Just some random gibberish

It’s been a while since my last blog and have been meaning to write for a long time now, but just haven’t managed to find the time, energy and anything interesting to write about. Or like my friends say – maybe I finally have some work to do!!

Speaking of work - I have been enlightening the Swedish junta here on Swedish labor laws. The expression on their faces when they listen to their own laws is priceless!! It just got me wondering to how some people can manage a business without knowing where the money goes. I guess it’s my fault for having been here for this long and still manage to get shocked but such things. Let me just stop ranting about work right now, or this blog will go on forever…


What is it with Indian cricket fans all of a sudden- They have suddenly become all too aware and intelligent enough to relate monkey chants with racism!! Either that or it was Symonds’s imagination in Baroda and the second time, well after so much of hype in the media, how could the infamous Mumbai crowd resist?? Not that Australians should be the ones complaining about it considering their obsession with Muthiah Muralitharan was no less than racism. However I hope that what happened in Mumbai was not done with a racist mentality. Considering we are a society still obsessed with the fair skin, this incident could be a mirror of what our society is all about. We still have matrimonial adds by educated men stating that they want fair wives. How on earth is fair related to being a good life partner is something beyond understanding. It however doesn’t take away the credit from us to blend as easily despite being a country full of diversity, and this is why I hope that the incident was purely fun and not racist. India has an image of a good blend of different types of people and it’s good to keep it that way.

The other piece of news that caught my attention was the whole fiasco in Bangalore politics- A complete abuse of democracy!!! It was disgusting to see the “supposed leaders” of the country reduce themselves to clowns for power. I know expecting integrity from politicians is too much an expectation, but this kind of stooping low was dumb founding. It is high time that we change some bits of our constitution to make it an efficient democracy. First of all we should have a retirement age for politicians. Our corporate houses have a retirement age of 58, and we should follow the same for politicians too. We do not need leaders who have one foot in the grave, making any sort of policies for the country!! Secondly, similar to corporate houses, there should be a background check on all candidates, and people with any sort of criminal history should not be allowed to stand for elections. When we do not trust people with a murky background in business, how can we trust them to run the country? And lastly, we should have a bi-party system similar to the US – the problem of not having majority, coalitions being formed just for seats and not ideology and then pulling out for the flimsiest of the reasons will be solved. When I was growing up my parents always told me that I had no right to ask for freedom of choices if I didn’t behave responsibly. I guess the same applies for every sphere of life!!!

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The Young Guns of India

Yes this title is taken from one of my favourite movies, and like that movie, this blog is dedicated to the generation next or the Young India as its being termed now. A couple of days back I was reading the results of a survey on the youth in different parts of the world on a website. It mentioned that the Indian youth were the happiest, focused on work and the most optimistic about the future as compared to the youth of the rest of the world. The survey ironically was done by a Swedish agency.

Then a couple of days back the Indian cricket team won the world cup. Well the cricket team features yet again, but this time it’s not cynicism, but pure admiration for the way they won the cup. They were fearless, brave, calm and played like a team after a long time. It was pure joy to watch the semi-finals and the finals (courtesy the internet and cricinfo), though I didn’t think I would survive the heart attacks that I almost got!! It was more special since we put the Aussies at their place and a win against Pakistan is always special (looks like that record will take a while to break). The celebrations all across the country are warranted for, as the cup comes to us after 24 years, and no one really knows when the next time will be. It’s a pity that I am far away from all the fun in India, and have given up on explaining to the Swedes, the part that cricket plays in our lives!!

A lot has been said about Dhoni, and the team playing fearlessly, enjoying what they do and not being bogged down by the past etc, and I find no sense in repeating it here. To me it’s a reflection of how “Young India” is. And I see it everyday, especially now that I am here in Sweden and I can appreciate the difference between the youth of the two countries and hence two very different cultures. People here get surprised when my colleagues and I (all below 30) talk to them about various aspects of business and get involved in decision making. They cannot imagine how kids are sent for such important assignments, and get all the more bewildered when I tell them that it’s a common feature in the company to give responsibility to youngsters, more so because the average age of the employees of the company is around 26. That shocks them beyond belief!! Almost all of them who have visited India talk of the young people there, how educated they are, and how they are willing to stretch, and how seriously they take their careers, this apart from complaining about the traffic there!! While it’s nothing unusual for me; after living here, I can understand why it shocks them. Most people here start taking their careers seriously only after they turn 30 or more. And even when people work, the attitude to work is very different from what it is in India. Here work is as aptly put by a Swedish colleague, a method to sustain their hobbies; very different from India, where it’s a social symbol, a means to a good living and a lot more…. Obviously when these people meet 22 year olds who know exactly what they want, and are prepared to work hard and take all possible chances to get there, they do a complete somersault!!

