Morning Hour at Tankbund

One of Anjali's regular adventures is to go to Tankbund 'at night'. Or rather at sunrise. We keep making plans and once in a while manage to execute it because it involves three motivated people to get out of bed at an unearthly hour and head to the Hussain Sagar lake. We managed to do it though, last Sunday, parked near Eat Street, and got a few pictures as well.

And another one.

And one of the walk.

And the lawns.

Could not resist going to Taj Mahal Hotel at Abids after that and ate one of the heaviest breakfasts I have ever had in my life! Not surprisingly I saw a few people from the Hussain Sagar promenade at Taj as well.

Ha Ha Therapy - Dr. G. Lakshmipathi

Read this hilarious book (Rs.300, 289 pages) by Dr. Lakshmipathi, M.D., F.R.C.P., F.I.C.P, a practicing doctor and consultant of Internal Medicine and Cardiology in Coimbatore and the author of a few more books. My friend Rags (a.k.a. Raghavendra Prasad) recommended this book to me several moons ago and even promised to get me a copy saying that this was the funniest book he had read. But he could not get a copy because it is perhaps not as widely distributed as regular books. Guess where I got it - my good doctor S. Krishnan gave it to me when I visited him last and I must agree with Rags that it is one of the most amusing books I have read from an Indian author.

With a foreword from Khushwant Singh and witty jokes, quotes and sayings all over 'Ha Ha Therapy' is a book that pokes fun at all that is concerned with medicine and healing and therapy. Dr. Lakshmipathi spares no one - not the least his patients (names changed), alternative medicine, various therapies that are available, symptoms, their treatments, doctors, their idiosyncracies, various sicknesses real and imagined, and even death, in the most irreverent, witty and funny manner. From acupuncture to homeopathy, backache to constipation, gas to Kamasutra, music therapy to old age, he has a take on everything. An absolute delight in every way and if you ask me, more entertaining than some of the stuff that Khushwant Singh comes up with.

Dr. Lakshmipathi's humour is of a sophisticated nature - subtle, complete and intelligent. His use of the language, his punnery, his irreverence, his tone and the complete hopelessness of the medical situation dawns on the reader as we look at one patient after another, one therapy after another, and soon realise that all we can do is laugh about it and loud. At a deep level it is also philosophical as he pretty much laughs at everything - life and death - and its a good way to view life. Funnily another Lakshmipathy (rather Lakshmi Venkatapathy Raju) my old friend and Indian Test cricketer told me the same thing today. 'I wish people just don't take everything to heart and get too involved and emotional and instead enjoy themselves,' he said after a couple of hours of rip roaring laughter from his many jokes and imitations. What is it with the Lakshmipathys and this funny bone?

What makes this book all the more interesting and valuable is that apart form making the reader laugh, it also makes the reader aware of symptoms and diseases, with some great information about illnesses and treatment, and certainly eases the furrow from the brow - one way or another. A fantastic attempt and perhaps the first of its kind for the content, the humour (and the outcome for the reader especially if he or she is a patient suffering from one of the illnesses). I agree with Rags that this is a book that goes high up there in Indian humour writing. (And in sophisticated humour writing, it certainly goes pretty high up.) Great work  Dr. Lakshmipathi and I hope you write many more such books. Also, a big thanks is owed to D. Krishnan for lending me this book. Must read for all those who love humour. Contact Nama Publications, 7, Bharathi Park Cross, Road No. 3, Coimbatore - 641 043. Tel-0422-2455191 or email at glpathi@yahoo.com for your copy.

Young Frankenstein - Movie Review

This was one of those Mel Brooks movies that slipped out during those Mel Brooks festivals we all watched in the late 90s on videos in Ranjan's house. I finally laid my hands on this movie and it did not disappoint. Gene Wilder is an old associate of Mel Brooks and they all share the same zany humour that is completely over the top and entirely loveable and here the two get together.

Gene Wilder plays Dr. Frederick Frankenstein, a descendant of the infamous Dr. Frankenstein, who tried to re-animate the dead in his times. Young Frankenstein receives news of a legacy and travels to Transylvania minus his rather fussy fiance. There he meets a nutcase hunchback help, Igor and a beautiful assistant with a one-track mind and a great body. Anyway young Frankesnstein discovers that his ancestor has left behind his work and also a nurse who appears to be have been in love with the great grandfather during his days alive.

