Can't help but write a bit about what is going on in Indian cricket right now :( The current state of affairs has compelled me to break my resolve of not posting anything directly about cricket. But unlike most others, it is not the Chappell-Ganguly spat that disturbs me more, but its the state of affairs with our governing body that leaves me without words.
I don't think any sports body in the world would have witnessed so much of politicking and scheming as the Board of Control for Cricket in India. Clearly, cricket administration in India is the least about cricket, and more about money, power and ego. Last year, while on campus, me and a few other useless free-loaders who had somehow got stuck together in a group for a subject called Political Economy, had chosen "Politics in Indian Cricket" as our topic and had focussed on the BCCI elections last year, since we considered it to be the nadir of sporting administration disintegration. However, its sad to note that we have plunged further down in the year that has passed.
Where else in the world would you find the biggest names in the country's political system jumping into the arena? Where else would you see battles in High Courts and Supreme Courts before an AGM? Where else would you see dirty squabbles and mud-slinging amongst the different associations? Where else would you see not one, not two, but three court appointed observers over a sporting body election? And where else would you see money swelling the coffers but still no development at all?
Yes, I think in the last year, the BCCI has done absolutely nothing to develop cricket in India. So much, that they have not even created their own website. Today, India is the only test playing nation whose cricket board does not have a web-site. And why? Because the people who administer and run the game, are busy devising strategies for saving their skins for the next elections, as soon as they have won one election, and have no time for petty issues like cricket!
The coach of the national team sends a confidential email to the BCCI president, and 4 other top officials of the board, and the mail gets leaked to the media. Not just the news of the mail, but its entire content, word for word. And it is amazing how no one in BCCI is noticeably doing anything to find out how a closed confidential mail privy to 6 people was leaked out. And although maybe Ganguly probably deserved the flak he is getting from the media, it is sad to see the Dungarpurs and Bindras drag him into the political dirt by claiming him to be Dalmiya's man.
Later today, the BCCI Review committee would be taking up the captain-coach controversy and hearing both sides of the story. However, I would be very surprised (pleasantly, though) to see a strong outcome from the meeting. My bet is that the committee would work out a compromise between the 2 people involved, and force them into another pool game for the cameras. Needless to say that the compromise would be one forced down both throats and that the atmosphere in the dressing room would never be the same for the team.
Maybe, compromise is the best solution... but what I am waiting to see is if the board penalizes Ganguly for letting dressing room discussions go public, and whether it probes and brings to task the source of the email leak.
Wednesday, September 28, 2005
Saturday, September 17, 2005
The Phantom Returns
The phantom has come back to haunt us. After a lull of about 5 years, which almost convinced us of its death, it is back. I am talking about the ghost of match fixing which haunted world cricket in the late 90's and 2000 and marred its reputation beyond repair. Heroes were fallen, careers were killed, reputations were capsized, but more importantly, faith was lost; the faith that an average cricket lover had in the game and in the players. He had been taken for a ride and had been betrayed... it was a wound that needed time to heal... 5 years passed and just when he was about to fully recuperate and bury the past incidents as a bad nightmare... the ghost turns up again...
This is in reference to the news reports that the ICC's anti-corruption unit is investigating the recent tri-series in Zimbabwe, and suspects a strong possibility of match fixing. Though the ICC has denied anything as such, the presence of its officers Hawkins and Peacock in India do suggest otherwise. Rumours are that 2 Indian fast bowlers and a shwashbuckling batsman are under surveillance.... and the sick feeling of de-ja-vu returns.
The earliest (reported) incident of betting/match-fixing dates back to 1981 when Dennis Lillee and Rodney Marsh bet on a match against their own teams. Between 1981 and 2000, betting which was then a harmless pastime, had evloved into a black syndicated industry. Millions and millions were bet, won and lost on each match, and the bookies, who used to be the facilitators in an exciting side game, turned into people who controlled fortunes. With money came power, and with money and power came influence, and with money, power and influence came audacity... the audacity to attempt the sinister.
