Why the Anna Hazare led movement is bad for India

Thousands are tramping about the grounds of the Ram Lila Maidan in Delhi supporting the Anna Hazare led movement to introduce a "people's version" of the Jan lok pal bill in the highest institution of Indian democracy, the parliament. TV channels and newspapers are fanning the flames of protest welling up within many Indian cities. People who have suffered corruption at various levels and varying degrees are apparently coming out in support of the anti corruption campaign. Like there were Nehru jackets and Gandhi caps, now there are Anna masks and Anna caps. An echo of the Arab spring say many. The Government is under tremendous pressure to do something, anything to make that 70 something year old man stop his hunger strike...if Anna were to die there's no telling what might happen. Governments have fallen for far less in the past.

The Anna Hazare movement is dangerous.

In a nutshell, the Anna movement seeks to introduce a bill in parliament which will be a corruption watchdog and the supreme ombudsman in the country to indict corrupt public servants. While that in itself is a good idea, the manner in which a small group of activists have hijacked democratic processes is appalling, disturbing and in the long run fundamentally at odds with the parliamentary form of democracy we embraced when the Constitution was adopted. The activists whom I shall refer to as Team Anna have arguably the most important issue facing India today as a cause but their mishandling and manipulation is equalled only by the Government's own arrogance and rancour today. It is clear that Team Anna have acted well outside the boundaries of the State. It is one thing to protest, it is another matter entirely to subvert and brazenly so, the foremost document etched in modern day India.

Some may argue that this is how major change occurs; that Empires have fallen in similar fashion; comparisons to the Arab spring are made. But the fundamental issue here is that we're trying to fix something that's broken but doing it in the wrong place. Team Anna has the remedy but they feel in order to apply it they need to drill a hole through the patient's heart first, to use a poor analogy. For this is exactly what their demand amounts to: drilling a hole in the parliamentary process to ram through an ill thought, poorly discussed and widely unknown bill into a law. Even by the demure explanations of the bill by Team Anna, I am alarmed at the draconian, Stasi style contours of their proposed solution: an army of thousands who will police Government and by consequence the Government's citizens. This is one of their major fixes to the issue of corruption. It's laughable the level of naivete on show here. First by Team Anna to think this is a workable and implementable solution to the issue of corruption and secondly by the general public who either don't fully understand what this means in terms of rights or are so blinded by their rage against corruption that any solution right now seems a good one.

If we take a step or two away from the ongoing chaos and think this through, it is but inevitable that in order for this movement to yield positive results, Team Anna must be part of the debate and wider discussion around such a bill, argue and hear counter arguments on various issues in the bill and only then table it in Parliament. Even the demand of passing a resolution based on gathering a few lakh  people in Delhi is preposterous. Our social contract with the State allows for levels of redress but this is going too far. The question always is: if this becomes a precedent all that will happen in Delhi will be one protest after another, one fantastic demand after another.

Team Anna and Anna need to back off. Their point has been proven.They have achieved the victory of shaking the Government to their socks and woken up a few thousand young people and techies with a sense of patriotism which I suspect will be as short lived as it was sharp. Push any more and you're only damaging the idea of India. Let's not...I value my freedom but the moment you start pointing guns, even emotional guns in the form of a fasting Anna, we're only asking for bullets in return and in this case, the collateral damage will be too high a price no matter the reward.

11 Days

June 12th, McLeod Ganj

I take my first sip of Earl Grey after a gap of 13 days and 1 Vipassana course. The small "could be anywhere in the world" coffee shop I am sitting in gently resonates the comfortable, familiar sounds of big cups on wooden tables & accented English from neighbouring tables. The rich smell of roast coffee beans & cake fills my senses, the bergamot tingling my tongue. The Tibetan youth behind the counter turns up the volume on the music and Colbie Caillat's "bubbly" begins to play...the first song or tune I have heard in 2 weeks. I smile. Again. About 2 hours ago I walked out of the Himachal Vipassana Centre in Dharamkot, about 2 kms above McLeod Ganj. Walking out into the world again after living the life of a monk albeit for 11 days, I found myself smiling a lot. At the man I asked directions from to the main Tibetan temple, at the old Tibetan lady who was washing her door step as I walked past her house. At the monks who curiously looked at my "Goa" hat in the temple. This outward smile reveals a deep inner happiness and sense of peace I am experiencing at the moment. My faculties seem more alive than ever. Almost dancing. My breathing is measured, deep, slow. If, as SN Goenka says that Vipassana is an intense  operation of the mind, then I think this one has gone well. All the signs point in that direction.

