Demystifying Dhoni

I saw a a disccussion on NDTV recently where exerts were debating Dhoni's success and whether Dhoni is the best captain India has ever had. I am big admirer of Dhoni and in my opinion he truly is an extraordinarily intelligent cricketer. In this blog I discuss some of his tactics and the reasons as to why he does so. 

The job of a captain is two fold. Outside the field he has to ensure a good team dynamics, healthy dressing room atmosphere, enthuse confidence in his players while also ensuring that a healthy churning process goes on so that new and fresh talents keep replacing the old slackened ones. On the field he has to take strategic decisions such as about bowling changes, batting order, field positions, pace at which the entire innings should be built or a target chased. While I feel that Ganguly was very good at the first job (Dhoni is too), as a strategist I have never seen a better player than Dhoni.

His most important tactic is delaying the 'end' whether it be a chasing a target or setting up one.  Its something unique about him and I have never seen it before. To have the guts to take almost every chase to the last over takes something. So why does he do so?

One might think that leaving the chase to the very end is a risky strategy. But in my opinion it is done prominently to avoid risk. Dhoni comes to bat generally after it 3 or 4 down which means there are not many specialist batsmen left after him. There are two parts of getting runs, knocking around singles and doubles and second is hitting the risky boundaries. Slogging is easy and even tail-enders can do it. The difficult part is rotating the strike for a long time and it is the job of the specialist batmen to hang around and do so. If the specialist batsmen coming at 6-7 get out early, its match over. Think about it this way. A team needs 100 runs to chase in 15 overs with five wickets in hand. One way too do it is to keep the run rate high from the very beginning so that in the end you have 30-40 odd runs to chase in last 5 overs. Other strategy is to take less risk, keep wickets in hand have around 50 runs to chase in last 5. In the first strategy, if one looses wickets, it becomes more difficult. In the second one, even if the set batsmen get out in the last 5 overs, the tailenders can continue slogging as only a few runs are left to score and win the match. I have seen India loose so many matches using the first strategy in the pre-Dhoni era.

The second benefit is that taking the match to the end puts the opposition bowler under pressure and makes him commit errors. Its so easy to solve a problem while you are practising it but solving the same in an exam becomes much more difficult because of pressure. When a bowler in bowling in death overs (say 5 overs left with 50 to get), he feels the pressure as well because the decisive moments are near. A yorker going wrong becomes much more probable because he knows that if he does not get it right the set batsmen in front of him will take him for runs. This tension forces the mistake and makes getting those 50 runs even easier.  

Another unique thing about him is that he does not talk much to his bowlers if they commit a mistake, no frowns, no showing frustration, no words. Every bowler knows that he should not give width or bowl down the leg side, and so does Dhoni. It is a no brainer. So if a bowler gives width, its because he is not able to put the ball in the right position and not because he does not know where to put it. A captain talking to the bowler and asking him to try and put the ball in the right place will not help. Rather it will only put more pressure on the bowler. Its simply better not to talk to him and let him try and rectify his mistake on his own. Its only when one needs to make a strategic change in bowling tactics that a captain needs to communicate with the bowler. 

His calmness gives a sense of reassurance to his own players and a scare to his oppositions. And in spite of his bizarre looking tactics, most often than not he gets it just right.

I Wish!!

Voices have a lot of power, especially in a democracy. I realised it while watching the movie 'No One Kiled Jessica'. One of the facts which was not shown in the movie is that there were hardly any changes in the evidences when the case was reopened and the convict was put to trial again. Still the verdict went against the convict. The case in not regarded as one of the victories of judiciary or the system in general but can surely be regarded as a victory of the masses, their voices and their union.

The question then is that why are we not able to bring more changes with this power and are limited to the few cases like the one mentioned above. Or rather why do we rarely see the voices being raised for the right reasons? On one hand we have issues and demands like Gurjar reservation or separate state of Telangana, which create such raucous as to disturb the life of common people. There are leaders and organizations backing these issues which can mobilize masses in no time and the next thing we see are public services getting disrupted. And on the other hand we see huge scams and scandals passing before public's eye without any more attention than a NDTV's 'Big Fight' could muster. Why can't a political party create a raucous against corruption?

I feel that what we are lacking are institutions or leaders who can mobilize the masses for these causes. It's not that people don't care but their anger and desire to do something does not go beyond the dining table conversations. What we lack is a process which could bring everyone together, a focal point where everyone could converge. We need leaders like J.P whose one voice inspired students to so much as quit their studies, their careers and join the struggle for a constructive change. Or may be an inspiring teacher walking through the corridors of Delhi University, someone who possesses the charisma to bring all the students together and start a revolution. I am sure if all the students of Delhi University would come out on the roads of Delhi and demand that we don't want a reservation or that something should be done about the suicides of farmers of Marathwada and Telangana, the government would be forced to take notice. What we need are leaders and visionaries who could channelize and shape the force of public voices and anger. It makes me sad to realize that I live in an age so perfect and conducive for a change but lacks that one Gandhi, or Martin Luther or Rousseau. Instead of an age where, cynicism pervades fungus life, where selflessness has been forgotten, where honesty and idealism are laughed at, and the worst of all, where we don't find any hope of bringing about drastic changes; I wish, I had lived in an age which carried the same fervour and dynamism as the French or the Russian revolution.

The Joy of Running

Jodha, Maroo, Vikas and Pratul, four of my friends ran the Mumbai Marathon today. Jodha, Madoo and Vikas ran the half marathon (21.0975 Kms) and Pratul, the full marathon (42.195 Kms). It was a joyous and fulfilling experience for all of them. Each had there own tale to tell. I felt that it was almost like the journey of life with ups and down on the way (literally), faltering and recovering, running, slowing and then pacing again. One thing you realize is that we can stretch ourselves; and stretch ourselves beyond imagination (if you don’t believe that… just say… ‘Forty two point one nine five kilometers’ and pause for two seconds… you will realize). All we need is a goal, a little nourishment (which in this case came from oranges, bananas and perk) and encouragement (which came from the viewers). The most fundamental thing is the goal and a will to achieve it. Kudos to the four!!

