Last night Shobha and Anjali left for Pune on a bus. Anjali was very excited at the prospect of travelling by bus to see her Ajji ('I have to go to Pune,' she confided, a couple of weeks ago, 'Ajji is waiting for me.'). So intent was she on not missing the bus that she wanted to go without wasting any time on eating dinner! And more importantly ensure that 'father' did not eat any dinner! (Probably thought that this process would surely delay her getting on the bus).
Anyway as we waited outside Axon hospital waiting for the Neeta Travels bus, we were amazed to see the number of people waiting on the other side for buses to transport them to places in the Southern part of the state i.e. Vijayawada and towards Bangalore. Buses came in an unending torrent, choking the almost two hundred feet wide road from S.R. Nagar to Srinivas Nagar colony in three or even four ply thickness. It was a sight to see, scary almost, the number of buses, people, the mad rush and the police trying to keep some order in the madness. All this went on from 10 p.m. till well past 11 p.m. until which I was there. I must have seen in excess of 200-250 buses on that side of the road alone!!
Trains are full, buses are full, prices are double (Neeta charged a premium of almost Rs. 400 on its seats), flights are exorbitantly high, pandals are out and the kids in my colony are as noisy as ever. Dussehra vacations are in my friends!
Monday, October 11, 2010
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Article in the Indian Express - October 10, 2010
This article appeared in my Sunday column 'Un Intended' the New Indian Express on October 10, 2010.
The driver then stopped every two minutes for extra passengers to stand or sit (on little stools) in the aisle. You’d settled down to sleep when you found that the stool sitter next to you drooling on you. How much ever you push him off he comes back to you like a lascivious metronome. Your attention is diverted by a sharp pain in your legs. The guy in front has discovered that the push back chairs work very well and has used all his strength to push his seat far back, so that his head is resting in your lap like a long lost lover who found his love. You sat, unable to move, your lap spread vulgarly, the guys head resting in it. All night you looked at his face anxiously, hoping he would get up and find another way to sleep but he does not. At precisely this moment your foul smelling, loud snoring neighbor falls asleep snugly on your vacant chest.
As you tried to extricate yourself from this unwanted orgy, flying pieces of luggage often landed on your head. Sometimes luggage under the seat made you sit with feet up which meant that if the guy in front pushed his seat back with some force, your legs ended up with multiple fractures. So you twisted your body in a way that the damage was minimal. Those who could not bear this ordeal got their bottles out and quickly downed a few stiff ones. Some engaged in loud conversations on their mobile phones on their business dealings, how they should treat the sonfaa@@## who cheated them and his family etc. To add to this, the conductor played loudly the vilest movies ever made in their worst prints.
As if things were not interesting enough, the bus stopped in a haunted joint in the middle of nowhere, with the lousiest food and no rest rooms. You kept a healthy distance from it. After a satisfying free meal, the bus driver got on, honked loudly, and took off at the speed of a bullet, the bus bouncing up and down in its quest to break the previously held record. Mostly it broke down after two hours and took several hours to repair by which time it was day break and you were still in the outskirts of your town.
Somehow, sometime, you reached your destination. You extricated yourself gently from your affectionate neighbours’ limbs and stepped out. You begged the driver to stop the bus as he sped past your house. He ignored you and stopped at the other end of town. But it did not matter. The relief you experienced when you got off was so huge that you forgave all their transgressions.
After all, a small price for finding God!
FINDING AND LOSING GOD ON A LONG BUS JOURNEY
Harimohan Paruvu
Among the many deficient services that I suffered, the travails of long distance bus travel in private buses stand out clearly. Getting a ticket was an ordeal itself with long queues and apathetic agents (some of whom had as much life as a week-old corpse). Ticket in hand, you landed up at the appointed place at the appointed time, scanning the horizon for the bus. An hour past departure time, as you wondered if you missed the bus, someone spotted the bus two kilometres away. You ran to it, fought others and squeezed in, only to realize that there is no hurry as the bus is being loaded with goods. A good two hours later, the bus started off (not stopping an extra minute for the old man who got off to pee). Arre baba, we are late.The driver then stopped every two minutes for extra passengers to stand or sit (on little stools) in the aisle. You’d settled down to sleep when you found that the stool sitter next to you drooling on you. How much ever you push him off he comes back to you like a lascivious metronome. Your attention is diverted by a sharp pain in your legs. The guy in front has discovered that the push back chairs work very well and has used all his strength to push his seat far back, so that his head is resting in your lap like a long lost lover who found his love. You sat, unable to move, your lap spread vulgarly, the guys head resting in it. All night you looked at his face anxiously, hoping he would get up and find another way to sleep but he does not. At precisely this moment your foul smelling, loud snoring neighbor falls asleep snugly on your vacant chest.
