Sabarimala Thoughts

Swamiye Saranam Ayyappa;

At last I saw the spark amongst Hindus in Kerala, that I thought never existed.

 

During the past few decades, Christians and Muslims have grown in influence so much that the Hindus in Kerala were marginalized completely in decision making. All key Ministries, Postings were shared between the two communities, leaving crumbs, if any for the Hindus.

 

Though Hindus are still a majority in Kerala, they have been infiltrated so much by the Communist ideology that makes them ashamed of being a Hindu, and organizations like NSS and SNDP, who flirted with both LDF and UDF for the personal gains of the leaders of the Organization, and never protecting the interest of the true Hindu. BJP struggled to go beyond its 15% vote share, though Hindus constitute nearly 50% of the population.

 

Finally, Hindus had enough. They are reacting and how!

 

The Supreme Court Judgement that permitted entry of Women between the age of 10 and 50 to the Divine Sabarimala Temple changed everything. In the first place, the case should never have been admitted as it was not filed by any devotee from Kerala or neighbouring state, nor any devout Hindu woman. It was pure mischief by a group of young lawyers, following the agenda of Communists, Atheists and Chislamists, who just did not have any locus standi in the first place. The SC should have thrown out the case at the admission stage itself.

 

But our SC wants to play God and one thing they learned and will continue to learn is that you don't mess around with a powerful deity like Ayyappa. All they have to do is ask the millions of Ayyappa devotees for whom the annual pilgrimage is a period of rediscovering oneself and cleansing their system.

 

Sabarimala Dharma Sastavu is extremely powerful, and has yogic powers. He is also a naishtika brahmachari. There are powers beyond our knowledge in this world. I am religious, but quite progressive in my thinking. I have been asked why Ladies who are menstruating should not be allowed to do pooja even at home, let alone going to temple. This has got nothing to do with them being treated as impure. During menstruation, their body gets weak, and resisting power is very low. Any pooja or temple visit creates a powerful force field around the person that it may prove detrimental for the menstruating women. No one checks whether the lady is menstruating or not, but they don't go during menstruation, which is more of self control and self discipline. There are Gods who are not Sathvik, like Lord Shiva or Devi who resides in Kavu. Ladies abstain from temple visits for the first 7 days of Menstruation in these temples.

 

The same is true of people who are sick, male or female. In Kerala, almost all the people take a head bath before visiting a temple. This is not possible when one is sick, and hence they stay away on their own as they are unable to take in the power of the God as manifested in the temples. Unlike in Christianity and Islam, where Churches and Mosques are places of gathering, it is totally different in Temples, especially the Kerala Temples. The Temple architecture is so pristine and based on vaasthu calculations that the Energy emanated from Sanctum Sanctorium is unbelievable. Devotees understand this, and hence the Temple is closed when there is a death in the locality, opening only after the dead body has been removed, for death brings in negative vibes which can clash with the positive vibes of the temple. Devotees also don't visit temple for a prescribed period after a death in the family or a birth in the family. Amongst Tamil Brahmins, we do not enter the temple for One Whole Year after a death in the family. We may pray from outside the temple after 6 months, but wont enter on our own volition.

 

Each deity has his or her own rituals and preferences. In Sabarimala, ladies who are of menstruating age are not allowed. In Mannarassala, the eldest lady Antharjanam is the most important person, in Attungal only ladies are allowed to offer Pongala, in many temples gents are not allowed to wear shirts, Padmanabhaswamy Temple insists on male wearing only Veshti, in none of the Mahakshetrams you are allowed to touch the Shanthikar, taking small children to the temple is not encouraged for if they urinate, then Shudhi kalasam has to be done. (With Diapers, this issue is taken care of. What people don't understand is that hundreds of people congregate in a temple, and the chances of a baby getting infections is high. The system is actually for the benefit of the baby). Ladies (velichapatu) drink and dance to visit Kodungallur Devi during Bharani, singing abusive songs all the way. If any normal person does it, he or she will be booked and arrested for indecent behavior in public. But this is not applicable to Kodungallur Devotees.

 

Many of our rituals have deep meanings, and have evolved over many generations. The real intent has somehow got lost in the process.

 

The British colonization followed by 7 decades of education which took pains to belittle everything that Hinduism stands for and the Chrislamists agenda, funded in crores from abroad, is thought to have weakened Hindus in India. Even the BJP Government led by Modi, has not take any pro active steps to right many historic wrongs.

 

But Sabarimala judgement by SC is a turning point. The ladies, who the SC and Communist Govt in Kerala thought will come out in droves to visit the temple, surprised everyone but us devotees by their ready to wait campaign. They came out of their houses in thousands, held peaceful namajapa yathras, protested peacefully, made the men come out to support them, forced even those Parties like BJP and Congress who supported SC Judgement initially, to take a U turn and brought the arrogant CPM led Government of Pinarayi Vijayan to their knees.

 

The SC has agreed to hear the Review Petitions and the Writ Petitions after the Season is over, without staying the earlier decision. The chances of SC, who are drunk with the power of judicial activism, reversing their decision is next to nil.

 

It is up to the Government of India, elected by the People of India, to abide by the wishes of millions of devotees and bring in a law to overturn the SC Verdict. All it has to do is to turn over Hindu Temples to the Devotees, ask the Governments to get out of running temples (they have no business to do that, in any case). This shall have the effect of each temple ceasing to become a Public Property, whereby allowing them to have their own rules and regulations.

 

Will Modi bite the bullet? It is high time he, who won based on Hindu Pride, stands up to be counted.

 

For others like Pinarayi Vijayan, CPM, Left parties and SC, I have only sympathies. Ayyappan is extremely powerful, and the retribution will be severe. Only he can help them! And therein lies the irony.

Interesting Characters I met in my Life -3

My father, who was an Executive Engineer in Kerala State Electricity Board, was transferred to Chittur from Palghat in 1975, which was 14 kms away. He was 45 at the time. A very tenacious man, he learned driving a two wheeler at that age, and travelled to Chittur every day, while we stayed in Palghat as our Schools and Colleges were in Palghat. One needs to remember that, those days, a 14 kms travel by bus or car or 2 wheeler was equal to travelling for 40 kms today. Father had a health issue in 1978 which forced him to shift the house to Chittur, which meant we had to travel instead of him. My brother, who is 8 years elder to me, had completed his education and had joined a Bank as Probationary Officer, and had moved to North India.

 

The first person we met in Chittur, was my brothers' friend. He was just 22 then, living with his aged Aunt. He was the youngest of 4, with 3 domineering elder sisters. His mother died when he was a toddler, and his father, who was a disciplinarian, and who worked in a Multinational Firm, brought up the kids in a Culture that was more Western oriented than Indian. The Children were raised by the their father as a single parent for a long time, till he remarried, late in his life. The kids, who were all teenagers by then, and brought up hearing the stories of Cindrella being harassed by her evil Step mother, never gave her a chance to settle down, though she was a very sane lady, educated, and cultured. She lived with her aged mother in Chittur in 1978. My brothers friends' father had died by 1978, leaving him with a huge house, agricultural land and couple of sisters to look after, which he found a bit too difficult to handle. In short, he was a confused youngster, jobless, 22 years old with a heavy burden on his shoulders, struggling to cope up with the Indian Culture in a remote village town, for he was raised to live in a Western society by the father.

