Thank You Sachin!

Cricket lover or not, one thing that no Indian can ignore right now is the upcoming retirement of Sachin Tendulkar. Newspapers, blogs, on line articles, special shows, even an otherwise dead Ranji game came alive, felicitation ceremonies… everything possible is being done in the run up to his retirement and everybody seems to want a piece of him.

I’m not going to write much about him as already tons of things are being written all over and I won’t be able to add anything new that the crazy Sachin fans don’t know. All I want to express is a big thank you from an entire generation who grew up watching you play and for whom cricket began and ended with your presence on the crease. A big thank you for all the joys that you gave us while tearing apart oppositions and giving India those memorable wins.

As you take a stand for one final time, hope you recreate the magic of years gone by. You’ll be truly missed. 

The Wave

As the nation gets into the wave of elections in 2014 and everyone has a view on NaMo vs RaGa… every drawing room to every social media wall seems to be discussing them. Not be left behind here are my 2 cents on what I feel about them.

While NaMo seems to be riding the wave with his strong record as an administrator and the ruling party helping him all along with total inaction in every aspect of governance, the script seems to be perfect for him. The only obstacle in his way being that of the supposed blood on his hands. Going by that argument the first person to be removed from power should be the most powerful man on earth. No government has more blood (mostly innocent if I may say so) on their hands. By no means am I proclaiming that NaMo is a saint but given the circumstances and the options he does seem like one.

Circle back to the political capital and the only claim to fame that RaGa has his second name. He can outdo Bush when it comes to having an outlook and public speaking. He and only he knows what he’s talking about and I guess he does that in the interest of national security. With him being in power, there’s every possibility that he might outdo a lot of others in “having blood on his hands” as the already sad state of affairs could worsen, more people driven to destitution and suicides.

I’m no political pundit and my arguments might be very simple, but I also feel that these are extraordinary times and some inspiration can pull up a nation fast becoming very skeptical… and NaMo far outdoes RaGa on that front.

Just a Thought: Twenty Four

The day returns at it's ambiguous best,
Embrace it
Get creative
Or slide away into the allays of certainity

Little Joys

This morning
As i stepped into the balcony
And felt the fresh cool breeze on my face
I closed my eyes... felt the moment... smiled

Perception

Perception is greater than reality and how true is that. Day in and day out perceptions are being created.. be it about the youth of today or a young leader who will change the world or a supposed super star who keeps dishing out box office hits out of mediocre movies.

It’s all about the perception and as someone very wisely said – if a wrong perception is being created, then correct it as that is only what matters.. truth can keep playing the catching up game. Which path to stick is a tricky one. Guess most of us would be in the middle path.. juggling between truth and perception.

In the end I think what matters is the peace of mind.. whichever way one gets it, because after all “the race is with yourself”. Who cares what others think.

Back to the Basics

How many times we end up from where we started, the first instinctive thought is the thought we come back to after all the analysis and so on and so forth. Similarly there are these new trends that one keeps hearing about – disconnect, de-globalization, insourcing etc.

Various technologies and engineering skills were used to make our lives easier, simpler and faster. The world became a global village and being connected an absolute necessity, to the extent that we became over-connected. And now we need to disconnect in order to reclaim some of the peace that these very technologies were supposed to give us.

Similarly in the corporate world, concepts like Globalization and outsourcing were created. However, from de-globalization to "insourcing", the reversal of trends seems to be the buzz. It began with Obama talking about bringing the jobs back to America to help him become the most powerful man in the world, but now the corporates are helping him achieve that by shifting productions facilities back home. Right from GE to Lenovo to Apple, the leadership believes that outsourcing could be an outdated strategy.

While the world figures out where they are headed, I think I know where I need to go – to the nearest spa.

Just a Thought: Twenty Three

The particles flow around

Basking in their individuality

Until droplets unite them

Into a world of undesirability

Island Beauty

I recently travelled to Bali for a week and was quite impressed by the island. The impressive thing about Bali was that the administration knows that it’s a tourist hub and they’ve worked wonderfully around that. Some of the things that impressed me were:

Beauty

Bali is a beautiful island with lots of greenery, mountains and beaches. What adds to the natural beauty is the human touch. The Balinese seem to have a good aesthetic sense and the architecture (of resorts, hotels, villas, malls etc.) was quite impressive. The streets were clean and the important squares had statues from traditional Hindu scriptures.

