The diminishing numbers of " The Gentlemen of Cricket"

Two cricket legends retired this past week, one nicknamed the Sanga and the other called the Pup. Although, I would rate the former a little higher than the latter, both of them in their own right made an impact in the game of cricket. Why am I writing suddenly about two cricketers, I wasn't really a fan of. Not that I didn't respect them, I just wasn't a fan.

I was pondering all these days over writing a post on the Gentlmen of cricket, I really wanted to pen down the thoughts that had been in my mind for the last two months. But, I couldn't give any shape to the words in my mind. Until today. What happened today? Nothing drastic, nothing over the top, just a nice article I read on NDTV and the trigger was obvious, Sanga- the Gentleman.

The Article.

http://sports.ndtv.com/sri-lanka-vs-india-2015/news/247469-kumar-sangakkara-bids-emotional-farewell-says-family-helped-him-conquer-world?pfrom=home-people

I have been a fan of the Gentlemen of the game. As a kid, I was always in awe of the Dravid, the Kumble, the Stephen Fleming, the Gilchrist and many more..Oh yeah there were so many in those days. They were all legendary cricketers and of course I was an avid fan of their gameplay, but more than that I loved their conduct on and off the field. For me, they were the true icons and mascots of the game of cricket. Always shying away from controversies and always ignoring the tussles, yet they weren't coward or timid, they always chose to respond rather than react to what others around them had to say or do, only through their cricket. They never opened their mouths atleast in the event of a confrontation.

The 2008 India tour of Australia, famous for the Monkey-gate controversy, during the press-conference of the penultimate test, Anil Kumble, famously said one line, that just made the whole world stand up and salute. " Only one team played in the spirit of the game ". This line still reverberates in my mind. 

They will always remain my heroes in the game of cricket. The way they carried themselves on and off the field added an element of awe to these legends. It brought another dimension to their persona. What Sampras was to tennis, these guys were to cricket.  They were the nice guys of the game and yet, they did not finish last.

The in-numerous times Gilly walked off the field when he knew he was out, irrespective of whether the umpire raised his finger or not, has always made me stand up and applaud. 

All said and done, where are the cricketers from the gentleman's school of cricket today?

They all seemed to be vanishing day by day. Today's cricketers pride themselves over their so-called aggression. For them, to celebrate is to blurt out swear words, for them, aggression is threatening the opposition with aggressive gestures and most of all, for the new bunch, modesty and humility are a sign of weakness. Today, cricket has become more about loud mouthing. The Cool Quotient today among cricketers is "An eye for an eye and a swear for a swear ". Sadly, the element of gentlmanlyness in the Gentleman's game has been lost.

One more of a hand-few Gentleman retired this past week. I might sound a little old school, but I do miss the Gentlemen in this gentleman's game. Yet, there is a small glimmer of hope that they will return sooner or later, since History is always known to repeat itself!

Ok Google, Wake up!

OK Google! Yeah, the thing that is going to tell you anything and everything!From the traffic on the road to the hotel by the road, it gives you anything and everything, it identifies your office location and tells you where your vehicle is parked. All that is appreciated Google. Thank you for that.

I would be okay if you actually are not so accurate on these things, I would forgive you Google, I wouldn't be a tiny bit unhappy if the location of the car was off 20 meters or if you didn't tell me the exact traffic density on the road I am heading to. I have not paid a penny directly for that, as long as it's free and you give me a little inaccurate data I am okay with that, please understand that Google.

Alright let me cut the crap and head straight the heart of the matter. I have been a Google loyalist, my phone runs on Android, my browser is Google and the goddamn search engine I use is also google and my email account is also google. To add to that list, I have forced my parents to use Android phones as well. All in all, I am deeply embedded in the Ecosystem you have created around me. Although, I am scared someday you will take over my life completely, I still appreciate the work you are doing. But, hey I missed out something in the Made in Google list that's in my arsenal, or rather what was in my arsenal until a couple of weeks ago, my most treasured Nexus-7 just went dead. Kaboom!

I didn't drop it, did not allow it to get wet in the rain, did not root it, did not do anything that would set it in the direction of the heavens. I just took care of it like my own baby. But what happens, it goes dead, despite all the care I took, it just freaking crashes!

