Desicritics Category: Sports: Other

Why is Billion Strong India a Laggard in Sports?

Sandeep Bansal — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:21:54 EST

A few days ago, I wrote a post on India’s chances to host the 2020 Olympic Games. I disgusted to see the reactions of people who laughed at this mere suggestion. They mocked the Indian Sport persons. This post is for those morons who have no idea to Sports and perhaps don’t watch any sport other than Cricket. They have no idea how much sports has changed.

I am starting this article by covering some of the sports which I follow.

Hockey

Hockey is the national game of our country and India has won the Olympic Gold and World Cup several times. However, field Hockey moved from playing on grass to synthetic surfaces in the early 90’s.

India does not enough of these which are costly. Moreover each surface has only a fixed life. No wonder, India has hardly done well at either the World Cup or in Olympics. The lowest point came when the mens team failed to even win a medal at the 2006 Asian Games. They even lost to China. Infact the Chinese went on beat Pakistan as well and finish second on Mens Category and won the gold in Womens - can you imagine that!!! Indian eves however saved some grace for the national sport by winning the bronze medal. I suppose by that logic sooner Chinese might even win the Gold in Kabbadi as well.

Chak de India, a Bollywood sport movie based on Indian Women’s Hockey clearly showed the difference. While Australia’s coach was strategizing based on video footage and printouts, India’s coach was merely encouraging his players.

India’s current Hockey coach, Brasa from Spain is realizing this lack of facilities. According to him, India badly needs a sports psychologist, GPS system, heart-rate monitoring machine, a software to analyse matches and some laptops for the coaches. Till date he has only received promises. (Source)

Tennis

Vijay Amritraj (former World no 16) is perhaps the only singles player (of good quality) that India has produced. Though he never won a Grand slam, he defeated John Mc Enroe four times. Sania’s best rank was 37th and even she has hardly defeated any top ranked players. On the doubles circuit though, Leader and Mahesh have been a dominant force.

The reasons are not hard to guess. It is a herculean task for any Indian player to rise in the ranks. Top ranked Tennis players usually prefer to compete in tournament in the Europe and the US. This is because of the higher prize money. This means that the local talent gets to see and play higher ranked players thus improving the standard of play. An Indian would have to spend a lot of money just to travel and compete. Better training and coaching facilities abroad further aggravates the gap. As a result, higher ATP points are given for winning a tournament in Europe than a one in India. It is no wonder that generally the top ranked players hail from Europe, US and Australia.

Ten years ago there were just 8 Indians among the top 2000 men and women. Today there are 50. But just one woman is among the top 100 while none in case of men. Yuki Bhamri, the number one junior player essentially trains abroad. Prakash Amritraj also has a US passport and play there.

Mahesh Bhupati in partnership with Apollo Tyres launched the Apollo 2018 mission with an aim to produce singles Champion by 2018. It aims at selecting young talent and providing them with the best training. However, this has run into financial troubles due to recession.

Badminton

This is surely an upcoming sport in India. This sport is dominated by the Chinese. In the past Prakash Padukone and Gopichand have won the prestigious All England Cup. Saina Nehwal, perhaps the best Indian singles talent, has been doing a great for the past couple of years. She reached the last eight in the Beijing Olympics.

But even this sport is not without any fiasco. Recently Saina had to miss a major international event because the Badmintion Association officials didn’t send her entries. As a result her rankings dropped from World No. 6 to World No.8.

Not long ago, she had almost missed out on participating at the Yonex Sunrise World Super Series Masters Final in Malaysia because she hadn’t received her passport in time from the regional passport authorities of Hyderabad. Only when The Times of India intervened on behalf of the teen did she receive the documents from the Chief Passport Officer in New Delhi. It took him just a few hours on Saturday, which is usually an off day. (Source)

Shooting

Shooting is perhaps the most promising non-cricket sport of all. We have producers winners like Rajwardhan Rathore, Abhinav Bindra, Gagan Narang, etc. We have got a realistic chance of producing many more Olympic medals in Shooting.

But all is not well. For instance, at a major international event, India performed exceeding well (as compared to the previous edition of the Games). Soon after the team lands, the Chief Coach resigned because he was sick and tired of delays in ammunition.

Abhinav Bindra, India’s lone Olympic Gold medal winner comes from an affluent Sikh family and his father had setup an indoor shooting range at their home in Punjab. He was someone who got the right training. Sports have moved beyond the sport fields and into the research labs. For instance, Shooting at the highest level involves controlling your heart beat. Not many Indians can afford this.

