Absurdities that has creeped into Cricket of late

These days Umpires hardly check for No Balls, and most bowlers get away with murder. This despite, in most of the matches, Umpires have DRS (excepting those in which India play), and don't have to worry too much about LBW. But what galls me is the Umpire, who has failed to call a no ball, asking for a review whether the bowler has overstepped, AFTER a batsman has got out. This is ridiculous to say the least. The bowler has just delivered a legitimate ball (if the umpire doesn't call a no ball, then it is supposed to be legitimate), gets a wicket, Umpire GIVES HIM OUT, celebrates and then told ' hey hang on, let me check with the third umpire to see if you have overstepped?". The  batsman is on his way back, asked to wait till the check is over, and then either recalled or sent on his way. The least the Umpire can do when an appeal is made, is to 'NOT MAKE A DECISION' till they check for the No ball. Even that is a compromise. Either give the power to the third umpire to call no balls after each delivery, or develop a technology like 'cyclops' where No ball is called automatically when a bowler oversteps.

 

On No balls, is it not easier to change the law as it exists today, where in 'some part of the feet has to be behind the bowling crease at the time of landing'? This is complicating issues. See how easy it is in Athletics Long Jump competitions. If you touch the line, your jump is a 'Fault'. ICC can have sensors on the bowling crease, and the moment the feet touches the sensor 'No ball beep' comes up. This way one doesn't have to leave to the subjectivity of the Umpires at all.

 

Another absurdity is Umpires referring close-in catches to the third umpire. It is known to all and sundry that Cameras are totally unreliable when it comes to catches held close to the ground. In 100% of the cases, the ball is shown as having bounced before it enters the fielders hands, and the batsman escapes. The Cameras do have parallax error and they are not designed to give a clear cut evidence of ball bouncing or not before being caught. Knowing this, why are the catches being referred time and again? A good leg umpire, if he is observant, can easily identify if the catch is clean or not 95% of the time! The umpires are shirking their duties these days.

 

 

Is the Current Generation moving away from Ithihasams - 3

The third major development of the last few decades that led to a lack of awareness about the Ithihasams amongst the current generation, is the so called 'secularization' of education. When I was attending school in 1970s, 95% of us studied in Government Schools, and almost all of them followed the State Board. The State Board Syllabus was more sensitive to local culture, States history, and also to the hindu way of life.

 

With the advent of Christian missionary schools followed by those started by other minority, this changed. Also, CBSE schools started cropping up like mushrooms and parents flocked to these Private Schools to admit their kids. With Congress ruling the Centre for most parts, and with India's education content development, including history, at the mercy of the so called Left Academicians, who loathe anything that is Hindu, especially post Babri Masjid demolition to prevent the rise of BJP, the atheist, Western dominated, doctored syllabi was taught in the Schools. It became fashionable for the Schools to abuse Hindu Ithihasams and Indian Culture, while glorifying the Mughal Period, and the British Period, forgetting that both of them were invaders and looters in the first place. Students were not encouraged to learn their mother tongue, and majority of the middle class students of the last 25 years cannot read or write in their mother tongue. Most escaped the 'burden' of opting for their mother tongue as third language by opting for the alien French or German instead.

 

With English language dominating the Education scenario (most of the Private English medium schools punished their students if they even inadvertently spoke in their mother tongue in the School!), and with our Ithihasams not easily available for reading in English language (in any case, one doesn't get a feel of them if one were to read the translated version in English - a Classic Example being M T Vasudevan Nair's Classic 'Rendamoozham' in Malayalam, which when translated to English became a damb squib. It lost its sensitivity totally, despite the fact that the translation was excellent) and with the children unable to read in their mother tongue, couple of generations lost complete touch with our Ithihasams. It became fashionable to deride Hinduisms and to claim proudly that one doesn't know Ramayanam or Mahabharatham, but is more comfortable with Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn.

