Dhoni’s Daredevils Reign Supreme

It was a befitting finale for the inaugural ICC World Twenty20 when the traditional rivals India and Pakistan met at the New Wanderers, Johannesburg for a great cricket match of skill, temperament and nerves. No one could have asked for a better final than what we had witnessed on Monday. Two teams fought with courage, played with valor and above all showed great sport-man spirit throughout the match. It was a grand match with a rather bizarre but appropriate finish.

When the Indian captain won the toss and decided to bat on the batsman friendly pitch of the Wanderers all thought that it is a right decision, but the Pakistani bowlers had another intentions. India, though handicapped with the absence of Virender Sehwag due to an injury, was a formidable batting line up with the in-form Yuvraj Singh, flamboyant MS Dhoni, flashy Robin Uthappa and skillful Gautam Gambhir, not to mention the “new kid on the block” – Rohit Sharma. The induction of Yusuf Pathan in the opening slot was much of a surprise for all as everyone expected Dinesh Karthick to be the replacement of Sehwag. Yusuf Pathan was not able to make a big impression with the bat though he was able to play a big booming six and mighty four through square of the wicket in the first few overs. But it was the physically diminutive Gautam Gambhir who was at full flow. The southpaw timed his drives through extra-cover, cut the shot balls through the square, pulled away some half trackers and slogged a six through mid wicket in his wonderfully paced innings of 54 ball 75 which included 8 fours and 2 sixes. At the same time Yuvraj Singh and the “captain-courageous” MS Dhoni were not able to weave their magic in the game. The Pakistan bowlers kept the strangle hold on the Indian batsmen all through the innings and Umar Gul was particularly brilliant with his accurate bowling. It was because of the last minute attack by Rohit Sharma that India reached a respectable score of 157 for 5 in their allotted 20 overs.

At the outset, though the score 157 doesn’t look really appalling, it was a defendable total against Pakistan who, like Indians, are traditionally bad chasers under pressure. But to keep the batsmen under pressure India had to take wickets in regular intervals and they did exactly the same. RP Singh gave India a great start by taking the wicket of Mohd.Hafeez in the first over itself. But that over was followed by a rather undisciplined over by Sreesanth in which Imran Nazeer made 21 runs. Again RP Singh swung the pendulum back in India’s favor by getting rid of Kamran Akmal with a superbly bowled in swinger that beat the batsman both for swing and pace. But the real turning point of the match was the run out of Imran Nazeer by virtue of a throw from Robin Uthappa. From then on Pakistan lost wickets at regular intervals. There was an excellent bowling spell by Irfan Pathan that was really helped by some unruly batting by the Pakistani batsmen. Younis Khan, Shoaib Malik and Shahid Afridi all perished due to bad shot selection. But the audacious batting by Misbah ul-Haq gave some hope again for the Pakistan team and some worries to the Indian camp. His last minute blitzkrieg of shots was a real illustration of his guts, skill and determination. But his eagerness to finish off the match with a rather weird stroke resulted in his downfall together with the Pakistan’s aspirations of winning the championship. MS Dhoni’s boldness to give the last over to Joginder Sharma has to be appreciated and it is a real testimony to his daring captaincy. When Sreesanth pouched the skier from Misbah, it was all over and India had won the first Twenty20 championship.

This version of cricket is here to stay and one can’t deny but accept that this is a very enthralling form of cricket. Indians have a lot of positives to take from this tournament; may it be the gallant captaincy of MS Dhoni, the emergence of Yuvraj Singh as a key batsman, the great come back to Indian international cricket by Irfan Pathan, Harbhajan Singh and Virendar Sehwag, the coming of age of Gautam Gambhir and Robin Uthappa, the new find of Rohit Sharma or the manifestation of RP Singh as a strike bowler. The young Indian team, despite the absence of Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid, has played wonderfully well and lifted the Twenty20 cup when they were scarcely under any reckoning when the tournament started. The Indian team really deserves this trophy as they had defeated the World Champions Australia, the host South Africa, the very formidable England and of course the arch rivals Pakistan. The onus is now on this Indian team to take this momentum forward and keep the good work going into the coming series against Australia and well beyond. But till that series it is time for all Indians to salute this impeccable Indian team and celebrate this great victory. If it was the Kapil’s Devils in 1983, it is the Dhoni’s daredevils in 2007.