It was just another day in my life and I took my treasured Nexus 7 into my hands to read the book, " Wild, a journey from lost to found" and then, the thing suddenly hangs. Then I fiddle with the power button to restart it. It turns off and reboots. The screen turns on and " Google is displayed". I get nervous, try to restart it again, nothing happens. I leave it there like that for a few hours, nothing happens. Then, I use google to get to the root of the problem. I search for answers, the answers look bleak, I get even more nervous!

Four days go by, no action taken. I decide to head to the service center. Located at a distance of 8 kilometers I use Google again to find my way. I reach the place and wait for my turn. I sit there in deathly silence wondering what would happen to her. My mind runs through all possibilities, " My baby could die!, My baby would not return". The pessimism starts to kick in.

My number is called, I head to the counter, I greet the lady sitting across, " Good morning ". She reciprocates. Then I blurt out everything that happened to my baby ( When I say my baby, I refer to the Nexus 7). She hears me out patiently. Then she does a preliminary inspection. Her next few words give me a glimmer of hope, she says it could be a software issue and it could be fixed. Then she tells me a dude is going to give me a call in 3-4 Business days, I respond with a hint of agitation, then she assures me I will get a call tomorrow. I then head back home with a slightly higher amount of optimism than the pessimism I came in with.

The next day, at around half past three, the phone rings, a number without a name displayed on my phone. I pick up my ANDROID Phone and answer the call, on the other end a gentleman speaks, no non-sense there, he get straight to the point, he shoots the most difficult part, " We re-installed the OS and tried to start it, but it doesn't work. We believe the board has to be replaced, it is going to cost you INR 10,000, do we replace it ?" I hear all this and my emotions change drastically, I am enraged and devastated. Just for the sake of asking, I ask them, " Can't anything else be done?" The gentleman firmly says NO! I say," Alright, don't do anything, I will come and pick it up tomorrow!, Thank you" and hang up the call.  

The tab is a mere one year and six months old. It was purchased in the US and it had been my loyal companion. I have read more than thirty ebooks in that, heard countless songs and watched movies! I miss it and I miss it badly!

Well this is not a eulogy, but this is a message to Google, a message which I hope has an impact! I hope they understand that loyalty comes with effort not from one end, but from both ends, I need you to make me love you. I have been a google loyalist and for me to remain a google loyalist, the folks in mountain-view should buck and give goods worth the money! I have an apple Ipod touch which is 5 years old and till date it's as good as new. My dad has an ipad-2, the damn thing is four years old and yet, is solid as a rock. not once I have had to take it to the service center.

The point here really is no one buys a gadget to use it for a year and then throw it off their life, unless of-course they have 10 digit salary or they have shitloads in their bank account. When I googled to see how many Nexus owners faced such a problem, I could almost see an unending thread with a kazillion users complaining about the same problem. Well, that isn't how a company which ranks third in global Brand value ( Courtesy Forbes ) should work. I would really appreciate if Google worked more on the Tablet's reliability instead of figuring out ways to make me click on that pesky ad!

Google, I really hope you have taken note of this!  

The Travel Diary - The First leg

I begin this post with a quote, a quote which since the day I came across has left an impression on me.

" Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."

                                                                                                   - Mark Twain

With backpacks on our shoulders, we headed off to what was going to be a Spartan travel experience. Travelling only by the public transport, no cars or caravans.  Our plan was to travel to Kanyakumari from Hosur via train, spend a day there. Hitchhike to Rameswaram, spend two days there, then head to Madurai and return to Bangalore. We had booked our train tickets and luckily got a confirmation too.

Enchanted by the smell of smoke and the cacophony in the station, we had a rush of adrenanlin when we saw our train arriving onto the platform. We quickly boarded the train, the six of us hopped onto the train as though we were running for our lives. We quickly located our seats and made it our home. Then began the fight for the upper birth, it was one of the wits and not of fists luckily. We arrived at an agreeable covenant. Then came out the snacks. There was a whole bag of biscuits that my friend had brought along and I had bought a pack of home-made sweets, the famous Mysore Pak which my mom had told me to hang on to till the Ugadi festival, which was to arrive in a couple of days. Nobody gave heed to my mom's words and the sweets got over in a jiffy. So much for the Festival sweets.

