Twenty years on.

 This morning I chanced upon Siddhartha Vaidyanathan's this excellent piece on Twitter. He writes

Twenty years down the road, you might not remember all the details from this Test. What is likely to remain are vivid memories of time, place, and feeling. Where you watched this final day, at what time of the day or night, with whom. Maybe your phone buzzed with texts and notifications in the climactic stages. Maybe you slept through an entire session.

The man is a genius. He happens to be one of my favorite sportswriters. I haven't read anyone who can effortlessly capture every emotion that one would experience while watching a cricket match.

The final session of the Gabba test that ended on 19th Jan 2021 was truly epic! I have always been a fan of test cricket and T20 hasn't managed to allure me away from it. And I have been eagerly looking forward to this series down under and like everyone I was really apprehensive of India's chances.

Given that I was now in London, there was a challenge with the telecast time. The match telecast started at 11:30pm and ended at 7am! Luckily due to the lockdown caused by the pandemic, my sleep pattern was completely screwed and I didn't have much trouble staying up late and following the entire series. 

Cricket is a team sport! One fares well at it only if you are part of a good team( either as a player or a fan)! So on that final day (a really freezing morning in London) at around 6:45am, when India was 265/5, I messaged my college WhatsApp group asking if anyone was following the match. I got an immediate response from Deepak and Saravana; with Sapta joining a while later. What followed was a rollercoaster ride of emotions.

Frustration on Mayank throwing away his wicket. Delight at Pant's strokes. Awe at Washington Sundar's two fantastic hits of Cummins. A sigh when Sundar got out. Trepidation when Shardul Thakur fell. Sheer elation when Pant finally scored the winning runs (I did a Ganguly dance early in the morning)! The #Gabbatoir had been breached! All of these emotions were experienced during several texts that we exchanged in the group in a matter of 15-30 minutes!

SidVee in his article compares the just concluded Brisbane test to the Chennai test of 2001. Surprisingly, I had felt the same as well. I did say this to my friends on the chat.  Readers of this blog will know that I have already documented how my friends and I missed the birth of the Draxman legend. But would you believe it if I told you that we weren't fortunate enough to follow the 2001 Chennai test as well?

It so happened that on the final day of the test match, We were forced to remain in college well beyond the stipulated hours as we had to get our Analytical Chemistry records certified by our Professor. Our Professor had decided to take his NSS cadets to a camp and was expected to return only around 3pm that day. It was really frustrating! We however managed to find a guy who was following the scores on his car radio, and there we sat intently listening to the commentary. Every second of that see-saw battle in the final session was torture. The occasional Hindi commentary on the radio was comical (Thankfully we didn't have to put up with Manjrekar)! But, we all experienced the same rollercoaster of emotions during that final session of play! 

Twenty years have passed from Chennai to Brisbane. TWENTY YEARS! In these 2 decades, a lot has changed in our lives. We don't meet each other that often. We hardly see each other in person. Saravana and I live in the same city(worked in the same part of the city) but we haven't met each other for over 3 years now! We all have had our ups and downs in our lives. many of us are still learning and thinking about what to do with it! But I am really glad that one thing hasn't, the collective joy of watching a test match together!!

I am sure 20 years from today when all of us are close to retirement (or already retired) we will continue to enjoy cricket and test matches as we did on that day in Chennai!

How to measure success/failure of Demonetization?

1. When and where did anyone from Govt or RBI claim that they expect nearly 5 lakh crores of the 15.44 lakh crores to not comeback post demonetization? Do anyone of you have a video or news article regarding the same?

2. Can anyone point me to the stats of RBI that shows that 90% of 15.44 lakhs has comeback? Not from media outlets but from official Govt sites. PS: I am equally cynical os both Govt and News outlet figures.

3. Even if 100% money has returned how and why do journalists claim demonetization is a failure?

These are 3 honest and simple questions. Can anyone please objectively educate me on these 3 points?

Reflection

Whats the first thing that comes to your mind, when you hear the word "Reflection" ?

A mirror right?

Would you believe if I told you many years back, if I heard the word, I would think of the Java package java.lang.reflect!

