Out of the Blue - Aakash Chopra

I had been meaning to get my hands on this book by Test cricketer-writer, Aakash Chopra ever since I first heard about it. It is the tale of Rajasthan's unlikely road to winning the Ranji Trophy in the 2010-11 season (since repeated last year). Rajasthan is Aakash's adopted state as he played for them as a professional after Delhi dropped him (I did not know that he was dropped - and how!) and it was a fairy tale all the way for the determined Aakash who I felt, always got a raw end. He was in fact one of the most compact openers India had ever had and he did a wonderful job against the Aussie quicks when he toured Australia back then.

Harper Sport, Rs. 299, 262 p

Anyway such books always interest me because there is much to learn form them. Did they win by some design or by default? How did they cope with doubt and fear? What was going through their minds as they went about their jobs? What did they actually do? Rajasthan after all were, till they won the Ranji Tropy, last in the Plate division (the bottom of the pile), never won the title and never even came close to a final in three decades. Like the blurb says '...you don't play for honour, you play to save what you can of yours.'

The Ranji Trophy is India's national cricket championship and a bigger brand in India than most, even bigger than the IPL. There is something solid, something secure and long lasting about it that one cannot take away the feeling of awe that registers on people's faces when they hear the name 'Ranji Trophy'. Winning this Trophy ever since it has been instituted has been every cricket playing states dream - though Mumbai won about half the times. Delhi is the next strongest contender and the others pitch in every once in a while. But in against all logic, Rajasthan, a minnow if there was one in domestic cricketing circles, made a serious bid, got its planning and preparation right and got its hands tightly on the trophy for the first time in 2010-11. Rajasthan incredibly, defended its title the next year as well and are the current holders.

What does it take to win the Ranji Trophy? Many things. Players who are willing to play for pride and who are passionate, big hearted and who are 'men'. An association that is willing to back the players full on. Preparation that is well planned and carefully executed. Passions that rise above mere words and transform into achievements. Efforts that dance all over the humiliation and rejection that many players experienced. It takes a lot to go with a half-baked team at best and then back itself fully to take on the very best. It is a wonderful story.

Aakash, who was named captain for Delhi that season, starts with the deeply distressing and surely traumatic period when he got dropped from the Delhi team without as much as an indication. It is a sinking feeling and every sportsman and cricketer knows it in his bones how it feels to be out of the dressing room - more so for someone who has contributed so much for that state as a player and a captain. One day you belong and one day you don't. Life is so fickle.

But how you choose to treat the situation is what makes you what you are - a champion or a loser. And that is what this story is about. Aakash dwells on his feelings, the insensitivity with which cricketers are treated by the management most times. One moment you are in and the other you are a pariah. He writes - "..as professionals, could you not have put an arm around my shoulder, sat me down and told me the worst?" Anyway Aakash handled this depressing situation  and was looking ahead - coaching assignments etc when the offer to play for Rajasthan came from none other than the Director of RCA, Mr. Tarak Sinha.

Rajasthan played three professionals that year (2010-11) - Hrishikesh Kanitkar of India and Maharashtra as captain, Aakash Chopra and Rashmi Ranjan Parida from Orissa. As Aakash unfolds his player introductions before he gets down to the meat of the action, one gets the feeling that almost every single one of them went through much hardship and rejection, had so many hard luck stories to tell, that it was a wonder that they were still playing. If  they were, they all had a point to prove and that is one question one should certainly ask of one's players who are playing for any state. Why are you playing? What do you want to prove and to whom and why and how? One needs that fire or else one is merely going through the motions.

Hrishikesh Kantikar also faced the frustration of being dropped by his home side Maharashtra after performing so admirably for them for many years - but he quickly got into his stride by playing for Madhya Pradesh and then Rajasthan. These days senior players still have a role to play in first class cricket as the BCCI allows three professionals to play for other states thus giving players a chance to play and prove their worth while mentoring young and inexperienced players in smaller states that have far less exposure than the bigger ones. Come to think of it even Pankaj Singh is not from Rajasthan, he being from UP originally, and who, in pursuit of the game went from his home town to Lucknow to Allahabad to Kolkata to Bangalore and then finally at the NCA where he was offered a chance to play for Rajasthan by Parthasarathy Sharma the former Rajasthan player. Pankaj had in his short life, made up his mind to give up the game, by fate it appears had and has other plans for him. Several in that team went through that phase I am sure.