Economics For Life

“I'd like to share a revelation that I've had during my time here. It came to me when I tried to classify your species and I realized that you're not actually mammals. Every mammal on this planet instinctively develops a natural equilibrium with the surrounding environment but you humans do not. You move to an area and you multiply and multiply until every natural resource is consumed and the only way you can survive is to spread to another area. There is another organism on this planet that follows the same pattern. Do you know what it is? A virus. Human beings are a disease, a cancer of this planet. You're a plague and we are the cure.” - Agent Smith, The Matrix.

It has been nearly two years since the Lehman Brothers collapse, an incident which put an end to all confusions and announced a full blown recession. After an initial bail out which all agreed was the right strategy to prevent a catastrophe, we are now at a juncture where we need to decide our medium and long term strategies. Not surprisingly though, we see economists (including the venerated ones such as Joseph E. Stiglitz (nobel prize winner) and Raghuram Rajan differing in opinion. Some like Paul Krugman and Stiglitz are in favour of a more socialistic approach advocating that the government should keep intervening and keep pushing capital into the market where as the others, the free market economists, feel that the minor signs of improvement are good enough to suggest a recovery and it is the right time for the U.S. government to pull itself out and let market forces do their job. What I was wondering is that in spite of all the tools at hand; in spite of all the genius mathematicians and economists, all the supercomputers and the modelling and analytical techniques; in spite of it being 234 years since the first work of modern economics, The Wealth of Nations, was written by the Scottish economist Adam Smith; we are unsure.

I was talking to friend of mine named Hemant Jodha, who had worked with HSBC for almost a year. He used to work on models to predict the market and forecast the macroscopic economic scenario. He explained to me that any model involves assumptions which seem “reasonably accurate” at certain points of time. It is important to note that the exceptional cases (tail risk) are almost always ignored while making those assumptions. So even after you have done all the regression and made projections, there is an itchy feeling because you know that the predictions are only too subjective. That is the reason why, hardly anyone was able to predict this meltdown till it was knocking at the door and any cautions were conveniently overlooked.

On a broad level, we have two major economic approaches- socialist approach and capitalist (or free market) approach. Fifty years ago, socialism was considered a remarkable theory and had champions like Nehru backing it. It was based on idealism. After the collapse of the Berlin Wall, the utopian model was discarded. We had proved to ourselves that we humans are basically selfish and cannot work efficiently until we have a fear of getting dismissed or we see significant additional economic rewards for our actions. Idealism does not work. Capitalism, which is based on the assumption, that individuals and organizations work with profit as the primary goal in mind has failed us today. Greed can be good, but too much of it has left the economic giants in a self-assessing mode. I would like to bring up another economic model suggested by the famous social scientist none other than Mahatma Gandhi. He had suggested that India should adopt a bottom up strategy with each village in India acting as a self sufficient unit. He was against the use of much technology, for he believed that technology brought nothing but alienation to people and made them greedy. He wanted to build an economic system based on simplicity and love; an economic system where nobody would be left hungry but nobody would be rich either. He obviously thought with his heart and the theory sounds a bit too unpractical, but never the less it is a beautiful idea for our minds to fiddle with.

Can we ever come up with a perfect economic model? The answer to that one is no. But we can say that we would be hovering around capitalism, with government taking requisite measures to check outrageous strategies. But where to draw the line? Also what is the assurance that people will not find new ways to circumvent the check points put in by the government?

There is another angle which I would like to bring in here. Say we go for a full blown capitalism and growth, the way India and China are trying to do. Do we have enough resources to sustain a luxurious living for such huge populations? Can our reckless living styles be supported by the limited sources of earth? We all see what the developed nations have done to our world resources. USA has just 4% of world population and uses nearly 30% of world resources. How can we hope to become developed, which practically means come to same levels of per capita consumption. We cannot even think of coming close. The earth is burning out too fast. There are predictions that oil will be over in 4 to 5 decades; that major rivers of India will be exhausted in 3-4 decades. As I hear economic theories to sustain development, I hardly hear any theories which will help us go beyond the known world resources. We are pinning our hopes on a magical breakthrough, which will fulfil our requirements of energy and other resources. We need to pause and think where we are heading. I am sure the per capita resource consumption, per capita green house gases produced etc would be less during these periods of recession. Sometimes I feel that recession is nothing but nature’s way of asking us to slowdown, or a way of buying itself more time to balance things, or a way of just taking a breather.

Capitalism is a way suggested by the brain. People work hard, earn well and enjoy. That is how the brain suggests we behave. But will it be sustainable? There is enough for everybody’s need, but not enough for everyone’s greed. As much as I hate to admit that we won’t or perhaps can’t change, I feel that a feasible sustainable economic solution will require us to show significant behavioural modifications. The solution lies somewhere in between the economic theories suggested above, where not just the brain but the heart plays a significant role as well- a solution which uses technology, provides freedom but simultaneously also propagates simplicity, sensibility and sensitivity.

ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED???

Its surprising (or perhaps its not)that IPL auctions capture headlines of all major dailies on two consecutive days. Hardly anyone knows that the year 2009 saw 17,368 farm suicides, the highest in past 6 years. Even God must have a sense of humour.

To those who might care, they can read Sainath's article at-
http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/columns/sainath/article995824.ece

Addiction

Self sacrifice can be an addiction. There are causes and feelings so overwhelming, so overpowering that one could easily give one’s life for it; just give oneself away while still rejoicing the fact that your are attached to something so elemental, so fundamental, so pure. It can only be described as a madness resulting from a heartburn, pining for something. A rush of adrenaline, an aching desire that drives one nuts.

A simple example could be our revolutionary freedom fighters, the likes of Bhagat Singh, Azad, Bismil etc. An outsider will only consider them insane or a maniac. Only a mania can inspire an action like bombing and then standing there to surrender just to get the message through. Only unadulterated passion can inspire a poetry like that of Bismil. If you will listen the song carefully Sarfaroshi ki tamanna, you will realize that it just does something to you. A similar feeling would have led to the ballads of Curt Cobain and other musicians. People just go crazy for music. People like Curt even die for it.

