What Cricket means to me!

Right from std V, I’ve played & followed cricket to the extent of nearly flunking on days where my love for cricket took over my fear of the next day exam (and this includes Sachin’s recent knock of 174 before my dear QAFD paper, not so dear to me but with results not out yet :P..let’s play safe….!). 

Before I pen down some analysis to show off my cricketing know-how in an attempt to justify years of my interest in the same, let me begin with some of my personal favorite moments (in no particular order) of cricket involving mostly Indian team…my 2^nd love Ganguly…and others…

1) I am adding to this post after many years. Kyuki aaj Dil khamakha khush nahi hai....real me hai!!! The cricket lover in me gets active very few times now. Maybe because its too much cricket and I've too little time. India won a series in Australia in January 2021 by beating Australia at Gabba. As Harsha Bhogle rightly said.....Covid you are beaten! Even you took not take one of the spectacles of sports from us. Cricket mirrors all life emotions. And its not just a series/match win. It's a message, to just give your best shot and not think about result. Our men/boys showed temperament. They rose after falling. They didn't care - the who's who of the world had written them off after 36 all out. They just went on even if there were injuries after injuries. Bruised, broken but patient tigers! Waiting for an opportunity to pounce. I've always felt Indian team should not have individual brilliance like Kohli/Tendulkar as captain. It somehow doesn't work when one man does the heavy lifting. We did brilliantly under Dhoni. It's only when the cubs are left to swim on their own, they improvise and team games are won! After 36 all out, my 7 year old asked me....is India that bad a team? I told him...series is not over till the last ball is bowled. He brushed it off like a typical 'Mumma Gyaan' Now this win goes in his subconscious. Cricket is a great teacher! (Deep in my heart I had also written off India, but that's not the right thinking I should pass on to him so stayed quiet ;) )       

2) India's world cup win in 2011. I just went gaga on the roads like millions of Indians. In Mumbai, both me and SRK got stuck in traffic though ;)   

3) Escaping from office to watch the T20 Indo-Pak 2007 final and then going crazily ga-ga over the sensational win post the world cup debacle in the same year…

4) Sachin’s century in the qualifying breathtaking match against Australia of the coca-cola cup ‘98 at Sharjah was much better than his so-called greatest knock of the final of same series…

5) Kumble’s decision not to call off the 2008 test series against Australia post the controversial Sydney test was as per me the most mature decision in cricket ‘EVER’…

6) It was Ganguly who made us believe that we could win overseas – India-Australia series 2001 where India made history by winning a test match after being forced to follow-on…there’s been no stopping ever since…

7) An engg. classmate of mine praying for rains in a pune temple J when India were struggling in the 2003 world cup final against Australia (aus made 359 batting first)…India lost ultimately though RainGods did try their bit…

8) When I cried with Vinod Kambli (in different cities of course ;)) after the match between India-Sri Lanka was awarded to SL post crowd misbehavior in the 1996 world cup…

9) Sachin’s SUPERB catch of Inzamam in Pakistan. His kid-like excitement post this catch is still a treat to the eyes... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfeIYy0eLfA

10) Venkatesh Prasad’s wicket of Aamir Sohail in the 1996 world cup quarter final showed what a CLASSIC reply from a bowler actually means…! Can still hear commentators’ comment: “Aamir Sohail would be killing himself in the dressing room”

Team compositions have changed since then……rivalries have shifted and intensified…from India vs Pak to India vs England to India vs Australia to South Africa vs Australia…etc…not only are the players and the teams evolving but the sport itself too, with the advent of T20 and IPL! But my love for the sport never subsided be it T20’s entry, match fixing or even when the players I grew up with bid adieu! Everytime I feel I’ve grown old enough to waste time watching 100 overs, a Sachin-174 like knock makes me believe in cricket’s gigantic potential to infuse immortal passion in me! Cricket, with its uncanny ability to mirror every possible human emotion, is life to me!

Rewarding Analyzers over Doers...can we afford it!

My blog name reads Cognitive Resonance which is the opposite of Cognitive Dissonance.

Psychology defines Cognitive Dissonance as the state of having inconsistent thoughts, beliefs, or attitudes, especially as relating to behavioral decisions and attitude change.

Am in financial industry for more than last 5 years and have met people who run the companies. Would not like to address them with the jazzy term 'Promoter' for a reason. I have always been awed by these people who run the show because they had the grit and belief some decades back to think that they can do it. 

And then I stare at my notepad wherein I am trying to analyze what they do. I am the analyzer and they are the doers.

If we try,we can bifurcate all the professions in two categories - Doers and Analyzers.

So bankers, consultancies, ratings analyst, equity researchers, PE, etc are the analyzers. (hardly an exhaustive list though).

While a doer can be anyone - whoever is adding value to the way we live - manufacturers, product developers, teachers, mechanic, taxi driver or even your garbage collector.

