Do all the good you can, and be remembered

“Do all the good you can, and you will be remembered for not only what you achieved, but also for what you left behind”

Our sportsmen (read cricketers) earn in millions, through endorsements, sponsorships, advertisements and finally a meager amount by playing. Recently, rewards were heaped in countless numbers on the members of the Indian cricket team in cash and kind for having won the World Cup. Those who have been around for a fairly decent time period, having tasted success in small quantum are rich and would have surely amassed a fortune by now.

An interesting fact to be observed over the next few years, is where do these people venture? Saurav Ganguly has retired from International Cricket (has he??) and is now into commentary along with a lot of others. Some former cricketers (Kumara Dharmasena, Paul Riefel) etc have ventured into umpiring. A few of them like Anil Kumble get into cricket administration. What do the remaining people do?

I am curious to know what successful stars, living legends, God for many, idolized by millions in this country do post retirement. More importantly, I am keen in knowing how will such a person patronize sports. Pullela Gopichand has done it. After hanging his boots, he opened a badminton academy, started identifying young and raw talent, groomed them with rigorous training schedules and as a result, today you find a Saina Nehwal, consistently in the top 3 in the International Circuit. We can find petty examples like these in other sports too.

In a country, where cricket is a religion and Sachin is God, other sports are conveniently neglected. In a country of 1.2 billion, all we can boast of, is a single individual Olympic Gold till date. It is not that there is not talent in the country. There is ample amount of talent. Otherwise, Sania Mirza would not have risen to the heights she did. Pankaj Advani would not have become the World Champion. Abhinav Bindra would not have won the Olympic Gold and our shooters, boxers, wrestlers and weightlifters would not have given the consistently good performance that they have given of late. It is only that the talent is not identified at an early stage and groomed properly. And even when it is identified, there is a lack of facilities or infrastructure or financial support to sustain the talent and bring in consistency in the performance. Saina Nehwal, to this day finds it difficult to meet the expenses of her training and other needs. If a World No 2, has to face such days, what will motivate people to play for India? We have world beaters, but we do not have a consistent world beater. We cannot boast of a Michael Phelps or a Lance Armstrong or a Michael Schumacher or a Roger Federer. We cannot boast of a Usain Bolt or a Carl Lewis, for similar reasons. All we can boast of, is a Sachin Tendulkar.

To encourage other sports, the Board of Control for Cricket in India, once announced a yearly grant of funds from its kitty. I don’t know how effective that scheme has been, or was it only on paper. But hey, this is an opportunity for successful cricketers to do something about it. This is an opportunity for them to set standards, as people worship cricket and cricketers. When people like a Tendulkar or a Dravid, a Yuvraj or a Harbhajan do some kind of a gesture, which can benefit others in whatever way, it is bound to go down well and in a very positive way with millions of people.

Just take it a step further. Imagine a scenario, where these people, who have been successful and have amassed fortunes enough for a generation to survive, can do something for the betterment of sports as a whole. Help talented sportsmen from other disciplines, to achieve their goal, their dream of playing for India, of winning for India and of making a place for India in the World Map in that sport. If that can happen, it will be a great chapter in the history of sports. If by their patronage, India is able to win more medals at the Olympics, if by their support, India is able to make a mark for itself in Hockey and in Football, in Formula 1 and in Athletics, in Tennis and in Badminton, it will be a great example of solidarity and compassion towards fellow sportsmen.

Go Anna!!

Anna Hazare has become a household name now. Based on whatever he has done in the last one week, the number of people who know who is Anna has increased exponentially. Anna is not a new name in the field of social service. The septuagenarian, who has served as a driver in the Indian Army, has many accomplishments to his credit. He has built a self sustaining, one of its kind village in Ralegaon Sidhi, in the Ahmednager district of Maharashtra. Earlier, this district used to be one of the poorest in India and today has become one of the richest it seems. His contributions to the civil society have been recognized duly and he has also been honored with the prestigious Padma Bhushan by the Govt. of India.

Recently, he has taken it upon himself to fight against corruption and corrupt people in the country and is fighting for the Lok Pal bill, which will form an authority, who will be autonomous and will make civil servants accountable for their deeds. Anna had started this movement in late February and has garnered the support of a lot of famous personalities from varied walks of life. Last week, he went on a fast unto death because the Govt. had failed to come out with a notification on the Lok Pal Bill. The fast which lasted for close to 4 days, finally ended up in the Govt. relenting and promising to form a committee which will draft the bill and also assuring that the Bill will be passed by August 15^th.

