Straight from the heart
Tuesday, October 17, 2023
Humans of the Cricket World Cup
Saturday, October 14, 2023
India, Pakistan and sport’s ability to transcend boundaries
Today is the 14th of October 2023. In a few hours, India play Pakistan in the cricket World Cup. In Ahmedabad.
I am writing this from Hyderabad.
Hyderabad is the city where the Pakistan cricket team spent the past two weeks for their practice matches and the two World Cup matches before moving to Ahmedabad , for the match of the World Cup on the 14th of October . India vs Pakistan.
From the moment they stepped in , the people of Hyderabad cheered for them. At the airport , on the bus to the hotel, at the nets , in the restaurant, and , in the cricket match .
Pakistan played four matches in Hyderabad . There were no spectators allowed for the first match as it coincided with Ganesh Visarjan, a festival celebrated all over the city . The second practice match saw Pakistan put up a good batting performance, but eventually lost.
In between , the team visited Jewel of Nizam, a restaurant overlooking the Osman Sagar lake , and had Hyderabadi cuisine for dinner. Another evening, the team visited Peshawar, a restaurant serving cuisine from the north west frontier.
The World Cup started with the match against the Netherlands , and there was expectancy in the air. The Netherlands team had three of players of Indian origin - Sai Teja Nidamamuru, born in nearby Vijaywada and speaking Telugu, was one of them. His extended family had come over to support him. The stands were not full.
Of the people who were there, most were looking for exciting cricket and hence, cheering for Pakistan. They wanted to see a big hundred from Babar Azam, and real fast bowling from Shaheen Shah Afridi. Pakistan won quite easily in the end and everyone was happy.
Then came the most anticipated match for all of us in Hyderabad - Pakistan Vs Sri Lanka. Hyderabad does not have any India match in the World Cup and this was perhaps the most competitive game scheduled here.
And what a game it turned out to be . Sri Lanka scoring 344, and Pakistan knocking it right back and setting a World Cup record for the highest chase .
During the game , the crowd was fully supportive of good cricket . When the Sri Lankan charge was led by Mendis, the crowd was happy. When Pakistan fought back with good bowling in the final overs of the Sri Lankan innings , the crowd was happy as well.
It was in the second innings that things got even more exciting. Everyone was happy when Imam Ul Haq was dismissed, because it got Babar Azam to the crease. Huge chants of Babar, Babar rent the air. He started off in style, but soon got out. Babar Azam’s wicket was a huge disappointment for the crowd. Some said - Kya Babar Bhai, hum century dekhna chahte they (What Babar, we wanted to see a century from you).
Pakistan fought back , with Abdullah and then Rizwan. When Rizwan carried on despite his injury and cramps, he got the whole crowd rooting for him .
When the match was evenly poised in the middle overs , The DJ in the stadium said - Jeetega bhai Jeetega, letting the crowd to complete the rest. A loud roar went up- Pakistan jeetega.
It was a surreal moment . A crowd in India chanting Pakistan jeetega .
All four centuries in the match were cheered. Rizwan’s century met with the loudest cheers . In the over break, the DJ played the song ‘Dil Dil Pakistan’. The crowd loved the beats.
Many people in the Indian blue jersey were dancing to Rizwan ‘s sixes . Most had Virat 18 printed on their T-shirts, some had Rohit 45, and a few Hardik 33. They were all loving the fabulous cricket put up by Rizwan and co.
When the match ended with Pakistan Pulling off a record chase , the crowd went into a delirium. The Pakistan players were also taken overcome with this kind of reception.
I was transported back to 2004, Lahore. The time I was at the Gaddafi stadium , for the India- Pakistan series . I was in the blue India t-shirt. India won, we cheered . In spite of Pakistan losing, many Pakistanis at the stadium came up and congratulated us . India was cheered everywhere. People came up, wanted to talk to us, invited us for dinner, wanted to talk to get an understanding of life in India
Something similar was on display here. Sri Lanka played good cricket. They were appreciated. Pakistan did one better. They were absolutely adored.
The scene at the stadium once again reinforced the power of sport , the power of its ability to transcend boundaries, to transcend politics. Sport enabled thousands of people to cheer for courageous performance, for going beyond the ordinary.
