Have the English Finally Arrived!!!

The English were a dominant political and imperial force across the world for a very long time. They know how to be at the top and stay there. It was for this reason that after reading of the British dominance, I could only be surprised that they have not really dominated in one of the most competitive arenas of the present era and that is sports. The English were also one of the founders of the game of cricket but it was only in the year 2010 that they won their first major title, the T20 World Cup. The kind of history the game has in England, you can only imagine that the players, fans and administrators all know that a World Cup title in the newest and shortest form of the game, does not justify its legacy in the country.

It is only after the year 2012 that I believe the English have finally arrived at the world sports scene as a dominant force. The cricket team reached the pinnacle in Test Cricket and won the mace after beating India and held onto it by overcoming one of the most difficult tours in present era, that of the Indian sub-continent. This team is being led by one of the most prolific batsmen the world has seen in Alastair Cook and one of the best swing bowlers in James Anderson. The ICC also recognized Jonathan Trott as the cricketer of the year in 2011 and in Graeme Swann they have the best off-spinner in the world. This team has many match winners and everyone is looking upto them to win major titles in limited overs cricket as well.

Being an Indian, I took cricket as the first sport but the English have excelled many a miles in many other sports as well. Hosting the Olympics 2012 at London and making it a grand success has added many a stars to the crown of the sports fraternity of this nation. The performance of the cycling team, with Chris Hoy leading from the front, Bradley Wiggins winning the Tour de France in 2012 and then Chris Froome this year clearly shows that this sport is being comprehensively dominated by this island nation. I could never recall names of famous English athletes but in the Olympics again Mo Farah and Jessica Ennis achieved huge feats, not only to be decorated with gold medals but have now put the name of British Athletics in the eyes of sports lovers.

In the field of Golf, Luke Donald held onto the number 1 position for quite sometime and remains in the reckoning to be there again amidst a very competitive field of players like Rory Mcilroy, Mickelson, Tiger Woods etc. In the field of professional sports, it is an Englishman who runs the sport of Formula I in Bernie Ecclestone and in Lewis Hamilton, they have a driver whose potential is second to none.

The greatest feat that every Briton today will be proud of is Andy Murray winning not only the Olympic Gold but finally coming good and winning the Wimbledon, 2013 after a tantalizing wait of 77 years. He finally looks to have come off age and the English can now look forward to this Scot to win many more titles for them.

In team sports again, the English Hockey team has been one of the teams that have shown the fastest improvement over the past couple of years. The English football team, with stars spread across teams in the EPL, has always been a crowd favourite and we all hope that in the current era of the English sports dominance, this team also will prove its worth and gift the crowds something more to cheer about. 

The Mechanics of Hypnotism- As I See Them

Hypnosis! The very word brings in a picture of a person dangling an object in front of another one, saying repeatedly to concentrate, followed by words like, "you are
sleepy", "your eyes are drooping, "you are now going to sleep" and done! Magic performed! I have always thought of this as an act of magic, and though this actually
is a technique used often in psychological treatments, sometimes in criminal cases but it has never been a thing I have been anxious to unravel for myself. It is only
recently after I have read a few books on spirituality, heard learned people talk about openness of mind, conscious and sub-conscious etc., that I am trying to find a
path which the act of hypnosis follows. I may be nowhere near the actual mechanism, but from the knowledge I possess this is what I figured out.
It is a scientifically proven fact that the human brain is divided into two halves, each performaing a distinguished function. There are many different functions but on
a very high level, the two can be divided as, the left brain, which is the thinking part or the conscious part so to say and the right brain, the sub-conscious which
stores images and helps us visualise things (not that visualising is not same as seeing or watching). It is again proven that as kids we are like a blank file and large
portions of data can be written on the inexhaustible storage of our brain. Kids learn by seeing and watching more than by reading or listening (this holds true even at
an older age, we tend to remember more what we see than what we hear). The reason being, as kids, the conscious brain is still developing and majority of what we learn
is through the right brain which relies on things visible and on what we visualise. This part of brain is used less and less as our conscious brain grows and becomes
active, more often than not conscious blocks the sub-conscious. We start questioning things, compare things with what we seem possible and discard many things which our
conscious mind does not accept and hence block things from entering the sub-conscious. For example, when years ago people didn't even imagine one could fly, Leonardo
da Vinci came out with the painting of a prototype, because he could visualise, he didn't say it's not possible but just gave it a try. The same visualisation and
overcoming of conscious, has resulted in major inventions and discoveries made which were against the general norms and practices of society over the years.
Another very simple example which establishes this divide and also conveys the power of the right brain is the fact that we often remember the faces of people we have
met but forget their names. This I think is what a person practicing hypnotism builds on. Through the act of making us concentrate, he just makes sure that our
conscious barin is stable, devoid of thoughts, then lethargic and is finally put to sleep. That is just the moment when the right brain is still awake and we are in the
sub-conscious, the words then spoken are not obstructed by the consciuos and enter directly the sub-conscious to stay there. This is how I believe people become
controlled by their hypnotizers.
This is also what is actually being done through the various meditation courses, calming ourselves down, relaxing the mind and putting the conscious to rest so that
pure thought goes into the right brain, the feeling of peace and calm which then stays and helps us be in control of ourselves. I have also been told that even as we
sleep, just before we are completely asleep, the sub-conscious is awake momentarily and any thoughts then thought or visualised can actually become a part of our
existence and be realised. This is how we may try and dream our dreams, so that one day they may come true.
I am thinking now that can this also be related to deja vous? I believe I have got more to read on and search to come up with any theory on that.