 

When these children, born in 1975 and beyond grew up to become adults and parents, they just did not possess the cultural background, or knowledge about ithihasams to pass it on to their children. They were focused on migrating to US or Europe or Australia leaving India and Indianness behind. I have asked many adults born post 1970s to recall the 10 Avatharams of Vishnu and found 99% of them struggling or unable to do so or just shrugging in indifference. That is the word - indifference. Couple of generations of Hindus were totally indifferent to our Ithihasams due to the reasons mentioned above and in the previous posts. The left dominated academicians and media, which had an agenda to promote Christianity in India, did not miss any opportunity to deride anyone who dared to rectify the syllabus in favour of Bharathiya culture, crying 'saffronisation' till their throats were hoarse, and took all effort to make anyone who wanted to learn Ithihasams feel guilty. With parents having a false set of values, is it any wonder our current crop of children have no clue as the greatness of our Culture and the lessons for life hidden in Vedams, Upanishads and Ithihasams?

Is the Current Generation Moving Away from Ithihasams - 2

Apart from the Family, the immediate society played a great part in creating an environment for the knowledge of Ithihasams to be imbibed amongst the young generation.

 

Most of the settlements were river based and had a presiding deity for the people to worship. Over a period of time, temples sprang up, which had its own source of Agricultural Land owned by the Temple but leased to cultivators. These temples were not just places of worship, but in addition they were cultural centers too.

 

With the Hinduism boasting of numerous festivals, the temples always had a reason to celebrate something or other, be it the ten day long Annual festival, Vishu, Navarathri, Karthikai, Pradosham, Pournami, Ekadasi, Thiruvathirai, and so on. The list is endless. The young were taught by the elders in the village as to the reason why these festivals and auspicious days were celebrated, and this got internalized over a  period of time.

 

In addition, the Koothambalams, and the much smaller stages in the local temples were venues for the conduct of Namasankeerthanams, Kathakalakshepams, Bhagavatha Parayanams, Ramayana Parayanam, Music, Dance, Drama, Dance Drama like Kathakali, Ottan Thullal, Chakyar Koothu, Yakshaganam.............It varied from district to district and state to state. But the underlying theme was the same - narrate/demonstrate the story of the god in such an aesthetically pleasing way that it leaves a lasting impression on the minds of the impressionable children. If you have seen a top dancer performing about Yasodha and Krishna, you tend to remember it for ever. I still recall my first exposure to Kathakali when I was 9 years old. It was the popular 'Kiratham', the fight between Arjunan and Lord Shiva, in the guise of a Kattala, which culminates in Lord Shiva blessing Arjuna with the Pasupathasthram. The fact that I can remember this almost 43 years down the line, as I first saw in Chandranagar Colony School ground, shivering throughout a december night (Kathakali performance start at 10pm) and go on till 4 am, is a testimony to the impact these Kshetra Kalakal had on young children. I was barely 6 years old when our School in Vadakara organized an Ottan Thullal - Kalyanasougandhikam.

 

Bheeman, in search of Kalyanasaugandhikam, meets an old monkey (his brother Hanuman, which he is not aware of) lying prone blocking his path, and arrogantly says,

 'Nokkada nammude marge kidakkunna

Markada neeyangu mari kidasada'

 

And what followed was an enchanting display of Thullal kala, telling the 'Samwadam' between the two brothers, born across two different yugams, as narrated by Kunjan Nambiar.

 

The eco system thus took care of spreading our Ithihasams and their core philosophy through anecdotes and stories, which left it etched in one's mind forever.

 

But with people moving away from villages, and cities becoming concrete jungles, with hardly any 'Sanskriti' to boast of, today's generation is limited to knowing about Ithihasams only from TV Serials and a few comics.