The whole gang decided to split up, one party went to explore the train, another party sat near the door  and I was put on guard for the luggage there. Everybody arrived back in an hour and by then it was time for dinner and we picked up whatever that was available from the pantry and crashed in our berths.

The next morning, we woke up on arrival at Kanyakumari, the first of our destination, it was around seven fifteen. We hopped off the train and hitch-hiked to auto-stand. There was the usual auto vs bus debate, being the so called treasurer of the group, I decided we'll take the auto by doing a simple math in my mind. I put myself beside the driver sharing the driver's seat between us, while the rest of the pack settled behind,  although many find it juvenile when I say I love sitting infront. In the midst of chaos happening behind, I tried to strike a conversation with my dilapidated Tamil, while the driver kept pitching us for a tour of Kanyakumari. In the midst of this amazing conversation, I constantly checked up with my friends on the programme for the day.

The rickshaw driver brought us to a hotel ( a cheap but decent one ), Two friends and I hopped off the auto-rickshaw and headed off to the hotel lobby along with the rickshaw driver. The rickshaw driver mediated the deal for us, telling the Hotel manager to give us a reasonable discount. On hearing the word discount, the two friends and I unequivocally in our broken Tamil demanded discount. The manager nodded his head and asked us to check out the two available rooms and settle down in the one we liked.

Although I didn't want into be the recon party, on insistence of my friend I went ahead and inspected the room. The room seemed alright equipped with a flat screen LCD TV and we were thrilled about it. The room was tidy and just outside, we had a clear view of the Ocean, we were more than happy about it. The boys crashed inside the rooms. Then a few of us including myself headed up to the terrace, some of them clicked pictures. We then headed back to the room, took a shower and made up a plan and headed out.

Dhoti clad grown men, sunglasses over our eyes, we headed to the legendary Kanyakumari temple. Situated by the shore, this temple although not known for it's grandeur, this temple has a certain  element of mystique associated with it. A temple which is over 3000 years old has a divine aura to it. We entered the temple, the admirable thing was that the inner most sanctum was lit by Oil lamps, on the idol of the goddess, there were two stones that twinkled like the brightest of the stars. It seemed as though two LED's had been installed on the Goddess's face. It was  There is a legend which says that the great warrior and mentor Parashuma, once lit a lamp at this temple and the lamp glows on till today.

After the temple visit, we headed to the ferry which would tow us to the renowned Vivekananda Rock and the humongous Tiruvallavar statue.

We headed to the ticket counter which was neatly built and organised well. Again my treasurer post landed me with job of having to stand in the que and buy tickets. I went to the counter and indicated six tickets and the gentlemen handed me over 6 tickets, in return I handed him over the cash and left the place. We went to the boarding area, a good thing there was the life jackets which were provided to us. (A rarity in India). We put on the jackets and boarded the ferry. That's where we saw, what Chacha Nehru rightly described as the Ethnic melting pot. Punjabis with their turban, folks from the UP countryside in their white Kurta and Dhoti, the local folks in their lungi and shirt and a few urbane folks in their jeans and polos.

" We may have different religions, different languages, different colored skin, but we all belong to one human race."

                                                                                                           - Kofi Annan 

The ferry took us to the epitome of spiritual enlightenment, the Vivekananda Rock. It stood their in all its grandeur with an aura around itself. All of us hitch-hiked to the top of the rock, the sun was blazing hot and as a result our legs started crying. On the rock, there was one room called the meditation room, at the centre of which was a OM engraved in metal lit in fluorescent green. The room dimly lit and the folks sitting around there engrossed in meditation, all this added to the air of spirituality prevalent there.The experience left me in a trance!By then my friends came down and the ice was broken. The photo-freaks started clicking photos and my enthusiasm to pose went down after a couple of clicks. We were through with Vivekanada rock, we then headed to the ferry and which took us to the humongous Thiruvallavar statue, which is a symbol of the richness of the Tamil literature. While climbing up the stairway to reach the foot of the statue, I saw the various works of this legendary literarist inscribed in Tamil and in English. The richness and the meaning these words carried were sublime. On that note, we hopped onto the ferry again and headed back. 

