Awaiting our CHANGE

America has voted for a change. Not the red states and blue states but the United States of America has voted for a change. They have voted for one man, the same one man in Texas, NY, California and Wisconsin. The man they know knows about what’s good and bad about their country and trust him to change the bad to good. America is a Democracy.

India is another Democracy, where most people (not me) are very proud of their democracy which has lived for more than 60 years now. Here, people generally vote every 5 years, and the vote for someone who:

- belongs to the same caste as they are

- distributes money and liquor among people as a part of campaign

- will visit their constituency only when the next election is due

- will propagate wrongs of current government rather than proposing solutions

- arrange top security for him, while leaving the people naked to terrorists

- has criminal cases against him, but still is shameless enough to beg/demand for votes

- believes in changing parties and ideologies to remain in power

The mess in which our political system is is because for years most of India has been voting for above reasons. Today, our democracy has become a joke. It has become a playground for some shameless people, who over the years have mastered the art of winning elections in this country and are least bothered about needs of the nation (infrastructure, security, education, health, and energy).

Do I sound like a cynic?

Some of the ‘fans’ of our democratic system will come out advising, vote for a change, or better compete the election yourself. I am sure many young, enlightened individuals follow that advice; we are yet to see a change. These people are insignificant in front of the masters who have spent their lives practicing the art of Indian elections.

So the bottom-up approach to change won’t work, the change has to come at the top. The playing rules have to be changed in order to take the Sonia’s, Advani’s and Mayawati’s out of the system.

Here is an alternate game plan.

+ Anyone can apply to be the president, however the eligibility criteria has to be very tough (highly educated, experience of successfully managing people and resources, ideal candidate would be a someone at the helm of a big organization)

+ The election commission, consisting of elite leaders from all walks of society assesses all applications and selects the top 2 candidates

+ These 2 candidates are asked to create a team of people who would help them assess the current state of the country and draft a plan that would work for next 5 years

+ The election commission associates KRA’s to every section of the plan and these two candidates are allowed to campaign for two – three months so that they can explain their agenda to all sections of the society

+ The entire nation then votes for one of these two candidates and the one who wins, gets to implement his agenda

+ The President runs the country like the CEO of an organization, gets to select his management team and is answerable to Election commission, who assesses the performance of the government on set KRA’s every year

+ The election commission may ask the government to replace the non performers

+ The loosing candidate also gets to give a constructive feedback on the policies employed by the government, but there would be no confidence motion.

+ After 5 years, the presidential candidates remain same unless the current ones choose to retire or their teams decide upon a batter candidate.

In short, would like Ratan Tata, or Narayan Murthy or maybe someone ex- army, run our country like Tata or Infosys, than Advani or Sonia taking turns to exploit the age-old and poor constitution.

I would appreciate some wise reviews of the plan.

SUMIT

Super Sunday

 

It’s a Super Sunday and hopefully by the end of today it should be an Indian Sunday. Australia has always looked beatable whenever they have played India this summer after the first test at MCG. As for the youngsters at Kualalampur the glory is there for the taking, they have looked invincible and I hope would come back with the Cup.

While I think beating Australia at Sydney is going to be a cakewalk if India can win the toss and bat first, the Aussies might have a slight edge if they win the toss. Sri Lanka choked them in a small chase in the last game to expose their frail batting and the law of averages suggests Dhoni should win the toss today.

I am of the opinion that India should play Sehwag and Praveen Kumar both and make Bhajji sit out of this final. Bhajji has been delivering more from his mouth rather than with the ball all through this summer and a Match winner like Sehwag should always be played in big matches. The attitude he showed after taking the last wicket in the match against Sri Lanka makes me believe that India should start looking for another full time spinning option as Bhajji has some serious problems.

Dhoni has impressed with his on field captainship, but I seriously think he is getting too much involved when comes to off field comments such as “sledging is an art, which youngsters will have to learn”. Though he is successfully leading a team of young winners, he should not forget that with similar attitude Australia for years has won matches but not hearts. With India, the story has been reverse so far. The challenge for Dhoni is to create a winning habit in the team along with maintaining the clean image of the Indian cricketers. I also hope

Ishant Sharma and Gautam Gambhir have been the revelations for India on this tour as they have both come a long way. Ishant is quick, accurate and smart, and I pray he remains fit. India luckily has quite a few fast bowlers at this time and I am sure future teams will be picked keeping in mind the rotation of these fast bowlers who are a rare resource.

A special mention for the other Indian team which will play in the world cup final for under 19’s as they have shown the trailer of things to come in the cricketing world. India is surely the new home of cricket. Although South Africa will pose a tough challenge but I have a gut feeling that this is going to be an Indian Sunday.

The end of an era, Thanks Gilly.

Image: www.cricinfo.com

With just one day of play left in the current Australia – India test series, all I can say is that this is the beginning of the end of an Australian era in cricket. Adam Gilchrist, I guess did sense the same thing and hence has wisely separated himself from this bunch of cricketers who place winning above playing. The difference between a professional organization and sports team is that in sports the race is more important than the result. The present Australian team undoubtedly is trying to be a professional organization.

In the last 10 years Australian Cricket has separated itself from the rest of the community, created a niche level where professionalism is paramount. However, I am sorry to say that despite all their success during this time and in the urge to be better professionals they have rapidly replaced sportsmen by professionals. Adam Gilchrist to me is the last substitution.

Gilly has been a great cricketer, not only in terms being successful in all forms of the game, but more importantly playing the game with the true spirit of sports. The ovation he got today, when he walked into bat possibly for the last time in white gear, said it all. He is one cricketer who everyone who knows him would like and respect, and in his absence cricket matches involving Australia would never be the same. He changed the way players approached batting in test cricket, and the whole world is still playing catch up to his style of batting. This has led to more test matches ending with a result. He has walked every time he has nicked the ball and has set an example for all modern cricketers.

Thanks Gilly, for giving us numerous cricketing moments which will be cherished, whenever someone talks about wicketkeepers. I would also like to wish you the best for whatever you plan to do next.