As you tried to extricate yourself from this unwanted orgy, flying pieces of luggage often landed on your head. Sometimes luggage under the seat made you sit with feet up which meant that if the guy in front pushed his seat back with some force, your legs ended up with multiple fractures. So you twisted your body in a way that the damage was minimal. Those who could not bear this ordeal got their bottles out and quickly downed a few stiff ones. Some engaged in loud conversations on their mobile phones on their business dealings, how they should treat the sonfaa@@## who cheated them and his family etc. To add to this, the conductor played loudly the vilest movies ever made in their worst prints.
As if things were not interesting enough, the bus stopped in a haunted joint in the middle of nowhere, with the lousiest food and no rest rooms. You kept a healthy distance from it. After a satisfying free meal, the bus driver got on, honked loudly, and took off at the speed of a bullet, the bus bouncing up and down in its quest to break the previously held record. Mostly it broke down after two hours and took several hours to repair by which time it was day break and you were still in the outskirts of your town.
Somehow, sometime, you reached your destination. You extricated yourself gently from your affectionate neighbours’ limbs and stepped out. You begged the driver to stop the bus as he sped past your house. He ignored you and stopped at the other end of town. But it did not matter. The relief you experienced when you got off was so huge that you forgave all their transgressions.
After all, a small price for finding God!
Thoughts and Action
It is one of those phases when the mind is all cluttered up. I am finding it difficult to structure a non-fiction book that I thought I'd do, based on 'The Champion Within' workshop. I have the material all in my head but to write it down seems to be the issue. Actually even that is not the issue because I have made a 75 page document already which has the entire structure, chapters, sections in place - just that it does not seem right. I have a similar problem with 'The Misfit' as well and Keerti, my editor, echoed my thoughts but I see no other way to do that book.
It is while I was stuck in this phase doing pointless things and going back and forth that I realized that there is no point in all this worrying, planning excessively. Most of this planning and worrying deals with useless and low priority items I figured. I am better off figuring out ways to do, things to push the big things forward; the small things get taken care of anyway.
Another way to escape these pointless thoughts is by action in the direction we want to move. I fool myself many times with a lot of action doing pointless chores; little things that take up much time and make me feel justified in wasting my time. But has it really pushed me forward - have I made the call, did I rework the 50 pages, have I mailed a proposal, have I spoken to a potential client - most times I have not done the high priority items.
The thing with high priority items are that they are the ones that make me feel uncomfortable. One with the newness of the task and second, with the potential it has to displace me from my comfort zone. Hence the postponement, the procrastination. Thoughts, specially the ones involving worry and unnecessary drama, fuel the postponement even more.
If I cannot act in the direction I want to move in, I could at least think of thoughts related to the action. If not, I'd be better off taking a nice long rest and starting afresh. All else is pointless. Sweating the small stuff, so to say.
It is while I was stuck in this phase doing pointless things and going back and forth that I realized that there is no point in all this worrying, planning excessively. Most of this planning and worrying deals with useless and low priority items I figured. I am better off figuring out ways to do, things to push the big things forward; the small things get taken care of anyway.
Another way to escape these pointless thoughts is by action in the direction we want to move. I fool myself many times with a lot of action doing pointless chores; little things that take up much time and make me feel justified in wasting my time. But has it really pushed me forward - have I made the call, did I rework the 50 pages, have I mailed a proposal, have I spoken to a potential client - most times I have not done the high priority items.
The thing with high priority items are that they are the ones that make me feel uncomfortable. One with the newness of the task and second, with the potential it has to displace me from my comfort zone. Hence the postponement, the procrastination. Thoughts, specially the ones involving worry and unnecessary drama, fuel the postponement even more.
If I cannot act in the direction I want to move in, I could at least think of thoughts related to the action. If not, I'd be better off taking a nice long rest and starting afresh. All else is pointless. Sweating the small stuff, so to say.
The Financial Expert - R. K. Narayan
I remember reading abbreviated versions of all RKN books but recently, after reading his autobiography, I got inspired and picked up most of his major novels. 'The Financial Expert' is the first I have read in this series and it is such a pleasure to read RKN. He draws you beautifully into the story with well etched characters, their lives, fears, joys and idiosyncrasies, the smells and sounds of Malgudi and keeps it all bubbling over with great underlying humour all through. They are not funny books because they deal with human lives, small lives, their hopes and tragedies, but he makes them all so real without resorting to excessive use of drama. Maybe it is better put if I say that I was always wanting to get back to the book to know what was going to happen to the characters - which is not something one can say for many stories.
