Play to win.

When I started staying and studying in REC campus from 1997-2000, I used to play cricket and some considered that I was a 'better' player. I never gave my best when I thought other guys, rather classmates were not 'serious' enough. One of the better 'players' told them in clear words that he expects them to play seriously, but he was advised not to be 'serious'. Of course, I always considered him very good in sports and infact he had a very very positive approach to life itself. I still remember his reply to them on that day - yes, we play for fun, but PLAY TO WIN, buddy. I realised that later he was good not in just cricket, but badminton, table tennis, volleyball and football. He was a real sportsman and even participated in inter-district competitions. In our final year, it was a pity that I was able to reach the finals of table tennis competition, while he lost in the other semifinals. Of course, in doubles, we played as a team and won comfortably. I actually dont mind losing as long as I lost it to some one better. Infact, during the singles semifinals, one junior was feverishly supported by many girls and his face seemed to become very tense. I won the first set and was just 5 points short of victory, when I actually left it free for him to win. Winning that match didnt seem important to me. Losing it was probably more important.

As long as there is a good contest, winning losing does not matter. First test between Sri Lanka and India ended in an insipid draw with obviously the pitch getting all the flak. India is not at all a country for sports, because there is no sporting culture in the first place. If there is any scope ONLY for INDIVIDUAL, then there may be winners like Viswanathan Anand in chess, though I feel that even chess has become very prescriptive with textbook openings - Ruy Lopez Opening, Scotch move etc. With such a big focus on 'individual', of course India will achieve lot of records - batsmen with highest number of runs, centuries etc, and the fact that number of victories is abysmal being 'covered up', if not ignored. I would hope that people see all 'achievement's in perspective that India has played host to the highest proportion of drawn test matches. Even the match at Motera could have been turned into a possibly exciting one like the exciting draw between Australia and New Zealand after sporting declarations in Brisbane test. That is the risk Indians dont want to take even in sports. Rather to put in a 'colonial' ring, that is the risk sub-continent teams dont take in sports.

How holy are temples?

Today I happened to see a link/topic in Orkut 'Kancheepuram priest in sex scandal'. I am neither shocked nor feel bad about the priest. Infact, I find it funny to read

What's even more scandalous is that the 36-year-old priest, Devanathan, used to engage in sexual acts even as unsuspecting devotees waited outside to perform puja.

That is how holy the temple is. If at all, anyone has to take the 'blame', it is the women.

Ever since I first went to the temple near my house in Chennai, I always find that priest in almost all temples indulge in lot of chatter with women (devotees, if one may call so) and I used to hate that especially in a place like temple. It may be distracting for the 'serious' goers. It is often because of 'small' benefits that they get, women seem to enter in such silly talk. It may be 'delay in rituals' so that women can come or 'extra prasad' or some crap like that. If a person is genuinely believer in God, (s)he doesnt need an 'intermediary' like priest. It may be inane chatter, but to put in Ian Chappell's words -

more you allow inane chatter, more likely something personal is going to be said. If something is said at the wrong moment, you will have one person laying his hand on the other.

It sounds the same here as well.

My another 'eternal' question is whether women can be 'atheist's. Atleast in reality, most temples or rituals are meant (to attract) for ONLY women. Why do they believe in God? That leads to the 'intermediary' or 'broker' ie the priest. I am reminded of the classic quote from Pulp Fiction -

There's a passage I got memorized. Ezekiel 25:17. "The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he who, in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of the darkness. For he is truly his brother's keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know I am the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon you." I been sayin' that shit for years. And if you ever heard it, it meant your ass. I never really questioned what it meant.

Now I'm thinkin', it could mean you're the evil man. And I'm the righteous man. And Mr. .45 here, he's the shepherd protecting my righteous ass in the valley of darkness. Or is could by you're the righteous man and I'm the shepherd and it's the world that's evil and selfish. I'd like that. But that shit ain't the truth. THE TRUTH IS YOU'RE THE WEAK. AND I'M THE TYRANNY OF EVIL MEN.

Karnataka cricket players

There was a time, maybe when G Viswanath was in BCCI selection committee, that many players in Indian cricket team were from Karnataka. I did not see it as a bias or nepotism in any sense, because among the Indian players available at that time, I thought they were indeed the right ones to get into the Indian team. Also, I have found that players from Karnataka give their best in their deeds and their commitment is unquestionable - Anil Kumble, Rahul Dravid, Javagal Srinath, Venkatesh Prasad etc. True, they may not have been the most talented players even in India, but the most important thing is that one can be sure of their commitment. They had always put themselves in the best position for their capabilities. Kumble is not known for really spinning the ball, but his perseverance and consistency are taller than him.

I may not appreciate their cricketing ideas, as I found them as per 'textbook's or 'British way' of following cricket. For instance, I still remember the one day match at Chennai, where Saeed Anwar hit Kumble out of the ground frequently in one over. I had felt that Kumble should have taken some 'time' off to discuss or atleast acting to discuss to break the 'flow' of Anwar. Similarly, Javagal Srinath 'talk's or 'advice' to other bowlers ('pitch the ball in the right area and pitch will do the rest') are naive to put it mildly. More often, great players cant be good coaches. Sachin Tendulkar cant teach a player how to play straight drive. Of course, he can execute it to perfection. Kumble cant teach anyone because mental make-up was the weapon of Kumble or atleast far more important than the act of bowling. Any captain should love to have players like Kumble, Dravid and Srinath. Personally, I liked players from Karnataka because they all talked down to earth. I read an article in Hindu about Dravid and was impressed reading Kumble's quote - It is important to remember where you started off.