All of it was In full display at Hyderabad.
Next stop for the world cup, for both India and Pakistan, is Ahmedabad. It is India vs Pakistan on the 14th of October. Today.
May we have a great game, with every player doing their best and spectators getting full entertainment .
And may India win
Sunday, February 19, 2023
Sumimasen, Araigato and the magic of Japanese politeness
I have been interacting with Japanese people for more than a decade. In this period, I have been to Japan multiple times and also hosted the Japanese in India.
While there are many big and unique things about Japan, it is in the small, day to day experiences in interacting with the people that a whole new world unfolds.
Many times in Japan, I have asked people for directions ; on most occasions , people have responded as if it is their sacred duty to not only help with directions , but also walk along till I navigate things the right way. Sometimes, people have come all the way to walk along upto my destination .
Does this happen elsewhere, outside japan ? Yes it does , occasionally. There are nice and helpful all over the world. However , the number of times this happens in Japan, and the way people in japan consider it to be a duty to help a stranger , nowhere else have I seen that magnitude .
Obsession with time is another aspect, which also manifests in the respect for time of others. Some years ago, a Japanese friend was visiting India. I had invited him for dinner at 8 pm.
Sure enough, he turned up at 8 PM. I asked him whether he had any trouble locating the place or coming over as he was visiting India and might not be familiar with the surroundings. He said he was mindful that he was coming to a new location, so he started early and arrived around 7.30 PM, half an hour before the invitation time. “Arrived half an hour before, then why did you not come inside ”, I ask him , surprised.
“Oh Deepak San, I didn’t want to disturb you as you might be busy with something else”, was the reply .
“What were you doing for the past half hour ?”, I ask him, feeling guilty. “I was waiting outside ”, he replied.
A friend of mine is part of a local badminton team in Tokyo. They had a to play a tournament and assemble at the match venue at 9 AM . However, as a team, they agreed to meet at 8.30AM. All but two of the team members turned up by 8.30 AM. The two who did not turn up at 8.30, reached at 8.35. A time that was a good 25 minutes before the scheduled assembly time at 9 AM; however, it was 5 minutes later than what their team had , amongst themselves, agreed for. They profusely apologized to the rest of the team for this ‘lapse’.
Next day, back at their home venue for practice, the two who had turned up at 8.35 the previous day , punished ‘themselves’ by not playing , but rather cleaning the badminton court and helping others. They also ran rounds of the nearby field to atone for the previous day’s delay.
Remember , no one told them. They punished themselves.
An extreme example of the way people hold themselves accountable for time, and the respect for time of others.
People around the world took note of the Japanese football team’s creditable performance in the 2022 football World Cup a few months ago in Qatar. After every match, the team made headlines when they stayed behind to clean the entire changing room. They left thank-you notes. The Japanese fans in the stadium did something similar . They cleared the trash, and cleaned up the stands. The Japanese coach bent almost 90 degrees and bowed in front of the fans to express his gratitude to them. Back home in Tokyo, fans celebrated their team’s performance . They came out on the streets after Japan defeated Germany in a spectacular performance. They would are celebrate on the road on the red signal, leave the road when the signal turned green for the traffic to flow, and come back again to celebrate when it turned red. While this sounds extreme to the rest of the world , to the Japanese it is simply a regular act of politeness and respect for others.
The two words I most often hear in Japan are Sumimasen and Araigato. Sumimasen can mean anything from a polite ‘Excuse me’ to an apology for disturbing you. Araigato is a thank you. In formal settings , these are almost always accompanied by the gesture of bowing.
With politeness and respect comes mindfulness. It is about the awareness of surroundings , the season, the time of the day, the awareness of the people around you, an understanding of the feeling of others . This shows in the minutest of details, the little pouch for disposing trash, the little button to slide the window, the seat warmer in car seats, the long wooden shoe horn outside of traditional places where one needs to take off shoes. This shows in the design of toilet seats, the bidet, and the cleaning options, which have adjustable buttons for the flow of water, the temperature , the option to have accompanying music while you do your stuff.
