First 24 Hours

The cabs are standing in a line, the usual honks are missing, people seem to be calm and there’s a nice little nip in the air. This is a very refreshing scene at the IGI airport Delhi at around 11pm a few days ago. I’m in Delhi on a short visit from Boston and I’m pleasantly surprised.

The next morning I wake up early (badly jet-lagged!) and step into a nearby park for a walk. It’s a misty morning but coming from Boston I can’t complain about the weather in Delhi at this time of the year.  The birds are chirping, I can see the crimson red color in the sky; the sun is about to rise. Ignore the haze and the pollution around; this is as good as it gets in Delhi. A number of people are already in the park going about their chores. Some are just strolling around probably half awake, some are jogging around and others are doing the famous Baba Ram Dev laughter exercise.

I overhear a conversation regarding IT folks. Two senior citizens discussing about inflation and the contribution of IT folks towards increase in inflation. One comment that attracted my attention is the discussion regarding salary of engineers in IT sector. One of them was saying that IT engineers are getting salary in lacs per month – I kept reassuring myself that despite a lackluster Indian economy over the past few years “all is well”.

During the course of the day I interact with a few shopkeepers, cab driver, my colleagues and friends & family. I cannot help miss the buzz around the elections as most conversations do directly or indirectly veer towards the current political scenario in India and more specifically towards Delhi. Here are a few things that strike me during my political conversations:

AAP

A new political formation carved out from Anna’s “India against corruption” (IAC) is riding on the public outrage against corruption, inflation and anti-incumbency. While most people seem to be impressed with the AAP showing one striking comment that I heard was that “Jo Anna ka na ho saka voh kisi aur ka kya hoga”. Certainly a section of the people seem to realize that AAP is using IAC movement as a ladder for political gains. Time will tell the truth but I wish AAP comes to power soon so that we could see them perform in governance.

BJP

Looks like this is the party with the momentum. The NaMo wave is slowly building up. The assembly election results are a big positive. Their posture of not grabbing power in Delhi is also a good strategy – I don’t know if this is an AAP effect or not but this is a welcome change perhaps not seen before. In a typical scenario like this we are used to seeing MPs/MLAs hounded into undisclosed locations for fear of horse trading. The big question still remains how will BJP manage to get the right numbers in April/May? I believe the key is the Hindi heartland of UP & Bihar and creating allies in Southern states.

Congress

The Grand Old Party is in dire straits and it really needs to re-imagine itself. This is easier said than done with only 4 months remaining for elections. The human nature is such that anything that congress does now shall be viewed with cynicism. Even if they name someone outside of Gandhi family for prime ministerial candidate that shall be viewed as another proxy PM. So how can Congress re-imagine and re-invent themselves? Perhaps, this might be a time to unveil Priyanka Gandhi.

As my day comes to an end I stop by a famous Kebab joint. Ah, the delicious kebabs of Delhi on a winter evening – a perfect end to my first day in the city. As I reflect on the day I wonder we talk about first impressions, first day in a school/college etc. What about first 24 hours in a city? What does that tell you? From my above experience a lot.  

For a change Cricket and Bollywood was on a back burner, politics took centre stage. Certainly there’s a craving for better leadership, effective governance and honest politics. The crux of the perceptible change in Delhi (that can be extrapolated to India) is that honesty is back in vogue!

My first 24 hours tell me that we’re headed for a new unimagined India where you & I will make a difference!

Tendulkar – Nation’s Pride!

As the news of Sachin Tendulkar’s imminent retirement started pouring in there was this strange feeling of “I know it was coming but I still want to see you play..”.  One of my childhood sporting idol was Sunil Gavaskar so naturally I grew up on a staple diet of classic batsmanship. When Sachin came on the horizon it was very clear that this kid had lot of talent. I was not sure if he would really make it big. Indeed, he really did make it big! Not only is he one of the all time cricket greats but also the best in the contemporary era of cricket.

Over the years having observed Sachin so closely there are certain virtues that I feel are an immense learning for me:

Maximizing Talent

When Sachin started playing there were few more upcoming cricketers with lots of talent like Vinod Kambli. For the initial few years it seemed like both are going to have identical career paths. However, after 24 years Sachin stands tall – God of cricket. During his initial years Sachin like most cricketers of his age would come in play his shots and score a quick fire 30 or a 40 and get out to a rash stroke. However, he quickly realized the need to put a price on his wicket. He really made the bowlers earn his wicket and what followed were long innings, centuries and match winning knocks. He quickly made it a habit to expect a century every time he walked out to bat. He has truly shown that talent alone can take you only so long; however, couple it with passion, focus and dedication and nothing is impossible to achieve.

