Whose victory is it anyway?

I watched the Indian team triumph at the AFC Challenge cup 2008. Right after the match I checked if any news channel was announcing the victory - there was none. I woke up this morning and checked the newspaper, it wasn't there either. I felt very disappointed and quickly scanned through it and there it was, in the last page. When will this step-motherly treatment of 'other' sports end?

The front page of the national newspaper had Michael Phelps’ photograph. Who in India knows him? We know the greatness of his achievement, but our victory at home is not small either. Or are we trying to say that we will only notice if it is at the world stage. What a shame! When the country for the first time won one of the biggest football tournaments in 25 years, shouldn't it make headline news? And the funniest thing is one of the news channels is still basking on past glory saying that the biggest sporting moment was when Leander Paes won the bronze in Atlanta. There is no mention of the latest triumph – a triumph that gives India a direct entry in the 2011 Asia Cup.

I watched the morning sports news on TV and they only talked about what is going on in Beijing. In the capital of the nation, the local boy scored a hat-trick in a final and that does not make any news. This is sad. Nobody knew Abhinav Bindra a week back and now he has become a household name. Abhinav rightly said that Cricket is not going to make us a sporting nation, because it is played only by 10 nations in the world. If I run with two fastest sprinters of the world and there are only three participants, I will definitely be third.

The root of the problem lies in this; that we do not nurture or not even notice a tree until it bears fruit. We only reap the benefit afterwards. When will this hypocrisy end?

One step for an Indian, a giant leap for India

Abhinav Bindra winning the first individual gold medal in the Beijing Olympics is a giant leap for India. From a country of one billion people, one man winning a gold medal in 28 years is a feat that is no less, in effect, than the day Neil Armstrong landed on the moon in 1969.

This win shows that we have what it takes to win at the Olympics. It is not only just about the skills but the attitude. Bindra proved that if you have the attitude for winning, we can. He could have easily felt inferior going from a country where this particular event is unheard of, where sport is still in its nascent stage, except for cricket. It is important to instill this attitude in all Indian sportsmen and women.

The first step is to be at the top of the medal tally at the SAF games. If we can have the zeal and the attitude to win at big events, playing at the FIFA world cup cannot be very far. No matter whether the political system supports it or not, corporates and individuals can come together to build the infrastructure. There are so many countries whose sportsmen win at the Olympics despite the limitations they have in their country.

We know where the gold lies. All we need is an attitude to dig for it.

Cheers!

How can going veg save the planet?

I have often heard this clichéd slogan; 'Go Vegetarian and save the environment’. My question is, how can you save the environment by going vegetarian? On the contrary you might lose your health because you deprive yourself of so much good that comes from meat.

There are innumerable health benefits of eating meat, to say, for example, it serves as a fabulous source of high quality proteins, which a single vegetarian food is not able to provide. It contains all the essential amino acids that the body requires. The red meat contains very high quantities of iron, when compared with plant origin foods. 100 grams of Liver contains 6000 mcgm of iron as against 325 mcgm in 100-gram carrots. There are several other benefits of eating meat and I am not denying the same of vegetables as well. If one can live on vegetables one should, but the ‘absolute term’ is not quite done.

There is something called ecological balance. Every living thing needs something to survive and there is a set of food in nature that is healthy and consumable by all creatures and plants. Poaching is a heinous act but not eating meat. The tiger can only survive on meat and nothing else. The cow eats grass and that's the way it is made. The sparrows eat grains. There are birds that eat insects for survival. Humans eat both meat and vegetables. These are standards we must live by.

The latest term that is doing the rounds is 'Lifestyle addiction'. If people can give up this addiction, there are far better chances of saving the environment. If people can travel by sea instead of air, pollution will come down. If people can have car-pool and not drive their own car to work. If only people could walk, rather than drive, to the local store to buy milk. If only people were God-fearing so that they would revere Him and take care of the earth. These are some of the 'laws' that have to be followed. The ‘environmentalists’ are doing a lot for the cause but that’s not enough at present.

The point is that it is not about going vegetarian; it’s about unnatural behaviour pattern of humans. We always want more and more of anything we like. That’s why we have broiler products and genetically modified foods that are unhealthy compared to normal food. I would support a slogan that says ‘Stop eating broiler and save the environment’.

Have a nice day!

Learning from IPL T20
The recently concluded IPL had a big significance in our lives. It was not just a game of cricket, but much more than that. For us sitting at home and watching the big game on TV was so much inspirational, I wonder how it must have been to witness the game on the field. Here are some of the lessons we can learn.