Stalinism vs. Nazism

The world situation changed markedly after the first world war. The inter war years saw many uprisings, social unrest, the most devastating economic crises till date
and also the rise to power of two of the most ruthless leaders the world has known. These were Joseph Stalin in Russia and Adolf Hitler in Germany. The two have been
compared on many occasions and the scholars have often rated the two as being similar in their methods towards achieving their goals. Some scholars though have found
that their basic ideologies and so the methods did differ quite a bit. In the final analysis it generally seems that Hitler was much more barbaric and ruthless, more
absorbed into power as compared to Stalin.
Stalin came into unquestionable power after the death of the founder of Bolshevik movement, Lenin. Lenin till then had been considered a heartless ruler, and one who
committed many atrocities against the rich peasants and land owners of Russia, to favour the proletariat. The world hadn't yet seen Stalin make use of his power. Once
he took power, he realised that Russia due to internal rebellions and also being an agriculture dominated country had lagged behind its Western counterparts. He
mentioned that the country was fifty to sixty years behind the Western developed nations and should strive towards covering that gap within a decade. He didn't just
say it but actually started working towards large scale industrialisation, used harsh measures against the workers (who were once supposed to rule) to make them give
their best and followed the policy of 'gulags'. Gulags were camps where a large number of workers were made to work under drastic conditions and the sole purpose was
to get the most our of a person, even if the person lost his life in the process. Many rich peasants of the past, 'kulaks', were put into these camps and what did
follow was a marked increase in the Russian growth rate. This continued even beyond the World War II years, making the Soviet Union a fierce competitor of the USA.
Hence, Stalin policy of torture was to take his own country on the path of development and his methods though were atrocious, leading into mass killings, more loss of
lives in the world war and wide spread unrest, which didn't materialise as there were many supporters as well of this new form of communism, 'Stalinism'.
Adolf Hitler, on the other hand, migrated from Austria to Germany and saw the country mauled in the First World War and then further humiliated by the Treaty of
Versailles. He saw an opportunity of realising his thirst for power and also took an oath of making the Allied powers pay for the apparent injustice done to Germany
through the treaty. Even before the First War, Germany was the only imperialist power which could not proclaim foreign territories and after the war, it was completely
ousted from the system. The economic depression of 1929, further instability in the society gave an ideal platform for Hitler to come into power. In 1934, he gained
complete control and his Nazi party became supreme with ideology of 'lebensraum' (that is they wanted to increase their territory to the maximum) and treating people
other than Aryans as 'untermanschen' (sub-humans). This led to large scale killings of the Jews and also the unhealthy Germans themselves. Hitler embarked on a journey
of unprecedented growth of industry and military power which he tried to use to the utmost during the Second World War, He sent the 'infidels' and people of other
nation into gas chambers just because they were of no military use. There was not even an intent to use the abilities of these people in anyway and millions lost
their lives due to this non rational policy of Nazis.
It can easily be seen that the basic ideals of both these leaders were very different and though they both committed atrocities even on their own nationals but again
the causes and reasons were different. They were both dictatorial and though both countries flourished industrially under them (Russia for greater period after the
World War, Germany's progress was back tracked after the war ended), but both will be remembered for the bloodiest chapters their respective countries and the whole
world has possibly seen.