While at one hand when I look around here, I feel these people here are lucky not to have as many people as we have in India making their lives easier and more content, on the other hand I feel I am lucky to be born in India in this era. Its good to be a part of the club termed as an achiever, fearless and willing to go all the way!! It’s possible that all this due to the excessive competition that we face from childhood that makes us aggressive and give our all out to win. Maybe the fact that “if not me, then someone else is going to take my place”, or maybe its only because we live in a society where education, the kind of work someone does, the kind of money someone earns decides his or her social standing that propels us to give it our best and not fear from taking risks to win.

Whatever the reasons are, I feel it will do us good in the long run. Its already proved by the Indian economy doing so well, the rupee rising, the sensex being around the 17K mark, a lot of Indians abroad wanting to get back, some Swedish colleagues of mine expressing interest to work in India and now even with us doing so well in Hockey, soccer and winning the world cup!!

PS: I am aware of the contradictions in the previous blog and this one on Indian cricket… cannot help it, I am the original fickle Indian cricket fan!! Also wanted to spew venom against that statement made by Shoaib Mallik, but then let it pass, since its either a reflection of his poor English, or ignorance or pathetic thinking - in any case, completely unworthy of any comment.

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An Eternal Optimist

This is a story about a friend who believes that the Indian cricket team can do no wrong…if the team bats miserably – the pitch was bad, how could they help it, the bowlers will surely do a good job and win the match for us …oops they got hit all over the place – poor guys, some of them were suffering from injuries but still played, fielding is bad – they try but somehow cannot seem to see the ball due to bad lighting… when he cannot convince himself longer, he also puts the blame on Dawood Ibrahim and his devious methods of earning a quick buck through cricket!!! This is a cycle that goes on and on, but my friend doesn’t lose faith and still believes that Indian cricket team is the best…

And best it is…I mean who can refute the fact that its one of the best batting line ups on paper, it is another matter that this famed line-up chokes on most of the crucial games …Bowling is an area that India has always been weak in, but when we get a decent fast bowler, in the hope of creating a Kapil Dev, we ensure that he forgets how to bowl too…then there are this list of fast bowlers, medium pacers, spinners that I cannot seem to remember because they keep flitting in and out of the team…some of them we remember more for their in-field behavior as compared to their performance…but then whatever catches attention right? My friend tells me it is because we want to develop the second line of talent that we never seem to have a permanent team, a permanent opening pair I guess is too much to ask for… how does it matter if we lose a million matches in the name of developing talent! Fielding is something I don’t even want to start with.. I think Indian fielding has been a subject of a million jokes and was even a successful ad campaign for a washing powder brand, need I say more….but despite all this, this eternally optimistic friend of mine bought a subscription to watch the match online, went to office to watch the match with a LAN connection on a big screen, hooting for India to win…. Just to come back moping yet again!! But like I said the cycle repeats over and over again, so this friend is disappointed that the wireless connection does not work at the airport, is secretly thrilled that the flight is delayed and there is trouble with our tickets just so that he could stay a little longer at the airport and call home in India to check on the scores of the match between India and Pakistan in the 20-20 world cup… I am hoping for his sake and the sake of a million others like him that India at least keep this record of beating Pakistan in the world cup matches… It’s the Indian team – you never know… they love breaking these type of records!!

I guess it’s just too much to ask a team of 12 players to carry the hope and expectations of a billion people… I guess it’s too much to ask of them to perform well…at least to make us feel that they tried their best… but then again I guess its not too much considering all the money they make out of the sponsorship that they get – all thanks to the expectations of the very same billion people…

Today the captain of the Indian team has resigned, we are a team without both a captain and a coach…My friend says, things cannot get worse than this…we have to go upwards at least now.. I thought we already hit rock bottom when we lost to Bangladesh and Srilanka, didn’t make it to the Super eight and the team winning against Bangladesh in Bangladesh was making news!… Oh but then I forget my friend is an eternally optimistic Indian cricket fan…

PS: we reached Skelleftea and got to know that India finally managed to win the tie breaker...never mind that after reducing Pakistan for 59/5 in the 11th over there should not have been left a scope for a tie breaker in the first place…the good news my friend tells me is that they managed to keep this one record intact – at least for now…..

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