Depending on which side of the spectrum you stand, you would now think me to be a loser or a pseudo-geek! That's understandable. But , in order to explain the how and they why behind my thought process, I would have to take you back in time.

After a disappointing Class XII results, I was literally left in the lurch! Obviously I wasn't good enough for IIT. Even though, I had a decent score in TNPCEE exams, my school scores weren't good enough to get me a free seat in any of the DOTE-I colleges. With my cut-off I could still manage a payment seat in any of the DOTE-II colleges. But neither my Dad nor I were willing to go that way. We weren't really sure if that was worth it.

To make matters worse, I did not receive interview calls from any of the Arts & Science colleges I had applied for (it turned out later on that most Arts & Science in Chennai hardly received any applicants from CBSE, so they rarely sent out invites to the few who applied).With colleges like Loyola and M.C.C also rejecting my application, I was getting really desperate. I wasn't sure what I was going to do if the rest of the colleges too do not send me an invite for an interview. From being on the verge of a successful launch to greater heights, I was now falling off the proverbial cliff!

I did receive an invite letter from Guru Nanak College after a couple of weeks. But the letter also mentioned that I was wait-listed candidate (Wait List No: 17)! With confidence at nadir, I really didn't know what to make of it. During the interview I did meet a lot of my old school friends. Apparently many of them had scored about the same marks as me (80%) and they too were wait-listed, but then all of them had already plans to pursue B.E/B.Tech degree even if they were to choose a payment seat in any of the DOTE-II colleges. They were attending this interview only as stop-gap solution, I was among the minority of my friends, who would continue to study the course fully if and when selected!

I was finally offered a seat, but my confidence had taken so hard a hit, I wasn't sure of anything anymore. You don't need me to tell you what a sorry figure you would become if your self confidence takes a hit! Late 90s in India saw a boom for the services industry. With software companies mushrooming at every nook and corner. There was a craze for programming courses and anyone who completed a 2-3 years course were getting employed quickly. Common sense required me to take up a computer course to ensure I was professionally employable (or at least competitive enough) once I completed my Bachelor's degree. I got myself admitted to NIIT after clearing their Bhavishya Jyothi scholarship program. But none of this did anything helpful in me regaining my self-confidence.

Luck seemed to had completely deserted me even at NIIT. I was assigned to a batch which had the worst faculty ever! She hardly knew her stuff and to compensate for it, she was a disaster in communication as well (What would you call a person who added an extra "ed" to the words called, told etc.?).

to be continued.....

Dreamsdrop

A flash of light, so bright that he could sense it even with his eyes closed and then the accompanying loud noise woke him from his slumber.



He found himself alone in a strange but familiar room. He is confused because he cannot recollect falling asleep in it. Further, he can't find either his wife or son!!



 "What place is this? Why does the place look familiar?" He recollects that yesterday was the 28th May 2016, he had gone to bed early. But he still can't conclude how he ended up here.



As his eyes adjusted to the light, he could see that he was in a small rectangular room which had a single door, but no windows.

The door was firmly closed, but he could see a strange flickering light seeping through the edges of the door.



He could hear feeble voices from the other side of the door. He walks over to the door and tries to open it, but the door wouldn't budge. He knocks at the door, hoping that whoever is outside would hear him and maybe open it! But despite multiple knocks and kicks, nobody opens the door.



He gives up on his futile attempt and tries to listen for the voices again. He hopes from the voice he might try figuring out his whereabouts.



He could hear two distinct voices; the first of a voice of a man in his late twenties and the second was that of a boy in teens. Surprisingly both the voices sounded familiar. However, He still couldn't place the faces associated with the voices. It was also evident that the two of them had been conversing for quite a while.



Man: So what do you think about your scores?


Boy: I hated Hindi, but still feel I could have scored better. I am disappointed with my Maths and Science scores, I think I did a lot better than what I scored. I should really have scored over 90 in SST. I am surprised I scored only 88. And finally, I am most disappointed with my English score.


Man: Disappointed?? You were the school topper in English and your score was among the top 0.1% across all CBSE students who appeared for the exam? Disappointed isn't the word that I would use here!!