On back of their strong performance, National Rifles Association of India(NRAI) recently got Sahara as its sponsor. Top 15 shooters got Cricket styled graded contracts. “ Abhinav Bindra’s absence in the National Rifle Association of India’s (NRAI) graded contracted system is just the most apparent lapse, it’s hardly the only one. Kynan Chenai, who won a gold at the Youth Commonwealth Games in Pune last year, has more national and international accomplishments than Shresyasi Singh. And yet the latter is placed in the higher slab — Rs 12 lakh per year — while Chenai gets Rs six lakh per year. Shresyasi also happens to be the daughter of the NRAI president Digvijay Singh. ” (Source)

Cricket

Cricket, the most popular game in India is played in just a handful of countries. There are just nine Test playing countries. Of this, we all know the standard of Bangladesh Cricket while West Indies Cricket has been struggling for quite some time now. That leaves just seven countries that play good standard of Cricket. Yet there is immense popularity of the sport in India. There two reasons for it – first Cricket is a team sport which makes it much more interesting to watch, second, unlike other sports India has in the past has won all the major Tournament (World Cup, World T20, and Champions Trophy).

Now just picture this, India’s population every year increases by an amount that is roughly equal to the current population of Australia. Yet our team (of which most of us ardent supporters) is thrashed by a team that was essentially composed of Australia’s reserves.

Reasons are not hard to guess. There are 27 teams in the Ranji Trophy (at least one for each state). These are divided into two divisions – Elite (10 teams) and Plate (17 teams). This number was even higher in 2007 when there were 12 teams in the Elite division. The number of reduced following India’s humiliating exit from the 2007 World Cup. Ideally this number should be further reduced to eight (something that is hard to do). Dhoni who played for Jharkhand( a Plate division side) made it to the Indian side shows that the systems is well equipped to promote talented players even from the Plate Division. Only difference is that, Had Dhoni played for a bigger Ranji team like Mumbai or Delhi, he might have made his debut by time he was 19. He eventually made his debut at an age of 23.

Compare that to Australia which has just six teams in its domestic structure. This means every Australian has to fight hard just to keep his place in the state side, forget the national side.

Infrastructure has improved compared to the past. But picture this; UP an Elite-division team has been very well for past few seasons. Some of the top player like Suresh Raina, Praveen Kumar and Piyush Chawla hail from here. But until very recently they did not have a full time physical trainer. You can surely imagine what would be the condition of the Plate division teams.

IPL has brought in the money, but has it really improved the quality? Earlier this year, IPL tournament just preceded the T20 World Cup, seemingly an ideal preparation for it. The defending Champions were badly beaten. One of the obvious reasons is that there are as many as eight teams in IPL. Most teams have just one or at max two good bowlers. As a batsman you would try to play out these bowlers and attack the rest.

You all can imagine what would happen to the standard of Cricket when the number of teams is increased in 2010. Domestic T20 tournament in Australia has six teams with each team allowed just two overseas players as opposed to four in IPL. And what I find really hard to understand how people can support any of these teams? I asked some of my colleagues who hail from Hyderabad, why were they support the Team. That team hardly had any players from Hyderabad or AP for that matter. Other than the foreign recruits most of the Indians in the team hail from other states.

Inefficiency and Corruption in cricket is even higher at junior levels which are by and large outside the media glare. IPL has addressed this to a certain extent but it has also made players less enthusiastic of playing for India, since they can make enough money even if they never get to play for India. Most of the support staff around the world are Australians. There was time when there were as many as five Australians as National Coaches – Greg Chappel (India), John Bucchannan (Australia), Tom Moddy (Sri Lanka), Dave Whatmore(Bangladesh) and John Dyson(West Indies). The best umpire till very recently was also an Australian. Surely there is something in the Australian setup.

Our Sports Administrators

Most of the times, it is the sportsmen who face the ire of the fans. The public is completely oblivious to what happens behind the scenes.

• National Games to be held in Jharkhand in 2007 have been delayed four times and still no dates as to when they will be held.

• Our Commonwealth Games preparation is going shamelessly slow. Though IOA has assured that they will be done on time for the Games, Indian sportsmen would not get any home advantage because lack of practice and thus would cost us lot of medals.

• A certain Monica Devi missed out on the Beijing Olympics because the Indian Olympic Association withdrew her name after she tested positive during a drugs test. When she asked for another test, it was found that she was, in fact, innocent, but by then it was too late for the Manipuri to participate at a competition that just about every sportsman dreams of. (Source)

• PT Usha, the doyen of Indian athletics was denied proper accommodation at the National Athletics Meet in Bhopal. The 'sprint queen', as she is known as, was asked to share her less than spectacular room with five others. The room did not even have hygienic conditions or running water. (Source)

Forget the money, if we can just remove these inefficiencies, a quantum jump in performances can be achieved. With improved performance money will come as is shown by the recent contract won by Vijendra Singh.

The way forward

If money alone would have been the issue, then Africa or North Korea would never win medals at the Olympics. Surely they have something right in their sporting structure and it is not marred by the corrupt and inefficient practices. Perhaps this is not just the story of Indian Sports alone, this is a story of all Indian Systems across the board, be it civil administration, police, judiciary, etc.