The first time my Mum completed a similar course, I barely remember her recounting the experience. All I remember is that she woke up very early each day and meditated. I didn't think much of it then. I am a busy man I told myself...a man about town! Besides I had just run my first marathon around then...surely that was a heckuva lot tougher than meditation. The second course my Mum went to last year, she came back with a couple of books on Vipassana. She told me a little more about it this time or perhaps I just listened for a change. I was intrigued on hearing the schedule. I still didn't know much about the technique or the end goal. All I knew was it was gruelling. It forced you to examine yourself from within. To be honest what piqued my interest more than most things was my Mum's recount of the schedule and the simplistic monk or nun like life you had to lead for the duration of your stay of 11 days. In complete silence. No phones, TVs, laptops, newspapers, not even a pen and notepad or books on what you were doing there. Nothing. Just you and your mind for company. We all take different steps good or bad depending on where we are at a particular point in our lives. I decided in January that I would do this after no real thought. It was simply an urge that cropped up. I was under the impression too that the mental toughness one acquires after a distance run is what one needs for a course like this. That was to prove dramatically wrong. I chose the ashram in McLeod Ganj because I felt naively or not that to undertake a course of this intensity and end goal, being close to the Himalayas AND the seat of the Dalai Lama was surely the best place. After all, countless sages had apparently attained "nirvana" in these parts! Why not go where the odds are good to begin with? It turned out to be a fantastic decision. Just one among a string of fortuitous  events that came about culminating with me being here.

Getting to the ashram was a task in itself. A plane to Delhi. A train to Pathankot in Punjab. A cab from there to a village above McLeod Ganj where the ashram was located. Through this journey of almost 24 hours I had for company a book on the Vipassana technique. As I read, I began to understand a little more about what I had signed up for. I was excited and apprehensive.

From the first moment I entered the ashram, a certain tranquility descended. Or rather it was there like a comfortable duvet, I just walked right under it. The first thing I did was turn my phone off. It was June 1st. Like any conference there was a registration process. The pace and efficiency with which I was allotted a room, made to hand in all valuables and reading material and given a laundry tag bespoke a well rehearsed routine. It made one feel completely reassured about the ashram's facilities. But more striking still were the people handling this process for about 30 of us men. The "dhamma workers" as they are called were all smiles, pictures of happiness, laughter and politeness. This trend was to continue for the entire course. After being asked a few simple questions so the "guru" for the course would know my background, I was free to explore the ashram. Now I was technically part of the course. No stepping out. The boundary rule came into existence immediately although the official start time was a few hours away. The ashram itself was small but breathtakingly beautiful with snow capped peaks peering through and above rows upon rows of ever green trees in the distance. The sense of peace was now magnified. My room was about 40 square feet in total with a ledge for a bag to be kept on, a cement & wood "bed" with a thin mattress covering it with 2 blankets and sheets. A solitary low energy bulb hung above from the tin roof. Home, I smiled to myself. The bath and loo facilities were common but plentiful and we never did face any issues with there being a long wait to get into either one. Every possible spot had trees, lovely flowering plants and a tiled walk way that wound itself around the campus. Again, a silent smile of self congratulation as I sat and stared at the mountains with the sun glinting off the roofs of houses in McLeod Ganj below. If there was any place ideal to begin the long trek towards liberation, it had made itself available to me...that much was clear.

The ashram gong rang at 6 PM. A sound I was to get used to in the coming days. My delegate card had instructions for Day Zero: 6 PM a light meal. 7 PM Instructions. 8 PM course begins in the main "Dhamma" or meditation hall. The "light meal" turned out to be just that: simple "upma" or tossed semolina with a thin, weak tea. I began to grow concerned until I reminded myself this wasn't a "home stay" I was at in Coorg. Then came the instructions relayed to the male & female groups. As an aside, this was the only time the male and female groups were in the same room, barring the meditation hours. The rooms and dining facilities were both different as were the areas of campus for men and women. The instructions were clear and unequivocal:

1. Follow the schedule diligently

2. Maintain "noble silence" throughout. Absolutely no conversing with fellow meditators. One could speak only to the Guru-ji and the "Dhamma" workers for management issues and those too should be restricted to a bare minimum.