Boy: I actually shared the top spot with two others. But ..... that isn't the problem. I mean, yeah I liked the spotlight and everything that came with it. But the truth is.. err... I didn't deserve it!!


Man: What do you mean? The marks or the spotlight?


Boy: I mean, I did write the paper well, I answered all the questions correctly. But I am not convinced that my answers were worth the top marks I received. I mean, I know a lot more people who are a lot better than me in English but scored lesser than me. I believe the marking scheme isn't ideal to evaluate someone in English. If only I had scored as well in either Science or Maths. I would be happy!


Man: Hmm. Point taken. Maybe that is why you never mention it anywhere nowadays!


Boy: What do you mean??


Man: I will come to that. But tell me, have you decided what you plan to do now?


Boy: Yes. I will take up Science stream in the same school.


Man: Don't you want to change your school? Move to a different board maybe, like many of your classmates?


Boy: Dad says "A good student will be able to score well in any school/syllabus"! And I really agree with him. Moreover, I don't think I can stand the teachings at any State Board schools. I am not good at rote learning anyway.


Man: Well, Dad is right.! I just wanted to test how confident you are with your decision. Believe me, when you are me, many will want you to believe this was your first mistake. But don't worry. That decision was probably worth all the trouble it gave you!


Boy: Any other words of advise? Please tell me what am I going to experience??


Man: I can, but then what's the fun in that? I shall, however, give you advice, without giving you specifics. Yes, you are about to embark on the best year of school life(Probably of your entire student life). A year in which you will experience many firsts. A year where you will meet the best of your friends. This will be a year where you will fall in crazily in love with something which results in you in ignoring other things that are equally important.



Boy: I will fall in love?? With what??




Man: I think you already know the answer to that question! Anyway, as I was saying. The thing you would fall in love with it won't be permanent. You won't pursue it more than 5 years


Boy: So are you saying, all that wouldn't be worth it?


Man: No, no... I mean, You will enjoy and cherish the experience. But you wouldn't pursue it any further, Probably because you will find a greater love (if at all there is such a term) and you will never regret it!



Inside the room, it suddenly dawned on our man why the voices sounded familiar to him. He had been part of the same conversation a long time back.  This was his dream a decade ago!!



This was eerie! How can one dream the same dream twice after a span of 10 years?



Was he in a dream again?? Was he in the same dream? No, that can't be!!

In the dream, he was the Man giving advise to his 15-year-old self. But here he seems to be experiencing the conversation from a third person's perspective! How is this even possible?? Where the hell is he?? And what the hell is going on??





Whatever the shit. He knew the series of events that was going to happen outside. He feared he might again end up again giving bad advise to his 15-year-old self. He had to get the door opened somehow. This was something he was determined to change at all cost. But he still couldn't get the door to open! He was desperate now!



Boy: OK. So any other tips?


Man: Yeah one main thing. You are too quick to arrive at decisions. Although you are almost always correct in the judgment you arrive yet. I would suggest that you will need to step back and slow down. This would help you when you become me!


Suddenly the doors melted. It looked as if, the door was waiting for this exact moment in the conversation before it could disappear. He dashes into the adjoining room shouting "Wait!!! Scratch that!".



He first looks at the Man and says "I know that from your experience, you are cautioning your younger self from taking hasty decisions, but believe me when you become me, you will really regret yourself for deliberating too long on the pros/cons of a situation before of arriving at few decisions!"



He looks at the Boy "Please continue to be yourself and trust your instincts! Your decisions are almost always correct! So don't be careless and at the same time don't be too careful either!"



"And finally please pay more attention to Physics this year, that will help you in the long run".



Boy: How would that help?



Given that we are part of this conversation every decade and also with the discovery of gravitational waves, maybe we can make this meeting a lot more fruitful next time around!!

Expectations from manifesto

Dear ADMK Manifesto writers,

Grapevine is abuzz with rumors that your party is planning to announce any one of the following freebies in your manifesto.
(a) LCD TV
(b) Scooty
(c) Refridgerator
(d) 200 units free power
(e) Gold for marriage from 4g to 8g

Its election time and probably the only time, you guys are willing to listen to listen to our feedback. So let me stick my neck out and put in my preference.