Deepak Chahar, one of their leading wicket takers and stars for the season, was told by Greg Chappell that that he was "...good for nothing". He made his debut that season and his story is as interesting as any - as he fought rejection and failure and kept practising harder and harder with each rejection - until rejction and failure got tired of him. He practiced twice as hard says Aakash, working almost sixteen hours a day at the  game before he got picked by the person who replaced Greg Chappell, Tarak Sinha, who sent Deepak on RCA's tour of Australia where he performed well. Ashok Menaira, the superbly taented left hander, and captain of the india U-19 side who dealt with doubt (after losing to Pakistan Under 19 side) and injury before coming good that season. Robin Bist who was originally from Delhi but who moved to Rajasthan and played himself throuhg the grind of district matches and so on until he got picked.  Madhur Khatri, Vineet Saxena, Vivek Yadav, Sumit Mathur, Vaibhav Deshpandey, Gajendra Singh, Rohit Jhalani - almost all of them coming out of humble backgrounds, with stories of hurt, injury and rejection, of uncertainty - are among those that are profiled. No power house talent yet, if you look at that team, and one can see that it is a mix of senior players, over-the-hill (or so their Associations thought in their hurry to retire older players and play youngsters) professionals and some rookie juniors. Bits and pieces at best - but something did take over them. Perhaps their desire to prove a point. I'd like to believe it all happened because of the player-centric and process-centric processes that the RCA adopted as much as player application. Given the right atmosphere, everyone starts performing to their potential. RCA seems to have found that.

Aakash writes of the influence of the calm and composed Kanitkar who never shows his emotions nor shouts at his players. Aakash cites an incident when he played for Delhi against Rajasthan when the senior players abused the junior players in front of the opposition (a common thing in Ranji Trophy circles) - the season that they were relegated to plate and Aakash believes lack of compassion and mentoring was one of the chief causes for that disastrous performance. It always is!

There is a brief note of how the team planned well ahead and played the Buchi Babu tournament with a full two week preparation, with the full team, and the Moin-Ud-Dowla tournament in Hyderabad before they headed back to prepare for the Ranji season, which speaks of how seriously they take their preparation. Their own internal games and the T 20 games (not the ideal way to prepare for teh Ranji Trophy) were played on return. In the countdown to the Ranji Trophy Aakash mentions wisely that one cannot improve one's skills at the eleventh hour - you have to trust what you have and go with it. And completely believe that it is enough. (He cites the hummingbird's example - that the bird is aerodynamically not suited for flying but since the bird does not know it, it believes it can fly and does!) So it is with cricketers who must believe that they are good enough to go all the way.

The uncertain and bits and pieces team was batting-heavy with three professionals, an Under-19 India captain and some seasoned pros like Vineet Saxena, Jhalani bolstering the top and lower middle. Rajasthan's main worry was its bowling. Pankaj was a seasoned campagner. Deepak Chahar was a rookie who had not yet made his debut. Sumit Mathur was an experienced medium pacer who was steady. The spinners were just about there. The bowling was bare with little support, so Rajasthan had to bat itself out of the woods. Rajasthan went in that year believing that their bowling was weak.

The season opener was against Hyderabad. It was in that match when the record for the lowest score in a Ranji Trophy game was made - 21. Hyderabad was at the receiving end with debutant Deepak Chahar making the most of a normal surface with 8 for 12 bowling his in and out swingers. (Check that out on youtube). Writes Aakash - "Hyderabad was a strong opposition, even if they got relegated from the Elite division...teams like Hyderabad are more likely to do well under pressure and win important phases". And he writes of the continued collapse that baffled him - "Deepak and Pankaj were bowling well but the Hyderabad batsmen were also playing a little too loose." And when he played on that pitch an hour or from the toss, Aakash writes "There were no demons in the track."

