The Lonely Crow

I have been not too active with my Camera of late. But a unique combination of a leafless tree and a crow sitting on it (Crows are rare in Oman), silhouetted against the evening sky was too big a temptation for me to resist clicking my Camera.

Putting the Country back on Track takes precedence for Modi

Many 'so called' "intellectuals" and "Commentators" are taking Modi to task for non fulfillment of poll promises - mainly prosecuting the corrupt and bringing back the black money.

 

People need to understand that we have given a 5 year mandate to Modi. There is no compulsion on him to achieve everything in 6 months.

 

In my opinion, he has played his cards well. He has managed to get his team of bureaucrats in place, has allowed Congress appointed Bureaucrats to hang themselves ( a la Sujatha Singh), and are slowly easing out political appointees like the Congress Governors and leeches like Amartya Sen and Leela Samson.

 

Last time when Morarji Desai and Janata Party won a landslide victory against the Emergency tainted Indira Gandhi, they made the mistake of taking on Indira Gandhi, and foisting cases on her which boomeranged. She managed to play the victim to perfection and stormed back.

 

Atal Bihari Vajpayee was more of a consensus politician. He didn't have much against Sonia, as she was in the background throughout the Narasimha Rao rule. It was not in the nature of Vajpayee to be vindictive, and he probably didn't see Sonia a major threat.

 

Modi is not either, by nature. He has a history of finishing off his opponents, and he will do so, as time goes by.

 

His primary objective is to clear up the mess in Governance (mis-governance) of the past UPA Regime, and to put the Economy back on track. His strategic direction and leadership has ensured, we are moving in the right direction. This budget will be a trend setter. He has restored India's credibility in the Global stage, and has the country talking about how to take India forward. Dismantling the Planning Commission, making the Ministers and Bureaucrats work, and have won crucial elections in State after State (Delhi was an exception, which doesn't matter really, as it is nothing more than a glorified Municipality).

 

He cannot afford to antagonize the opposition too much by taking it head on, as he doesn't have a majority in the Rajya Sabha. It is why winning all those elections were a priority. Without Rajya Sabha in his control, he cannot get key bills passed. Going for a joint session at the drop of a hat is not an option. So he has to wait it out for 2-3 years, by which time he will have majority both in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha.

 

As a citizen, which would you prefer? Putting the corrupt behind the bars on priority, thus jeopardizing the development agenda, or make a small compromise now to push the development bills and take on the corrupt at a later stage? I would go for the latter any day. Country comes first, second and last.

 

It is only in India that we view businessmen with tinted glasses. If the businessmen don't invest, then there wont be any development, and who suffers? The Common Man. Even during the Congress or Communist regimes, businessmen had a field day, but they fattened their pockets through crony capitalism, and hardly brought any development. The classic case is that of the Coal Block allocation under UPA. Businessmen close to the Regime got the coal allocated, but they sat on it, without exploiting the resources to produce more power, so essential for a power deficient country. Under Modi, we will definitely see Businessmen will get a level playing field, and even some benefits, but will assure the projects take off.

 

I, personally, would like to see some out of the box initiatives in both Education (across the spectrum) and in Public Health Care. These two will go a long way in helping the poor more than anything else.

Difference between a Brahmin and a Kshatriya

I have been vilified a lot for my acerbic tongue. Normally an easy going person with a laid back attitude and a quick wit, I have always wondered how I got the image of a person whose words are sharp that hurt.

 

Then I came across this while reading the explanation of a Shloka in Devi Mahatmyam,

 

 

 

Navaneetham Hrudayam Brahmanasya Vacha: Kshuropa Nihitha Theeshna Dharam;

Vipareethamethadu Bhayam Kshatriyasya, Vak Navaneetham, Hrudayam Theeshan Dharam

 

 

A Brahmin's heart is as soft as a fresh butter, but his words? they are as sharp as the edge of a Knife. The opposite is the case of a Kshatriya. His words are soft like a butter, but his heart is as tough/sharp as a steel (knife)

Fix the ODI imbalance

I have always been an avid cricket fan since my childhood, though partial to Test Cricket even today, as there was only Test Cricket during my formative years, and when I took up Cricket seriously.

 

I adapted to the One Day Cricket but am skeptical about the T 20 Format.

 

There are many things wrong with the shorter versions of the Game. Let us leave the T 20 for now and focus on the ODI, as the World Cup is around the corner.

 

What has gone wrong with the ODI Game in the last couple of decades?