Sports are a way of life. Sports can also play a major in raising nationalistic feelings. In India, the North-East and in particular Manipur has a sporting culture. In the last National Games, Manipur and Assam were at second and third spot respectively in the overall medals tally, quite disproportionate to their population size. This region is capable of producing Olympic Champions. Cricket is not the only sport in this region. More encouragement and better facilities could produce better results. These regions are also insurgency prone and sports could act as a means to integrate them with the rest of the country.

BCCI is perhaps the only Sporting organization in India that has loads of money. It has recently started supporting other games. It has promised 25 crore to help the Indian Football over the next two years. However, it can surely be more innovative and invest in long term projects that can produce lasting results. For instance, it can invest in an Institute of Sports Science.

Sport science is a discipline that studies the application of scientific principles and techniques with the aim of improving sporting performance. Human movement is a related scientific discipline that studies human movement in all contexts including that of sport. The study of sports science traditionally incorporates areas of physiology, psychology, motor control and biomechanics but also includes other topics such as nutrition and diet, sports technology, anthropometry kinanthropometry and performance analysis. (Source).

Andrew Leipus, India’s physio during 2003 World Cup had a Sport Science degree from an Australian Institute. If we could have a local institute to produce physios, most Ranji sides could have a physio and thus India’s perennial problem of fielding could be solved. Fitness in other sports would also greatly improve. Likewise, Indian sports need Sports Psychologists.

If Indian sportsmen still manage to win so many accolades, it is not because of the system, it is despite the system. Let us not mock these sportsmen who bring glory to our nation.

How Good are the Preparations for the Commonwealth Games?

Ashish — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 14:30:40 EDT

First of all, it is difficult for an individual to really find out what the current state of the preparation for the Commonwealth Games is. The current reality is that there is a lot of work needed to be done at various fronts - the Delhi Government has set in process a huge amount of infrastructure improvements to give the city a modern feel and look. This includes improvements to the transport infrastructure (new roads, modification of roads to reduce jams and increase speed of transport, more metro stations), improvements to the existing stadia to make them capable of handling huge international sports (for example, the Indira Gandhi Indoor stadium leaked a couple of years back when there was an international badminton event), provision of adequate power, housing, and water supplies.

There are multiple levels of responsibility in all this - there is an Organizing Committee of the Indian Olympic Association headed by Suresh Kalmadi, and of course the Delhi Government headed by Shiela Dixit is responsible for the progress of the various infrastructure initiatives. It is worthwhile to remember that one of the biggest problems quoted for infrastructural project cost over-runs in the past is poor project management. I stated in the beginning that it is difficult for an individual to assess, however, there are many other authorities who do take such assessments, and it is hard to determine whether we will follow the time honored method of Just in Time, or will there be a comfort margin before all these efforts are done.

There was a CAG report that stated that the efforts were behind schedule, the media does evaluations from time to time, and in most of them, the efforts are behind schedule, and in fact, from their own project plans, the effort is behind schedule. However, the duo of Suresh Kalmadi got seriously worried when a similar accusation was made by Commonwealth Games Federation President Michael Fennell. He wrote a letter in which he wanted the Indian Prime Minister to get involved to help get this effort on schedule (link to article):

Reacting to Fennell's outburst, Dikshit said she would use every means at her disposal to make it a success, while Kalmadi announced that he would facilitate the CGF chief's meeting with the Prime Minister. Exuding confidence that everything would fall in place, Dikshit said the Delhi Government would complete all work "well in time" although it was little "nervous" about the preparation.
On the recent criticism by the CAG about slow progress of the infrastructure projects, Dikshit said the audit body had prepared the report last month based on status of works six months back. "They have the right to criticise. But we are working very hard. We are looking at all alternatives. Nation's pride is involved with the event and we will do everything possible to make it a success," she said.

By the Delhi Government's own admission a couple of years back, there will be no augmentation of the power generated specifically for Delhi, so this would mean that the Government will have to buy power at that time to ensure that there is enough energy for the Games sites and the Games Village.

In addition to the above problems, there is also the problem of not enough capacity available for the expected inflow of guests. The Commonwealth Games are expected to pull in a huge number of tourists and there are not enough rooms as per the projected demand. And on this end, there are no details available either.

What is the solution? The Government spent 5 years realizing that the pace of development of the country-wide network of roads had slowed down, so not sure whether there will be an increase in the intensity of work. My expectation is that in the last few months, there will be a escalation of the pace of work, and we will just make it in time, with a few loose ends in terms of infrastructure, and for the rest, in terms of better road connectivity for the participants, the Delhi Police will chip in terms of routing traffic so that the traffic is suitable for the Games, the normal man getting screwed will not matter.