3. Maintain complete segregation of men and women. No speaking, not even eye contact.

4. There are lots of monkeys around the ashram. Don't bother them and they will leave you alone.

That was it. Everything else would be told to us as and when required. The opening session began at 8 PM on June 1st in the main meditation hall. This was when I got my first look at all my fellow meditators. About 28 women and 30 men. Being in McLeod Ganj, this course had attracted a large number of foreigners, all probably here seeking Nirvana. There were dreadlocks, tattoos, "Om" t shirts and beads a plenty. Give Cartman a gun in here and he'd have a field day. The course began with a welcome by our main "guru" for the course. We each had a designated cushion assigned to us for the entire 11 days. And so it began. Within 5 minutes of sitting with my legs folded, I began to experience the discomfort. On my knees, around the thighs, the back, the ankles. This was expected. I was sure I would be found out in this way and so I was. There was not much meditation on the day. Just a welcome, an introduction to the first technique of observing one's breath and a reminder of the schedule. Here is the schedule which I followed for 11 days:

4:00 a.m. — Morning wake-up bell

4:30-6:30 a.m. - Meditate in Hall

6:30-8:00 a.m.  Breakfast break

8:00-9:00 a.m.  Group meditation in Hall

9:00-11:00 a.m.  Meditate in  Hall according to teacher’s instruction

11:00 -12 noon - Lunch break

12 noon – 1:00 p.m. - Rest, private Q&A session with teacher

1:00-2:30 p.m. —Meditate in Hall

2:30-3:30 p.m. - Group meditation in Hall

3:30-5:00 p.m. - Meditate in  Hall according to teacher’s instruction

5:00-6:00 p.m. – Tea break

6:00-7:00 p.m. -  Group meditation in Dharma Hall

7:00-8:15 p.m. - S N Goenka's televised Discourse in Hall

8:15-9:00 p.m. — Group meditation in Dharma Hall

9:00-. - lights out

From day zero itself it struck home that one mustn't expect dinner. We finished the "opening plenary" and straight off to bed we were sent.

Day 1 was full of revelations. It's one thing to read and hear the schedule but to live it, experience it in reality yourself is a whole other ball game. In a way, this mirrors the practice of Vipassana: know the reality within but at an experiential level. A harsh jangling of bells outside my room jolted me out of bed. The noise outside refused to stop when I realised the dhamma worker, this being the first day, wanted to be doubly sure I was up. I switched on the light and he moved onto the next door to do the same. Half asleep but also excited, I sped off to the bathrooms for a mercifully hot water bucket bath...a habit I maintained for the entire 11 days. The heaters stayed on 24/7 for all 11 days so hot water when ever we wanted. Another small way to make our lives more comfortable.There were several more such small but significant arrangements without which the going would have been tougher still. All rational, logical decisions again mirroring the Vipassana technique. Bath done, the gong started sounding again at 4:20 AM. All bells were to ring 10 minutes before meditation time began. Everyone was on time this first day even if many had evidently dragged themselves straight from their beds, blankets in tow. Even in June this high up at 4 AM it is cold and if you've just woken up it can feel bitterly so. So began day 1. Looking back it is almost comical the struggle that started 10 minutes into the sitting. Sleep began to ebb and flow, ebb and flow. I found myself swaying without intention. The eyes doing a slow sweep downwards every few seconds. The pain of sitting down initially helped somewhat but after a while it became a willing accomplice to sleep in a bid to torment me further. It was tough. After 30 minutes it was a battle to stay awake let alone concentrate all my senses around my respiration as I had been instructed to do. The first thing you are taught is "Aanapaana meditation": focus your mind entirely on your respiration, your breath. Sounds simple enough. Now do it at 4:30 AM with a cold draft blowing around you.

