England's Comprehensive Win - Deserving of No. 1 Rankings

The third test between India and England has been lost by a huge margin. England whipped, bludgeoned, crushed India 3-0 in a most embarrassing fashion. I don't know if there are better words to describe it but England's mastery and control over India has been awesome. Except for two periods in the three tests - when England was 90 for 6 and when India was 270 for 4 - in the first innings of the third test, India was totally subjugated, looked in awe, in fear, at loss. Like someone in the box said - there's no problem except for the Indian batting, bowling and fielding.

It was surprising to see the way the one day World Champions, the Test No 1s, capitulated. There was absolutely no fight. It was the lack of spirit, the lack of application that was bewildering. This is not a rookie team playing in hostile and strange conditions for the first time. Something just went off, all the gas went out. Maybe they had no more steam. Maybe they have nothing left to prove anymore. Maybe they are just tired. Maybe it was too cold.

But they cannot blame any of these things. As No.1 team they are expected to take the responsibility and put up a good fight. They are professionals who have to give their best, die for the cause, as long as they wear the country's colours. And if they are not good enough, if they are tired, injured, mentally weak, physically bruised, they have no reason to be there. There is just no excuse that is good enough for this team. A whole new XI could as well play the last match for all its worth. Cricketers who are hungry to play, to prove, to show what they have. But are there any of those left?

England has been magnificent. When they bat the conditions look so different. The ball does not seem to move, there is no carry. They bat with confidence and discipline. They do all the basics right. They play in the V. They settle down and look to build partnerships. They bat deep. They never throw their wickets away. They run all their runs hard. They hit plenty of booundaries.

When they bowl they look threatening from ball one. No freebies. They bowl one side of the wicket. They bowl to a plan for each batsman. They hardly give away loose balls. There are no extras. Just plain simple basics. Keep the ball in the right areas, keep the batsmen guessing, give away as few runs as possible. Keep the pressure. All the time. They come hard at the batting. The fielding has done little wrong. Catching has been excellent both in the slips and in the outfield.

As a team everyone put up their hand. They look relaxed. They supported one another. They played together. All of it is pretty much basic stuff every coach says time and again. But they thought it out, and implemented it. So well.

The Indians had no plan. Nothing to implement. It was rudderless. Everyone doing their own thing. No application. No fight, No gumption. One can lose, and there is no shame in losing because someone has to win and mostly the better team does.

But to lose like without a fight is unacceptable for any team, more so one carrying such big names and such big reputations. It only points to a complete lack of preparation. It appears that everyone went in hoping that someone would do the job - after all we are the champion team, and we have Captain Midas. But tough tours are never won with hope. they are won by meticulous preparation, superior planning.

This is not just a lesson to Dhoni and his men but to all of us in India who somehow seem to hope that India will be at the top of the world by 2020, whether we do our job well or not - someone will do it. No sir, no one will, we have to walk the path. We have to prepare better. Its not enough that we have a large population. We need to work. And better than the competition. They are not sitting idle!

This tour can go down to learning. An awfully embarrassing learning experience. There is still another game left and one must only look forward, take the positives and try and improve. Hopefully the team has started to get together and analyse what is wrong with their minds first. They have to get sharper, hungrier and more resilient in the mind. And once they do that, then they can figure out the rest. It is important that they put up a better show, a fight in the remaining game. They cannot look like a school cricket team that is playing out of their league and be whacked all over, at will. I thought they'd play for pride at least after everyone got under their skin during the second test. But the problems lie deeper obviously. They just gave up.

To me the mind first. What happened to the desire, the pride, that you cannot even get up off the mat despite the worst jibes and comments one can throw at you? If you are comfortable lying down on the mat and be kicked around you should not be in there in the first place. You have to get up each time you fall, you have to take it on the chin, again and again, hang in there, until the opposition starts tiring.

For the last test, the players can ask themselves if they want to get up or stay on the mat - and then honestly take the field. As for the cricket part all they need to do is watch the English and copy them. They have done their basics so well. Well done Strauss and team, and Andy Flower as well. You deserve your spot at the top.

Aarakshan - For Ideas As Well

Will the government ban anything because I say I am 'hurt'? And will it tiptoe around everyone who can raise a stink at opportune moments, even if it means that we step all over a whole population who wants to see, read and appreciate another viewpoint. A viewpoint cleared by the government bodies and authorities themselves, a certification agency that knows enough (hopefully). So the work is passed by the law, the government and then brought back to be again scrutinised by the public. Why then should one have these agencies and certification bodies? Why not just bring it on to the people's court?

There is no doubt in my mind that Jha has shown reality and that too in muted terms in the movie. To be offended by certain dialogues shows not just intolerance, it shows that we only want everyone to see and read what we want to see - the truth be damned. In this case this is a work of fiction, not based on anyone's true life. Why should that offend anyone? Reality is much more starker and more brutal as we all know, even today.