After running out of money with which Anurag Kashyap had come to Mumbai to do something in films, he spent eight months on the streets, staying in lofts, sleeping on beaches and even under a water tank and in the St Xavier's boys hostel. He came from a good family. What inspired such careless, reckless living? It was nothing but the same fever, same longing that cuts through all physical pain, material discomforts. And you enjoy that longing, that feverish attachment, that amalgamation; you have fun; you are at peace with your passion. Socials workers like Aruna Roy who have given their all (she draws a salary of Rs. 100 a day from the organization called MKSS, which she herself had established) fall in a similar league. They are people riding there own theme, undeterred.

Once you find a passion and get a taste of it, you don’t care anymore. You are above physical and material desires. You want to just dissolve yourself, melt away, submerge yourself in that intoxication. Even a distant whiff can start dragging you towards that insanity, that inebriated state where everything else is forgotten. You don’t care about anything else. Such passion leads to genius, to creativity.

I have myself experienced such force, such pulls that if you let go will drag you into blissful self destruction. But its not so easy to break the bonds. Rationality of everyday life come into play. But may be one day I will.

I will end with a quote from the Joker in The Dark Knight - “Madness as you know is like gravity, all you need is a little push.”

Kyaa karen,
ke dil hamara tumpe aa gaya.
Aisi bhi kya berukhi,
Naummeed the to kya jikr bhee na karte.

Leap of faith

Guess who was a regular on front page news during the world cup. Paul, the oracle octopus. When I heard about it I was like … What the fuck?

Are we living in some bloody 16th century? Get over it people. No wait… you know what, you can’t. Because if you could have you would not have been interested in some shitty story about how a funcken octopus is choosing his mussel there by predicting the match. The worst part is you get sentimental about it… and whine about it. You want the octopus to be fried and eaten when he predicts your defeat and you loose. You have nothing better to do. You can not accept that, that bloody asshole, Paul, is just having a bloody run of luck. But no, you have to make a mountain out of a mole-hill and extrapolate and exaggerate… I am like… What the fuck?

You are nothing but pathetic pieces of shit… or you feed on shit like may be a pig, or fungus… you rejoice at mirages… You make a saint walk on water…turn water the wine. And had it been 3rd century this octopus would have been declared Nth incarnation of Krishna, may be after the Tortoise (Kachchhap avatara) or the Hog (Sukara avatara). You need a crutch to hide your flaws…a base to neutralize… a chimera to suck up to… You don’t have the balls to accept… to endure. You need a leap of faith and I am like… What the fuck?

P.S- The blog I know is cliched... but it was fun writing it.

MATING CALLS

There are special moments during interaction between people of opposite sex which I would say ‘seals the deal’ for one party. What I mean to say is that at that very specific moment a spark is aroused, a fleeting experience which leaves the heart pounding, giving rise to what can be described biologically as lust or attraction or a mixture of both and romantically as love. The feeling is completely impulsive and no consideration is given to the demeanor, profession or any other trait of the person (these considerations come later). If we peer into those special moments, we will find that they can be very simple gestures intentional or unintentional- a smile producing dimple on a girl’s cheek, playing a fine tune on a guitar, an outsmarting joke, the pump of a fist; it could be anything. A girl could fall for a Rafael Nadal while he roars and pumps his fist after winning a point or a guy could fall for a girl for her sexy walk. Animals also use similar techniques to attract the opposite sex for the purpose of mating. The above mentioned gestures are physiologically no different than a peacock attracting her partner by spreading its wings and or a bird wooing his/her partner by his/her melodious voice. These activities are called mating calls.

The way these actions function is simple. They produce various hormones like testosterone/estrogen and other sex pheromones in the opposite sex leading to the feeling of lust and attraction. This is a commonly known phenomenon in animals including humans. In animals the process mostly ends with intercourse, but in humans, the social needs could lead to an examination of the entire scenario and then finally asking out the opposite party, with the hope that he/she could become your life partner. In most of the cases the attempt fails; primarily because reason comes to play. After all what starts with a twang could easily end with a twang.

The important thing to note is that although our actions are governed by reason and logic, our instincts for sure are still completely animal in nature. No wonder we at times behave as animals when unrestrained.

Cigarettes are better than girls- both of them burn your heart, at least the former you can touch with your lips.

The 21st century middle class Indian guy

Thanks to a crazy Saddam Hussein, without whom we would still (perhaps) have been under the clutches of awry economic policies which were prevailing since our independence. After the socialist strategies introduced by a visionary though unrealistically idealist Nehru proved wrong, a mid course correction should have taken place in late sixties or at best early seventies (some thing which happened with 4 Asian Tigers - Taiwan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore who are now at least a generation ahead of us as far as economic development is concerned). But somehow congress managed to make a fool out of us for another 20 years. It was only because of the fanciful ideas of Saddam who attacked Kuwait that we were able to break our shackles, the results of which are visible all around us. Because of the gulf war the oil prices rocketed, depleting India’s forex reserve to the levels of crisis. “When there are no options left, taking decisions become easy.” That is what our then Prime Minister Mr. PVN Rao had said while he introduced the financials reforms in just 2 days. The rest is history.

I was analyzing the impacts the reforms have had on us and I felt that there is no one in this world today who is luckier than a middle class Indian guy. There are many reasons for this.

Let me begin with the kind of education we enjoy. We generally have fun in our school and no matter how we have performed, we some how get into an engineering college. The 3-idiots team might disagree which such trends but frankly speaking who does not want to take the shorter route. It is also very important to note that colleges are not as expensive in India as in US or Europe and we don’t have to pay our own fee. Unlike the western countries our parents do it for us spending their life’s hard earned money and we are free from the tension repaying any loan. Some times they even pay the donations to get us admitted.

College life begins and since we are in a convenient position to say that we are forced to do engineering (or medical or anything else) which is not our interest, we don’t study at all. We also have the cushion at the back of our mind that even if we screw, we are going to end up in a software job which will give a healthy pay. Again we are well supported by our parents and are given an extravagant pocket money every month which we utilize in sipping lattes in Barista, watching movies in PVR, boozing and spending endless hours on our mobiles talking to our girlfriends (who might well be living in the same city and studying in the same college). These are luxuries which our parents would think twice before spending on even today.

