Homer has pointed out the prophetic words of Uncle J Rod: Great sporting rivalries can’t be manufactured by administrators, they need to be fuelled by arrogance, cheating, choking, cockiness, sh1t hot performances and twats.
Great words of wisdom. The BCCI tried to manufacture a rivalry and almost, but not quite, succeeded. I have very good reasons to believe that this was actually manufactured. A great rivalry means more money, and I cannot believe that the BCCI were not quick to spot this marketing technique to create a rivalry.
The seeds were sown during the one day series in India. No one really cared about the matches. It was just a testing ground. The real action was to be in Australia.
Melbourne was just a starter, Australia humped India like the lords they are, and India barely blinked before it realized it had been had. The marketing machinery kick-started in Sydney. The Australians behaved like twats. Then they claimed that the Indians were behaving like twats. The umpires, not to be outdone, joined in. The match referee, not sure what the fuss was all about, decided that it was fun anyway, and went along. And the Indians claimed the moral high. Everyone hated the Australians at that point. Phase one accomplished.
The Indians took their cue at this point, and threatened to boycott the tour. The BCCI, ever the master of the misleading word, supported the players and claimed that there were other things more important than money. Surprisingly, the world fell hook, line and sinker for that. Now it was the turn of the Indians to become the hated party. Phase two accomplished.
Suddenly, Australia realized that the cute chick they had been eying was visiting, and like most school children, were on their best behaviour. And India took advantage and steamrolled Australia at Perth! (By Australian standards, that was a steamroll!) The euphoria of a victory at Perth drowned all other emotions. Most Australians were relieved that their team lost. Some others tried to play foot soldiers of the BCCI and duly blamed umpiring errors for the loss. But the signs were there, phase three was not going as expected.
And it all came apart in Adelaide. A typical Adelaide wicket with no third innings collapse led to a boring game. And the Australians continued to be on their best behaviour even though the girl had left long ago. And so, Indians (I generalize from a sample size of one!) now cannot be bothered to hate the Australians. And the idea of a great sporting rivalry is now left hanging by a thread. Unless they start behaving like arrogant twats again during the one dayers. For you see, it is just not a great rivalry if half the time the opposition tries to make sure you dont hate them.
However, as surely as I can identify the back of my palm, the BCCI will switch to plan B. In fact, plan B is already in action. Justice Hansen found the charge against Bhajji not proven, as Bhajji, very smartly, made his own words indecipherable. The Australian players are furious. Expect some rowdy action during the one dayers. Enough to keep the teams and fans simmering till October. Further, the BCCI, with a typical nudge-nudge message, has asked the franchise owners of the IPL to go easy on Australian player signings. Expect more fuel in April.
The prospect of a great rivalry is not dead yet. And no matter what Uncle J Rod says, in my book, this one has a directed by BCCI stamp all over it! The genius!
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Thursday, November 01, 2007
Protests outside local court
A group of people staged a protest outside a local court in Delhi after the court passed judgement in a divorce case. In its judgement, the judge observed that "marriage was anathema without sex" and ruled that a person can seek divorce is the spouse is infected with HIV.
"This judgement is a disgrace and claiming that sex is part of marriage is totally against our culture," claimed a representative for the protest group. "We are a group of people who have no regular jobs and so we have decided to devote our lives to cleaning up the filth in our society. We will continue to oppose everything that is alien to our culture." Questions about what our culture is went unanswered.
Of course, our moral protectors are always correct. So there you have it, we do not have sex after marriage. All sex is before marriage. None after. Which, come to think of it, is probably true anyway.
"This judgement is a disgrace and claiming that sex is part of marriage is totally against our culture," claimed a representative for the protest group. "We are a group of people who have no regular jobs and so we have decided to devote our lives to cleaning up the filth in our society. We will continue to oppose everything that is alien to our culture." Questions about what our culture is went unanswered.
Of course, our moral protectors are always correct. So there you have it, we do not have sex after marriage. All sex is before marriage. None after. Which, come to think of it, is probably true anyway.
Thursday, October 25, 2007
A botched plan
If you have never been in the news and if you do not have a fan following, you don't really know what it means to fall flat on your face. It was just mostly bad luck, but I guess part of the blame can be attributed to bad planning.
I suppose I have been a bit too quiet of late and my followers were getting a bit nervous. I mean, I cannot blame them. As any actor or singer will testify, too much time out of the news is not good for publicity. So publicity is what I needed. It didn't matter if it was good or bad publicity. After all, how hard is it to spin bad publicity to paint me as a victim? The crowds never fail to buy it and they revere me even more for that.
So anyhow, I met with my chief adviser (who, apart from advising me on many matters and taking care of day to day activities, also advises me about which boys have been behaving well this week and who deserves a treat and so on... oh that reminds me, I need to refill my stock of oil) and we decided that something outlandish was needed this time. We went through various plans but none of these looked like a good idea. Heal the sick? Nah, too easy (easy to fake sickness that is... what, have you never skipped office to watch India play cricket?) and besides, its been done too many times to have any novelty. Healing the sick is a bit like the "Hello, world" program that you write. An exciting first step, but eventually you move on to more complicated tricks. Manifest objects? That is lame too. Besides, this has the potential to backfire. All too often, the audience gets excited and demands something to be manifested! People demand small objects like coins, notes and lemons. Fairly easy to handle them. But occasionally, it gets tricker and someone demands a watermelon. I mean, ever tried sticking one up your ass? Besides you need to differentiate yourself from the rest of the crowd, you know. How about transporting a monument, ventured a smart alec. This sounded exciting, until we realized it was also fraught with risk. People might demand go inside the monument, and the whole charade is pretty much revealed.
And then someone had an idea that could only be termed as brilliant. A couple of aides were eagerly discussing the news regarding the space race in Asia. What with Japan sending a satellite into moon orbit and China also sure to beat India on technology, a few people were getting worried about India's progress and whether or not they would at all be able to send a mission to the moon.
And this aide goes, "Baba, why don't you show the rest of world that Indians are the best at this stuff, and present yourself on the moon?" Now this was genius. It managed to solve two problems that had us worried with a single solution. Also, I wouldn't have to shove stuff where I dont want to. Picky people would, of course, claim that this is cheating and that India never developed any technology to get to the moon and besides, miracles do not count. But then again, the same picky people do not believe me when I say I am God, and so I have just learnt to ignore them. Life in denial is much easier, especially in this line of business. Then there was the little matter of how I could actually be present on the moon. (Note: Now I hear some of you waiting eagerly to see how I will transport myself to the moon! Why dont you become my devotee and come to my ashram? We do have a Friday night special going on for new devotees!)
So we spent the rest of the week setting up the hologram projector. Part of the problem is that field testing is not possible. Imagine, you announce with all fanfare that you will appear on the moon, and someone happens to show up just while you are testing. Even the biggest idiot would require some convincing after that. In any case I am sick and tired of having to deal with skeptics who have an alarming habit of pouncing on every mistake I make. But no matter, I have emerged stronger and wiser for it. I do not repeat my mistakes. We decided to test the idea by projecting an image of my face on the ceiling and it worked fine as a charm. Everything was set now and all the announcements were made as well. I was having a really good feeling about this. I even tried to come up with a punchline for this - chal meri lunar - but I wanted to be seen as moving with the times, so I decided agains that.
We had decided to get the public together at the airport. More people, more publicity, more money, more followers, more fun on fridays! We left well before the event started, so that we take care of unforseen delays. People say that wisdom of the crowds is a myth, and the myth was totally shattered that day. More people than we ever imagined turned up for the event! This was turning out to be better than expected!