The NDMA

In the aftermath of the devastating Bhuj earthquake, the Indian think tank came with a quite a few proposals on how to deal with such natural disasters. As one of the
steps, in 1999 a committee was setup to look into the feasibility of setting up an organisation dedicated towards disaster management and preparedness in the country.
Hence, the National Disaster Management Act came in 2005 and as a consequence, National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) with Prime Minister as its Chairman was setup in
2006.
The NDMA was founded on the principals of Prevention, Mitigation and Preparedness in the pre-disaster and Response, Rehabilitation and Reconstruction in the post-
disaster phase. Over the years, with recognition of new possible disasters and with growing nature's fury every year, a few changes to the structure came across. Right
now there are around 8 functionaries of Cabinet Minister level, leading different threads of disaster management across different states. The whole country which has
79% of it's coastline prove to cyclones and tsunamis, 28% land prone to earthquakes, 39% prone to flooding and 68% prone to drought, has been distributed among these
members. Over the years, specially from the 12th Plan, a separate amount of money has been dedicated towards proper functioning of NDMA and also towards the running of
National Institute of Disaster Management (setup in 2009), which produces people educated and trained in specific disaster management related activities.
An analysis of disaster preparedness and response in the country, the floods of 2009 in Mumbai, earthquake in Sikkim in 2011, the Uttarakhand tragedy recently, clearly
suggest that the performance of the NDMA has barely been satisfactory and so even the NDM Act seems to have not served its purpose.
Disaster prevention is a big step and can easily be implemented by assuring that any construction in areas prone to disasters like floods, earthquakes, land slides have
controlled human interference. Regulated construction activity like in Ecologically Sensitive Areas needs to be the mandate and only after proper approval from the NDMA
should such activities in these areas be taken up. It also then entails the requirement of more scientists and professionals who can come up with upto date data about
the fragility of these areas and provide clear analysis on which activities can be taken up. Also, these states should anyway come up with their own disaster management
authorities under the overall prefecture of the NDMA, involving even the locals who may not have the required degree and technical knowledge, but the local knowledge of
terrain which proves to be like gold dust in such cases. We have implemented a few precautionary steps, but we need to further emulate the technologies used in
different nations like earthquake preparedness in Japan, because though we cannot stop or restrict natural phenomena from acting, but can surely reduce their impact on
living population and resources, and hence reducing its disaster character.
Rehabilitation and reconstruction entail the most significant part for people affected by the disasters and NDMA has again been found wanting.The govts. need to ensure
that the state machinery is ready to take up steps as per the recommendations on NDMA, because expecting NDMA to do the ground work with the available human and
economic resources, is an unrealistic expectation. The states specially in disaster prone areas and also otherwise, should prepare proper infrastructure facilities
to store relief material when need be, have enough transportation resources to be able to use whatever mode of transport, rail, road or air available after a calamity
has struck. Also, the PHCs and CHCs shold have enough medication available everytime, to cater to a disaster struck population. This may mean a little more burden on
the exchequer, but the realisation when these facilities are not available, in terms of losses of life and property is much more.
We need to realise the importance of human life and property, ensure that the livelihoods of people are restored as soon as possible, only then can we say that the NDMA
will start moving on the path towards meeting its set goals.