Young Frankenstein studies the ancestor's work to re-animate the dead and decides to conduct the experiment. He and his assistant steal a corpse of a recently hanged criminal and try to replace his brain with that of a famous scientist. Unfortunately Igor breaks that container and instead gets another brain from a container named 'Abnormal' (which Igor thinks is the name!). Anyway we have a moaning monster who is out of control with an abnormal mind and he breaks free and causes enough damage in the countryside before Young Frankenstein snares him with some violin music. He uses a technique to transfer some of his brain to the monster and one does not know if it succeeds because the villagers break into their house and carry away the monster.

The monster breaks loose, ends up with Frankenstein's uptight girlfriend, who is intrigued by the monsters love making capabilities and equipment. Of course the monster gets a part of Young Frankenstein's intelligence (while Young Frankenstein gets a huge part of the monster's enviable love making equipment thanks to the transfer experiment). Young Frankenstein marries his assistant while his ex-fiance marries the monster and all's well and that ends well.

Hilarious as always Mel Brook's 'Young Frankenstein' is a must watch for all those who love comedy and Mel Brooks. It's in black and white, apparently to create the effect required of the spoof on horror films. But on a different note, I wonder if our own Sirish Kunder is wildly inspired by Mel Brooks what with his spoofs on sci fi movies and so on. The only thing is that his stuff falls mid-way between a real plot and a spoof (I watched one movie and it was the worst I ever saw.) But Mel Brooks is the master at this kind of stuff and I completely loved it.

The Cricket Series - Fine Advise for Cricketers from Sanjay Bharadwaj

Sanjay Bharadwaj, the coach of Gautam Gambhir and Unmukt Chand - two steely performers who have performed under extremely extenuating circumstances for India - Gautam in the World Cup 2011 and Unmukt in the recently concluded Under 19 World Cup, gave a special quote on Teacher's Day in the Deccan Chronicle today. What he said is what every cricketer or professional must reflect upon and imbibe.

I quote:

"I've coached more talented kids than Gautam Gambhir and Unmukt Chand, but the reason these two have made it big is because they are true disciples. They call me every other day and keep asking about what they are doing wrong or how they can improve their game. They are now international cricketers but they still have not forgotten me. That is why they are successful - they respect their coach."

Three things stand out for me in this quote. The first is that talent alone gets you nowhere. It must be supported by growth-oriented hard work that keeps the player always ready for the next level challenges (or any professional for that matter). Also to keep growing and learning all the time even when it appears that  there is nothing else to learn. (That's when one needs to be most careful).

The second is the importance of a coach and mentor. I have already expressed me surprise at meeting cricketers at first class level who have said that they do not have a coach. The fact that these two boys have been grounded on the basics and have recognised the importance of their coach shows their maturity and their growth mindset. Also what Sanjay Bharadwaj says so emphatically "that he has coached more talented boys than them..." proves only one thing - the importance of a coach for every sportsman and professional. A coach that they can trust and constantly seek to improve upon their skill and not let errors creep in. No one is too big for that. Ever.

The third thing is that they have not forgotten their coach despite reaching international status and the glare of public eye. In contrast I see how in Hyderabad many of our older coaches who had a wonderful knowledge of the game and who have a vast repertoire of knowledge have been ignored by the same people who have risen high on the strength of their coaching. So many of them have flown high and forgotten their coaches - many of whom are still coaching passionately despite their advanced years.

For those aspiring to grow, to express themselves better through the game, this is some of the finest advise one can get. Get a coach and keep in regular touch with him about your game.

Ferrari Ki Sawari - Movie Review

Saw this cute little movie yesterday on video. Rather far fetched in its theme but it's nice and feel-good and its about cricket so no complaints really. And its a lot of fun.

The story is about a young talented cricketer from Mumbai Kayo Deboo (cute), and his father (Sharman Joshi) who is a single parent and who dotes on his son. And the father's father (Boman Irani) who is an ex-cricketer and currently a gumpy old man who bullies his son all the time. It all boils down to how the kid has to pay one and half lakhs to go and attend some important coaching camp at Lords. But really?

Obviously the Deboo's have no money. But opportunity (far fetched) presents itself in the form of a lady who wants to hire a Ferrari for her nephew's marriage for a couple of hours. Father Deboo Joshi goes to borrow the only Ferrari he knows of, Sachin's, and ends up taking it away without anyone's knowledge. All ends almost well until he forgets the car and the package of one and a half lakh. As he goes to get the money from the car, the grandfather Deboo confronts the evil nemesis of his playing days and now the evil selector Paresh Rawal, to ask for assistance for his grandson. The plot thickens and Lords seems to be floating farther away from young Kayo (a young man who has great integrity - refusing to claim catches when he touched the line etc). Anyway the Ferrari returns, the kid goes to Lords and it appears rather hazily that he is playing with Sachin, and all ends well. Nice, feel good. Also shows how involved parents are with their kids' sporting careers these days and to what length everyone goes to ensure that they get all that they want.

