Sachin 800

People have been dropped from the Indian side for all kinds of reasons, but it will be a first to see someone dropped for denying Sachin a century. Thankfully, Dhoni has been suspended so Dinesh Karthik will escape. If he was another batsman, you never know.

In any case, it is weird that we still tout Sachin as our best batsman. There was a time when he was a unique combination of aggression, style and consistency. Is he still our best though? Shot for shot and inning for inning, we have far better players. When Sehwag is in the mood, Sachin starts to look like Dravid. When runs flow from Laxman's bat, Sachin's strokes look manufactured. And there is no doubt who the "wall" is. Well yes, he blends in these qualities better than others, and produces good knocks from time to time. But I have my reservations about him being the best.

For one, I am deeply disappointed at his inability to lead the team. Such absurd shirking of responsibility would be tolerated only in our government services where one joins as a clerk and can retire as one, albeit hardworking, if one chooses to. That is precisely the allegory that comes to my mind when I watch Sachin play. A focused, hard working, dedicated and determined worker ant. He cant play like a Sehwag or Yuvraj because he is supposedly mature and responsible. But apparently not mature or responsible enough to lead the team. So all we get out of Sachin are some consistent innings, and its a shame that we dont have the talent to replace him.

Not to discount his feats and accomplishments, but what's the point of keeping him around, if he is serving no higher purpose, simply being a batsman building records, blocking the place of a youngster who can be groomed for the future. And even then, threatening the place of others for denying him a damn record! He is like our good old Maruti 800. A reliable and elegant alternative to the Ambassadors and Padminis when he broke out on the scene. And he remains so. But would you be caught dead driving a 800 today?

The state of unity

Raj Thackeray must be rolling on the floor laughing. Congress, which lambasted him until a few weeks ago for his divisive tactics, has gone ahead to announce the creation of Telengana. Worse yet, it had no clue of the simmering discontent within its own ranks, and the issue has become a comedy circus now. If anything, Raj stands vindicated. His actions may be condemnable, but his reasoning that one state cannot subsidize corruption and underdevelopment in other states merits consideration. The independent states movement is simply a corollary of this observation - that one part of the state cannot receive all the development and focus at the cost of others.

I was born and raised in Hyderabad, so I can definitely say that Telegana is the poorer of the three areas that form AP - the other two being coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema. The coastal Andhra is definitely richer in natural resources with fertile plains and rivers whereas Rayalaseema is traditionally wealthy and also has the temple town of Tirupati helping its economy. The Telengana area is part of the Deccan Plateau with mostly barren lands except for some cotton farming. By some freak chance, Hyderabad was made the capital of AP, else this area would have been written off totally. Of course, now, the demand for a separate state is purely a political manoeuver. And it has sparked demands for a bunch of other states. How long before we end up with 500 odd princely states we started with...

The paradox of sport stars

The recent Tiger Woods incident has highlighted a painful fact that great sportsmen are not necessarily great men. If anything, most of the guys at the top are terrible people.

Of the thousands that play tennis at a pro level, only one wins the Wimbledon. A nation of billion plus is represented by only 11 men at the national level. Getting to the top in sports requires talent, hard work, and a bit of luck. Talent and luck are to some extent predetermined, so the only thing a budding athlete can put in hard work and loads of them. And hard work is not simply hours of practice, but also developing a killer instinct to win, and at any cost. They develop a fiercely competitive spirit and seize on the slightest of opportunities. Even after reaching the top, these traits are required to stay there. The more physical a sport is, the more ruthless one needs to get. I am certain soccer players have the worst character record among top athletes. Even on the field, they resort to blatant cheating, be it diving for penalties or the use of hand. And until this recent incident, I thought golfers had the best one.

We, of course, are enamored by their successes and equate them to role models. But it is simply unfair to expect that they will smoothly metamorphose from ruthless animals to stellar human beings. Of course there are certain exceptions who readily come to mind. But they are just that - exceptions, who are born with incredible talent and put in an extraordinary amount of hard work. They only needed to remain focused, not become ruthless, to get to where they are. But the majority has had to scrounge for opportunities and capitalize on them at any cost. It is the survival of the fittest and the fittest are not necessarily the best.

Party Crashing

A couple showed up uninvited at the recent White House reception of PM Singh. However, the husband has claimed they were certainly invited and it is the organizers who goofed up. Whatever the case, one can be certain that the truth will be unraveled in no time and the offenders will be appropriately punished. The law and order system is extremely efficient in the US. To cite an example, a few months ago, a Denver family caused a national scare when they thought their 8-year old son accidentally flew off in a hot air balloon. It turned out to be a hoax, and the couple have now pleaded guilty, and admitted to the pulling off a publicity stunt.

The rest of the world, however, is having a good laugh at the Secret Service's expense though. Questions are being raised about their ability to protect the first family. It is unfortunate that the right actions end up evoking the wrong questions. What if the secret service never found out? Or chose not to make it public? That's one of the great American traits - the ability to own up responsibility. I am willing to bet that our Presidential and Prime Ministerial gatherings routinely have gatecrashers that our security doesnt know about.

Value creation v/s redistribution

Why do firms exist? There are two broad views. The capitalistic view pushed by the US until recently insists that a firm must create value to its shareholders. The European view, however, is that a firm must create value to its stakeholders, which includes employees, investors, customers, society etc. The difference between the two shows up when value is not “created” but simply “redistributed”. Typically, value creation, implies an improvement in status quo. Where such value is tangible, its creation is by way of making things or processes faster, better or cheaper. But where the said value is intangible, its creation is determined by the perception of customers or consumers.

When a bank implements an IT system that speeds up its processes, it definitely creates value. Employees work better, customers transact faster, and risks of improper or fraudulent transactions are reduced. Or a power plant for that matter so long as it does not disturb the natural ecosystem.

On the other hand, let’s take expressways, which reduce travel time, thus creating value for commuters. But we overlook the loss incurred by fuel pumps because of increased fuel efficiency, auto mechanics because cars are on the road for fewer hours, hotels because people reach their destination much faster and need to stop for the night, roadside eateries, which are not allowed on expressways, and even if there is one, commuters might give it a skip and so on. This is a case of value redistribution – from fuel pumps, hotels, restaurants, to commuters. This is also the case with IT outsourcing. In these cases, the first definition comes up as myopic, focusing solely on the firm and its shareholders with total disregard to other players. And sooner or later, such cases will inevitably lead to agitation and outcry.

Recently, the WSJ reported how Mumbai’s black-and-yellow cabbies resorted to physical protests and violence against fleet operators such as Meru. Meru offers incredible value to a certain class of commuters, by simply not screwing up. People don’t pay more for the air-conditioning, but for such basic manners as courtesy and promptness. Nonetheless, it is a case of value redistribution, and is bound to rankle the sentiments of certain groups. Not that I support the case of taximen. Rather, I am appalled at their stupidity for I don’t know what else it can be. The unique prepaid system in our country doesn’t benefit anyone. Passengers pay nearly 50% more than the normal rate and I am quite certain the cabbies get paid less than the regular fare. It is only the middlemen who make money. But how did we get here? Simply because our cabbies refused to be honest. I can pardon them for lack of polish and manners for it is a matter of upbringing, and even the burgeoning middle class is woefully short on this. But there can be no excuses for dishonesty, and unless they are willing to see this, no amount of agitations and protests will help.