Team Game

I am writing this blog now not knowing whether India would qualify for the Semi Finals of the ongoing WC T20 at Windies. Irrespective of the result I am actually taking a big risk in writing this NOW. As one of the die-hard follower of Indian cricket it is my right to express my anguish/ opinions on the mother of all sports in India.

Things are definitely not as bad as they appear. But they are sliding down real fast since we won the first T20 world cup. When we won that world cup, Indians were fearless and ruthless lot. They would go all out to ensure a comprehensive victory. If we look at the past all our victories that year were big and confident ones. The international media blamed our success that year on IPL . After all how come a late entrant in T20 format goes on to win first World T20 Cup.

The basic thing that India did right was to infuse young players in the first WC squad. These were the players who were not bothered about the reputations and were ready to give it all playing for India. This plan really worked. We had new kids doing it for India. But just after the success of World Cup, these kids became stars in India. The commercial interest took over the core interest i.e cricket. If we look at the trend not many new faces were thrown into T20 WC squad. It’s indeed disappointing to see the talks of getting Tendulkar and Dravid back. Of course they are class player but that would be contradicting our own stand taken during first T20 world cup.

Lets look at Australia; a team that was disgraced in earlier two edition of this format is looking so strong and potential title contender. Their system allowed that every one contributes towards the success of the team and not one man. Warner may never play a test match and Ponting may never feature in T20 in times to come. But the system ensured that they have a powerful team now and continues the same in future.

Major reason for India not doing so well is not just the short-pitched bowling as gleefully informed by Mr Chris Gayle after last match. It is one of the reason, but few players in this Indian took are damn good hooker and puller. It’s the zeal to excel. The manner in which they are getting out is really disappointing. Yuvraj Singh is now playing with fire when it comes to his career as international cricketer. We all know about his physical fitness. His fielding is now at par with Munaf Patel and battling looks worst then Harbhajan. Gambhir is out of sorts since IPL 3, Yusuf Pathan is highly consistent and can be a match winner one day and a dud next day. Dhoni comes too late to make an impact after the top order collapse. Raina and Rohit are only two trying to make an impact.

Bowling was always a major cause of concern. If your number one bowler is unable to complete his quota of 4 over then its obvious all is not well. Zaheer is going Irfan Pathan’s way by cutting down on his speed. He cannot nurse his shoulder and still be a fast bowler. India need a break away fast bowler and they are as extinct as Tigers. Maybe Dhoni should try one advertisement campaign for them as well.

I would not like to touch upon IPL and its impact on current performance as it’s a never ending topic. But my personal opinion is that too much money does take away patriotism from a person. You cannot have too many Leander Paes in this country fighting for India in Davis cup despite making decent dollars in international tourney.

Comments are most welcome. Again as a die hard fan I would love to eat each word of mine written above when India qualifies for the Semis and then finals. It’s a sacrifice I am ready to make to see my dear team excel on field.

Reality Shows ???

IT all started when I was around seven and always used to sing along the songs when they were played on cassette or TV. My visit to bathrooms was the time when I used to stretch my vocal cords and would sing proper. It was when my next-door Bengali aunty told my mother that I am actually a decent singer was I officially designated as a singer.

I was given a chance to perform at an inter-house competition in the school and was awarded the best singer. When I joined college, lots of my school friends were with me and so was my reputation as a good singer. First year in the college, I was Mr Fresher, best singer, best performer. One of these days I watched a late night show on a Channel where there was a singing competition.

The auditions for one such show were on at our city and hence I reached the designated place at 6.30 am. There were people everywhere, people with guitars, iPods, drums and what not. My first round came around 4.30 pm and I managed it all right and was selected. The second round performance happened at 11.45 pm in front of sleepy judges. The result came at 3.30 am and I was through. I was instructed to reach Mumbai within 10 days with a scheduled visit of at least 20 days.

I went to Mumbai with my uncle and reached the studio. There were so many contestants there, boys and girls, handicap and blind, rich and very poor. All were there to perform their singing skills. I cleared the first round at the studio and almost 70% contestants were rejected. We were now 24 people left out of 18,500 contestants who were selected in the initial round. There was a sense of pride amongst all of us. We were all put up in a suburb apartment with 10 rooms on twin sharing basis.