The credit for blowing open the lid of this huge can or worms should go to the Delhi Police under commissioner Ajay Raj Sharma... it was post the India-SA series in 2000 and the Hansie Cronje saga that the presence of match fixing was acknowledged by the authorities and everyone else... till then it just used to be like smoke without visible traces of the fire from which it was emanating. Several enquiries were set up, several commissions were created, investigations undertaken... but none could yield any conclusive evidence, before Delhi Police stepped into action.
The cricketing world was taken aback at the revelations which followed. It was by far the biggest controversy in cricket, easily overtaking the bodyline controversy of the 30s. India was obviously the worst affected, because this is where the syndicate was, this is where the money was, and this is where the major chunk of the fan following was. The board, who had very recently given a clean chit to all the players as per the report of the Chandrachud Commission, was caught red-faced, and had to handover the case to the CBI, which made tremendous headway by nabbing the big names in the punter world, like MK Gupta, Rattan Mehta, Rajesh Kalra, Uttam Chand, Kishan Kumar (the small time actor) etc etc, who in due course blew the whistle on the insiders.
Soon heads were rolling all over, as the fall guys were identified and made to fall... In India, Azhar and Ajay Sharma got life bans, while Ajay Jadeja and Manoj Prabhakar were banned for 5 years. Hansie Cronje was banned for life and Herschelle Gibbs, Nicky Boje and Pieter Strydom for a year. Salim Malik and Ata-ur-Rehman got a life ban too... and not enough evidence could be gathered against the bigger names. Mark Waugh and Shane Warne were in any case undergoing a one-year ban for disclosing info to a bookie.
While the board fought with the corruption, the fans were distraught when confronted by the harsh fact that the heroes they worshipped were actually conspiring against them. I was quite shocked myself. I had been a huge fan of Ajay Jadeja and had even met him and taken a picture alongside him in 1996. Being from Calcutta, which was Azhar's happy hunting ground, I had a likeness for the classy batsman too. And for me, Hansie Cronje was the best captain I had seen. And who could imagine the affable Dr. Ali Irani to be the conduit between the cricketers and the bookies. Though the whole episode came as a bombshell, I didnt lose my fondness for the game. But I know several people who did! Some came around with time, getting back to the old ways, while others still content themselves with football and tennis and refuse to follow cricket.
Now that the ghost has returned, its time for introspection... Did the cricket world not create sufficient detterance to ensure that such incidents never happen again? Was the action taken against the fall guys not harsh enough to set an example? Was the setting up of an anti-corruption unit not sufficient surveillance?
I would say that the BCCI and the ICC did take a few right steps, and we should commend them for that. These steps are as follows:
1. Setting up of an independant autonomous ACU
2. Banning of cricket in suspect venues like Sharjah (which still has the distinction of hosting the most number of ODIs, as well as Asif Iqbal's hunting ground in punter world)
3. Appropriate action wherever evidence was found (except in the case of Warne, Waugh, Gibbs, Boje, etc)
4. BCCI introducing contract systems for players ensuring that they get enough money in fees to not be tempted. (though it was quite delayed)
But, do some gaps still remain to be plugged? If its not enough to stop cricketers from getting into the grey zone again, then the answer is probably yes. These gaps could be as:
1. Not enough money at the domestic level to stop the Ajay Sharmas from emerging, even as the BCCI coffers continue to swell. In the movie Iqbal too, there were references to such a point, where the poor son of a farmer is shown to be tempted to accept a bribe of 25 Lakhs, but in the end refuses only because he could get an alternate source of income through signing a contract with a media agency. But in reality, domestic cricketers hardly get any endorsements. Its a sad state of affairs considering that ours is a country crazy about the game.. still no one wants to see the domestic matches. The board should market the domestic league better and ensure that the international 'stars' also play in it. It should be modeled on the lines of the county championship... and with the finances at its disposal, it is easily possible.
2. Absence of any legal implications - Betting is a crime, but not match fixing, and there is no provision under which the defaulting cricketers can be tried in court. The only provision which comes close is the Clause 420 for cheating... but again it is quite difficult to establish the 'cheating' since it is at an emotional level.
There are suggestions to corporatize the board to ensure accountability and transparency, and legalization of betting in India. Both have its merits and are ideas worth pursuing. But today, the bigger question is whether the phantom that has emerged is for here to stay, or will it pass away like a bad dream. Or will we again enter the era when every failed innings will raise eyebrows, every spell of poor bowling will arouse suspicion and every dropped catch will give rise to accusations?
