IPL: What does it hold for Indian sports future?

IPL (Indian Premier League) had the auctioning of its players recently. And from what can be seen a huge amount of money has been spent by industrialists on bidding for players on their team. The IPL will kick off in April with a total of 59 twenty20 matches. More information can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Premier_League
It is basically trying to create a sporting event somewhat on the lines of Premier Leagues that are seen in soccer or baseball. As in players play for clubs and clubs are involved in bidding for players they want.

So how will the IPL change the way cricket is played in India as well as the world?

Only time will shed some light on this question. But from what was seen in the twenty20 world cup, this version of cricket does generate a lot of appeal because of its fast entertainment providing way. No more waiting for days or hours to watch the outcome of the match. Like in popular sports like soccer or tennis, less boring moments can be expected by the spectators. So basically I feel that in terms of the entertainment factor, the IPL will succeed in providing a lot of cricketing entertainment to spectators. But then what happens to the other forms of the game i.e One day cricket and Test matches. Well, from what has been seen since the introduction of twenty20 is that Test matches are still popular especially among the purists and they still generate interest among the viewers. It seems like One day cricket is the one which might suffer loss of interest because people do find twenty20 better in terms of entertainment that the One dayers. Also there is the issue that can good twenty20 players play well in One days and Tests? Well, I think twenty20 players can do pretty well in One days but Test matches require real skill and the instinct of a twenty20 player will make him unsuitable for the longer version of the game. On the positive side, some guys might emerge who are kind of allrounders who can play all versions of cricket with ease and that will be exciting.

A thought has to be given to the bowlers who will bowl in twenty20 matches. Bowlers will have to have real heart to participate in these matches as batsmen will surely score a lot of runs from them on most days. So while the number of wickets they take will increase, their run rate will increase as well.

Some purists have shown displeasure with the IPL and it's bidding because it seems like commercialization of cricket. Well, cricket was commercialized since a long time and the spirit of cricket hardly matters nowadays. It can only be found in Test matches if any. As previously stated, twenty20 and IPL are for entertainment sports. But there is also a thought provoking side to this. As some people have mentioned time and again why is it that only cricket generates such revenue. If something similar would be done for other sports (hockey, football, etc), we would be having better teams, better players and better interest in those sports by now. Well, I feel the reason for that is a cycle. Cricket seems like the only sport in which India does show some skill and winning ability. Other sports (hockey is an on/off thing, not like it used to be and don't even talk about football) can compete with cricket only if the produce some great wins backed up by good promotion. But then promoting other sports is what is lacking. Hoping someday this might change. Personally, even I have more interest in cricket that in other sports (hoping to change this).

So in short, what IPL will do is it will strengthen people's interest in cricket (as twenty20 world cup did when India was knocked out of the ICC World Cup). Sure players are now more like pieces of talent to be sold or bought but then considering how it has worked for soccer hopefully the same happens for cricket.

So, let's wait for IPL to begin and enjoy the show.

The most beautiful woman in the world

We had this story in our English textbooks in 4th or 5th standard with the title "My mother is the most beautiful woman in the world". It was about a Russian boy and his mother who was ugly looks wise but her love for her son made her the most beautiful woman in the world in her son's eyes. I don't remember the full story though. But I do remember another one.

There is this widowed mother and her child who are living in poverty. The mother sacrifices her life and working hard educates her son and brings him up with the most love and care. Every need of the son she tries to fulfil. The son grows up and becomes a man. He falls in love with a beautiful girl and they get married. Now unfortunately the mother due to old age and working hard becomes sick. Her son knows the sacrifice his mother has done for him and takes care of her. His love for his mother makes his wife jealous. So she tells him that if he loves her then to kill his mother and bring her heart to her. The husband does not want to lose his love so he reluctantly agrees to do it. He manages to kill his mother and puts her heart in a bag. As he is walking home, he stumbles and falls and the heart pops out of the bag. At once his mother's heart cries, "Son, are you ok? Did you get hurt?"

Well the moral of that story is a mother's love for her children is unending.

And truly when we look at our own mothers, don't we know that it is true? Personally, I feel my mother is a reincarnation of superwoman or something. The amount of work she does at home along with tending to the old members of the house as well as the young and also being the society secretary makes her more than a superwoman. We tend to forget the amount of love that mothers have for their children. When we have our life, we ignore them, forgetting what sacrifices they have done for us. No one wants an old person in their house as it is too much of a burden. How fickle and selfish we humans can be? Only wanting the good things of love but not ready to sacrifice for that same love?

So I pray to God that whatever the situation may be, please give me the strength so that I can provide to my mother at least some measure of the love that she has given to me.

Books: Our best friends

I love reading books. Right now I am reading "The Magic of Thinking Big" by David Schwartz. Fiction, non-fiction, technical, any will do. It is true that books are our best friends. We laugh with them, learn from them, sometimes even shed a tear with them.

The best thing about books is that we can learn from the author's experience. What takes a person decades to learn has been put in an understandable way into books. It is thanks to such wonderful gifts of learning that we can enrich and improve our lives.