Chess Grandmaster Anand Wins the Chess Oscar - The Fascinated Wanderer

Dr.Vishaal Bhat — Wed, 6 May 2009 12:27:10 EDT

The best actors and actresses of Hollywood receive an award each year, at the Oscars. The highest goal scorer at the football world cup, receives the Golden shoe. The best Cricket team receives the ICC Mace each year. In chess, the equivalent award is the Chess Oscar. This is an International award instituted in the year 1967 by Jorge Puig,and the winner was chosen by accredited journalists following the game from across the world. It is traditionally given to the Grandmaster who, according to the chess aficionados, was the best and most entertaining player that year.

The first winner was Bent Larsen in 1967 and the award ceremony was held in Madrid. In 1988 Puig died and the award was not given until 1995. They were reinstituted in the year 1995, by the popular Russian chess magazine - '64'.

The current World Champion, GM Vishwanathan Anand of India, has won the Chess Oscar, 6 times. He is the only non-Russian to have won the award more than 5 times. To put this achievement in perspective, the late Robert.J.Fischer, chess genius from U.S.A, won it three times. The maximum number of chess Oscars have been won by the Chess Master, Garry Kasparov - a record 11 times.

GM Vishwanathan Anand won the Chess Oscar for the year 2008 for his outstanding play while retaining his World Championship title in Bonn. Other contenders for the title included GM Veselin Topalov, who had a strong run last year in Bilbao and Nanjing and who is also the current World No.1. Since the Award couldn't be presented to Anand last year, he will be receiving the award tomorrow during the inaugural ceremony of the President's Cup match between Azerbaijan and the rest of the World.

P.S: The chess Oscar is represented by a statuette also called the Fascinated Wanderer!

Strategy and Positional Chess Books

Dr.Vishaal Bhat — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 01:56:38 EDT

One of the common questions asked by a budding chess player is, which books must he chose to develop his positional and strategic skills? Often it is easier to find books , which focus on tactics, but to search for material on the most relevant strategy chess book is often difficult. I have made a small list of books which might be useful to develop positional skills.

Books by Kotov and Polgar focus more on tactics. Some of the easier to find books on strategy are by Lasker and Yasser Sairawan and by Bronstein. For some authors, such as Pachman, I have listed all available books even though I have gone through only a few pages from his book, Modern Chess Strategy. If his other books are any where near the quality of of those pages, then they too are worth studying. Positional play can't be divorced from tactics, so I have listed some books for that.

One of the often asked questions is - "Is studying Nimzovitsch relevant today? ".

My answer to that would be, yes, somewhere along the line, Nimzovitsch must be read. But not right away. Start slowly and build yourself from the bottom. Study the games of the great Masters. Start with the great Rubeinstein.

The Development of Chess Style
by: Max Gms Euwe, John Nunn, Max Euwe

Judgment and Planning in Chess
by: Max Euwe

Strategy & Tactics in Chess
by: Max Euwe

The Middlegame, Book 2: Dynamic & Subjective Features (Algebraic Edition)
by: M. Euwe, H. Kramer

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The Art of the Middle Game
by: Paul Keres, Alexander Kotov,

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Modern Chess Strategy
by: Ludek Pachman All S. Russell

Modern Chess Tactics: Pieces and Pawns in Action
by: Ludek Pachman

Complete Chess Strategy: First Principles of the Middle Game
by: Ludek Pachman

Complete Chess Strategy: Principles of Pawn Play and the Cter
by: Ludek Pachman

Complete Chess Strategy 2: Principles of Pawn Play and the Ctre
by: Ludek Pachman

Complete Chess Strategy: Play on the Wings
by: Ludek Pachman
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Pawn structure chess
by: Andy Soltis
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Plan Like a Grandmaster (Batsford Chess Books)
by: Alexei Seutin, K Neat

Think Like A Grandmaster: Algebraic Edition
by: Alexander Kotov
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Soviet School of Chess
by: Alexander Kotov and Mikhail Yudovich

Indian Hockey Federation Suspended by Indian Olympic Association - Games We Play

Shantanu Dutta — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 12:51:51 EDT

The suspension of the Indian Hockey Federation by the Indian Olympic Association will raise many questions about reviving hockey – supposedly India’s national game and once the one discipline where India could be assured of a medal. This happened after the International Hockey Federation advised the India's Olympic body to take over management of the country's hockey after a bribery scandal plunged the game into crisis.

A larger question will go unanswered in the midst of all this murky ruckus; the question of how many games we as a country ought to play. That focus will help in allocating scarce resources on a select few instead of investing in every game under the sun and ending up mediocre in practically all of them. At the moment the Indian Olympic Association is the classic show case of India’s famous “Unity in Diversity” slogan and the Association recognizes every thing from Atya Patya, Ten Pin Bowling and Thang Ta. Check out the IOA’s web site for a whole lot more games that the Association supposedly supports. Of course, none of these games are Olympic sports and will ever be in the foreseeable future but no one care’s.