 

There were 4 of them including my brother in their gang. Our guy was very close to my brother, and thought a lot about him. I have always felt that my brother never really had the same feeling he had for my brother.

 

When we landed up in Chittur, he took over the task of settling us in and became a regular visitor, or rather a member of my family. He looked upon my father as his godfather, and had all the freedom a son had in our house. He was a good brother to me and my sister. A left hander, with a slightly feminish look, he became a part of our life in no time.

 

My father was his advisor, and soon he got a job as a Medical Representative, a profession that was common to most graduates those days. A compulsive talker, and a guy who loved to move around in two wheelers, the job fitted him like a glove. The freedom it gave also helped him to look after his Farm in remote areas.

 

He was there to play Badminton or Carroms with us, and was boisterous and argumentative.  When he was barely 25, he walked in and announced he wanted to marry, and sought Father's support. My father tried to dissuade him telling him that he was too young, and immature to marry. But he was adamant, and finally settled down to marry a sweet traditional Palghat girl, who was the complete opposite to him. But they hit off well. She also became a part of our family. During my Sister's and Brother's marriages, they were treated as one of my parents Children and honoured accordingly. This was not to the liking of some of my relatives.

 

Not blessed with sound General Knowledge, sometimes he made himself look silly. Once we were playing Carroms, when father remarked that Yuri Andropov has died. Andropov was the leader of USSR at that time, and one of the two most powerful figures in the World. Our guy casually remarked that "Chess world has lost a rare talent". My father and me stared at him in disbelief, for Andropov never played Chess. USSR was the Chess Powerhouse those days, and our guy connected a Russian Name to a Chess Player!. Father remarked "Thank god for small mercies! At least you are aware Andropov is a Russian!"

 

The Palghat bye pass was constructed in early 1980's. The Palghat - Chittur Road cut the bye pass vertically. Remember this road is a small 2 lane, 2 way road. Highways had Speed brakers on the Palghat - Chittur Road on either side of the Highway. Our guy one day, in all seriousness remarked, "Our Highway guys are idiots. I can understand them laying speed breakers before the highway, but why have it after we have crossed the highway?". The poor guy never thought that the speed breaker on the other side was for those motorists coming from the other direction.

 

He had a heart of gold and was in the forefront during my sisters wedding. His elder daughter was a our pet, and spent most of her time our house as a toddler.

 

He as talkative and boisterous, and made the life in a sleepy, quaint chitter a bit colourful.

 

He used to drive his Vijay Scooter at nothing less than 80 kms per hour, without a care in the world for his  or his pillion riders safety. At 8 pm one night he and his wife left Palghat town to his wife's house 7 kms away. He started the vehicle and told his wife to get in the back and as is usual, he took off at a high speed, talking to his wife non stop for the next 15 minutes. When he reached home, his mother in law asked "Where is your wife? You went out together." "What, she is in the pillion seat" and looked back, found the seat empty. He rushed back to town, and found a small crowd around his wife, who was crying. What had happened was he asked her to get into the pillion seat and took off just as she was mounting, she fell on the road, and was a bit hurt. The crowd gave him some 'nice advice', but he was unfazed. He put all the blame on her for the incident.

 

He was a Chain smoker and used to justify saying it was a stress reliever. But he never smoke in front of my parents. After a while he started drinking lightly, and then heavily. He became an alcoholic and had to be dragged home. He was in his mid to late 30s.

 

I moved on to do my MBA, later joined HPCL, resigned and started NIIT in Thanjavur. A hot tempered guy, who took things personally, I couldn't bear to see his wife, with whom I shared an excellent rapport, suffer due to his alcoholism. I showed my displeasure by cutting off my ties with him and didn't speak to him for nearly 6 years.

 

With great difficulty, he got out of his alcoholism and turned a new leaf. He had moved to Ernakulam by then. One day he visited my parents and complained that though he has turned a new leaf, he was sad that I was not talking to him. Father asked me to visit him or call him up. But I didn't, as I was still seething at what I considered was his betrayal.

 

One day in late 1990s, we got a call from my brother in Delhi asking us to go and visit his wife, for he had died in a two wheeler accident a few days back, leaving his young wife and two teenage daughters behind. We were devastated. The saddest part was that the person who never had an accident when he was driving at 80-100 kms per hour was driving at 40 kms when his a Lorry carrying Steel Rods in front of him suddenly braked and a rod pierced him. He died on the spot. He was 44 when he died. His wife was inconsolable. She told me that his great regret was that I was not talking to him. I couldn't look at her straight, for my heart was gutted.

 

Life teaches one many lessons. His unfortunate death taught me not to carry grudges, lest we regret later.

 

 

The Cook from Palakkad

Being the youngest of three children, I was always given preferential treatment at home. Brother was 8 years elder to me and rarely lived with us, while Sister was a good 4 years older. In addition, I was a frail child and parents felt I needed to be protected.

 

This, in addition to the basic closeness prevalent in the family, made me attached to both my parents, though I was closer to my father, to the extend of being his alter ego. Father was a gruff man with a bad temper and one has to be careful with words or deeds in front on him. He was an introvert till he crossed 45, and I was one of the few with whom he would converse a lot. I have inherited lot of traits from him.

 

Mother was a typical busy bee. Carried with her a bit of inferiority complex, for she was short, dark, but  was tremendous at keeping the home spic and span, taking care of all our needs, apart from being a marvelous cook. She was a talented singer and veena player, but for some petty reasons refused to sing or play, though we heard her sing in weddings a few times. She was terrific in drawing kolams and much sought after during functions including wedding (those days ladies from the family took up the job of weaving designs using makkolam, unlike today when it is outsourced).

 

Though I know what I inherited from my father, I was never sure about what I got from my mother. I like cleanliness and organization, but am not obsessed with it. I love music, though I cant sing, but am an excellent rasika, who can identify nearly 175 ragams. That  trait  was passed on to me by my father, and not mother.

 

It just struck me recently that I had inherited a wonderful skill from my mother - Cooking. I have a passion for cooking, and like her, I don't rest until and unless I perfect a particular dish or snack.  I can cook as well as her, and am a bit more daring when it comes to experimentation. And by god's grace I have her 'Kaipunyam', that distinguishes a good cook from an average one.

