Rahul Dravid: Swan song for a workhorse

Rahul Dravid has two kinds of fans. The ones that think he’s cute and intense (mostly women) and the other who think he’s sturdy and reliable (old school cricket fans). And it is this vast list of devoted followers that explain the off field career of an Indian batsman known as The Great Wall of India.

There are precious few young followers of the game who revere Dravid. They respect him, they may even like him (there’s very little to dislike about him), but are they likely to sit in the sun for three hours to watch him score a hundred? I sincerely doubt it. For he is not swashbuckling, he’s not grand, he’s not glam. But he’s one of the batting greats of world cricket today and mark my words, will go down as one of the greats of all time.

He will also be known as the player who never got his due.

One who sacrificed entertainment at the alter of team spirit. The one man, in a band of seemingly selfish individuals, who cared for team records over his own. He pleases the eye, but will he make your heart rate fluctuate like the Sensex on election result day? Not likely.

Will Dravid be hopping

on the bus for the World

Cup in 2011? I doubt it.

He’s correct. In technique, in choosing the right shot, in choosing the right words. And that’s where lies the problem. The problem is his near perfection. The youth of India are not fans of perfection. Our poster boys are slightly bad, they’re a tad controversial, and they’re in trouble now and then. For picking the wrong ball to hit, the wrong girl to date, and the wrong words to speak to when the Australians are up their backs.

Even a Sachin is prone to fiddling outside the off stump early in the innings. Ask any bowler and he will tell you that all the greats will give you a half chance early in their innings, except Dravid. From the time he puts on that helmet, you know that you will have to sweat and toil for his wicket. You will have to outthink him, con him, get him with an inspirational burst of sheer genius. He will not just hand it to you. He’s not tempted by the glory of a few quick boundaries, or the dance down the wicket for the big six. He’s patient, and he wants the team to win, whether he needs to get a dozen or a ton.

And in a culture of instant consumption, one that India has seemed to embrace whole heartedly, this rates as boring. Hence you don’t find him selling too many things on your idiot box, because advertising in our country is targeted toward the youth. He’s sold the odd cola, but in a crowd. He’s also sold car batteries and multiplugs (or was it trip switches) a product list as appealing as Barbara Streisand in hot pants straddling a wooden buck horse.

Rahul Dravid was hit by a bouncer during a Test match between Bangladesh and India in Dhaka on January 25, 2010. Rahul Dravid was 111 not out but retired hurt after being struck and has just undergone jaw surgery.

And lets not even start on the way our very own board has treated him. They made him captain when no one wanted the job. They made him wicketkeeper when they couldn’t nurture all-rounders. They picked him for the one dayers last summer, and dropped him after an impressive series. Only because they wanted to groom a team for tomorrow.

But does all that bring him down? Answer yet again, my friends, is no. In fact this appears, oddly enough, to motivate him even more, to perform better.

Let’s go back in time.

He was dropped from the ODI team early in his career, but he clawed his way back in. Then rather unceremoniously he was dropped again. Agreed he had a bad inaugural Indian Premier League but so did a lot of others. Afridi, Gibbs, Kallis, Ganguly, Ponting. It was no surprise that he was dropped as captain for IPL 2, and what did he do? He showed from the first game that he wasn’t a pipe smoking old timer in the T20s. His man of the match performance against the defending champions showed that he wasn’t rocking chair material, instead was rock star material! Just sans the ‘image’.

The only people who seemed to have realized his true legend status have been the good folk at that razor blade making company. By making him stand next to Tiger Woods, Thierry Henry and Roger Federer they have in one mach stroke confirmed that he’s not just one of the greatest batsman India has produced, but one of the true greats of the game. Ok, maybe Henry’s a bit of a stretch, but Dravid isn’t.

Former captain of India Saurav Ganguly will vouch for the team player that Rahul is. India’s most ‘successful captain’ couldn’t have done it without his ‘Wall’. Of the 49 tests Sourav lead in, Dravid played in all, scoring almost 5,000 runs at an average of over 73. In the same period Sachin was averaging the early 60s and Laxman and Sehwag in the early 40s. Factor in that Ganguly himself averaged fewer than 40 per match and its clear to see who was the biggest contributor in one of the most successful phases of Indian test cricket in recent memory.

The sad thing is that we will be seeing even less and less of Rahul Dravid in 2010. He’ll have his few games in the IPL. But besides that we have the opportunity to see him in two current tests matches versus Bangladesh. And then we wont see him put on his India hat another test for another six months.

Will he be hopping the bus for the World Cup in 2011? I doubt it.

Last week Rahul Dravid fractured his jaw playing for his team, and in a boring old test against Bangladesh. He was batting at 111. A Nelson. If that's not bad luck I don't know what is.

Call this my premptive farewell piece to one of my favorite batsmen of all time.