'The Financial Expert' is the story of Margayya, a pompous man who is a self-appointed financial expert to the innocent villagers in and around Malgudi. He has great love for money and its mechanism, though he does not have much of it: whatever he knows, he uses it well on the villagers. He sits under a banyan tree outside the local co-operative bank and teach the villagers how to get more loans, how to leverage their assets etc. Most of them would not understand what he told them but since they all came to Margayya when there was no other way of raising money, they listened to him. Margayya works hard, trying to make money so he could raise his young infant son in luxury.
Margayya's existence is hard. He just about manages to survive despite all this business. He shares his house with his estranged brother and his family but they never speak, mainly because the wives do not get along. That relationship, typical of many Indian households, is explained very well when he says 'that it was a relationship that thrived on crisis'. How true it is for so many relationships! His son is pampered and grows up into a naughty little kid. One day the kid throws away the book of accounts that Margayya keeps, throwing his business out of gear. As things would have it the cooperative bank secretary also throws him out of the compound. In such dire times Margayya finds solace in the temple preist who tells him to to please Goddess Lakshmi, a complicated puja of forty days with ingredients with as cow ghee, lotus leaves etc. Focussed on pleasing the Goddess of wealth, Margayya goes to find the lotus and runs into the eccentric academic Dr. Pal. Now this Pal, who claims to be a sociologist, has actually written a book called the 'Bed of Life' about the bedroom secrets that will lead to a happy marriage. This manuscript he says is worth millions since it will save every marriage and sells it to Margayya for twenty five rupees. Margayya takes the book home, hidden from other eyes for its dangerous content and starts a deal with a local publisher. They publish the book under the title 'Domestic Harmony' in partnership which however turns out to be a loss. Tired of being a loss-making publisher, Margayya offers to buy the book off his partner and when he refuses, sells him his share for whatever the publisher cares to pay him and moves on with some fresh capital for his next business.
His second business venture over, Margayya returns to financial consulting. This time he grows - a small office thanks to Dr. Pal, clients known to Dr. Pal, opportunism during the days of the war - and becomes one of the richest men in Malgudi. His son however turns out into a complete dud who does nothing and rebels against the father and runs away when admonished. The family gets over that but soon they receive a letter that says their son is dead.Margayya reluctantly leaves his business, goes to Madras and finds him with some luck. He gets the son married and sets him up with a house while he busies himself in accumulating more and more money. The son falls into bad company, the chief of them being the original author of 'Domestic Harmony' Dr. Pal. Margayya's life comes a full circle in circumstances that follow.
'The Financial Expert' is a delightful read and leaves one with the scent of India, a time that one yearns to be in. Now onward to more RKN of which I have 'A Tiger for Malgudi' as the next target..
'The Financial Expert' is the story of Margayya, a pompous man who is a self-appointed financial expert to the innocent villagers in and around Malgudi. He has great love for money and its mechanism, though he does not have much of it: whatever he knows, he uses it well on the villagers. He sits under a banyan tree outside the local co-operative bank and teach the villagers how to get more loans, how to leverage their assets etc. Most of them would not understand what he told them but since they all came to Margayya when there was no other way of raising money, they listened to him. Margayya works hard, trying to make money so he could raise his young infant son in luxury.
Margayya's existence is hard. He just about manages to survive despite all this business. He shares his house with his estranged brother and his family but they never speak, mainly because the wives do not get along. That relationship, typical of many Indian households, is explained very well when he says 'that it was a relationship that thrived on crisis'. How true it is for so many relationships! His son is pampered and grows up into a naughty little kid. One day the kid throws away the book of accounts that Margayya keeps, throwing his business out of gear. As things would have it the cooperative bank secretary also throws him out of the compound. In such dire times Margayya finds solace in the temple preist who tells him to to please Goddess Lakshmi, a complicated puja of forty days with ingredients with as cow ghee, lotus leaves etc. Focussed on pleasing the Goddess of wealth, Margayya goes to find the lotus and runs into the eccentric academic Dr. Pal. Now this Pal, who claims to be a sociologist, has actually written a book called the 'Bed of Life' about the bedroom secrets that will lead to a happy marriage. This manuscript he says is worth millions since it will save every marriage and sells it to Margayya for twenty five rupees. Margayya takes the book home, hidden from other eyes for its dangerous content and starts a deal with a local publisher. They publish the book under the title 'Domestic Harmony' in partnership which however turns out to be a loss. Tired of being a loss-making publisher, Margayya offers to buy the book off his partner and when he refuses, sells him his share for whatever the publisher cares to pay him and moves on with some fresh capital for his next business.