There are good books and bad ones. Picking out the good ones is an important task and only true book lovers master that skill. Also knowing the treasure troves of books is very useful especially in a city like Mumbai which discourages reading. I would love to know about the small book shops especially down town which offer some really good bargains on really good books. There are plenty of book chain stores in the city but they all keep the usual stuff: best sellers and all.

And first hand books are out of my budget as for many of the city's book lovers. So the few options that we have is either to purchase pirated books available at railway stations or the city streets (Just bought The Greatness Guide - Robin Sharma). Or go to some book store with second hand books. Or go to CST and try to find some goodies in the piles that are stacked on the footpaths. Another option if you cannot travel easily is to find a local raddi wala who stacks books (most are very impolite and don't be optimistic about bargains). One other option which I find is great for people who read books is to join a library. I think the good ones are all downtown. I hear the British Council Library is good. It has a vast range of books in many diverse subjects. Also it has an online library access provided with membership. So that is pretty cool.

Hoping we read lots and lots of good books this year.

Visit my book shelf at http://www.shelfari.com/rodrigueskevin/shelf

What is the most important thing in life?

Spending a few days in the hospital taking care of a loved one made me think about this. What is the most important thing in life. Money, career, success? What matters? Well the truth is only love matters. Money, fame, career, everything is just to give some direction to our lives. But the one thing that defines human life is love. We would not be here were it not the love of our parents. Their love cannot be re payed even with our lives. Having some one to love you for who you are is the best achievement a human being can have. Not just farcical love but love that is unconditional. Love that does not only see the strengths of the person but also accepts the weaknesses.

And love is what matters in the end. At the end of our lives, it will not be the money, fame, success that will matter. But how many people loved you and will miss you that is what matters. To love and be loved is what makes life successful.

Our Progress: Good or Bad

I travel by trains everyday. Today it got me thinking about what India would be like without this tremendous medium of transportation. I don't know much about the period when the British ruled India but I thank them for providing education, judiciary, transportation and technology to us. We can't imagine what our country would be like without this progress.
But it also holds a counter view. What if the British had never ruled over India. We might have become independent of the world. Right now we all follow the British legacy, be it the education system, the transportation or the judiciary. Even our economy has major contributions from foreign countries mainly due to offshore work provided due to our ease with the English language. Maybe we would be like Japan or China, independent and sustaining our own economy. One wonders.

Progress now seems to be coming at a snails pace in India. Sure we have a booming economy to talk about. But that seems only in the urban areas. Rural areas have always been ignored. Only the progress of the people of the country can result in the progress of the country. Also we are too selfish to consider of the progress of the country. I don't mean about things like working for your country not for a foreign country and all that stuff. Working depends on an individual and if he wants to earn money it is in his right to do so. But one of the things that I mean is the cleanliness. We Indians keep our houses spic and span, but empty the garbage on the streets. Education and progress does not have meaning until and unless it is utilized. Somehow we have lost civic sense along the way. Corruption is the major force which is eating away at the progress of the country. In fact, it is considered as a norm in most of the government offices.

Frankly, I don't see any solutions for all these problems. India seems to be trying to become a country that could have been but just isn't. Well, too bad Adbul Kalam. Your vision 2020 just doesn't seem possible.

Men of honor

This post could be considered as an appeal maybe. It is with reference to the atrocities against women especially in the city and the country, whether it be the Juhu molestation case, rape of tourists in the country, child molestation, female infanticide or eve teasing.

Journalists and women groups seem to generalize this disgusting behavior with all the men of the country. Any article about such incidents talk about men being unable to control their instincts. The articles seem to reflect that all men are evil monsters incapable of respecting women.

I would like to remind them that men of honor still exist. There still are men who respect women. In the Juhu case, a lot of people who helped the women were men. Yes, there are also men who are perverts. Especially seen eve teasing in trains and buses. For them women are just objects. Many of them do seem to come from parts of the country where women are suppressed. So seeing women participating shoulder to shoulder with men is somewhat unacceptable to them. Unfortunately nothing much can be done against such people.

So an appeal again. Men with values do exist. So next time we generalize, please give a thought to the good guys as well.

If cold is so common why is there no cure?

I've been down with the common cold for about a week now. All the symptoms, sneezing, coughing, body ache, head ache, even fever. So if cold is so common that many of us get sick from it every time the temperature changes, why is there no perfect cure?

The reason is that the cold virus mutates every time. It means that if we create a cure for it one time. The next strain of virus will be immune to it. Nature is so interesting that it has given resistance to every living being on this planet. It is like we get inoculated against viruses like polio, hepatitis and stuff, in which we actually allow our body to be attacked by a small dose of them. The common cold virus is smart enough to mutate.

So how to protect ourselves from the common cold? As they say prevention is better than cure. It may sound stupid to receive advice from a guy who throws caution to the wind in such matters but best way is to restrict cold water intake and to drink purified water. And even after this if we get a cold, as we will, the best way is to expect it to remain for a week. So get your handkerchiefs and tissue papers out. Rest and chicken soup can help a lot. Chicken soup contains a mucus-thinning amino acid (got that from the internet :D). Nasal decongestants can be used to get relief from a blocked nose (like I am having right now).

Oh, I forgot there is another way to get relief from the common cold. Share it with your enemies (or friends) with a handshake ;P