Apart from all these obscure games, of course India plays all the better known ones – Basketball, Baseball, Volleyball, Ice Hockey, Throwball - you name it and we play it and play it mostly terribly. Even in those games, where we have some modest success, like tennis or chess or perhaps badminton, there would be perhaps one or two players or one or two athletes who hold the flag in a country of India’ size and population. And they usually have discovered long ago that they will gain little from the somnolent and ineffective sports federations that preside over them like deities in a pantheon. Remember the cynical, sneering, pan chewing official running Women’s’ hockey portrayed in Chak de India? The film maker had to have picked up his cues some where!

No nation in the world plays as many sports disciplines as we do with official blessings and perhaps as poorly as we do. Whereas at one level sports is a pastime and recreation and any one can play any thing, professional sports is a different game altogether. Since sports is never ever going to be a strategic concern in a country like India, it will always be at the bottom of the pile in the budget allocated to the larger social sector. One would assume therefore that the little piece of cake that is available would be used judiciously. But that does not appear to be the case.

India’s sports policy is fairly recent having been drafted in 2001. However the policy does not address this issue and if any thing , in an attempt to be all things to all people, talks of broad basing sports. Of course some aspects of broad basing are pretty good – like making opportunities available to a wider section of the population ; encouraging traditional sports and so on. But the policy ought to have drawn a line some where but it hasn’t and the day may nor be far off when playing kancha (marbles) and lattu(spinning top). The pits to which sports administration has fallen as revealed in the hockey scandal should make us think a bit. Of course it is no one’s case that hockey should be axed but it may be a time to introspect as to which games enjoy official patronage and budgetary support. It is better to be involved with fewer sports, allot them more money out of the little that will be available and then manage their administration better. It is time for a newer and more achievable sports policy perhaps !

Kambala: Racing Buffaloes, The Slushy Way

Suruchi — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 08:33:29 EDT

The rhythmic beat of drums and trumpets reverberates in the air. The area from where the sound emanates is jam-packed and I can barely see the goings on from my position. Camera in hand, I make way through the all men crowd dexterously, swinging my head to the intoxicating music.

I find myself inside a unique arena (I had been expecting a marshy field all along); two tracks dug up and filled with slush run parallel to each other for about 450 ft. with the spectators’ stands adjacent to the two tracks with a well defined boundary to keep the spectators in check. The chaotic scenes that I had been imagining in my mind all the while are put to rest; Koti Chennaya Kambala organized at Puttur is a highly professional affair.

And this entire hullabaloo is for the buffaloes; paired with the help of a yoke they are lined up with their owners ready to enter the arena. Fresh after a pooja and a wash at the temple nearby, their black skin gleams in the blazing sun, they are decorated with fancy ropes, mirrors and some of them even sport amulets. The men are well sculpted; having a six-pack is no big deal here. Most of them are bare chested wearing just a modest lungi.

A man wearing a red turban and a matching lungi checks the buffaloes’ teeth with the air of a specialist. Checking for bad breadth? No. I later come to know that buffaloes are partitioned into different groups (small, medium and big I guess) according to the number of their fallen teeth. Ingenious, I must say!

An organizer is very happy to see my friends and me, mistaking us for reporters as all of us are sporting cameras. When we inform him that we are just hobbyists he sportingly gives us the scarves which the volunteers are wearing. “Go close and shoot” he tells us in Kanadda and that’s exactly what we do, we have an up, close and personal encounter with the buffaloes of Puttur.

We position ourselves at the starting line. An enclosure is made for the buffaloes waiting in line for their turn; it is difficult to control some of them who are raring to be free and have a go at the slushy track. The main race will only start in the afternoon now is the time for the first timers to show their skills.

The first buffalo pair looks every bit menacing their muscles taut, quivering with excitement and their noses flaring. Agitated by the incessant whipping and war cries of the lone man (Saarthi) behind them, they rush past us at maddening speed leaving a trail of water flying behind.

“Splash, Splash, Splash!”

All this happens so fast that I fail to retract my camera in time and so it gets a generous helping of the mucky water. A fitting start to a day that is going to be action packed. No serious damage done though, thankfully. After a few runs I am taking pictures with the ease of a photographer seasoned for kambala.

Some of the buffaloes cover the length of the track in a mere 10-15 seconds. I realize that running in water keeping pace with galloping buffaloes is no mean feat. Many a men fall in the slush, face down, unable to keep up with their more sturdy counterparts. But some men make it look really easy and I secretly wish to run in the slush; the muddy water does look tempting in this scorching sun. Maybe I’ll do this in Kadri Kambala sometime where there are races for women and children too sans the buffaloes.

The area around the arena dons a festive look; bhel and pani puri the ubiquitous Indian street food are present here too, “Pepsi Coca cola” a stereo announces running in a loop continuously, the pao-pao of the candy-floss (Oh! How I used to long for “Buddhi ki baal” as a kid!) Man’s cart adds to the din. We settle for a glass of sugarcane juice that as always is surprisingly refreshing.

