A visit to Karnataka

Have been on a field visit to interior Karnataka for the past week or so to study the operations of a micro finance organisation. Its been one hectic trip full of learnings and experiences. We used to get up early in the morning to attend meetings of borrowers. These meetings usually begin around 6-6.30 am and last for around 30-45 minutes. The borrowers are poor women, eking out a living through agriculture, animal husbandry, running petty shops and small time businesses. Getting a loan of around Rs 10K means a lot to them. It can help them buy that cow which would yield milk that they could sell. They could buy a couple of sheep or goats, breed them and sell them at the weekly market in town. A bullock would prove very handy to till the small pieces of land that they have. It would provide crucial working capital for the small corner shop that they run. People line up to borrow as less as a thousand rupees. Yes they are poor. But the hope that flickers in their eyes is to be seen to be believed. Years of isolation and negligence have not dampened that hope that there might be a better tomorrow. And they are prepared to toil for it.

Thriller at the Oval!

What a humdinger! What a contest! Right down to the wire. How many of us honestly expected India to pull it off after watching Mascarenhas smash sixes off the final five deliveries of the 50th over? Not many I would presume. All credit then to the old firm of Ganguly and Tendulkar who batted as if there was no tomorrow. And Robin Uthappa, of course! Imagine being a passenger all tour and then being suddenly thrust into the role of finisher for such a crucial game. The daggers would have been out, and a bit justifiably too, had he failed and India goofed up the chase. But Uthappa justified the faith shown in him by his captain. Ok, more than a couple of edges flew behind the stumps for boundaries, including an inside edge off Anderson that practically shaved the leg stump. But there is some truth in the adage that you create your own luck. Putting Uthappa down as one of the young turks to watch out for during the World Cup, I had then noted how he seemed so composed even while hitting outrageous shots over the infield. There does not seem to be even a hint of desperation in his hitting which reminds me of a certain Virender Sehwag at his peak. When he hit the fine off drive that took India to victory, Ravi Shastri was so overcome with emotion he hollered, "Uthappa you beauty! You deserve ten dosas!" Well said Ravi. And add an extra helping of chutney too, for Uthappa really spiced things up at the Oval on that wonderful evening!

Hyderabad Explodes

Another time, another place. Another set of those despicable things called bombs go off. Another set of innocent people are killed. Somebody's son, somebody's mother, somebody's father, somebody's daughter. I just called up a few colleagues and was satisfied after learning they were safe. Period. What about those who died? Those who lost their loved ones? So easy to talk about the spirit of India or Hyderabad or whatever when we have not lost anything personally. Will the spirit of India provide succour to the mother who lost her son? Will yet another ritualistic security 'review' help in bringing back the dead? Why do I feel that as a nation we are slowly losing our sense of security? Why are we being made pawns in this global game of terror? Why? What kind of battle is this where the perpetrators are faceless barbarians? What ideology justifies this? Who will answer these questions? The Government? Which is itself hanging by the proverbial thread? A soft state. That is what we have become. And the softer you get, the harder it hits. Often below the belt.

Wimbledon - Safin vs Qureshi

So its going to be Federer against Safin in the third round of Wimbledon. Safin defeated Pakistan's Aisam Qureshi in straight sets 6-4, 6-2, 7-6. I was really impressed with Qureshi's game. Though he lacked the power to defeat a big man like Safin, he could have easily given him a run for his money. The Pakistani has a beautiful serve-and-volley game which takes you back atleast two decades, when power and speed had not yet reduced tennis to a baseline slugfest. And it was not as if he didn't have his chances. If he had converted even half of the numerous break points that regularly came his way, he could have put enormous pressure on Safin. And who knows? Given Safin's self-dectructing tendency when under pressure, it could have gone down to the wire. Anyways, so much for wishful thinking. Meanwhile, the Fed Express marches on . . .