And to me this was interesting when he talks of "From thinking about how we'd get through the ninety overs in a day without too much damage, we'd reached a stage where bowlers didn't get to bowl" (in context of their bowling being weak). Aakash also talks of how he noticed a healthy rivalry developing between the two fast bowlers - Pankaj and Deepak and how important it is for a team to have that. Your resources are only as good as you believe them to be.You expect them to do well, support them and they will deliver.

Aakash writes of how Hyderabad was still reeling from the shock after that game was over and done with. "New stories emerging out of the Hyderabad board became the talking point. Several senior players had been handed pink slips, while the coach had resigned on moral grounds. It seemed the season had come to a grinding halt, with at least half the side sacked." He comments on it and says "...a knee jerk reaction and ,like all such reactions, was bereft of good sense. What logic can there be for throwing out seasoned campaigners with a long history of good work behind them? How could they suspect players they had invested years in? How could they dismiss players after just one bad show?" In sharp contrast he mentions how the Rajasthan team which was last on the Plate division had kept the existing combination in place despite hiring three professionals. Interesting to see his point of view.

Rajasthan's successful campaign continued with good performances against Goa (Pankaj Singh got 5 and Vineet Saxena 133, Kanitkar 73), Madhya Pradesh (Vaibhav Deshpandey 144, Bist 91 and Parida 74), Tripura (bowled out for 95 and 55 with Pankaj Singh getting 14 wickets while Rajasthan was bowled out for 150), Jharkhand (on first innings lead Aakash Chopra 107 and Parida 190) and Maharashtra (Aakash got 301). Rajasthan got out of the Plate division with that game and entered the Elite division.

Then came the big match against Mumbai in the quarter finals. Aakash says they were far from sure before that game and looked for inspiration. Mumbai apparently did inspire them by treating Rajasthan as a practice match for the semis. Aakash mentions how Mumbai's Rahane and Rohit Sharma, despite the loss of early wickets, were treating the game like a practice game - "way too reckless for the quarter finals of the Ranji Trophy". Against Mumbai's highly gettable first innings score of 252 Rajasthan scored 589 with Vineet Saxena, Hrishikesh Kanitkar and Ashok Menaria scoring hundreds. That effort by the hardworking and unglamourous Rajasthan shut out the star studded Mumbai.

Tamil Nadu in the semi finals looked over confident writes Aakash. Dinesk Kartik won the toss and opted to field on a surafce that Aakash feels had something for the bowlers. With four fast bowlers in the playing XI and one back up seamer, Tamil Nadu, started bowling defensively in the first hour. Dinesh Kartik supposedly said to the media that he had read the track wrongly and wanted to restrict damage. Hearing the opposition captain give away his game plan fires up any team (especially when they knew the surface still had some juice) and Rajasthan got aggressive knowing the mindset of the Tamil Nadu players. Rajasthan wound up with 552 with Aakash Chopra 139, Kanitkar 100 and Menaria 106. Tamil Nadi fought gallantly but ended up with 385. Rajasthan was in the finals.

The finals was against Vadodara. Rajasthan got 394 with no three figure contirbutions but the top seven batsmen got double figures which is interesting and which shows application (the least being 27) and made 394. Baroda fought hard and made 361 in the first innings handing a slender lead. Chahar got four wickets though Aakash mentions the superhuman effort the bowlers put in as they struggled to keep Baroda under control. With such a slender lead and enough time on their hands Rajasthan was still not out of the woods and its worst nightmares came true as it started its second innings disastrosusly losing the top three wickets for 12, Aakash, Hrishikesh Kanitkar and Vineet. But were saved by Parida's 91, Menaria's 101 and good rear guard bating by Pankaj with 24 and Rhot Jhalani with 43 at number 11. Baroda was 28 for 4 in 14 overs in a match that was by now over. Rajasthan was the champions, the deserving winners of the Ranji Trophy 2010-11.