Muthappa Rai looks down on us from huge posters, sporting a French beard and talking on a mobile phone. I find him good-looking quite contrary to the appearance I had expected when I had heard that he was a underworld don turned social worker. He hails from Puttur and is the organizer of the Koti Chennaya Kambala this year, which I later come to know, is the largest Kambala in Karnataka drawing a crowd of around a lakh people.

We now stand close to the finishing line that slants upwards; a simple braking mechanism to stop the buffaloes running at break neck speed. But still some of them crash straight into the crowd standing at the finishing line; some men rush with whips to control them and no harm is done.

As photography in the scorching sun is a tiring job, hunger pangs start making themselves felt in no time. There is some time for the main event to start, so we head towards a friend’s cousin’s place for lunch. I simply love the way these traditional homes are built, they are so inviting and cozy, and make you feel right at home. All characteristics of an ideal home I feel. The lunch is traditional Tulu fair and is yummylicious. Revitalized, after the lunch and a little rest we revisit the arena.

The bands are playing elaborately; the main event has started. The buffaloes are burlier now; they run even faster and splash more water in the process. I want to get some head-straight shots of the buffaloes so we join the freelance photographer with his bazooka like lens, who is already standing at the finishing line.

This is as adventurous as it gets! I point my camera on the buffaloes till I feel they are at a safe distance and then scamper inside the crowd for protection. The men look at me amused and sometimes I have the eerie feeling that the buffaloes too are eyeing me curiously, but then it is just a feeling. None of the buffaloes crash on us but we do have some close shaves.

As the evening matures it becomes even more cool and pleasant; the floodlights cast obscure reflections on the track. The dignitaries have started to arrive and the speeches on the stage run parallel to the commentary in the arena. Now comes the part for which I had been waiting for all through.

Kambala is not just about completing the stretch of the track in the least time, that is one aspect of the race. There is another unusual aspect too. In the middle of the track some markers are placed at the height of 6.5 and 7.5 feet respectively. The idea is that the splashing water should rise to this height. And for this the Saarthi has to stand on a plank attached to the buffaloes.

As the first pair with the Saarthi on the plank arrives it is a most bizarre sight. The blurred outline of a man is visible through the diaphanous film of water rising all around the buffaloes. The man himself seems to be hanging on to nothing but air and when they approach the middle of the track, where the markers are placed, the water astonishingly rises to great heights and manages to touch the 6.5 ft mark. I feel that the man has fallen into water by now but as the pair approaches the finishing line I am shocked to see that he is still there hanging on to the buffaloes.

Many buffaloes thus pass by, but none touch the 7.5 ft mark. But there is enough time; the competition will go on through the night ending only on Monday evening. And that reminds me that I have to be in office tomorrow. The night seems promising, Yakshagana is also supposed to happen and I’ve been wanting to watch one for quite sometime.

Loath that I am to leave I wonder at the juxtaposition of the two different lives I seem to live on the weekdays and weekends. I’ve been really lucky to have watched Kambala; the one in Puttur is amongst the last to happen during the Kambala season, which starts from Dec. and goes on till March. Information about the Kambala schedule is hard to get by on the internet, but I promise myself to come back for the Kambala next year, if not Puttur some other location. After Jallikattu and Kambala I want my tryst with rural sports to continue.

IIMB, UNMAAD - Not Quite A Finished Product

Nimish Batra — Mon, 4 Feb 2008 13:12:26 EST

It seems they don't quite practise what they teach at the B-schools.

We were at IIM Bangalore on Saturday for a quiz at UNMAAD'08, the IIMB cult fest.

Oh Gods! Was it an abomination!

It was completely unprofessional, and organized WORSE than *my* college's fests (where IEEE would conduct Love-Letter writing events, and has recently conducted gambling and SMS-writing competitions), it was looking more-and-more like a DU (Delhi Univ) fest (which are by no stretch of the imagination places to have any sort of intellectual competition), especially for engineers.

The blurb on the UNMAAD website speaks for itself:

Some Say Unmaad is like the wanton shrieks of a baby who's discovered the power in his lungs. Others associate it to the stunned silence of an athlete who's just won an Olympic gold. Look closely and you're bound to even notice a delighted madman, who's found the perfect rock to shatter light bulbs.

...

Unmaad is above happiness - more passionate than anger, more life-changing than serenity, more potent than courage, more magical than wonder - it vanquishes fear, makes pity redundant, shreds disgust and metamorphoses sorrow into ecstasy.

In other words, it is The Tenth Emotion.

The quiz itself was so horrifically managed that any adjectives I might use would be superfluous in their ability to capture the absurdity. Suffice it to say that the experience would unmake even the bravest soul.

Multimedia questions were provided out of order, questions were printed merely as "Give the full funda," questions were simply "announced" and yet there was no hint of such "announcing" in the question paper - and that was just the prelims!