The breed of All-Rounders in cricket

Jacques Kallis dropped Sourav Ganguly off the third ball of the first match between India and South Africa at Belfast. He might as well have caught it. For he decided to make amends for it later. And when all-rounders decide to make amends, they often end up atoning for past mistakes twice. First, Kallis took 2 wickets in the final over dashing India's hopes of crossing 250 (which proved decisive in the final analysis). He then non-chalantly compiled a match winning unbeaten 91 in difficult conditions, even as wickets tumbled all around him. Oh yeah, he also pouched 2 catches for good measure.
All-rounders. A different breed altogether. Supremely confident of their abilities, they strut their stuff with pride knowing that they can get you either way, with bat or ball. Sometimes both. Just turn the clock back a bit. Some of the most exhilerating moments in cricket have come through the exploits of all-rounders. That prince of the game, Sir Garfield Sobers - the ultimate all-rounder. The Big 4 of the 80's - Kapil Dev, Imran Khan, Sir Ian Botham and Sir Richard Hadlee. Freddie Flintoff and Jacques Kallis among the many today. Oh yes, the new breed of wicket-keeping 'all-rounders'. Take a bow, Messrs Adam Gilchrist, Mark Boucher and Mahendra Dhoni. Me thinks we will have to add a certain Matt Prior to that list in some years.

Reliance 'Fresh'?

Reliance Fresh is the new rage (quite literally) in town. The food and grocery retail outlets of the Mukesh Ambani Group have been the target of often violent protests by vegetable vendors who are worried about the effect the outlets will have on their livelihood. Attracted by cheap prices, customers have been flocking in hordes to the outlets giving sleepless nights to the vendors. The situation is such that many outlets go out of stock within a couple of hours after opening.
While the situation seems good for the customers, recent experiences with Reliance Fresh show that the stamp of Reliance does not necessarily guarantee quality at all times. I say this from personal experience as on many occassions recently, the supposedly 'fresh' fruits and vegetables I bought from Reliance Fresh turned out to be the exact opposite. One would expect Reliance to not cut corners like this and stock really 'fresh' products on its shelves. Moreover, what I have noticed is that people have faith in Reliance and do not select the fruits and vegetables as carefully as they would have done if they were purchasing them from a roadside vendor. Reliance should take this faith for granted at its own peril. Also, the prices are slowly but surely being increased. Not so fast, Mr Ambani. The vegetable vendors are still lying in wait to win customers back.

The Presidential Farce

The race for who gets to occupy Rashtrapati Bhawan next has been reduced to a farce even before it has begun. A numerically insignificant but vocally belligerent Left has made the Congress bow down once again before its whims and fancies. Forget the ruling combination and the opposition forming a consensus on a suitable candidate as President, the ruling UPA itself was not able to zero in on a name that was acceptable to everyone (chiefly the Left). The names of Shivraj Patil, Pranab Mukherjee, Arjun Singh, Karan Singh, Mohsina Kidwai cropped up but all were rejected due to a variety of reasons ranging from infighting within the Congress itself to rejection by the Left.
Enter Pratibha Patil. Huh? Come again. When was the last time you heard that name? Ok now I am nobody to doubt her credentials (she is currently Governor of Rajasthan) but I think there are atleast a dozen more leaders who have superior political stature and mass appeal. Having been rudely arm-twisted into a blatant compromise by the Left, the Congress is now trying to project Patil's nomination as being a 'historic moment for women'. Ah! Tokenism is and has always been the last refuge of our politicians. Lets see. Has the Bill reserving 33% of seats in Parliament and State Assemblies for women been passed? How many woman ministers do we have in this country? And for God's sake, how does it matter to the common woman in the cities and villages of India? Has their lot improved all of a sudden?
Where does all this leave poor Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, the almost certain nominee of the opposition NDA and current Vice-President of India? He seems to have the better credentials. But elections are always number games. And the numbers seem to overwhelmingly favour Pratibha Patil.

First Rains

The first rains of the monsoon. You feel like soaking yourself in the wet atmosphere, the air heavy with moisture and laden with the smell of wet earth. And the feeling you get after the first drops fall on your skin! Its not only about a sense of overwhelming relief that the rains have arrived finally. Nor is it only about that childish happiness after getting drenched. Its about something much deeper. I personally get this feeling that the first rains are washing away all the anxieties, problems, frustrations, failures et al that have been allowed to settle inside you during the course of the past year. The advent of the monsoon heralds a new beginning washing away the negativities of the past in its swathe and providing nourishment for a thousand seeds of optimism to bloom in your heart. Welcome the rains!