Then we headed to the beach to cool ourselves off. Three of the boys threw themselves in water and were coming in and out of the water like amphibians. After they had had enough of the water, did they emerge out. By then, the time was forty minutes past five. 

Our next stop was Gandhi memorial. This memorial truly symbolises the influence and the aura of the Mahatma. A place where the Mahatma's ashes were placed before immersion has become a monumental spot in Kanyakumari, the beauty of this building is that on the 2nd of October, the sun's rays fall on the spot where the urn was placed.

After paying our respects to the Mahatma, we left the place to head to what's the customary place of visit in Kanyakumari, the Sunset point.

The sight there was sublime. A giant ball of reddish orange stood there descending gradually towards the ocean. We were waiting for the holy union of the horizon and the sun, just when the sun decided to play hide and seek with the clouds and before the sun could reveal himself it was already sun down. Although a little disappointed, we headed back to the room with glee.

That was the end of our first leg, we headed next to Rameswaram in the night train.

Day one out of four.

Watch this space for the next three 

Lost in translation or Ignorance?

Recently, a friend of mine came to me and narrated an incident which is a commonality in today's Bengaluru. At the end of his narration, he insisted I write a post which might influence the corporate big-wigs to devote their time in this regard and also for the many ignorant folks. I almost fell on the floor laughing when he said, my blog post might have an influence.

I address this friend of mine as "Mr Chloromint", cause he always has questions about anything and everything. Armed with his inquisitive mind, he has troubled a lot of people including our common boss to whom we report. There have been countless instances in our brief acquaintance of when his inquisitive mind has benefited and back-fired. Nevertheless, his enthusiasm for questioning remains solid. 

Mr Cholormint stays in the northern part of bangalore, while the office is abour 30 kms away which in Bangalore's standards is a two hour journey, with hiccups like silk board and madivala junction in the way. It was yet another day for Mr Chloromint. He boarded the usual bus, the bus would ferry him from Silk board all the way upto Bommasandra stop where our office is located. Amidst all the faces in the bus that day, there was a peculiar face that boarded the bus. He looked like a man from the state of Bihar. His understanding of Kannada was as good as a Beyonce's understanding of Mandarin. The conductor started telling people to buy tickets, unfortunately for this bloke, he went about shouting in Kannnda. His lack of knowledge in Kannada proved disastrous a few moments later. The bus went a few yards from the stop he got on and voila! two blokes stopped the bus and got into it. Who were these guys?? the ticket checkers. The ticket checkers began their job of hunting down the passengers who hadn't bought a ticket and this Bihari dude admitted that he indeed hadn't bought a ticket. At this moment, the ticket checkers demanded a fine, while this bloke kept on telling that he got into the bus the previous stop and reiterated that he couldn't buy a ticket cause he didn't understand the language. While the former spoke in Kannada the latter spoke in Hindi. There was a deadlock between kannada and hindi, it was more like a battle between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal but in different dimensions. The deadlock continued for a while and also infuriated the crowd. The agony was so high that one elderly person came and hit this Bihar lad and the lad reciprocated by giving back another blow. By now, the bus had passed the stop where the lad had to get down. The crowd was steaming with anger and people were all shouting and abusing this lad who was also abusing and shouting in Hindi. There was a verbal duel where both the parties didn't have an iota of understanding of each other's words. Just when things were about to go from bad to worse, Mr Chloromint intervened and mediated between the parties. He told the Bihari lad that he had to pay a fine since he hadn't taken a ticket, for which the Bihar lad said he had only a hundred bucks. Mr Chloromint then told the ticket checkers to leave the dude by collecting the hundred bucks. Both the parties agreed and the Bihar chap got down about four stops away from the stop he intended to get down, while Mr Chloromint also got down at the same stop which happened to be Bommasandra. 

Amidst all the chaos, came a thought in the mind of Mr Chlormint, what if this Bihar chap knew kannada, there wouldn't have been a slight chance of this chaos happening. The man wouldn't have been humiliated in public and the crowd in the bus wouldn't have been enraged. 