I, of course, couldnt be seen in public because I was supposed to be on the moon! A few of my aides were nearby, in a concealed location, setting up the system. A few others were in the crowd, disguised as normal people! You might wonder as to the reason for their presence in the crowd. It really is deception 101. You always need a back up for every plan. If things go wrong with plan A, we try to pretend that it worked anyway. Just like management. Someone (one of my inside men) in the crowd yells, "There he is on the moon!" and another (again, one of my inside men) yells, "Gosh, you are right, it is him!" By this time the whole crowd gets excited, and some totally random guy (one of my inside men) starts proclaiming about what a miracle it is. Now, here is the really smart thing. Another of my inside men starts questioning my presence on the moon. Sort of like the emperor's new clothes. But in reality, actually questioning the lack of clothes is similar to somebody else's problem field and people in general never see it that way. But it is a good idea to pretend that someone does. So a few more inside men end up yelling that they see me. And pretty soon, everyone claims to see me.
The best laid plans fail. My chief adviser was roaring at the phone.
"What do you mean, you cant get the image on the moon? ... The projector what? ... You mean you did not change the image scaling after testing it on the ceiling? ... IT SKIPPED YOUR MIND? ... You imbecile, you #%@&, you ..."
I asked him to take it easy. More pertinently, to lower his volume. People might hear.
"Okay, so how long will it take to fix it? ... A COUPLE OF HOURS? ... What? ... No, I cannot entertain the crowd for a while ... What do you think this is, stand up comedy? ... NEVER MIND ABOUT THE PROJECTOR, I WILL WORRY ABOUT HANDLING THE CROWDS!!!"
He looked at me like a kid does when he has to get his father's signature on an unflattering report card. He looked at me like a kid who would forge his marks! I nodded my approval. He gave a discreet signal to one of the inside men! The inside man gave a discreet nod and vanished into the crowd. Moments later, we heard an ecstatic yell from the crowd. Simultaneously, Murphy played his card.
People looked towards the moon expectantly. I was feeling strangely disillusioned. There was no real excitement in the crowd. In fact, they looked confused. Someone else yelled that the first yeller was lying. I frowned. Much too early for that. That is not one of our men, muttered my chief adviser. I looked out of the window and towards the moon. All I saw was cloud cover. No moon. In the small time period between plan A failing and plan B being kicked into operation, a cloud cover had obstructed the moon. I groaned. This was getting worse.
A scuffle broke out in the crowd. The first yeller, one of my inside men, was being pummelled by the crowd. Such a tragedy. A man of sophisticated tongue!! We decided to get our of the place quickly. When Murphy makes his appearance, he really kicks you in the nuts! Some sharp-eyed guy in the crowd spotted me. And pretty soon everyone was around my car, making wierd noises. Remember, as kids, we used to describe certain situations as "Aage geela, peeche peela" (wet in front, yellow in the back)? Well...
Anyway, luck finally turned our way when some policemen spotted our predicament. They quickly created a path for us to escape. I dont know how we did it, but finally we were back at the ashram. I hear rumours of elections in some places...
I suppose I have been a bit too quiet of late and my followers were getting a bit nervous. I mean, I cannot blame them. As any actor or singer will testify, too much time out of the news is not good for publicity. So publicity is what I needed. It didn't matter if it was good or bad publicity. After all, how hard is it to spin bad publicity to paint me as a victim? The crowds never fail to buy it and they revere me even more for that.
So anyhow, I met with my chief adviser (who, apart from advising me on many matters and taking care of day to day activities, also advises me about which boys have been behaving well this week and who deserves a treat and so on... oh that reminds me, I need to refill my stock of oil) and we decided that something outlandish was needed this time. We went through various plans but none of these looked like a good idea. Heal the sick? Nah, too easy (easy to fake sickness that is... what, have you never skipped office to watch India play cricket?) and besides, its been done too many times to have any novelty. Healing the sick is a bit like the "Hello, world" program that you write. An exciting first step, but eventually you move on to more complicated tricks. Manifest objects? That is lame too. Besides, this has the potential to backfire. All too often, the audience gets excited and demands something to be manifested! People demand small objects like coins, notes and lemons. Fairly easy to handle them. But occasionally, it gets tricker and someone demands a watermelon. I mean, ever tried sticking one up your ass? Besides you need to differentiate yourself from the rest of the crowd, you know. How about transporting a monument, ventured a smart alec. This sounded exciting, until we realized it was also fraught with risk. People might demand go inside the monument, and the whole charade is pretty much revealed.
And then someone had an idea that could only be termed as brilliant. A couple of aides were eagerly discussing the news regarding the space race in Asia. What with Japan sending a satellite into moon orbit and China also sure to beat India on technology, a few people were getting worried about India's progress and whether or not they would at all be able to send a mission to the moon.
And this aide goes, "Baba, why don't you show the rest of world that Indians are the best at this stuff, and present yourself on the moon?" Now this was genius. It managed to solve two problems that had us worried with a single solution. Also, I wouldn't have to shove stuff where I dont want to. Picky people would, of course, claim that this is cheating and that India never developed any technology to get to the moon and besides, miracles do not count. But then again, the same picky people do not believe me when I say I am God, and so I have just learnt to ignore them. Life in denial is much easier, especially in this line of business. Then there was the little matter of how I could actually be present on the moon. (Note: Now I hear some of you waiting eagerly to see how I will transport myself to the moon! Why dont you become my devotee and come to my ashram? We do have a Friday night special going on for new devotees!)
So we spent the rest of the week setting up the hologram projector. Part of the problem is that field testing is not possible. Imagine, you announce with all fanfare that you will appear on the moon, and someone happens to show up just while you are testing. Even the biggest idiot would require some convincing after that. In any case I am sick and tired of having to deal with skeptics who have an alarming habit of pouncing on every mistake I make. But no matter, I have emerged stronger and wiser for it. I do not repeat my mistakes. We decided to test the idea by projecting an image of my face on the ceiling and it worked fine as a charm. Everything was set now and all the announcements were made as well. I was having a really good feeling about this. I even tried to come up with a punchline for this - chal meri lunar - but I wanted to be seen as moving with the times, so I decided agains that.
We had decided to get the public together at the airport. More people, more publicity, more money, more followers, more fun on fridays! We left well before the event started, so that we take care of unforseen delays. People say that wisdom of the crowds is a myth, and the myth was totally shattered that day. More people than we ever imagined turned up for the event! This was turning out to be better than expected!
I, of course, couldnt be seen in public because I was supposed to be on the moon! A few of my aides were nearby, in a concealed location, setting up the system. A few others were in the crowd, disguised as normal people! You might wonder as to the reason for their presence in the crowd. It really is deception 101. You always need a back up for every plan. If things go wrong with plan A, we try to pretend that it worked anyway. Just like management. Someone (one of my inside men) in the crowd yells, "There he is on the moon!" and another (again, one of my inside men) yells, "Gosh, you are right, it is him!" By this time the whole crowd gets excited, and some totally random guy (one of my inside men) starts proclaiming about what a miracle it is. Now, here is the really smart thing. Another of my inside men starts questioning my presence on the moon. Sort of like the emperor's new clothes. But in reality, actually questioning the lack of clothes is similar to somebody else's problem field and people in general never see it that way. But it is a good idea to pretend that someone does. So a few more inside men end up yelling that they see me. And pretty soon, everyone claims to see me.
The best laid plans fail. My chief adviser was roaring at the phone.
"What do you mean, you cant get the image on the moon? ... The projector what? ... You mean you did not change the image scaling after testing it on the ceiling? ... IT SKIPPED YOUR MIND? ... You imbecile, you #%@&, you ..."