Hip Hip Hurray!!!!!

Deep in the Thoughts

With waning hopes I did stand,
Beside the green children of the earth,
The night with desolation closely knit,
Reminded me of that melancholy song.

The same song, that once I heard,
In my dubiety, or in my despair,
Which bade of desires, ruthlessly rude,
And of dreams, so treacherously wild.

Mundane things no longer allure me,
Neither the deceptive will-o-the-wisp,
And scarcely does a lass of charm,
Drives me onto great fascination.

Yet, when I would be in my grave,
No man or woman would ever weep,
Spring would bring them bountiful pleasure,
And autumn, some annoying remorse.

I Can't Help But Praise

I wandered like never,
For a forbearing ear to hear,
The praise, I always bore in mind,
For a modest lass of charm,
And her affection, half revealed,
And scarcely, half hidden,
In my inner self, a new lustre,
As if my words were never,
So truthful, never so honest,
And now, when I have found,
An ear, dwelling in Middle East,
My vocabulary, seems too lean,
I am strained, to ask them -
Those grey-haired wise men,
To lend me their words,
To convey to him, the boon he got,
And then to him, I could express,
The praise, I always bore in mind.

(This poem was written in 2004 as a gift to one of my sisters on her betrothal. She is now living with her family in Muscat.)

Shashi Tharoor – Indian Pluralism’s Greatest Advocate

When I was a very young man, for me, Shashi Tharoor was just another Under Secretary-General of the United Nations. But my father, who was a voracious reader, introduced me to a Shashi Tharoor who was a writer, a journalist and above all the greatest advocate of Indian Pluralism. My own conviction that pluralism is India's unique identity and its greatest asset as a nation makes me think in line with Mr.Tharoor. His intellectual opinion on pluralism are rather robust, informed and born out of his experience of growing up in the pluralist backyards of Kolkata, whereas my humble opinion on the same is naive, callow and rooted in my experience of working with a linguistically heterogeneous group of colleagues in Chennai.

Shashi Tharoor's awe-inspiring style of painting words together in a magical way to create an awesome picture leaves readers in a world of enlightened optimism. His staunch belief on the pluralist society of India is very well reflected in his statement that ‘the only singular thing about India is that you can only speak about it in the plural.’ Unlike many of the contemporary writers of modern India, Shashi Tharoor is quite sanguine in his outlook vis-à-vis future of India and this very same optimism is all the more evident in all his writings and profuse in all his speeches. He believes that this great nation doesn't impose any prohibition on its citizens where, ‘you can be many things and one thing - you can be a good Muslim, a good Keralite and a good Indian all at once.’ He goes on further saying that India offered the world a sight of its pluralism when a ‘Roman Catholic political leader (Sonia Gandhi) making way for a Sikh (Manmohan Singh) to be sworn in as Prime Minister of India by a Muslim (President Abdul Kalam) — in a country 82 per cent Hindu.’ This excellent analogy made by Mr.Tharoor has prompted me to have introspection on finding out the source of my conviction on Indian pluralism.

As I have explained in the former part of this article, my humble opinion on pluralism is a not a result of my upbringing, but is rather based on my professional and personal life experiences in the cosmopolitan locales of Chennai city. My colleagues Jagadeeswaran, Dilip and Abilash used to speak with each other, joke with each other and quarrel with each other in Tamil, which fascinatingly enough, was not their mother tongue. Their mother tongues are Kannada, Telugu and Malayalam respectively but are born and brought up in Chennai and hence know Tamil more than their mother tongues and love to engage themselves in the intricacies of that language. They scarcely reminisce the difference in their linguistic backgrounds and hardly believe those to be conspicuous. Hence pluralism in India has its roots in general human life and gains its nourishment from laymen's (or to be less sexist, laypeople's) ordinary demeanor.

Shashi Tharoor portrays Indian pluralism through simple but elegant examples and argues about its ubiquitousness in Indian society through citing the emergence of Irfan Pathan as a prominent player in the Indian cricket team. For Tharoor, the existence of Irfan Pathan itself is 'a testament to the indestructible pluralism of our country' for, he is a Muslim and that too a Pathan 'whose forebears belong to a slice of land that is no longer territorially part of India'. To quote Mr.Tharoor, Irfan Pathan exemplifies the fact that 'India is a country where it is possible for a 19-year-old from a beleaguered minority to ascend to the peak of the nation's sporting pantheon; and even more that he represents an idea, an immortal Indian idea, that our country is large enough and diverse enough to embrace everyone who chooses to belong to it, whatever be their caste, creed, color, costume or custom.'