 

Cooking in our house used to be a joint affair. Father was the choreographer. He decided the menu, and made it a point to cut vegetables for mother every day, unless they had a fight and were not on speaking terms. Mother did the cooking. Despite his knowledge of cooking, father couldn't cook for nuts. In fact he was so clumsy, he couldn't even make a cup of coffee. Since mother rarely left him alone, he didn't suffer.

 

Only once she had to leave for Mumbai to attend her father's first death anniversary, and father was left alone for a week. However, we had a Servant called Velayudhan, who was trained by my mother to cook in her absence, and father somehow managed to survive. The offshoot of this was that Velayudhan learned cooking, and later made a living out of it by cooking for an elderly couple, and many others. Inadvertently, my mother has developed a skill in Velayudhan and he made the full use of it.

 

Speaking of cooking, my maternal Grandmother was a Superb Cook. She lived in Mumbai, and had high regard for my father. She wont even come to the room where he is sitting. Any my father too never spoke to her. It was like that those days. in 1976, my mother's father died and father was forced to stay for 16 days in Mumbai. As was the custom, the grieving Grandmother was not allowed to cook, a task undertaken jointly by my mother, her sisters and sisters in law. On the 11th day, Grandmother told the ladies to stay off the kitchen "Mani (my father's pet name) has come after so many years. I will cook today". Nothing special. Routine Sambhar, Rasam, Poriyal. Father was unaware Grandmother had cooked as he had gone to my Aunts' house. He came just in time for lunch,  took couple of mouthfuls of sambhar rice and remarked "Todays cooking was done by the same person who cooked in this house all these years". Everyone was stunned at the sense of taste of my father, and Grandmother virtually blushed.

 

My mothers both Sisters in Law were average cooks. Her youngest sister is a reasonable cook, but the sister next to her is a terrific cook. Only issue with her is that she will not cook and serve, but rather complete her cooking in all aspects and then only serve.

 

My Father's mother lived in a village in Kollengode. The grandparents had limited income and lived frugally. She used to be a good cook, using scarce resources to good effect. I have heard her mother, my great grandmother, was a wonderful cook.

 

I think I am  blessed by all the good cooks in my family. I love cooking, am passionate about it, I hunt down recipes (my hobby is to look up Palghat Brahmin Recipes that is slowly getting lost), and enjoy watching others eat. Though I am quite comfortable cooking both North Indian and South Indian dishes, I am at home with Traditional Palghat Brahmin Cuisine. Unlike many others, I am at home cooking for 2 people or prepare a full fledged sadhya for 10-15 people.

 

I wish the next generation, male and female, carry the baton, for nothing gives greater happiness than seeing someone eat the food you have cooked with relish, and telling you they are full and satiated. Man never has enough of anything, except food!

Make Supreme Court Accountable for their Decisions

The first thing we learn in Management is that Authority and Responsibility go hand in hand.

 

And if this were to be violated, it could lead to a Management disaster.

 

Our Supreme Court has stuffed itself unilaterally all the Authority in the Country without an iota of Responsibility.

 

They elect themselves, appoint themselves, but are not accountable for their actions. It is virtually impossible to impeach them.

 

They pass judgement after judgement, which borders on absurd, and are clearly judicial over reach. And then they wash their hands off passing the buck to the Executive to implement impossible judgement.

 

In rare cases, they take it upon themselves to rectify a situation, and end up with egg on their face.

 

Let us take the case of Subrata Roy of Sahara Group. He defrauded investors and was asked to pay back Rs 24,000 crore by SC. He had enough assets to cover the amount. It is common sense that SC would seize his assets and auction them, right? Wrong! He was put in jail, and then we went through the absurd scenario of him being allowed to run his business from Jail, have meetings to sell of his assets, and seek extension after extension. This drama is now going on for years!

 

Another mess SC has created is in BCCI. Just because it is a cash rich, high profile body, SC intervened and appointed COA who were supposed to implement SC directives. Well they are doing it for the past 2 years and no one knows when they will finish. In the meanwhile, BCCI has lost its clout with ICC, which took years to build up, and is reduced to a laughing stock, trying to operate with its hands and legs tied. Less said about the COA members, the better. SC stated that no one above 70 should be an official. Fair enough. But last heard Vinod Rai, who heads COA, has passed 70, and is still continuing.

 

5 Senior most judges breached professional discipline, and conducted a press conference against the then CJI requesting that Roster should be managed by the group of 5 Senior Judges. No action was taken against them. And one of them was promoted to become the next CJI! Now that Ranjan Gogoi is the CJI, he continues to be the Master of Roster, and every one is happy. What happened to the concept of Senior Judges collectively deciding on the Roster?

 

SC has given an erroneous judgement in the Sabarimala case. The protests at the ground level, led by Women who apparently were supposed to have 'benefited' from the judgement, has shown a mirror to the SC. And the SC did not consider it important to take up the Review Petition on a priority basis, when a whole State was in turmoil, but rather went for their Pooja Break!! Talk about Accountability.

 

We are seeing SC judgement being thrown to dogs by Government and People in many cases. And this does not augur well for SC. They have become a laughing stock.

 

It is time we brought in accountability to SC functioning.

The Supreme Court needs to be Dismantled and Rebuilt

I was once told by a friend of mine, who has been associated with the judiciary for a long time. And this discussion happened in 1990s.

 

There is lot of monetary corruption in the lower judiciary. This does not mean that Corruption do not exist in the upper judiciary. It certainly does. But the corruption there is more of 'moral corruption', which means either the Judge gives decision that is in tune with his political or religious beliefs, or because of certain inherent biases.

 

Much water has flown under the bridge since. It is beyond doubt that our higher courts, especially the Supreme Court, has become a cabal of self serving, holier-than-thou, crony, corrupt bunch of Judges, who has least interest in serving justice to common people.

 

They appoint themselves, are not accountable to anyone, they interfere in areas where they have no right to and then when they make a mess of it they just keep quiet ( A classic case is their interference in BCCI, where in three years, all they have done is to make the situation murkier in the process shaming one of the better run organization in front of their global counterparts. The Council of Administrators have only one or two left of the initial team, and Vinod Rai is already past 70, an age set by SC for BCCI Administrators to be ineligible! ). No one, including the elected Parliament has any say in the appointment of judges, and they had the temerity to strike down the bill passed by both houses of Parliament that would have brought a semblance of transparency to judicial appointments.

 

The four rebel judges who held a press conference were not even censured. And one of them has now been awarded with the CJI post. Now let us see if Ranjan Gogoi, the new CJI, will relinquish his Master of Roster role and ask the Senior Most Judges to be a part of allocating the Cases, as he wanted in the Press Conference. He has to walk the talk, but am sure it is not going to happen, and the so called liberals will not raise this issue.