We get out of the college and get a well paying job and no matter how much we sulk about it we have a good time with our friends and enjoy our weekends like anything. After a few years an MBA is almost inevitable and even if not, we are promoted to the next higher level and a Hyundai or Wagan-R starts looming in front of our eyes. We see a challenging and prosperous career ahead. It is not that life is too easy which is important for challenges add fun to life. For example people start planning for weekends on Wednesday in Europe. They hardly work and lead what to me seems an extremely casual life. Or in US where everyday life has been made so mechanical and process driven that you can’t help but feel like a programmed robot. What’s the fun in such an easy going or mechanical life? There is also no fun in being born with a silver spoon in your mouth. A spoilt brat always kept in an over protected environment is generally deprived of the many small moments of pleasure derived from overcoming day to day problems of life; those little victories; those little moments of bypassing the rules; those subtle joys of street romance. Difficulties add new colours to the palette; new flavours to the menu. Life without them would be missing a whole dimension.

Moving forward, our parents ensure that we find a suitable bride even if we may be a complete loser as far as the capabilities of charming a girl is concerned.

There are many other factors which we must not miss. Our society still enjoys a very strong family bond. We respect our parents and will be respected by our kids and will enjoy a strong bond with them. The generation after that i.e. our grand children will perhaps be seeing a time what we see in western countries today. They will move out of their homes when they will be teenagers, find brides of their choice and live the way they want to. The family ties will weaken significantly from what it is today.

Many of these things are true for other countries like China as well. But they don’t have democracy. Although what we see around may be a mockery of it but perhaps its still many times better than China. Freedom is something which is essential; something which no human can happily compromise on.

Last but not the least, its important to be a guy in India. Any given day a boy is still luckier in India today than a girl is. I don’t think I need to give reasons for that.

We are thus in the middle of an evolution. What the Indian middle class is enjoying today is freedom from the clutches of socialism added to which is the freshness of capitalism, the thorns of which are still too blunt. An easy education, an easy job, a cozy salary, a suitable bride, challenges, opportunities, freedom, strong family ties… it actually seems too easy. Or perhaps there is something more to it than meets the eye. After all how long can the spring last? Now that’s something to think about.

The rich are accursed to live like rich and the poor are accursed to live like poor.

I was baffled to see that the recent book called "The Idea Of Justice" written by Dr. Amartya Sen costs Rs. 699 making it completely out of the reach of the ones in need of justice. Don't blame me if I say that I am waiting for the pirated version to arrive in the market.

Where sex is a completely natural construct, marriage is a purely social construct.

A GREAT CHEMISTRY

A Great Chemistry

A poor tough guy meets a brat, spoilt rich girl. Or a city dwelling smart guy meets a

bholi bhali gaon ki chhori

. The two situations seem to be the case in almost any bollywood movie- but these are only attempts to monetize a simple formula that a great contrast makes a great chemistry. It’s a different thing altogether that these contracts have become so typical that in most of the cases the charm is lost unless the script writer is able to pull out a stunning plot or the director delivers a breathtaking masterpiece (like DDLJ).

After I had written a few stories of my own, I was trying to come up with a formula which could make a great story. And then I saw a common pattern in some of the movies I absolutely adore. These movies are- Leon, A Million Dollar Baby, Silence of the Lambs, As Good As It gets, Lost in Translation. In all of them the contrast between the two main characters is so stark and the gap is so wide that they produce a dazzling chemistry on screen which leave us pleasantly amazed. I will summarize the two central characters of the movie in each case.

Leon- I think this was the first movie of Natalie Portman who plays a 12 year old, sweet but arrogant, girl and Jean Reno who plays a good hearted, tough hit-man or ‘cleaner’, who has just suppressed all his emotions. He starts liking the girl and the girl starts liking him too. There are such moments of subtle romance in this movie that any story writer would envy the script writer.

As Good As It Gets- A crazy misanthropic writer played by Jack Nicholson likes a single good hearted caring mother played by Helen Hunt. Again the contrast is what makes the movie click and the one can observe many spicy, crazy little incidences which keeps you riveted to the screen for 139 minutes.

A Million Dollar Baby- Clint Eastwood (boy… this guy never goes wrong) plays a tough boxing coach and Hillary Swank is a girl with strongest grit and desire to become a boxer. Clint is a tough guy, but you can see his emotions for his student when she falters. In the end he kills Swank for obvious reasons. But what a chemistry!

Silence of the Lambs- It is beyond my reason as to how an author can create a character as dreaded and ghastly as Doctor Hannibal Lecter (played by Anthony Hopkins- I think this is one of the best role played by anyone after Marlon Brando played the godfather) and still make him so charming and adorable. And observe the chemistry with the new inexperienced detective played by Jodie Foster. Again the brilliants contrast makes the movie one of the best ever.

Lost in translation- Beautiful, charming Scarlet Johanson and her friendship with an old man whose married life, as the case generally, is tired and lack lusture. The movie ends but leaves one only wanting for more.

I have been trying to think of such characters, believe me I am trying hard, but I have not been able to come up with such contrasts. The pairs just look too perfect and sometimes I feel that that whole universe of such awesome couples is exhausted; but to shatter my belief and as if to belittle me I always come across some movie or the other which such great characters and I am left saluting the author. I wish I could write one such masterpiece.

I would also like to add that when I saw the movie Jab We Met (another movie with great chemistry produced by two absolutely different characters- a bubbly Karina and a serious Shahid) I was quite happy as I enjoyed watching the movie but was also disappointed because I had thought of a similar story, though in my case the guy would have been the more cheerful character. I hope I come up with another such idea and this time I write the story before I see the movie.

(Written on 27th April, 2009).

"Mamma.. What is this?"

“Mamma.. What is this?”