This brings us to the crux of the problem, why then are people ignorant in learning the local language, it's not mandatory to settle in a state, but it's for their convenience. The fundamental reason on why an individual has to learn the local language is survival. It gives an instant access to everything around, after all you connect with other human beings only through a language. I would say that the responsibility of learning the language lies not only with the individual but also with the organisation he is working for. There is a rule in Germany for students to get a visa is they should they should be proficient in understanding the basics of  language. 

While there shouldn't be an imposition of any such rule, there should certainly be an insistence for the same. 

After all as the great Rumi once said, “Words are a pretext. It is the inner bond that draws one person to another, not words.” 

This is Vattam signing off!!

Room for Sentiments at work

There has always been a sense of ambiguity in my mind over having sentiments at work. My mind is torn whether to be cold and emotion-less or to be empathetic and humane.

At work, a new conveying line was set up a few weeks back and it has been troubling us since it was set up. There have been constant niggles and snags since it's installation. This issue has been troubling my team.

It was one of those days when I was working on resolving this issue. The whole team was there, my manager, technician and myself. We were fiddling around with the settings, trying to get the right air-pressure and orientation. We worked on it for more than an hour. Sweating it all out, our efforts bore fruit, the results started showing in about an hour's time.

We were done with our work and we were about to leave. Just when a workman who stood there doing about his work came to me and with a smile on his face and gleaming eyes said, " En sir namma mane inda ne oodsbitralla? hadineidu varshadinda ide machine ge operator aagi kelsa maadtidvi, neevu nodidre kelsadinde tegsbitralla?". ( Sir, this used to be my home and I have worked on this machine for 15 years and you have made me jobless here ). Perplexed by his statement, I couldn't digress for a few moments on what he was saying. My mind put on it's thinking cap and started thinking on why this man spoke those agonizing words. When my mind began this thinking process, I recollected my previous project where a completely automated secondary packaging line was installed as result of which 15 people were removed from their positions in the line. The result of which, this man lost his position in the line and had to be moved off to another line in another division. After the thought process was over, I responded by saying, " Naavu enu madalla ri, Company kelsa heliddu, naavu maadlebeku." ( Nothing is in our hands, we have to just do what the company says) to which he nodded with a smile, his nod almost telling a story, made me speechless. After the debatable incident, I left the place and went on with my work.

Though I went on with my work that day, I couldn't take my mind off the words that had from that man. I shared this incident with a friend of mine and laughed it off. But deep down, I was guilt ridden and morose about what had happened.

All this boils down to the question is it right to have emotions at work? Is it right to be empathetic and  humane or do we need a much colder approach at work??

Age of Diplomacy

There have been slew of announcements in the top tech companies across India and the US. A few months ago it was Satya Nadella, Sundar Pichai, Vishal Sikka and most recently Thomas Kurian. Though I have mentioned names which all have India written all over it. The central purpose of mentioning these names is purely to bring in an element that from the modern times has been seen as the great asset for a human being's success. The word I was looking for is Diplomacy.

The masterful stroke that diplomacy plays is greatly summed up in the quote, " Diplomacy is the art of letting someone have your way. " by Daniele Vare. 

In the age when everybody talks about being cut-throat and the world being dog eat dog, there are others who have followed a rather free-spirited route in making a mark on mankind. Their way was simple yet sophisticated, they all stuck to the passive aggressive approach, they were assertive and never aggressive. All this boils down to the big question, in the age where everybody are interconnected and everything is interdependent and you can never eat alone, what should be your approach when you have to get things done? A question that has haunted the B-schools and the question that analysts are continually trying to answer. This Kazillion dollar question can be looked at by reading about some of the names that I mentioned above. 

Firstly, to talk about the man that whole of India is excited about, Sundar Pichai, the man who is literally incharge of the whole of Google. The reason the folks sitting at the top of the mountain view chose to put him incharge of almost everything is no doubt for his vision for the future of Google but also for his invaluable trait of diplomacy. Keeping in mind the innumerous mergers, acquisitions and deals that Google is trying in to make, it put this man for the job. A man who is known to have a calm demeanour is known to be the go to man when it comes to making deals. 