This politeness, respect and mindfulness enables tens of millions of people to navigate densely crowded cities such as Tokyo with an unbelievable sense of order . Whether it is the queues to get into public transport , or the manner in which People buy stuff from supermarkets , or navigate through crises such as supply shortages during Tsunami , this deep rooted and imbibed sense of empathy allows Japanese to navigate these situations in a manner that is not just unique, it is magical. The magic that the tiny little things create , when everyone does them, is big.
For sure, every place has its challenges. So does Japan. And it has many. There are many socio-economic and demographic aspects that are manifested in these challenges. Japan is trying to solve some of these challenges. For some others, it is still trying to figure out what might be a good solution.
The intent here is to share that if each one of us were to imbibe more of the Japanese characteristics of empathy, politeness, respect and mindfulness in our day to day life, we can make things better for ourselves, and for those around us. And maybe, even create magic in the world.
Saturday, December 10, 2022
Humans of Football
Maymi Asgari is 24 . She wears a headscarf . Every night, before and after the football World Cup matches, she is outside the stadium in Qatar , performing football tricks for passers by. She is a football freestyle who loves the game.
people ask her about her headscarf and the football tricks. she says, very objectively - I wear the hijab, I am a Muslim and I am a woman. But it doesn’t mean I can’t play football. I can do the exact same thing that anyone else can do.
And , I add , love the game that billions around the world do.
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Derouich Fakhreddine is from Morocco. His job is to ensure security at football stadiums in Qatar. He is supposed to always look at the spectators, with his back towards the football pitch. This way he ensures safety and security for everyone at the stadium.
He did all of his work, with full diligence and commitment in the entire match against Spain. For 120 minutes and for all the penalty kicks this far.
However , when Achrafi Hakim takes his run up to take up what could be the kick that can win it for Morocco, he turns his neck , peeps behind his back
At the end of it all, when Morocco win, he affords himself a peep into what’s happening behind his back. The penalty goes in , he shouts in joy, and celebrates with tears. In those fleeting seconds, Fakhruddin goes on to become just like any other football fan, celebrating his country's qualification in the quarter finals of the World Cup for the first time ever.
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Maisah is an Algerian woman. She has a son who is in his early 20s. The son is currently working as a security guard at Qatar for the World Cup.
His job is to manage the flow of spectators outside the stadium and guide them to their respective entry gates.
Maisah has not met her son for several months and decides to undertake the journey from Algiers to Doha, and sets out to find her son. When she is in the vicinity of the stadium, she is walking like a woman who knows exactly where she is going. Someone tells her all security guards have the same dress and look pretty much the same. But a mother sees with more than her eyes.
And in one dramatic moment , she is able to spot her son from a side angle. As she reaches to her son, the son is shocked for a while. They then hug. And cry. And hug again.
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Unlike Maisah, Fernanda from São Paulo is with her son Rafael in Qatar. They are a part of a Brazilian group of travelling soccer fans and are all set to add to the colour, music and experience of everyone around when Brazil takes on Croatia in the first quarter final. Rafael is 8 years old , and like thousands of others, he is in the yellow Brazilian jersey .
He has been pretty intent all through the Match, but when Neymar scores, Rafael starts jumping. As Croatia dig deep into their reserves of will power, they put it beyond Brazil in the penalty kicks. Little Rafael is crestfallen. His mother, no less disappointed herself, hugs her tearful son and tells her it is a game and winning and losing is a part of it.
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While one little boy’s team is on the losing side , Leo Peresic’s is not. His father, Ivan Peresic has been critical to Croatia’s chances all through the tournament and has been one of their standout performers . After Croatia team beats Brazil, Croatian players are allowed to bring their families on to the field. Young Leo Peresic , instead of heading towards the celebrating Croatian group where his father is, heads towards the Brazilian side , who are gutted after the heartbreaking defeat. The security stops Leo as he heads towards Neymar.
Neymar , broken and in tears after the defeat, notices this , intervenes, and allows Leo to come in. Young Leo shakes Neymar’s hand, hugs him , and consoles him. Victory and defeat converge into the moment .
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Just an hour after Brazil went out, it is their Latin American neighbours Argentina taking on the Netherlands in another Latin America vs Europe clash, to decide the second semi finalist .
The teams are getting ready to walk out of the tunnel onto the pitch. Amongst those who will walk in, is this little school girl . She is one of the children who will walk in with the Argentine team. She is standing next to Lionel Messi. She has heard all along that Messi is extraordinary . He is so good that he is not human , he is super human.