That’s how my trip to singing show started. We were all performing and I was going very strong. By the end of two week only 12 of us were there and hence we were now shifted to a better place with more facility that also happens to be closer to our studio. We were now also under “Mentors” who were the leading musicians in the industry, and were made to perform in front of them.

So, the time arrived when only the last six contestants were left. It was almost 40 days since I reached Mumbai. I was now asked lot of things about my family, my friends, my interests, etc. On one of the festivals the producers asked me to go to my hometown and, to my surprise, one camera unit also accompanied me. My mother , though not a very emotional types, was requested to shed some tears while welcoming me back. My sisters were asked to tie rakhis on my hand as I missed that auspicious festival. I was also asked to visit my college and everybody, including my canteenwala, was interviewed and asked question about me.

The show had now four boys out of whom one was blind and two girls. I can now say that not all of them were great singers. One of the girls was a ravishing beauty who would use all her charms to get the work done. She was just an average singer. The worst of the lot was the blind guy. He couldn’t sing for nuts. Now all our performances were recorded one and we use to Lip-sync in front of the camera.

The final round had only four contestants left. To everybody’s surprise the girl who was one of the better singers was not selected. To top it all she was asked to cry in front of the camera and her family was also made to weep. We were also told to make those sad faces. From singers we were also trained to become good actors.

So, it was amongst four of us now – the blind guy, the beautiful girl and two of us male singers. I fancy my chances now. I knew that I was amongst the better singers left. We were made to change our wardrobes, were made to wear flashy clothes, were also taken to a NGO who was working towards physically disabled children and made to perform a song there.

So, the D-Day of finally arrived. We were all made to record two songs each that too in cuts, i.e we were asked to sings two-three lines at a time and then those were recorded. We were told that we should hold the mikes in such a way so that the lips are not visible to the crowd and camera (as usual we were lip-syncing) .

Just before the final recording I was told to meet the producer and the director at their office. I was politely told that I am not going to win this competition but the girl is. The logic given was sponsors wanted somebody glamorous who can speak well. Myself coming from a small town could not speak English, I am just 5’3” and not very fair. I felt like crying but was told to save it for the camera.

It’s been almost one year now. Though I was declared a runners up there I am nobody. Except for the two songs that were promised to me by my Mentor, I am yet to get any songs. I perform at Durga Puja, Dandiya, school functions, club function and some how manage my expenses.

Not a shining example

THIS WEEK’S unavoidable news on all the channels and newspapers is the arrest of actor Shiny Ahuja. The actor was arrested for allegedly raping his household maid. The final truth is still to be cleared but this throws out the most important question: The role of celebrities in our society.

That Ahuja stooped so low to even get involved with his household help is something not acceptable. Forget his personal life, what he totally ignored was his public figure status. When a celebrity or a famous figure gets involved in such activities what its leads to is a huge outcry and publicity in the media. Such news generates more of a negative impact then a positive one.

A leading star involved in rape, a leading actor involved in drunk and drive accident-killing people at night. A sportsman involved in slapping other of his teammate or a leading cricketer hiding his injury. These are news that has more of a disturbing impact then a positive one. These news start providing food of thought to common people and some even try and imitate their famous counter parts.

The fame and name comes with lots of responsibilities. When a nation showers love and affection and creates a celebrity out of a no-body, it also demand ethics and responsible deeds from such person. They must not start taking these love and confidence for granted and must behave properly. The days are not far off when all this fame would be gone over night and they would be left with the shadows of their dark past.

Glorifying Merit Lists

Browsing through today newspaper one cannot help but notice the full-page advertisements published by the leading IIT coaching institutes. There was a competition inside competition as to who would take out the biggest advertisement and who would claim to have the largest students in the merit list. Unlike our days where there was only one merit list, now we have categories of merit lists. We now have the nation wise merit list, the state wise merit list, and the city wise merit list. The days where we would have “Mohulla” wise and surname wise merit list are not far off.

Though the advertisements were from different centers, all of them had one thing in common. They all had pictures of young smiling kids who have cleared IIT entrance. They were all dressed well and the backgrounds were also same, indicating that all the pictures were taken at same location. And we thought that its very expensive to afford brand ambassadors.

