in the food. What about the kids dying of starvation each day in Vidharbha? Thousands of young kids can barely get one nutritious meal a day or clean water to drink. Let us not lose the trail of the bigger picture while the media feeds us with fodder, minute by minute, with all these sensational stories. Let us not forget the millions of other Princes fighting for their own survival.

Amidst all this commotion was the news that 'Prince celebrated his birthday' in the trench and a mammoth cake welcomed him on the ground.

God save the Prince!