His second business venture over, Margayya returns to financial consulting. This time he grows - a small office thanks to Dr. Pal, clients known to Dr. Pal, opportunism during the days of the war - and becomes one of the richest men in Malgudi. His son however turns out into a complete dud who does nothing and rebels against the father and runs away when admonished. The family gets over that but soon they receive a letter that says their son is dead.Margayya reluctantly leaves his business, goes to Madras and finds him with some luck. He gets the son married and sets him up with a house while he busies himself in accumulating more and more money. The son falls into bad company, the chief of them being the original author of 'Domestic Harmony' Dr. Pal. Margayya's life comes a full circle in circumstances that follow.
'The Financial Expert' is a delightful read and leaves one with the scent of India, a time that one yearns to be in. Now onward to more RKN of which I have 'A Tiger for Malgudi' as the next target..
Saturday, October 9, 2010
Upto75.com - Value for Free
I have been associated with my friends Ramaraju and Gautam who started this new venture called Gap Miners Pvt Ltd. The company started about two years ago and looked to use internet technology to ease people's lives by improving efficiency. They started with 3 offerings - Upto75.com, NoMoreQueue.com (Movies) and NoMoreQueue.com (Buses). It has gone through all the ups and downs of a startup but finally we can see the fruits of the tireless effort that has gone in. I have been associated with the company as content writer, PR consultant and trainer for the past two years and I have learnt much more than I have given.
Upto75.com is a site that displays all the best retail deals, discounts, offers that are existing in the towns and cities that Upto75.com operates. For example if any product or service is offered to the retail buyer, the product, service, brand is featured with details of the offer. From pizzas, to restaurants, to clothes, to holidays, to shoes, to fitness centres...the site features several interesting deals.
www.upto75.com
Rs. 350 off on every flight ticket one way
However one deal that is of instant interest to anyone who travels is the deal that Upto75 has with ibibo.com where on certain airlines, you get a discount of Rs. 350 on each ticket one way. This is a handsome offer and I have used it. So anyone who wishes to book air tickets may go to Upto75.com and check the ibibo.com offer on its homepage.
NoMoreQueue.com/ Movies is a movie ticketing site that is rapidly making inroads into the online ticketing space. It is the largest online ticketing company in terms of single screens and has added several multiplexes as well. NoMoreQueue.com has presence in all the major cities in India. Now this is a feature that I have used as well and found it very convenient.
NoMoreQueue.com/Buses is a bus ticketing site that has tied up with several bus services operating our of Hyderabad, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai etc. It is also fast gaining ground as NMQ has tied up with several bus opeartors and provides many options for the bus traveller. Once again, this is a service I have used once and found to be extremely useful - I booked tickets for my nieces Prarthana and Pooja from Pune and back in Neeta Travels when they could not get any tickets on their own from Pune.
Check the sites out and I am sure you will find something of value at some point of time.
Upto75.com is a site that displays all the best retail deals, discounts, offers that are existing in the towns and cities that Upto75.com operates. For example if any product or service is offered to the retail buyer, the product, service, brand is featured with details of the offer. From pizzas, to restaurants, to clothes, to holidays, to shoes, to fitness centres...the site features several interesting deals.
www.upto75.com
Rs. 350 off on every flight ticket one way
However one deal that is of instant interest to anyone who travels is the deal that Upto75 has with ibibo.com where on certain airlines, you get a discount of Rs. 350 on each ticket one way. This is a handsome offer and I have used it. So anyone who wishes to book air tickets may go to Upto75.com and check the ibibo.com offer on its homepage.
NoMoreQueue.com/ Movies is a movie ticketing site that is rapidly making inroads into the online ticketing space. It is the largest online ticketing company in terms of single screens and has added several multiplexes as well. NoMoreQueue.com has presence in all the major cities in India. Now this is a feature that I have used as well and found it very convenient.
NoMoreQueue.com/Buses is a bus ticketing site that has tied up with several bus services operating our of Hyderabad, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai etc. It is also fast gaining ground as NMQ has tied up with several bus opeartors and provides many options for the bus traveller. Once again, this is a service I have used once and found to be extremely useful - I booked tickets for my nieces Prarthana and Pooja from Pune and back in Neeta Travels when they could not get any tickets on their own from Pune.
