In one of my earlier posts, I had written about my admiration for Chetan 's style of writing.
Well, he did his image no harm by making a speech at Symbiosis, Pune recently.
It is indeed amazing how he finds meaning and metaphors in small things and co-relates them with some of the greater teachings of life.
I strongly recommend a dekko at the following link:
http://www.chetanbhagat.com/blog/general/sparks
The most appealing part of this speech is his clarity of thought, and the way he has shown how much the ostensibly inane, regular activities that go unnoticed in our day-to-day lives can teach us.
That's the enviable part...after all, all of us who have been fortunate enough to get education, know how it feels at the first day of school/college (or work, for that matter). Yet, how many of us can relate it to keeping the spark alive, and remembering to have that same, tingling excitement, that zest for life, that striving, all through in all walks of life?
All of us know the importance of goals and priorities in life (but the magic is in the way he describes and puts it!), as well as how to deal with disappointment, frustration, unfairness and loneliness. The metaphors that he has used to describe and co-relate seemingly mundane things with what they teach us for life, and the way he has organized these ideas to make them so very understandable to one and all - that, is where his abilities come in.
All of us possess the knowledge (he hasn't told anything that was hitherto not known), but how many of us can describe it so lucidly and so succinctly? That, is where talent plays its part - that, is where the writer scores !!
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
My new novel: MSD and the Great Indian Sporting Spectacle
It's no divine fountain of wisdom, that succeeding after taking risks and responsibilities that are greater than normal, also allows/calls for commensurate rewards and benefits - greater than normal.
How unfair is that?
However, as it happens all the time, a new debate has begun in the sporting world these days. Oh, by the way, please note that the term "sporting" refers to only the noun, and not the adjective!
For, had some of the people who comprise the sporting world, also been sporting enough, they would never have held grudges against a worthy candidate, and would not have raised a hue and cry over the merits of giving the country's highest honour for a sportsman - the Khel Ratna - to a fully-deserving and quality sportsman by the name of Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
Somehow, I think we are yet to learn how to stay happy with success and happiness - both ours, and even more importantly, that of others. We always stay enamoured with and envious (actually jealous, more than envious) of the perks and pleasures of others without looking at the hardships and efforts that are equally and pre-requisitically (is that a word?!) part of the deal.
I know and myself agree that cricket rules the roost in our country, and that all other sports - and at the very least, those where we have the potential of excelling, must be encouraged, patronised and given due attention - by the sports authorities, as well as the media.
Yes, cricket enjoys inordinate attention and glamour. But why should we criticise the cricketers for it? Why can't some people digest the fact that the superstar treatment accorded to them comes because they deserve it.
Why don't we appreciate the fact that even a cricketer who plays at the highest national level of a Ranji or a Deodhar Trophy, but does not fare well, is not really known. Why, even some international level cricketers fade into oblivion sooner than the time they were in the limelight.
The point is, that the cricketeres who are successful at the international level consistently, for a decent span of time, deserve to be treated as no less than stars because they have competed and excelled at the national as well as international stage.
How many competitors would a footballer or a hockey player find in a selection trial, as compared to a cricketer? Yes, other sports should also get adequate attention but we cannot deny the fact that cricket will and shall keep Indians fixated, more than all other sports combined.
Keeping these factors in mind, shouldn't the returns for a person succeeding at cricket therefore, be more than for those at other sports?
And if you talk specifically about Dhoni, I am amazed at just how people can object to this recognition being bestowed on him! What I like more about this man is that he is always leading by example. Yes, there's a lot of talk about his cool, calm and unruffled demeanour. But even if he were to get angry, if I were the subject of his anger, I wouldn't mind it because I would know he mustn't be getting mad over nothing and he himself leads by example.
That is how you command respect, and can convincingly exhort your resources to perform at their best, consistently.
Imran Khan is often (and I think, in many ways, rightly) acknowledged as among an all-time best captain and leader for his team. That's because he always used to lead by example, give more than a hundred percent on the field, and not only his opposition, even his teammates used to be scared of antagonising him. His teammates would never have wanted him to lose his cool on them but even if he did, rest assured, they must have been mulling over the lessons to be learnt than mulling over the scolding itself.
MSD, to me, is a cool version of Imran. He rarely displays emotion, but is empathetic, encouraging and exhortive enough to make his players give their best. Most of all, he is a leader who leads by his deeds, by example.