 

If I ask ten hindus, inclusive of the elderly, to name the 10 avatarams of Vishnu, I will hardly find one capable of giving the right answer, and none who can tell it in sequence. The other day, I was watching a TV Quiz show, and the participants ignorance when asked about some basic questions from Ramayana and Mahabharata was astounding. When one stumbled by mistake and gave the correct answer, he attributed it to watching a TV serial 10 years ago!!

 

The society has changed, and in the rush to be westernized, we have lost our roots. It is a matter of shame that it is the Westerners who are more into our religion and culture, than Indians....... contd..

Is the current generation moving away from Ithihasams -1

"The current generation is moving away from Indian Ithihasas. They don't think much of it, but rather find the Greek and Roman mythological characters more alluring"

 

Is this question valid?

 

There are many reasons for the Indians moving away from our Vedas, Upanishads, Mahabharatham and Ramayanam.

 

The Indian (by which I mean 'Hindu', we are still a Hindu Majority country by a wide margin) society has changed over the last many decades. The Hindu joint family has broken up, leaving only nucleus units and the dwellings clustered (like agraharams) based on commonality in culture, which was essentially temple based is no longer to be seen.

 

The Joint Family and the Temple based Clusters went a long way in creating an interest, awareness and knowledge about our ithihasams to the next generation.

 

The ithihasams, though they are in written format, was handed down from generation to generation through 'vaa mozhi' (Orally). Stories that kindled the imagination of the younger lot was used to convey the underlying philosophy of good and evil, and the need for a disciplined life. The elders in the Joint Family played a big role in perpetuating this legacy. The Grand father or Grand mother, or elderly Aunts narrated wonderful stories in the night, when there was no TV or Radio. This was either as a narrative or through lovely songs. If a child is scared, he was asked to recite the ten names of Arjunan mentioned in Mahabharatha to ward of fear "Arjuna, Phaalgun, Paartha, Jishnu, Keeriti, Shwetavaahan, Vibhatsu, Vijayan, Savyashachee and Dhananjayan". And the story of the mighty Archer was told to the child, with an assurance that Arjunan will be always there in case of any danger. Is it any wonder the child then gets hooked to the epic?

 

Likewise the children are told that Anjaneyan can do the impossible and it pays to be like him. His stories are told in an awe inspiring manner, how he lifted the Sanjeevini Mountain, How he jumped 100 Yojanas to reach Lanka, his exploits in Lanka, his love and devotion towards Sreerama.

 

There is an extract from a poem in malayalam,

 

"Vaarana veeran thalayattu, villattu

Veeran Bhagadattan thante kazhuthattu

Nalamathanathan vaalumarinjittu

Kolahalathote poyithu banavum"

 

I read this first in a childrens magazine called 'Thalir'. This depicts how Arjunan's arrow first cuts the head of Bhagadattans massive elephant, then the Bow of Bhagadattan, then his head and finally the raised tail. The depiction of the arrow finally exiting as 'Kolahalathote poyithu banavum' meaning 'the arrow went with a bang (after creating chaos)' clearly makes you wonder about the skill of the archer, and the power of his skills.

 

The above are only by way of illustration. For conveying every single moral concept, we had an icon from our ithihasams - Sreerama the uttama purusha, who sacrificed everything to honour his fathers pledge, Bhishma who took a vow to remain a bachelor to please his father, Harischantran for honesty, Nalan for overcoming adversity, Bhiman for sheer power and valour, .... the list is endless.

 

As a child, I did not have the luxury of hearing stories being told by elders in the family, but I read and read. I was exposed to Mali Ramayanam and Mahabharatham when I was as young as 8-9. I was intrigued by Hanuman, Mareechan (Golden Deer), Sreeramans  ability to covert grass into a powerful arrow, the various types of arrows with special powers, Arjunans exploits, Krishnans scheming, Yudhishtirans Rajadharmam, etc. Later on, though not in the same genre Kottarathil Sankunnis 'Aithihyamala' and 'Kathasarithsagaram' got me hooked to stories, and helped develop the story telling ability in me, one of my pride possession. These stories  broadened by imagination, allowed by mind to wander and made me a better person. Fortunately for me, I had a father who had similar interests on whom I could bounce my ideas, though he couldn't tell a story for nuts.