Rahul Dravid may not have been a treat on the eyes like a Hayden or a Gilly. But one look at him walking to the centre was enough to warm the toggles. You knew that the country was in safe hands.

Read more: Rahul Dravid: Swan song for a workhorse | CNNGo.com http://www.cnngo.com/mumbai/play/rahul-dravid-502746#ixzz0ibhSvQ3n

My Last Few Days in TechM...

"1-April-08 "
Believe Me... !! It was not the typical "April-Fool-Day" to me.
I had a tough decision to make. A really tough one !!!
A decision, to bid adieu to my 2 year association with the organisation.
I was moving-on to a new job, a job, which promised me with better career prospects.
The closeness I had developed with the organisation over the years and more so with my "friends" was on the likes of a closely-knit family. I would like to call them "friends" rather than just calling them fellow-colleagues. I find the former more appealing and close-to-heart. Me being part of "Josh" helped me to get quite a lot of acquaintances and some really good "friends" here !

My best days in Tech M were the "Josh-days". Those extra hours after work I put-in along with my Josh-mates to organise number of events, the annual days, the adventure-outings, the cultural activities etc etc etc.These were the most memorable and exciting days for me in TechM. Now, it would mean missing all of them. Bidding them good-bye was a tough job !!!

"08-04-08"
The D-Day had come. I received an e-mail saying that this would be my LWD in the organisation(Last Working Day). I decided to intimate the same to all my fellow-colleagues and "friends" in particular personally. Everybody were surprised with my decision. So was I.
Not with my decision but with my LWD. I know it had to come. But hadn't expected it to be so early !

All sorts of mails started pouring in. Right from "Miss-you", "all-the-best" to "How-can-you-do-it-?", "where-are-you-going-?" kind of mails. I got quite a few mails from my josh-mates saying how i had inspired them in joining Josh and stuff like that. My heart was heavy. Heavy with too many emotions to answer any of them.

As I was rushing around to get all the necessary exit-formalities pending, cleared, i could see a lot of hush-hush going around in the dept regarding my decision. But there was one particular incident which really made my day amidst all this high-tension drama. There was this one senior person in my Dept, a very soft-spoken one, who seldom used to talk with people. I too had, just a few handful of interactions with him, over my course of 2+ years stay in TechM.

Like most of the others, he too was "shocked" (as told by him) when he learnt about my decision. Over the years, he had silently observed all my doings in TechM, especially the ones that was through "Josh". He congratulated me for all that. He went on to say that i had an "enthusiasm that was infectious ! ". "The floor will go dry and will fall short of Josh henceforth", "Ab Josh may Hosh Nahi Hoga !". It was his sincere comment. I was speechless ! I was too emotional to say anything. I was still standing there in front of him, speechless, trying to compose myself ! I could sense my eyes getting filled up to the brim. With great humility, i begged his pardon and rushed away from his place, before a few drops of tears could roll down my cheeks...!

His words meant a lot to me. May be that was the best compliment i got.

At the end of the day, amidst the pain of separation, somewhere at the bottom of my heart i felt happy. Happy because, during my stay in the organisation, i realised that--
"I-Had-Made-A-Difference !!!"

The World Under Their Feet...

India ended a 24-year wait for a World Cup triumph by capturing the inaugural Twenty20 title after a final against Pakistan befitting their intense rivalry.

It just couldn't have been better than this. India pulled off a nail-biting thriller with just five-runs. The dream final between the tense political neighbours, was the perfect advertisement, for cricket's shortest and latest version, with twists and turns which even Hitchcock wouldn't have imagined...!

The victory achieved by Mahendra Singh Dhoni's men at the Wanderers in Johannesburg drew parallels with the 1983 victory, when an equally unsung India provided joy to millions of passionate fans with their upset final win over the mighty West Indies at Lord's.

The young team's successful eased the pain of their humiliating loss to Australia at the same venue in the 50-over World Cup final four years ago.

Just six months before,their dismal first-round exits from the Caribbean World Cup had left their fans fuming. Reaching the final was a happy turnaround for both these two talented but inconsistent teams.

Dhoni has won praise for his inspired leadership of a young side after batting stalwarts Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Saurav Ganguly opted out.

All said and done, this win will defnitely be cherished for decades to come...!

CHAK DE INDIA ...!

The Final Fateful Scoop - Misbah-ul-Haq scoops Joginder Sharma off what was the final ball of the match.

The winning moment - Misbah-ul-Haq rues his luck as the Indians celebrate

The Celebration - India celebrate victory at the end of the ICC World Twenty20 final

The Cheer Leader-Shah Rukh Khan makes an appearance to cheer the Indian team

The Winning Lap

What more can i say..?

The moment of glory...

Cheers...!