Mr.Tharoor, though an international diplomat and has spent a good part of his life outside Kerala, is a very proud Keralite and boasts of it's multi religious-yet-plural society, it's social development, it's high literacy, it's women empowerment and it's secular credentials. Shashi Tharoor, in his articles and speeches emphasizes the 'openness and diversity of the Malayali heritage.' He has enormous faith in what he call as the 'Malayali Miracle', and that miracle is certainly the ability of the Kerala society to be open and tolerant towards many religions and castes, to be accommodative of various religious and ethnic set of people, and to be able to overcome caste discrimination and oppression through education, land reforms and political democracy. Kerala has always been the embodiment of social equality, educational development, peaceful co-existence and above all a safe haven for pluralism to flourish.

Shashi Tharoor’s inimitable style of writing with deft words and his peerless manner of speeches with RP (Received Pronunciation) accent will indeed make one wonder about the immense level of skill and tact this excellent international diplomat par excellence possess. But his inherent belief in Indian pluralism combined with his innate wisdom makes him one of the greatest intellectuals of our time and above all a great Indian and a true international citizen.

Ambivalence

Thousand miles to rove,
Or may be some more,
Benign designs, so benevolent,
Sprouting in my mind,
Thy soul, that misleading hope,
Brings no peace, but despondency.

Desires' very old demeanor,
Of sinking hearts to depths,
Have left no glee, but scorn,
For men's honest memories,
My zeal too, no exception,
Brings no peace, but despondency.

My solemn rhymes, quite young,
Those, I wrote in the gentleness,
Of my youth's pleasant innocence,
Now I, being decrepit and weak,
Weeps and reckons that my memoir,
Brings no peace, but despondency.

Setting Priorities on the 60th Birthday

Winston Churchill once opined - "India is merely a geographical expression. It is no more a single country than the Equator." After 60 years, since she has got independence from the clutches of her imperial rulers, India now stands at the threshold of a new era. Wrong Churchill was, and in these 60 years India has proved it beyond any doubt. But in this new world order, where Cold War is history and bipolar world, a thing of the past, opportunities are bountiful and so are challenges. The emergence of China and India as two economic powerhouses has changed the permutations and combinations of international affairs. Now we Indians are fighting with the Chinese for having the lion's share of this new Asian economic resurgence. At this point of time it will be worthwhile to consider some of the areas in which India could focus which would help it to become the super power it aspires to become in the future.

Poverty Eradication

In his Independence Day speech the Prime Minister proclaimed that the independence for India would not be complete until poverty is eradicated in the country. Statistics of the Planning Commission in India shows that 27.5% of the people in India are living below the poverty line in 2004-05, which was 36% during 1993-94. This remains a major challenge for the Indian Government. Some of the reasons for this relatively high level of poverty are over reliance on agriculture, absence of property rights, unemployment and under-employment, the caste systems etc. There should be increased public spending on poverty eradication methods, assistance should be given to self-help groups and NGOs working in the rural areas, industrialization should be given top priority, land reforms are to be undertaken and the employability of the people should be increased with adequate training and education. There is renewed optimism that poverty eradication will get an impetus with the trickle down effect of the growing middle class of India.

Infrastructure Development

Infrastructure is the basic building block of any development. Development of infrastructure in India leaves much to be desired. One of the most important factors that pull back India's giant leap forward is the lack of infrastructure development and in this aspect we are no comparison to the Chinese. There should be a concerted effort towards the improvement of infrastructure facilities in India, may it be the railways, roadways, aviation, telecommunication, oil and natural gas pipelines, shipping or power generation. There should be a conducive environment for an increased public-private partnership in this sector.

