The fearful generation?!

Do we realize we are the most timid generation of Homo Sapiens?
Remember the confessions page?
Well, thank god most of those pages are not functioning now..
But we are still afraid to express our true feelings to someone and hence we need sayat.me
We are too afraid to confront someone and tell them directly that we feel hurt by their actions and instead we will put a philosophical quote regarding karma and wrongly credit Buddha for the quote as our WhatsApp story and wait for him/her to have seen it..

We are too afraid of our own identities..
Or the identities that we have created in society, on social media and in real life which are clearly 3 different representations of our own self!!
We constantly live in fear of being misunderstood but the fact is we have never taken the time out to understand ourselves.
We have been too diplomatic when we are in public and too abusive when we wear the mask of anonymity.
The struggle is to find the right balance.
To be true to ourselves instead of wearing a different mask for each occasion.
We are afraid of losses.
We can't handle the victories..
We are afraid of acceptance.
Oh and just don't talk about denial and rejection.
Sorry we can't handle that.

We are afraid to say the first hello.
We are afraid to put our hand out for the fear opposite one might not extend his..
We are afraid to say sorry..
We are afraid to accept an apology..
Yes, we are the most timid generation of Homo Sapiens and the irony is we pretend to be the strongest and most evolved..

Kohli vs Kumble- A counterview

COUNTERVIEW


Yes, Kumble has stepped down as the head coach of India and he has come out in open and declared how captain had 'reservations' against his style.

Fair enough.

If two individuals can't work together it doesn't always mean they don't have respect for each or that Kohli abuses or has a fight with Kumble behind closed doors, does it?

The reason why people are supporting Kumble on this issue is a natural human tendency to compare- a past legend with around 900 international wickets to a captain who got out cheaply and lost the finals against our arch rivals.

Imagine a situation where Virat Kohli had scored another of those daddy hundreds and got India over the line on Sunday with a brilliant 150. Would our reactions have been similar? I doubt.

We would have appreciated Kohli of playing the issue graciously.

If you had heard Kohli in one of the pre tournament conferences where the speculations were rife regarding this issue, he handled it in a quite mature manner by declining there were any rifts between team and the coach because that was the right thing to do and focused on the Champions Trophy instead. He could have chosen to spill the brains, but he didn't.

Watching cricket on television sets might not be the perfect way to judge the  intricacies of relationship between Kohli and Kumble and to think why Kohli couldn't work with such a gentleman like Kumble.

If two persons were to always work their way out, divorce lawyers would have died of starvation.

The fact that Kumble came out openly and put the issue in public before Kohli ever commented on the issue also makes me think Kumble knew of this human tendency where public sympathy would always be with the legend than a captain who failed in the finals and knew this was the right time..

Imagine if Muralidharan had been the coach of India and if there had been trouble brewing between Kohli and Murali. Would you have supported a cricketer with 800 test wickets? No. Just because he was not Indian.?

I don't think coach should be considered a foreigner. Or an Indian legend. A coach is a coach. We make the mistake when we considered a coach's individual record and presume that he would be the best person in the room which might not always be true.

Cricket after all is not football. It is and will always remain a captain's game.
A captain will take the team forward and has to make the decisions on field on his own unless of course he is Steve Smith and looking for cues from the dressing room.

Immense respect for Kumble but I think his style of coaching would do wonders for teams like South Africa and Australia which believe in hard work and sweating it out more than Indians do on occasion.

Having said that, Kohli needs to be consulted when selecting a coach on temporary basis because a coach will be there for a year or two whereas a captain is assumed to have a much longer tenure.

I remember there was a very good tuition teacher when I was in 12th and we all used to attend his classes but there was a guy who could not just get along with his style of teaching. His parents felt he was being too hard. But when he changed the classes he continued to do well in studies. In fact, better.

~ Devashish Palkar

PRESIDENT - The biggest misnomer in India?

PRESIDENT

I remember as a school kid when we were taught this particular chapter about President in Civics. Must have been in 5th Standard. I felt so much in awe of all the special powers mentioned in the text (which was of course a very important long question for final exams!). Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam was the President at that time and he was rightly the people's President. We loved him so much as kids. In fact the only non-fiction books I read in primary school from the library were "The Wings of Fire" and "Ignited minds" both penned by Abdul Kalam.
The word PRESIDENT had so much weightage and respect when Kalam sir was around.
Fast forward to today where PRESIDENT is perhaps the biggest misnomer in Indian politics- a powerful man handcuffed by the politics and used only as a pawn in the dirty game of caste and regional based appeasement politics..
The closest rhyming word which defines a person who is equally powerless is a RESIDENT in a multi speciality hospital.
Today, I want to apologise to Alia Bhatt for making fun of her for not knowing the name of our President.
Frankly speaking, there is nothing I would want or expect anyone to know about an Indian President today because that would be a futile exercise- more futile than perhaps even the existence Rajya Sabha..
Miss you, Kalam sir..

CRICKET- YOU BEAUTY!!