Let me pause for a minute and explain the primary meditation technique one is asked to undertake at a Vipassana course and the goals of the technique.

The final goal of practicing Vipassana as discovered by Gautama the Buddha is full liberation or "nirvana". One may choose to believe or not believe if this state is ever attainable or indeed if something like this even exists. Even strong practitioners of Vipassana and it's primary teacher S N Goenka say it may take several life times before one gets there. But, and this is again proof of the logic and rationality of Vipassana, Goenka tells you to believe in the final goal if you wish to or don't believe. It doesn't matter. Any practice should be judged based on what it gives you here and now. Not the promise of paradise or heaven after you die or indeed receive favours due to prayers. Here and now. On Day 1 you hear this and it is repeated throughout the course. Goenka says that this course is merely the first step on the path to liberation. Walk on it only if you experience change here and now. True to these words,Vipassana tells us that while the final goal may remain elusive, a number of benefits begin to accrue as we grow stronger in our practice. The basic precepts of Vipassana are Shila, Samaadhi and Pannya. Morality, mastery over the mind and finally wisdom. It would not do justice to the technique for me to explain these in greater detail. Vipassana can only be intellectualized to a certain degree. it must be experienced. However, by practicing  Vipassana one begins to lead a life richer in moral, universal values according to the law of nature. One begins to gain mastery over the mind and years of practice and one may also begin to gain wisdom at different levels. Time and again it is stressed that this is not a sectarian technique, neither subscribing to or denouncing any particular religion. It merely helps one understand the universal law of nature and the natural connection between mind, matter and it's consequences on us as humans.

But enough of the theory. Over the ten days, one saying of the Buddha sums up to me what Vipassana can give you. The Buddha, in his early days of preaching the technique was met with much scepticism. In one case, when asked to describe what benefit accrues through the practice, he said and I quote in Pali, " Attha hi attha no natho, attha hi atthano gati." The phrase has deep meaning and connotation. Simply translated it means, "You are your own master, you are the master of your fate." But go deeper and you understand that the Buddha was saying what we do here and now decide what comes our way. If we act in a compassionate and wholesome way, similar events occur immediately in our lives. If we display anger, jealousy and various other unwholesome thoughts & actions, then we are punished here and now. Nature begins to punish us from within and without. This is the universal law of nature much like the nature of fire is to burn. Or the nature of ice is to cool. Nature does not wait to reward one with heaven or hell. nature only reacts to our actions. In simpler words, you make your own fate by staying true to the laws of nature, whatever vicissitudes may occur in life. Easier said than done of course.

Back to Day 1. You are taught to focus only on your breath. This continued for 2 more days. I won't go into the actual practice of Vipassana which began from Day 4 as it may seem too simple and bereft of a practice which may lead to deep insight. Suffice to say, it does that and a whole lot more. For the remaining 7 days, you go deeper into the practice of mastering your mind and begin tapping into the flow of wisdom within. It is a difficult but immensely rewarding journey. Often times frustrating and often filled with elation. By merely being away from all external stimuli, left only with your mind for company one begins to learn much about our habit patterns of reaction which is essentially what frames all our choices, desires, aversions and needs. However, guaranteed you experience by Day 5 an unparalleled sense of happiness and peace often finding yourself breaking into smiles for no apparent reason as you walk around the ashram during breaks. That's when you being to realize what this could be all about. Each day of meditation closes with a video discourse by the teacher Goenka. Witty, disarming and logical to the last word, it becomes more and more apparent what benefits await you if you practice regularly. Many would be offended perhaps by these talks for in them, he regularly pokes fun at religious dogmas, rituals and ceremonies. Here and now...it's always about here and now. The Buddha never wanted a following or indeed a religion. Goenka stresses that the Buddha was totally against any form of worship, whether of himself or his practices. Experience it. If it proves beneficial continue. If not don't. How refreshing when compared to all the major belief systems the world has seen and continues to see. The 11th day ends at 6:30 AM with a final discourse by Goenka. His parting words again echo the objective nature of Vipassana: it is a tool to improve your life. Continue with your other beliefs, rituals and rights if you please. It makes no difference. The only way you will benefit from these 11 days is if you continue with your practice and continue to master your mind.