Education

India is the home of ancient organized education and its Gurukul form of education was well known all over the world. In the first few millennia, India had some of the greatest universities of all times - Nalanda, Thakshila, Ujjain etc. But the arrival of the British imperialism had destroyed the very base of Indian education. At this time when India is celebrating her 60th Independence Day, there is a dire need for improvement of this state of affairs. Education is surely the prime responsibility of the Government and as in the case of poverty eradication there should be increased public spending in the same as well, there should be a mechanism to ensure that education is available to the weaker sections of the society including women and the backward classes meanwhile caste based reservation should be abolished, education should not be the privilege of the few but its should be made available to all who needs it, media publicity and advocacy should be given for the publicity of education, job-oriented education and training should be established by the state, merit should be the only criteria for a student to get admission in the professional colleges, destructive and disruptive politics in the educational institutions should be abolished and art and literature learning should be made mandatory in all forms of education, as these studies forms the basis of creation of compassion and love in the hearts of a human being.

Investment and Employment Generation

Investment and hence employment generation should be a priority sector for the central and the state governments. Employment generation is the best way for eradicating poverty and investment by the state as well as from private parties should be established. A combination of investment in the agrarian sector as well as in industrial sector will be the best bet for India. At the same time there should be investment and employment generation in the tertiary sector as well. Indian companies are investing globally and are acquiring global firms and that is certainly a good sign and it shows the strength and competency of the India Inc. The economics of investment in infrastructure by the government and its subsequent effect in employment generation will augur well for the economic development of the country.

Energy Security

India's energy needs are increasing in a very fast pace owing to its increasing population and staggering economic development. India is having strong reserves of coal but depends on import of oil and natural gas from other countries. Ever increasing crude oil prices in the global market is therefore a huge challenge for India's energy security. India's oil reserves are mainly based on offshore Bombay and onshore Assam fields and those reserves are not all adequate for meeting India's needs. Therefore there should be efforts towards managing this situation by looking for renewable sources of energy. The Iran-Pakistan-India pipeline will be a great achievement if the respective Governments are able to break the deadlock. India's new endeavor towards nuclear co-operation with the United States is certainly a good move towards realizing energy security.

Health care Sector

One sector that needs much greater attention is the healthcare sector in India that is at a declining stage right now. There should be improved care and development in areas like child and mother care, rural health services, medical education, medical tourism, AIDS awareness and family welfare programs. An improvement in these areas is a very important factor in determining the actual development of a country. Medical education is a very important sector in the domestic as well as in the international arena, the job opportunities that this sector provides is enormous and there should be efficient education and training programs to exploit this opportunity. Medical tourism is another important area where we have the competency and resources and the government should take effective steps to utilize this opportunity as well.

Monetary Policies

Recently released official figures shows that India's foreign exchange reserves has reached $213.35 billion as on 30th June and the country's reserve position in the IMF is $460 million. This is a very favorable position and hence it calls for a very positive utilization of these reserves for public spending in infrastructure development that in turn will result in higher economic development. But high inflation, which stands at 4.41% in July, is a worrying factor for the government. This high rate of inflation is primarily because of the high prices of the food items, but with the good monsoon that India got recently this high inflation will get reduced in the months to come. The high volatility of the monetary ratios makes the indulgence of the RBI a very important factor in maintaining economic growth and development.

Corruption

Corruption is a universal malady and India is no exception. One of the sad facts about corruption in India is that it’s not a unique phenomenon seen only among politicians but it can be seen in all walks of life. We, in India have corrupt politicians, bureaucrats, judges, professors, doctors and NGO activists. Corruption is an indelible stigma of our nation that has to be jettisoned as soon as possible.

Terrorism and Chauvinism

Terrorism and chauvinism are two vices that India would want to remove with utmost urgency. Terrorism poses a threat to the whole world and India is one among the nations that are hot targets of terrorists of different hues. May it be the al-Qaeda, LTTE, or any other terrorist organization, all have their malicious eyes on India and wants to sabotage the peace and tranquility of this great nation. We have to prevent them with iron hands and our armed forces are ready to tackle any challenge from the terrorists.. Chauvinism is yet another problem that modern India is facing. In a democratic country like India there is no place for any sort of chauvinism. We, the people of India will prevent chauvinism that poses any threat to the democratic fabric of the nation. Our strength lies in our Unity in Diversity and we have always maintained our unique identity in this world because of the same and hence we have to together thwart any sinister designs of people with chauvinist attitude.

