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Tuesday, November 06, 2012

Book Review : Tue Blue by David Baldacci



I am really sad about David Baldacci. With "Absolute Power", the kind of expectations he raised make you feel why you wasted time reading this thrash.

"Everybody loves a good drought" - stories from India's poorest districts by P.Sainath

Book Review:   Everybody loves a good drought - stories from India's poorest districts by P.Sainath





Everybody Loves A Good Drought - P Sainath


I  have heard about this book quite some time back - but had the chance to read it only now.

What a read!

It just hits you hard. What kind of life that we are leading vs what kind of life is doled out to so very many people out there.

Poverty by design. Poverty by birth. Poverty by every single means possible. And, the Government machinery not being able to do anything about it.

"What is in a name? Ask the Dhuruas" takes the cake. One person is ST. But, his own brother is not deemed so. How can this be? It is. And there seems to be no solution...

The stories of quacks and why quacks thrive.

The status of education in these poorest of the districts...where the solitary goat is the only occupant in the "school" ..

And, how the so called "Developmental Projects" have done nothing to the people who inherited and lived in those places...

How the money lenders destroy families, make those who borrowed their slaves...

It is full of stories you don't want to read curling up in the night. I did that mistake and I could not sleep. I can still see these people in my mind...

The note in the appendix on "Poverty line" and what it looks at or rather what it completely misses to look at is really hard hitting.

The book made me think about what I am going to do about the whole thing now that I have read it. There is so much that each of us can do...

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

When Icons Fall & Role models fail

When Icons fall, what do we do?

There have been strong allegations on Lance Armstrong for quite some time now.

7 times "Tour de France" champion. Fighter of Cancer. Role model for youngsters.

Not anymore.

I am wondering of the impact of this on all of us.

All of us need role models. At different ages, different stages, all of us need role models to emulate. But, when those models fall, get disgraced, what is the impact of that on us? How do we react? How do we cope?

There have been a number of these fallen models these times. Lance Armstrong now. But, before him, there have been many. In sports. In Business. In other areas.

People whom we thought to be good, honest, exemplifying the fighting spirit and great skills get exposed as nothing but charlatans who would have been nothing if not for the hoodwinking that they brought about.

Sports :

Sports is full of these fallen stars.

1. Lance Armstrong :

The latest star to fall. But, because of the height he had gone to, the fall is, to my mind, the hardest to accept and let go by those who idolized him. He represented the very fighting spirit - not only in sports but outside it - by fighting the cancer. Also, the organization he founded is seemingly doing good work. His books, "Its not about the bike : My journey back to life" has inspired many to fight cancer. His cycling victories brought cycling to the forefront of the USA's imagination. But, when you learn that your idol was lower than the lowest of the thugs in cheating, what do you do? Where do you go? Where do you draw inspiration from?






2. Marion Jones: 

What a star and what a fall! She inspired millions of women to take up athletics. She stood for performance and courage and winning spirit. And, all that went into thin air...


3. Ben Johnson :

I still remember that Olympics and the timing of 9.79 seconds. I remember the raised hand of Ben Johnson. I remember the stunned look on Carl Lewis' face as he was beaten by Ben.

Ben was the toast of Canada.

And 2 days later, all hell broke loose as he was found out.






4. Tiger Woods: 

Enough has been written about the Tiger woods scandal. Though not from a doping angle, the scandal illustrated the fact that the sports icons are expected to be role models as well. They cannot afford to slip up on integrity and honesty in other aspects of their life even if it is their personal life.




5. Hansi Cronje

He was the God of south african cricket. He could do no wrong. He was the perfect allrounder. Great batsman, shrewd bowler, fantastic fielder, astute captain. A symbol of how the resurgent south african cricket is going to take the world by storm. It was said that if he stood in election for presidency, he would have won unopposed.

And, yet, the star fell to earth, or probably much below earth so to speak.

He brought out what lied beneath cricket's surface. He made the term "match fixing" a real force to reckon with. He could have had whatever he wanted in his life. But, yet, he chose wrongly...

6. Mohammed Azaruddin: 

Another star which fell beneath. A simple boy. The one who showed the beauty of batsmanship to many. The one who showed what fielding is all about and how much of a difference can it make. A meteoric rise in the first 3 tests with back to back centuries during the debut matches. A fantastic record as a batsman of class and as a captain. The role model. How a muslim boy went onto captain the sport in India which is religion in itself.


And yet, he fell...


There is a detailed list of doping cases in Sports from wikipedia. The list is sickening, to say the least.





Business :

7. Ramalinga Raju:

It is not only sports persons who are icons. There are icons in every area of life and in business the icons are even more revered. The ability to start and run a company, make money in a honest way is respected all over the world. People like Narayana Moorthy of Infosys have captured the imagination of youngsters across India.

And, Ramalinga Raju was one such revered person till one day when he accepted "riding the tiger by the tail and not knowing how to get off without being eaten"

The empire was still there. The company was still there and there was apparently no reason to falisify the records. However, the team, lead by Raju, did just that and the most heart wrenching scandal in business india came about.




8. Rajat Gupta:

The jury and the verdict is still out on this one. And yet, the writing seems to be clear on the wall. Rajat Gupta, the great person who symbolised the raise of Indian businessmen in the world canvass is going to go down. There are representations being made to lighten the sentence that he is awaiting.

The former Mckinsey head, who is extremely well known for his intellect as well as his philanthropic work has fallen down the ladder. Insider trading has claimed its most famous victim.




Godmen:


Godmen lead the list in terms of fallen heroes. There have been many Godmen across countries who have fallen from grace, leaving the followers fuming and their faith shattered.

India has had its share.

9. Nithyananda:

This Godman had huge following. People whom I personally know followed him. He wrote a series of inspiring articles in a popular magazine in Tamil. All that went out the window when a video came out which showed him in close quarters with a yesteryear actress.

Though both the Godman and the actress denied any wrongdoing, the video made rounds on the net and the followers' faith lay shattered.





10. Premananda :

The Godman whose case made rounds years back. Who seemed to have committed every single crime possible out there. And yet, he also commanded huge following.



When icons fall, when your role model falls, when your faith lays shattered, what do you do? How do you rebuild your faith? Your conviction ? Your belief in yourself?

When such things happen routinely, does it send a message that it is ok to be dishonest? That it is fine to be untruthful as long as one wins? Will this shatter the moral fabric of the society at large? Will it make us suspect the real heroes? Wonder when 'this one is going to fall'?

It would be a shame if it comes to that...