These 11 days have been like gold. I can't think of a more rewarding experience in life. The 4 AM wake ups, the frugal meals (your last meal of the day is at 11 AM and the next meal is on the next day at 6:30 AM 19 hours away), the initial tumult and disquiet I experienced all eventually served to accentuate thee dazzling sensations of peace and confidence that followed. It remains to be seen if I can stick to the 2 hours of meditation suggested every day. What is certain is 1 ten day course a year is definitely something I will stick with. Vipassana practitioners are no evangelists. In fact you are asked to pay no fee for the facilities that are provided to you nor are you asked to go and spread the word about what you experienced. If at the end of 11 days you feel more people should experience this you pay what ever you wish as a "daana" a donation so another person could benefit from the course. Else you just walk out. Remarkable. Vipassana centres now run in about 90 countries across all continents and they all sustain themselves through donations made by old students who want more people to experience "dhamma". The belief goes that one must have committed wholesome actions in order to come in contact with the knowledge of Vipassana. If you are reading this then you were meant to. The flow of nature works on it's on volition guided by our actions of the past & present. Nature has also worked it's course to get you to read this perhaps. At any rate, it is plain to those who subscribe to logic and reason that investing 11 days into this may be worth while. I would recommend it. Attha hi attha no natho, attha hi attha no gati

Back...yet again.

Fits and starts. That's how I'd describe my blogging pattern over the last few years. After a rich vein of form like the one Chris Gayle has experienced in this IPL, I seemed to have run out of things to say. The truth however was of course different. I had and still have plenty to say. I guess I always will. What did happen is what happens and in fact is happening to most of humanity today: life, clutter, noise, clouds, fatigue...not physical but mental.

I've taken a few steps now to address things that plague most of humanity today. For starters I invested in a Garmin Forerunner 305. Did you expect me to say a meditation course perhaps? Well that too then. The former will ensure I am disciplined in my running goals, indeed push me harder and act as a harsh reality check every time I hit tarmac. The latter will manifest in the form of a 11 day Vipassana retreat. What this will do I am not entirely certain. Much like a couple of other things I set my mind to, I am certain the outcomes will be positive. Running a marathon has taught me resilience in the face of adversity and pain. Living in South America albeit for a very short time has taught me that Colombian women are among the prettiest in the world. I am certain Vipassana will have something similar to offer in terms of awakening.
Reading a book on Vipasana, I am struck by the basic premise offered by the movement's founder, S.N Goenka, "I do not wish to convert people from one organized religion to another; I have no interest in organized religions. My interest is in the truth, the teachings of all Enlightened Ones. But conversion is involved; from misery to happiness, from defilement to purity, from bondage to liberation, from ignorance to enlightenment."

Obviously it's easier said than done. It took me about 5 months of very hard work to run my first marathon. I am sure it will take a lot more to align the mind onto a path where you find happiness in something other than a BMW coupe or a life time pass to the Mansion. I'll be happy if, as a start I can run faster times over 42 K.
I'll never stop saying that the ultimate goal is Boston qualification. The Forerunner is another step in that direction. Another big step I hope will be Vipassana. After 3 marathons I've figured that after 30 K the battle lies between your ears. The ability to close out the clutter around you and within you is key, absolutely key to achieving your goal. All 3 times I've failed in that last 10 K. That Peddar road incline seems like a mountain and the trail feels like broken glass. Of course the ultimate gatekeeper is always Time and truth will out. I intend to run 3 marathon distances over this running season (September - January) and one of those is going to be at least 50 K if not more.
I've tended to dabble in things my peers shy away from or ridicule or both. Vipassana is another to the list but certainly not the most extreme. That still remains the 50 K. Perhaps a trek to Everest base camp or a half Iron Man would be more but right now the excitement lies only at the thought of a shot at Boston. Vipassana will help me align the cross hairs better.

Care for watching the heats?

