aditya kumar's weblog

…after a long and exhaustive trip from Bhubaneswar and Kolkata.

More on it, soon.

As I write this, India has just won their first ever Twenty game.

It finishes within 4 hours, a timespan little over than a Bollywood flick, provides a carnival like atmosphere for the players and spectators, a high degree of excitement. They say that this game could be the future of Cricket. All said and done, I think that would be jumping to conclusions. But who knows — better would be to wait and watch.

I just hope that don’t overdo it and make it like present one-day cricket. Too much of this would kill the excitement. The game I just witnessed was taken lightly, by the spectators and it appeared to me, by the cricketing teams as well.

Cricket, I think they’ve (We’ve?) made it too serious. Too much analysis, too much news, things blown out of proportion back home in India. There are problems, and serious problems of course, but it goes a little overboard at times. This new format brings out a message, clear and simple: Keep the seriousness for the One-Dayers and the Tests. Let things loose for Twenty20 and when this is played between a high-pressure one day series, it brings just the respite to the players. Point is, this will taste best when used as a catalyst.

Now coming to ESPN’s splendid coverage of the game. The most interesting part of the whole setup was the captain conversing with the commentator, while fielding and managing things. Imagine Sehwag, talking on your television while he is fielding at the slips. He was practically shouting and meanwhile revealing how they address each other — “Zaaki”, “Mongi” and “Irfaan”. Then said, “Would be great to get one more wicket here, Ravi” and just then was Kemp out and there was that exulting shout.

I just hope that this is the win that gets the team together. It’s incredible how much difference a win can make, especially after a string of losses. Just after the win, they spoke to Sreesanth, Irfan and Karthik on the field. Small conversations, at different times, with each of these players. What interesting was that they all conveyed one point — that may this be the win that gets things going. I just got a feeling, somewhere these guys really want to get things going, (as they put it) and they are feeling the heat, the past few months have been pinching them hard.

A good game of cricket, after a long time. Not just because they won, but more because they fought for it.

Meanwhile, travelling time. I am off to Kolkata and then to Orissa for a week.

Just out and roaming.

A few months back, Graham Gooch had suggested that India are peaking a bit too early. That was the time when the new captain, Dravid was lauded for his captaincy and Coach Greg was the flavor of the season, his “experiments” bringing that extra dash and zing to what Wright had left the team. Gooch was severly criticised by a nation which was then riding high on the great season of cricket, something that we are not much used to.

Cut to today. We’ve come a full circle now, haven’t we? Dravids captaincy style is termed unaggressive. Chappell is in the eye of storm. But I can tell you, he is not as bad as the media makes him out to be. His only problem is that he speaks out his mind. Nothing wrong with that, except he speaks it to the media. While he has given a lot of masala to the Indian paparazzi, by the time he leaves India, he would have less Indian friends to come back to. Surely, he could have taken a cue from John Wright, but that’s another story altogether.

For some days, I had been wondering about this whole issue. This slump of form, these allegations and Indian cricket in general. Some observations. My two cents…make it four:

Observation #1, Specifically in India and Pakistan, traditionally, we have had a tendency of blaming the captain for all the debacles a team goes through. A prolonged slump carries a simple solution — sack the captain. Now, this seems to have changed. We don’t just call for sacking the captain, we also call for the sacking of the coach. We should stop blaming those two individuals, for they are just that — two individuals. A new captain-coach combination will not bring with them a magic wand to cure the team of poor form. As a matured cricket society, and I am sure we are one, we should stop thinking on these lines.

Observation #2, we have too many strokemakers. Way to many, actually. Guys like Dinesh Mongia, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, even Gambhir, are of the “strokemaker” mould. Now, you should have players like these in the team but these are too many. These players have a tendency to play too many shots irrespective of the nature of the game and the scenario. That seems okay in certain conditions but its suicidal in pitches of South Africa and Australia, where the basic idea should be to settle down and spend some time on the pitch before showing that flashy upper cut. This leads to a fragile middle order. Call of the hour, then? Players who can spend more time in the middle. You could call them the “test player” mould. I am not saying a batsman like that is the solution to all batting woes, but the probability of success is increased by a few folds.

Observation #3, sometime in the late 90s, it sparked off, this whole issue of home pitches tailor made for the batsman and that how they spoiled the typical Indian batsman by giving them conditions suited for batting. There was this talk of “improving” the state of the pitches and all that but I am yet to see any change. This is exactly the reason why we have hyped up players coming in the squad, doing nothing, game after game, only to be forgotten a few months later. Venugopal Rao, for example. Suresh Raina could be going the same way too. A bad domestic cricket system leads to many not-very-good players and finally to a team that wins only in home conditions only to loose everything in far away lands. Years have gone by, the pitches have been the same for domestic cricket. In fact first class cricket has seen less change (one of them being all the domestic matches being recorded on TV, a good move).

Observation #4, our cricket board has started acting like a money minded, mean, bad businessman. It’s getting business because of these times of no competition and it’s taking things for granted. At times, it has given a bad name to the country — I blame the administrators who manage the cricket in India. The BCCI is a very unprofessional body, often going to the lengths of ignoring ethical and moral practices. On the other hand, I have time and again stated, The ICC could be the worlds weakest sporting body — but if that is so, BCCI could well be the worlds meanest, most unprofessional and ironically, one of the richest, sporting body.

Talk about being sporty…bah!

Tourists to Goa are amazed by the beauty of the place. Actually, it’s not just the tourists who are amazed, it’s residents like me too.

It’s a privilege to live in Goa.