I am already married, I don't need the 4g to 8g gold. What can one do with Gold anyway? I would have to deposit it in bank locker(for which I have to pay an annual rent)!

I don't need a refrigerator, as my kitchen already has one and there is not enough room to have two refrigerators in one kitchen.

I don't need 200 units of free power because after the election I know that whichever party comes to power there is gonna be massive power cuts, and I anyway stand to gain more than 200 units per month.

I don't need a scooty because there is hardly any place to park the vehicle at home and also I am frightened the impact this will have on the road traffic. (Psst. I just hope Arvind Kejriwal doesn't get a wind of this, he might announce an Odd-Even plan in Chennai as well)!!

I would prefer an LCD, but please ensure that the TV is at least 40inches and is from either Samsung, LG or Sony brands. But the main thing is that I don't want an Amma Screensaver on it. You must be aware that the last time DMK provided free TV sets, the voters were so irritated seeing DMK leader's face everytime the TV was switched on that they actually voted the party out for it!!!

#kthnxbai

Escape from campus!

College strikes and class disruptions have become so common these days. You get to read about them in newspapers almost every day. Fortunately, they weren't that common during my stint in college. During my tenure as a student, I've experienced a strike only once. But even that was an unforgettable experience!



As a rule of law, political parties or their youth wings are prevented from getting involved in college elections. Although the rules were quite strict, people always found ways to work around these, wards of some politicians end up contesting or winning elections even in colleges (without displaying the party flag of course)! My college enforced these rules quite strictly wherever possible. The election campaign was forced to be pretty mute, college walls couldn't be used for campaign posters etc. Once a candidate was successfully elected for one year, he couldn't contest the next year. On the election day, there was generally a section 144 imposed. Students were forced to leave the college campus immediately after they've cast their ballot. Maybe the election commission can learn a trick or two from our college authorities back then.



Given how taxing these elections were for the students, staff and the management, the college authorities tried always to avoid elections(if they could). They tried negotiations with all those candidates who were willing to contest, sometimes even dragging in the parents of the candidates and discouraging their wards from contesting. The authorities wanted most student posts to get filled un-opposed in order to avoid any scuffles. They were successful most of the time.



During my final year, the college authorities tried the same trick, but apparently, things didn't work out. It so happened that, While my friends and I were attending a lecture on organic chemistry, we heard loud whistles and catcalling from outside our classroom. So loud were these noises that our professor Venkatraman sir stopped the lecture immediately and left the classroom. And then after a while, we heard our Principal's voice on the loudspeaker. Understandably, he had hit the roof and threatened to suspend all students who were causing a commotion. He thought that this would calm down the students and bring them back to the negotiating table. But he was grossly mistaken. The protesting students were further enraged and the situation turned worse.



The authorities were forced to call the police and they were stationed outside the college campus. While the protesting students had locked-in the college gates and none were allowed to go out. With classes all suspended, and canteen being closed, we were completely locked in. After over 2 hrs, we heard the news that the agitating students had stoned the Principal's office and that there could be further trouble. Rumors floated that the police would enter the campus at any moment and lathi charge all protesting students. Basically, mayhem was about to occur and in all probability, we were going to be in the middle of it. This is when my friends (Sapta, Deepak, Saravana, Kumararaja, Yogesh, Rejiesh) and I decided that we've had enough and we planned to escape.



There is only one entrance to our college campus and this is via the main gate. There is a 30 ft road, that leads from the main gate (passing adjacent to our college cricket ground) to the Principal's office and the other departments of the college campus. There is another road that passes around the cricket ground and leads back to the main gate (this passes via the college hostel and the auditorium). But this road is seldom used for two main reasons (a) its a longer route.  (b) Passes through a lot of wilderness. Our campus is situated adjacent to IIT Madras campus (which by itself is covered by a lot of trees). You could easily get lost in the campus if you didn't know where you were going.