 

It is a matter of concern that the SC is fast tracking cases which has an anti hindu slant, and passing judgments detrimental to the majority religion. The Sabarimala case is one such. When a more important, simple land dispute case of Ayodhya, is pending for decades, which is of more importance, SC has to rush in and meddle in Sabarimala. I am not for or against it. The 41 days vrata as an excuse for keeping women out is not acceptable to me, as 90% of men don't observe 41 days vrata. It is more like 3 days to 1 week. But every temple has a right to decide its rituals and right of entry, based on traditions. Any change has to come within the Community, and Hinduism has shown its ability to reform over a period of time, unlike the Abrahamic religions.

 

The issue is not SC interfering in hindu religion, but its reluctance to even touch minority religions. This is unacceptable. If not allowing women of certain age groups in Sabarimala is a violation of Fundamental right, how about not allowing women to pray with men in a mosque is not a violation of Fundamental right?

 

The earlier we have a uniform civil code the better.

 

The lower judiciary is absolutely corrupt. The higher judiciary is packed with judges of a particular political belief, who ensure only their types are promoted through an opaque, unaccountable system. They are also financially corrupt. The case of an ex CJI from Kerala is a case in point. The guy Justice Karnan, who dared to call out that the King was naked, was punished and imprisoned for 6 months. The judiciary as it stands today cannot be mended.

 

It has to be destroyed, dismantled and rebuilt from scratch. We cannot have a situation where SC interferes in a criminal investigation on people who are charged with assassinating the PM of the country, just because they are of the same cabal as a few high priced lawyers. Even after admitting that the case against the urban naxals has nothing to do with dissent, but everything to do with a plot to assassinate the PM, the SC refused to admit its mistakes. It should have pulled back its order on house arrest of the accused, and allowed the police to have their way. But hey! who will bell the cat?

 

The SC should take up only few cases a year, as it happens in US, and that too as a final stage of appeal. To interfere and give bail to Teesta Setalvad, and overturning lower court order on arrest of Urban Naxals is not what they are meant to do. Nor is it the job of HC to decide where Karunanidhi to be buried, and that too admitting a case at midnight!!

 

Will the next Government have the guts to take SC on? If not, then SC will face the wrath of the common man, who will just start defying their orders.

 

That will be a sad day, but that day is not far away.

 

 

 

Interesting Characters I met in my life -2

There are characters and then there are characters!

Life would be very dull without at least one quirky character.

We were only 11 during our Professional Course. 10 boys and 1 girl. Our age ranged from 29 to 20, me being one of the two youngest. As such homogeneity was lacking.

Each one of us had strange traits but this guy took the cake. But he made our 2 1/2 years of life quite colorful.

He had completed his PG. His father, a Businessman was street smart but lacked education, which made him determined to ensure his children got all the education they needed, and was willing to spend any amount of money for their studies. The catch was there. He was willing to invest only in education, but rarely gave them money for their other expenses, including clothes. And as long as his son was staying with him, he ruled with an iron hand.

When my classmate joined us, it was the first time he was staying away from his house, as we were all in the hostel. It was like letting a bird free after being caged for years. The guy just freaked out.

His father would give him any amount of money for buying books. Since his father was not aware how many books were required for the program, my classmate used to run rings around him. He would send request for Rs 1,000 every month to his father for buying books (Rs 1,000 was a lot of money in mid 1980's). His father would promptly send him the money. Son would hardly spend anything on books, and the whole amount went to movies, dresses, cabaret shows, liquor and good food.

Father would come once in a while for an audit, for he never fully trusted his son. The son had an arrangement with his mother, who would intimate him in advance of the fathers visits.

The lethargic son would kick into action. Our university hostel had students pursuing PG courses from Psychology to Physics to MBA to Journalism to English. And all the students were Rank Holders in their UG and very studious. We all bought books, or loaned books from the University/Department  Libraries. My classmate would raid all our rooms, collect at least 8-10 books from each room (never mind the books had nothing to do with our MBA Program) and stack them in his room. When the hardly literate father arrived, he would see a few mountains of books in his sons room, and his son sitting amidst, which would please him no end.

As I said, Father was a street smart businessman. He would insist on bills for the money spent on books. Son, who never bought a book, found a way around this too. He had an agreement with all of us to hand him over the bills whenever we purchased a book. In addition, he struck a deal with the Cashier at Pai &Co, the leading bookshop in the City, to give him the bills of books purchased by the customers, most of whom never bothered to insist on them.

Come exam time, he would be running around for books to study, for he had none. We had a studious classmate, with hardly any social skills, who hated sharing his books. One weekend, he was accosted in his room by this Character, and asked whether he could borrow his Marketing Research book. Not wanting to lend his book, the studious guy told him that he was planning to study Marketing Research the whole day and some. "Anyway, what I wanted was the Sales Management Book. I knew if I asked that, you would say you were planning to study that. Since your focus is on MR for the next day, I am taking your Sales Management Book", said our Character, and coolly walked away with the Sales Management Book.

He was fond of good food. Often one can see him in an expensive restaurant. Once me and another classmate were walking in front of one of the restaurant, when he hailed us from inside. "Come, Come. Join me for food". We happily accepted the invitation, went in and ordered along with him. We were waiting for the food to be supplied, when I had a nagging doubt. I asked " I hope you have the money to pay the bill". The guy without blinking his eye told "Yes, I have money to pay what I ORDERED, but you have to fend for yourself". We were stunned as we didn't have sufficient cash and had gone in believing he was footing the bill. Cursing him we ran to the supplier, explained our predicament, cancelled the order and left embarrassed.

Being University Campus, we had excellent sports facilities, including two tennis courts, which we used extensively. My classmate decided he wanted to play tennis too, mainly because there was a Russian Lady who was playing, and he wanted to get close to her. He bought a state of the art Racquet and the proper attire. The only hitch was that he just couldn't play. His legs and arms would go to different directions when he swung, and the ball would fly all over the place. It was embarrassing to watch for anyone, but he could care less. He persevered for 2 years without making an inch of progress and his style of play (if one could call that) was a standing joke.

Towards our 4th semester he vanished for 3 days. When he returned we asked him where the hell he was. He had apparently gone as Assistant Coach to the Calicut University Women's Tennis Team, as the regular Assistant Coach could not make it due to some personal emergency. He got a certificate for that!!!! Irony died a thousand death and we were speechless.

We had a young lady lecturer for Personnel Management. She was not quite liked by anyone, as her competency was in question, but we had to endure her horrendous lectures. A heavyset dark woman who word different sarees, she was quite vain. One day my classmate came late to the class, got in, loosened his shirt collar for it was hot, and looked around with a contented look. The lecturer restarted the class after his messy interruption. Suddenly my friend looked at her with mouth agape,

"Teachere" (teacher!)
"Entha" (what)
"Nalla Saree" (Nice Saree)
Lecturer was pleased but embarrassed, "Please......"
"Alla teachare, nalla saree" ( No teacher, saree is nice )
Lecturer murmured a thanks and continued her lecture. After a minute, the guy got out of his reverie.
"Nalla colour" (Nice Colour)
"Thanks"
After a while
"Nalla selundu kanan" (It looks nice on you)
Lecturer started warming up to the compliments but carried on teaching gamely, but losing control of the class, who were smiling broadly.
"Evidunna vangiyathu" (where did you buy from?)
"Trichur, but keep quiet now"
Still after a while,
"Ethraya koduthathu" (How much did you pay?)
" Rs 600"
"Nalla labham, Nalla labham" ( Good bargain/profit)
"Oh, thank you".  Lecturer was feeling real good now.
After 30 seconds when she had savoured the moment, came the bombshell
"Vitta aalku, vitta aalku" ( for the seller, for seller) meaning the Seller made a good profit.
The Lecturer who was floating in the world of compliments, suddenly came crashing down, and we all roared with laughter.