The plight of the backward classes has not been rectified by the 'reservation' - they still suffer gross indignities, insults and discrimination. They are not a united lot, nor do they have powerful friends and lobbies - they are classes that are coming out of centuries of oppression of the worst kind. No one apologises to them for the indignities they were made to suffer, still suffer. Instead there is always an argument of how because of these 'backward' people, these 'reserved' people, we, as a nation are losing out on merit. It is not birth, or caste or community that confers merit - it is the opportunity that one gets to get an education.

One of the most highly educated people, a multiple doctorate educated in Columbia University and the London School of Economics, prominent among our leaders was Babasaheb Ambedkar, our first law minister, the Chairmman of the Drafting Committee of the Indian Constitution - and he was one of the first of the 'untouchables' to graduate in India. We are talking the turn of the last century - one of the first graduates! He did all his schooling sitting on a floor, away from the higher classes, not having the right to drink water until some higher caste gave it to him - lest the water be polluted and then, the higher castes who drank that water. Ambedkar got water form the peon and there is a famous quote of his which says 'no pen, no water' referring to those days. And he was a privileged 'untouchable' because his father was in the army and he lobbied to get his son admitted to the government school - other children of the 'untouchable' caste were not so privileged.

It is from these kind of conditions that stemmed out of the chaturvarna system of Hindus that we are today looking at this scenario. What is there to be 'hurt' in a movie that discusses or shows what is happening really? A movie with such big stars only means that these issues will be put out for discussion and debate in a society already nourishing much suspicion against one another. If there is a character who is anti-reservation let him say what he has to say just as the character pro-reservation has to say what he has to say. By muting them, or changing the dialogues, one is not going to change history. Or reality. In a nation where one community really does not understand the other, movies and other popular culture vehicles must be encouraged to show various view points, to reflect society. By deleting scenes, one deletes the from reaching audiences many years down the lane.

Unless things are shown in gross perversion of facts, there should be no reason for any bans. And if there is a story based on facts, on what really happened, let them be encouraged. Let them show what we are - the good and the bad. In fact if a movie shows a reality that shows one class in lower light, it only shows the type of thinking that exists. It must be shown.

As a nation, if we cannot treat everyone as equal, cannot respect and love one another as equal, cannot go over our histories and move on, we will forever be stuck where we are. We may in fact slide back. And that holds true for ideological differences as well!

Ban, Ban, Ban - The Super Sensitive Indian

Ours is a true democracy. Actually maybe even bigger than a democracy. We, as people are really more powerful than everyone, including the government, the 'system' i.e. the corrupt system that operates in the unseen sidelines, the politicians, the mafias, the business class and so on.

And this power does not come because we have muscle, it comes from an entirely sissy trait of ours. It comes mainly because we are a touchy lot. I mean, we don't touch people (even that we used to do, but now we have progressed to bigger things), but these days we get touched quite often. We get too sensitive to everything. So much so that we are now sensitive to things we have not seen, not read, not felt. That is how super sensitive we are now. As a nation we are just waiting for anything that might cause 'hurt'.

So it came as no surprise when 'Aarakshan' was sought to be banned because our super sensitive brigade started 'hurting'. Most of them got hurt even before they saw the movie of course and decided that were better off banning it. For some reason some governments were also quick to jump on and ban the movie, some suspended it. Their reason is simple - the people might get 'hurt'. One wonders why this super sensitive side does not come out when people are really getting hurt - as in getting raped, murdered, limb broken, burned, decapitated, tortured etc. Surprisingly very few political organisations (and that includes most right wing ones who tend to get hurt at the drop of the hat) are completely insensitive to physical hurt. In fact they are the ones who perpetrate physical hurt to get over their emotional hurt. Have we ever heard these same people raise their voices when the real atrocities take place? No, it is the job of a separate lot to go and protest. The NGOs, the Human Rights people. The police will look on.

So the super sensitive brigade will ban books, paintings, sculptures, ideas - and beat producers (no, they have money, so they should not be beaten else they may not shell out some protection money to buy the balm), authors, painters, editors, journalists as they are normally soft targets. Carrying their 'hurt' by an idea, an interpretation of an idea, they now put their idea forward. No such idea shall be entertained - though we don't know what the idea is. Ban. Burn. Break. Let us physically hurt, maim, murder. Else we may get 'hurt'.

Of course the governments watch all this quietly. They cannot afford to 'hurt' anyone lest they lose their votes. So they tiptoe on the highwire. The police which is so active and brave in shooting fleeing farmers in the back, shows amazing restraint and watch as the 'hurt' citizens, physically 'hurt' those poor sods. The irony of it all!

Who are these 'hurt' people? What is 'hurting' them? How can we treat them of this extremely sensitive condition?