If we analyse (since that's what we do best) the pay difference between the doers and analyzers, we know that analyzers get rewarded much more heftily for analyzing the work mostly which doers do. How? To elaborate, consider an eg. Ola Cabs. Built by bringing together thousands of drivers which are together called as Ola.

This is exactly wherein my Cognitive Dissonance stems from. We can argue that specialized services command premium. We can also argue that even analyzers are adding value to the ecosystem though indirectly. But ultimately truth is, we are not rewarding doers for the amount of value addition done by them.

There is no dearth of brilliant minds in India. But the skewed nature of brilliance following only analytical fields is not something which we as a nation can afford, I feel.

P.S: I acknowledge I was a banker earlier and now a ratings analyst. I do acknowledge that the work I do may be important but is NOT the most important work in the world . 

Disclaimer: Even I don't have an answer as to how can a driver be rewarded more than an equity researcher. This is what we are used to seeing and believing. I am just questioning the rationale of not rewarding doers as much.

One day, when perception met reality...

At the crossroads one day, in midlife somewhere, perception met reality.

Boastfully,she asked "Why do you still exist my friend? When all that the 'human' now cares is only me and the parallel. He wants to be either in his virtual life (where he tries to show what he wants) or parallel life (where he acts as what he wants himself to be) 

So whether his mother is lonely somewhere,his kid needs him sometime,his spouse wants to connect with him,his sibling wants to entertain him,his friends want the real him - he still cannot let me go anywhere anytime. Right from morning alarm to good night kiss,I am a part of him,so where is the need for you my friend?"

After a big sigh,reality replied "I am like the shadow to the human. When he is in the best of his times, bright and cheerful,trying to live his virtual life and be perceived as somebody,I may not be visible to everyone. But perception,you have a limited life and no sustenance without a periodic booster. You try instigating each human to turn into a megalomaniac. And when you fail him,you deceive him,I make him understand that perception was never here to stay. Instead goodness,hope,inspiration,compassion,humility,hard work are for real. That there is a real purpose to every human's presence and when he engulfs himself with his perceived image,it takes longer for him to discover why he exists.Perception,I stay here to undo the damage you do to him.I stay so that he does things which matter. I stay to make him understand, it matters not what he is thought to be,but what he actually is!" 

The Un'common' hero!

What I am planning to pen down today may well be one of the most abstract things I've written.Not many may understand what I want to say forget relating to it.But this is something which has been troubling me for a long long time.
Had come across this saying by Plato one day 'Be kind for everyone you meet is fighting a harder battle'
This got me thinking. This is one of the rare quotes which asks us to stop following idols,stop praising the exceptionals,stop trying to show we appreciate talent across the world.Instead to appreciate the mediocrity of exceptional individuals. And these individuals are exceptionals only because they are common people living everyday life, struggling to make ends meet, just about keeping their parents and children happy, faithful to their work, decently honest, not handicapped or poor so no sympathy is ever bestowed on them.So is it easy to be a common man? Not really. Because nobody considers you a hero.Except your spouse maybe (that too wife who may as well think you are a perfect man) but is it enough to live an unadventurous life.Probably not.
Still how does this common man dude survive.Answer as per me is occasional genuine kindness by known and unknown people around him.for eg.a number of times BEST bus drivers in mumbai have stopped their buses mid way on road to let me cross when I was carrying my one year old son in my arms.
Point I am trying to put across very simply is if the proportion of these people within our own family and even outside increases,who are kind to our everyday struggles in life, whether they can relate to it or not, but are kind, won't we live in better times.
Charity flows from well-to-do to not-so-well-to-do people,but kindness has no direction,no limitation. We all know nobody has an easy life throughout life.And whether we know the battles in someone else's life or not,being kind will go a long way in making this world a little more livable for all of us un'common' heroes.

Child gives birth to a Mother!

It's 12 am and I suddenly have a nostalgic feeling, about what? I am actually missing something but what?

It's a baby kick. I am missing a baby kick.

And then I see you,dear son. 

Sleeping deep besides me.

So that kick were you.

So when I had those midnight hunger pangs,it were you.

So when everyone in the world seemed to care for me, it was for you.

Of all the stages in a women's life,  daughter, wife, mother, the most beautiful and most respected stage is that of pregnancy. Nevertheless it is a short passing phase.

So it begins with the usual 'how will I look like' and 'how will I manage' kinda apprehensions and ends where: the moment your 15 minute old son holds a finger you stretch out to him. Science calls it a reflex action newborns possess, I would like to believe otherwise :)

Anyways, so between these two bipolar thoughts lay those months which offer some pleasant surprises.