In the midst of all this, there have been some people who have ridiculed whatever Anna is doing for the country. In the ripe old age, he is doing all this selflessly for us, the youth of the country. Some people argue saying that his actions and threats of fasting unto death amount to blackmailing and influencing the functioning of a democratically elected Govt. These people say that there are enough laws and legislations in the country which can already be used to fight against corruption and merely having another law will not do any good.

True. People can file Public Interest Litigations (PILs) and also under the Right to Information (RTI) ask for certain details. But how effective are all these in today’s world? Forget a PIL, filing a First Information Report (FIR) at a police station is a big head ache for the common man. I had to run after the CI and SI of a local police station for 3 full days to file an FIR when my bike was stolen. All said and done, if there are so many laws and legislations, why is corruption still rampant? Why has someone not been able to make use of these laws to bring the guilty to the guillotine?

Coming to the question of blackmailing and influencing the functioning of a democratically elected Govt., we all know how elections are held and how votes are cast in the elections. We all know the type of people who get elected as our representatives. Now people may further argue that it is we who elect these people and we should make sure that such people don’t reach the Parliament. Agree. But what option do I have? I make sure that I cast my vote in every election that happens. Unless everyone around me does the same, I don’t have much of a choice. Now people may also argue that non corrupt people stand for elections and bring out a change. Again, I agree. But change is not something that can happen overnight. It takes time. And especially when we have people like HD Kumaraswamy, who can go on the record to say that it is hard for politics and corruption to not co-exist, and even say that Gandhiji also would have either become corrupt or quit from politics were he alive today, shows the magnitude of the kind of change we are looking at. That’s precisely the reason why this change is difficult if not impossible.

Fortunately, we are living in a democracy. As a democratic nation, all of us as citizens are entitled to run the Govt. the way we want through our elected representatives. As such, I believe, we have every right to protest, if we think that something is going wrong. For Anna, he is doing it after giving proper notice. One citizen of a country has chosen to raise his voice and ask questions, whereas all you and I have chosen to do, is sit back, watch the tamasha and comment on his actions. Again, I agree that all of his demands may not be fully justified. There may be a lot of flaws in his draft also. But the fact is, instead of sitting back and commenting on the same through the media, I think we should make an attempt to communicate it to him, who has taken the mantle upon himself. If we ask questions such as “Who is Anna Hazare to decide what should and what should not form a part of the draft”, we should first ask ourselves about our credibility to sit back and question on his work and efforts.

Go Anna!! We know that your intentions are good and the whole country will rally behind you on your efforts, except for a few goons who will always want to hog limelight. If not anything, teach these goons a lesson!

A Tale of Two Leaders

The last one week has been the most eventful to say the least. India re-conquering the most coveted crown in International Cricket by winning the ICC World Cup 2011 was what it all started with. Hardly was the cricket team being felicitated all over, praises showered on them from all quarters and every member of the team had become a celebrity and rich overnight. The players themselves perhaps have lost track of how much awards and rewards they won after the night of 2^nd April 2011. In the background, another movement was slowly gathering steam. India was slowly advancing for war. The war, however was special. The enemy, was internal, to the system and to the country. The war was against corruption. Standing by their words, following the failure of the Govt. to issue with a notification for introducing the Jan Lokpal bill, number of people thronged Jantar Mantar in a silent protest.

The entire week, however saw the arrival of two leaders on the big scene. MS Dhoni, who made India proud by bringing together a bunch of 11 young men, and conquering the title of the World Champions. MSD later went on, in the inaugural match of the IPL 4 to win the match for his team the Chennai Super Kings with his strategic decisions in the field. A calm and composed person, always keeping his emotions under control, I have never seen him getting worked up under any situation. A very important quality for a leader, because your entire team looks up to you for inspiration, for solutions and if you are weak, your team can only be as strong as you are!! MSD, irrespective of what team he is leading, has managed to do just that. In addition, he has been able to groom people well. Picking people from nowhere, he has made them noticeable. Manpreet Gony, Shadab Jakati and even R Ashwin, who was even a part of the Indian WC campaign were all identified and their talent nurtured under his captaincy. Having trust and faith in the young players and giving them confidence, can work wonders and here is a live example.