By all means a fantastic tale and one with many lessons for teams aspiring for the big honour. As Aakash observes - it is always about the fight in the dog. Believe in yourself. Believe in the team. Trust and support it fully. Give them administrative and preparatory support. Spend on players, on cricket. There is the heart warming incident of the team manager Mahendra Singh Khadgawat indicating he would resign if action was taken against Rohit Jhalani who got into a scrap with the coach in one of the matches. That is the kind of camaraderie that the team displayed and the support that players and teams need. And of administrative support, planning and preparation, RCA is way ahead of most. From systems to infrastructure (the RCA has facilities where players can stay the whole day with a restaurant as well) so they do not need to go home ad return in the ecening. From player allowances to finalising hotels only with pool and gym as a prerequisite, from insisting on playing the Buchi Babu even when they did not get an invitation and giving the team a two week conditioning camp with the full side as preparation for the season, Rajsthan did many things perfectly right. The support staff was retained throughout, including their manager, which was wonderful. It is important that even the manager remains constant so the team develops a bond. Most Associations send different people as Managers to appease the voting class. And then there is much more.

Aakash Chopra should write his sequel certainly (I hope this book sold well - it should be a guide book for most Associations and Ranji Trophy players). Once could be a fluke but twice is not. How Rajasthan shut out Tamil Nadu this year in the final by batting out two days is stuff of the folklore. Rajasthan certainly won on the back of process, of picking the right players, of  a system that worked, of players who wanted to prove and achieve and of stout hearts and big dreams from ordinary men (no longer). Certainly there was much honesty and integrity as players played above their class and kept up churning performances that required great concentration and effort. Reading the cricketing parts were fanstatsic and you could feel the tension building as the team played the final. I only wish the player profiles had more depth or were handled differently - something about them was lacking a critical dimension. (It was as if I knew the player but only some parts of him.) The support of families was evident as in the support that Aakash's wife provided by being on the road with him.

Great job RCA, great job Team Rajasthan and well written Aakash Chopra. This is perhaps the first of its kind - a players account of the journey to the final (not many can do that - either they have not won or if they have, cannot write). Here's wishing that you write many more. As an ex-first class cricketer who writes (there are not many in the field in India) I fully endorse Aakash's writing and the book.

I must say that I found the excerpts from the reviews on the book disappointing and downright mediocre - to say it was honest (you'd expect writers to be honest, at least good writers) or that it was rare (come on boss, it is a first) or about how tough it is to be a ordinary cricketer (Aakash and ordinary with 10,000 first class runs and a Test career?) or how it is about dressing room gossip or field tactics (ordinary fan-on-the-road stuff) is to miss the point completely. 'Out of the Blue' is much more than that - it is about human endeavour to find its potential, to best itself against all odds. The least we can do is to recognise it for what it was worth when we review it.

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The Hyderabad Diaries - The Cop Farce

 There is much activity going on in the twin cities now. Apparently there is a COP II or something like that going on (and I have no clue what it is about). I tried to find out and got bored and let it be. I heard someone say it is about biodiversity - saw an ad about a sparrow. It's apparent that people have realised that we need to live and let live - and surprisingly - there is now an awareness that there are many other species alive around us. Can you believe it? We are not the only ones here? And I guess the conference is all about that with a whole bunch of ministers and other very important people waxing eloquent about biodiverisity.

I really don't have a problem with that. But I do see these hurried efforts to beautify the city at the last minute (and make it all up like we have always been 'biodiverse'). Suddenly small plants are being planted along the road medians with little patches of grass being stuck around it to give it all a green look. This is going on all over the place and in a couple of days the entire city will perhaps be full of plants and grass. To make it more realistic we may even see some sparrows being let loose and some other extinct birds and animals as well. For a city that has no regard to saving up green spaces, a city that has become a concrete jungle thanks to callous laws and greedy officials and politicians, it is really the most hypocritical thing to do. I do wish some of the delegates take a tip down the 'not your normal routes' to see why this conference has to take place at all.

It will not change by putting up a few plants and sticking some grass and putting up emotional hoardings. We need to create new lung spaces. We need to reclaim the lost and encroached parks and maintain them. We need to create more playing areas for children. We need more water bodies to look at. We need more peace and tranquility and spaces within colonies for the old and the young. We certainly need more trees and greenery all through the year. I'd rather half the cost of this conference goes towards such initiatives that go towards creation of green facilities immediately. Biodiversity will happen automatically if we respect all that is around us - not by having conferences and painting the city green.