 

Later on the story telling ability of mine, gave me a huge advantage while Teaching MBA Students and even while working, when I would more often than not use a story from Ithihasams to get a point across...................................to be continued

Let the Dogs Bark

The left liberals, Congress party and the errant crooked English media, in cahoots, have found very little to criticize the Government during the past two years.

 

Hence, their eagerness in making mountains out of many mole hills.

 

The UPA Government was virtually being run by foreign and NRI Consultants. 350 of them were found to be employed in key positions affecting policy making, whose only objective was to provide 'advisory' that is more often than not detriment to the growth of India, while serving foreign powers interests - They were given the boot by Modi, once he took over

 

Then there were guys who lived abroad, earned a fat packet of our tax payers money and bitched about India and Indians all the time, like Amartya Sen, who headed Nalanda University, and hardly contributed anything.

 

Now we have the case of Raghuram Rajan, the RBI Governor. Over the past 2 months, there has been a concerted campaign to get him a second term. Every day the newspapers were flooded with articles on how great he is and how much he has achieved as RBI Governor, and why it would be doomsday for India if he were to be removed. Rajan joined UPA Government way back in 2007 and was its Economic Advisor, before he became RBI Governor in 2013, when Congress knew they were not going to return to power. It is surprising that no one is questioning his legacy as Economic Advisor to UPA Government, when all the scams took place and the economy was almost broken beyond repair. Even as RBI Governor, he has done precious little to solve the critical NPA issue so bank, and was not in alignment with Governments policy of spurring growth. By not tackling the NPA issue aggressively, and holding interest rates high, which killed MSMEs, and by voicing his opinion on issues that did not concern him like the silly 'Award Wapazi' campaign, Rajan was at odds with the Government. It is to be noted that one of the most media savvy guys like Rajan, kept absolutely quiet when all his chamchas were writing the articles in the newspaper supporting him, while he could have put a stop to the whole sordid drama with a single statement that it is the Government's prerogative to give him an extension. It is only when he was told discreetly but categorically that he will not be given an extension, he leaked his internal letter to his colleagues stating he is going back to Academics.

 

One must give lot of credit to Modi. He could have easily removed Ragharam Rajan when he took power (in fact Rajan, being a UPA Appointee, should have put in his papers to allow the new Government to have their man in place in 2014, which he didn't) but Modi allowed him to continue, as he did with many other UPA Appointees, till their terms ended or till it is proven they cannot perform to the new Government's expectations. Modi also refused to be drawn into the controversy and told that Government will take a decision by September, when Rajan's term ends. He did show his statesmanship.

 

An extension to anyone, be it Amartya Sen or Raghuram Rajan, is not a right.

 

No country in the world would like to have a US Green Card holder (which is just one step away from getting a US Citizenship) to hold such a sensitive post like the Central Bank Governor.

 

The surprising fact is that he was appointed in the first place, rather him not being given and extension.

 

Have you ever noticed dogs. They bark and chase your vehicle till they reach the boundary ear marked by them for themselves. Then then retreat, only to chase the next vehicle.

 

The English language media crooks are like these dogs. They will have to retreat now, till they get the next unsuspecting passerby.

Sports - Random thoughts

Mohammed Ali's death - In my younger days, Ali was a hero to me. But later, when I started reading more and more about him, my thoughts changed. I felt he was a great fighter alright, but his image was built around marketing himself, a la M S Subbulakshmi. Maybe we have to give him credit for showing the world that sportsmen could be marketed as a Brand. Ali was perhaps the first true Marketing Brand.

