Akhil Tandulwadikar’s Blog

Now that Harbhajan Singh has been absolved of racism charges, one question begs to be answered: Shouldn’t Procter be tried for being hasty in making the decision of branding Harbhajan a racist?

Here’s the transcript of the conversation that took place in the middle that day:

Symonds: We don’t need it, do it to your teammates (on Harbhajan patting Brett Lee on his back with his bat)

Harbhajan: Audio inaudible

Symonds: Don’t yell, go and yell at your teammates

Harbhajan: Audio inaudible

Symonds: (First part inaudible) what monkey, big monkey, you don’t know what you’ve said.

Hayden: You know this is a S*** word, this is racial vilification. This is the second time you’re doing this

Hayden: You don’t know what you have done.

Harbhajan: Audio inaudible

(Audio inaudible when Sachin tries to calm things down)

Ponting to Harbhajan: (First part inaudible) You have had it, you’ve had it, mate!

Harbhajan to Ponting: He started it, not me.

(Audio inaudible when Ponting goes to Bucknor)

(Audio inaudible when Benson is talking to Harbhajan. Lip movement suggests Benson saying, “Did you say it?”)

Harbhajan: (Audio inaudible but lip movement suggests) “No, no, I didn’t say that, I didn’t say anything.”

If this evidence ‘convinced’ Procter that Harbhajan called Symonds a Monkey that too with the sole intention of being racist, then god help his future bakras.

The next person who needs to be questioned is Symonds. Why did feel so offended when Bhajji patted Lee on the backside? Ottayan sums it up for me:

…tell me mate, what bothers you if Harbhajan pats Lee on his backside? Are you sticking it up there?

Hehehe..

A few days back the Haryana Police busted the illegal Kidney racket run by Anil Kumar of Gurgaon. The dude had been doing this for ages and also has two hospitals in Gurgaon. Most of his clients are foreigners looking for cheap Kidney transplants. The news is that he has used his contacts to get away from the country. Irrespective of whether they find him or not, though, one thing this issue has clearly proved is that it’s high time organ trade was legalised in India. That, in my opinion is the best way to protect the interest of the donors who otherwise get duped by thugs like Anil Kumar.

Most of these donors are poor, uneducated people. Nothing wrong with earning money. After all, if someone can donate (read sell) blood, why not other organs, as long as they are not being forced to do it? It’s for the government to make sure that their interest is protected. If done properly, legalising organ trade would actually make sure that many needy people will find the right donor and would not have to use the wrong means. It would also remove the incentives for crooks, who rely on misinformation and fear to buy organs at lower costs and sell at higher costs. Market fores will make sure that everyone is kept honest.

It’s very encouraging to see the government make a start on this. Anbumani Ramadoss, Union Health Minister, has announced the setting up of 10 replicas of the Organ Retrieval Banking Organisation at AIIMS. This is a good first step, but has to be followed by leagalisation of organ trade sooner or later. The Transplantation of Human Organs Bill of 1994 has proved to be useless in curbing the menace of illegal organ trade and needs to be scrapped urgently. It is not surprising that demand for organs is high even in developed nations like US which banned organ trade as far back as 1984. Economic development does not eliminate myopia.

For success stories on legal organ trade, we need to look eastwards, more precisely at Iran. The country has legalised Kidney trade and is doing wonderfully well with its programme. An article from 2002 in Frontline looks at this phenomenon:

In a country where brain-stem death is not recognised by law, the system has virtually eliminated recipient waiting lists. Members of the CFSD have claimed that the regulated system is a “new chapter in the world’s transplantation history,”…

That, of course is just one side of it, as pointed out by the article. Donors have faced severe backlash at the work front where they have had to leave their job as they weren’t fit enough. That’s where the role of the government becomes so important.

