Aakar Patel

I usually read a lot of columns on Livemint. Somehow so far i have never come across Aakar Patel. I have to tel you this guy is amazing (not in a good way)!

See his articles here

Some of the piece he wrote.. why he likes south india

On a sect of muslims called Qadianis

He starts of in pretty reasonable fashion and then there are giant leaps of thought to arrive at incredulous opinions on the issue at hand. the ease with which he does it is quite awesome actually. He should be writing papers in the Trasnportation field. to be honest, looking at the enviornment out there, he will be a prolific author!

Wow

Well, the Bengalis deserve this for electing "The Queen" ;)

Life and its vagaries

Working on a backlog of things from the past. The memories are not easy to let go. But I am working towards it.

On a different note, once you start you life on your own, it is very easy to be drawn into competition. I have to work very hard to remind myself, life is not a competition with anybody. As long as I am satisfied with my effort, it will turn out fine. The days where i forget this, life becomes slightly more complicated and stressful. Hopefully I will learn to handle it better. 

Time will only tell..

New Zealand draws the match

Well, Kane Williamson gets a solid 100 against arguably the best quartet of pace bowlers (on current form) in the world. To be 21 and get the hundred augurs very well for Kane and New Zealand. May be a star is born!

People who do not know about cricket find it hard to see "Draw". But i was watching this match and was it fun or what. Draw can be as much fun as a victory (of course I mean a close draw).

In another match Jayawardene does his thing with a 180 against England. Good day for batting overall!!

Nageswaran hits the nail on the head

on the issue of Indian governance here!

what can you say abt UPA

They don't care enough to even do a decent budget. Now theyare trying to get back at Vodafone after they have wont the case in court. See the piece here

Nageswaran makes some nice points

as usual on the issues related to Fiscal deficit.

This however, is the crown paragraph of the article

(11) With all their acts of omission and commission, the two UPA governments have damaged India’s macro and micro-economy. Consequently, India faces the prospect of lower economic growth rate in the years ahead. Then, if the UPA were to be voted out of office in 2014, India’s lower economic growth rate might coincide with another non-UPA administration at the office. Voila! That would prove the authors’ point that UPA’s deficits have been good for India!

This is exactly how Congress gets away with all the mess it creates during their tenure.

Nice to read Mrs. Dravid's piece

on Mr. Dravid. 

Its a mess

Sometimes, in spite of yourself things are a mess. What can we do?

This is the culture

you breed when every Tom, Dick and Harry can buy his/her own gun without due process.

The tributes continue

Here are some: Rob Smyth, TGS, Alex Massie, Nirmal Sekhar, Rohit Brijnath, Laxman (yes VVS)

Some excerpts

For those who are into spirituality this should hit the right cord (from TGS link above)

He is one of the few sportsmen who could rightly be called The Gold Standard and that is not for his achievements on the field. In fact, that is because he did not allow Dravid, the cricketer destroy Dravid, the man. That is the true essence of ‘Sthitha Prajnan’ (hard to put it in English) that Lord Krishna talks about in Bhagavadh Gita:

 

“Sthitha Prajna is the concept, discussed in the Sankhya Yoga of the Gita, of a free being who lives in this world and appears to be like anybody else. A Stitha Prajna is one whose mind has become absolutely sill, quietened, tranquil.

When all desires of the heart have rested and the heart finds joyous satisfaction in itself because it has found that all joy exists within independent of external factors, then one is spoken of as a person of steady wisdom, a Sthitha Prajna.

A Sthitha Prajna, does what is necessary for the betterment of humanity with a completely tranquil mind, unperturbed. A person whose mind is tranquil will not react to situation in a way that causes harm to others because he sees everybody as his own self.”

Another quote (alex Massie)

The next week, at Sydney, Dravid batted for six and half hours to score 53 and 38 in another Indian defeat. Footwork and form were returning, albeit slowly. All this patience would be rewarded in Perth where Dravid's 93 (in nearly five hours) would be test's top score and a vital contribution to India's victory. At their own level, anyone can be brilliant when in form; it takes character to be oddly-brilliant when plumb out of touch. That takes fortitude. If batting is often a matter of resisting temptation there have been few purer souls in my lifetime than Rahul Dravid.

Nirmal Sekhar says it perfectly

Hey, Rahul, here's the 'keeper's gloves. Hey, Rahul, will you open the innings today? But, no, Rahul, wait a minute ... maybe you can bat at No. 4. Hey, hold it. What about No. 6?  No other player as good as Dravid has ever been “used”' with such cruel disregard for the man's self-respect in the entire history of Indian cricket. But these things hardly mattered to him. For, Dravid was the ultimate team-man in a very selfish sport and in the most selfish era in the history of professional sport.

..

He was more Boycott than Bradman but without the selfishness of the English opener.

Rohit's piece

He had been invited to a discussion on the sporting mind to inaugurate the Bangalore launch of Olympic shooting gold medallist Abhinav Bindra’s autobiography. 

“No speech, right?” he insisted, for that would mean a month’s dutiful hard labour for him. No, I promised. Only a discussion.