Playing Within Your Reach - For Best Results

It is when we step back and do things with a sense of control that we give our best. This is not the usual blustery, action-packed, go hard at work (or anything else) attitude. This is a more controlled, within-my-reach kind of an attitude where you start off with what you have, keep the basics tight, and slowly grow from there. It is easier to hit the rhythm one wants with this approach and it is easier to try small variations. Normally the end results are much better. The kinds that always get an applause (and you wonder why).

But in most situations, especially the big situations, we are so tense that we overreach. In overreaching one loses balance, one becomes too tense, too rigid and tight, and one finds it hard to find the rhythm. This is exactly what one does not need to handle the big match, or the big occasion. What one needs is a relaxed state of mind, an establishment of the basics well, a good start from where one can build. Just play within your capabilities.

Nothing explains this better than cricket. In slip fielding specially, one must allow the ball to come to you. One must only receive the ball. This is easy to do when one is relaxed. But the moment one is tense, wants to make a difference and grab the big opportunity, one finds the ball bouncing off. Perfect intentions, but no good. Because no slip fielder has ever caught a catch by grabbing at it!

Similarly with bowling, one cannot give their best by running in hard and off balance, and bowling hard - one is at his best when one is running in smoothly, in a balanced fashion, getting the action through smoothly, seeing and directing the ball to the area one wants to and letting it do the rest. All best spells come this way, when one is within oneself. A Michael Holding, a Kapil Dev, an Andy Roberts, in their best years show what it is to be relaxed, to do within their capabilities. Watch any great spell and you know what I am talking about.

Same goes for batting - the best batsmen never overreach, or try to hit the ball too hard. The secret of timing is in allowing the ball to come to you, on to the bat. You handle the ball in your area of control. The moment you try to hit hard, you lose balance, you lose timing, you miss the ball. In trying to impress, you fail. I believe golf is the same way, it is about the swing, not about hitting it hard. Or of anything else, I feel. Including life. One must allow it to come instead of going wildly and hard at it.

Even when writing a book, or attempting to write a story or novel, one freezes at the beginning. One thinks that this should be my masterpiece and in that frozen state of mind one loses sight of the basics, from which the masterpiece can be built. One's own experiences, the little thoughts and feelings that make one's unique perspective that add depth and meaning to the story get lost in the creation of the masterpiece if we go hard at it. It is always better to start with the simple stuff - the place that we know best - that which is within our reach. And then the idea, the story has space to expand, like a seed. We can slowly nurture it, allow it to grow instead of forcing it to grow in some spectacular manner.

The key is not to always focus on the spectacular start - book, batting, catching, bowling, golf, life. The key lies in knowing the core of what you have set out to do. In building the book, one must know the core, and the rest flows easily. Beginnings can always be made more spectacular by opening the story up at the point one feels best. But if one wants to start spectacularly, without having much body or core to expand on later, one mostly paints oneself into a corner that one cannot get out of. The book loses steam, the movie loses its plot, the cricketer looks good in times when there is no pressure but when the big match comes, he fails. One cannot expect the peach tree to give anything else but peaches - not apples, oranges (as the wise Master Oogway says in Kung Fu Panda, or something like that). One must, to quote Oogway again 'lose the illusion of control'.

One may wonder how a Sehwag succeeds when all he does is be spectacular. He succeeds because he has figured out the core of his batting, his mind, the ball and the bat. In that space he stays true to himself, in the moment, and backs himself and his theory in spite of all the masters telling him otherwise. And that is what makes him spectacular, his clarity and his conviction in his basics. Just as Dravid is so sure of his basics, his methods.

If anything, the champion's mindset is about stepping back a bit and not trying too hard. It is about doing the things within one's control and doing those well and in a way that makes sense to them. It is about being relaxed, about starting at 80% or a place one is feeling good at, at then gradually building from there. The best innings are built that way. It is a wonderful feeling then to see how easy it all looks, to make things happen the way you want to, to be in control. To control, one must let go of the need to control the outside. One must show the control within. That is the way of the champion. The way to do the spectacular stuff that each one is capable of.

An Interesting Encounter - Sayeed Saleem

On the 20th day of the 100 day 'Share a book' program that is being organised at Rhapsody by the indefatigable Dr. Surya Prakash and his Life HRG team, I had the opportunity to listen to a fascinating story 'Vendi Meghalu' told by its author Sayeed Saleem, a Sahiya Academy winner for the same book. Mr. Saleem spoke with great clarity, order and passion, and it came as no surprise to me to hear that he is an Assistant Commissioner in the Income Tax Department, Hyderabad.

He started with a brief about why wrote the story, the history behind it, which stemmed from his childhood as a Muslim in Coastal Andhra. The sensitive, clear thinking young Saleem saw the injustices done to the Muslim converts from low caste Hindus who were treated differently by the other Muslims. He also observed closely the other injustices done in the name of religion against women in the Muslim community, the way the religious sayings were misinterpreted and misused. His novel was all about this anguish he felt.