History has proved that banning the trade of a good has not stopped the trade, it has merely taken the trade underground. Remember prohibition of liquor in Andhra Pradesh. People did not stop drinking because of the prohibition, they found new ways of doing it right under the governments nose without being caught. Gujarat is supposed to be a ‘dry state’. But it’s a well known fact that not only do buyers of liquor exist in Gujarat, the industry is actually doing quite well.

Related link: Organ Trade, a US-based NGO that tracks “the global traffic in human organs.”

“I love the spotlight. The Aussies should be worried I am coming.”
[...]
“Sreesanth’s way is to be aggressive. Sreesanth will always remain Sreesanth.”

That’s the man talking to Cricinfo’s Sriram Veera.

I don’t know who should be more worried, the Aussies or MS Dhoni? Don’t get me wrong here, I think the guy is super-talented and always wanted him to be playing the tests. But statements like these don’t quite inspire any confidence.

He later adds:

“What’s the worst that can happen? Six sixes? I can always come back next over. All I need is just one ball to get him [the batsman] out.”

The worse that can happen is that the team loses the match because of your stupidity. But looks like that is the last thing on his mind.

Do I here the Aussies smacking their lips?

I had bought this book along with Measuring the World about a month or so back. Since then it has been through two borrowers (Santhosh and Sridevi) and finally reached me on Monday. I had read good reviews for the book and was looking forward to have a read. Suffice it to say, I was not disappointed.

It’s a small novel (184 pages), so, I could finish it in three sittings–of roughly 2.5 hours each–flat.

The first thing that catches your attention, and requires you make an adjustment of sorts, is the first person narration that the author, Mohsin Hamid, employs. He narrates his story to a stranger from whom we never hear. The story unfolds at a dusky Lahore restaurant on a spring evening. the stranger is an American, so the connection between his past and present is quite obvious.

Hamid moves back and forth into his life in America and the stranger in front of Changez, the protagonist, with great ease. Although some times I thought it stopped the flow, in retrospect I see that it was quite needed that he talked to the stranger. Every time he went back to his life in America, though, I felt as if I, the reader, was the stranger himself.

Particularly delightful reading were the descriptions of life back in Pakistan. Like when Changez says to the stranger:

It is remarkable, I must say, how being in Pakistan heightens one’s sensitivity to the sight of a woman’s body…It is the effect of scarcity; one’s rules of propriety make one thirst for the improper.

Another aspect of Hamid’s writing that catches attention is the frequent italicising of words. Such words appear sprinkled benevolently and at times look very unusual. Like here: “He had a penchant for quoting lines from popular cinema, much as my mother quoted th poems of Faiz and Ghalib. But I suspect Wainwright made this particular allusion to Star Wars mostly in jest….” Notice that Star Wars is in italics but Faiz and Ghalib aren’t. Also, consider this line: “But why do you recoil? Ah yes, this beggar is a particularly unfortunate fellow. One can only wonder what series of accidents could have left him so thoroughly disfigured.” If you were disfigured, it mostly had to be because of an accident or tow. If the beggar was born disfigured, then why use the plural? May be I am reading too much into it, but I did find it very peculiar.

And finally, I must admit that I never could identify more with the protagonist of a book than Changez. Several parts of his life looked so familiar, especially the girl in his life, Erica.

Image courtesy: The Hindu 

I am surprised that Ganguly has made more news for being ‘dropped’ as compared to Dravid and Laxman. Though I must say Laxman was an uncertainty in spite of a good record against the Aussies. One of the newspaper headlines claimed: Ganguly Dropped, Dravid and Laxman Left Out. Of course, Ganguly has been performing exceptionally in the last year. But the amount of disregard being shown for Dravid is quite scathing.