As I flipped through one of the books in a shop, a cute little voice attracted me. A pretty girl around four years old, wearing a beautiful frock, was inspecting a toy. She turned to her mother and asked – “Mamma… what is this?” The mother replied back in English and then bought her the toy.

Something just did not feel right to me.

After the mother left with the kid, I began to wonder what was that something. It was the little girl talking in English. I am sure that her mother tongue was Hindi, but the mother and the daughter conversed in English. To be honest, I did not like that.

I have personally nothing against English. I feel that each language in itself is equally great and deserves the same respect. But my point is that the way we are treating Hindi, which is our mother tongue, is not doing justice at all to the respect it deserves.

Hindi, and all other regional languages, is still the language of common masses in our country. But there is a segment, which we are creating, that feels ashamed to talk in their mother tongues. I don’t understand why it becomes necessary to talk in English in queues of airport (among your own family members), why is it necessary to place an order in English in a fancy restaurant, why is it necessary that a mother should talk to her four year old daughter in English outside her home (and many times inside as well). The way the ‘modern parents’ are bringing up their kids today, will only lead to creating a generation, which is plainly unconcerned, a generation which is far from the masses, a generation who can not live without AC, can not travel in local trains, is week and uncompromising on any of its comforts. A generation, who reads Dickens but not Premchand, cannot count from one to hundred in Hindi, who can not distinguish between unnyasi (seventy nine) and navasi (eighty nine), who does not understand that guruwar and vrihaspativar are the two names of same day (Thursday). If we continue this way we will only keep widening the gaps, which are already so stark in our society.

We definitely are suffering from an unnecessary complex. A phobia, which says that talking in English, will raise us to a higher social stature. All we are doing is becoming copycats. All we have imbibed from the West is a scanty dressing sense, and a cheesy English accent. None of their discipline, their sense of punctuality and cleanliness, is ever reflected in our actions.

One of the prime reasons why India is booming today is because of a huge chunk of young people who are good at English. But this generation has seen the hard days, has gone through the rigours. It is important that it does not bring up a generation, which is over pampered and frail. Our country can not afford such individuals. We should not forget that where English is the key to our success, Hindi is our culture, our roots and the key to our collective strength.

(Written on 3rd August, 2009)

The Advice

THE ADVICE


Of all the innate qualities an artist is blessed with, I feel, reticence is perhaps the most profound. Sameer was no exception.

Sameer was as innocent a person as you can meet. But unfortunately there exists several other traits devoid of which a person can not imagine a fruitful social acceptance if not popularity. He was a character who could invite pity from his acquaintances but not a warm relationship. He was born with such shyness and reluctance that ignorance could be his only fate. He was not only inadequate with words but they were misdirected and ambiguous and though he tried to make up for this deficiency by making his tone loud, he still sounded languorous and without any hint of conviction. He was accursed to live a childhood without any acknowledgement, in total denial and rejection.
There was no wonder that Sameer’s reluctance gave way to listless behaviour. His actions reflected the ease of a spoilt prince but lacked the charm and chivalry. He was like a sloth. As a boy he hated work. He would wake up late ignoring all attempts- both vocal and physical- of his mother to get him out of his bed; bunk classes; stroll all day in the fields with his closest friend Vivek in spite of his father’s order of helping him in his work (his father was a respected farmer in the village); take no pain to do a single house hold work and even throw a scornful stare on his younger brother when he refused to bring him a glass of water but not move out of his chair to fetch one for himself. There was no doubt in the genuineness of his love for his family but he was too inert and casual to convert his dispositions into his actions. He was still innocuous but he had become irritating.

But all these can also be considered as essential compensations for his genius. Sameer was brilliant with colours in which he found a vent to all his suppressed feelings. His ideas were always exquisite but because of his inherent indolence his strokes were clumsy and figures crude which made his painting appear anything but soothing to the eye. So it was not before youth, and only after enormous practice-this was the only area where he had worked hard- that he could make his paintings presentable enough to the mute layman who could show their admiration only by buying them to use them as supplements to the furniture in their drawing rooms.

It was the happiest day of Sameer’s life.

“Your paintings are marvelous.” A critic said.
“Thank you.” Sameer replied.
“Every painting is unique, each has its own story and yet each one is equally sensitive, equally intense and equally beautiful. No praise is sufficient for you. Where were you till now?”
“Thank you.” He said again with a nod. He could not think of anything else not only because he was a terrible orator but also because he was overwhelmed. The only difference between the two was that he had, unsuccessfully though, put an extra effort the second time to retain the modesty in his tone.

Sameer was obviously not accustomed to such lavish praise. This was the first time in his life that he was being recognized for something and he was feeling proud of his accomplishments. His paintings were being displayed in an art exhibition and were being extolled more than his expectations. In fact one of them was being acknowledged as the best painting of the exhibition.

“How are you buddy?” A slightly familiar voice called from behind.
It took Sameer only a second to recognize him. It was his old and only friend Vivek and before he knew anything they were hugging each other.
“Wow! We are meeting after so many days. Where have you been?”
“Leave my whereabouts. First you tell me how are you? And you have become a famous painter now.”
This was the reason why Sameer liked Vivek. He always gave him a chance to speak first, and always cared about him, something Sameer was not used to.

“Oh! Yes. I am glad that finally my hard work has paid off. And now I am even happier because on this very day I meet you again. It has doubled my pleasure.” He said with a grin and then after a small pause added. “Do you want to have a cup of coffee? We can talk more over coffee.”
“Sure.”
They went to a small canteen just outside the exhibition and ordered two cups. Sameer noticed that Vivek was wearing an ordinary check shirt and jeans which though was not torn, as per the fashion, but looked old. His face appeared a touch jaded perhaps because he had not had a shave in past couple of days.
“The coffee is nice.” Vivek said taking a sip.
“That’s why I brought you here. I remember you liked coffee a lot.”
“So tell me more about you?”
“There is nothing much to tell actually. After you left the village, I really got alone. But I continued practicing my drawing. I came to city last year and after struggling for a while have managed to get my paintings displayed in this exhibition. But the fact is, had it not been for you, I would not have become a painter. I still distinctly remember those days when we used to sit beside the village pond, under the tamarind tree and chat for hours, swim in pond, catch fish in there and of course paint as well. I clearly remember how bad I was and good you were. How you helped me with my brush strokes and my sketching. And how you used to encourage me that I can do better.”