He plays every match, does his wicketkeeping duties well enough (at the time if writing, he is still the best wicketkeeper in the country, worthy of getting selected in the team on his wocketkeeping abilities alone), his batting exudes the sign of maturity and classs (he runs hard - for not only his runs but also those of his partners - and this is when he has kept wickets in the previous innings or will kept wickets in the next innings (for those who cannot appreciate the effort of a wicketkeepers, just do 300 sit-ups), he changes his batting order and also the batting syle - as per the match situation - in the best interests of the team - and he has been doing all this consistently well in his career.
Sure, it's been only two years or so since he arrived, but we got to understand that this also means that he has achieved so much in such a short span.
So cheers to MSD and hope all the hype, success, failure, praise and criticism doesn't get to his head! Rest assured, he shall be the same - for good measure!
How unfair is that?
However, as it happens all the time, a new debate has begun in the sporting world these days. Oh, by the way, please note that the term "sporting" refers to only the noun, and not the adjective!
For, had some of the people who comprise the sporting world, also been sporting enough, they would never have held grudges against a worthy candidate, and would not have raised a hue and cry over the merits of giving the country's highest honour for a sportsman - the Khel Ratna - to a fully-deserving and quality sportsman by the name of Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
Somehow, I think we are yet to learn how to stay happy with success and happiness - both ours, and even more importantly, that of others. We always stay enamoured with and envious (actually jealous, more than envious) of the perks and pleasures of others without looking at the hardships and efforts that are equally and pre-requisitically (is that a word?!) part of the deal.
I know and myself agree that cricket rules the roost in our country, and that all other sports - and at the very least, those where we have the potential of excelling, must be encouraged, patronised and given due attention - by the sports authorities, as well as the media.
Yes, cricket enjoys inordinate attention and glamour. But why should we criticise the cricketers for it? Why can't some people digest the fact that the superstar treatment accorded to them comes because they deserve it.
Why don't we appreciate the fact that even a cricketer who plays at the highest national level of a Ranji or a Deodhar Trophy, but does not fare well, is not really known. Why, even some international level cricketers fade into oblivion sooner than the time they were in the limelight.
The point is, that the cricketeres who are successful at the international level consistently, for a decent span of time, deserve to be treated as no less than stars because they have competed and excelled at the national as well as international stage.
How many competitors would a footballer or a hockey player find in a selection trial, as compared to a cricketer? Yes, other sports should also get adequate attention but we cannot deny the fact that cricket will and shall keep Indians fixated, more than all other sports combined.
Keeping these factors in mind, shouldn't the returns for a person succeeding at cricket therefore, be more than for those at other sports?
And if you talk specifically about Dhoni, I am amazed at just how people can object to this recognition being bestowed on him! What I like more about this man is that he is always leading by example. Yes, there's a lot of talk about his cool, calm and unruffled demeanour. But even if he were to get angry, if I were the subject of his anger, I wouldn't mind it because I would know he mustn't be getting mad over nothing and he himself leads by example.
That is how you command respect, and can convincingly exhort your resources to perform at their best, consistently.
Imran Khan is often (and I think, in many ways, rightly) acknowledged as among an all-time best captain and leader for his team. That's because he always used to lead by example, give more than a hundred percent on the field, and not only his opposition, even his teammates used to be scared of antagonising him. His teammates would never have wanted him to lose his cool on them but even if he did, rest assured, they must have been mulling over the lessons to be learnt than mulling over the scolding itself.
MSD, to me, is a cool version of Imran. He rarely displays emotion, but is empathetic, encouraging and exhortive enough to make his players give their best. Most of all, he is a leader who leads by his deeds, by example.
He plays every match, does his wicketkeeping duties well enough (at the time if writing, he is still the best wicketkeeper in the country, worthy of getting selected in the team on his wocketkeeping abilities alone), his batting exudes the sign of maturity and classs (he runs hard - for not only his runs but also those of his partners - and this is when he has kept wickets in the previous innings or will kept wickets in the next innings (for those who cannot appreciate the effort of a wicketkeepers, just do 300 sit-ups), he changes his batting order and also the batting syle - as per the match situation - in the best interests of the team - and he has been doing all this consistently well in his career.
Sure, it's been only two years or so since he arrived, but we got to understand that this also means that he has achieved so much in such a short span.
So cheers to MSD and hope all the hype, success, failure, praise and criticism doesn't get to his head! Rest assured, he shall be the same - for good measure!
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