This is in reference to the news reports that the ICC's anti-corruption unit is investigating the recent tri-series in Zimbabwe, and suspects a strong possibility of match fixing. Though the ICC has denied anything as such, the presence of its officers Hawkins and Peacock in India do suggest otherwise. Rumours are that 2 Indian fast bowlers and a shwashbuckling batsman are under surveillance.... and the sick feeling of de-ja-vu returns.
The earliest (reported) incident of betting/match-fixing dates back to 1981 when Dennis Lillee and Rodney Marsh bet on a match against their own teams. Between 1981 and 2000, betting which was then a harmless pastime, had evloved into a black syndicated industry. Millions and millions were bet, won and lost on each match, and the bookies, who used to be the facilitators in an exciting side game, turned into people who controlled fortunes. With money came power, and with money and power came influence, and with money, power and influence came audacity... the audacity to attempt the sinister.
The credit for blowing open the lid of this huge can or worms should go to the Delhi Police under commissioner Ajay Raj Sharma... it was post the India-SA series in 2000 and the Hansie Cronje saga that the presence of match fixing was acknowledged by the authorities and everyone else... till then it just used to be like smoke without visible traces of the fire from which it was emanating. Several enquiries were set up, several commissions were created, investigations undertaken... but none could yield any conclusive evidence, before Delhi Police stepped into action.
The cricketing world was taken aback at the revelations which followed. It was by far the biggest controversy in cricket, easily overtaking the bodyline controversy of the 30s. India was obviously the worst affected, because this is where the syndicate was, this is where the money was, and this is where the major chunk of the fan following was. The board, who had very recently given a clean chit to all the players as per the report of the Chandrachud Commission, was caught red-faced, and had to handover the case to the CBI, which made tremendous headway by nabbing the big names in the punter world, like MK Gupta, Rattan Mehta, Rajesh Kalra, Uttam Chand, Kishan Kumar (the small time actor) etc etc, who in due course blew the whistle on the insiders.
Soon heads were rolling all over, as the fall guys were identified and made to fall... In India, Azhar and Ajay Sharma got life bans, while Ajay Jadeja and Manoj Prabhakar were banned for 5 years. Hansie Cronje was banned for life and Herschelle Gibbs, Nicky Boje and Pieter Strydom for a year. Salim Malik and Ata-ur-Rehman got a life ban too... and not enough evidence could be gathered against the bigger names. Mark Waugh and Shane Warne were in any case undergoing a one-year ban for disclosing info to a bookie.
While the board fought with the corruption, the fans were distraught when confronted by the harsh fact that the heroes they worshipped were actually conspiring against them. I was quite shocked myself. I had been a huge fan of Ajay Jadeja and had even met him and taken a picture alongside him in 1996. Being from Calcutta, which was Azhar's happy hunting ground, I had a likeness for the classy batsman too. And for me, Hansie Cronje was the best captain I had seen. And who could imagine the affable Dr. Ali Irani to be the conduit between the cricketers and the bookies. Though the whole episode came as a bombshell, I didnt lose my fondness for the game. But I know several people who did! Some came around with time, getting back to the old ways, while others still content themselves with football and tennis and refuse to follow cricket.
Now that the ghost has returned, its time for introspection... Did the cricket world not create sufficient detterance to ensure that such incidents never happen again? Was the action taken against the fall guys not harsh enough to set an example? Was the setting up of an anti-corruption unit not sufficient surveillance?