Most tourists do not realise, it is not just the beaches that make the beauty of Goa. One of the most important ingredients of the Goan experience is the neatness itself. There is an effort that the citizens and the Government collectively undertake to keep the cities clean and neat. I have lived in cities all over India and Panjim has to be the cleanest city I have ever seen. It is not that the municipality workers work overtime to make it what it is. It is an example of how a city could be, if residents take care of it.

And this effort, it has a name. It’s called “Together for Panjim“. It has worked for the city.

That is not to say that there is no scope for improvement. But mostly, it is a city you could photograph in any nook and corner and love the end result. Just like the pictures I took last month, which I post below.

My suggestion: If you really want to enjoy the city, don’t ride. Take time out and walk.

Meanwhile, the pictures:

…But romantic neverthless. Found this poem somewhere on the internet and thought of sharing with you all here. Here goes:

What Matters to Me

Time is the only healer, but I guess,

I am still to walk that road.

I still feel warm and loved I confess,

When I think about those words I wrote to you.

Yes, I do wonder what you must’ve thought,

Wonder, if you saw things from my point of view.

And I can’t just keep that heart back at its place,

Or pack my bags and just walk away.

But it doesn’t matter now, I am sure.

You are living your life, so lovely, so happy,

And that’s all that matters to me.

If I were not a cricket fan, I would laugh at all the cricket promos that go on the TV. The “blue billions”, the ones which promise you taking to the World Cup and especially the one which increases your prepaid mobile phone balance when India wins.

And then, I would pity the cricket fans. I would look at them, for the poor souls that they are, foolish people who stay awake half past midnight, very well aware that they have to report at work in the morning, only to see their team go from one defeat to another and in the process getting bundled to “lowlies” like 91 runs.

But I can’t, since I am one.

Tell me if I am wrong, but I am tempted to think if the last one dayer was not poured over by the Gods, we would be 0-2 by now. The Gods have been with us, for the most part of the season. When they haven’t been, there’s been sunshine and the results have been for you and me to see.

I could have written this tomorrow. New morning, a new day, new thoughts, the best time to write. But I write this half past 1 AM, for humiliation tastes best when fresh.

You know, the problem is not with defeat. I am not against the idea of getting defeated. The problem lies in the manner of achieving, (yes, we are achieving) defeat.

Barring a couple of players, the willingness to go on is absent. Their eyes are cold and don’t talk, just like their bats. Look for yourself, it’s not much difficult in this age of zoom cameras.

I just hope our so called heroes in South Africa realise this. I wish they loose sleep too, just like their fans.

If you are to feed me with defeats, I ask you to put a topping of Grace on it.

Karan Thapar is one of the toughest journalists to be a part of the Indian Media. I know people who hate Karan Thapar for what he is, for he is a wee bit too assertive on his candidates, he is even harsh at times. But that’s alright, ask any journalist and he will tell you, one can never make everyone happy. It’s the call of this profession, you make enemies as much as you make friends — in fact, maybe more.

Karan Thapar is not always an overly aggressive interviewer. There are times when he needs to be harsh but then it’s the case of fighting iron with iron.

For example, the interview on CNN-IBN tonight, in which he had a tête-à-tête with The Supreme Court’s Senior Lawyer Ram Jethmalani. Now, Jethmalani, as I know, likes to come on TV, loves to grab attention and has been involved in “startling revelations”, but lately this seems to be coming at the cost of his morality, ethics and what not.

That is the point of the whole interview. That is the nucleus.

Little doubt in my mind that this was one of the most explosive interviews taken by Karan Thapar. Some Excerpts:

Karan Thapar: You have been there several times as a customer.

Ram Jethmalani: I have seen Tamarind Court once.

Karan Thapar: Several times you have been to Tamarind Court. Several times you have been to Tamarind Court. You have been seen by people in Tamarind Court and you have been to Tamarind Court to even ask for drinks when drinks weren’t available.

Ram Jethmalani: No. No. No.

Karan Thapar: Yes. Yes. Yes.

More…

Karan Thapar: Do you regret the collapse in your standard?

Ram Jethmalani: I am sorry. I regret the collapse of the character of people like you that you try to please some people and you are here to please them and not conduct a legitimate gentlemanly interview.

Karan Thapar: If I am asking questions that are so preposterous, why are you losing your temper?

Ram Jethmalani: I must lose my temper. I am entitled to lose my temper.

And then the big one:

Karan Thapar: But the point I am making is a simple one. There may be many things in papers that you have alleged have been published. You are using them as your defence, but do you have to fall so low to use every dirty trick. That’s the point I am making. Are there no principles that you uphold? The morality you observe.

Ram Jethmalani: I am sorry, Karan. You are taking advantage of my hospitality. You are in my house that’s why I don’t want to tell you that. You are falling to low of every kind of standard of morals of an anchor and a television interviewer. You are taking advantage of the fact that you are in my house and that you are my guest. Otherwise, I would throw out somebody here.

Though words shall not recreate and do justice to the intensity of the interview, I still urge you not to miss the full text version of the interview here.

Thapar treads dangerous paths, igniting the minds of the people he interviews in their own homes, provoking them to an extent as witnessed here. But, there is an element of confidence that never eludes him. I understand the tremendous amount of research he must be conducting before any interview. But this is not about the basics of journalism, we are way past that. This is something else and I think his experience serves him well.

I saw Karan Thapar once, I think it was back in 1997, while we waited outside Delhi’s only multiplex for a movie to start. He seemed to have no company, just like me. During those twenty minutes of waiting, a nervous I, toyed with the idea of talking to him but ultimately decided against it. I think the only thing that prevented me from talking to him was his on-screen persona. For twenty minutes, a black suited Thapar and I wasted time, together.

God, what would I not give today, to have a five minute talk with him.