Anna Hazare, the septuagenarian from Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra, who is fighting a battle against corruption and corrupt people in the country. Fighting for the youth, he has set an example for all of us. By taking a fast unto death, he has made the Govt. act. As per his latest statement, he says that even if this is considered as blackmail, he will continue to do it, as it is in the public interest. People from all walks of life from politicians to film stars to industrialists to public servants and even common people came in to support him, either physically or otherwise. Support on social media was tremendous and the movement percolated to other cities as well. A whole new wave had started, one which threatened to eclipse the World Cup victory. An important aspect to be noted here is that Anna did not give up or yield to the Govt. at any point of time. He had told the nation in the last week of February earlier this year that if the notification isn’t issued by the 4^th of April, he would go on a fast, and he did that! When his demands were not met and his drafts were modified and re modified, he was firm and stern with his demands. He ensured that he got whatever he wanted. Though I am not in agreement with all his demands have been in totality, I can’t help but salute this man for his humility and his perseverance. He stood against all odds, and he again iterates that he will not let the movement die till it reaches its conclusion. An important lesson to be learnt from here is that one, as a leader should never give up, however difficult the situation may be. You just have to have the perseverance and the energy to go to the last mile.

MSD and Anna, you will be watched closely. All the very best J

It's all in the mind...

“Battles are won twice, first in the mind and then out there in the battlefield” – Anonymus

The victory of the Indian cricket team in the recently concluded Cricket World Cup is a classic demonstration of the same. As Virender Sehwag said, the team had set their eyes on the WC final exactly a year ago in Dambulla in Sri Lanka. From then on, it was a focused effort towards just one goal.

The victory is important, more so because the pressure on the players was tremendous. Playing in front of the home crowd, the pressure of expectations, a cricket crazy nation which can idolize you and take you to the top in no time and the same nation which can bring you down faster than that all these were simply too much to handle. So as coach Gary Kirsten said, though physical fitness was one thing, being mentally tough and strong to handle all these was equally important. And this is what, the Indians did right.

I was reading an article on cricinfo a couple of days back and someone rightly said, that between 2007 and 2011, India has transformed from being a good team with great players to a great team with good players. A big part of this credit has to be given to coach Gary Kirsten, who has maintained a very low profile in the midst of all this hullaballoo. Taking over, when the team was in shackles, having clearly defined goals of becoming the No 1 Test Nation and winning the 2011 World Cup, and ending your tenure on a successful note, having attained both your goals, definitely has to be one of the greatest achievements for someone. A classic case of having a clearly defined goal and then channelizing all your efforts towards attaining that.

After a very long time, I cannot think of any one match in the entire tournament, which we won because of one single player. Every match was won by a combined effort, with the bat, with the ball and in the field. If one player failed to deliver, two others stood up to the task. The number of Indians in the top ten run getters and the top ten wicket takes just goes on to show what a coordinated effort it has been. The final was just another example of what has been happening throughout the tournament. Take the match against Australia, where the run chase was studded with three half centuries, take the match against Pakistan where the 10 wickets were equally divided among the only 5 bowlers. The fielding, particularly in the knockout games was simply exceptional. Gone are the days when people used to stop watching the match when a Sachin Tendulkar or a Virender Sehwag got out.

The amount of hard work, efforts and sacrifice that have gone into the achievement was clearly visible in the emotions that were flowing on the big day. Statements of maturity coming from people like young Virat Kohli are just indicative of that fact. When captain Dhoni kept talking about peaking at the right time, I always used to think that he is using a clichéd phrase. However, it eventually turned out to be exactly what he meant. The best of the performances seemed as if they were reserved for the most important of the matches.

Whatever written about the WC victory is incomplete without giving one man his share. MS Dhoni. What a man, what a leader. You can never understand what is going on in that calm mind till it actually happens. He has demonstrated it time and again. Some of his moves, though questionable ( he would have been taken to the guillotine had his moves to pick Sreesanth ahead of Ashwin OR promoting himself ahead of the in form Yuvi had failed), eventually turned out to be masterclass of an act. Remember the IPL 3 finals, and the way he had Hayden at the mid off, while having a long off as well, just to get rid of Pollard? All you need to now do is to trust this man with whatever he does, because he would have thought about it a hundred times and is doing it only because he thinks that it is the right thing to do. This man is surely going to be a role model for many and there is a lot to learn from him with regards to leadership lessons, management and strategy.

More than anything, it was the commitment towards one single and united objective, the desire to succeed and actions directed towards that desire that separated the good from the great. I have always got a feeling that, when time demands, there have always been players in other teams who have stood up to the demands and delivered. Take the case of Ricky Ponting in the quarters, Mahela Jayawardena in the finals, Andrew Strauss in the league match and so on. I used to feel why do we not have such players, who can make a match out of nothing, who can bounce back from the ground and go on to create history. This team has demonstrated that. Be it a Yuvraj or a Raina, be it a Zaheer or a Munaf, be it a Nehra or a Ashwin, be it a Gambhir or a Kohli, everyone has contributed and at times, when the match threatened to go out of control, these men have come up with inspirational performances to win it for India.