Check the sites out and I am sure you will find something of value at some point of time.
PTA and Off for Dussehra Vacation
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| The sandpit at Daksha |
While we were waiting for Anjali to finish playing we put the camera to good use and clicked a few pics of Anjali at Daksha. I hoped to get a few of Anita as well but she was busy with other parents so we left. I promised to do a feature on Daksha on my blog soon so I will take more pictures then.
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| Anjali striking a pose |
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| The slide... |
And off we went home!
Friday, October 8, 2010
The Test Match - India Versus Australia
I enjoyed the first Test between Indian and Australia, specially the last day affair. As in most battles, the long drawn ones bring out the best of both sides and almost always, the better side wins. Long term battles need character, staying power, good leadership, better preparation, gumption, nerves and the will to win. Australia did most things right, was probably the better prepared side as well, but that was the only thing in its favour. In all the other aspects India had the edge.
Character is something that is deeply imbibed in a person, a team through a set of beliefs and values. This particular Indian team seems to have a belief that it can pull anything off at anytime. Its members share a strong trust that someone or the other will rise to the occasion, play out of their skins and pull it off. As a team their belief in one another seems to be immense which is not evident on the outside, but for them to pull off something like this frequently, a lot of accolades but go the way of the Coach for building this atmosphere and his support staff, the captain and the players themselves for imbibing this culture. In such teams, there are no gaps, no weak points and it is resilient and secure in the knowledge that it is together. Australia always looked like they were searching for something extra, be it batting and bowling, and this lack of belief in its resources led to its fall from such a strong position.
Staying Power is something that was exhibited brilliantly by V V. S. Laxman who, despite wickets falling around him and a strained back troubling him, went back to his tried and tested formula of staying in the moment. He did that many times before and certainly is the hallmark of any great batsman, but he chose to do that at a time when he could have been excused for being a little less focussed. Laxman played each ball on its merit, did not plan ahead of the current ball, trusted his partner completely and hung around or stayed. The loose ball was despatched, the profferred single taken, the good balls defended. Ishant Sharma picked up the basics of staying, watched the ball onto his bat, never reached out for the ball and showed that if one sticks to the basics without getting the mind in the way, one can keep this limited attack at bay. Laxman can do this any number of times, any number of days even - he is trained to do it against the best, but for Ishant to do it speaks volumes of his character and staying power. It also shows that he has been 'allowed' the space to do it, that there is no one prejudgjing him in the dressing room and in fact, the dressing room probably 'expects' him to do it. They would not judge his talent but gently suggest that they would not be surprised if he did it. And he did!
Leadership is an area where India has a huge advantage. Dhoni has worked out his basics absolutely right from day one. Keep it simple. Trust the other guys to do their job. Give them space to do it to the best of their abilities. Let them figure out how to do it as well. Listen to your instinct. Never ever give up till the last ball. Expect only the best from every player. Most importantly, he empowers the fringe players to perform by giving them space and by believing in them, gets superb performances out of them. Be it Joginder or Ishant or Raina, the most unexpected players play superbly and pull it away. Dhoni believes that if everyone does his best and they keep doing that till the end, the better team will win and it does. Finally, the team rises above the individual, the petty politics and star statuses, and becomes one. Dhoni is a good candidate for Prime Minister in later years with his cool, uncluttered head. On the other hand Ponting's leadership left much to be desired. He never looked confident even when he had India eight down and his field placements and bowling changes were rather unimaginative. He appeared burdened by the sight of victory over India and handed it back to the hosts.
Gumption was in display in this match. From Zaheer Khan's lion hearted performance to Dhoni's astute handling of his bowlers, fielders, placements, Tendulkar, Raina, Laxman, Ishant and all other player performances right down to Ojha hanging out those tense moments, there was much on show. Always in matches like these, the entire team contributes and it is evident in the fact that everyone batted and the last man had to scramble through - remember South Africa's chase of Australia's 428 in a 50 over game when all 11 contributed, any classic Test matches, the tied ones and this feature stands out.