The question paper opened up with the words "Don't Panic" and had ZERO Douglas Adams/Hitchhiker's Guide related questions. I wonder if I should take that as a personal offense on the behalf of all Adams' fans.

We reckoned we had scored 13.5, then cutoffs were announced as 13 and yet we didn't qualify for the finals, so we tried to trace what had happened.

One bright young "central committee" fellow comes up and "takes charge" - you can tell "central committee" folks in a college fest by the presence of a walkie-talkie and the amount of swagger in their walk - that much has not changed in people apparently, despite this being a place where you go to become a finished product.

So this fellow starts belligerently arguing with someone who wanted a little help (I'm just watching with greater and greater interest) and pulls out I-don't-know how many unparliamentary words, attempts to insult someone about 15 years older than him, gets irritated and starts shouting like a petulant brat who got into a position of temporary advantage where he had information someone else needed, and it went straight to his head, which of course it had.

Which is when I decided to walk home.

Because when you hear a student of MBA (that's Masters in Bellicose Administration?) telling someone (who in all probability works for an automotive/IT/products major as HR/Legal head) that "I don't care which VP of which little BPO you're of," you think, "Something weird is about to happen." And then when you hear the same fellow shout, "What product? I'm not selling anything! You're not my customer! I'm not selling anything! There's no product!" you look around and think slowly, "Wasn't this fest an entertainment 'product' in MBA-slang? Wow! Am I wrong or what!"

The mismanagement (irony is a small word - we were in an Indian Institute of MANAGEMENT) was catastrophic. I asked a lot of people about the finals. They told me I didn't miss much.

Last time out was very neat and the people were decent folk.

But on the positive side, Umm... well there were many pretty girls. That's about it. Really.

"Will you go back?" Yes.
"Will you expect a good time?" No.

Laser Questing

Blokesablogin — Sat, 26 Jan 2008 12:47:56 EST

I was all set to take the boys to yet another birthday party. My friend, the mother of the birthday kid, suggested if I would like to go Laser questing too. I said, "What is the harm in checking out what goes on behind those closed doors?" I had no clue what awaited me behind those doors.

We were taken into an antechamber that was totally dark except for some strange lighting that picked out our teeth and made it look like Dracula's and made our eyeballs become milky white. We looked totally weird. The only thing visible were strange doodlings in fluorescent colors and the eerie light that made us see the outlines of the other bodies in the room. We were taught the basic rules of no touching each other and no covering our epaulets and chest and back "strike" zones.

We were led to a hallway where we picked up our gear- a heavy laser jacket that had the "strike" zones on it surrounded by flashing lights and a laser "gun" just as you would see in Star Wars, only there was no "shhhh" sound coming and neither was a steady light band. Thin red streaks of light emitted from these guns when the trigger was compressed that could "strike" the jackets of the other players in the game room.

The trick was to strike others as many times as you can while protecting yourself from getting hit. The game room was a labyrinth of passageways, hideouts, corners, wire meshes, stairs, corridors and outposts. When you get hit, your laser ceases to work for 5 seconds and all your lights on your jackets goes off. You become invisible to get back on.

It was easy to make out the "pros" from the amateurs. They had clear strategies that ensured a high score. Every hit won 10 points and if you get hit, you lose points. My 7 year old was so innocent, his score was in the negative! It was interesting to observe sweet children becoming obsessed about winning at all costs- ganging up on some as a group and striking, covering their strike zones on their jackets.

Within 5 minutes, I could see my brain function from a sense of preservation. When I was outside, it was calm and serene. Inside, it was like, where can I hide so that I will not get hit and which will be the right "ambush" point to take a strike at others without being noticed.

There are many fans of this game and I saw a championship advertised for the veterans at the entrance. There are local awards and points for the highest strikers. Within 15 minutes (duration of one game) I had a score of 230 while the top scorer had 900 plus points in the same game.

It was an extremely illuminating experience but it also set me wondering if I would like my child at such a young age to learn to win at any cost. I am sure, this could be an interesting psychological study.

PS: While looking up Amazon for books on this subject, I was amazed at how the virtual reality of video games has reinvented our vision of this world. The best joke is, that it is now a myth within a myth, if the Maya (illusory) concept of the world is to be believed!!

Bobby Fisher: Grand Master, Iconoclast and Legend

temporal — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 07:40:48 EST

Bobby Fisher the recluse Chess Master died in Reykjavik, Iceland reportedly of kidney failure on January 17, 2008.

Born in Chicago, March 9, 1943, and raised in Brooklyn, he was a child prodigy and became the youngest US Grandmaster.

In his matches with Boris Spassky, the Russian Chess Champion in 1972, he became the Cold War's lone ranger. Bobby Fischer took on individuals, federations and countries. He was responsible for the surge in chess popularity not only in the US, but all over the world.

In his single minded vision, or obsession, nothing could and nothing did stood in the way. The opposition to his vision and the opponent sitting across had to be conquered and vanquished.