So how much does these centers actually contribute towards a kid’s success? If the advertisements are to be believed, they are the sole reason for the kid to achieve the success. So the next thing which comes to the mind is, if they are really so good as they claim to be, then why the hell only few of their students clear these tests and not all. After all they have a batch size of around 50-70, they have ensured that the kids sit over each other in the batch, they have also created a situation where the cross ventilation and hygienic environment is absolutely unheard of. So why only those who are successful are highlighted and the others who could not are not even mentioned and acknowledged?

It’s a discussion that would continue forever, but one thing according to me is very clear. You need to have a dedication, confidence and intelligence to pass these exams. Rest all the other aspects are complimentary to these. Taking out such advertisement and confusing the prospective parents is some thing all of these centers should avoid and must realize that you cannot fool a consumer for long. It would be good for them as well as their customers in longer run.

Winds of Change

Writing this blog is more out of satisfaction then compulsion. India decided on a stable government giving UPA the onus to rule this country. This happened despite all the exit polls suggesting the opposite, the heat wave being treated as the major factor, anti-incumbency a sure shot cause and low voting as the deciding factor.

For BJP and Mr Advani “the theme for the dream” i.e Prime Minister post stays a dream unfulfilled. The party performed much below average and the most alarming factor was the failure of Mr Narendra Modi. The bubble of Mr Modi has burst pre-maturely where his influence could not get clear verdict even in Gujarat. And this was the leader who is supposed to take over from Mr Advani. Over exposing Mr Modi, no clear agenda or very old and weak leaders are various reasons for the debacle.

The so-called Third front was already planning a role of spoil sport till yesterday with their parties ready to spend the funds they would have got from horse trading. May be they are now cancelling their orders. The Mayawatis, the Mulayams, the Jayalalithas and Lallus are now totally denied the role of King makers and are confined to introspect their own defeats. So is the case of CPI (M), the party that has put the word blackmailing to shame in this last government’s rule. If we have friends like these who needs an enemy. Look what happened to them. They were swept away in their own backyard.

To me the most important factor was Rahul Gandhi and his circle of people. Sachin Pilot, Milind Deora, Jyotiraditya Scindia etc were the young bloods given tremendous responsibility in these elections. This generation is a well-educated one who is confident enough to do things their way. And they delivered success when it mattered most. Bringing old people to power with their conservative approach would have been a scenario this country could well afford to avoid .

Rahul Gandhi’s approach at UP where he worked at the grass root level, was convinced to fight it all alone and was humble enough to understand the ground realities is a move which played rich dividend. His interview after his party’s victory would have gained him more friends from the opposite party. Just feels that the future of this country is in safe hands.

At lasts a word of appreciation for our own CM Mr Ashok Gehlot. He traveled from pillar to post trying to achieve some thing impossible. His conviction in implementing policies for common man paid rich dividends. He may not be as flamboyant as Mr Modi but he did manage to give that knock out punch when it mattered the most.

A proud day for the country India where the faith in democracy is restored once again.

Splendid Shekhawati

The biggest challenge in planning a weekend getaway is choosing a location in prevailing 44-degree temperature. After googling n numbers of websites, browsing various travel books it was finally decided that the trip is happening at Shekhawati in Rajasthan. The minimum requirements stated by the kids were AC and swimming pool, which actually narrowed down our search for a good accommodation. So finally we (four families) decided to head towards Nawalgarh, a place 140 kms from Jaipur.

Nawalgarh is a preferred place in a foreigner’s itinerary, just that it is supposed to be visited in winters and not in scorching Rajasthani summers in April. But then what is life without some adventure. The drive from Jaipur to Nawalgarh is quite smooth. We took the Jaipur-Bikaner highway on which the traffic at the worst possible scenario was modest. We went on this highway till Sikar from where we took the bypass skipping the main city. Nawalgarh is around 27 kms from Sikar. Although we realized the mistake later, we entered the main city of Nawalgarh from highway itself. Driving one Innova and a Scorpio on a narrow lanes of Nawalgarh with variuos cows, dogs and other creatures for company was really an amusing experience.

The place we decided to stay is called Roop Niwas Kothi. This is a very old original rural retreat of Thakur Nawal Singh of Nawalgarh. The property is vast and offers gardens, swimming pool, huge billiards table, dining hall, Bar and all AC accommodation. As we arrived around 5.00 PM, the first thing the kids did was to throw themselves into the pool. The pool was a very decent one and very clean. The tea/snack/beers were served there itself. The hotel staff also suggested us to witness sunset from a nearby place and hence we all rushed to have a look at that. Although we missed the sunset by few minutes, but what we did manage to see was an old farm house in a middle of a village.