We knew that the main gate was out of bounds and our only means of escape was through IIT campus. But for this, we had to scale a wall about 8-10 feet tall. Mind you, if we were caught doing this by any of the college authorities, we were in for trouble. They would have suspected us to be a part of the protesting students and then we would have been at the mercy of the police and in case we were caught by the fellow students, they would have branded us as traitors!



For a moment we debated scaling the wall near the labs and restrooms, but then dropped it because of the risk of being spotted by any casual observer from the labs or the restroom windows.  So our only other option was to scale the wall somewhere near the college auditorium. This area was covered with a lot of trees and wilderness and any attempts of escape will go un-noticed (if executed correctly). But all of us couldn't walk on casually towards the auditorium as we would have ended up attracting a lot of attention towards ourselves. So we planned to do it groups of three and soon found ourselves in a secluded spot behind the auditorium. Here the wall was easier to scale, but there was barbed wire above the wall and so we had to be quite careful not injuring ourselves.



Once we jumped on to the IIT campus, we couldn't walk out of the gate again as this would have been illegal as well. So we had to find another spot within IIT campus from where we could climb over the wall and get back on the main road. After a while, we finally managed to find a good spot, but we found ourselves a bit away from the main road (safe from all the attention). We were all smiles, grinning from ear to ear. Why not? We had successfully planned and executed our escape to clinical perfection. However, our escape was still not complete. We still had to take a bus and leave back home (and we had to do this without attracting any attention that we were our college students). The bus passed through our college main gate, so after we boarded the bus, we hid our id cards in our bags and pretended to be students of some other college.



When the bus arrived at our college stop, were shocked to see it very crowded. We were worried something had happened. For a second I even thought that the crowd was there to catch us as we had fled the college (refusing to participate in the protests)! But then to our astonishment, we noticed that our college gates had opened and all the students were walking out and leaving home. Apparently, while we were plotting and executing our escape, some negotiation had occurred between the college authorities and the protesting students and they had come to an agreement to re-open the college gates so that the students could go home for the day!

Its not over until its over!

Not often do you learn quite a few lessons from a Cricket match! However, yesterday's match was an encyclopedia by itself. There are numerous learnings from the match that can be really helpful when applied in real life. The following were some of my learnings from yesterday's match.

• Never underestimate an opponent(Never underestimate a task): It was quite evident from pre-match press conference, few players(commentators and fans) underestimated Bangladesh as an opponent. They didn't dismiss them completely; but didn't consider them as a serious opponent. This was quite understandable, having defeated Bangladesh so comfortably in Asia cup and never having lost to them(yet) in a Twenty20 game. 

• To err is human: Jaspreet Bumrah misfielded the very first ball of the Bangladesh innings and the ball crossed the boundary. He then dropped a sitter and conceded 16 runs in his 2nd over. It's natural for anyone to err. But continuing to cry over spilled milk won't help us recover from it.

• Support groups help you in recovery from failure: Friends/Family/Team form an excellent support group and they can help you recover from any failure. The way the entire team rallied and supported Bumrah helped him recover remarkably quick and bowl those two excellent overs at the death.

• Never lose site of the target/Don't ever be complacent: Bangladesh were completely in control of the match till 19.3 overs. Two successive fours had brought them completely within reach. All they had to do was score two simple singles. But they started to celebrate prematurely after they scored the second four and thought they had already won the match.

• Don't be careless, but don't be too careful either: Dhoni's decision of bowling out his main bowlers before the 20th over was really praiseworthy! This decision could have easily gone against him and he would have been roasted over coals for that. But he stuck to his strength. He knew his strike bowlers would get him the wickets and then he can stretch the match very late.

• Never give up: It's not over until it's over. His cheeky stumping of Shabbir, his brilliant field placements, his presence of mind to remove the glove and attack the stumps after the last ball of the match are all laudable(The legend of MS Dhoni continues to grow)!!

• It's ok to let out steam every once in a while: The ever so calm Dhoni lost his cool (rightly) against a journo (NDTV?) who was asking stupid questions in the post match press conference. This clearly shows that Modi is human as well and such rare occurrences of letting out his anger can help him in the long run!