The Departure of the Prince

If there was ever an Indian cricketer who could associate with himself the words passion, fight, aggression and desire, it had to be Sourav Ganguly.

There are millions of Indians who would not admit that they love Dada. And there are millions who would. There was a time when the debate between Ganguly haters and Ganguly lovers was the most interesting thing in Indian cricket. I have been part of such debates and quite unabashedly, taken both the sides at different times.

It is tough to be labeled as one of the most hated man in the country. Though if someone really said that, you or I would have dismissed it as hyperbole on second thoughts, but I doubt if Ganguly would. It is easy to be a Sachin Tendulkar, to be loved every second, and to have bad patches dismised as bad lucks. It is easy to be a Rahul Dravid, with no one ever doubting your technique or skill. It was never easy to be Sourav Ganguly. And to have your passion and dedication questioned at every step, it is indeed hell.

Dada taught India how to look in the eye of the opponent. If not for him, the subsequent captains and teams wouldn’t have been half as aggresive as they turned out to be. Many regard Ganguly’s act of making Steve Waugh wait for the toss as unethical. In retrospect, I wouldn’t consider it to be an unethical act. Yes, Steve Waugh is an amazing cricketing mind and respected senior, but a little bit of egoism and a little bit of high handedness from the Indian captain probably set the tone for the series. Of course, it would have been shameful had India lost, but the team went  on to complete a historic series victory. Ganguly deserved all that.

As Indian cricket fans, we do the same mistake again and again. Most of the time we are ignorant of how to measure success and talent. Like how evaluating Sachin’s success in terms of India’s victories and defeats is pedestrian and narrow line of thought, it is equally pedestrian to think of Ganguly’s contribution in terms of the runs he has scored and the batting average he holds.

Seldom do people with a quiet disposition and straightforward thinking succeed in life. A little bit of eccentricity and craziness is often associated with deep thinkers and intelligent men. They approach problems differently. They do so because they are passionate and immensely love what they do. Sourav Ganguly had nerves of steel, who could take on the world’s greatest captains and their teams, and turn the tide with his leadership. India would undoubtedly miss Dada, the leader and also Dada, the offside specialist.

It is a season where we are all watching a presidential candidate trying to gain some foothold by proclaiming himself as a “maverick”. Why is that suddenly such a positive sounding word? I am not sure if that candidate is worthy of the term but if there was ever a maverick in the Indian cricket team, worthy of our respect for exactly those qualities, then it had to be Sourav Ganguly.

So long, and thanks for all the clenched teeth.

Blog and Photograph Plagiarism

The issue, at least back in India, is getting out of hand. Though they call themselves professionals and operate under the highest ethical standards, they let things slip up and don’t even bother acknowledging or apologizing for it. I am talking about newspapers and the leading ones at that. There have been a number of instances in the past year or so.

With Web 2.0 and the ease of access to information, people take things for granted. Here in my university and other such institutions, plagiarism is dealt with serious consequences and academic integrity of highest standards is expected from every student. And when it comes to newspapers and big brand names doing the same, it is quite pathetic. I am not sure if they believe they are impervious and can get away with it, or they are simply not aware. Something that indicates serious lack of professionalism.

Sudipta passed on this message to spread the awareness of such petty thefts. I had read about Twilight Fairy’s experience and recently, that of Shrinidhi. The very first instance and one that is much closer home, is that of Gapp and his photo being published in a youth run newspaper. But ultimately, it turned out to be a goof up by our very own prankster. Gapp believed that the online version of the newspaper reflected what appears in the print copy. But his picture had appeared only in the online version and his picture had a creative commons license, which meant, anyone could have (re)used it online! Gapp turned out to be the joker here, and you can read about the hilarious story, here, here and here. In that order.

So, the key here is awareness. We need to read between the lines on what is right, what is wrong, and act accordingly. Spread the word. Some of them think they can walk away unscathed and they need a goal kick on their back side.

Thoughts on IPL

There was a time when the excitement of a cricket match was natural. People drove around on the roads of Bombay with the Indian flag draped around them, their cars etc. This was even before a victory. It was around 2003 and it was the World Cup. It must have either been India vs Pak or India vs Australia. Heck, I gave up on my board exam and invited friends, bought snacks and waited for the match to begin.

Cut to 2008 and we have contrived excitement all over India. I just don’t understand why so much of marketing and propaganda is going into this. Forget BCCI’s revenge on ICL, BCCI’s show of might or Lalit Modi’s whims. Why is there a major build up to everything concerning IPL? Why didn’t it just stop with stars purchasing teams and becoming owners? I did like that joke of Saif in an awards function when he said, my friend here(SRK) was not allowed to watch a cricket match and so he bought himself a team!

Thankfully people watching IPL on CBN are not subjected to the countless ads. Or so I hear. I have watched, probably, 10 overs of IPL so far. I read about it here and here. Why is Sivamani there in the stadium adding to all the frenzy? I can understand if I see SRK in Kolkata or Preity Zinta in Mohali. You cannot see Mukesh Ambani often because he has a proper job. The other owners have a job that requires them to show their face at regular intervals. Lets not even get into the whole cheer girls thing. Why are these people being such a dramebaaz? Like someone remarked, if a sport resorts to cheer girls dancing, singing half of the time, the sport must be really shallow. I liked Ramachandra Guha’s comment on it though:

“All the organisers are doing by making scantily-clad white women dance in front of huge crowds is to stoke the base voyeuristic and sexual insecurities of the Indian male. It is revolting, appalling and shows the game in very poor light.”

I am all for T20 cricket but then its neither being played nor marketed the right way. It is good fun. Things take a turn in a matter of a ball. The T20 world cup showed how exciting it can be and it also showed how bowlers do have something to play for. But then having a league with players worth millions, we have a strong batting side hitting sidelined Indian players all around the ground. Add to this Sivamani, Washington Redskins cheerleaders, Bhajji slapping, Sreesanth crying and countless brands laughing their way to the bank.

A friend compared IPL to league football and said we could do with something like that in Cricket. Thats so illogical. Mukul Kesavan points out beautifully. It is very pedestrian and it highlights ignorance when you make such a comparison. League football celebrates football in all its splendor and glory. It’s proper ninety minutes of play. Not a toned down version like T20. They don’t try so hard to market themselves. Don’t tell me they don’t have to. They never did. I’ll watch Real Madrid play Manchester United at Old Trafford rather than Mumbai Indians play Chennai Super Kings. That is until they play proper cricket and inspire me to give up my board exam and invite friends home. On the pitch, that is. Not on Royal Sundaram stand with Vijay, Nayanthara and Sivamani!

On a completely different note, some of those marketing minds at work are truly gods. You can’t help but like this. Truly remarkable people at work.

(First published on Desicritics)