Hospitality

You can’t go wrong in hospitality if you want to be a successful tourist destination and the Balinese understand that very well. We were greeted with warm smiles wherever we went and people in general were cordial. What impressed me quite a lot is that the restaurants/ resort/ hotel called for radio taxi for you if you requested them to. (wonder if that will ever happen in India)  

Food

Simply put, it’s a delight to be a non-vegetarian and to visit Bali. The vegetarians have limited options so that could be a little bit of a struggle.  

Security

The place gave a feeling of being secure and one could see police patrolling busy areas. There were security guards at all hotels/ villas/ malls who would even check if you left anything behind in the cab.

Cab Service

The radio taxi service was quite brilliant in Bali. The cabs availability was pretty good and would arrive within 5-10 minutes of calling. The cab drivers were cordial and would help you check if you left anything in the cab before leaving.

All in all it was a memorable experience and I would recommend everyone to atleast make one visit to Bali  

Nakedness

As humans evolved a certain mask came along with it. Not only did they put clothes on themselves, they put a cover on the basics of being human. Along the evolved functioning of the brain, primarily driven by survival instincts came the complexities of society and peaceful living. The survival instincts being pre dominant one needed to outdo the other within the norms of societal rules (and obviously the others exist who care a dam). The cloak was the solution to the evolving human brain. A cloak for everything. Words, expressions, clothes, makeup, societies, clubs.. you name it they built it.

The cloak has been getting thicker ever since and is at it’s concealing best now a days. However, what we tend to forget is that beneath all the cloaks is basically a human being whom we should be able to appreciate. Sometimes I feel if the nakedness could still exist and one could appreciate each other for what they are stripping them of all the cloaks that have been put on, life would begin to be much simpler.    

Just a Thought: Twenty Two

Nostalgia:
Whether it brings a smile or wipes it
Is a matter of relations you've built over the years

Intolerance

Intolerance has been the highlight of the week gone by. Whether it be for artistic freedom or shown by the state by hanging Afzal Guru (as a large section of the society claims it to be). In a democracy where freedom of speech and expression is a basic right, I think our nation is faring pretty poorly.


The administration is very swift, alert and efficient to arrest and lock up citizens who simply express their views (without threatening any individual) on the various social networking platforms, however completely fail to protect talented artists from hooliganism (art exhibition attacked in Kolkatta) , fatwas and social boycott threats (Kashmir’s all girls band).

What’s even more interesting is the hypocritical nature of all these elements who believe that they are the last living saviors of the Indian cultural fabric. They are the epitome of intolerance when it comes to people having a different view point than them but expect the world to turn a blind eye and show tolerance when someone from their region or community has been punished for an act which took the lives of 9 people and had the potential of far greater damage.

I feel it’s important that different sections of society have different points of view and have a right to express and protest. However, the moment it starts infringing on the right of the other person and interfering with the law of the land, we should step back and check where are we headed and do we really want to be so intolerant?

The Human Spirit

An unfortunate and ghastly incident on the night of 16th December has stirred up the entire nation and the angry citizens are out on the roads demanding better social security. More than enough has been said, written, debated since then about what should be done to prevent such incidents from recurring. I don’t want to add to that save that maybe the change begins from us. Rather than looking for the solution from the state, we as citizens should look at ourselves and be less barbaric.


The point that I want to talk about is that somewhere down the line the human spirit in all of us is dying. Incidents like these fortify the thoughts that have been fed in us since childhood about not talking to/trusting strangers and helping someone who might genuinely need help. I don’t blame anyone for having such thoughts as everyone wants to be safe and who knows what resides inside that “normal” looking frame.

So if you see a woman on a chilly winter morning figuring out a way to reach office, would you stop by or drive on or a 50 year old on a windy evening waiting for some sort of transportation to get home. Will you stop or will you think twice. Most of us would drive on because of the aforesaid reasons but just think that those people could genuinely need help. What if your father/ sister/ mother were in a similar situation and a stranger helped them. Wouldn’t you bless them for doing so.

In between all the protests, anger, debates etc. I think we should just step back a bit and not let the human spirit die. I think that’s the biggest need of the hour.