 

It has become too Batsmen Friendly - Too many field restrictions, Shorter Boundaries, Strict rules on Wides, Bouncers, Free Hits, Heavy Bats and White Balls that doesn't offer help to either seamers or spinners have taken the charm out of the game. Due to the T 20 influence, batsmen take more risk, and bowlers main objective is to somehow finish their quota of 10 overs with 60+/- 10 runs in an Innings. All the restrictions are on the bowlers and the fielders, and none on the batsmen. He can switch hit, mis-hit, reverse sweep and do whatever he wants, but if the bowler strays down the leg side by a millimeter, he is punished. Absurd.

 

The way out? 

1. Push the Boundaries back as much as possible, with a minimum of 85 yards on the sides and 100 plus on the straighter side. This shall also neutralize the negative effect of the modern heavy bats to some extend. This will also encourage spinners to bowl a more attacking orthodox line, using flight as the main weapon, instead of pushing the balls through flat and fast. We want to see bowlers akin to L Sivaramakrishnan (1985) or Mushtaq or Warne bowl aggressively again.
2. The ridiculous leg side wide has to go. If a batsman cannot put bat on the ball landing an inch outside the leg stump, he needs to find another vocation.
3. The Wides should be on either side, only for balls that cannot be reached by the bat in a normal swing.
4. Any bouncer that goes above the height of the head on a normal stance can be called a wide.
5. No Free Hits. You cant punish a guy twice for the same offence. He is penalized a run, cant take a wicket of a no ball (other than run out), and has to re bowl the ball. Why give a free hit then?
6. LBW rules to be made liberal. It is too complex now. We were taught that a batsman is out LBW, if the ball hits the pad, and in the absence of that, it would have gone to hit the stumps. The operative question should be "Would the ball have hit the stumps?". It should be only that, and nothing other than that. Scrap the ball pitching outside the leg or hitting outside the line rule.
7. Keep the 10 over limit for the bowler, but allow 1 over extra for each wicket taken by a bowler. This will encourage the Captain to set attacking fields for his best bowler/s in the hope that he can squeeze 2-3 overs extra from them. This will reduce the dependence on the 5th bowler, who more often than not is a trundle and should not even be bowling in nets - Raina, Rohit, Bopara, Duminy, Bailey are classic examples of bowlers who should not be given a bowl under any circumstances in International Cricket.
8. Many may not agree to this, but it is time we restrict the night cricket to T 20 and get back to day cricket with Red Ball and White Dress for the ODIs. I know we are even talking of night cricket for Test Matches. Anyway, the Cricket revenue comes from TV audience and not from in stadia collection. Reverting to Red Ball will eliminate the necessity for operating with two white balls, as is being done today, which is a big handicap for the spinners. The Red Ball does more in the Air and Off the Wicket and also affords considerable purchase for the Spinner. Once cant just tonk the ball around as they do with the White ball these days. This will ensure the return of traditional batsmen to the ODI Scenario, as against the mindless sloggers who go by the name of batsmen.

Cricket is, and should be, a battle of wits between the Batsmen and the Bowlers. What we have today is a game that is too loaded in favour of the Batsmen. No one wants to see sides scoring 350 plus in 50 overs and then it being chased down with ease. A good 183 being defended to win the World Cup is also exciting!!

A must read for all the Teachers

This is purported to be a letter written by Abraham Lincoln to his Son's Teacher. Irrespective of whether he actually wrote this or not, this is a must read for any teacher, especially in today's world where the teacher-student relationship has taken a turn for the worse, and students don't seem to be getting the right value system from the teacher.

He will have to learn, I know,
that all men are not just,
all men are not true.

But teach him also that
for every scoundrel there is a hero;
that for every selfish Politician,
there is a dedicated leader…

Teach him for every enemy there is a friend,
Steer him away from envy,
if you can,
teach him the secret of
quiet laughter.

Let him learn early that
the bullies are the easiest to lick…
Teach him, if you can,
the wonder of books…

But also give him quiet time
to ponder the eternal mystery of birds in the sky,
bees in the sun,
and the flowers on a green hillside.

In the school teach him
it is far honourable to fail
than to cheat…

Teach him to have faith
in his own ideas,
even if everyone tells him
they are wrong…

Teach him to be gentle
with gentle people,
and tough with the tough.

Try to give my son
the strength not to follow the crowd
when everyone is getting on the band wagon…
Teach him to listen to all men…

but teach him also to filter
all he hears on a screen of truth,
and take only the good
that comes through.
Teach him if you can,
how to laugh when he is sad…

Teach him there is no shame in tears,
Teach him to scoff at cynics
and to beware of too much sweetness…
 
Teach him to sell his brawn
and brain to the highest bidders
but never to put a price-tag
on his heart and soul.