Courage

Several examples can be illustrated to demonstrate Sachin’s courage  but there are two instances that I would like to highlight:

Sachin in his debut series against Pakistan in 1989/90 facing the likes of Imran, Wasim & Waqar. A throwback from the past…Sachin is batting against Waqar (bowling at around 150kmph) and while attempting a pull shot gets hit on his nose by a Waqar bouncer. He falls on the ground. There’s blood flowing from his nose and he needs immediate medical attention. Tendulkar is in a bad shape. He is advised to take some rest so that he can be properly attended. The Indian team was in a bad situation (38/4).  A few minutes and we see Tendulkar up again saying that he’s ready to play. The next ball from Waqar is a yorker (around 150kmph) and in a flash the ball hits the advertisement boards down the ground – Tendulkar announces what later became his famous signature shot – the straight drive!

The second instance, of course, is coming back to play the world cup match against Kenya after the death of his father and scoring a century.

Two instances showing two different flavors of courage!

Endurance

One wonders what is the story behind Tendulkar endurance? Twenty-four years of cricket all across the world. Carrying the expectations of a billion people and numerous injuries on different parts of the body. Despite facing so many travails Sachin continued his journey. Every time he stepped out he felt fresh and raring to go. His child like enthusiasm for the game made him forget all the pain. Sachin’s endurance stands out and cuts across many sports as it is hard to find someone prolong his career successfully for so long.

Spirit of Cricket

Perhaps, one of his greatest contributions to the game of cricket is upholding the “spirit of cricket”. In a fast eroding gentlemen’s game Sachin’s long career was free of any controversy. He was equally respected by his teammates, opponents, past cricketers and administrators. There were numerous scandals that affected cricket during his time like match fixing, ball tampering, excessive sledging and more. Sachin shone like a beacon of light amidst some of the darkest periods of cricket.

As all good things come to an end so does Tendulkar saga. We will miss you on the field but I’m sure your life’s second innings beckons..! I know there will be lot of speculation on "what next" for Sachin - i personally would like you to scout for some cricket talent in the hinterland of India, promote other sports in India and campaign for making sports truly a part of our culture.

Thank you for making us so proud and bringing so much joy to our lives.

Rude Awakening?

I’m waiting in line at a Starbucks outlet about 10 minutes from my home. It’s a typical cold morning on a winter day and I’m eagerly waiting for my turn. I approach towards the counter and order my favorite cup of “mocha”. As I provide my credit card for the payment the woman at the counter reads my name on the card and asks me a question – “Where are you from”? I said… “I live in Boston…but where are you originally from…”I said “Delhi”.

“O…the city which is in the news for the gruesome rape of a young woman”. For a moment I could not understand what this woman at Starbucks counter is talking about. As I gathered my thought I realized what she was referring to. I said “..it is unfortunate..” and didn’t really have too many words to say, perhaps, still a little surprised at the question. I grabbed my cup of coffee and drove towards work but this brief conversation was still haunting me at the back of my mind and I started thinking…why did she ask me these questions? Why was she equating Delhi with rape and how ashamed I was feeling about belonging to Delhi? Suddenly, the ostensible pride in belonging to the capital city of India seemed to be lost. There are random thoughts coming across as my drive continues…

I wonder much has been already said and written about this incident but how do we learn from this sacrifice and set a course for corrective actions. The politicians will frame new laws, talk tough for sometime but this will soon be another story forgotten soon in the wake of the new “breaking news”. However, I do believe that this is too serious a business to be left to politicians.

It starts with you, me and us. The genesis is set at the very beginning of a parent child relationship; it is about the upbringing we provide to children, the human values we imbibe from our parents, teachers and the society in general. If you go back about 20-30 years ago probably you would recall how the baby boy was fed well by the mother at the expense of the girl sibling. This small incident of inequality would trigger a false sense of superiority in the male child and a sense of grave insecurity in the female child. I’m sure scientists would have done deeper study to understand the psychological and sociological factors responsible for such incidents. Despite such studies being available, many laws to deal with the offenders this menace continues to haunt us. I can’t even imagine the rape statistics in our country. The big question looms:

Why the hell aren’t we able to reform our society?

I’m at the parking now. I have been driving for about 30 minutes but I felt like I was driving in isolation. I don’t know how I got here but I’m quickly making a resolve to myself  - next time someone knows that I’m from Delhi he or she should be talking about something admirable that this city has done. The instantaneous protests and long hours in support of the victim are a good start but we need to eradicate this evil from our society. This is not easy and it is a complex topic in a predominantly patriarchal society. However, we do need to attack this evil by taking both short term measures and also thinking about long term social reforms.

Let us make our city and country proud!