Yet another record, yet another player?

Sachin Tendulkar has reached 17000 runs milestone. Rather it is yet another milestone-a personal achievement at best. From early days when I was in school, I never thought that any player from Mumbai played for the team. Team spirit was never drummed into them. They seemed to play only for records and match was totally forgotten. Sachin is no different and will be the first person to get away from a fight in cricket. Just when fans expect him to go to the finishing line, he will inevitably fail like the famous Chennai test vs Pakistan in 1999 and I guess that will happen today as well. Cricinfo round table did agree that Lara is the best. More than opinion, data speaks for all and the match at Kensington Oval proves the class of Lara beyond doubt.

I remember that some of my classmates in school used to say that I am nitpicking Sachin because I am jealous of him and that while I could just play for 'City', almost at the same age Sachin is playing for the country. I am sure that I am the last person to feel jealous of another deserving person but the point is that I always thought Sachin does not deserve so much credit. The only thing that I like about Sachin is his humility. Especially in India, he has been a role model in handling fame and despite so many records, always had his feet on ground. There are two innings that come to my mind in his entire career - his century at Perth and his century and partnership with Mohammed Azharuddin at Cape Town.

It has to be mentioned that Sachin is not captaincy material (no matter how many times and long commentators are going to commend him). I am not very particular about records (Lies, Utter Lies, Statistics after all) and think that Kapil Dev and Sourav Ganguly have been the two best cricketers that India has produced. Of course, Ian Chappell did mention that

the difference between Indian fans and Australian fans is that if India lose but Tendulkar makes a hundred, most of the Indian fans will go home delirious. But if Ricky Ponting makes a hundred and Australia lose, a lot of Australians will go home and kick the cat.

Indian fans can be that ridiculous. I remember watching World Cup match at my college, Ganguly and Dravid were on song but most people in audience wanted Dravid to get out. Why? Sachin can come and blast his way to a 50. Dravid did get out, but Sachin also got out in 2 :( That is how Indians are.

p.s. India indeed lost the match. QED ;)

Online experience.

நீயா-நானா programme is going on TV and today's debate is the difference in behavior before and after 'love marriage'. Quite a few participants seem to have got in contact through chat or love had developed after extending a talk with an 'unknown call center professional'. It does shock my senses to call this 'love marriage' because its basis or foundation is so shaky. For instance, I do talk many times with personnel in call center, speaking on behalf of credit card or bank or internet broadband services. I did not get even a thought of 'extending' the talk to include 'personal' details or know about them. I am indeed surprised when people seem to go 'personal' or 'inquisitive', so soon especially in online communities like Orkut or Yahoo chat etc. Even if I know a 'mutual fried/acquaintance', it is probably not in my nature to talk/opine reg him/her to an unknown person, mutually known or otherwise.

When I was studying in REC/NIT Trichy, my classmates used to go to Yahoo chat rooms and had lot of animated post-chat conversations with rest of us. For me, thought of 'chat'ting with unknown person, especially about personal information (asl, for instance) is shocking if not revolting. At the same time, I thought that I should NOT think so without having a direct experience. I did enter the 'internet room' in our computer lab called Octagon with an intention to go to some chat room. I selected some Chennai room and since it was quite early (5:30 am or 6:00 am), I thought atleast some chat users may be 'serious'. I think 'qohearts' pinged me first and since 'she' was also not touchy about talking with a guy, I proceeded. She was apparently a desi in US, married 5 or 6 months back to a guy from Chennai. I realised that world is small when she found that her husband was my school mate. She told me about the 'controversy' which was one among many that we gossiped in school. Obviously I didnt believe any of these 'gossip's to be true. The girl shocked me asking about one such controversy which included her husband. She was atleast talking to me about an 'incident' (which I still think was petty gossip or rumor among school students) and seemed to quite agitated about it. She was 'spot on' on the principal characters and they had contact even after leaving school. I did not know what to say and glad that I didnt start on that topic. The other end seemed to be quite smart in decoding my 'curt'/brief responses. I stopped the chat when the other person told that she had indeed decided in favor of filing a divorce :o I didnt think that I was responsible in any way, for neither did I start the chat nor did I talk about that 'controversy'. At the same time, I did feel whether I could have avoided being the 'last straw' and stopped my solitary experience of 'chat' with unknown people.

It was probably after I started working that I did 'occasional' chats. I did think that it would be great to catch my 'future wife' after some level of chat. Courtesy yahoogroups and online communities like Orkut, I did happen to 'interact' with quite a few people. With a little bit more information known in such communities, I thought people might be guarded over what they talk and more importantly whom they talk. One issue that I had was 'confidentiality' of member's friends. Why should my 'friend's be known or seen by all? Anyway I didnt have 'skeletons' in my closet as such to worry and so I participated in communities. I think I first joined some 'Iyers' community with the idea of finding my 'future wife'. The voodoo continued even here and one girl wanted to chat with me. She wanted to chat not about me but about my friend, whom she suspected had a relationship (to the 'highest' level) with her 'to-be-husband' :( I came out of Iyers community immediately. Tamil Nadu politics was one community that I have been member, almost since I joined Orkut. I did encounter one person who claimed to have 'highest level of contact' with my friend's wife.

I am not sure what is the impact of such 'confession's on me but at the same time, I hope that I dont 'simmer' (as Ian Chappell would say). Maybe what they say or claim is true but I hope that I dont blurt out such things (basically gossip) with others. That is the least that I can do without.