Teach him to close his ears
o a howling mob
and to stand and fight
if he thinks he's right.
Treat him gently,
but do not cuddle him,
because only the test
of fire makes fine steel.

Let him have the courage
to be impatient…
let him have the patience to be brave.

Teach him always
to have sublime faith in himself,
because then he will have
sublime faith in mankind.

This is a big order,
but see what you can do…

He is such a fine little fellow,
my son!
                                    - Abraham Lincoln

Go for Specialists any time

The Industrial Era saw the predominance of the Specialists in the workplace. The focus was on maximizing the production, which required in depth knowledge of the task on hand and the technical skills that go with it.

 

Later on, at some stage, there was a gradual shift to the generalists. Maybe the development of Management Science had something to do with it. People were cross trained so that we had jacks of all trades, who were masters at none, running the organizations for a long, long time.

 

This was the norm not only in the Private Sector but also in the Government sector. The IAS officers of India managed everything under the sun, from Districts, to sports, to Industry, to mining, to Nations Finance and even were the preferred choice to head Public Sector Organizations. A guy, who was a middle level IAS officer in the Agricultural Ministry would be posted as head of State Road Transport Corporation. Is it any wonder most Public Sector Undertakings have gone down the drain?

 

We have seen the strange scenario of IT companies recruiting Engineering students, en masse, irrespective of their stream of education in the College? After a few years, a mechanical engineer, so selected will be totally unfit to take up a job in the field of Mechanical Engineering. Education and job has absolutely no relevance, leading to the chaos that is seen in the organizations these days, and also one of the biggest reasons for employee attrition.

 

I was reminded of the above, while reminiscing about the World Cup past. No team that depended on bits and pieces players (with the freak exception of India in 1983, whose victory was an absolute fluke) have won the World Cup. West Indies of 1975 and 1983 had a legendary batting line up, backed by a set of world class fast bowlers. You wouldn't want to be chasing any target against Roberts, Holding, Garner and Marshall. The very thought scares you. 

 

Australia, winners of 1987 had a strong batting line up Boon, Marsh, Jones, Border, Valetta, two world class all rounders in Steve Waugh and Simon O'Donnel, and the bowling was led by McDermot, Reid and May. Both Waugh and Simon could get into the team as either batsman or bowler alone, and can never be considered as also ran players.

 

Imran's Pakistan won the 1992 world cup with a quality balanced team - Aameer Sohail, Rameez Raja, Javed, Salim Malik, Inzamam, Ijaz Ahmed as batsmen, wonderful all rounders in Imran Khan and Wasim Akram, backed by Aquib Javed and Mushtaq in the bowling department. Add to it the fighting wicket keeper Moin Khan. All specialists and no wonder they won the cup hands down.

 

Srilanka won 1996 using their batting might - Jayasurya, Kaluwathirana, Gurusinghe, Aravinda Desilva, Tilakaratne, Mahanama and Arjuna Ranatunga could chase any target down. But don't forget, they had a good bowling attack in Murali, Dharmasena and Vaas, but still the depended on their batting.

 

Australia dominated in the next three world cups and had a phenomenal batting line up led by Gilchrist, Waugh, Hayden and Ponting. They also had McGarth and the redoubtable Shane Warne in their ranks.

India in 2011 again depended on their strong batting - Sehwag, Sachin, Gambhir, Raina, Kohli, Yuvraj and Dhoni. This covered up for their relatively weaker bowling led by Zaheer and Harbhajan. But since the tournament was in India, batting dominated.

The interesting take away from the above is that it doesn't pay to take generalist bits and pieces players, if you want to win the World Cup. England had tried this with disastrous results in the past, and continue to do so. Ditto New Zealand, though they have had a rethink this time around.

History is against it. They why-oh-why is India carrying these below average neither batsman nor bowler players like Stuart Binny, Axar Patel, Ravindra Jadeja or even Ravichandran Ashwin. And we don't have a strong batting as a cover for them.

I don't see us going beyond Quarter Finals, and we don't deserve to, on form or on talent or on selection.

The most balanced side is South Africa. They have quality batsmen in AB Devillers, Amla and De Plaussis, and a world class bowling attack led by Steyn and Mornie Morkel and a wily coach in Kirsten. My money is on them. This is their best chance to win for a long time, and I hope they do.

And on form, New Zealand could be a finalist.