Dravid has been as integral a part of India’s ODI successes in the last 5-6 years as Ganguly. Ganguly might have scored more runs, but that’s got a lot to do with the conditions in his favour as an opening batsman. Dravid, on the other hand, has fought it out. Kept wickets, batted at any position the team asked for and still came up trumps. But of course, India media being biased is nothing new. Dravid did not do too well in the last year and was also dropped for a couple of games against Pakistan. So he being dropped would not make that big a news. But Ganguly is a different story. A more juicy prospect…a chance to churn up some emotions…and here’s an example:

Train services in two sections of Eastern Railway were on Monday affected as irate supporters of Sourav Ganguly put up a blockade at Barasat in North 24 Parganas protesting against the cricketer’s exclusion from the Indian team for the triangular tournament in Australia.

[...]

“We want Dada back. It’s a conspiracy,” the protestors shouted.

Such behaviour from the Bengali folks is not new. Their booing of the Indian team in 2006 was the best example for their love of Ganguly. You will not see such a protest in Karnataka. Not if even Kumble was dropped tomorrow from the test team. Not that Kannadigas are a peace-loving people, but the level of attachment to Cricketing heros, IMO, is a tad lesser.

Anyway, the selectors have a lot of questions to answer. Is Suresh Raina the best replacement for Ganguly? Wouldn’t Kaif have been a better choice to replace Dravid? Forget replacing the people, how are you going to replace the experience they take away with them? Is Yuvraj, who’s eyes seem more fixated to a bollywood damsel than the Cricket ball, going to guide the young people?

Such are the ways of Indian cricket. One day the joy of beating the world champs and the next day this. The timing is impeccable. All hail the BCCI!

What do they say about letting your game do all the talking? What do they say about men of honour? What is it that separates men from the boys?

India has done all that and more.

Lying on a bean bag in front of the TV at my friend Sharjeel’s place, I cursed every time RP Singh pitched one short to the Aussie tail enders. Impatience was getting the better of me. But it was held back by the belief that it was only a matter of time before we wrapped it up. And then, it happened. One swinging yorker from RP Singh, the only one he bowled in that spell, sealed the deal for India.

India had done what they were destined to do after the Sydney fiasco. I use the word destined very consciously here, because the Sydney loss played a key role here. Ricky Ponting might give it a ‘5%’ but I give it more than 20%. Right from day one, Australia looked subdued. Bowlers were being extremely careful in talking, same with the fielders. No incident epitomised this more than the one where Shaun Tait apologised to Sachin Tendulkar after a loud appeal for caught behind. The batsmen looked on the defensive, especially in the second innings. A look at Ricky Ponting’s face said it all. The Aussies were a rattled lot, a shadow of the arrogant side that took to field in Sydney. And quite rightly so.

That, of course, is no reason to take away any credit from India, especially India’s bowlers, three of whom are in their early 20s. The thing that speaks volumes about the effort put in by Pathan, Sharma and Singh is this: Michael Hussey, Chris Rogers and Adam Gilchrist grew up playing at the WACA; yet, except Gilchrist in the second innings, they all got out to the Indian medium pacers. This is not just a coincidence. India’s bowlers have stood up when it mattered the most. But more importantly, it’s a sign of things to come. India’s overseas performances have improved dramatically over the last couple of years and the improvement in our pace attack has played a very important role. As the team evolves and tries to reach the number one spot in test rankings, the bowling attack will be the key.

At last Sehwag was chosen and the way he batted in both the innings made all the difference to the team’s confidence. Laxman was awesome, again! Dravid’s return to the number three spot was a big relief–for Dravid himself and the hapless fans like me as well. I hope he remains at that spot for the next game. Like Tendulkar and Laxman did in Sydney, he and Laxman could do an encore of their parnership that one India the game in 2004.

A word about Kumble

From the way he stood up as a leader after the Sydney test to the way he handled the pressure leading up to this match, Anil Kumble has reaffirmed himself as the best man to lead India. The decision to pick Pathan was a good one considering that there would have been a strong temptation to play Bhajji. Pathan has ended up being the man of the match!

After Dravid stepped down and Kumble was given the charge, I had thought the way he handles the team in Australia will be his real test. Not only has he been a leader, he has been an inspirational leader. Cheers to you Jumbo, keep it up!