Vivek was the only person who understood Sameer. He was a better painter than Sameer and he encouraged him to paint better, unlike his parents who considered his painting as another of various ways in which Sameer wasted his time.

“Painting is a mean profession.” They used to say.

But Sameer enjoyed painting as much as he enjoyed Vivek’s company. He was the only person around him he felt comfortable; around him all his insecurities used to vanish like burning camphor. He was his friend, philosopher and guide. When Sameer was fifteen, he had liked a girl and used to think of different ways to impress her. One day, Vivek had brought a painting of that girl which he had painted and asked Sameer to show that painting to the girl and propose. It is a different story altogether what happened after that, but Sameer for sure was very touched by this gesture of Vivek.

“Vivek would do anything for him; and he would do anything for Vivek.” He used to think.

“O.K. That is enough about me. Now you tell me about yourself.”

“Well, as you might be remembering that I had left the village after Class 12th and then had come to city for some job. At present, I work as a mechanic in a garage. The village education was not very useful, you see; nor was painting.” A wry smile played on his lips but did not reach his eye.

Sameer felt bad for him. And this was where he hated himself. This was where a strange reluctance caught his tongue and he was unable to speak anything which would make Vivek feel better. Had it been Vivek in his place he would have easily said something which would have cheered him up. But Sameer was not Vivek. He could have painted a materpeice on what he was feeling now, but sorry sir, he could not say any words of sympathy or encouragement. Instead what he said was this.
“Why didn’t you become a painter? You could have become a better one than me.”

Vivek’s face suddenly became very stern. His breath became heavier. Sameer could not understand what had caused such a change in his countenance.
“Was his question that rude?” He contemplated.
Vivek took out a box of cigarette and asked Sameer.
“Do you still smoke?”
Sameer recognized that the box was familiar. It was a cheap brand they used to smoke together hiding from their parents in the village. He had left smoking that brand because it was unfiltered, but he could not have refused him.
“Yes, I do.” He said, took a cigarette and lighted it.
They both took a few deeps puffs.
“Do you want to know why I did not become a painter?” Vivek said. His tone was acrid had a clear hint of hatred in it.
“Yes, I want to know.”
“It was because of you.” His voice if liquefied could have dissolved gold in it. It was pure acid.
Sameer was completely taken aback. He felt as if Vivek had dropped a bomb. He just could not believe what he had just heard.
“What?”
“Yes, it was because of you. Do you remember how you had advised me to leave painting because it was a useless profession? And you had said that you are going to leave it too.”
Sameer some how managed to hold his brain and recollect what Vivek was talking about.

It was when he was around eighteen years old. He had had a serious discussion in his home with his father. His father had abused him for not doing anything but sitting at home. He had thrown his painting on his face and had told him that they were noting but useless crap. He had said that he could never become a painter and that he could draw a decent face. That day Sameer was very disappointed and they both met under the same tamarind tree in the evening.

“I think father is right. We should quit painting. There is no use of it. After all how many famous painters do we know? Vivek, I think you should stop painting as well. You are much brighter than me. You can easily get a good job and you should not destroy your career doing this painting.” Sameer had said.
A few days after this incidence, Vivek had left the village and gone to the city.
“How could he have taken this advice seriously? How could he be so foolish? And merely on the basis of one advice, he has no right of accusing me.” Sameer thought. He even felt a little angry.
“Do you remember?”
“Yes I do.” Sameer said. “But how could you be so serious about just an advice. We were kids back then. I was stupid and agitated that day.”
“Its not just about the advice” He said and took another puff.
“Then what?”
“It’s just about you, and everything about you? Did ever think about me in the village? Did you ever bother to find out how I was or what I was doing in the city? No. You were just engrossed with your own painting. You were always like that. Always bothered about yourself and none others, not me, not even your family.”
Sameer was doing what he was best at. Keeping quiet. But he had never imagined that he would ever be accused by his friend.
“Do you know that whenever your younger brother used to be in any trouble he used to come to me for help and not you?”
Sameer knew it. He had felt sad when he had learnt it but he did not do anything about it.
“I am sorry.” He said. “But I never meant any harm to you.”
“Yeah, Thank you for that sorry. That is quite convenient. You know what the biggest problem is. You just never mean anything to anyone.”
He picked up his pack of cigarettes and left the table.

Sameer was left all to himself. His closest friend had accused him of betrayal. He had said everything about him which he knew but never wanted to recall. His acid tone was tearing him apart. His every word was thumping against his ear like a hammer. With lead heavy footsteps he went back to exhibition where everyone had left. He was broken but was not prepared to end up insulted on that day.
“What non sense.” He thought.
“Just one advice. What the hell was he thinking? After all I was always the dull one. He only had said that my younger brother used to go to him for any help and not me. So why did he take my advice instead of listening to his own heart. It was his mistake that he has failed. He lacked the perseverance. He lacked self belief. If he is a mechanic today, it is because he was destined to be. After all a man makes his own destiny. It is not at all my fault. I stuck to my beliefs and I became a painter. He succumbed and he is a mechanic. Simple. Why does he want to make me feel bad if he has failed? And what else was he saying? I did not care about him and that I never bothered to find out what he was doing. Did he bother to come to village and see what I was doing? Why should I take all the blame? He is equally at fault.”

He wandered around in the gallery, looking at all his paintings, his chest swollen with pride. Then suddenly his eyes fell on his favourite painting, the one which was being considered the best. And he melted.
He had drawn this one deriving joy of the happiest memories of his life. It was indeed a masterpiece. For layman like us it is difficult to comprehend what it was. It had shades of bottle green, yellow, gold, purple, earth and clay. It had something sensual about it, something exotic, something that gave a sense of mysterious joy. It resembled a tree.
“How could I think so meanly of my best friend?” He felt a sense of deep pain in his heart as if somebody had clenched it with his fist.
“He was my inspiration. My only friend. He has done so much for me and I have done nothing. What if he has blamed me? Am I not at fault? Is not every word of what he has said true. I have never taken any pain for anyone. And I used to think that I could do anything for him. I have never meant anything to anyone.”