" Three Cheers to the Men-In-Blue "

Watch the Video of the last over and the "moment-of-glory" --

Yuvraj's Hall-of-Fame

Watch Yuvi hit six 6's in a row to Chris Broad...

60 yrs of Purna swaraj

60 yrs of unperturbed development, 60 yrs of uncurbed progress,60 yrs of constant growth.....

We have definitely been succesful in converting our country from the land of Maharajas and snake charmers to the land of the so called "services boom", rising GDP figures, MNC's,engineers and doctors.....

Thomas Friedman has said in his book "The world is flat",that if he could visualise the entire world as his neighbourhood, he would perceive India as being a land of engineering and medical colleges who constantly wander into their neighbour USA's territory ,who in turn are host to a number of law colleges..

But is this the only face of India???? Sure ,we are steadily progressing towards Dr A.P.J Kalam's dream of being a developed nation by 2020, but what are we leaving behind?

With a growth rate of 9%, and with our service and manufacturing sectors firing all cylinders, Indian technocrats are earning a name since the y2k episode. Add to that the rising middle class ....but there is more to our country than the above stated facts.

There is still a large population dying of starvation, we are still grappling with infrastructure issues and still fighting the demons of illiteracy.

It is essential that we make the two Indias meet in order to sustain our growth as a poised nation.

Jai Hind....!

Happy Birthday India....!

Hues of Freedom

Recieved this thru e-mail....

Aug. 15, 1947: Mountbatten swears Nehru in as Prime Minister of India

TRAIN TO PAKISTAN; India 1947. Trains packed with refugees - Hindus and Sikhs headed for India, and Muslims headed for Pakistan - were convenient targets for gangs of killers on both sides of the border. Inadequately protected 'Refugee Specials' were typically stopped, and the occupants butchered, several times in the course of the journey.

The dead - Punjab, 1947

1971: Indira Gandhi reviews the troops, in the context of militaryand diplomatic preparations for the Bangladesh War.

Ghandhiji Addressing people

Nehru and Gandhi at AICC meeting, July 1946



Mountbatten arrives at Delhi airport; received by Nehru and Liaquat Ali. March 25, 1947

1948: The news of Gandhi's assassination hits the streets. A stunned crowd gathers in Calcutta.

1948: Crowds in New Delhi wait for a glimpse of Gandhi's funeral procession.

A Library being divided at the time of partition.

Heart trembles to see this sight and it is tough to imagine the state of the nation at the moment when people needed to hold hands. Should we call this as the Cost of Freedom...?

Yuva Kala Prathibhotsava - 2007

Namaste,

We from "Sri Vidya Kala Kendra" are pleased to organise a Youth Festival named

- " Yuva Kala Prathibhotsava "

This 8-day cultural extravaganza, from Aug 5th-12th, aims to showcase different forms of art each day, namely Music (vocal & instrumental), Dance, Drama, Yakshagana and so on.

The performance on each day is by young talented artists between the age group of 10 -25.

A lecture demonstration by a pioneer representing that particular art form would follow everyday after the performance by the youngsters.

The final day has a special interactive session led by Hiremagalur Kannan along with experts from different art forms. The fest culminates with the Presidential Address & Award presentation to Ganakala Bhushana Vid. R.K.Padmanabha.

You are cordially invited for this festival.

Venue:

Sri Vidya Kala Kendra

CA-15, 27th cross, 14th Main

Banashankari 2nd Stage

Opp to BNM School

Beside Banashankari Police Station

Bangalore -70

~ALL ARE WELCOME~

An outing in Gabbar's den

It’s amazing how a few words of Josh and a hand of help from friends can inspire us to attempt what looks like unfathomable at first glance. That’s exactly what happened last Saturday. A bunch 25 Joshileys, sacrificing their early morning weekend nap, joined hands to create an experience that will remain fresh in the memory for a long long time.

The challenge was to conquer the mighty, teasing rocks of Ramnagaram (Gabbar's Own Den) and by the twilight the Joshileys had accomplished the mission with a master’s perfection.

We started out with Rappling, where we climbed down, keeping ourselves perpendicular to an almost vertical 120 feet rock, with only a rope tied around their waist and words of encouragement from the peers ringing in our ears.

Then we moved on to Boulder climbing, where we climbed up a steep slope. We crawled up the slope, along a narrow crack, balancing our body with virtually no tool available !

The next event was obstacle climbing where we transformed our bodies into a sky-rail moving between the two ends of a cable stretched many feet over the ground.

This was followed by a trekking to the place where once Gabbar ruled and Basanti danced.

As the day came to an end and the sun set behind the Ramnagaram slopes, a bright sparkling sun shined on the face of each Joshiley. And even though our bodies were aching, our hearts and soul were rejuvenated.

It’s in situations like this that we learn to challenge our limits. We learn not to be intimidated by the size of the obstacle and allow ourselves to be guided by faith rather than fear. It’s in situations like this that we make new friends. And it’s in situation like this that the words,- “A hero is no braver than an ordinary man but he is just a few minutes longer” come true.