I asked him to take it easy. More pertinently, to lower his volume. People might hear.
"Okay, so how long will it take to fix it? ... A COUPLE OF HOURS? ... What? ... No, I cannot entertain the crowd for a while ... What do you think this is, stand up comedy? ... NEVER MIND ABOUT THE PROJECTOR, I WILL WORRY ABOUT HANDLING THE CROWDS!!!"
He looked at me like a kid does when he has to get his father's signature on an unflattering report card. He looked at me like a kid who would forge his marks! I nodded my approval. He gave a discreet signal to one of the inside men! The inside man gave a discreet nod and vanished into the crowd. Moments later, we heard an ecstatic yell from the crowd. Simultaneously, Murphy played his card.
People looked towards the moon expectantly. I was feeling strangely disillusioned. There was no real excitement in the crowd. In fact, they looked confused. Someone else yelled that the first yeller was lying. I frowned. Much too early for that. That is not one of our men, muttered my chief adviser. I looked out of the window and towards the moon. All I saw was cloud cover. No moon. In the small time period between plan A failing and plan B being kicked into operation, a cloud cover had obstructed the moon. I groaned. This was getting worse.
A scuffle broke out in the crowd. The first yeller, one of my inside men, was being pummelled by the crowd. Such a tragedy. A man of sophisticated tongue!! We decided to get our of the place quickly. When Murphy makes his appearance, he really kicks you in the nuts! Some sharp-eyed guy in the crowd spotted me. And pretty soon everyone was around my car, making wierd noises. Remember, as kids, we used to describe certain situations as "Aage geela, peeche peela" (wet in front, yellow in the back)? Well...
Anyway, luck finally turned our way when some policemen spotted our predicament. They quickly created a path for us to escape. I dont know how we did it, but finally we were back at the ashram. I hear rumours of elections in some places...
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
How to stop Global Warming
Stop exercising. Drive, rather than walk, everywhere you go. And if you are vegetarian, it is time to purchase a two wheeler.
Friday, October 12, 2007
IPL Contracts
New Zealand Cricket Players' Association boss Heath Mills has a concern. He feels that the contracts that players sign with the IPL (or MOUs) are too long at 112 pages and that the contracts might put NZ players who sign them in breach of the contracts they have with NZC. Fair enough. Then he says this.
This concern is somewhat ridiculous. Obviously, no team will want to sign a player if he is going to run away when the Champions League comes around. Since the closest analogy is European football, let's look at that.
If a player signs for a club (say, Ronaldo for Manchester United), he is obligated to play for Manchester United till either his contract runs out, or he is sold to a different club, whichever is earlier. Selling here implies that all three parties (Manchester United, Ronaldo and the other club) agree on the sale (and all its specifics). If Manchester United qualify for the European Champions League, Ronaldo MUST play for Manchester United, even if Sporting Lisbon from Portugal (Ronaldo's childhood club) qualify for the event. Once he has signed for Manchester United, he has no connection with Sporting Lisbon and the question of playing for them does not arise.
Further, if Ronaldo moves to a different club in the middle of the season, he is also cup-tied. Which means that if he has played for Manchester United in any cup competition (Champions League, FA Cup, League Cup), he cannot play in that competition for his new club that season. He can play in those cups starting from the next season. In fact, being listed in Manchester United's roster for the Champions Leauge is enough to make him cup-tied for the Champions League. (League games are not classified as cup competitions, and the player can play in league games for the new team.)
While the merits and demerits of making a player cup-tied can be argued over, the important point here is that Ronaldo cannot play for any club other than Manchester United as long as his contract with them is valid. So, why should it be any different in cricket? Granted that the European/US styled league model exists only in India at present. But since teams from many local leagues do feed into the Champions League, it stands to reason that a player should be eligible to play only for one team at a time.
I do grant Mills one point though. If the IPL team Vettori signs for agrees to release him for Northern Districts, there should not be a problem with Vettori representing them in the Champions League. Which is prevented by the MOU. But then again, the IPL teams are only franchises (US style), and not clubs in their own right (European style), which means the IPL can introduce such restrictions and get away with it legally!
Mills said Vettori was uncomfortable with a particular clause in the contract that stipulates that "the player is not allowed to play for any other team that may at any point of time qualify for the Champions League".
...
Mills said NZC is overlooking the fact that if Vettori signs his current IPL contract then he would not be able to play for Northern Districts if they qualified for the Champions League.
This concern is somewhat ridiculous. Obviously, no team will want to sign a player if he is going to run away when the Champions League comes around. Since the closest analogy is European football, let's look at that.
If a player signs for a club (say, Ronaldo for Manchester United), he is obligated to play for Manchester United till either his contract runs out, or he is sold to a different club, whichever is earlier. Selling here implies that all three parties (Manchester United, Ronaldo and the other club) agree on the sale (and all its specifics). If Manchester United qualify for the European Champions League, Ronaldo MUST play for Manchester United, even if Sporting Lisbon from Portugal (Ronaldo's childhood club) qualify for the event. Once he has signed for Manchester United, he has no connection with Sporting Lisbon and the question of playing for them does not arise.
Further, if Ronaldo moves to a different club in the middle of the season, he is also cup-tied. Which means that if he has played for Manchester United in any cup competition (Champions League, FA Cup, League Cup), he cannot play in that competition for his new club that season. He can play in those cups starting from the next season. In fact, being listed in Manchester United's roster for the Champions Leauge is enough to make him cup-tied for the Champions League. (League games are not classified as cup competitions, and the player can play in league games for the new team.)
While the merits and demerits of making a player cup-tied can be argued over, the important point here is that Ronaldo cannot play for any club other than Manchester United as long as his contract with them is valid. So, why should it be any different in cricket? Granted that the European/US styled league model exists only in India at present. But since teams from many local leagues do feed into the Champions League, it stands to reason that a player should be eligible to play only for one team at a time.
I do grant Mills one point though. If the IPL team Vettori signs for agrees to release him for Northern Districts, there should not be a problem with Vettori representing them in the Champions League. Which is prevented by the MOU. But then again, the IPL teams are only franchises (US style), and not clubs in their own right (European style), which means the IPL can introduce such restrictions and get away with it legally!
Monday, September 17, 2007
Popularity
A measure of the popularity of a blog is finding a reference where one doesn't expect it. The original. No matter how illusory, it feels good.
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Final eleven for India
My final eleven:
Virender Sehwag
Robin Uthappa
Rohit Sharma
Yuvraj Singh
Mahendra Singh Dhoni
Dinesh Kartik
Joginder Sharma
Yousuf Pathan
Irfan Pathan
RP Singh
Sreesanth
Though I suspect Gambhir will make the squad ahead of either Rohit Sharma (a pity, since he is the only Indian with a century in this form of the game) or Joginder Sharma (he is an all-rounder after all, atleast on paper).
Virender Sehwag
Robin Uthappa
Rohit Sharma
Yuvraj Singh
Mahendra Singh Dhoni
Dinesh Kartik
Joginder Sharma
Yousuf Pathan
Irfan Pathan
RP Singh
Sreesanth
Though I suspect Gambhir will make the squad ahead of either Rohit Sharma (a pity, since he is the only Indian with a century in this form of the game) or Joginder Sharma (he is an all-rounder after all, atleast on paper).
Tuesday, September 04, 2007
Traffic Congestion Charge in Mumbai?
There are plans to implement a traffic congestion charge in Mumbai, similar to the one used in London. I have a few questions.