I would say that the BCCI and the ICC did take a few right steps, and we should commend them for that. These steps are as follows:
1. Setting up of an independant autonomous ACU
2. Banning of cricket in suspect venues like Sharjah (which still has the distinction of hosting the most number of ODIs, as well as Asif Iqbal's hunting ground in punter world)
3. Appropriate action wherever evidence was found (except in the case of Warne, Waugh, Gibbs, Boje, etc)
4. BCCI introducing contract systems for players ensuring that they get enough money in fees to not be tempted. (though it was quite delayed)
But, do some gaps still remain to be plugged? If its not enough to stop cricketers from getting into the grey zone again, then the answer is probably yes. These gaps could be as:
1. Not enough money at the domestic level to stop the Ajay Sharmas from emerging, even as the BCCI coffers continue to swell. In the movie Iqbal too, there were references to such a point, where the poor son of a farmer is shown to be tempted to accept a bribe of 25 Lakhs, but in the end refuses only because he could get an alternate source of income through signing a contract with a media agency. But in reality, domestic cricketers hardly get any endorsements. Its a sad state of affairs considering that ours is a country crazy about the game.. still no one wants to see the domestic matches. The board should market the domestic league better and ensure that the international 'stars' also play in it. It should be modeled on the lines of the county championship... and with the finances at its disposal, it is easily possible.
2. Absence of any legal implications - Betting is a crime, but not match fixing, and there is no provision under which the defaulting cricketers can be tried in court. The only provision which comes close is the Clause 420 for cheating... but again it is quite difficult to establish the 'cheating' since it is at an emotional level.
There are suggestions to corporatize the board to ensure accountability and transparency, and legalization of betting in India. Both have its merits and are ideas worth pursuing. But today, the bigger question is whether the phantom that has emerged is for here to stay, or will it pass away like a bad dream. Or will we again enter the era when every failed innings will raise eyebrows, every spell of poor bowling will arouse suspicion and every dropped catch will give rise to accusations?
Tuesday, September 13, 2005
Surviving Mumbai locals
Recently, when I was in Mumbai, one of the local dailies ran a front page story on the results of the customer survey done by Western and Central Railways. The survey had focussed on seeking suggestions from passengers to improve the service. Top of the chart suggestions were as follows :
1. Air-conditioned compartments
2. Dust-bins under the seats
3. Alarm in ladies compartment
It is indeed true that for Mumbaikars, the train journey is a routine, it is 'business as usual', and that is why their suggestions are to improve hygiene and facilities in the trains, rather than what anyone new to Mumbai would pray for : More space, more air... which means more trains. If I had been a part of the survey, I would have asked for the following:
1. Frequency of trains be increased from 3 mins to 1 min (peak hrs)
2. More tracks be installed to facilitate more trains
3. Regulations be enforced to prevent back-tracking (for the uninitiated, it means a practice wherein if a person has to go from Station # 3 to Station # 10, he would board the train in the opposite direction and go from Stn # 3 to Stn #1 so that he can comfortably find a seating place in the train which would go back from 1 to 10)
Its true that the Mumbai locals present one of the most efficient modes of transportation by carrying millions of people over a long distance in the shortest time, but its also true that with thousands of people coming to Mumbai to settle on a daily basis, the said efficiency falls way short of requirement. But still, kudos to the Mumbaikars, who have surprisingly easily acclimatised to a way of life which is full of discomfort, heat, sweat, body odour, curses, abuses, pushes and shoves, etc etc - the local trains.
While the less accustomed-to would be praying for mercy and would be trying to recall the sins he must have committed to have been subjected to the ordeal of a peak-hour journey, and would be sweating to death in the stuffed compartment which accommodates at least 5 times more people than it should, the regular Mumbaikar would either be coolly listening to his FM Radio, or reading a book/newspaper, or solving crosswords, or chatting away to glory with his train-friend-circle, or even playing cards!!
I still (unfondly) remember my first peak hour train journey. It was April 2004, and I had landed in the 'city of dreams' for my summer internship (incidentally, by then, my family had also moved to Mumbai). So, amidst a vast turbulent sea of human beings, me and 3 fellow interns had set foot on Andheri station, armed with 1st class passes, polished shoes, crisply pressed shirts, cool deo-scents and an air of confidence. What was to follow shattered everything, including the confidence!
Having heard the stories from people, we had braced ourselves for the battle for embarkment and got ourselves a head-start by standing right in front, confident that inspite of being newcomers, we shall overcome. However, when the train arrived, we were suddenly overtaken by the huge mob who started boarding the train even as it was moving, by getting a grip on the doors, windows, roof or anything they could lay their hands on. Just as we were trying to gather our senses, the train slowed down, blowing out a deluge of passengers in all forms, some running, some falling, some finding their feet... and we were swept away by this torrent. By the time we recovered, the compartment was full with people even hanging out with just their big toe inside the train.