Suddenly, an idea struck him. He took the painting, brought out a lighter from his pocket and set it on fire. He saw the flames engulf it. He felt a strange happiness. He felt that he could breathe easily and that a fist has been unclenched. He saw the tree burn behind the grey cloud of smoke. But even the grey cloud had a silver lining. A tear rolled down his eye.

LESS FLYOVERS ........ MORE BEARS

Lesser Flyovers….. More Bears!

(The writer would like to apologize for the delay in posting this article on the blog. It was written on 30th November, 2008, when I was doing my internship with an NGO called Janwani. I was traveling by bus today morning and had a very pleasant journey. It was an AC bus, with music being played, announcements being done before every stop, and I also managed to get a seat and read 10 pages of my novel during the journey. SO I guess it’s a pretty good day to post the article on the blog. )

I hope you have not been establish the link between flyovers and bears or else a part of effort I have put in writing the article would be futile 

We (a group of four people comprising of three IITians and an architect) had an opportunity to discuss a lot of things with the senior most executive of PMPML (the company which manages bus transport in Pune). The main agenda of the meeting was to discuss the importance of public transport and how we can improve it in Pune. This article comprises of an extract of things discussed in the meeting along with some other facts and experiences which I have gained in past one month while working on a project related with traffic issues in Pune. Many of these facts and experiences have been mind boggling and challenge the general trend of thinking among the public.

All of us have seen many old rickety public buses which could have Euro-0 or Euro-1 rating (a modern car is Euro-4 or Euro-5 and the best buses in Pune have Euro-3 rating) emitting thick black smoke. The first thought at the stench of burning diesel, which we unsuccessfully try to avoid by covering our noses, is that all these buses should be removed. But what we do not realize (at least I never thought differently) is that if we calculate the per capita pollution created by the bus which is carrying nearly 50 to 60 people, it is much less as compared to a car or two-wheeler. Just imagine if all those people traveling by bus started using car or a two wheeler, there would be so many extra vehicles on road. The point is that a bus is a much efficient way to travel as far as per capita fuel consumption, per capita road space consumed and per capita pollution is concerned. The two words ‘per capita’ change all the equation.

India has many fast growing cities with burgeoning population like Pune (Pune’s population increases by more than half a lac every year), Bangalore, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad etc. Nearly 500 vehicles are added every day. The debate on the issue of urbanization could involve arguments from science to philosophy. But the fact is that we are urbanizing at a fast pace and it is inevitable. India being a country with humble resources simply can not afford expansion of vehicles at these rates. The amount of fuel consumed the amount of on road space taken and the pollution is enormous. So the only solution is more and more people using public transport.

There is also a new concept called BRTS (bus rapid transport services). This is a project by government of India to be started in ten big cities. This concept includes a separate lane for public buses (they will be air condition buses!!) so that they can travel really fast. There will be a bus in every few minutes and the timing will be reliable because they are traveling without any obstruction like the metro rail of Delhi or the local trains of Mumbai. Bangalore has now a fantastic bus service and even the people going to air-port take public buses. I took a BRTS bus ride in Pune and it was really amazing to watch the bus overtake the cars in the side lanes. Another funny incidence which I observed was that a car which had illegally come in the bus lane got stuck behind the bus every time the bus stopped at a bus stand as it had no space to overtake. It must have been a lesson learnt the hard way for the driver.

Now I will explain the title of the article- the relation between flyovers and bears. The concept BRTS, is based on the strategy that we need to reduce the number of on road vehicles where as the flyovers are made to encourage new vehicles. It is based on the concept that we have to build new roads since vehicles are increasing but this is a successfully tried, tested and failed strategy. It has failed because the rate of growth of traffic is much more than the feasible rate of growth of roads. The BRTS system requires a huge amount of capital for buying buses and building lanes etc. There is enormous shortage of buses in Pune. A flyover costs nearly 50 crore rupees which could be used to buy new buses which means better public transport, which would lead to more people using it; hence lesser vehicles on road, lesser pollution, lesser global warming and more polar bears! There was a very famous incidence in Seoul where the common people broke a flyover. We need the same rage and vigour. Another suggested measure to get more money for more buses was to raise the bus fare. But we argued that why should the people who are taking the pain of walking from their houses to the bus stops and taking the public buses be penalized for doing something good. In fact, we argued that a part of cost involved in making flyovers should be used to reduce the bus fares. The solution is to charge more from the private vehicle owner- higher parking tickets is just one way to do it. The idea basically is to condemn all the policies which encourage private vehicles and encourage all policies which are in favour of public vehicles. So, the next time you are paying for your parking, do it gleefully, considering it a penance for committing the sin of using a private vehicle and causing so much extra pollution.

Please have a look at this beautiful presentation. It will take just two minutes. http://www.pttf.net/tour/

I will now write something which might earn me a tag of a preacher. But frankly speaking I don’t care. I was watching the recent terrorist activities being covered on news channel with my friends. All of us were damn frustrated and after some discussion a question popped up-“How much have we done for our country?” The question has almost become a cliché but that does reduce the shallowness of the answers we have for it. “After having read in a heavily subsidized institution all we want is leave this country for a better salary.” The same friend said who had raised the question. But there is a lot we can do. In last three months I have bought about a dozen books from Crossword but I have never taken the polythene bag along with it. You can not carry a Kg of potato without a plastic bag but you can carry a book in your hand (you can make sure though that you carry a jute bag when you go to buy vegetables). The person with whom I am working (his name is Ranjit, and he is an IITian) always takes a bicycle where ever he has to go in the city (even for the above mentioned meeting, he had come by a bicycle). Nearly 33% population of Netherlands travels by bicycle. My experinece teaches me to have humble expectations and so I do not expect you to leave your cars and start ridig a cycle. But once in a while you can try the bus or if the distance is small use a cycle or walk. One can also use a Splendour instead of a Pulsar 220 which gives a lesser mileage.