A lot of this might sound like nit-picking, and maybe it is too. But there are always concerns about directly using ideas that work in the western nations without considering their effectiveness in Indian conditions. And governments in India could never be accused of thinking through the issues. Now that I have done my job in raising some questions, someone go through the job of finding out the answers, assuming they exist.
1) Why is a GPS system needed for toll collection? I would assume a simple card reader such as EZ Pass or Toll Tag will be sufficient for such purposes.
2) After the fiasco with CAS, how will the government ensure that a similar shortage of the electronic devices will not occur?
3) How will authorities ensure that the readers are protected from vandals?
4) Given the inefficient system in place for collections in India, with legal recourse not a practical option, how will the authorities ensure that fines are collected in a timely manner? Or, for that matter, that fines are collected at all? Without resorting to hired goondas.
5) What is the financial cost for installing such a system? Does the government believe that there are enough people who will pay the fine to keep the system running on its own? Or does it believe that reduced congestion itself is enough to underwrite the system?
6) If the system is installed as a way of collecting toll for travelling on the most congested roads, what is the guarantee it is not merely shifting the congestion to other roads? After all, the existing public transport in Mumbai is not good enough for everyone to stop using their cars.
7) On a related note, does this mean that the government will collect toll on every major road in Mumbai?
8) Have the authorities analyzed the expected impact of different systems before deciding on the congestion charge? For example, a charge based on the colour of the vehicle and day of the week might be as effective in reducing congestion as the congestion charge, with the added benefit of low investment costs. (I really don't know if the colour charge can be as effective, but the question needs to be answered.)
A lot of this might sound like nit-picking, and maybe it is too. But there are always concerns about directly using ideas that work in the western nations without considering their effectiveness in Indian conditions. And governments in India could never be accused of thinking through the issues. Now that I have done my job in raising some questions, someone go through the job of finding out the answers, assuming they exist.
Friday, August 31, 2007
Conversations with Kane, part one
Kane: "Reality is a question of perspective; the further you get from the past, the more concrete and plausible it seems -- but as you approach the present, it inevitably seems incredible." Wtf is wrong with him man? (him here is Varadan)
Me: The idea is that an incident in the past, which has an impact on you, feels good. But as time moves on, it is something like an avalanche, and the incident becomes more and more glorified till it acquires the status of a legend. It could be glorified in your mind, or it can be glorified in public consciousness. It would be something like hyping up the past incident.
Kane: Very true.
Me: Well, now I am sure that is not what beerbelly intends to say.
Kane: Hahaha!
Me: His is more a case of something like this:
Consider an analogy. You feel you can do something, such as perform on stage. But as the time approaches for you to do it, you get more and more nervous and your confidence is shattered for no reason other than stage fright.
Now step back and think of an incident that occurred. In hindsight, it seems okay, but in the moment it does seem incredible, maybe for the novelty factor, and maybe in the heat of the incident, you cannot imagine it happening.
Kane: Dude u seem in a philosophical mood today.
Me: I am bored, thats all. Don't even think what I am saying actually makes sense.
Kane: For mere mortals like us it doesn't.
Me: See, it is easy to speak rubbish and claim it is a great philosophical truth. Or, to simply muddle the heck out of people's brains.
Kane: lol
Me: And it would be funny if people started taking it seriously.
Kane: Quite!
Me: Funnier yet if another person does the same with the same effect.
Kane: Quite!
Me: And funniest if the two sets of people start fighting with each other as to which one spoke the greater truth.
Kane: Hahaha indeed!
Me: The idea is that an incident in the past, which has an impact on you, feels good. But as time moves on, it is something like an avalanche, and the incident becomes more and more glorified till it acquires the status of a legend. It could be glorified in your mind, or it can be glorified in public consciousness. It would be something like hyping up the past incident.
Kane: Very true.
Me: Well, now I am sure that is not what beerbelly intends to say.
Kane: Hahaha!
Me: His is more a case of something like this:
Consider an analogy. You feel you can do something, such as perform on stage. But as the time approaches for you to do it, you get more and more nervous and your confidence is shattered for no reason other than stage fright.
Now step back and think of an incident that occurred. In hindsight, it seems okay, but in the moment it does seem incredible, maybe for the novelty factor, and maybe in the heat of the incident, you cannot imagine it happening.
Kane: Dude u seem in a philosophical mood today.
Me: I am bored, thats all. Don't even think what I am saying actually makes sense.
Kane: For mere mortals like us it doesn't.
Me: See, it is easy to speak rubbish and claim it is a great philosophical truth. Or, to simply muddle the heck out of people's brains.
Kane: lol
Me: And it would be funny if people started taking it seriously.
Kane: Quite!
Me: Funnier yet if another person does the same with the same effect.
Kane: Quite!
Me: And funniest if the two sets of people start fighting with each other as to which one spoke the greater truth.
Kane: Hahaha indeed!
Tuesday, April 03, 2007
Parallel cricket league
The latest news regarding Indian cricket is that Zee Tv's chairman, Subash Chandra, has announced the formation of a parallel cricket league for Indian domestic cricket. Well, not exactly, but he atleast has plans for creating a parallel league, and as such, has applied for permission to the BCCI. On first impressions, this seems like a good idea, both for Zee TV, and for Indian cricket. But following India's early exit from the world cup, emotions are running high, and it is easy to view any radical idea as a step in the right direction.
In the short run, the parallel league will be nothing but a money making enterprise for Zee TV and the BCCI, which has been woefully inadequate in tapping the market for domestic cricket. The most likely structure of this league will be something along the lines of the PHL, with the tournament lasting a month or less. If Subash Chandra does manage to attract the best players from India and abroad, there is no doubt the players in the league will be exposed to high quality cricket for a short time. But this will not help Indian cricket improve any more than a few international matches every two years helps the associate nations improve their cricket.
Even with the parallel league, many of the existing problems lacing Indian cricket will remain. The dead nature of Indian pitches used in domestic cricket, the lack of fitness among the players, lack of killer instinct, et. al. are problems that will remain. This is not to say that these problems cannot be solved. In fact, in the longer run, it will make sense for Subash Chandra to make sure that these problems are addressed in the proper manner. If he plays his cards correctly, he will have a winner on his hands, and if his intentions are genuine, so will the BCCI.
This announcement would have pushed them out of their comfort zone. Already, the media and the people are waiting to scrutinize every move that the BCCI makes. If the BCCI does accept Zee TV's offer, it is going down a one-way lane. I cannot imagine the BCCI pulling out in a couple of years time when (if?) the league becomes widely popular and financially beneficial. Furthermore, for domestic cricket to improve, it makes logical sense for the parallel league to expand in duration and number of teams, and to eventually replace the existing domestic league, or at best, merge with it. And therein lies the problem for BCCI. For it must somehow ensure that its authority as the guardian of Indian cricket does not get diluted by its partnership with Zee TV. Zee TV, while promoting a package that will appeal to the fans, will try to ensure the best quality possible, and the BCCI will be loath to listen to a third party on how run the cricket in this country.
The bottomline is that Subash Chandra's proposal is a much needed booster for Indian cricket, which has hardly been able to get itself out of the rut it has gotten itself into. If successful, the league will make the players more professional in their approach to cricket, and India will have the strong domestic league that the fans have been demanding. There are many pitfalls along the way, not least, the question of authority, but none insurmountable. The only real issue is whether or not the BCCI will allow it's ego to get in the way.
In the short run, the parallel league will be nothing but a money making enterprise for Zee TV and the BCCI, which has been woefully inadequate in tapping the market for domestic cricket. The most likely structure of this league will be something along the lines of the PHL, with the tournament lasting a month or less. If Subash Chandra does manage to attract the best players from India and abroad, there is no doubt the players in the league will be exposed to high quality cricket for a short time. But this will not help Indian cricket improve any more than a few international matches every two years helps the associate nations improve their cricket.