Aamir Khan had once said "ladki, bus aur train ke peechhe nahi bhaagne ka... ek jayegi, doosri aayegi.." (do not run after girls, buses and trains... one will go, another will follow). We could relate well to the sentiment then, and decided to hang around till we got the right train... 4 trains passed and the clock ticked away and the crowd kept on swelling, but we were still standing there. Eventually, we decided to go for the kill... 2 of us could manage to push and kick our way into the next train, while the other 2 were left behind to try their luck with the subsequent ones.
Getting on board proved to be just a momentary relief, as the scene inside was even worse. We were standing, sandwiched between people on all sides, without even room to move a finger... Someone was standing on my toes, and someone else's elbow rested on my shoulder, and another one's breath was distincly hitting my neck. This was the first class... where the tickets were 5 times the price of normal tickets. I naturally wondered that if this was the scene in 1st Class, how would the 2nd Class be... I found out eventually, that 1st class and 2nd class were equally worse, with the minor difference that the 2nd class smells of body odour, while the 1st class smells of deodorants!
When we finally disembarked at Churchgate, the clothes were crumpled, the shoes were stubbed, the body dripping with sweat, and the mood devoid of any energy whatsoever. If this was the way the day began, it was worth imagining what would be in store for the rest of the day. On the way back, it was as if the morning journey had given us loads of valuable experience. We managed to hop onto a return Virar-bound train, and having got a decent place to stand, gave ourselves a pat on the back! (you seldom get a place to sit, because of the people who backtrack) .
The return journey was quite uneventful, till the destination station (Andheri) approached. When we got up to disembark, the crowd at the gates refused to budge and make way. When we politely asked them to let us go, we were impolitely told that if we wanted to get down at Andheri, we should take an Andheri or Borivali train and not a Virar train. These people were actually serious, and quite furious too... it was as if we had trespassed on their property. An elderly gentleman near the gate rudely asked us that didn't we know that Andheri passengers should not get on Virar trains? Sheepishly, I told him it was our first day in Mumbai, and pleaded ignorance, and he finally yielded and asked the young crowd to give way, announcing the rule "Never get on Virar trains if you are going to Andheri"
When I narrated this incident to my brother later, pointing out the rude, intolerant and anarchic behavior of the passengers, he replied, "Are you crazy? Didnt I tell you that you never get onto a Virar train if you are going to Andheri... it is an unwritten rule!" This experience, and many more in those 2 months helped me form my own survival guide for Mumbai train journeys.. the basic rules are as follows:
# Get the basics right. Know which train goes from what platform at what time, & whether its fast or slow, 9-coaches or 12-coaches, etc
# Keep glasses in pocket, do not bother to polish shoes and do not wear expensive watches
# Behave like a veteran, even if you are a newcomer. Walk the walk, talk the talk... show that you mean business
# Do not waste time deciding which gate to enter from (they are all the same) and force yourself in. Remember that the force = momentum + vocal pressure... so keep shouting at the people ahead
# As soon as you get in, find a comfortable standing position as near to the seats and fans as possible and be on the lookout for opportunities to swoop onto a seat.
# Try catching up on sleep, whether sitting or standing...You need the power nap :)
# While getting down, remember to go with the flow... do not let the embarking passengers get a headway or chances are that you will have to get down at the next station
# And of course, never get onto a Virar train if you want to get down at Andheri :)
1. Air-conditioned compartments
2. Dust-bins under the seats
3. Alarm in ladies compartment
It is indeed true that for Mumbaikars, the train journey is a routine, it is 'business as usual', and that is why their suggestions are to improve hygiene and facilities in the trains, rather than what anyone new to Mumbai would pray for : More space, more air... which means more trains. If I had been a part of the survey, I would have asked for the following:
1. Frequency of trains be increased from 3 mins to 1 min (peak hrs)
2. More tracks be installed to facilitate more trains
3. Regulations be enforced to prevent back-tracking (for the uninitiated, it means a practice wherein if a person has to go from Station # 3 to Station # 10, he would board the train in the opposite direction and go from Stn # 3 to Stn #1 so that he can comfortably find a seating place in the train which would go back from 1 to 10)
Its true that the Mumbai locals present one of the most efficient modes of transportation by carrying millions of people over a long distance in the shortest time, but its also true that with thousands of people coming to Mumbai to settle on a daily basis, the said efficiency falls way short of requirement. But still, kudos to the Mumbaikars, who have surprisingly easily acclimatised to a way of life which is full of discomfort, heat, sweat, body odour, curses, abuses, pushes and shoves, etc etc - the local trains.