A great event of josh and fun. Big applause to my Josh team and members of Ecotrailz club for such a wonderful experience.

“IF YOU ARE NOT LIVING ON THE EDGE, YOU ARE TAKING TOO MUCH SPACE”

Trek to Kodachadri...

With the appraisals turning out to be fair, we decided to celebrate it on top of Kodachadri. Soon enough, some research about the place-route-distance etc etc was found out. The team size was big enough (22) . With some rookies on board, it was tough time for me to handle their sometime absurd queries.

The Team-

Kodachadri is a mountain peak (altitude - 1343 m above sea level) in the Western Ghats in South India (Karnataka). The name is a corruption of the Sanskrit word "Kutakachalam". Kodachadri forms a pictu

resque background to the famous temple of Mookambika in Kollur. Situated in the middle of the Mookambika National Park, it is home to several endangered species of flora and fauna. The rain forests loom in a perpetual layer of mist around the peak.

This peak is where 'Shankaracharya' did meditation. You will find a 'Sarvajna Peetha' of Sri Shankaracharya at the top. Adi-Mookambika temple at Kodachadri village is believed to be the 'moola sthana' (the origin) of 'Sri Mookambika Devi'.

How we reached there...
We had booked a mini-bus & took Bangalore-Shimoga-Hosanagar-Kollur route.
Kollur is around 470 kms from Bangalore.

My First Appraisal

For any salaried employee, especially of an IT firm, the completion of the first appraisal is one of the most important career landmarks. There are some events that trigger reactions bigger than the event itself. This was one of those, very special, yet tense..!

Speculation was rife that the appraisal process would reach its logical conclusion today. The annual ritual of distribution of increment letters was going to be held today. The day was brimming with possibility. The rumour mongers had a fabulous day-out,- a day to fill their hearts to content. Every now and then their where some numbers out in the air regarding the hike percentage. Hope bloomed in a thousand hearts. And with it, the dreams of a better tomorrow.

Nevertheless, the tension in the air was obvious. Groups of otherwise serious-looking men and women gathered around corners, holding on to their coffee mugs, chatting animatedly, while some preferred to maintain a grim face. People seemed lost in serious thoughts.

Never before had I seen the pantry and corridors so occupied at 11AM. This was usually the time people buried themselves in their world of endless emails and conf-calls. Groups of people, looking back at the events of the year gone by, some regretting a few wrongs, hoping they'd be "glossed" over this time. Others, peacefully content at the work they'd put in so far, self-assured that their efforts would be rewarded. An office that was usually a picture of mind-numbing calm had amazingly transformed itself to a place buzzing with chatter.

For anyone who remembers his/her das at college, it was one of those-

"Aaj-3-baje-result-lagne-waala-hai" type day.

There were some of them like me, going through this process for the first time, wondering what the brouhaha was all about.

"Software companies to pay out greater hikes than ever before"

"The war for talent drives IT firms to desperation"

I was almost convinced that this was a nice time to be in IT, looking rather amused at the drama unfolding around me... Some others among us took refuge to listening to the wisdom of the all-knowing seniors around us, reveling in their anecdotes about earlier appraisals.

Nevertheless, in all this chaos, the increment letters silently marched in. For what seemed an eternity, everyone waited for their managers to come to them, increment letter in hand.

The managers, marched up to the desk of their respective team members, congratulating him on the year gone by. Wishing him all the best for the year ahead before handing over the increment letter to the poor chap who had almost passed out in his 2 seconds of glory.

My heart was beating fast too. "Mera-number-kab-ayega" was the rythm behind it.

Moments later, the hitherto shared story acquired a hundred different hues. Perhaps the only sentiment that everyone shared was that of relief - relief that the wait was over. At some places the mood was triumphant. Elsewhere, people were collecting pieces of their shattered sanity, shaking their head in disbelief. If there was any defining moment of the day, this was it.

Finally, My manger came to me too, with a derisve smile in her face.

"Tera-kya- hoga- Kaalia" seemed an apt line for me at that moment. It was as if time had stopped to savor the nervous energy of the moment. The drama got over with a happy note. It was a moment of glory for me. My appriasal turned out to be better than what i had expected..!

Thankfully, there were no tears shed or loud hurrahs (atleast in public). The rest of the day stayed heavy with discussions of the events of the day. Canteen, paper-shredder, even the washroom - any place capable of facilitating social interaction was filled with questions like "Aisa kaise hogaya?" or "Party kabhi hai ?" depending upon the dominant expressions of the person being questioned.

The day ended with the dust settling after the storm (or windfall, depending upon how bad/good your increment was). For some, the journey to the next appraisal had already begun.

But for me, it was time to find a place to chill-out...!