Noted French chess expert Olivier Tridon: "Bobby Fischer has died at age 64. Like the 64 squares of a chess board."

In another bit of symmetry, his death occurred in the city where he had his greatest triumph - the historic encounter with Spassky.

The Soviet Chess Federation had been accused of maneuvering and dominating the International/World Chess Federation. In those days the totalitarian state used every means of its propaganda fight in the bi polar world. Fisher rallied and single mindedly exposed their dirty tricks.

He won the match against Spassky that made him a multi millionaire but he became delusional soon after.

He raged against the Jews, though his mother was Jewish, and - as released FBI documents later showed - his biological father probably was Jewish too.

His anti-communism transmuted into a rabid anti-Americanism. America, he said after the 11 September 2001 attacks, had got what it deserved.

He lived, breathed and exhaled chess in which he excelled. But his views on other subjects came under scrutiny and derision. His mother was Jewish and according to some reports even his father had some Jewish blood. But despite that he raged against the Jews and against the US policies.

"He was the pride and sorrow of chess," said Raymond Keene, a British grandmaster and chess correspondent for The Times of London. "It's tragic that such a great man descended into madness and anti-Semitism."

Bobby Fischer almost disappeared from the radar after winning the World Championship in 1972. He maintained a low profile and became a near recluse. He emerged for an exhibition match with Boris Spassky in Yugoslavis in 1992, defying a US ban for which he was wanted in the US. In 2002, Fischer was arrested At Narita Airport, Japan with an expired US passport and spent nine months in the jail there. Bobby Fischer denounced his US citizenship and Iceland offered him a citizenship and he moved there.

Helgi Olafsson, an Icelandic chess grand master, was quoted by the newspaper as saying Fischer had told him he wanted to take part in one last tournament. Morgunbladid reported that Anand and Olafsson had exchanged e-mails about the proposed match and that Fischer had firm ideas on the arrangements.

The ex-champion wanted to play the contest using the Fischerrandom or Chess 960 method, in which the game begins with pieces arranged randomly on the board to make the match more difficult.

Some of his most notables games were the Game of the Century, Byrne-Fisher (1963-64 US Championship), Petrosian-Fisher Buenos Aires (1971) and Fisher-Spassky (1972) sixth game.

Fischer is known to have never married but few know he had fathered a child in the Phillipines.

Fischer played tennis at the Baguio Country Club and had a romance with a 30-year-old woman from Davao named Marilyn Young in Baguio City before he went on exile to Iceland.

Fischer’s certified Filipino heir, 7-year-old Jinky, was born in 2002 at the Saint Louis University Sacred Heart Hospital here.

The girl’s birth certificate bears the name “Robert James Fischer” as her father, but she kept her mother’s maiden name, “Young.”

Like other genii he was a flawed genius. He lived life on his terms: winning some matches and losing some. He died January 17, 2007 defiant and un-checkmated.

Movie Review: The Peaceful Warrior

Blokesablogin — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 03:37:13 EST

Based on Dan Millman's novel, this film is stunning. In a spiritual journey, it is hard to give words to experiences. Here, the writer has written in such a way that it has found beautiful expression on film. A rare achievement indeed.

The story is about a young UC Berkeley student who is in the university's gymnastics team, practicing hard to make it into the Olympics. He wants to go beyond what is considered the limitations of what the human body can do. He asks and he is answered. A guru whom Dan calls Socrates appears to show him the path.

The journey of this aspiring youth fits in with the theme of The Journey of the Soul by Peter Calhoun. Oftentimes we are told that this world is limited in its possibilities. We are "trained" and conditioned to limit our view of the world and deny the magic inherent in life. In his book, Calhone shares many an experiences that show otherwise. When we let our minds to drop their limitations, an alternate universe opens itself up, like a new dimension. Likewise does Socrates to Dan.

In one poignant scene, Socrates tells Dan (who preens that he knows everything), that indeed he may be right, but knowledge is not wisdom. For those familiar with the Bhagavath Geetha, there will be many echoes of it in this film. If you have taken the Art of Living course, it would appear as the course without the Kriya. Eckart Tolle's The Power of Now would appear to have been the base of this book/film.

Unlike the film, What the Bleep Do We Know that was semi documentary and quasi "New age" with some "iffy" research thrown in as pure science, this film gets away from the entire science angle. It is made so banal, that it becomes a pedestrian experience of the spiritual. Therein lies its strength. It convinces without any persuasion. By this very feature, it wins over its audience towards an openmindedness towards the here and the now.

It could appear a bit of a drag at times, but the amazing gymnastic sequences make up for the slow parts of the story. Nick Nolte as Socrates gives very little away. He is your typical martial arts teacher crossed with the deadpan face of Deepak Chopra. Scott Melchowiz as the young Dan is cute and does a fair enough job bridging his image of a regular "stud" to being a seeker going deep within himself.