The cricket was okay. The manner in which the coaching camp becomes all important is really an important point because many coaches and coaching camps actually do threaten and fool children into believing that they are playing tournaments that are important to their careers when in fact they are not. I would have liked the conflict between right and wrong to be bigger in the minds of the older gentlemen but it fades off leaving little for element for drama there. Anyway, a decent watch and nice performances all around. No complaints.

The Cricket Series - Process of Player Preparation

I am reminded of the quote which more or less goes like this - luck is what you get when preparation meets opportunity. The importance of preparation cannot be over-emphasised for a player or a professional with high aspirations.

This is for the benefit of players (cricket or any game or sport), their support systems (coach, parents) and other stakeholders. One thing that we must understand is that the process of player preparation is the most important key in the way he shapes up finally. What shows up as performance in the end is a result of the how the player has 'prepared' and understood the 'process'. Let us first understand what this process is - be it for a young player or an International player or for that matter any professional - sports or otherwise.

Player preparation process
Typically the 'preparation' aspect includes the teaching or the coaching part of the game. All preparation focuses is on three aspects - skill, physical fitness and the mental strength. This holds true for all levels from the basic to the highest level, in games and sports and in all competition.

Skill
For the younger lot, coaches impart the basics of the game( be it in batting, bowling or fielding) and some amount of physical fitness. At this stage there is not much emphasis on anything else but drills and constant correction of the drill which can then be reproduced in the correct manner in the games. From grips to stance, defence, to shots, run up to follow through - all techniques are taught and drilled. The right drills produce the right results. The wrong drills produce wrong results.

For the older lot, skill issues do crop up and show up in the outcome i.e. performances. For them, minor modifications are made. This can be done only by experienced coaches (and not merely players who have played high grades of cricket). One must learn to differentiate between a great coach and a great player. Few players can become great coaches. It is also not necessary that great coaches are great players. In fact many great coaches are failed players who have then analysed and understood the game thoroughly.

Skill, when worked on completely, practised well and hard, becomes an automatic extension of the player's instinct. When fully addressed, the player reacts instinctively to all situations, be it batting, bowling or fielding and adapts faster to changes in environment, much as a student of mathematics who has practised long and hard adapts to questions that demand an application and a thorough understanding of the right basics.

Physical fitness
Physical fitness involves a correct training schedule for strength, flexibility, endurance and speed. Apart from a well- thought of regimen, correct nutrition, and guidance in all these aspects is most important. Obviously if the body breaks down or is unable to cope with the workload, it will show in the final performance. The player must fully gear up well before the season for all eventualities and be totally prepared and fit through the season. Fitness needs expert advise and again, from someone who knows his job well. If the player is not fit, he is a non-starter. All the skill in the world is useless if the player is unfit. It requires hard work and commitment.

Mental toughness
This is the most important part of the game and some say is almost 90% of the game itself. Players become mentally tough over a period of time. Mental toughness comes from (1) long hours of practice which builds confidence and belief (2) playing and exposing oneself to higher levels of the game constantly (and also exposing oneself to adverse situations and failure which happens when competition is high) and (3) constant desire to achieve higher standards. One way of developing mental toughness is to play more and more games against tough opponents and not be satisfied with average or mediocre performances.

Looking at it from the angle of preparation, a simple method of achieving all of the above is by preparing for the next level. Players who prepare for the next level of the game are generally tougher in the mind because they have already taken ownership for their careers. They take adversity or failure positively and go back to the drawing table and come back harder and stronger. They are the players who do not crib about the process or give up or be satisfied with average performances - they will work harder, perform at much higher levels and force their way in on the strength of top level performances that cannot be ignored. Typically these players have also figured out the process in one way or another, are hungry for success and are a great asset to the team.

Creation of Self- Belief
Also this hardship and frustration is where players form 'self-belief' which is the most important weapon in one's quiver as one goes on to play higher grades of the game. By making the process simpler for the player through dishonest, unethical methods many parents, coaches and stakeholders actually take away their wards most important weapon unknowingly. On the day of the judgment the player finds himself without his biggest weapon which has been taken away from him by his very supporters. Never make the path easy with the mistaken notion that it will help. It is temporary and too transient to last. If you truly love your ward, teach him how to come back stronger in the face of all adversity, make it tougher and make his preparation complete so he is fully equipped for all eventualities. Much like parents who have to let their children fall and learn to walk, so too must you allow the failures. You cannot carry the child forever and expect him to walk.