This is the closest she has got to anyone with this description , of being super human. She touches Messi’s arm, trying to figure out if he was for real and if he was human.
For The little girl it is perhaps the first time she is going to be walking through the football tunnel. But there is another person, not far from where she is , who is going to be walking the tunnel for the nth time. He is Louis van Gaal , 71, the coach of a Netherlands.
van Gaal was diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer in December 2020. He hid this fact from his players to maintain their focus before the World Cup.
He had 25 sessions of radiation therapy, all while overseeing the Netherlands' World Cup qualification campaign. He would enter the hospital through a back door , complete his treatment sessions , and go out via the back door , lest his cancer impact any of the players.
When the Netherlands defeated Norway 2-0 in a World Cup qualifier in Rotterdam in November 2021, Van Gaal was in a wheelchair. His visits to the hospital would be at night after the day job was done.
Often, he took charge of training with a colostomy bag and a catheter hidden under his tracksuit.
When he finally disclosed about his condition , it just spurred his players on to go the extra mile . The players also shared their experience of greater empathy and perspective from the coach .
From walking out of the chemotherapy sessions via the back door of a the hospital to walking in with the Dutch team in the quarter finals against Argentina , it was an intense journey, and win or lose, van Gaal remains a profoundly impacting human of the World Cup .
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Over the past three weeks, I have tried to capture the human stories of football. I have spoken about mothers , sons, daughters, fathers, brothers, referees, fans, support staff, school children, security guards.
I want to conclude today’s write up about my emotions as a father. My son is a big big Brazil fan. And so am I. As Indians, we look at Brazil as our home team. In our case, we also have fabulous memories of our time in Brazil. Like most Indians, our hearts are all for Latin American football. And our other favourite is Argentina. For many like me, Maradona introduced magic into football.
Even today, India is steadfast in its support of Brazil and Argentina.
So, when Brazil lost out in the quarter finals to Croatia, we were all disappointed . My son more so.
There wasn’t much time for disappointment , though, as Argentina came up against Netherlands in just over an hour.
Redemption time for Indian fans, so we thought. And that’s how it looked - for most part until the Netherlands magnificently fought back to take things to extra time and then to the drama of penalties.
My son can’t bear the tension any longer , he goes off to another room and tries to sleep.
I continue watching - I am constantly thinking - should I get my son back to watch - and perhaps see his favoured team win, or should I risk another disappointment in case Argentina lose.
I convince him to come and watch the nerve wracking penalty shoot out , telling him not to be too impacted by the outcome . Win or lose, it is a game, it is a part of life .
And at the end of it , the father son duo let out a huge roar and go into a jig. We hug each other.
Our moment of the World Cup.
Saturday, August 10, 2019
To be in my friend's shoes
Vidyaranya High School. The magical place where so much goes on yet the world knows little about it. Leave alone the world, even the city of Hyderabad barely knows anything about this. The students you see at Vidyaranya are not like the students you usually see in conventional schools. That's probably because the students of Vidyaranya are exposed to a pressure free environment, which is very rare in today's world. The children do not take exams till Class 8. They are free to wear whatever they want to wear. They are free to think whatever they want to think. They are free to say whatever they want to say. Now that said, here's one of the many magical moments that took place at Vidyaranya, with my son Hardik directly involved.
Over to you Hardik.....
.....
It was ten minutes past twelve. The teachers had just left us for our lunch break after a tiring drama session. Some could only think about filling their stomachs after an action packed afternoon. Some could only think about playing football. I belonged to the second group.
As I was wearing my budget Power shoes, one of my friends, Rayyan, decided to play a little prank on me. The moment I was done wearing my left shoe, he went ahead and ran off with my right shoe. I stayed cool and I stopped myself from chasing him, knowing that he would return it.
I went to the football ground with a few of my pals. I knew that it was somewhere around that field where Rayyan had kept the shoe. I asked him where my shoes were kept, extremely certain of the answer I would receive. I turned out to be correct for I knew very well that he wouldn't reveal the answer to me. However, he gave a big hint, saying that I was standing within 500 metres of my beloved shoe.