Sports

Another important area that the Indian Government has to focus on is sports and games arena. As of now cricket is the only game in which we are standing in good stead. There was a time when there was no equal to the Indian hockey team. But the situation has worsened over the years. Now sports sector in India is in utter disarray and calls for an immediate action from the Government. Being the host of Olympics is a distant dream and doesn't seems to be happening in the near future. In comparison, China is hosting the 2008 Olympics and the arrangements for it is going on in full swing and Beijing is getting ready for welcoming the World. The Government will have to establish world class facilities for grooming young sporting talents in the country, separate programs for finding out these talents should be done in state level and district level, sports organization should find ways to promote different sports among the youth, scholarship should be given to budding talents for sharpening their skills and Government spending on sports facilities development should be enhanced.

In this occasion of India's 60th Independence day, all of us can set our priorities for the future. The setting of priorities is important not only for the Government but for every single one of us, for we are a diverse group of people with one unique identity and the combined effort of this diverse group results in the national development in the macro level. As Shashi Tharoor has put it, the singular thing about India is that you can only speak of it in the plural. This pluralism is our unique identity, we have different caste, creed, color, cuisine, culture and language, but one soul - of an Indian.

How much privileged is I !!!!

Blue skies of yore,
In my remembrances,
Still, thick and alive,
Like my nursery rhymes.
Friends, acquaintances,
And scores of affable kin,
Came in opulence -
Left in hasty hurry,
My life, it traversed,
Through tepid experiences,
And along knavish paths,
Thwarting sinister walls;
Misery,penury,desolation,
Dismay,distress and catastrophe,
May befall on me,
In the mysterious morrow,
Name and life of exaltation,
I may get or I mayn't,
Of fate and fortune,
Ceased I, to worry,
Glimpse of insane people,
And men in pairs of crutches,
Makes me think in bewilderment -
How much privileged is I !!!!!

Cricketing Thoughts of Life

At a time when I should be actually looking to go down the track and attack the pace bowlers and spinners with same disdain – looking for a real take-off in my career - I am now forced into looking only for survival against this swinging red cherry in these overcast conditions – as my time is not favorable. But the state of affairs is very different for my other batting partners and my team mates. They are taking advantage of their good form and are making tons and double tons. I am on the defensive owing to my poor form and my opposition knows that a bit too well and hence their captain is using all his available strategies against me; for him this is an opportunity to test the efficiency of all his resources. Even part time bowlers are being used against me, they are swinging the ball both ways, changing the pace of the ball, bouncing me, yorking me, bowling half-volleys just outside my off-stump trying to induce a wrong shot from me and to top it all sledging me – problems in my life are just burgeoning.

My condition is such that I have to restrict my shots only to the on-side and have to leave alone balls coming outside my off stump, on that corridor of uncertainty – I can’t go outside my native place - since of late, I’ve been getting out by edging balls pitched outside my off stump to the wicket-keeper or to the slip cordon and that means any invitation by the bowlers outside the off stump has to be neglected. Balls outside the off stump are left alone, bouncers are negotiated by swaying away or ducking under, yorkers are dug out, and slow balls are defended smoothly. So this is my “restricted shot making strategy” – any balls on the pads are to be played away for runs and anything on the off side has to be left alone.

A very difficult scenario this is, but at this occasion I am made to recall the innings played by Sachin Tendulkar at the SCG on 2004, he played almost in the same way, because in that series he was not at all in good form and was edging balls to the wicket-keeper and to the slip cordon. And in that final test he was determined to play a long innings, he offered no shot to the balls that came outside his off stump, and played at only those that were on his pads. And of course, he made a double hundred there - a great innings of resolve, will power, grit and restricted shot play. This is exactly the sort of innings I should be playing at this time for, my form is poor, and the playing conditions are hostile.

But surely these conditions will change shortly; my good form will come back making me again a very proficient player all around the ground – there would be a steep rise in my professional life. Then there won’t be any restrictions on my shot making, balls coming outside my off stump will be played according to its merit, shot balls will be hooked and pulled away, slow balls will be picked up early and will be hit outside the park, will use the pace of the fast bowlers to send the ball screaming across the boundary line for fours and sixes, spin bowlers will be dispatched across the ropes by dancing down the track and the opposition will be made to do the leather chasing. But till that time comes, I would be strictly following my “on-side strategy”, as this life is a like a five day test match played on the bouncier tracks of the WACA, each day will test your character, your persistence, your concentration, your guts, your skill to learn from mistakes and also your problem solving technique.