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Anjali - But we are all Different

The walk in the park saw us checking out some birds busy doing their own thing. I told Anjali that it appeared funny that birds seem to have a life so different - they build their nests, search for food, eat it and just go on. And the same with the animals. 'They don't have to go to school, no tv, no brushing their teeth etc,' I said trying to drive my point home.

After listening to my rather impassioned argument Anjali decided to put it to rest.
'But we are all so different no nanna,' she said. 'Birds will do their things, animals will do their things and we will do our things. Even you and I are different because we do different things no. That's all. Everyone will do what they can.'

I agree. No point trying to club and categorise. Let each one be.

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Doghi - Movie Review

'Doghi' is a Marathi movie set in rural Maharashtra and revolves around two sisters who are very close. It starts sometime when the older sister Gauri (Renuka Daftardar) is scheduled to be married and there is great festivity in the household. Relatives coming in and much talk that reveals the household's share of troubles - debts and other troubles of a farmer and so on. The sisters go to visit a temple on the advise of their elders before the groom's party arrives and they go accompanied by their uncle from Bombay (Sadashiv Amupakar). On the way back the uncle notices in the newspaper that the groom's party had an accident and that they had all died while coming to the village.

The incident causes a stroke to the father and he becomes an invalid. People shun the older girl as an ill omen. Money dries up. As things go from bad to worse, the uncle tells the mother that he will take the older girl- the one with the bad luck to Bombay and that he would send her a money order every month. Without as much as showing a thing the director conveys the decision with great effect - the girl would be a prostitute in Bombay. Money starts flowing in and things look up for the family. The younger one Krishna (Sonali Kulkarni) is now in line for marriage and the uncle finds a young idealist working for an NGO for her.

All's well until Gauri decides to join the festivities and the mother feels the pinch of her unfortunate daughter's shadow on the marriage. She tries to discourage her from coming and does not welcome her - despite knowing the tragedy that befell her stoic daughter. Gauri feels left out and walks out as the marriage is about to take place when she is refused the bridesmaid's jobs. Krishna however convinces her to stay, convinces her guilt ridden mother to accept her daughter and also finds her older sister a groom from the group of young social activists. Gauri stays back in the village, never to return to her life as a prostitute in Bombay.

'Doghi' is a simple theme told very powerfully. It addresses so many issues that lie underneath and that are not told or discussed and it does that wonderfully. The only thing that struck me as odd was that the girl had to become a prostitute - could she not have worked as help or something else? But perhaps that is the truth, perhaps it is based on a true story, because truth is certainly stranger than fiction and there is certainly no logic to how truth unfolds. The girls did a wonderful job and so did their mother and all other characters. 'Doghi' is slow and intense and powerful. Watch it if you get a chance.

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Indicators of Inefficiency

The general indicators of inefficiency as I see them.

1) When all talk is about others improving their work and responsibility - and not about one's own.

2) When there is no plan and all that there is is hot air.

3) When there is no clarity of role, no concrete action - just bombastic, impractical and unviable proposals.

4) When sweeping statements are made without any basis with a lot of unnecessary but popular emotion.

5) When there is no logical, well thought of or reasonable discussion and only argument and anger - the idea is to obfuscate.

6) When one gets angry when questioned or when one diverts the topic.

7) When one avoids the main issues repeatedly

8) When one looks for excuses, shifts blame all the time and does not take any responsibility.

9) When one does not listen to expert advise.

10) When one does not ask or think of ways to improve and grow efficiency in one's area.

11) When one fails to implement any system that is directed towards transparency and accountability

12) When one obscures roles, misinterprets boundaries - and does everything but their work.

If you come across any of the above in you or around you - beware. There is inefficiency around and you need to ask some straight questions or think of other ways to get your work done.

Not surprisingly, one can see that most of them apply to political leaders.

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A Walk in The Park

There is a little park that I visit every other day. It is interesting to see the goings on in the park at various times during the day.

Early in the morning, even before dawn, we have the really serious walkers  and yoga practitioners walking about and contorting themselves silently like ghosts. This is a time when everything is really tranquil and no one dares to even switch on their mobiles and their music players. All music is heard through head phones - the silence is so intimidating. The lake is deathly still without a ripple, the only sounds are those of bird calls and soft footsteps and perhaps the breathing of a desperate pranayama practitioner.