Starting sometime in the 1930s the story is about a young Muslim girl who is forcibly married to her brother-in-law while still in her teens because her older sister passed away in childbirth. Luckily for her she gets a forward thinking mother-in-law who encourages her to work, specially after the death of her son. How the Muslim girl grows up into a financially independent and confident woman and how the story moves forward to cover even the alleged Hindu-Muslim riots of the late seventies and winds up in the 90s is a remarkable tale. It was interesting to see the author tell his story and read from it and know why he wrote it as he did.

I was too shocked to respond when the mike was passed to me but I was only thinking one thing - what a brave effort. Sayeed Saleem tries to right all that is wrong - women, education, injustice, health, communal riots, misinterpretation of religion, political mischief in communal riots - in a sweeping, brave and sincere effort to make a difference, to appeal to whoever cares to listen. I was hoping to speak to him after the interaction but we missed one another. I can certainly get a copy of the Telugu book because I can read it but I guess it would be even better to get it signed by the author when he comes back one of these days. It was truly an evening well spent listening to a man of rare sensitivity and calibre. Sayeed Saleem's blogspot lists an enviable body of work already - over 100 poems published, 140 stories, 5 novels, several awards. Wonderful stuff.

Anjali - The Art of Winning

While playing with Anjali today I was told one of the most powerful theries on the Art of Winning. Noticing that I was losing all the little races we were running at home she turned and encouraged me and said 'It's okay nanna, just keep practising. You will win sometime.'

I played along with her and after a couple of races caught up with her. The coach gave me a knowing smile. 'See? Practice.'

When we sat down I asked her how she figured out how to win. 'I know how to win nanna!' declared the little coach confidently, all the knowledge of the world tucked away in her mind. What is it I asked eagerly. 'Keep trying nanna,' she said simply. 'You will win sometime.'

Thanks Coach.

Osama - Movie Review

Osama is a 2003 Persian film shot in Afghanistan sometime after the fall of the Taliban rule. It also has the distinction of being the first film to be fully shot in Afghanistan after 1996 when the Taliban banned all films.

The movie is about a young girl of about thirteen, her mother and her grandmother who live in Afghanistan during the period when the Taliban impose their strict regulations on society. The young girl's father (and grandfather) have died in the wars against the Soviets and the civil war. Now only the three women live in their home. To make matters worse the girl and her mother lose their jobs in a local hospital that has closed down. The Taliban has banned all women from going out without a male companion. For the three women it means that they starve to death.

The grandmother cuts the young girl's hair and sends her out to work disguised as a boy. They find work in a tea shop owned by her father's friend who is kind enough to take her in even after knowing she is a girl disguised as a boy. But her effeminate ways give her away and the Taliban keep an eye on her. Everyday is dangerous for the young girl who has to now move in places full of men and behave like them. One day a mullah of the Taliban rounds her up on a soldier collection drive of young boys and she is put in a camp full of boys who are being trained in the recitation of Koran and in military ways. She has to eat, sleep and bathe with the boys who soon suspect that she is not a boy.

One boy who knows she is a girl, however protects her for as long as he can. He is the one who gives her the name 'Osama' when the other boys ask the girl her name. However she is caught one day, menstruating. She is sent along with several others who have sinned according to the Taliban to a local court. A woman is stoned alive, another shot, etc. The young girl's time comes and one wonders what terrible judgment is passed on her when an old mullah (who teaches the young boys in the camp how to handle wet dreams by taking cold water showers etc) hurries in and has a word with the judge. The girl is then taken away to be married to the old man who has a house filled with three wives already, all of them who hate him for destroying their lives. Osama is prepared for the consummation of her marriage with the old man who is getting ready for his new wife himself.

'Osama' shows the Taliban regime and its crimes against women and children in this simple story. Driven by their need to survive, the terror and helplessness that the three women undergo is real, and almost steps out of the screen. The tension heightens when the young girl has to face the world of men alone, again driven by her need to bring home food for her mother and grandmother. She has to hide all that is feminine, including her voice which could give her away and lead her to death. Finally one wonders if death would have been preferable to being married to the perverse old man. Not for the weak hearted, this film, though there is nothing explicit. The menace, the terror lurks each time she steps on the road and tries to walk home like a boy. In one scene, the young girl is almost home, bread in hand, walking a lonely street when she suddenly stops. There is a dog in the middle of the road, lying down and doing its own thing. How she swallows her feminine fear of dogs and goes past sends a shiver down your spine. 'Osama' shows women in all their sensitivity, vulnerability and strength and drives home the fact that women must be loved, respected and cared for, and any culture that does not, cannot lay any claim towards doing anything good for God or for man. One of those movies that will always haunt you, frame after frame, and leaves a big impact.