The Commonwealth Games currently underway in Delhi have evinced varied reactions from my Facebook buddies and more real friends and family I am surrounded by. There has been much chest beating about the fact that we as Indians don't watch/promote/enjoy/support sports other than the dreaded and to many, the colonialist-imperialist legacy that the damn Brits chained to our souls as final punishment before sailing back to Blighty. This is a point of view often held by 1. Disgruntled sportspeople playing sports other than aforementioned legacy 2. Disgruntled Marxist types 3. Irritated people from states in India such as Bengal, Kerala, Meghalaya, Goa who play Football (mainly) but by virtue of existing traditions, genes, legacies etc also produce Indian champions in archery and other less spectator friendly sports. Now these people find it outrageous that most Indians care to discuss Cricket whilst India wins medal after medal at the Commonwealth Games that (damnit!) India is hosting! Furthermore, many of these (and other) people believe Cricket drains other deserving sports of money, resources and so on.

There are many theories floated by these folk, ranging from the true, the half-imagined and the completely absurd. Examples of these theories  include but are not limited to: 1. Indians are lazy, hence they watch Cricket because Cricket is lazy. You can spend hours away from the game to come back and see the result etc. 2. Cricket is draining money from other sports and hence Cricket should be banned. 3. Cricket is corrupt, players are corrupt and Sharad bhau looks like a character from LOTR so bring down Cricket. 4. The latest forms of cricket merit nothing but disdain so let's stop watching it and watch archery instead or an Indian athlete finish 6th in a Track event.

I am sure there are another 100 more out there which will offer legitimate (?) reasons for being anti-cricket and pro-other sports.

Let's look at some of the reasons and dissect further:

1. Cricket is a lazy game: Many fiery critics of Cricket, (mainly disgruntled Bong people) claim that Cricket is a lazy game, full of dullards with not much happening for much of the time. Now isn't that deliciously ironic? Bongs calling something lazy? I love it. But let's assume the finger-pointing is not by Bongs but by someone else. In that event, I can only conclude that this person falls into one of these categories: 1. Never played cricket even the "gulli" variety 2. Played it but was completely rubbish at it and got laughed off the field by his/her friends 3. Tried watching it but had no one to explain the rules so grew to hate it as a defense mechanism 4. Almost certainly had/has no idea about the traditions that have shaped the game. In this case, it is but natural that this type of person would be vitriolic about the game. I know I would. 

2. Cricket drains money from other sports, hence other sports don't progress: Really now? The people who propound this theory clearly don't believe in the forces of the free & open market. People or persons representing one group don't decide where capital flows. Market forces do. Investments will only follow a path where it is least likely to meet with resistance and most likely to find clear areas to grow. The sad reality today in India is that cricket is the best managed of all sports in the country! I provide an exclamation there simply because, as we all know, cricket in India is rampant with corruption, insider-trading type tactics, favouratism, regionalism and many other isms. Despite all this, private companies choose to sink hundreds of millions of dollars into this game because they feel it's the safest thing to do. Now I am not referring here to television rights or ad spots. I am talking about grass roots, academies, coaching and so on. Investors are more likely to invest in cricket than other sports, not only because most people watch cricket but because they feel their money will not be usurped by people for other means as is rampant in most sports in India. True story. 

I'll stop with rebuttals. And move to some plain speak. Or further plain speak.

Bottomline:

1. We need breakthrough sports people: Easier said than done but this really is the bottom line. Sure we all liked cricket and considered it a decent sport in the 1960's and '70s...but it wasn't until one Sunil Manohar Gavaskar came onto the scene and another Kapil Dev Nikhunj won the world cup that the country started getting rabid about the game. Hockey was huge back then. But  hockey didn't keep up with the astro turf change...the usual story of Indian sport. 

Let's look at other examples of how breakthrough sports people change the way the nation watches sport, supports sport and makes it's children take up sport: classic examples lie in the rise and fall of Sania Mirza. The number of young girls who started playing tennis based on Sania's brief time in the limelight proves that provided with other options the Indian middle class will jump ship in a jiffy. We are seeing similar events with Saina Nehwal now and while Badminton isn't the most spectator friendly of sports, it's great to see an Indian dominate what was never an Indian-dominated sport. Let's look at what has happened in Indian Golf. I think this is by far the best example of how a game's perception has been made to tilt on it's head. With the success of Jeev Milkha Singh, Arjun Atwal and Jyothi Randhawa, hundreds of kids are now spending time on the golf course rather than go to cricket camps. Sponsorship money is flowing in. Golf camps are opening up. All this without any Indian ever having done anything of any note in any Golf Major. Merely earning qualification onto the PGA tour is considered cause for celebration! While this may be indicative of a larger malaise we Indians suffer from (happy with underachievement), it still shows that even signs of breakthrough will upset the Cricket applecart.