Even with the parallel league, many of the existing problems lacing Indian cricket will remain. The dead nature of Indian pitches used in domestic cricket, the lack of fitness among the players, lack of killer instinct, et. al. are problems that will remain. This is not to say that these problems cannot be solved. In fact, in the longer run, it will make sense for Subash Chandra to make sure that these problems are addressed in the proper manner. If he plays his cards correctly, he will have a winner on his hands, and if his intentions are genuine, so will the BCCI.
This announcement would have pushed them out of their comfort zone. Already, the media and the people are waiting to scrutinize every move that the BCCI makes. If the BCCI does accept Zee TV's offer, it is going down a one-way lane. I cannot imagine the BCCI pulling out in a couple of years time when (if?) the league becomes widely popular and financially beneficial. Furthermore, for domestic cricket to improve, it makes logical sense for the parallel league to expand in duration and number of teams, and to eventually replace the existing domestic league, or at best, merge with it. And therein lies the problem for BCCI. For it must somehow ensure that its authority as the guardian of Indian cricket does not get diluted by its partnership with Zee TV. Zee TV, while promoting a package that will appeal to the fans, will try to ensure the best quality possible, and the BCCI will be loath to listen to a third party on how run the cricket in this country.
The bottomline is that Subash Chandra's proposal is a much needed booster for Indian cricket, which has hardly been able to get itself out of the rut it has gotten itself into. If successful, the league will make the players more professional in their approach to cricket, and India will have the strong domestic league that the fans have been demanding. There are many pitfalls along the way, not least, the question of authority, but none insurmountable. The only real issue is whether or not the BCCI will allow it's ego to get in the way.
Friday, November 17, 2006
RIP Puskas
While most of the desi blogosphere seems to be writing obituaries to Milton Friedman, the death of the legendry Hungarian footballer Ferenc Puskas seems to have escaped the notice of most desi bloggers.
Puskas is one of the best strikers ever in my book, even better than his compariot, Alfredo de Stefano, who played alongside him at Real Madrid. While I have not had the pleasure of ever watching a game of his, his exploits present a vivid story of a remarkable footballer. He had an astonishing goal scoring record for both club and country, scoring 84 goals in 85 appearances for Hungary, and 324 goals in 372 appearances for Real Madrid! The highlight of his career is undoubtably the European Cup final of 1960 against Eintracht Frankfurt at Glasgow, where he scored four goals in a 7-3 win (de Stefano scored the other three)! He had also made it a habit of scoring hat-tricks for Real Madrid in big games, including one in the European Cup final of 1962 against Benfica, and yet ended up on the losing side on that occasion!
Predictably, he was very popular in Hungary. When he returned to Hungary in 1981 to play a game, the demand for tickets was five times the stadium capacity; this for a game whose only publicity was by word-of-mouth!
I doff my cap off to one of the most brilliant footballers of all times!
Puskas is one of the best strikers ever in my book, even better than his compariot, Alfredo de Stefano, who played alongside him at Real Madrid. While I have not had the pleasure of ever watching a game of his, his exploits present a vivid story of a remarkable footballer. He had an astonishing goal scoring record for both club and country, scoring 84 goals in 85 appearances for Hungary, and 324 goals in 372 appearances for Real Madrid! The highlight of his career is undoubtably the European Cup final of 1960 against Eintracht Frankfurt at Glasgow, where he scored four goals in a 7-3 win (de Stefano scored the other three)! He had also made it a habit of scoring hat-tricks for Real Madrid in big games, including one in the European Cup final of 1962 against Benfica, and yet ended up on the losing side on that occasion!
Predictably, he was very popular in Hungary. When he returned to Hungary in 1981 to play a game, the demand for tickets was five times the stadium capacity; this for a game whose only publicity was by word-of-mouth!
I doff my cap off to one of the most brilliant footballers of all times!
Monday, October 23, 2006
Digital (Un)Logic
A recent discussion with a relative of mine about American students in general reminded me of this incident that happened in summer, when I was teaching Digital Logic to second year students.
(Those of you not familiar with the concept of an electrical signal might not get this!)
The topic of the day was propogation delay of gates. The lecture had just finished and I couldn't wait to get away from the class and go to watch the world cup game between USA and Czech Republic, when this guy comes up with a doubt. Those who know me will know this was the worst time to catch me, football (soccer) games are after all no ordinary matters! I tried to be quick about the whole thing.
He had some trouble understanding how the signal propogated through a particular circuit, where the input was connected to a NOT gate. The input switched from zero to one. I thought the analysis was fairly straight-forward, but no, he didn't get it.
"This input," he began, "it changes from zero to one, right?"
"Yes." I replied.
"So, the output of the NOT gate goes from one to zero?"
"Yes!"
"So why doesn't this output go back to one??"
It certainly would be interesting if NOT gates began to do such things to the output, but on balance, not such a good thing because the job of a TA would then become infinitely more difficult!
"Theres no reason why it should go back to one!"
"I see. How about the input?"
I blinked. Atleast this one was a straight-forward question. "Well, what about the input? It changes from zero to one."
"Yes, it does, but shouldn't it go back to zero?"
I really had no idea what he was upto by this point. Maybe he just wanted to irritate me with such inane questions, something that others had experienced at different points in their teaching assignments. Maybe he wanted to talk about the inherent randomness of the universe. Or maybe...
"If the external circuit driving this one has its conditions changed, then maybe that can get reflected as a switch back to zero, but otherwise, the input will not change to zero all on its own."
The look of bemusement on his face suggested he really did not get it. By this time, he had started using his hands as an aid to speech, treating the signal as if it were some emotion gushing forth from the heart.
"The thing I do not get is," he continued, with his hands moving away from his chest in the manner they sometimes do when one is professing one's love to a lover, "after the input has finished giving the 'one' to the NOT gate, shouldn't it get extinguished and go back to zero?"
Four and a half vodkas (neat) wouldn't have done half as much damage to me!
(Those of you not familiar with the concept of an electrical signal might not get this!)
The topic of the day was propogation delay of gates. The lecture had just finished and I couldn't wait to get away from the class and go to watch the world cup game between USA and Czech Republic, when this guy comes up with a doubt. Those who know me will know this was the worst time to catch me, football (soccer) games are after all no ordinary matters! I tried to be quick about the whole thing.
He had some trouble understanding how the signal propogated through a particular circuit, where the input was connected to a NOT gate. The input switched from zero to one. I thought the analysis was fairly straight-forward, but no, he didn't get it.
"This input," he began, "it changes from zero to one, right?"
"Yes." I replied.
"So, the output of the NOT gate goes from one to zero?"
"Yes!"
"So why doesn't this output go back to one??"
It certainly would be interesting if NOT gates began to do such things to the output, but on balance, not such a good thing because the job of a TA would then become infinitely more difficult!
"Theres no reason why it should go back to one!"
"I see. How about the input?"
I blinked. Atleast this one was a straight-forward question. "Well, what about the input? It changes from zero to one."
"Yes, it does, but shouldn't it go back to zero?"
I really had no idea what he was upto by this point. Maybe he just wanted to irritate me with such inane questions, something that others had experienced at different points in their teaching assignments. Maybe he wanted to talk about the inherent randomness of the universe. Or maybe...
"If the external circuit driving this one has its conditions changed, then maybe that can get reflected as a switch back to zero, but otherwise, the input will not change to zero all on its own."