There are numerous such incidents one can recall. But they can be expressed properly only in the local language, and not in English.

Temple Elephant Syndrome

Kerala Government and Officials, as expected, has shown its middle finger to all the good Samaritans who helped during the Floods, and those who were affected by it.

1. The immediate relief of Rs 10,000 for those displaced not yet distributed, and not likely to be distributed for a long time. The excuse given is that Government do not have the Bank Account numbers of those displaced and till recently in Relief Camps. Laughable.
2. Complaints are pouring in that the financial aid for Reconstruction is being left to the discretion of the local surveyor, who is hand in glove with Ruling Party Members and allotting money as per his whims and fancy. It is clear as daylight that the CPM party members, who are experts at making hay when sun shines, will corner all these funds. The real needy, who were affected, will not get anything. And the so called 'Literate Malayalis', who cry out loud for anything from Beef ban to a murder in UP to Saddam Hussain being killed, have not even conducted a protest hartal against the absolute mismanagement of the situation by the Government, pre and post floods
   
3. The Chief Minister has vanished to USA for treatment (for God knows what!) for 3 weeks at this critical juncture, without even handing over the charge to his #2. And to add insult to injury, all the Ministers are scheduled to travel to various foreign countries to 'beg' the good hearted NRIs for more money. The NRIs have already rallied very well and if more money is required, all it required was one appeal, instead of these duffers spending public money on foreign jaunts. (One is reminded of the Tamil Nadu 'Temple Elephant' which is taken out every day by the mahout to the market to make 'collections'!)
4. I was listening to a TV Interview by the Chairman of Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB). He apparently has a PhD in CYA (Cover Your Ass). His astounding claim was that though he knew there would be heavy rains during 13-18 of August 2018, from Private Weather Sources, he could act only based on IMD Weather Report, as otherwise "If he had recommended opening the Dam based on other sources of information, and if it had not rained heavily, "NO ONE WOULD HAVE PROTECTED HIM". And decision to not open all the Dams till it became inevitable was based on his instinct of Self Protection!. Why he was not sacked for that one statement is beyond me. It is another matter that IMD has dismissed his and Chief Minister's statements that adequate warning was not given, and has indicated how the alerts were issued regularly from 9th August.
5. An Ex Justice, who is the Chairman of Dam Safety Authority, made another bizarre statement when questioned about Flood Mapping. His take is that even if Flood mapping were to be done, it would have had no use! IF we had the flood mapping done, and IF the Government had people sensible enough to use the data, they would have released water in a staged manner ensuring steady flow, rather than opening all the Dams at once, leading to deluge. With People in responsible positions like the KSEB  and  DSA Chairmen, Kerala needs no enemies
6. Minister Raju, who vanished to Germany to attend an inconsequential program while the flood was raging, was not sacked, as expected. So much for accountability
7. The CPM is brushing of incidents of diversion of Relief materials as one off incidents, which is not true. There has been massive under utilization and diversion of relief materials. If at all it has reached the right people, it is only due to the good work done by some NGOs and selfless Volunteers
8. Central Government has agreed to undertake Reconstruction directly. But Kerala Government is lukewarm to the idea. Reason is obvious. Their cronies cant benefit if Central Government were to do this directly.
9. It is 15 days since water has receded. We are yet to see an Concrete plan from the Government as to how they are going to rebuild Kerala. And I suspect we will never see it. The whole objective now is to mop up as much cash as possible for the State, which has been following an unsustainable model of Economic Growth for a long time now.

The 'Temple Elephant' Syndrome is in full flight!

 

(P.S: One of the disgusting attitude of Malayalees was noticed during the floods. It could be an off shoot of the decades of Communist ideology, which views Capital Formation as a crime, unless the Party does it. Everyday Newspaper is flooded with statements from all and sundry as to why Mr.X or Mr.Y paid 'only' Rs 25 lakhs and why not 'Rs 1 Crore'. This is absurd. It is for individuals to decide whether or how much to pay. It is his hard earned money. No one other than him has an entitlement to it. If an Andhra Film star donated Rs 1 Crore, accept it gracefully and thank him. But don't ask why a Malayali Film Star didn't match that amount. It is cheap and petty. And it stems out of jealousy that they have more money than you. As I wrote before, Malayalees lack humility, and possess a sense of entitlement and arrogance, as if they are born to be supported by others. This has to be removed from his psyche for him to improve. I am a Malayalee and I have outgrown this syndrome. Time others did too. World will be a much better place then for Malayalees)

Ensure Money donated is not diverted

It looks like sheer incompetency and greed by Government of Kerala led to the floods. Absolute disaster in mismanaging the opening of the dam shutters led to the deluge, and whatever be the diversionary tactics adopted by Pinarayi Vijayan and his team, the public knew what happened and who are to be blamed.

 

The drama enacted by the CPI(M) led Government to mop up as much relief funds in cash as possible, which is certain to be diverted to finance the Fiscal deficit, and to fill Party's coffers is clear to all concerned.

 

The entire Kuttanad went under water, and that too in August, when the paddy fields are ready for harvesting. Kerala faces a bleak rice shortage. Palghat, the rice bowl, also suffered floods. As do many cash crop growers in the high rangers. It is a pity that a 'so called literate Kerala' did not find it worthwhile to insure their Crops with any of the Crop Insurance Schemes. The Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bhima Yojana coverage in Kerala is a meager 7%. And this is mainly due to poor implementation by the Government. If you have not insured your crop, when opportunity existed, you should not demand compensation, as if it is your birthright.

 

The same is true for many Middle Class or Upper Middle Class homes. One can understand the poor not insuring their property and valuables, but there should be no excuse for the Middle Class and Upper Middle Class. They have the financial resources to insure, and if they haven't, they should face the consequences.

 

And the Government could have easily created a scheme where the poor can insure their property for a small premium, with Government bearing a portion of the premium.

 

The refrain from the Government and its supporters to those who ask unpleasant questions is that, this is not the time to do so, as the focus should be on rehabilitation and reconstruction.

 

I beg to differ. The floods is already receding from the mind space of those outside Kerala. And in another couple of weeks, no one will be talking about this, as no one does about Chennai floods now. We need to ask pertinent questions and demand answers, here and now. Accountability has to be fixed.