2. Be realistic: Track & Field is not cricket. Or Football. Or Badminton. Or Tennis. Nor are wrestling, boxing and many other Olympic sports. Here's what I mean: people watch and support sports they play or have played. People play sports that are easy to play and enjoy. The operative words here are play and enjoy. Ever held a 100 metre competition between your neighbourhoods on the street? Arranged for a few discusses to hurl around with friends? Put up a few hurdles to see how you fared? I thought not as well. It's difficult to relate to a sport you haven't played. Or one that is impossible to play by yourself. This is where track and field really has a problem. As do other sports like shooting, billiards etc. However, football, badminton, tennis and many others hold great promise. Provided you have a breakthrough sportsperson. Saina Nehwal is already that breakthrough sportsperson. We need more, many more and in many sports. But be realistic about people sitting down to watch and cheer track and field.

Stop Crying: Every other day I read about one or another ex sports person or current coach/manager of an Olympic sport complaining about the attention cricket draws away, not to mention the dosh from their sport. To me, this is a typical Indian way of looking at things. Let's see who's on top (i.e. - where I want to be) and then let's start taking pot shots at that person. The USA doesn't win Olympic games because thousands of people watch their athletes compete in random grand prixs around the world and sacrifice watching NFL or the NBA. The US wins because good administration of these sports has ensured a steady supply of talent from the grass roots upwards. So Indian sportspeople should stop crying and instead focus on more consistent performances. 

To conclude: I feel many Indians (including me) cannot wait to have sports people to brag and cheer about in a game that more than 10 countries in the world play and understand or give a shi* about. It is because we don't have this luxury that we prefer retreating into our cocoons of known prowess where we indisputably can claim as a nation to have given birth to a sport's greatest Son, to be reckoned as a don't-mess-with team. If we could say the same about Hockey or Football or Tennis or anything else, I believe we would. Loudly. 

And for all the disgruntled anti-cricket people...I am on your side. Yes there is too much of it on TV. Yes it sickens me to constantly see groups of talking heads dissect every move made by the team as issues impacting the cure for HIV. Yes it further saddens me when even within the small group of nations that play the game, we act as a bully and behave churlishly too often. The purity that existed in Cricket has long since disappeared, now replaced by a crazed, American-style slam bang game which I barely recognize. And it is for this that I am on your side, hoping someone, anyone in a truly global sport will start to do something of note so I can finally throw something back at my Portuguese, American, Chinese, German and other friends who aren't part of the Commonwealth and who look at Indian sport as nothing more than that which could be understood from an obscure but strangely popular 3.5 hr movie.

But all said & done, please talk to the hand when there's Test cricket on.

Knock knock...

am I back on nomadlife...?

Curtain Call

Well this is it. My last 24 hours or so in Bogotá. This journey began 5 years ago. I remember clear as day walking to St. Mark's complex on St. Mark's road to the little cubby hole that was then the office of the Instituto Hispania. My first Spanish class was in April 2005. I attended classes off and on for 3 years and got a basic level diploma in Spanish along the way. I remember all too well the nerve racking day I spent at JNU in Delhi from 7 AM to 4 PM: a written test, an audio test and finally a 3 hour wait before the one-on-one conversation test. I remember again like it was yesterday when I heard about the results. I was organizing a fundraiser theatre play in Ranga Shankara at the time when I received the email. I was over the moon. A few weeks later I was lucky enough to go to Madrid where I reveled in using some of what I had learned.

But to be honest I never thought the day would come when I would actually  get to live and work and just become part of a city or country where the language, culture and people were all of Spanish influence. Many people were responsible for me getting here and there are many hands to shake, many beers to buy and many debts to repay in the same coin of hospitality and warmth I have experienced over the last 10 weeks in Colombia. You know who you people are...and to you I owe you a debt that I can never really hope to fully repay. What I can say is thank you. From the bottom of my heart. 