Giving Up Is a Bad Sign
A highly talented player who if dropped gives up after being dropped is displaying no mental resilience. Giving up is an attitude and one can find a million excuses for giving up. The one who goes back to training and prepares even harder and comes back is the one who will go a long way and fulfills his potential. That is the process that will make him tougher, more honest and aware of the process. This time, the player will leave little to chance or luck. Good and long term players always bounce back strongly from failures or temporary setbacks.

Luck?
A player who is fully prepared on skill, physical fitness and mental strength, needs very little luck to perform. he will succeed anyway. Just look at all the champions around you and you will know.

Two important things - Coach and Regular Practice Under the Coach
Two things become most important here - the quality of the coach and the regularity of the student (from the basic to International level) at the camp under the eyes of the coach. The quality of the coach (or teacher) is important. He can set the basics right at the very beginning and the student is not learning the wrong things and practising the wrong things. Regularity at the nets is important because small errors do creep in when you are away from the coach and those then get magnified with faulty practice. The time spent on the game thus gets nullified by doing the wrong things. By practising the right things, the performances are bound to show up much better.  Timing gets better, bowling has more penetration and overall confidence is high.


As players go up the levels there is still no guarantee that errors do not creep in. The coach becomes important because he is one who can quickly spot and correct the issue before it magnifies or shows up as a bad patch in performance. It is thus advisable for all players to spend long hours under a good coach when performances are going awry (and even otherwise so they do not go awry).

Performance - An indicator of preparation
The way the player plays in the nets and how he performs in matches are different. Player performance in matches is a clear indicator of the completeness of the preparation process. The player's preparation and correctness of technique will be tested in matches, especially against quality opposition. Poor performance indicates a lacuna in preparation and nothing else. This can happen to anyone at any time and all players must see performance as a sure shot feedback. If the runs are drying up, wickets are harder to get by, there is no timing, no sting in the bowling, even if things just don't feel right from your top performances - rush back to the drawing board i.e. a visit to the nets under the watchful eye of a coach quickly.

Gladwell and the 10,000 hours - Preparation
Here one must draw a comparison to Malcolm Gladwell's wonderful 10,000 hours of practice to becoming a genius theory. Someone like Tendulkar would have practiced the right things over and over again in his childhood and reproduced them in many matches that his coach Ramakant Achrekar had the foresight to make him and Kambli play, that much of those 10, 000 hours would have been exhausted by the time he was 16 and made his debut!

Poor performance? - Educate the players about the process
I have heard several cricketers even at first class level say that they do not have any coach. I am appalled that the system does not educate them on the importance of having a coach to check back on any errors that creep into the game. It is a must. Also, players must realise the importance of personal coaches in this era where competition is high. Careers can get snipped before one realises what happened with one error!All great professional sportsmen - tennis, golf, athletics - you name it, have a team of coaches that travel with them. Here we do not even have the concept of a coach. Even in business, CEOs and professionals of companies large and small are now relying on a personal coach or mentor.

Ask one question - Are you fully prepared?
Performance is never about luck. It is always about preparation. Just ask yourself one question. Have I fully prepared on all fronts, on all angles, on all three aspects of skill, physical and mental, on all things that are within my control for the next level? If yes, you will know all the answers yourself. No one can stop you then.
The only one who can stop you is yourself.

Unstoppable - Movie Review

The thing with these movies is that they hook you and drag you into it. I was watching something else on television and switched on the Movies channel and hit 'Unstoppable' sometime after it had started. I saw Denzel Washington as a train driver and his conductor in a train. In seconds the story wrapped itself around me. Tough similar to 'Speed' and the 'Runaway Train' and the 'Die Hard' type movies, it still gripped me until the end as two trains rush into one another on a collision course - one unmanned and with deadly chemicals (why was it unmanned?) and the other with Denzel Washington and the other young man.

The collision is averted but that's only half the story. So Denzel Washington reverses and follows the runaway train and the duo finally stop it. Great action but the end was a huge let down. The conductor actually jumps into a car which races the train and gets him back on the train again and he brakes it down. I mean, if that was so simple why did they not do it before? Just chase the train in a car and get on it.

But anyway, not to ask such questions after such a hectic chase and heroics. I enjoyed it all. Only wish they had a better ending. Watch it if you are in the mood for some total time pass action. Guaranteed time pass. Loved even those corny shots of people clapping for the two 'railroad employees' who are risking their lives to save this disaster and other such contrived scenes! (And I also just came to know that it was directed by Tony Scott who committed suicide recently. It was his last finished film. I loved Scott's 'Top Gun' immensely and for years (still do) get a high when I listen to Kenny Loggins 'Danger Zone' from that movie. We'll miss you Scott.)