Disaster Preparedness- A sad story

Tragedy struck the state of Uttarakhand, specially the pilgrimages of Gangotri, Yamunotri and Kedarnath on the 16th of June. These areas were devastated by never before
seen floods and landslides, resulting in huge losses of life and property. The loss in property will take years to be estimated with roads, bridges having flown with the
gushing waters, houses vanished and towns being buried under silt upto 8-10 feet high in some areas. The official death toll has crossed the 500 mark but the final
numbers can be much more with many people still missing and are presumably dead. The rubble and debris from the gushing waters, which even carried huge boulders and
rocks, loosened due to landslides are strewn all over the towns and what were once commutable roads.
The Uttarakhand state has been held in part responsible for the tragedy and the disaster management capability of not only the state but the whole country has come into
question yet again. Disaster response mainly comprises of three important stages- preparedness, mitigation and rehabilitation. It is when taken as the judging grounds,
the state and our disaster management have been found wanting. As the reports are now coming out as to what led to the sudden flooding and walls of water running into
the Kedarnath shrine, the IMD and the state can barely be held responsible (in terms of immediate causes, the illegal and unsafe constructions, the disaster in waiting
due to negligence towards the ecology of the area are causes which were in the making over the years and require a different platform all together to be discussed).
The monsoon in India were progressing at almost the average rate (a little slower than normal to be precise), covering parts of central India and eastern India on
June 14, but in an unprecedented phenomena, the winds suddenly covered whole of the country in the next 24 hours, with rains reaching even Northern India. Another
factor which aided the monsoon trough moving up north-west was the shift of the Arabian Sea branch of monsoons from Pakistan to North West India due to a sudden surge
in the jet streams in the upper atmosphere, pushing the rain bearing winds into India and the low pressure trough from Rajasthan to Northern India. Monsoons in
themselves are very difficult to predict and this sudden change made it even more so. Hence, string warnings which could have led to the pilgrimage being stopped did
not come in with the kind of urgency needed and also the suddenness made it almost impossible for the state to make people aware of what was coming. In fact, in
hindsight, it seems even the state got a feel of the enormity of the situation only after it actually occurred. The reports suggest that the moraine lakes around the
Kedarnath shrine, due to torrential rains were suddenly filled up, with water flowing over the moraine walls, leading to a breach and hence copious amounts of water
running over the whole region. Such was the ferocity of incessant rains that the usually unstable rocks (made more so by the continuous constrution activity in the
ecologically vulnerable region), became apart of the flowing waters increasing the damage exponentially. The state and disaster response teams hence were not prepared
for the immediate effects of a sudden flood but then the preparedness towards landslides in an unstable area, the absence of flood control measures in an area where
glacial lakes are continuously building, and the lacklustre approach towards the possible effects of ablating glaciers in the summer months deserves to be catered to
and on a war footing.
The disaster has clearly shown that once the tragedy struck, in the absence of proper mitigation preparedness, which is a responsibility of the state machinery as well
as the NDMO, the effects only increased exponentially. The terrain of the area has always been rugged, the roads often inaccessible and the region prone to landslides,
hence these should have always been taken into account in planning any mitigation efforts, but as the response right now is, it shows that may be these things and
factors were never made a part of the plan.
The rehabilitaion again is very slow and the state has again been found wanting. If not for the armed forces of ITBP, BSF, CRPF and CISF , many pilgrims would still be stranded.
The state now needs to make sure thatwith the weather improving, therescue operations are taken up on a mass scale and people made to reach safer areas. The relief
products in terms of food, clothing, blankets have been made available in abundance and the state machinery should take up the responsibility of sending them to areas
where they are needed. Taking care of pilgrims is only one part, the other major effort would be rehabilitating the thousands and lakhs of residents who have lost their
houses, life earnings and sources of income. The help is coming in from all quarters and the Indian prepared towards post-disaster action will again be tested, in
avoiding plagues, taking care of dead bodies and quick, appropriate rehabilitaion of those who have suffered unbelievable losses.