Another thing you could do is forward this article to as many acquaintances as possible 

Pardon me for getting a little emotional in the end. But I guess only an emotional fool can waste two hours in writing such an article on a Sunday morning.


(Written on 30th November, 2008, Pune. )

THE SOLUTION

THE SOLUTION

First of all I would like to thank my friend Vikas for reading the article and pointing out that in my previous article- “Let’s talk rubbish”, I have only talked of the problem and not pointed out any solution or any concrete measure that a common man can take. In this small article I will be giving some suggestions as to what we can do.

The first thing which we can do is keep two dustbins in our homes and separate dry and wet garbage. If I am not wrong perhaps even the Supreme Court has ordered that it is compulsory that waste be separated at the point of generation itself. This would lead to much higher efficiency of waste recycling and prevent harmful wastes from seeping into our water table.

If we live in housing societies we can try to make sure that our garbage is being recycled there itself. Today it is compulsory that any housing society has its own pit where the garbage can is decomposed to make manure. The builders generally make the pit but then it is forgotten by the people who stay there as maintaining it takes some effort and responsibility and so we conveniently take the easier way of ignoring it.

If we do not live in housing societies then we can find where your garbage is dumped. There are several decomposing pits around. But it would obviously take some effort on our part to ensure that your garbage is going to that pit.

The least we can do is not throw garbage on the road from our Ford Icons.

You could also do one more thing - popularize this blog and ask your friends to read it. :)

Few days ago, I was talking to one of my friend and saying that we need to take more pain for the larger good. It could be small things like using public transport or separating our garbage at home but cumulatively it could make a lot of difference. He said that everyone needs to change and I said that we have to start with ourselves. He said that there is no motivation. And then I said that we have one. Even if we don’t think of others, we should think of our own children and grand-children. You obviously don’t want you grand son to be saying – “Grandpa, how could you be so careless?”

(Written in office on 19th May, 2009)

LET's TALK RUBBISH

Let’s Talk Rubbish

I had thought of writing this article few months back but got lazy then. What prompted me again to write was a small incidence which I saw few days ago- garbage being casually thrown on the road out of a speeding Ford Icon.

“Fuck!” or “Shit!” or “Damn!” These could be the most humble words you may utter when you visit a landfill sight. The vulgarity of these words is no where close to the shock to you receive on seeing the tones and tones of garbage. I managed to visit one few months back and I wish I had written this article at that time. We (me, Ranjit –the head of NGO Janwani and Krishna –an environmental scientist) went to a place called Uruli, around 25 kms from Pune which is one of the landfill sites where the garbage from the city is dumped.

It was a pretty big area with piles of garbage scattered around. There was a path made for trucks to travel- these trucks get the garbage from the city and drop it there in the most unorganized manner. One could see plastic, metal, paper vegetable waste and all sorts of things you can imagine. The stench was overpowering like anything. We saw that there was smoke coming out from somewhere. This was basically because any landfill site is continuously smoldering because of constant decomposition process which is an exothermic reaction. It is an incessant source of pollution with half burnt methane producing carbon mono oxide. Oh sorry, I forgot to mention methane, which is present in high amounts in this area polluting the air and also acting as a green house gas.

Believe me up to this it is fine and tolerable. But it gets much worse.

We saw many small puddles of dark liquid around the garbage. It was leachate which is a black syrupy liquid which drains out of the garbage if it is not treated properly. It contains heavy metal contaminants (the main source being thermometers, batteries etc) and many other pollutants which, as I was told by Krishna has no way out and they ultimately reach our water table. He also told me that these pollutants lead to very scary skin diseases. He was telling me about a lady he had seen whose skin would come out if she scratched it. I could feel my body itching and shuddering to imagine that I could be drinking water which contains that tar like black poison. Leachate, sounds like leech, and when you know that you might be drinking it, feels like too.

As we were discussing how disastrous the situation could be for the nearby villages we saw a tractor which had come to that place. We asked the person who owned the tractor as to what he was up to. He said that the rotting garbage acts as good manure. Krishna started smiling on hearing this. “We all are eating poison!” He said.

Then we visited a waste-management plant which was very close to the site. We discovered that it will (the plant was not complete yet) convert the garbage into refuse derived fuel or RDF. Krishna again helped us understand what this RDF was and he told us that this is a very old, tried, tested and failed technology. Actually the technology works well for waste processing in developed countries because the calorific value of the waste is higher there as it contains less percentage of vegetable waste and more of plastic and paper (in developed countries everything sold is very well packed and that adds to the plastic and paper content of garbage). The fact that we are still trying to use an old technology and spending so much money to build a plant which is inevitably going to be a failure speaks volumes of the lack of foresight and planning in the government bodies. But I also observed that they were also trying to come up with some other method to trap the methane and use it for commercial purposes. That was the only positive thing I saw there and I pray that the attempt to do so is successful.

I also could not over look that there were many rag pickers who were working in such inhuman conditions trying to collect some of the recyclable waste which they could sell in the market. You might have seen such scene of people working on a landfill site in the celebrated movie ‘Slumdog Millionaire’. There are a few clips in the movie which show children working in landfill sites. But the actual experience of a visit was quite different.

As we were returning back, I and Ranjit were discussing that the place should be a compulsory school trip for all children. We were also joking that if one wants to get his kids interested in a boring subject like chemistry, a visit to this place could serve as just the right tonic. The place had everything- methane, organic pollutants, heavy metal contaminants and that too everything entering into your body. One would get interested purely for the chock value of the whole experience.

My point is that we need to be more aware and concerned. An escapist tendency won’t help. We people living in our ivory towers and driving in our Ford Icons may not be the first ones (the first ones will be people who live around that area) to get effected by the hazards resulting from such unconcern towards what we have ourselves produced; but we are not far either. After all, we, rich or poor, near or far, eat the same food, drink the same water and breathe the same air.

p.s.-I urge the readers to also read the artcle above it - "The solution" as it contains some tips on what we as a common man can do. It is a small article and will hardly take 2 minutes to read.