Adelaide beckons

In hind sight, we should have gone into the fourth test 2-1 up or at least 1-1, but that’s not happening. India has to level the series and be happy with it. The Aussies will come hard at them. After all, their dominance in world cricket is being questioned. They are still the best test side in the world and Adelaide could well end up like what happened in Melbourne in 2004 when India lost the match after going one up.

Advice: Stay away from the TV!

The media is busy branding today’s victory as the one that “denied Australia a record 17th straight victory”, therefore, taking away from it all that happened back at Sydney and all the hard work put in by India. So, be calm, take a deep breath and keep in mind that this a win should be remembered for the resurgence of the team after being 2-0 down. It should be remembered for the maturity displayed by the Indian team in times of crisis. And most importantly, as a victory that’ll change the way India plays its Cricket forever.

Update: Curious fact presents itself: No batsman got a hundred, no bowler got a five-for.

Images courtesy: Cricinfo

The weired key words leading people to my blog just got weirder, or shall I say sleazy? Here’s what the searchers are up to:

baldy bloke

vintage pictures of mumbai

names of sho’s of hyderabad police

mobilephone in material girls

what to gift an Indian cricket fan

picture of kolhapuri chappal

personal information of srishanth in tes

india philanthropy

nigger with long hair

and the one that takes the cake and eats it too

pune girls hardcore pictures

Sigh. Looks like in spite of my best efforts to be as civilised as I can, things are going out of control.

On the brighter side:

The page rank of my blog has gone up to 5 now. This is, of course, all thanks to all you wonderful people. Cheers to that.

Oh, and before I forget:

Eklavya - The Royal Guard, after all that hullabaloo about being unfairly chosen over Dharm, is now officially out of the Oscar race. So, be happy, nothing has changed.

My right wrist still aches. And before you get any naughty thoughts in your demented minds, it’s because of all the clicking I did with my Lumix DMC TZ1. The occasion was Kite festival at People’s Plaza, Neckalce Road. It was organised by the Ashray Akruti, an NGO which supports hearing impaired children. I went there with the Hyderabad Photography Club, an online community of Hyderabadi amateur photographers at Flickr.

I had been looking forward to this meet ever since, Cishore, the Admin of the community suggested the idea a few weeks back. I landed at Eat Street at around 1.25 and managed to miss the rest of the group till 3.30. When we did meet, we had an amazing time! So, without wasting anymore time, here are some of the pics I shot today, beginning at my home.

Little lady is happy at being clicked.

Patang kat gayi. Ab lapet.

Beta billu! Patang uda.

Shooting me or the kite?

Kites in her eyes.

That used to be a kite.

India flying!

Arch in the sky.

Kites fly high!

Toka Cola!

Jai Bajrang Bali.

Stuck there for life.

Time to head home.

I’ll post more pics at my Flickr blog. Do check them out. Thank you in advance.

The last one year has been quite a ride when it comes to music. So much has happened, that I fail to remember how my life used to be when I used to listen only to filmy songs on TV and, of course, Backstreet Boys and Britney Spears. TV had brought a huge change to my musical universe. The next big change took some time to happen. The computer. It continues to be the nucleus of all the music I listen to. Radio and MP3 players are yet to make as big an impact on me. The radio channels in Hyderabad are pathetic, to say the least. Howling Telugu movie songs one after another, they present no variety what so ever.

At the beginning of 2007 I was immersed in Rock Music and Heavy Metal. I was introduced to this genre was through my friends at an online discussion board. We met a few times and I got to borrow some music from him. The Doors, Pink Floyd, Opeth, U2, Garbage, Scorpions, Stratovarius, Iron Maiden, Aerosmith, Pearl Jam, My Dying Bride, Slayer, Led Zeppelin, Miranda Sex Garden…and the list goes on. Never in my life did I listen to such a variety of music in such a short time. The sole Indian band that made an impact, and a big one at that, was Indian Ocean. There fusion music is world-class.