As the sun rises and we go the other side of 6 a.m. we find the noisier public joining in. Encouraged by ambient sounds of traffic and people talking and wishing one another loudly, some of these walkers start playing music on their mobiles, loud enough for a kacheri. Devotional songs, suprabhatam, Hindi film songs, Telugu film songs, FM radio - everything is game as they walk around with loud music in their hands, No one can escape it. Some play this music while they exercise, the music playing loudly by their side. Some carry it along in their hands.

And then come the party goers who normally walk in a pack and who have old friends in their regular places. Their general talk is about how the party was last night, how the drink was, how much more to drink and so on. They occupy the entire walkway and do not move an inch lest they miss out some golden words of wisdom on the drink and food. Others normally duck and weave, swear and suffer, slow down or choose alternate routes to avoid these. These gangs also get upset if anyone occupies their regular space. By now there is much raucous banter, less walking and more time pass. Also this gang has a lot of health issues that they keep discussing. In sharp contrast to this loud gang is the quiet and well behaved yoga gang which goes about with utmost and sometimes rather overtly supercilious humility, content in the knowledge that they are healthier than the others.

There are young lovers who come on the pretext of an early morning walk or a game of shuttle but they are all flirting with one another. There are old people trying to extend their lives through some exercise. There are those who are struck down by some debility already and are struggling along. There are young joggers who fly about and there are middle aged uncles who huff and puff behind fat tummies tucked into tight t shirts. And by the side are those who are doing their own brand of exercises, some weird ones that we have never seen, some breathing exercises that are a hybrid variety of all one has seen where men and women snort like horses and then some who insist on clapping or making such harsh sounds. Much activity goes on during this hour.

Slowly as the hour of exercise fades and people go back to their homes to get ready and go to their workplaces, the lazy ones who wish to sun themselves troop in with their newspapers. They make no effort to walk or run and merely park themselves in the park and read the newspaper in complete silence. These are the unemployed people and are quiet content with their current state in life. A few couples might catch up on an early morning rendezvous but then that is about it - perhaps a couple of aged people at best. The sun is now beating down and the birds have beat it as well.

As the day progresses the park is generally taken over by lovers and their faithful followers, the voyeurs. Couples find excellent spots to express themselves. Some neck openly with boys trying to go further and the girls trying to prevent progress, some are content at holding hands, some merely talk and some do not even talk. You can easily make out which stage the relationship is in by the number of smiles and tears and angry faces. Voyeurs also find excellent spots, like combat soldiers, to view the amorous activities without being disturbed. And so continues the time of intimacy which leaves lovers hot and flushed and wanting more. Same with voyeurs.

The evenings are for families. Little children, mothers, fathers, uncles, aunts, grandparents, prams, toys, food, ice creams, running etc takes over the park. Some lovers, some exercisers, still remain. But now there is total chaos. Pickpockets have a field day and slowly the park drifts to a quiet end except for some rustling behind the bushes that the security guard investigates and lest off with a small personal fine.

The night belongs to the boozers or the more adventurous. And as the day turns into night much drama happens to the human life while the animal and plant life go about smoothly with their lives in an unaffected manner, undisturbed by the prospect of death, not worried about hypertension or diabetes, yoga or walking.

Back to another day at the park!

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Needed urgently - A sense of humour, a sense of honour

The way we are arresting cartoonists (and even people who forward cartoons) and putting them away in jail on charges of sedition shows our sharply deteriorating sense of humour. Cartoons are all about caricaturing the perceived truth. So our anger at these cartoons is an indication that it has certainly touched a raw nerve somewhere.

The way we are targeting soft targets and letting the big bullies go scot free - those who uproot communities and rock societies with mass murder through hate speeches and outright divisive comments, shows our lack of a sense of honour. We fear their backlash and let them rant and rave, let them beat up and bully innocents, treat them with kid's gloves and arrest a few menials - if at all.

I think its time we got them both back - a capacity to laugh at ourselves and a capacity to stand by and do the right thing and not get scared by bullies.

Anyone game?

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