While the less accustomed-to would be praying for mercy and would be trying to recall the sins he must have committed to have been subjected to the ordeal of a peak-hour journey, and would be sweating to death in the stuffed compartment which accommodates at least 5 times more people than it should, the regular Mumbaikar would either be coolly listening to his FM Radio, or reading a book/newspaper, or solving crosswords, or chatting away to glory with his train-friend-circle, or even playing cards!!
I still (unfondly) remember my first peak hour train journey. It was April 2004, and I had landed in the 'city of dreams' for my summer internship (incidentally, by then, my family had also moved to Mumbai). So, amidst a vast turbulent sea of human beings, me and 3 fellow interns had set foot on Andheri station, armed with 1st class passes, polished shoes, crisply pressed shirts, cool deo-scents and an air of confidence. What was to follow shattered everything, including the confidence!
Having heard the stories from people, we had braced ourselves for the battle for embarkment and got ourselves a head-start by standing right in front, confident that inspite of being newcomers, we shall overcome. However, when the train arrived, we were suddenly overtaken by the huge mob who started boarding the train even as it was moving, by getting a grip on the doors, windows, roof or anything they could lay their hands on. Just as we were trying to gather our senses, the train slowed down, blowing out a deluge of passengers in all forms, some running, some falling, some finding their feet... and we were swept away by this torrent. By the time we recovered, the compartment was full with people even hanging out with just their big toe inside the train.
Aamir Khan had once said "ladki, bus aur train ke peechhe nahi bhaagne ka... ek jayegi, doosri aayegi.." (do not run after girls, buses and trains... one will go, another will follow). We could relate well to the sentiment then, and decided to hang around till we got the right train... 4 trains passed and the clock ticked away and the crowd kept on swelling, but we were still standing there. Eventually, we decided to go for the kill... 2 of us could manage to push and kick our way into the next train, while the other 2 were left behind to try their luck with the subsequent ones.
Getting on board proved to be just a momentary relief, as the scene inside was even worse. We were standing, sandwiched between people on all sides, without even room to move a finger... Someone was standing on my toes, and someone else's elbow rested on my shoulder, and another one's breath was distincly hitting my neck. This was the first class... where the tickets were 5 times the price of normal tickets. I naturally wondered that if this was the scene in 1st Class, how would the 2nd Class be... I found out eventually, that 1st class and 2nd class were equally worse, with the minor difference that the 2nd class smells of body odour, while the 1st class smells of deodorants!
When we finally disembarked at Churchgate, the clothes were crumpled, the shoes were stubbed, the body dripping with sweat, and the mood devoid of any energy whatsoever. If this was the way the day began, it was worth imagining what would be in store for the rest of the day. On the way back, it was as if the morning journey had given us loads of valuable experience. We managed to hop onto a return Virar-bound train, and having got a decent place to stand, gave ourselves a pat on the back! (you seldom get a place to sit, because of the people who backtrack) .
The return journey was quite uneventful, till the destination station (Andheri) approached. When we got up to disembark, the crowd at the gates refused to budge and make way. When we politely asked them to let us go, we were impolitely told that if we wanted to get down at Andheri, we should take an Andheri or Borivali train and not a Virar train. These people were actually serious, and quite furious too... it was as if we had trespassed on their property. An elderly gentleman near the gate rudely asked us that didn't we know that Andheri passengers should not get on Virar trains? Sheepishly, I told him it was our first day in Mumbai, and pleaded ignorance, and he finally yielded and asked the young crowd to give way, announcing the rule "Never get on Virar trains if you are going to Andheri"
When I narrated this incident to my brother later, pointing out the rude, intolerant and anarchic behavior of the passengers, he replied, "Are you crazy? Didnt I tell you that you never get onto a Virar train if you are going to Andheri... it is an unwritten rule!" This experience, and many more in those 2 months helped me form my own survival guide for Mumbai train journeys.. the basic rules are as follows:
# Get the basics right. Know which train goes from what platform at what time, & whether its fast or slow, 9-coaches or 12-coaches, etc
# Keep glasses in pocket, do not bother to polish shoes and do not wear expensive watches
# Behave like a veteran, even if you are a newcomer. Walk the walk, talk the talk... show that you mean business
# Do not waste time deciding which gate to enter from (they are all the same) and force yourself in. Remember that the force = momentum + vocal pressure... so keep shouting at the people ahead
# As soon as you get in, find a comfortable standing position as near to the seats and fans as possible and be on the lookout for opportunities to swoop onto a seat.