The look of bemusement on his face suggested he really did not get it. By this time, he had started using his hands as an aid to speech, treating the signal as if it were some emotion gushing forth from the heart.
"The thing I do not get is," he continued, with his hands moving away from his chest in the manner they sometimes do when one is professing one's love to a lover, "after the input has finished giving the 'one' to the NOT gate, shouldn't it get extinguished and go back to zero?"
Four and a half vodkas (neat) wouldn't have done half as much damage to me!
Sunday, August 20, 2006
Premiership
Its great to see some football again! The time between the end of the previous season and the start of the next is perhaps the worst one to endure! Yes, we had a world cup, but it is only a distraction to the joys of the regular season!
I did have a jhalak of sorts when I went to watch Barcelona play the NY/NJ Red Bulls at the Giants Stadium. Watching a game in the stadium is a whole lot better than watching it on TV. The excitement doesnt quite get translated on TV (the crowd was suprisingly vocal), and you enjoy the luxury of watching the entire field, knowing where each of the 22 players are! Of course, it helped that Barcelona put on a show, almost toying with the home side. Ronaldinho, in particular, was near his best, and deservedly received a standing ovation when he was taken off. But the biggest cheers actually went out to Messi, who showed that when he is at his best, he often overshadows Ronaldinho himself!
The premiership got underway yesterday, and it was immediate delight for me, as both Arsenal and Liverpool only managed draws in their opening fixtures. Chelsea did win today, but it would have been too much to expect a hat-trick of opposition fixtures going your way! But the biggest source of cheer was Manchester United's splendid performance today against Fulham. In fact, twenty minutes was all it took to blow the opposition away! Rooney and Ronaldo, in particular were excellent, and it looks as if they have resolved their world cup dispute once and for all! Saha was a constant menace all throughout with his pace, and for once, even Patrice Evra had a decent game!
It was probably just the start needed for Manchester United. They might not be favourites this time around, but they are going to be no roll-overs either. The midfield is still cause for some concern, but the squad does look to be the most balanced of the past three years! And if Hargreaves does come to Old Trafford, anything will be possible!
Heres to the new season, and heres to hope - that Manchester United will win back the premiership (if not the Champions League)!
I did have a jhalak of sorts when I went to watch Barcelona play the NY/NJ Red Bulls at the Giants Stadium. Watching a game in the stadium is a whole lot better than watching it on TV. The excitement doesnt quite get translated on TV (the crowd was suprisingly vocal), and you enjoy the luxury of watching the entire field, knowing where each of the 22 players are! Of course, it helped that Barcelona put on a show, almost toying with the home side. Ronaldinho, in particular, was near his best, and deservedly received a standing ovation when he was taken off. But the biggest cheers actually went out to Messi, who showed that when he is at his best, he often overshadows Ronaldinho himself!
The premiership got underway yesterday, and it was immediate delight for me, as both Arsenal and Liverpool only managed draws in their opening fixtures. Chelsea did win today, but it would have been too much to expect a hat-trick of opposition fixtures going your way! But the biggest source of cheer was Manchester United's splendid performance today against Fulham. In fact, twenty minutes was all it took to blow the opposition away! Rooney and Ronaldo, in particular were excellent, and it looks as if they have resolved their world cup dispute once and for all! Saha was a constant menace all throughout with his pace, and for once, even Patrice Evra had a decent game!
It was probably just the start needed for Manchester United. They might not be favourites this time around, but they are going to be no roll-overs either. The midfield is still cause for some concern, but the squad does look to be the most balanced of the past three years! And if Hargreaves does come to Old Trafford, anything will be possible!
Heres to the new season, and heres to hope - that Manchester United will win back the premiership (if not the Champions League)!
Wednesday, August 16, 2006
God
Found a Sufi teaching that illustrates the point of God:
A man knocked on the God's door. "Who's is there?" asked God from within. "It's me," said the man. "Go away then. There is no room for two," said God. The man departed and wandered in the arid desert until he realized his error. Returning to the door, he knocked once again. "Who's is there?" asked God as before. "You," answered the man. "Then come in," God replied.(Quote from here.)
Wednesday, August 09, 2006
Sanskrit workshop
UMD Samskritam is a branch of Samskrita Bharati at the University of Maryland. They also have a website for spreading the use of Sanskrit. They had organized a two day weekend workshop in Maryland on 5th and 6th August. I was interested in learning Sanskrit for a while now, and Arun had got me interested in workshop. Since I had nothing to do anyway, I went ahead for the workshop.
The method of teaching at the workshop was very simple. Instead of starting off with grammatical rules and vibhaktis that sees the student lose interest very quickly, the focus was on teaching to speak basic Sanskrit, to be able to alteast start a conversation in Sanskrit. Mr. Rajesh Rachabattuni, who was in charge of the workshop, is a really good teacher. He tried to use as few English words as possible, yet the concepts were understood by everyone.
A lot of words and usages were taught in the workshop, but I probably retained only about half of that. Which is expected considering this was my first exposure to Sanskrit outside of mantras, and a whirlwind one at that too! But for those who had prior experience of such workshops, this would have served as an excellent review session. Either ways, the workshop was beneficial to everyone in attendance.
While I probably might not be able to speak fluently (thats asking for too much after just two days), I can certainly manage broken Sanskrit (the grimace on the face of Rajeshji notwithstanding). The biggest plus, though, is that I can now read Sanskrit to a moderate degree. I just logged onto the samskritam yahoogroup, and I could almost completely understand the latest message in Sanskrit. For this, I must thank Rajeshji, Arun, Avinash and everyone else at the workshop who helped clear various doubts at different times!
The next step now is to organize a similar workshop at Rutgers. The group at UMD has already promised help. I really hope the aim of Samskrita Bharati is fulfilled in the future.
The method of teaching at the workshop was very simple. Instead of starting off with grammatical rules and vibhaktis that sees the student lose interest very quickly, the focus was on teaching to speak basic Sanskrit, to be able to alteast start a conversation in Sanskrit. Mr. Rajesh Rachabattuni, who was in charge of the workshop, is a really good teacher. He tried to use as few English words as possible, yet the concepts were understood by everyone.
A lot of words and usages were taught in the workshop, but I probably retained only about half of that. Which is expected considering this was my first exposure to Sanskrit outside of mantras, and a whirlwind one at that too! But for those who had prior experience of such workshops, this would have served as an excellent review session. Either ways, the workshop was beneficial to everyone in attendance.
While I probably might not be able to speak fluently (thats asking for too much after just two days), I can certainly manage broken Sanskrit (the grimace on the face of Rajeshji notwithstanding). The biggest plus, though, is that I can now read Sanskrit to a moderate degree. I just logged onto the samskritam yahoogroup, and I could almost completely understand the latest message in Sanskrit. For this, I must thank Rajeshji, Arun, Avinash and everyone else at the workshop who helped clear various doubts at different times!
The next step now is to organize a similar workshop at Rutgers. The group at UMD has already promised help. I really hope the aim of Samskrita Bharati is fulfilled in the future.
Tuesday, August 01, 2006
Remembering Mohd. Rafi - A Tribute
Yesterday (July 31) was the twenty sixth death anniversery of Mohammad Rafi, who, in my opinion, is the greatest (male) singer of the hindi film industry. Rafisaab had a deep and melodious voice over which he had such control that he could sing just about any type of song. The genius of Rafi lies in the fact that he could make just about any song seem easy to sing. Perhaps no greater proof of his genuis can be found than the fact that Madan Mohan (of whom it was said that while the rest composed for the masses, Madan Mohan composed for the classes!) almost always preferred Rafi's voice for the male singer because only he could have done justice to his compositions.