FINAL WORD.
This has been a beautiful story of a come from behind win from Pakistan. Yes, it is disappointing as an Indian but makes me love this game even more. Cricket like life is a great leveller. Let's be tolerant here and not hurl abuses at team India and just take our hats off for the way Pakistan have fought. It's tough to digest, I know but Sarfraz reminds me of Dhoni from 2007 T20 WC with the way he has led the team..
And Mohd Aamir. What a story he is!!
This is a team ranked 8th and has not played a competitive game at home for last decade almost. This was the last team to qualify for the Champions Trophy and to come and play such a terrific brand of cricket is worthy of every adjective..
Hard luck, India..
#IndvsPak

ISN'T CRICKET A LANGUAGE IN ITSELF?

THE COLONIAL MINDSET

We, the people from subcontinent, are so trapped in the colonial mindset. In some regards we are more English than the English. Anyone who doesn't know English is considered an illiterate, a 'gavar'.
And so while people might think Pakistan skipper, Sarfraz Ahmed is one such cricketer, let me astonish you by informing you that he has a Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration from Institute of Business Administration, Karachi which is considered one of the finest Institutes in Pakistan. He is more educated than Dhoni and Kohli..

Remarkably, we are a part of country where our own Prime Minister prefers to speak in Hindi even at international conferences and it is a gesture I highly appreciate..

So, the fact remains- One can effectively communicate in his or her mother tongue only.

Yes, English is definitely not Sarfraz's preferred language but he looks to be a genuinely nice guy when he talks in press conferences and very honest in admitting his shortcomings. Unlike some other Pakistani cricketers of the past, Sarfraz seems to be the last person to pick up a fight or hurl an abuse.. And thank god, he is not all the time chattering behind the stumps either. Akmal was such a pain to the ears!!

All in all, I think Pakistan have a found a true successor to Misbah..
Yes, he may not have the swagger of Kohli or the majestic presence of Dhoni on the field, but he is really good at what he does. To inspire a team ranked no.8 to finals is no mean acheivement and we need to respect the opponent captain. For those who might not be aware, Sarfraz was the captain of the victorious 2006 under 19 WC side which defeated India in the finals..

Let's hope for a great game tomorrow and let's hope we don't indulge in verbal abuses anymore .
P.S.  Shahid Afridi has retired and his mother has stopped watching cricket.. 😉
#IndvsPak

THE 'TON'DULKAR SYNDROME

(Background- India played Bangladesh in Champions Trophy semifinal which turned out to be a one sided affair thanks to our batters who were just too good on a rare sunny day in England.)

THE 'TON'DULKAR SYNDROME

"There was no need for Rohit to play that shot!" My dad shouted as Rohit nonchalantly pulled another short pitched delivery for four..
"With Virat nearing his hundred he should give him strike!" He added.
And as it turned out, Virat hit the winning runs staying unbeaten on 96 which was a high quality innings strudded with some exquisite drives.
But my dad rued the fact that he had missed his 100 by 4 runs due to Rohit Sharma's lack of understanding.
I call this the TONdulkar Syndrome. My dad has grown up in the times of Gavaskar and Sachin where India won very few matches as compared to the regularity with which India beats other opponents today.
For the generation of my dad, a hundred was very important for that was the only thing they could afford to celebrate as 100s came with far more regularity than India's wins. I instantly remember the Multan test. Yes, the one famous for Rahul Dravid declaring the innings with Tendulkar stranded on 194 rather than remembering it as a great test victory for the team. Obviously, Sachin was disturbed and he made it known publicly though he later acted as though he was unruffled by it. But who remembers that even Rahul Dravid was batting on 93 when Sourav Ganguly declared in the Sydney test just a few months before Multan test. There was no fuss about it because Dravid created none..
He didn't need a special home series and the standing ovation at Chinnaswamy.

For all the hundreds Sachin scored, he unfortunately could never finish games with as much consistency as Virat has been doing.
And I think the sooner we get out of this TONDULKAR syndrome and stop idolising only those players who score a TON and start cherishing the victories more than the individual records, the better it will be for our nation..
Hearing Virat Kohli's post match conference, I am pretty sure, while there may or may not be another guy who scores a 100 100s for India, there will fortunately be no other Multan Test in the history of Indian cricket or for that matter that 114 off 147 balls in Mirpur vs Bangladesh to complete his 100th hundred..
"I feel a 100 kilos lighter!" were his words.. 100th 100 was all on his mind, I sometimes wonder!? India lost that match and were knocked out of the Asia Cup..
India has moved on and so should we.
Times of personal glory are gone and it's time to ready ourselves to celebrate another Champions Trophy victory as a team...
If it was like 1990s we would still be saying, "I hope Kohli gets another hundred on Sunday!"
I will just say, "I just hope India beats Pakistan comprehensively!" No matter if Shikhar or Kohli or Rohit get out on 99..
That's how the invincible teams of Australia and West Indies of the past used to play..
Ruthless and boring..
"It's all about making it a routine. We just want to play it as just another game!" as Virat said in the Post match presentation..
Also, something that stood out was how Virat equally credited MS Dhoni for that move to bring in Kedar Jadhav. This camaraderie between an ex skipper and a new skipper is something very soothing and very unheard of in Indian cricket. If you don't think so, just go watch SACHIN's movie and there's a whole section involving the troubled relationship between Sachin and Azhar..
Sachin was undoubtedly the greatest Indian batsman but Kohli is well on his way to becoming India's biggest match winner..
P.S. You might not agree with me on this or you might, but you have to agree that the attitude with which this side is playing is quite akin to the Australia of 1999-2007 phase..
Ruthless and boring..
But Champions nonetheless..