 

We should not allow Pinarayi Vijayan and his team to go scot free, mop up money from well meaning citizens, and allow them to spend without any transparency. I am afraid a good portion of the money sent to CM's relief fund will not be used for relief, but will be diverted, both by Government and party men.

 

What is required is to create a Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Fund, with clear guidelines as to how the proceeds can be utilized. But this is not likely to happen.

 

Modi made his reputation in reconstructing the Kutch area in Gujarat, post the devastating Earth Quake nearly two decades ago. I may sound drastic, but why not think of Sacking the Current Government, implement President's rule, conduct a thorough Enquiry as to the lapses that led to the Floods, set the Rehabilitation and Reconstruction plan in motion, and then, then only, Re-Swear in the LDF Government. You need to get parliamentary ratification only within 6 months. And by then all the work can be executed, and Government re sworn in. This was Kerala benefits from the vast resources available with the Centre, including Army, and normalcy is sure to be restored within months, than years.

 

Any takers?

 

 

Will the Floods help drill some sense in to Kerala Government and Malayalees?

While my heart bleeds for the affected people of Kerala Floods, it is surprising that proper questions are not asked of the Current and Past Governments. It is as if there is a conspiracy to ensure this doesn't happen. A point to note being the deliberate controversy created over the non existent Rs 700 crore aid offer by the UAE Government, which was used to abuse the Central Government and Modi, who went out of their way to offer all the assistance to Kerala.

 

I would like to post some key points here.

 

Now that the flood waters have receded, many are pointing fingers at the Government, who in their wisdom chose to wait till the last moment to open 34 Dams at one go. It is clear that the priority of the Government was to store as much water as possible to generate Electricity at a later date, and save money for the exchequer. One can't fault them. It was an error of judgement, with hindsight. Till the last minute, even experts were commenting on TV that Idukki dam may not have to be opened. We can give the benefit of doubt to the Government here. But the question to be asked is different.

 

"In this era of Computer simulations, did the Kerala Government have multiple simulations as to various scenarios with respect to opening of shutters of various dams and to what happens when shutters are opened partially or fully?"

 

It is clear they did not have this, as the flash floods caught them unawares. The sad fact is that all it required was some foresight and a few lakh rupees to create this simulations, rather than depend on assumptions.

 

Kerala Economy has been dependent on remittances from Overseas for a long time. And due to vested interests, the Government has been lax in collecting tax, especially from Jewellers and many leading businessmen, leading to the State being in perpetual financial crisis for a long time. The Chief  Minister's initial assessment of the loss due to floods was Rs 20,000 crores, though the final figure could be much higher. Despite being a non BIMARU state, and considered to be prosperous for a long time,

 

"Why is it that the Kerala Government do not have Rs 20,000 Crore as a Contingency Fund?"

 

It is almost pathetic to see the Government virtually begging for money from all and sundry. And being ungrateful when someone offers aid to them.

 

This brings me to the next point.

 

I am a Malayalee myself. It pains me to see the attitude of my fellow Malayalees. The so called 'literate' and 'progressive' State has been 'demanding' that every one helps them, and considers it their god given right to be helped. I saw people demanding that Film Stars donate in Crores, and anyone who offered in lakhs were criticized!. By abusing the Central Government and rest of India, which offered all the help, including Interim relief, and offer to reconstruct the state (the NTPC, REC etc have already had a discussion with KSEB to replace all the damaged sub stations and transformers, and Nitin Gadkari has promised to reconstruct all the destroyed roads, just to give examples) Malayalees have shown once again that they cannot overcome their petty prejudices, and even a calamity of this magnitude has not taught them to be humble and behave with humility

 

"When will Malayalees learn to be humble, not feel a sense of entitlement, and respect others?"

 

And,

 

"Will this disaster make us develop plans for being self-reliant in future'?

(Update 03-09-2018 - At last, in Newspapers and TV Channels, people are talking about 'Flood Mapping', which is what I meant when I said 'Computer Simulation'. Though I don't think anything will be done on this front, at least there is awareness now)

A Tainted Legacy

With the demise of Karunanidhi, a Chapter in Tamil Nadu politics comes to an end. DMK has hard core support base in Tamil Nadu, and hence, it was not surprising to see crowds flock to his funeral.

 

Lot of good things have been written about Karunanidhi, as people would when anyone dies. People tend to gloss over a dead mans defect, and over a period of time, the anecdotes get embellished with superlatives, taking the persona of the dead man to a higher plane.

 

It is true that his brand of politics gave a sense of entitlement to many downtrodden people. And no one can grudge them for it.

 

However, this came with a heavy price.

 

DMK and its parent Organization DK, were built on Anti-Brahminism, and this was at its height in late 60's and 70's. The result was the highly educated intelligent Brahmins, who are very adaptive, were forced to move out of Tamil Nadu due to bias, loss of jobs and being hounded day in and day out. This resulted in a Brain Drain, which was never quite filled by the non Brahmins to date. Any leader who willfully ensures diminishing the Human Capital cannot be called a good one by any stretch of imagination. It was quite unnecessary, as there was enough space for Brahmins and non Brahmins to co-exist in Tamil Nadu.  If properly managed, the Non Brahmins would have gained a lot from the knowledge, experience and wisdom of Brahmins. In the absence of proper grooming, those who filled in turned out to be not up to the mark, and this reflected in the development of the State.

 

The anti-hindi agitation led by DMK and Karunanidhi, led to generations of Tamilians having a negative view of learning Hindi, which resulted in them not being in a position to seek jobs outside Tamil Nadu. This gap was beautifully exploited by Malayalis.

 

By highlighting the Dravidian Culture, Karunanidhi tried to create a wedge between Tamilians and other Indians, to the detriment of Tamilians. His support for LTTE, Tamil Ealam, Anti-IPKF stand has led to the current generation getting restive and hyper sensitive. Add to this, his blatant support of the Conversion Mafia, and radical islamists, we have a situation where Tamil Nadu is potentially one of the most dangerous State in India and a threat to National Security. The Church backed agitations, be it Koodankulam, or Sterlite Plant or Jallikkattu all had the tacit backing of DMK, and the people of the State will pay a price for this in the long run.

 

By being opportunistic with respect to alliance at the Centre, Karunanidhi, created a model of politics where ethics and principles didn't matter, and only power mattered. He was also the kingpin of Corruption. He ensured his family amassed wealth. Once he adopted this line, he lost his moral right to preach his followers to not indulge in power seeking politics or to not being corrupt. This attitude percolated down to the lowest party functionary, who made merry at common mans expense.

 

That, unfortunately, was his tainted legacy.

Interesting Characters I met in my life -1

Some interesting characters I met in life.....