The West Indies Cricket epitomizing a Positive Attitude

The Caribbean spirit, the outrageous dance moves, the foot tapping music, the ever enthusiastic team-men is what is epitomised by the West Indian cricket. West Indies
is a group of many islands, each with a significant difference in its culture but the Caribbean spirit, the love for dance, music and most importantly fun runs right
through all of them. The teams that have come up from these islands have seen it all, from heights of glory to the dungeons of repeated failures.
The game of cricket was initially dominated by just two teams, the inventors of the game, England and Australia. New teams started coming in and it was only around the
late 1960s that competitive international cricket really began. It was then that new forms of game came in and we also moved from the multiple day matches of tets cricket
to one-day cricket.It was then that another dominant team came forward and took the world of cricket by storm. It won the introductory world cup in 1975 and then
followed it up with another triumph in 1979. In the meanwhile, the team studded up with stars like Clive Lloyd, Gordon Greenidge, Desmond Haynes, Malcolm Marshall,
Joel Garner, Viv Richards started dominating all forms of the game and did so for a very long time. One thing which always stood out was the jovial spirit around these
guys, with Malcolm Marshall even getting the nick name as the silent killer, making no noise while running in and then subdues celebrations when he ran through batting
orders. This group of gentlemen brought a new kind of aggression to the game, what with players still recounting how the opposition would go numb seeing Viv Richards
coming out to bat and the gait that he had, made his authority look like a given. This was the kind of dominance they had over the game and opposition teams, unfounded
since then.
It is when talks of best players across the world come in, we seldom hear of West Indian greats being blessed with technique, but often hear of their belligerence,
aggression and infectious attitude that ran through the team. The team during late 80s and then 90s, went into doldrums, again producing individual greats, but the
West Indian cricket lost its aura and dominance. Many captains came up, but none could revive that spirit again. Individual brilliance shone through the likes of Brian
Lara, Carl Hooper, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, but the whole team suffered and one thing which I observed missing was the fun the earlier teams always had on the field. The
positive attitude and aggression came in moments of brilliance of Curtly Ambrose or Courtney Walsh, but again  it did not infect the whole team. One could make out
players like Keith Athurton, Jimmy Adams etc who though individually good, could not bring smiles to their faces, so to say, no positive spirit running through the camp.
The present team has found that energy, those fun loving cricketers back, with the positive spirit running through the whole squad. You can even see the poker faced
Marlon Samuels and Sunil Narine sharing a smile here and there. Players like Darren Sammy, Dwayne Bravo, Keiron Pollard have revived that Caribbean spirit, which have
made even oppositions react in weird ways (Brad Hodge's celebration at winning a game against Sunrisers in IPL, 2013 is only one of the examples). This team has many
players common with the team say five years ago, additions being Sunil Narine, Johnson Charles and a few youngsters and has lost great talent in Chaderpaul, Ramnaresh
Sarwan, an inconsistent though dangerous Fidel Edwards. The thing which has changes is now these players play as a team booming with attitude, aggression, confidence
and you can see that they are out there to enjoy themselves, the results just follow. Chris Gayle no more needs to shoulder the whole burden of scoring and can express
himself more freely, Darren Bravo is the most stylish player and provides solidarity, players like Dwayne Bravo, Pollars, Samuels provide immaculate balance through
their all round abilities.
This transformation needs to be carried through and soon we will be able to see the team performing at the test level as well.
This team to me makes the best example of the importance of sticking to your strengths, your original attitude, positivity, right amount of aggression and a self-belief
which can make teams create wonders on the field.