Surprises because as a women who is brought up in India, you are not used to such respectful attention as listed here :P

1) No taxi driver will ever say 'no' to you (if you stay in Mumbai you can empathize with what am saying)

2) People will stop lifts for you to board even with your annoyingly slow crawls/walk

3) Flexible working hours (you do need some luck with bosses here too)

4) Any bad mood can be passed on as a hormonal change :P

5) People smile at you when you eat ice cream no matter how humongous the portion is

6) You are forgetting things frequently or want another mad-over-donut's donut, you can blame everything on pregnancy ;)

7) The best part - your husband will never make fun of you, make sure the fridge is stocked, accompany you for those evening walks, rub your tired feet and will put his best effort to make sure you always stay calm :)

All in all, it's a much needed midlife realization that civility is still alive and is showered on those who are pregnant. 

And the greatest perk of course is bringing someone into this world who, you will love more than your own imagination :)

Rishte me to hum tumhare baap NAHI lagte!!!

This blogpost is dedicated to a person who almost considers himself ‘THE’ second son of Amitabh Bachchan. 

And if only love for Amitji is the criteria and not DNA, then his first son.

In KBC, it always did look like there are people crazy for Big B. But here, I’ve one right by my side, whose love is not only biased and crazy, but it surely deserves him a chance to meet Big B once. What better option than KBC now since same will be aired from September.

I know Nakul well for many years now and his love for Big B hasn’t faded a bit. So, will it be possible to jot some points which reflect this.

Let’s try.

      1)     As a kid, Nakul’s favourite movie was Ajooba. Honestly, this was a shocker for me. Ajooba….really??? 

      Now, his all time favourite - BLACK. (Still much more acceptable J )

     2)    To say, he has seen Amitji’s almost all movies (YES, including RGV ki Aag, Boom and Department) multiple times would be an understatement.

     3)    Nakul does mimicry of several actors quite flawlessly including Amitji. In fact, his mimicry shows at IIM K also centred around Amitabh Bachchan as the lead character.

     4)    If ever we’ve a son, he wants to name him Amitji….NO NOT Amit or Amitabh but Amitji…(reminds me of the contestant who had come to ‘Roadies 9.0 audition who had named his son ‘Roadies’ :P )

     5)    When the last KBC broadcast time had changed from 9pm to 8:30pm, there was not a single day in those 2-3 months when he came later than 8:30pm from office. (Those who know his work timings will surely understand what it means ;))

     6)    Any other Bollywood personality who ever tries to be modest gets NO appreciation but a smug “Amitji wali humility nahi hai isme” ;)

Probably marrying a girl of almost Jaya Bachchan’s height was also not a co-incidence ;) 

Phewwwwwwww J

Where the mind is without fear!

I’ve not written anything for over an year. Not that I didn’t feel like. But somehow, the mundane job & routine life were the only things I could focus on and who likes to hear/read about similar things in any other person’s life and that too of someone living in a city like Mumbai where discussing about rent and mode of daily travel are the favourite topics.

Moreover, India didn’t win much except the world cup & some domestic tours so couldn’t focus on that topic either.

Lokpal bill has already been spoken about a lot (and I actually took some time to figure out whose demands are genuine), so could not write about that either.

Movies, I cannot write much except the irritating (to others) first day diplomatic reviews I post on FB.

Not that I was too busy - managing work and married life. In fact, my current organization has been so kind, I feel more close to being a housewife than a working professional. In fact, I was about to pen down an article on ‘101 ways to look busy when you’ve no work’. But then dropped the idea since everyone in my organization has mastered that art already. I am still learning the nuances from them - for free of course.

I am a firm believer; one’s progress in an organization depends on an individual’s shit taking ability. I am a little poor in that, even thought of taking up some individualistic professions like being a professor sometime back but then patience (read PhD) is a virtue not many have.

However, it ain’t that bad either. The high points in my short banking career so far has been the chance to meet so many individuals who’ve started something of their own years back and are currently running organizations worth crores of rupees. So someday, I meet my COEP alumni 1974 batch who heads an infrastructure company of 1500 cr revenue today. And a person who has managed to achieve this remarkable feat had prodigious social intentions as well. He built schools, hospitals, etc. for his employees, brought technology to amateurs, who otherwise would have been doing some menial odd jobs with meagrely salaries and leading pitiful lives. And there are ‘n’ no of examples from the older generation who’ve taken such a commendable plunge. One of my personal favourites is Narendra Murkumbi of Renuka Sugars (though I’ve not met him yet).

I wish there were no placements today and I (and many others like me) were forced to become entrepreneurs. Somehow the comfort of a monthly paycheque is too comfortable to let go. Someday I wish, though not at the cost of financial discomfort, but I do start something of my own. Torn between the desire to improve the world and enjoy the world, hope to choose the former. As one of my wise professor says ‘If you’ve the intention, opportunity will come, some day but there should be an intention to begin with’.

Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high
Where knowledge is free
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments
By narrow domestic walls
Where words come out from the depth of truth
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way
Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit
Where the mind is led forward by thee
Into ever-widening thought and action
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.