When I was working with Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd in Coimbatore, I had a Depot Manager. An Iyengar, by birth, he lived a life that was quiet contrary to how a Brahmin should live. A charming character, he was one of the most corrupt person I have seen in my life, and I have seen quite a few of them. And he had a wife to match his greed for money. The guy was all honey and milk, when he spoke to you. He started his career in erstwhile CALTEX as a Personal Assistant, and his Superiors progressed when the Company became HPCL, and took him with them. He was a Deputy Manager when I joined as a young 24 year old Sales Officer. Though I didn't report to him, I had to work closely with him to ensure free flow of supplies to Petrol Pumps under my control. He had provided everything from money to liquor to women to his erstwhile bosses, and they were already under obligation to him. Most of them had become Senior Managers when I joined. The guy took cut from Corrupt Transport Contractors, Dealers who adulterated, and never missed a chance to make money. He was a fat guy with a big paunch, wearing a very short shirt. He drank like a fish, and was much sought after by Superior Officials who visited Coimbatore, for he took care of all their 'needs'. Since those were the days when mobile phones had not entered the market, and me being a Bachelor, once I leave the house, there was no way my Regional Office in Cochin can reach me. They call the Depot and this guy to enquire about my whereabouts. I would have been in the Depot talking to him just 5 minutes before, and he knew jolly well I was standing outside talking to a Dealer. But when Regional Office call arrived, he would say I don't know where Rajan is 'NOW'. This left an impression in the Regional Office that I am not a team player, and the guy was technically correct in a way. He hated my guts as I was totally non corrupt, and waged a lone battle against corruption in the District. But he was always charming to me, gave lot of advises and more importantly regaled me with stories about the antics of many in the Top Management. Above all, he was a guy who could get anything done with his vast network.

Having worked as a Personal Secretary, he had wonderful command over both spoken and written English, and he used it to good effect. I had an office cum residence, and the Depot situated in the heart of the town was the only HPCL Official location. Disgruntled LPG Customers or Dealers sometime go there to see how I can be contacted. Instead of directing them to me, he will offer them coffee, make them comfortable, and assure to 'help' them, though it was not his job. He would then draft a wonderfully worded complaint addressed to Regional Office which will indict me heavily, get it signed by the Customer, and post it himself to Regional Office. After a while RO caught on to this, as all the complaints from Coimbatore had similar flawless language. He was warned not to interfere, but that didn't deter him in the least

 

He was very calculative. When he was saddled with an Operations Officer who was brutally honest, and who wouldn't support him in his nefarious activities, he manipulated to have him married to his late brothers daughter. But unfortunately for him, the girl was very sweet, and did not allow him to change his honest ways, thus checkmating her Uncle.

 

He used to make people confide in him to understand their troubles, and then help them with money or kind at a difficult situation, thereby making them obliged to him forever. He did this with all his staff, and other Sales Officers, Superiors. When I complained formally against him to my Regional Office, I met with a wall of unhappy faces, who didn't want me to make an issue of it, for they were all under obligation to him.

 

Working with him was fun, but one was always on tenterhooks, as you never knew what he will do to your detriment next.

 

He loved his food and his drink. He ate non veg, but always ended his meal with a small plate of curd rice. He would say "there is nothing like curd rice to satiate one's stomach'

 

But I still have a smile on my face when thinking about him, for he was a real charming guy, who had a terrific sense of humour, and had the rare ability to laugh at himself.

Quick Take on Current Affairs

It is a known fact that Bangaldeshis have been crossing over to India in Assam and neighbouring States during the past couple of decades and the number run into millions. An over populated country like can ill afford this. The Congress and UPA Government turned away from tackling this issue as they saw this as a vote bank. It is another matter that 99% of the migrants are Muslims. From Assam, they have migrated to all parts of India, and in far away Kerala, we can see them working in lowly jobs. Places like Perumbavoor have virtually been colonized by them. They have brought in law and order issues. But no one dared touch them for fear of losing votes. Even Supreme Court had raised concerns and ordered the Government to take appropriate action. Modi Government went ahead and released the National Register of Citizens. 40 lakh illegal immigrants were identified as non citizens and illegal. It is inconsequential that most of these are anti BJP. It should not matter. They should not have, in any case, any voting rights in India. It is amusing to see all the Opposition parties taking up the cudgel against the BJP Government for just doing their duty. The biggest noise was made by Mamata Bannerjee. It is a crying shame. Along with Rohingyas, all illegal Bangladeshis have to be deported en masse - Supreme Court Decision or not. An illegal has no place in our Country. It is as simple as that.

 

The list of Crimes by the Church is increasing. Church, is microsm of the Society and bad elements have entered into it, as it is elsewhere. However, what is appalling is the reluctance of the Government to treat sexual harassment by Pastors or undervaluing land while transacting as a Legal issue that need to be judged as per the law of the land. There has been a spate of incidents of complaints against Pastors in Kerala and Jalandhar, where Nuns and Housewives have come out and complained against the Pastors with sexual misconduct. But the Kerala Government, for fear of losing votes, have been moving so slowly, that if they move any slower, they will be going backwards!. And Catholic Church has even brazened it out saying they obey only the law of the Vatican and only Pope has the right to investigate and punish them! And no one, including BJP, have come out strongly against this. The National and State Council for Women are silent, as are all 'progressive writers' and so called 'seculars'. It is funny to note that even the Channel discussions have only Christians as panelists, and no one from other Religion, though a Sexual misconduct is a social evil.

 

I have always wondered why the Lutyens media is blatantly anti hindu. Though one can attribute it a lot to the Convent Education most of the anchors had, and their pseudo secular image, it doesn't explain their silence on crimes by minorities and blowing up even the minutest issue that is anti hindu. The only logical explanation is money. The Channels and Newspapers with their dwindling viewership and falling advertisement revenue are being funded by overseas Christian and Muslim organizations illegally. And this makes them dance to their agenda. News is doctored. This can be fought on two fronts. One by cutting the source of this money, which Modi will be able to do only if he kicks out Jaitley, Rajnath and Sushma, the Congress moles in BJP Government. And that is not likely to happen. The alternate option is to create a bigger network of monetary sources that funds 'hindu' money. That would take a decade or two to establish. Till then we suffer.

Network Power

One of the more sensible developments is that of LIC acquiring majority stake in IDBI. The latter has been in deep trouble due to nearly 28% NPA. LIC enjoys customer confidence, and has a wide network. It has to change the name of the bank to LIC Bank on priority, and look at ways and means of restructuring the bank.

 

 Though digital platform is not a forte of LIC, it would be advisable to take that route. In addition, LIC can spare space in its offices for the Bank to have miniature branches, giving it more reach. It can also encourage all its Policy holders to open account in the new branch and shift their policy payments through these accounts. Even if LIC decides to shift 50% of its premium collection to the Bank, it would make a huge difference to the liquidity.

 

As any seasoned Financial guy knows, the real business of an insurance company is in its investments. LIC has a track record of investing in most of India's Blue Chips over the past 50 years, and this should serve it in good stead in managing the Bank.