The Mid Day Conundrum

India since independence has tried to get over some of the major social inadequacies. The biggest of them being illiteracy. Over the past 60 odd years, we have seen a
marked changes in numbers and at present, 74% of our population is literate as per the Census 2011 data. Our country is a young nation, both figuratively and
demographically, and in order to utilize the demographic dividend we possess, education is going to play a pivotal role. The learned representatives of our people
realized this by the beginning of this millennium and there have been a spate of schemes towards encouraging literacy and education, specially amongst the youth and
children.
The greatest hindrance towards children from rural, poor families being sent to school has been the family's dilemma over losing an earning hand and also the extra
expenses towards financing education. The Rashtriya Saksharta Mission started what has now culminated into The Right to Education which is a milestone achievement
towards framing a policy guaranteeing free and compulsory education to children upto 14 years of age. The govt. recognized the immediate need of increasing the
enrollments in schools and came up with the Mid Day Meal Scheme as early as the 1960s . The scheme by guaranteeing one time meal to the students, became a success with
number of students enrolled and attending schools rising exponentially. The scheme meant huge amount of expenditure for the govt. exchequer but then the dividend to be
realised is much more.
The recent incidents though, starting from Neyveli where 170 girl students fell ill to food poisoning, to the very recent deaths of 23 students in Saran district of
Bihar and then yesterday's case of 40 students falling sick in Panaji after consuming Mid Day Meal food, point to a major folly in the implementation of this mammoth
scheme. The scheme is of monumental proportions aiming to feed 12 crore mouths across 12 lakh institutions and was progressing well, but the recent incidents have come
as a black mark on the scheme. The reasons have been common, inadequate storage facilities, poorly paid cooks, less support staff and no means of audit towards the
quality of food being served in the schools. The central govt. sanctions certain amount towards every state taking into account the number of students enrolled and a
figure of Rs.4 per student at primary and Rs. 4.65 for upper, respectively towards cost of cooking. The actual implementation has then been left to the state govts.
The figures which are staggering are that the Bihar govt. returned more than Rs. 450 crores last year, the Andhra Pradesh govt. utilized only 61% of funds allotted to it
for the scheme and other glaring examples of states not being able  to utilize the full quota of funds at its disposal. Over the top of it we see inadequate storage,
cooks being paid a paltry Rs. 1000 for a month where they also do the cleaning ( compare that to a cook in cities who charge anywhere between Rs. 350- 700 per person
depending on which city you are in and that seldom includes cleaning). The incentive for such an underpaid worker to devote time to provide tasty, well cooked food is
minimal. No wonder, most of us would find a mid day meal food barely edible. The inadequate storage and insufficient funds for ration also result in poor grade media
for cooking, makes food prone to infectious organisms and hence the various problems affecting our demographic dividend in a very negative way.
The people in Andhra Pradesh, in the district of Chitoor last year, started social auditing of the scheme and that has borne very positive results. Such audits need to
be supported by state govts. and should be implemented across all states and institutions, making the system more fool proof, accountable and safer for our children.
The funds are available and now with the Food Security Ordinance being passed, more funds will be available towards feeding people. We need to make sure that these
funds are utilized properly and parents through the social audits, support of educated families can ensure that their children are being served proper, healthy food.
We need to address these on a war footing, as CAG also called out in his audit reports to ensure that the iconic scheme delivers its intended results.

Tennis- The Changing Game!

It is said that change is the only constant part of our existence. As a corollary, nothing exists around us that doesn't change. When we get into the arena of sports,
again the way they are payed, the equipment, the training schedules etc have changed, only corroborates the saying. The game of tennis, or lawn tennis as it came to
be known, has epitomized this theory.
I have to admit that I have not always followed the sport and neither am I an ardent tennis game watcher, to have seen how the game was played in times when Jimmy
Connors or John McEnroe played. My interest in the sport began during the 90s, the era of American dominance with Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi and Michael Chang holding
the fort. Sampras was cynosure of most eyes then, and his game of serve and volley was a sure shot recipe of success, with only few exceptions with Agassi showing
exemplary base line game. The number of titles won by Sampras as compared to Agassi then shows as to which was the more successful style then. As changes came in with
players'being fitter, surfaces and balls getting faster, rackets becoming stronger, the way the game was played had to change. One thing though remained constant, the
game always respected players with big, booming service. Sampras always had a large number of aces and a big first serve percentage. Then came the players like Mark
Philopossis (the scud), Andy Roddick, Marat Safin, Pat Rafter, Goran Ivanosevic, all had one thing in common. They all had excellent service and huge first serve
percentages.
I believe it was Marat Safin who brought in the era of long games, longer matches with base line play. Though he himself struggled with injuries throughout his career,
but his style of game caught on. Then came the era of Roger Federer, who took the stylish form of the sport to another level. He was of the Sampras league with
excellent serve and volley game. The new generation then with Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, Juan Martin Del Potro caught on and with Rafa taking control
of more matches against Fedex through his unflinching baseline game and unbelievable levels of fitness, the game changed for good. Today, the power players, with
extreme fitness levels and unprecedented baseline play are dominating. No wonder the length of games, sets and matches has now got longer, but for an interested watcher
the finesse still remains. It has in fact now become a game of making a momentary mistake or a fraction of a second towards loss of concentration, that you can lose a
point, game, set or match. One thing though that has again stood out is people with booming serves still springing upsets and surprises. Milas Raonic, Jancowicz etc
fall in that league. But the conservative style of baseline play, with ever new innovations is here to stay.
The WTA (Women's Tennis) has also seen its eras changing. From the deft touches of Steffi Graff, to serve and volley of Martina Hingis to then power play of Ameli
Mauresmo, the Williams sisters etc. It is though always good to see players like Agnieska Radwanska, Kvitova who still hold that deft touches and smart play can still
take over powerplay.
The game will keep changing and it would be interesting to see what new comes up in the next few years.