Boundaries broken
The tournament had players from all over the world and they were not identified as Indians or Australians or Pakistanis but by the names of their teams. Certainly it is nothing new in Europe but it is a new concept for a lot of people in this region. There was oneness in them. They showed their respect for each other through trust, honor and friendship. They were not held hostage by their political boundaries when it came to achieving a common goal. It was nice to see captions on newspaper like ‘Mathew Hayden of Chennai Super Kings’ or ‘Jayasurya of Mumbai Indians’.

Teamwork matters
An individual can only imagine what a team can achieve. The Rajasthan Royals was considered the weakest of the lot, but they proved everyone wrong by their teamwork. They did not have any star player in the team. It was the only team to have a 38 year old retired captain. There was only one player in the team who had played from the Indian team in ODIs. The team went on to win the trophy. It is the not the big names that matter in a team but individuals who are a cohesive lot.

A leader builds
A leader can make or break a team. The Rajasthan Royals’ Shane Warne showed the world what it takes to be a good leader. They could have easily become their own victim if they had thought that they were the weakest team. Warne capitalized on the strengths of his teammates rather than worrying about their weaknesses. He did not ask his boys to work on their weak points but encouraged them with titles unique to their abilities.

"Leadership is the energetic process of getting people fully and willingly committed to a new and sustainable course of action, to meet commonly agreed objectives whilst having commonly held values"

Healthy entertainment
It was all about healthy and positive entertainment. With so much ‘unhealthy’ and ‘Parental Guidance required’ shows and ‘family problem’ soaps, this one was a champion. This surpassed all former TV entertainment in India. There was so much relief from the usual slapsticks and 'reality shows'. I am sure the Saas-bahu saga had to go through a bad phase for 45 days. People could see that the best team can lose at times but that does not mean the end of the world. The viewers could empathize with the feeling the players went through in the tournament - the feeling of hope, joy, passion, anger and frustration.

Equal opportunity
The greatest contribution of the IPL may be this; that every player, big or small, got equal opportunity to prove their mettle. We witnessed some of the finest talents on the field which otherwise would have just died without ever being noticed.

Welcome Euro 2008!

Who cares?

Most companies these days brag about their focus on ‘customer care’, not understanding what it really takes to do that. I recently visited two different banks and experienced two different types of customer ‘care’. Care?

I stepped into a swanky looking private bank and went to the cash counter. The person behind the counter was formally dressed. I presented a ‘self’ cheque to withdraw cash. He gestured and asked me to wait for two minutes. In not more than two minutes the transaction was over. From the time I parked my car at the gate till the time I came out, it took exactly 15 minutes.

After withdrawing cash I had to get a DD made from a very popular national bank. I went inside and saw a huge business floor, which looked as good as the private bank I visited 20 minutes ago. Each counter had a TFT screen and a telephone. The people behind the counters were also well dressed. But with the perception I had about the so-called gov’ment banks I found the people not so ‘caring’. I didn’t know which counter to go to since there were no easily noticeable labels. Not knowing what will be the response, I approached a lady behind one of the counters. This lady was quite ‘caring’ enough to tell me to go to the 6th floor and get a number generated for the DD.

The lift stopped at every floor irrespective of whether there was anyone getting-off or getting on. I reached the sixth floor and went to the first counter with a wild guess, ‘this must be it’. I was right and I patted myself for my unusual sixth sense. The woman (again a woman) asked me if I was carrying any address proof since I wanted a DD payable in a foreign country. When I told her I did not have any address proof but I have a voter’s ID, she directed me to the next counter to take the gentleman’s approval. This man first insisted that I need an address proof but later agreed to my voter’s ID. (I think he liked my jacket). I got the photocopy of the ID and handed it over to the ‘first’ counter along with a form. The woman entered some number in a huge ledger file and in about 10minutes she asked me to deposit the cash in the counter on the first floor. I took the staircase to get to the first floor because that seemed faster at that point of time. I hurried to the ‘first’ lady and deposited cash. She didn’t have a cash counting machine so she used her expert hands to do so. After completing the process of stamping and scribbling she asked me to ascend to the 6th floor to collect the draft.

I took the lift because I would rather spend more time in the lift than at the counter. The lady asked me to wait for 5 minutes. 10 minutes later, I started feeling impatient. I looked for the washroom, which was as good as the toilet in the train. There was a coffee machine kept at a noticeable place and I went there to take a cup of coffee but a boy insisted that he would serve. I thanked him and retired to the couch. The coffee cost me 4 rupees.

The total time I spent in the bank to get a DD made was 75 minutes. Whether it was customer care or customer focus I cannot tell the difference, but I had the experience of a lifetime.