The name that matters the most

More on cricket, another magnificent knock coming out of the pages of the past. Its nostalgia time, Indian cricket fans and folks. Call it the brief flicker of hope before the candle burns out or the last hurrahs of our very own champions, let us hope it sustains enough to see Rahul "The Wall" Dravid lifting the cup.

We have known for years now that the Indian batting line-up chart with the big three - Maharaj, The Wall & Tendulkar - on it looks most imposing. When one of them fires, we moan that the Indian team always relies too much on one man; when two fire, the team does well; but when all three fire, there is an inevitability to it all, it looks as if this was the day that God created cricket and the art of batting. Today at Baroda was one such day when the batting gods smiled beatifically on the Indians. Add to this, the fact that Sehwag could be back.

If three of the word's best one-day batsmen exploding together was not enough to cherish, the day was made more beautiful by the sight of Tendulkar reaching his 41st ton off the last ball of the innings. There has been a lot said about his form and whether he is a spent force. Some experts have even gone to the extent of asking for his sacking. To be honest, this has not been completely illogical though we are an hyper emotional people. There has surely been some truth in the criticism. However, the tones would quickly change now that we have seen a Tendulkar-like innings from Tendulkar. And again, I see nothing wrong with that. Its only fair that if the criticism has been there, the praise should also be back. We Indians need to see special stuff from him, it lifts us, we love him to our heart's content and its only fair that we demand to be loved back in kind.

Tendulkar though need not worry about criticism and selection issues. Tendulkar has an exalted place in Indian cricket and there will never be a moment where a decision is forced on him by the selectors. He is perhaps one of the few sportsmen in world who can choose his timing, all by himself.

Having said that, I think we should also take into account his mental setup and whether he would be asking himself the question that having given everything, is he not trying too hard for only criticism in return; whether he would be thinking that all this is worth the effort of going out and trying his best everyday; whether he would be asking himself for one final go at the cup.

Savour the moment, folks, this might be the seasonal finale of India's longest running cricketing love story, Tendulkar, the Maestro. Prepare for a tear-jerker ahead, with some of the best supporting actors also on the verge of leaving the stage.

Two 90's from the 90's

This week 2 players who made their marks in the 90's came up with very different 90's of their own. We are talking India's religion here, Cricket.

Though the 2 players I am talking about are markedly different, as different as left and right, they also have similarities. One is an old general making his last stand at a frontier, the other is a wounded soldier trying to reprise his youth. One is a burly, slumbering giant, the other recaptured the agility of his hands and eyes once more. One is a Pakistan legend and its captain, the other is former India captain, the most successful in history yet.

They have similarities too. As captains, both have led with the sheer weight of their personalities. One is one of the all time best Test batsment and certainly one of the best in this age, the other is a modern one-day batting great. Both generally bat in the lower middle order in tests although the Indian does love to start at the top in one-dayers. Together, they took the entire subcontinent to the halcyon days of their batting.

Inzamam-ul-Haq, or Inzi bhai to team-mates and Saurav Ganguly, or Dada to his boys have murdered attacks on their days. This week, Inzi made a remarkable last stand in South Africa. Forced to bat at No. 8, he not so much as sheferded the tail, he milked it, he milked the time they afforded him. He batted with 4 from his tail and yet, he saved the best for the last wicket after 3 small but useful stands. At 9 for 191, you almost thought South Africa had got away with the sin of a first innings 124 after winning the toss. But Inzi played 4-5 balls every over, attacked, defended and rotated it, and then rotated it some more till the Springboks didnt know up from down. Asif, Inzi's protectee, finally gave way when Inzi was on 92, the best hundred he never got.

Saurav returned to the pyjama cricket after a long hiatus, it was only a 15 months but you know how many matches that translates to in this commercial age. He attacked and attacked some more, on a pitch his eyes would have lit up seeing. The timing was back, the walk down to the medium pacers was on display. The majestic drive through cover with the extension of hands was in full flow. He set up a 300-plus total along with new partner in crime Gautam Gambhir and together, they gave India a great opening partnership in a long time. His entry into the team marked the exit of that talisman of Indian opening for years now, Virender Sehwag. Will he be back?

The Philosophy of Business Politics

I am expanding the scope of my philosophies with this entry. This is about the politics of business, about how strategy is impacted by the play between significant players.