 

This is one development that will be watched with interest in the days to come.

 

While Government has been innovative in agreeing to LIC's acquisition of IDBI, it is still surprising that the Government has taken only reluctant steps to utilize the core competency of India Post. India Post has its presence in every nook and corner of India, is trusted, and provides the last mile connectivity to the remotest person living in the country. Its core business of delivering letters is redundant. While Courier companies have moved deftly to become logistic providers for the online distributors, India Post has been sluggish and may have missed a good opportunity.

 

While India Post has been given permission to start Payment Banks, the penetration is slow. What it needs is a Minister like Gadkari, Piyush Goyal or Dharmendra Pradhan - someone with the conviction to push the sluggish manpower.

 

India Post can also play a major role in supporting farmers in the hinterland and can be linked with procurement agencies to manage procurement of Agricultural Produce.

 

The sheer reach of India Post is an immense asset that needs to be harnessed. Its network can be thrown open to the Private Sector to use it as a Distribution Channel. It can sell anything from Postage Stamps to Internet Cards to Facilitation Services for the Rural folks for a variety of online activities.

 

The infrastructure is available. The manpower needs to be retrained, but that is not difficult. What is required is vision to exploit the opportunity.

Innovations/Changes suggested to make T 20 Cricket more an even Contest between Bat and Ball

The Bat has been dominating the Ball in Cricket for a long time. Every single advantage the Bowler had over the years has been chiseled away one by one. 

Initially they had uncovered pitches, which gave a huge advantage to the bowlers in Test Cricket. Then they started covering the pitch which made it batsmen friendly.

The quality of the Protective gear has improved by leaps and bounds to such an extend that even a No 11 Batsmen is unafraid of Bouncers. The specialist Batsmen don't mind getting hit on the face grill or on the Helmet or on any part of the body. The Batting Gloves are so sophisticated that a ball grazing the glove flies over the Keepers head to the Boundary.

The rules were tweaked to protect the Batsmen periodically. The number of bouncers have been limited, stricter LBW rules were framed (unless one gets hit plumb in front of the wicket, with the ball pitching on the middle stump, not deviating and at shin height, the bowler doesn't stand a ghost of a chance of getting LBW these days), any ball pitching even a shade outside the leg stump is called a wide (in ODI and T20), Boundaries are pulled in, Bats have become lighter and stronger which meant mishits or top edges going over the ropes, the White Balls used in ODI and T 20 hardly do anything in the Air after 4 overs as compared to the Red Ball, the Seams of Kookaburra balls are a joke for they hardly exist, the number of overs a bowler can bowl in an innings in ODI and T 20 are fixed................. I can go on..... but you get the idea.

Compare this with the changes that affect the Bowlers............Zilch.

With the advent of T 20, Fast bowlers and Finger spinners are becoming a dying breed. Bowlers don't try to get wickets anymore. They are happy to get hit for 8 runs per over in 4 overs. They should grin sheepishly when they get tonked around by a tail-ender despite bowling a decent ball. In short, they are the whipping boys.

The Administrators think that people come to watch 6's and 4's. This is wrong. I have always enjoyed a match where there is something in the wicket for the bowlers than a match of T 20 where both teams score 220 plus in 20 overs.

I have my thoughts on how to make it a fair contest between the Bat and the Ball. Since T 20 is the flavour of the Season, my focus has been on T 20, though many of the ideas can be implemented to ODIs too. Some of it are cranky, while some very sensible. Read on....

Pull

Split the T 20 Innings to Two

Spit the T 20 innings to two. Batting team to bat 10 overs first. Fielding Team to bat 20 overs. The batting team then to play the last 10 and chase down the target or alternatively Batting Team to bat 10 overs first, followed by Fielding Team to bat 10 overs and this is repeated once again. (For ODI's this can be 25 Innings X 2 per Team). In the event of a rain affected match, the scores at the end of both teams completing 10 overs (for ODI 25 overs) to be considered.


Pull back the Boundaries to 80 Yards
This shall straight away negate easy 6's and 4's, mishits will get caught in the deep, Batsmen running 3s will be seen more (when was the last time you saw a Batsmen run 3 in a T 20 or ODI?), the Finger Spinners and Wrist Spinners get the motivation to toss up the ball, which brings stumping chances and in all this one change will spice up the game.

Reduce the Number of Batsmen who can bat in an Innings to 7
If Bowlers are allowed to Bowl only 4 overs, why should all the 11 Batsmen be allowed to bat in a 120 ball game. The issue here is that a Team has less to worry about getting all out, as it means the Bowling team has to take a wicket on an average one every 12 balls. The Batsmen hence can and do take risks. Reduce the number of batsmen who can bat to 7 (though the Team shall comprise 11 players, the other 4 being Bowlers), with a Team getting all out if they lose 6 wickets, and suddenly you will see these silly innovative hitting getting curbed. This will also encourage Teams to play specialist Bowlers rather than bits and pieces cricketers who can bat and bowl a bit (or rather who cant bat or bowl a bit like Stuart Binny).

Changes in the Ball
Do away with the White Ball. Replace it with Pink and see the fun as the Pink Ball swings a lot more. Batsmen these days just pick the line and take an almighty swing through the line, for they know the ball will not deviate.They are exposed when it either swings or turns.Make it also mandatory that the Balls have pronounced Seam, like SG or Duke. This helps both the Pace and Spin Bowlers.

I would like to go a step further and introduce a Ball that has shine on only One Side. Let the manufacturer apply lacquer on one side with the other side roughed up. The Ball will swing like a banana.This shall take the Ball Tampering issue out of the equation.

No Balls, Wides, LBW
I have  written before here. No Ball should be called when the Front foot cuts the popping crease. Use sensors.  Scrap Free hit for No Ball. Increase penalty for no ball to 2 runs and bowler to re-bowl the ball. The re-bowled ball is a legitimate ball, and batsmen should not get undue benefit of him not getting out, as is the current scenario.

Leg Side Wide to be set at 3 stumps beyond leg stump. Offside wide to be 6 stumps outside the off stump for T 20 and ODI. This gives the bowler a little more leeway.

LBW Rule to be amended. The only criteria is ‘Would the ball have hit the stumps’. This is logical. If a ball has pitched 5 stumps outside the leg stump, turns, hits the stumps the batsmen is out. If the same ball hits the Pad, but the ball would have hit the stumps if the pad was not to be there, is considered not out. I cannot understand the logic behind this. I am aware this is about blind spot. But to me it doesn't hold water. If any ball would have gone on to hit the stumps if the pad was not to be there, it should be given out LBW.

Additional Stumps
This is a bit off beat. I would Have 1 additional stump each on both sides, making it 5 in total for T20. This gives the bowler a better chance to hit and will make the batsmen stand still in the batting crease than dancing around.

Any Takers?