 

Dunga being Sacked as Brazil Coach - Dunga was a World Cup winning Captain, and a solid defender, but frankly he is not the right Coach for Brazil. He is dour, defensive minded and packs his side with defensive mid fielders. True, he doesn't have the talent some of his predecessors had, but that is not an excuse. He was a failure first time around, and he is a failure now. I still wonder why Brazil is not looking at Zico as an option.

 

Dhoni's pig headedness - The whole purpose of taking a second string team to Zimbabwe was to test the bench strength, and Zimbabwe has been underwhelming to say the least. But what is baffling is Dhoni being adamant in retaining the same team for all the three ODIs, with the exception of Fazal replacing Karun Nair for the final ODI, and refusing to change the batting order to give Manish Pandey and Kedar Jadhan a go in the second ODI. The pace bowling trio of Bumrah, Sran and Dhawal has delivered in the first 2 ODI. At least one or two of them could have been rested for the final match. Likewise Rahul has had two good knocks. His place could have been given to another reserve batsman. Frankly, it is time for Dhoni to step down from the Captaincy of ODI and T20 teams.

 

Indian Cricket Coach Selection - At last Anurag Thankur is doing something right by inviting applications for the post of Indian Cricket Coach in a transparent manner. Even he must have been surprised at the number of applicants. Sad to see Dravid not applying, but I presume he is more keen to work with U-19 boys, which is not a bad idea. Also, he might be waiting for Dhoni to retire, having played under him. Kumble throwing his hat into the ring is a welcome surprise, and I do tend to back him than either Shastri or Sandeep Patil

 

Euro 2016 - The first round of group matches were quite exciting. Lot of attacking football which is a welcome change, as Europeans tend to play a bit dourly as a rule. It was fun to see little Island pricking the vanity of Ronaldo, an A1 self centred egotist if any. Germany looked good, and so did Croatia. Italy was technically superb. Things will get more lively in the subsequent rounds.

Left Arm Chinaman Googly Bowlers are rare

It is a mystery why we have not had too many Left Arm Chinaman-Googly bowlers in Cricket.

 

I was reminded of this when I saw Shival Kowshik, Kuldip Yadav and Brad Hogg bowl in the IPL.

 

The Chinaman-Googly bowler (called after the first of the ilk, Ellis Achong, who was of Chinese Origin and played for West Indies, and who used to bowl the occasional Chinaman) is the left handed counter part of the right arm Leg spin bowler. We haven't seen many. Paul Adams was one, and before him Gary Sobers could bowl it, though he could and did bowl everything, pace or spin, left handed.

 

Though leg spinners themselves are rare, we did have some wonderful bowlers like Bill O'reilly, Clarrie Grimmet, Bob Simpson, Subhash Gupte, B.S.Chandrasekhar, Anil Kumble and of course, Shane Warne, to name a few. It is a difficult art to master, the margin of error low. But this is more than compensated by the variations the wrist spinner can get and the natural bounce of the forward spinning ball. They also have the advantage of their stock ball, the leg break, turning from leg to off for a right handed batsmen, which is an obvious advantage as it can pitch on the blind spot of the batsmen.

 

Maybe the reason why the Left Arm Chinaman-Googly bowler did not flourish is because they turn the ball into the right handed batsmen (majority of the batsmen are right handed), while the normal left arm spinner turns it from leg to off, giving him an edge. In addition, with the added bounce offered by the Chinaman bowler, it is easy for a right hander to cut and pull if the bowler errs in length.

 

But this doesn't hold water really. Even the stock ball of the Chinaman bowler is not easy to tackle, as it comes in to the right hander, bounces more making him a sitting duck for a bat pad catch at short leg. And the left arm googly can take the ball away from the right hander, creating opportunities for a catch behind the wicket or a stumping.

 

With Cricket Academies flooding various countries, will be see a real world class Left Arm Chinaman-Googly bowler? I wish we do, because then it will inspire lot of young left arm spinners to take up wrist spin bowling and kindle the interest, just like how Shane Warne, with his bowling and personality, inspired a generation of leg spinners.