I then started searching for my shoe. Two minutes later, I was going to give up... any second.
My best friend Vasisht, better known as Bethu, could see that. He then did something, an act of kindness that would give Jesus Christ a run for his money. He gave me HIS right shoe and then went to have lunch in the canteen, with one shoe.
Overcome by his kindness, my expedition was back on track. I was no longer searching with one shoe on. I also had a friend on my side, Amrita, who was also not keen at the prospect of having lunch.
The two of us were extremely motivated : I due to the magnanimity shown by my best friend, she due to the idea of seeing the famous shoe of one of the most infamous people on the planet.
Rayyan probably realised that this duo's expedition was going to be successful.
So he proposed to sign a treaty. He said that he would return my shoe by 12 30 because that was when the football match would start and he acknowledged the fact that I would need my shoe to play the game. It seemed fair to me, so I called off the search.
By 12 30 when Bethu was back, he was pleasantly surprised to find me with three shoes. It was at that moment that the world of fashion changed. Bethu decided to wear one of his shoes and one of mine. I did the same. Initially, the idea was that by the end of the lunch break we would take back our respective shoes. However, we couldn't find the time and decided to do so just after school ended. By the time I reached home, I was wearing two shoes and both were my own : a feeling I didn't experience for most of the day.
The next morning , when Bethu and I met, I proposed the idea of swapping one of our shoes and keeping it that way for the entire day. He was game. This news soon became prevalent. Some laughed. Some were inspired to do the same. During Hindi class, my good friend Wahaj asked me whether I wanted to swap a shoe with him as well. I agreed to do so and gave my right shoe to him and vice versa. We also swapped watches. So I was wearing two shoes with completely different designs and neither of them belonged to me. However, my trading with Wahaj didn't turn out to be very successful, as his shoe was too big for me and my shoe was too small for him. We also got back our respective watches soon.
I was back to wearing one of Bethu's shoe and one of mine. Home time came and I told him I'll give your shoe back when you have to go. I then got to know that Rayyan would be dropping me today. He happened to be in a hurry, so I rushed to the car with my bag hanging on to one of my hands. I had totally forgotten about our shoes. I only realised I had taken one of Bethu's shoes when I was looking at the mirror in the lift at home. I called him up after some time and told him about the accident, about which he was aware of, and also apologized to him. Worse, school would be closed the next week, meaning I could only return his shoe nine days later.
My father and his father both took the sporting side of the thing, when they got to know about this, throwing light on the great bond we share. They said that it was lovely to see such friendship.
Over to you Papa.....
...........
I couldn't resist the urge to laugh at such an event. The moment I returned home, I saw that right in front of the shoe rack were placed a black Adidas shoe and a grey Power shoe, side by side. The event seemed even more hilarious to me when I got to know the whole story.
Oh Hardik, if only you wore your shoes faster....
Sunday, April 14, 2019
Those I have voted for have always lost. I am proud of them.
1) They had something relevant for me in their manifesto. Something that directly impacted my day to day life and of the people around me.
2) They had the right priorities -
4) They were all local and had experience of working in the area -
I am proud to have voted for these 'losers' - their being out there is in itself a victory for the courage of their convictions .
It's also a message of hope to the well meaning millions out there, who have wanted to make a difference to the life of others.
These individuals might be losers on the election result sheet, they are inspirational winners for me.
I voted for them in 2019, I will vote for them again.
Saturday, March 10, 2018
The indelible stamp on first day covers
Saturday, March 3, 2018
Life without a TV
Saturday, February 17, 2018
Why Barca can get another treble this time
Monday, January 8, 2018
If it's tennis, it's got to be LOVE-ALL
Wednesday, December 27, 2017
Yuri Gagarin and Valentina Tereshkova
Wednesday, December 13, 2017
If it weren't for the last nano second....
Friday, December 1, 2017
Coming of age trip
Monday, October 9, 2017
A mother's love, and India's goal
Sunday, August 13, 2017
In Pakistan: on the other side of the Radcliffe
http://www.espncricinfo.com/series/15060/scorecard/64884/Pakistan-vs-India-4th-ODI-India-in-Pakistan-ODI-Series
The crowd is disappointed, but genuinely happy for us.