In rememberence, I initially decided to list my ten most favourite songs of Rafi, but it was a damned difficult choice even with separate listings for solo and non-solo songs. Hence I have taken the easy way out and simply listed only those songs where Rafi sings for Madan Mohan! (Why Madan Mohan? Because he was the most brilliant of all music directors.)
In rememberence, I initially decided to list my ten most favourite songs of Rafi, but it was a damned difficult choice even with separate listings for solo and non-solo songs. Hence I have taken the easy way out and simply listed only those songs where Rafi sings for Madan Mohan! (Why Madan Mohan? Because he was the most brilliant of all music directors.)
1) Aakhri geet mohabbat ka suna loon toh chaloon
2) Aapke pehloo mein aakar ro diye
3) Baad muddat ki yeh ghadi aayi (with Suman Kalyanpur)
4) Main nigaahen tere chehre se hataaon kaise
5) Main yeh sochkar uske dar se uthaa tha
6) Meri duniya mein tum aaye (with Lata Mangeshkar)
7) Rang aur noor ki baarat kise pesh karu
8) Tu mere saamne hai
9) Tujhe kya sunaaon main dilruba
10) Tum jo mil gaye ho
Saturday, July 22, 2006
Indian response to Mumbai terror attacks
I really did not want to write what might be just another post on how India should respond to the Mumbai blasts, but I get the feeling the incident is slipping out of public memory. We need to remember the incident as if it happened yesterday so that we can force through the required changes that are needed in our security and such.
Much has been made about how India should respond to the terror attacks. A few people have called for us to attack Pakistan to show we mean business. Others, including me, have criticized the pseudo-resilience of the Mumbaikars, which is more akin to helplessness rather a show of strength.
As for our response itself, the Prime Minister delivered an insipid speech that would have done wonders to the confidence of the terrorists! There seems to be no move to improve our preparedness either. So much for a kick up our backsides! BongoP'o'ndit has a summary of the Indian response so far.
Our long term response to the terror attacks is not as simple as it sounds. It is not simply about improving our preparedness in case of future attacks, or simply about boosting our intelligence network, or about holding Pakistan accountable for the attacks. It is, of course, all of these, but also more.
While Pakistan does deserve a response, that is not the end of it all. India must stop playing the blame game. It merely shifts the focus to Pakistan, while ensuring that India does nothing about its own position as far as the attacks are concerned. The evidence is mounting that the actual attacks were carried out by Indian muslims, and this is cause for real concern. This means there is something fundamentally wrong in the state of the country. A highly cathartic self-introspection is needed as to why things are going wrong. This is a time when the country must stay united and not split into several distinct communities each pointing the finger at each other.
First and foremost, we have to accept the bombings as a jihadi attack ([1], [2], [3]). In fact, Maloy Krishna Dhar, has likened the terror attacks to an all out invasion of India. This is a very serious statement, and it deserves our full attention. The notion of misguided youths does not hold water any longer. Misguided or not, they are causing serious damage to the nation and we must spare no efforts in stopping it. For this, our intelligence network needs a massive and urgent upgrade. Our response system needs to be revamped to standards that the western nations follow. And importantly, the government needs to stop playing its minority politics, which while alienating the minorities from the mainstreem, also drives through the right-wing ideology that creates anti-minority policies. Again, the country desperately needs to stay united.
Secondly, India has to stop expecting the western powers to do something about this. This is our own problem, no matter how intricately it is tied in with the global jihad, and we must learn to solve our own problems. If for no other reason except that the US cannot be trusted to do anything (and by extension, the western world). The ToI claims that India does have proof that Pakistan was behind the terror attacks. India must now show some spine in its diplomacy with Pakistan. Peace process be damned; when Pakistan is not at all serious about the peace process, India is living in an illusion if it expects anything positive out of it.
India must take up a strict stance wrt to the terror camps operating in Pakistan. It does, after all, have every right to expect Pakistan to do something about them, failing which, to take matters into its own hands. While operations mounted at the terror camps would be welcome, attacking Pakistan itself is not a good idea. The moment India attacks Pakistan, the entire middle-east will be against us. Expect bombings all over the country on a daily basis. Coupled with the war itself, India's already thin emergency resources will be highly stretched. Even if the military manages to gobble up Pakistan, it will not be the end of it all. Expect the war to escalate to global proportions. Not a situation anyone except the arms companies will be pleased with.
Finally, India must ensure that through all this, the civil rights of its citizens are not violated. While this seems like a trivial point, any small attempt at restricting the liberties of the citizens does nothing except divert the focus away towards less important events. Which is in fact what is happening right now! Amidst all the hullabaloo about the banning of blogs, let us not forget that eight bombs exploded in Mumbai on the 11th of July, 2006. Let us not allow the government to snooze back on its job.
(Cross-posted on www.desicritics.org)
Much has been made about how India should respond to the terror attacks. A few people have called for us to attack Pakistan to show we mean business. Others, including me, have criticized the pseudo-resilience of the Mumbaikars, which is more akin to helplessness rather a show of strength.
As for our response itself, the Prime Minister delivered an insipid speech that would have done wonders to the confidence of the terrorists! There seems to be no move to improve our preparedness either. So much for a kick up our backsides! BongoP'o'ndit has a summary of the Indian response so far.
Our long term response to the terror attacks is not as simple as it sounds. It is not simply about improving our preparedness in case of future attacks, or simply about boosting our intelligence network, or about holding Pakistan accountable for the attacks. It is, of course, all of these, but also more.
While Pakistan does deserve a response, that is not the end of it all. India must stop playing the blame game. It merely shifts the focus to Pakistan, while ensuring that India does nothing about its own position as far as the attacks are concerned. The evidence is mounting that the actual attacks were carried out by Indian muslims, and this is cause for real concern. This means there is something fundamentally wrong in the state of the country. A highly cathartic self-introspection is needed as to why things are going wrong. This is a time when the country must stay united and not split into several distinct communities each pointing the finger at each other.
First and foremost, we have to accept the bombings as a jihadi attack ([1], [2], [3]). In fact, Maloy Krishna Dhar, has likened the terror attacks to an all out invasion of India. This is a very serious statement, and it deserves our full attention. The notion of misguided youths does not hold water any longer. Misguided or not, they are causing serious damage to the nation and we must spare no efforts in stopping it. For this, our intelligence network needs a massive and urgent upgrade. Our response system needs to be revamped to standards that the western nations follow. And importantly, the government needs to stop playing its minority politics, which while alienating the minorities from the mainstreem, also drives through the right-wing ideology that creates anti-minority policies. Again, the country desperately needs to stay united.
Secondly, India has to stop expecting the western powers to do something about this. This is our own problem, no matter how intricately it is tied in with the global jihad, and we must learn to solve our own problems. If for no other reason except that the US cannot be trusted to do anything (and by extension, the western world). The ToI claims that India does have proof that Pakistan was behind the terror attacks. India must now show some spine in its diplomacy with Pakistan. Peace process be damned; when Pakistan is not at all serious about the peace process, India is living in an illusion if it expects anything positive out of it.
India must take up a strict stance wrt to the terror camps operating in Pakistan. It does, after all, have every right to expect Pakistan to do something about them, failing which, to take matters into its own hands. While operations mounted at the terror camps would be welcome, attacking Pakistan itself is not a good idea. The moment India attacks Pakistan, the entire middle-east will be against us. Expect bombings all over the country on a daily basis. Coupled with the war itself, India's already thin emergency resources will be highly stretched. Even if the military manages to gobble up Pakistan, it will not be the end of it all. Expect the war to escalate to global proportions. Not a situation anyone except the arms companies will be pleased with.
