“Bade Hoke Kya Banoge?” is I think the question kids have to answer the most. Childhood is the time when you can imagine and dream of anything. Nothing seems out of your reach and everything looks possible. And better still, nobody frowns at you when you state your wish.

I too dreamed of becoming an astronaut, a scientist, a cricketer, a police officer, and who knows what!! Of course, nobody told me the kind of physics you need to master to become a scientist. I could not handle the physics of class XI alone and my scientist dreams went down the drain. Astronaut is something which I think most kids dream of becoming. But you need to be a scientist first to do so, and you might have to wait all your life for an opportunity to actually go into space. Things look so good and easy on TV…..

In India, who does not dream of becoming a cricketer? So did I. And I was quite serious despite being a pretty poor player. I used to go play on weekends apart from street cricket almost every day. I tried for trials once for the school team but could not… Read the rest

Australia had their best team ever in 2001 under Steve Waugh. They had won the previous 16 test matches on a trot, including the 1st test against India at Mumbai. The 2nd test match was to begin on 11 Mar at the Eden Park, Kolkata and Steve Waugh was finally going to conquer the final frontier. Australia batted first and started in trademark fashion, reaching 193/1 at tea in 53 overs. But a very young Harbhajan Singh had other plans. After tea, his deliveries were like bombs for the Australians. Ponting, Gilchrist and Warne fell in successive balls, giving Bhajji a hat-trick and Australia slid to 291/8 at the end of play.

India would have thought (and wanted) to get them out early 2nd way, but Steve Waugh, the captain was still batting with Jason Gillespie. India’s hopes faded out soon, as Waugh got to his century and Australia to 400. He kept full confidence in Gillespie and McGrath and rotated strike with them, unlike other players who try to take full strike with tail enders. The partnership of 133 for the 9th wicket and 43 runs for the last wicket showed the world his confidence in his men…. Read the rest

We have the most affluent / rich people of the world living here in Mumbai which also has the largest slum in Dharavi. We have people as educated as Manmohan Singh, Amartya Sen, and yet half our population is illiterate. We have people who are using the latest technology in every aspect of life, yet there are villages where there is no electricity yet. We have become the healthcare destination of the world, yet 1000 people die daily of diarrhea, TB, and many other diseases. We have rivers like Ganga, Yamuna… yet we have floods and droughts, every year in different parts of the country. Our child malnutrition rate is pathetic, and even basic amenities are eluded from many Indians.

Somebody has rightly remarked that India lives in many generations. People have become used to live and co-exist with each other. We dont feel strange when a beggar comes asking on a traffic signal while we are sitting in our air-conditioned car. We dont feel bad when we spend thousands of rupees drinking at a bar when that money could sponsor the education of many children for a year. A traffic cop once stopped me when I jumped a… Read the rest

India is a huge nation. And it has a lot of problems. Problems that make the perfect water cooler discussion topics in every part of the country. Everybody has solutions to every problem of India, but yet the problems remain. We have come to accept that “We are like that only” when we come face to face with various problems which the country faces. Some say the large population is the problem, some say poverty, some think lack of education and literacy is the problem, and our politicians and babus are more like road-blocks than smooth flyovers.

So, the question is, how do you manage a country with a diversity as large as India’s. As a democratic country, the pillars of a successful India are its legislative, judiciary and executive. I would like to add “media” as the fourth pillar of any vibrant political system. All these systems exist in India, but are not working as they should be. Or in other words, they are not “Accountable“. Anybody in a powerful position has a lot of responsibility. In our system, those in power are not accountable to anybody if they do not perform their duty as expected from them…. Read the rest

I went to see a Champions League T20 Match between Delhi and Bangalore at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore in 2009. What I saw there was a confirmation of what I have always heard – “India is a Cricket Mad Nation and Cricket is a Religion“. But the extent of it even surprised me. It was like seeing a pothole in the middle of Indian roads, you always knew it was there, but were still shaken by it!

Cricket!! This word means a lot (I mean “really LOT”) to cricket crazy Indians. In fact, how cricket unites India is amazing. And to me too. My earliest memory of cricket is watching Kapil Dev playing on my black and white TV set with my father sometimes. It was before Sachin Tendulkar came onto the scene in 1989, but I dont remember the exact year. My first properly followed cricket tournament was the 1992 world cup in Australia. Those were the days when pitches still used to be green, bowlers still used to get batsmen out by bowling amazing deliveries and a test matches series consisted of 5 matches. In other words, there used to be contest between bat and ball. Today, batsmen and… Read the rest