The rest of the evening was spent in a playing a game of snooker on a grand and very old billiards table. The staff was more then accommodating in playing with us and serving snacks etc in that room. We opted to take the snacks and drinks on the rooftop. There we were blessed with some very pleasant wind and were utterly surprised to see the drop in temperature during evening as against the daytime. The dinner was a perfect blend of local Rajasthani and general cuisines.

Next day we headed for the city tour, as a trip to Shekhawati can never be complete without witnessing those beautifully decorated Haveli’s. According to the sources, Nawalgarh offers largest numbers of painted Haveli’s in Shekhawati belt. Although you could find the painted havelis on the streets of Nawalgarh itself but still there are few, which are now converted into the Museums and are preserved to see future. The most famous are the Poddar Haveli (Rs 50) and Aath Haveli’s (Eight). Though only six Haveli now remains in Aath Haveli. The best of this is Morarka Haveli (Rs 50). Beautifully done up with some mesmerizing paintings and wooden work (jharokhas). As present in all the Haveli’s, there is a courtyard in center and all the room are connected to this. The structure is vertical where the stairs keeps going up from this courtyard itself. The ground floor would have a "Baithak" or a drawing room of today. The ladies and kids made the most of it by stretching their legs in a very cool and relaxed temperature with just a ceiling fan operating.

All in all, it was indeed a pleasure to witness Rajasthan’s hidden heritage and also were very relieved to see them preserved well for our future generations. A must visit for people having keen interest in architecture and art.

Life's Full Circle

Few months back Sameer had a life that was envied by every one. An average student in the school he some how managed to clear his 12th boards in commerce. When all his mates were preparing/appearing for CA he opted for his normal B.Com, that too from the best co-education college. His skill of story telling insured, that his father was made to understand that the only way the kids of today can go to the college is through a bike and that too Bajaj Pulsar. So he had every thing on a platter. A more then decent pocket money, great bike, latest mobile and classy wardrobe is what he always possess. His art of making friends out of no body also ensured that he hardly made the payment at canteen for his cold drink.

After some how pulling through the college, he decided (yes he did took a decision) that he intends to do a MBA from a leading institution. As always the admission was a cakewalk as his father had enough clout in the management committee. Having a celebrity status in the college he was one of most high profile guy in entire batch.

When the companies started coming for campus interview, the least tensed and worried was Sameer. He got through in almost all the interviews, but finally settled for the leading private bank. Even though the college was yet to be over Sameer was employed and hence started to drive his mothers Wagon R to the college.

The pay package was very attractive having being offered more then 50K per month as a start. He was in the loans department. Soon he got the hang of his job and started to perform very impressively. The loan disbursement by his team was highest in the branch and soon he was the number one in the city.

While life was going very smoothly in the office, the personal front was even better. Though all his colleagues were driving Santro or Wagon R, Sameer went and bought Honda City with a meager EMI of 13800 pm. He was partying every night with the best chick in town and if cash was a problem the credit cards were always there for the rescue. He could spend a much as 3000-4000 per day.

The circle of life started to take its own turn and the markets started to collapse. The slow down and recession started to take its toll on the business. While all were worried, Sameer being Sameer, he started offering loans to his customers to repay the past loans. His partying continued and as the salary has doubled so has his car. He was driving a Honda Civic now with a monthly damage of Rs 22800 on his pocket through EMI. He proudly displayed his credit card limits to his friends (which were all choked to the top).

As luck would have it, his customer were declared defaulter at much faster rate. Sameer was instructed to start collecting the money from the market. As the customers were never so financially sound, as projected by Sameer in the bank, lots of them refused to pay. His defaulter list was the biggest in the bank. Soon it was also known that he has fudged the documents to get the loans cleared.

Sameer lost his job 5 months back. He was already an alcohol addict due to daily partying and took to drinks in a big way. The Honda Civic was confiscated 2 months back due to non-payments. The credit card agents are everywhere at his home, his cell (which is switched off), land line and what not. His attempts to get new jobs have all failed as his reputation precedes his interviews. His health has deteriorated with lever having major problem, high BP and hypertension.

Today at 29 years of age Sameer find himself amidst the entire problem in the world with his poor old parents looking after him and also trying to repay his loans.