# Try catching up on sleep, whether sitting or standing...You need the power nap :)
# While getting down, remember to go with the flow... do not let the embarking passengers get a headway or chances are that you will have to get down at the next station
# And of course, never get onto a Virar train if you want to get down at Andheri :)
Sunday, September 11, 2005
Back to the Grind
Well, after a break of a couple of weeks, am back to the routine life again. The visit to India was awesome, to put it mildly. And the blast that we had at the team building event was too hot to handle. Looking back, I dont know how I could have handled so much physical exertion. We did it all... from cycling in the desert to hunt for a treasure in 45 degrees temperature, to throwing people in the swimming pool to sumo-wrestling with bean bags to dancing to the latest desi numbers till wee hours of the morning. Team building events are great, I say...
The trips back home are like one of those fancy rides in an amusement park.. whirlwind, great fun, and they leave you without breath, and make you yearn to have another go. Managed to catch a couple of movies too... saw No Entry and Iqbal. Iqbal was quite good... a typical Nagesh Kukunoor movie, and No Entry was a slapstic comedy enjoyable for people who enjoy that kind of humour (me inclusive). Looking back, I must have slept about 3 hours daily on an average through the entire 10 day trip. No wonder, am feeling more jet-lagged than usual.
This journey has made me a fan of two corporations : Singapore Airlines and Kingfisher Airlines. I have always been a Kingfisher (Strong) fan, but the airline experience was quite good. I had thought of it as another of those low-cost airlines, but as it turned out, it was a luxurious flight. For the first time in India, there is an entertainment system on domestic flights for all passengers with individual TV screens, and the courteousness and elegance of the airhostesses was beyond what domestic passengers have been trained to expect. As far as Singapore Airlines is concerned, their level of service and on-flight comfort just won me over.
Anyways, back down under, in a matter of 2 weeks, there has been a great change in the climatic conditions here... the winter has disappeared and the sun is out again and the incisive chilly wind has been replaced with a cool pleasant breeze. This is the kind of weather I hate... yeah... and you would hate it too if you had to be working on a Saturday on such an awesome great day :(
The trips back home are like one of those fancy rides in an amusement park.. whirlwind, great fun, and they leave you without breath, and make you yearn to have another go. Managed to catch a couple of movies too... saw No Entry and Iqbal. Iqbal was quite good... a typical Nagesh Kukunoor movie, and No Entry was a slapstic comedy enjoyable for people who enjoy that kind of humour (me inclusive). Looking back, I must have slept about 3 hours daily on an average through the entire 10 day trip. No wonder, am feeling more jet-lagged than usual.
This journey has made me a fan of two corporations : Singapore Airlines and Kingfisher Airlines. I have always been a Kingfisher (Strong) fan, but the airline experience was quite good. I had thought of it as another of those low-cost airlines, but as it turned out, it was a luxurious flight. For the first time in India, there is an entertainment system on domestic flights for all passengers with individual TV screens, and the courteousness and elegance of the airhostesses was beyond what domestic passengers have been trained to expect. As far as Singapore Airlines is concerned, their level of service and on-flight comfort just won me over.
Anyways, back down under, in a matter of 2 weeks, there has been a great change in the climatic conditions here... the winter has disappeared and the sun is out again and the incisive chilly wind has been replaced with a cool pleasant breeze. This is the kind of weather I hate... yeah... and you would hate it too if you had to be working on a Saturday on such an awesome great day :(
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