Next up, I wanna talk about the man who is synonymous with the current government, the man who is known for his sophistication and urbane demeanor, Mr Arun Jaitley. He is Modi's crisis manager. Known to be the close aide and mentor of many Leaders, this man is the mascot for diplomacy.  From politics to glamour, from cricket to business, his address book is known to have everyone who has had a stint with fame and power. 

Keith Ferrazi in his book writes a beautiful line that I want to end with, this line has always been on my mind ever since the day I read it .

“Relationships are all there is. Everything in the universe only exists because it is in relationship to everything else. Nothing exists in isolation. We have to stop pretending we are individuals that can go it alone. —MARGARET WHEATLEY”

― Keith Ferrazzi, Never Eat Alone: And Other Secrets to Success, One Relationship at a Time

This is Vattam signing off! 

Thank you God for everything!

It was Thursday, I had to head to a friend's reception that evening. I took the office bus. Finished my work by 5 and took the 5.15PM bus and reached home by 6.30PM. Got ready by 7 and left home by 7.30 after a brief talk with my dad. Reached the venue by 8 and got in the Que to greet and congratulate the couple. While I stood in the que lost in thoughts, my friend ( the bride) spotted me and waved at me. Finally after what seemed to be an eternal wait, I got the chance to go upto the dias to greet couple. There was a customary photo with the groom and bride, post which I left the venue and headed to my bike which was parked about twenty paces from the wedding hall. I hopped on my bike, put on my helmet. Then headed straight home.

The journey from my house to the wedding hall was a pretty short one, a twenty minute ride to be precise.. I arrived at a junction, where I stopped at the red light. It was like those thousands of junctions where kids sell things, women with infants beg for money. Here too was a similar story, but there I saw a kid probably a tad over six years, selling these really long pens. One of his eyes closed, his clothes dirty and ragged. His body and hair hadn't seen water in a really long time. There was an innocence in him which was hard to define. I stared at him, he stared back at me, his eyes trying to tell me a silent story. A couple of seconds went by, I broke the ice by asking him, " Eshtu ? " ( How much?). I was trembling for reasons unknown to me. My voice had a certain fear that I find hard to explain. I pulled out my wallet, took out a ten rupee note and handed over to the boy. He gave me a pen in return. I said Thank you! The boy left. I couldn't get this boy out of my mind. The time was ticking and there were about 45 seconds left for the signal to turn green. There was complete pandemonium in my brain. My eyes went into reconnaissance mode and started searching for the boy, my mind on the other hand didn't know what to do. It was fighting it's inner battles whether to leave or whether to stay, but to stay and do what!! Finally the deadlock ended when the signal turned green. I accelerated my bike went a few feet ahead and took a U-turn and headed back to the same signal. Now I knew what to do, my mind more determined than ever. My moist eyes were a reflection of mind. Though, I couldn't change the kid's life, I could make him happy at-least I thought so. I parked my bike after doing a acrobatic U-turn, parked my bike by the pavement. I scanned my purse, I found four hundred rupees in it. I pulled those four notes and started searching for the boy. I spotted him about twenty feet away. I shouted, hey you... headed straight to him. He spotted me and stared at me again with those mystic eyes. I handed over the four notes to his tiny hands and asked him to give me another pen. His face showed no visible reaction to my actions. The kid offered a few more pens, to which I said no and left the spot. These moments almost felt like an eternity. My mind was emotionally drained, my eyes still moist and my mind in a sort of trance. I left the signal from where began an almost roller-coaster of emotions. First my mind remembered the famous picture at one of the Nazi camps where there was saying which went, " If there is God, he will beg for my forgiveness". My mind constantly questioning, Why I had a bike, house, why I had never experienced desperation, why I'd never felt hunger, why I'd everything whilst that little kid had to suffer, there was this sense of irony, when one part of me was thanking God that he didn't give me that plight and the other part of me questioned his existence and cursed him for not doing enough for that kid. I have lived in India all my life and I have seen innumerous kids on the road begging, but its hard to explain my behavior and actions. The emotional roller-coaster continued till I reached a friend's house and told all that had happened in the preceding minutes. This pacified my mind. After spending time there, I headed home. The boy's face embedded deeply in my mind. I still can't lose him. His face still haunts me.

All I have to say is God Thank you for everything!