In the end, the will to win probably tilted the balance. Ponting looked as if he hoped the Indians would give the match to him, now that 8 wickets were down. But this is not hoping business here, especially when you have a class act at one end and a team that believes and backs itself. Ponting hoped and hoped and became desperate and 'acted' too late by making some bowling changes. I fail to recollect which, but one Aussie commentator had the guts to call it right when the eighth wicket fell - this match is not over yet - he predicted and so right he was. Perhaps he sensed Laxman's will in the way he batted, his face serene as a saint's, his body still and perhaps he sensed Ponting's discomfort with the win, his loss of focus suddenly when the game was his for the taking. In the end, one must say that all the players will go back, knowing that they did what was expected of them, that they did what they had to do - a satisfied lot.
Despite the media going overboard. It is after all a job well done, a game well played. An affirmation that what they trained for has been proven right. Once again. Well done boys.
Character is something that is deeply imbibed in a person, a team through a set of beliefs and values. This particular Indian team seems to have a belief that it can pull anything off at anytime. Its members share a strong trust that someone or the other will rise to the occasion, play out of their skins and pull it off. As a team their belief in one another seems to be immense which is not evident on the outside, but for them to pull off something like this frequently, a lot of accolades but go the way of the Coach for building this atmosphere and his support staff, the captain and the players themselves for imbibing this culture. In such teams, there are no gaps, no weak points and it is resilient and secure in the knowledge that it is together. Australia always looked like they were searching for something extra, be it batting and bowling, and this lack of belief in its resources led to its fall from such a strong position.
Staying Power is something that was exhibited brilliantly by V V. S. Laxman who, despite wickets falling around him and a strained back troubling him, went back to his tried and tested formula of staying in the moment. He did that many times before and certainly is the hallmark of any great batsman, but he chose to do that at a time when he could have been excused for being a little less focussed. Laxman played each ball on its merit, did not plan ahead of the current ball, trusted his partner completely and hung around or stayed. The loose ball was despatched, the profferred single taken, the good balls defended. Ishant Sharma picked up the basics of staying, watched the ball onto his bat, never reached out for the ball and showed that if one sticks to the basics without getting the mind in the way, one can keep this limited attack at bay. Laxman can do this any number of times, any number of days even - he is trained to do it against the best, but for Ishant to do it speaks volumes of his character and staying power. It also shows that he has been 'allowed' the space to do it, that there is no one prejudgjing him in the dressing room and in fact, the dressing room probably 'expects' him to do it. They would not judge his talent but gently suggest that they would not be surprised if he did it. And he did!
Leadership is an area where India has a huge advantage. Dhoni has worked out his basics absolutely right from day one. Keep it simple. Trust the other guys to do their job. Give them space to do it to the best of their abilities. Let them figure out how to do it as well. Listen to your instinct. Never ever give up till the last ball. Expect only the best from every player. Most importantly, he empowers the fringe players to perform by giving them space and by believing in them, gets superb performances out of them. Be it Joginder or Ishant or Raina, the most unexpected players play superbly and pull it away. Dhoni believes that if everyone does his best and they keep doing that till the end, the better team will win and it does. Finally, the team rises above the individual, the petty politics and star statuses, and becomes one. Dhoni is a good candidate for Prime Minister in later years with his cool, uncluttered head. On the other hand Ponting's leadership left much to be desired. He never looked confident even when he had India eight down and his field placements and bowling changes were rather unimaginative. He appeared burdened by the sight of victory over India and handed it back to the hosts.
Gumption was in display in this match. From Zaheer Khan's lion hearted performance to Dhoni's astute handling of his bowlers, fielders, placements, Tendulkar, Raina, Laxman, Ishant and all other player performances right down to Ojha hanging out those tense moments, there was much on show. Always in matches like these, the entire team contributes and it is evident in the fact that everyone batted and the last man had to scramble through - remember South Africa's chase of Australia's 428 in a 50 over game when all 11 contributed, any classic Test matches, the tied ones and this feature stands out.
In the end, the will to win probably tilted the balance. Ponting looked as if he hoped the Indians would give the match to him, now that 8 wickets were down. But this is not hoping business here, especially when you have a class act at one end and a team that believes and backs itself. Ponting hoped and hoped and became desperate and 'acted' too late by making some bowling changes. I fail to recollect which, but one Aussie commentator had the guts to call it right when the eighth wicket fell - this match is not over yet - he predicted and so right he was. Perhaps he sensed Laxman's will in the way he batted, his face serene as a saint's, his body still and perhaps he sensed Ponting's discomfort with the win, his loss of focus suddenly when the game was his for the taking. In the end, one must say that all the players will go back, knowing that they did what was expected of them, that they did what they had to do - a satisfied lot.
Despite the media going overboard. It is after all a job well done, a game well played. An affirmation that what they trained for has been proven right. Once again. Well done boys.
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