Finally, India must ensure that through all this, the civil rights of its citizens are not violated. While this seems like a trivial point, any small attempt at restricting the liberties of the citizens does nothing except divert the focus away towards less important events. Which is in fact what is happening right now! Amidst all the hullabaloo about the banning of blogs, let us not forget that eight bombs exploded in Mumbai on the 11th of July, 2006. Let us not allow the government to snooze back on its job.
(Cross-posted on www.desicritics.org)
Wednesday, July 12, 2006
Mumbai is so resilient
Yesterday, 7 bomb blasts brought the city to a crunching halt. Four hours later, trains on the western railway line were operational. Today, everyone went back to their offices and schools and life continued as normal. Mumbai bounces back in a single day. Great, admirable, commendable, that the city can recover so soon. But I cannot help feel that this same resilience allows the government and concerned officials to relax, to not even put a token effort in trying to come up with measures that will help the city in case of a repeat occurance.
Granted that it is not at all an easy task trying to prevent terrorism of this sort. It might even be impossible to eliminate it in its present form. But that doesnt let the state and national machinery off the hook. The fact is that even the simple, day to day, routine measures that are being adopted at other cities such as NYC or London to try and prevent future attempts are simply not present in Mumbai. That the government will not do anything on its own is a given. But part of the problem is the city itself.
Now do not take me wrong, for the resilience of the city is a very good thing. It allows us to show the proverbial finger to the terrorists; they cannot disrupt our life for long. But on the other hand, if the aftermath had lingered on for a while, public resentment does not die a natural death. It builds up with every passing day where the routine is not followed. And this resentment can prove to be a very powerful thing.
If riots can get the officials to really take notice, so can open and prolonged resentment against the state machinery for not doing its job. The longer it lasts, the more likely it is to spread to other cities; after all they may be next on the terrorists hit-list. A mass movement like this cannot simply be ignored by the government. The fall-out of such a movement would have its own benefits, with increased security measures.
Call me an idealist if you must. But when people continue on with their lives as if the blasts were nothing but a small blip, the motivation to force the authorities to do something dies down soon enough for the officials to go back to sleep. People must stop behaving as if nothing has happened. They must raise a huge hue and cry about this issue, throw a tantrum, whatever. It is for their own good.
Granted that it is not at all an easy task trying to prevent terrorism of this sort. It might even be impossible to eliminate it in its present form. But that doesnt let the state and national machinery off the hook. The fact is that even the simple, day to day, routine measures that are being adopted at other cities such as NYC or London to try and prevent future attempts are simply not present in Mumbai. That the government will not do anything on its own is a given. But part of the problem is the city itself.
Now do not take me wrong, for the resilience of the city is a very good thing. It allows us to show the proverbial finger to the terrorists; they cannot disrupt our life for long. But on the other hand, if the aftermath had lingered on for a while, public resentment does not die a natural death. It builds up with every passing day where the routine is not followed. And this resentment can prove to be a very powerful thing.
If riots can get the officials to really take notice, so can open and prolonged resentment against the state machinery for not doing its job. The longer it lasts, the more likely it is to spread to other cities; after all they may be next on the terrorists hit-list. A mass movement like this cannot simply be ignored by the government. The fall-out of such a movement would have its own benefits, with increased security measures.
Call me an idealist if you must. But when people continue on with their lives as if the blasts were nothing but a small blip, the motivation to force the authorities to do something dies down soon enough for the officials to go back to sleep. People must stop behaving as if nothing has happened. They must raise a huge hue and cry about this issue, throw a tantrum, whatever. It is for their own good.
Monday, July 10, 2006
Penalty Shoot-outs
I had been planning to write this for some time now, but with the world cup final ending in a penalty shoot-out, now is a good time as any for this post.
My contention is that penalty shoot-outs are not a fair way to decide a football contest. It favours the team that is generally good at taking penalties, while ignoring everything that has gone on for the past 120 or so minutes. The game really must be decided based on general play, rather than a lottery of penalties.
The unfairness of penalties is best exemplified by the FA Cup final between Manchester United and Arsenal in 2005, a game which Manchester United dominated (Arsenal did not have a single shot on goal till the penalties!), but lost on penalties. Some people argue that Manchester United did not deserve to win because they could not score in 90 minutes, but the same people have no explanation for why Arsenal deserved to win the game when they couldnt muster a single shot on goal!
So, here are a couple of suggestions for doing away with penalties.
1) Continue playing extra time (with a break every 15 minutes) till you get a result.
Generally teams tend to play defensive in extra time. Which means that more often than not, they are looking to hold on till the penalties. But now since there are no penalties, someone must score. To score, you have to play attacking football. Teams also know that they cannot afford to keep playing indefinitely. The fatigue factor will come in sooner or later, and as the game keeps getting prolonged, both teams will be pretty desperate to score. And score they will. And you will very rarely see games being played beyond the 3rd or (at the very most) 4th over time. An extra 15 or 30 minutes in favour of penalties seems worth it.
2) Modify the penalty system to make it fairer.
Basically, this means setting up an attack against defense kind of play, with 4 attackers, 3 defenders and a goalkeeper (the numbers can be different). The play continues till the ball goes out of play. The half-way line is also considered to be a boundary. At 5 plays per team, the team that scores more goals wins.
So there it is, my bit towards making knock-out games in football fairer to the teams that play well and deserve victory.
My contention is that penalty shoot-outs are not a fair way to decide a football contest. It favours the team that is generally good at taking penalties, while ignoring everything that has gone on for the past 120 or so minutes. The game really must be decided based on general play, rather than a lottery of penalties.
The unfairness of penalties is best exemplified by the FA Cup final between Manchester United and Arsenal in 2005, a game which Manchester United dominated (Arsenal did not have a single shot on goal till the penalties!), but lost on penalties. Some people argue that Manchester United did not deserve to win because they could not score in 90 minutes, but the same people have no explanation for why Arsenal deserved to win the game when they couldnt muster a single shot on goal!
So, here are a couple of suggestions for doing away with penalties.
1) Continue playing extra time (with a break every 15 minutes) till you get a result.
Generally teams tend to play defensive in extra time. Which means that more often than not, they are looking to hold on till the penalties. But now since there are no penalties, someone must score. To score, you have to play attacking football. Teams also know that they cannot afford to keep playing indefinitely. The fatigue factor will come in sooner or later, and as the game keeps getting prolonged, both teams will be pretty desperate to score. And score they will. And you will very rarely see games being played beyond the 3rd or (at the very most) 4th over time. An extra 15 or 30 minutes in favour of penalties seems worth it.
2) Modify the penalty system to make it fairer.
Basically, this means setting up an attack against defense kind of play, with 4 attackers, 3 defenders and a goalkeeper (the numbers can be different). The play continues till the ball goes out of play. The half-way line is also considered to be a boundary. At 5 plays per team, the team that scores more goals wins.
So there it is, my bit towards making knock-out games in football fairer to the teams that play well and deserve victory.
Friday, July 07, 2006
Orkut Irony
I got this message from someone on Orkut. Seems likely that I was not the only one to receive this message.
The irony of the message was apparently lost on him!
I got a personal email today from Mr. Orkut today and he has mentioned that all the people who have been sending hoax (and irritating) emails about Orkut profile closures are about to have their profiles cancelled.
It has come to their notice that sending some crappy "do this ya Gabbar aa jayega" emails have been spiking up email traffic and hence the threat.
The wise can take a hint.
Cheers.
The irony of the message was apparently lost on him!
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