ESPN acquires Cricinfo

Change is the only constant, they say. However one wishes it should not apply to Cricinfo, the premier cricket website. When Cricinfo writes, it doesn't seem as if words have been woven into something that is of mere rhetoric value. When Cricinfo comments, it doesn't seem as if some self-important busybody is sermonising. The passion and true love for the great game shine through in everything that these guys dish out. Now that this site started by amateurs has been acquired by the sports media powerhouse ESPN, one fears as to whether that same passion, that same love will shine through the prism of commercialism. Please guys whatever you do, don'y fall prey to the pulls and pressures that will be an inevitable consequence of being part of one of the world's biggest media networks. All the best!

Cheers! - Kingfisher & Air Deccan come together

So finally the providers of 'aviation hospitality' and 'human transportation' have come together. What a unique match! On one hand there is Mr. Vijay Mallya of Kingfisher who promises you the finest experience in the Indian skies (at a price, of course!) and on the other hand, there is Capt. Gopinath of Air Deccan who exhorts the masses to Simplifly (to hell with the price, it is rock bottom anyways!). So what do we get now? Free Seating and a free-for-all a la Air Deccan on Kingfisher flights? Or sexy airhostesses a la Kingfisher politely asking for 'Krupaya Chutte Paise Tayyar Rakhiyega' on Air Deccan?

Well, jokes apart, the alliance makes sense. With Air India and Indian coming together and the Jet-Sahara deal also getting done (finally!), it seems logical for the two to come together. Should put pressure on Go, IndiGo and SpiceJet. Do I see the Rs 99 base fare days Simply Flying away?

Rajasthan burns

My home state has been literally on fire since the past week. The Gujjar community has been on the rampage because they want what has become one of the most coveted tags in India today i.e. the tag of 'Backwardness'. Maybe they have a legitimate demand. Maybe not. Thats for the authorities to decide. But this happened coz it was promised to them in the last assembly elections that they would be declared as a 'Scheduled Tribe' and - as usual the promise was broken. It doesn't matter which party made the promise. What matters is the fact that politicking in India has become completely caste driven. Efforts to correct the wrongs of yesteryears in the form of 'Affirmative Action' have further widened the cracks in Indian society. And people are prepared to go on the warpath at the slightest hint of provocation. Jaipur, Bharatpur, Dausa, Sawai Madhopur, Alwar, Jhalawar, Dholpur. And the fire spread as far as Delhi, Ghaziabad, Gurgaon, Meerut, Saharanpur, Kanpur.

The signs are really ominous. What do we want? As many nations as there are castes? The India of the Reliances and Kingfishers and Wipros has awakened into the 21st century, with help from Manmohan Singh. Who'll awaken the Gujjars, Meenas, Lodh Rajputs, Jats, Yadavs and their lot? Who'll take the entire country as a whole into the 21st century?

Hamara Bajaj splits

Watched Rahul Bajaj speaking to the press about the demerger of the Bajaj Group. He was talking about it so matter-of-factly it seemed he was announcing the quarterly results of Bajaj Auto. Way to go Sir! Betas happy, shareholders happy (except the insurance undervaluation). A cool Rs 6,500 crore still with the holding company. Looks good so far! And the man himself looks confidence personified. Me wonders what he will do with all that cash?

Rains in Indore

Am recently in Indore, one of the fastest growing cities in India. The city got its first real pre-monsoon shower a day back. It rained fairly hard for a couple of hours. The result? Half a foot of water on arterial roads in prime areas like New Palasia. Looked like a swimming pool. It was a huge task trying to walk in such conditions. Before making grandiose statements about turning our cities into Shanghai or tryng to build a F1 track in India, we should solve the basic problems like water, roads, drainage, transport etc. Imagine there is no direct public transport from my place in Indore to Zanjeerwala Square, an important commercial area, which is barely 2 km away. Lets get the buses moving and the drains flowing. The F1 track will take care of itself.

Lessons from UP

Mayawati's spectacular victory in UP gives interesting insights into a state known as the gateway to the Centre. The fact that someone like Mayawati - one of the most vocal backward class leaders - chose to unabashedly woo the so-called upper castes makes it clear that in Indian politics, you can't have all your eggs in one basket. Now suddenly the focus has shifted somewhat from the OBCs to the upper castes. None other than the PM has said that something should be done for the upper castes. Aye Aye Sir. Why not? Especially after the battering your party got in UP, you have to speak in such tones. Maybe this will force our parties to follow inclusive politics rather than the divisive hate that they indulge in right now.