Take the case of Hutchison's telecom ops in India, Hutch. Its very formation was based on strategy games played by a large number of players which included several players with smaller operations. Once it got consolidated as a pan-India player, the ops ran smoothly as long as there was a smooth ongoing relationship between the 2 large players. They did try to compete to acquire other minorities but that only caused a minor hiccup or two.

Things changed the moment Hutch tried to bring in a significant 3rd player, Orascom, as minority partner in their holding co. Now, 3-player games are inherently unstable, like your love triangles, these games do lead to a long-term solution different from the current state. From that point on, the relationship seemed doomed and now, Hutch wants out, with significant value no doubt.

The new players that are now trying to get in to this game have also hit a roadblock, one player Hutch wants to sell to them but the 3rd player in the picture, the Indian partner, doesnt. A roadblock in the game but its still unstable.

Now, they have changed the game. Hutch cant sell its stake in the Indian ops without the partner's consent but it definitely can sell the holding company stake, the way it did to Orascom. So a 3-player game will become a 2-player one and Hutch & the new player will negotiate an easy solution. Post that, the Indian ops will become a 2-player game as well leading to a final stable solution. Until some more time has elapsed, when its time to repeat history.

The Philosophy of Guru

Happened to watch Guru on Saturday night, fantastically done by Mani Ratnam! I think all of us MBA-types should watch the movie. I know that I am stereotyping a particular group of people despite always being against the phenomenon. But the story does offer several insights for all comers.

The biggest insight for me was Guru's motif in his business dealings, the one he defines as "if a law can be made in a day, it can be changed in a day."

Mind you, if you look carefully enough, it doesnt mean breaking the law and even more importantly, it doesnt mean disrespect for the law. This is a rather important insight for doing business in India.

We all have heard several tales of the bureaucracy and the politicos frustrating an honest entrepreneur's efforts at doing business in a business-like way. However, our visionary(s) soon gets fed up with the various new rules and new interpretations that are brought out of the rule book, all these to extract maximum possible personal value by the arbiters of the rules. These personal value extraction is not always in terms of money but is also done as an ego-trip at times.

In the end, when the visionary sees new rules being made at a moment's notice, all in an effort to stop his venture, then while I'd expect most to give up and cut losses, our visionary would then make the statement, "if a law can be made in a day, it can be changed in a day".

We have to remember things change when somebody somewhere sees something seriously wrong with them. Change is not brought about by people who respect every rule, without reason, just because they have been taught to.

A tale of two Bombastic cities

Inspiration does come from strange places. My friend "Nothing Spectacular" (everything is spectacular about him, well, mostly) sometimes checks with me whether I am reading his regularly updated blog or not and sometimes I feel so embarrassed to say that I've been too lethargic to read/write anything of significant meaning. So I decided to take up the gamut today after a particularly long break in the new year. So upon reading his blog, I came across his own tale of two cities, in his case its the typical Delhi vs Mumbai "http://nothing-spectacular.blogspot.com/2006/12/tale-of-two-cities.html".

My tale is about Bangalore and Bombay, the 2 most bombastic cities in India, or so I think. Seeing him extol the virtues of Delhi over Mumbai inspired me to defend the city of romance. Its a strange paradox though in many ways-

1. I am a Punjabi by birth and raised in a small town tucked in the corner of Punjab, to boot and I am trying to tell you that the City of everyone's dreams (mine included) is better than the jingoistic Punjabi Delhi, the Bal Thackeray Marathi's only please controversy notwithstanding.

2. I never visited Mumbai till I was 21, thats a little late to fall madly in love with your first city, wouldnt you say?

3. And a la my spectacular friend, I do like my space, which apparently is not available in Mumbai.

4. Mumbai is the commercial capital of India - the place where fortunes are made, traded and lost - and yet, its also a city of undying romance and hope.

Back to the point, the love for Mumbai has a lot to do with love, its the first city I fell in love with - Bangalore being the second, and there, it finally becomes a tale of two cities, finally - and it is also a city where I fell in love for the first time at a ripe old age of 25. Mumbai is also the city that inspired most of my poetry.

As for the biggest grouse against Mumbai, its lack of space, all I have to say is that you should try finding solace in a crowd.

The point where my love for Bangalore and Mumbai converges is the concept of water, in plentiful. Its obvious in the case of Mumbai, and in the case of Bangalore, if you have lived in a beautifully green campus, where you can get wet in going from the hostel mess to the library which is just a couple of breaths away, you would know. You will just have to live with the ocean that the Bannerghatta road can become.