United States' Imperialistic Ambitions

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines Imperialism as “the policy, practice, or advocacy of extending the power and dominion of a nation especially by direct territorial acquisitions or by gaining indirect control over the political or economic life of other areas”. We, the inhabitants of the sub-continent are not at all oblivious of what imperialism means and its impact on the lives of the subjugate people. The British ruled India for about a century and established their imperial rule over the princely states in India. Since that time, much water has flown under the bridge and the world, as a whole, has changed. British imperialism is a thing of the past, but a new world order has emerged, where the United States and their allies are the Imperial masters and their neo-imperialist ideas and endeavors are engulfing this new world.

At some point of time in the history, the United States itself was a subject of imperialist subjugation. But there has been stupendous economic development in the United States since its independence on July 1776. The economic supremacy of the United States resulted in it being the greatest super power in the world. With the economic domination came imperialistic ambition also for the successive governments in the US. What we had seen in the Latin American countries, the Caribbean and now in West Asia and the Middle East are the same aspirations of the United States in different hues. One of the latest instances of American imperialist ambition in its full form can be very well seen in its ludicrous attempt of savaging Iraq using military force and overthrowing of the ruler of Iraq- Saddam Hussein. Political observers see this effort of the United States as a malevolent attempt to secure a dependent client state military base at the heart of energy producing region of the world.

No ambivalence should prevail on the fact that the military exercise of the United States in overthrowing the government in Iraq has to be ridiculed with greatest contempt. But I don’t intend to acquiesce to the authoritarian rule of Saddam Hussein in Iraq and his dictatorial methods of governance either, but I am simply questioning the moral and legal authority the United States proclaims to have in initializing a military assault. The pretexts on which the United States started this war have all been found baseless and unsubstantiated – there are neither Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) in Iraq and nor are there any evidence of Saddam Hussein having malicious connections with Osama-bin-Laden and his al-Qaeda. One of the most important contradictions of the United States’ hostility towards Saddam Hussein lies on the historical fact that the US was covertly supporting Saddam in his war against Iran before the Kuwait war. Saddam Hussein himself is no pious soul; one would find it absolutely difficult to forget the gruesome act of genocide perpetrated by him against the Kurds using the poisonous gas during 1988, which being one of the many dastardly acts he had committed against humanity.

Possibility of the existence of WMD with Iraq, an excuse with which George W Bush got the congressional approval to resort to war against Iraq, turned out to be absurd and so preposterous was his claim that Saddam is having connections with al-Qaeda. When the former turned out to be a big farce, the latter resulted only in increasing recruitment done by al-Qaeda from Iraq and the subsequent threat coming out of it. But if one would think that the United States got defeated in realizing its imperialist ambitions by committing these mistakes, it would be bizarre. With the war in Iraq and with the military ambush in the Afghanistan, the United States became successful in establishing military bases in both these countries. With the US having control over Iraq, the world's second largest known oil reserves, it has significantly enhanced its strategic power and influence over its major rivals and hence has satisfied its imperialistic ambitions to some extend vis-à-vis the Middle East.

Now the United States has two more countries to conquer in their ‘axis of evil’ group – Iran and North Korea. But the US will only tread safely on these two countries as they are having nuclear capabilities in their armory and that, as Noam Chomsky would put it, is a very dangerous lesson that the world is learning. The new lesson will read like this – ‘if you as a country want to shield yourself from the clutches of American Imperialist outrages, you had better imitate North Korea or Iran and pose a plausible threat to the US.

The Touch of Perplexity

In a sleepless night of March,
I was looking into the dark,
Blunt hopes and aspirations of my past,
Had burnt my self into thin ashes.

An uncanny lake of desire and reverie,
And a land of mighty storm,
I saw a glimpse of benevolent souls,
In the quietude of that graveyard.

The dark cloud of greed and pride,
And prejudices of mourning minds,
Everything looks so dead and still,
The haze of hatred makes it vague.

Upon all these malignant thoughts,
A heart with truth strives to live,
In this huge, bellicose world,
Staunch men are often ignored.