Where do I even begin? I don't feel at all overwhelmed with emotion or anything of that sort. If I look at the last 10 weeks objectively I must admit that I was not able to do all that I intended to. But that would be a case of the glass being half empty so I won't fall for that one. The work was good. I got to interact with real grass roots interventions in my field of work: vocational training. I got a close up view of how technology is playing a role in equipping young people with real skills which are helping them integrate into an increasingly competitive Colombian economy. I worked with teachers trying to help them think differently about their classes, about overcoming the constraints all teachers face and focusing on solutions instead. I interacted with many colleagues at Uni Panamericana and did what I could to enable them to grow a little bit more. The biggest challenge of course was the language. Oftentimes my friends here forgot I was from the other side of the world, treated me like a local and that lead them to speak to me like a local, mixing Colombian colloquial with their otherwise clear and precise Spanish. It took me many weeks to decipher some of these phrases being spoken to and around me but each moment when understanding dawned on me, I cherished every single one of those little victories. Little by little I crept closer to improving my comprehension and verbal ability. I listened to every random phone conversation to pick out words, I walked around with a dictionary the first 3 weeks much to the amusement of my colleagues. This really was one of those intense learning experiences no class could have given me and for that I am again thankful.

The travel was spectacular. Medellín was made unforgettable by C and her family. Visiting the "red" zone in Medellín and interacting with the youth there to understand how they were overcoming gang violence through education was something I will keep with me for a long time. My first time dancing Salsa was of course very special. Cartagena was by far the highlight of my stay here. An indescribable amalgamation of Colonial history, sieges, Afro-Caribbean culture, music, food and the Caribbean sea, I must say this has been by far the single most beautiful place I have visited in my life. The languid, mesmerizing beauty of the Caribbean sunset best enjoyed with a beer with the salty sea air blowing in your face and Colonial architecture spectacularly lit up behind you, is something you just cannot recreate nor fully do justice to with either the camera or the pen.

Bogotá itself had enough to provide me with many evenings of stories for friends and family. 10 weeks was enough time for me to really get under the skin of the city, especially the Candelaria or colonial area. The street food, Sunday carnivals, Friday evening carnivals, the churches, the fresh juices on every corner, Salsa and Vallenato playing from every 2nd restaurant, café and bar and most of all the smiling, laughing, happy people of this city. For me Bogotá and indeed Colombia has been all about it's people. Nowhere else have I felt so welcome. I take back the experience of so many conversations with taxi drivers, security guards, colleagues, friends of friends, people I just met who became friends, family of friends, hotel staff, shop keepers. And every single time, genuine warmth and a genuine desire to help if I needed it. This was indeed overwhelming many a time.

I yearned to live in Latin America. I felt I had some sort of other worldly connection with this land. I cannot say if indeed I felt this way after my time here. But what I do know is I leave with the invaluable feeling of knowing that there is another country in this world where I can never truly be a foreigner again. They say that knowing another language is having another soul. But I think that this sensation of knowing that you have another place in the world where you can just as easily return to and slip back into it's fold with no fuss, without causing so much as a ripple is a special one. There are many things that I look forward to after this experience. But those can wait for now. My last 24 hours in Bogotá are sure to be bittersweet. And I have surprised myself yet again as I begin to realise how deeply I have come to feel for this country, it's people and how much I will look back at this time and wish that I could relive it all over again.

The ads were right: the only danger in Colombia is not wanting to leave and that is a danger I will willingly embrace anytime.

Hasta luego Colombia. Abrazos.

I thank whatever Gods may be, for my unconquerable soul

Many pop culture references tell us that it is unmanly to shed tears. Equally, there are many that tell us the opposite. That shedding tears is the mark of a sensitive and self aware man. Whatever be the case or the truth, it is not often that I am moved to shed a tear, to be shaken with emotion from deep within. There have of course been some moments. My most recent was when I completed a marathon. However, physical events hit home much more than say a song, a poem or even a movie. All these too have seen me with moist eyes. The movie that last did this to me was Seabiscuit. And now Invictus. Matt Damon was already my favourite actor in any case but watching him pull this one off was incredible. Not to mention that incredible Afrikaner accent. Clint Eastwood take a bow. This is definitely a movie for the library.