Except on launch day, in the evening, he took me aside. “I’d like to make a short speech, is that OK?” 

And so he did, a charming, generous introduction about Bindra and his virtues and the challenge of the Olympics. He is 10 years older than the shooter and far more celebrated, but this was not his moment, he wanted the shooter to have the sun and being in the shadows anyway held no fear for him. It was not Dravid at his best, it was simply just Dravid being himself.

 

I will end with this piece that I think does true justice to Dravid (Tendulkar Fans please dont read this)

Man, Dravid's going to be a hard act to follow (if there ever will be one)

Some more

His words as reported by Sambit Bal.

When we spoke a couple of weeks ago, I asked if he regretted not having retired in England. His response was a further revelation of character. He would certainly have retired if he hadn't had a good series, he said, but after doing so well, retiring would have been selfish. There was a series to be won in Australia, and he owed it to the team to make the trip. And no, there were no regrets. He would do it no other way, even if offered a second chance."

More on Dravid

Harsha Bhogle here

And his father will be proud of that. Oh, we family folk are suckers for that kind of sentiment. In 1994, when I used to do the highlights of domestic cricket for ESPN, Dravid's father would often call to ask if he could get highlights of his son's batting. The request was always very politely made and a thank you was always offered when I met him. You can see the shyness in the genes, the correctness. I don't mention it lightly. In our obsession with saluting the here and now we sometimes ignore what produced success. If Dravid senior was proud of his young man, Rahul was proud enough of his mother to be the photographer when she received her PhD. It might seem a small thing to do but it tells you a lot about the person. Giant edifices are built on solid foundations.

We bid adieu to you Rahul Dravid

It brings an end to a wonderful and illustrious career. i watched him play in his debut match in Lords. I felt very bad for him when he got out on 95, wondering if he will get another chance to make the 100. Well, I am happy I was wrong. He has made many centuries. Many of them overseas and in matches we desperately needed. But over the last few years more than the cricket it was the way he handled his life that has made me respect him even more. Dravid has the brains to go with game. He is humble and extremely likeable. As I read his statemet today, there were tears in my eyes during this part

He began by reading out his statement, his voice steady as he listed the people who'd played a part in every stage of his career - coaches, selectors, trainers, physios, officials, team-mates, family, even the media. He ended with the Indian cricket fan. "The game is lucky to have you and I have been lucky to play before you… My approach to cricket has been reasonably simple: it was about giving everything to the team, it was about playing with dignity and it was about upholding the spirit of the game. I hope I have done some of that. I have failed at times, but I have never stopped trying. It is why I leave with sadness but also with pride."

We will miss you too Rahul. Thanks for remembering us.

"I hope I have done some of that. I have failed at times, but I have never stopped trying" These are the words that I would like to say about myself when I am about to die. That is all one can do (in my view).

Viv Richards turns 60

A fan discusses cricket and Richards.

Most people might feel the guy is crazy, but well I understand how it feels!

Some excerpts

 

Ah, Lenny. Who once stopped inches from your face after sending one whizzing past the regal nose - and traced out a crucifix on your forehead. And you followed him all the way back to the top of his endless run-up. To brandish your fist in his face, glowering. Then walked briskly back to the crease to smash him straight for six the very next ball. "He destroyed you physically, mentally and emotionally," Lenny was to say later. You were all deeds; words and theatrics you dispensed with. "My bat is my sword," you said.

Do I need to say anything more!

 

Some decent pieces

Unfortunately they are too few.

On the state of affairs on the economy by Ninan here

(Link via tgs)

General comment

I find so few articles lamenting the state of affairs under the UPA rule. The economy has posted a very low growth rate this quarter. The growth rate has been successively reducing for the last 7-8 quarters. Well, that does not attract any attention. Moreover, it seems like it is not important.The growth rate of the economy does not influence people right. Whenever an economy slows down the most affected are the poor people. Their windows of oportunity to escape poverty are dashed.

The recent court directive on interlinking of rivers has attracted criticism. I mean is that greatest problem affetcing India now. The wonderful and faulty schemes such as NREGA, Right to Education and Right to Food are draining the economy so poorly. but well who cares, we dont comment or even discuss such stuff. The number of lost opportuntiies for people is not an issue. What I can't understand is how can you see people affected in a one time event versus a daily event. I agree if say a dam is built people and environment is affected. But at the same time the policies of this government are affecting the whole country. This I guess isn't the sexiest thing you can write on your facebook status. Man i get bummed at such ridiculous and skewed comparisons of reality. 

On top of that I see huge articles on how Narendra Modi should not be the next PM candidate. Really, has BJP announced Modi to be the PM candidate? I personally believe Modi should not even consider being the candidate. For his role in godhra riots he should not even be a politician, but thats life for you. he wins his elections and BJP does not have an option but to be with him in Gujarat. But give me a break, you have no issues with Rahul gandhi being the next PM candidate. I dont see 2 page editorials on why Rahul Gandhi should not be the PM. We are ok with Rahul Gandhi being the pm because he has "Gandhi" at the end. Talk about hypocrisy... Anyway..