Mugabe and Padukone c.1980

It was March 1980. After having done with my matriculation exams, I was looking for magazines to brush up on my general knowledge. The latest issue of Competition Success Review had Robert Mugabe on its cover while Prakash Padukone held aloft the All-England Badminton Championship trophy on the cover of Sportsworld.

Mugabe was indeed the poster boy of liberation and democracy. Padukone was a matter of pride for Indian sports in an era when there were hardly any sports heroes to write home about. I remember having read with a lot of interest articles detailing Mugabe's guerrilla war and how he was the hope of the predominantly black nation, on the doorstep of an apartheid-ridden South Africa. Winds of change in South Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe, would sweep across the borders and rid South Africans of their misery. Interestingly, South Africa found its own formula of inclusive growth and development a little more than a decade later. So it is quite surprising that Zimbabwe were to fall in the typical African milieu of despotic rule. From a popular leader, Robert Mugabe, who was one of my heroes then, had degenerated into a demagogue. That he had to go the way he did was inevitable even if a bit too late.

What Prakash Padukone did then and thereafter played out differently. He not only brought glory to the nation through his exploits but also introduced to the world his highly talented daughter Deepika who has graduated into the numero uno Bollywood actress. Today she has, without actually having planned to, emerged as a symbol of freedom of expression. The medieval mindset brigade wants to chop her nose off but she is bravely appearing in public and promoting her film 'Padmavati'. A number of plots and sub-plots keep playing thanks to the BREAKING NEWS syndrome that the news channels suffer from. For all the history I know, Padmavati had committed 'jauhar' to save her honour after Khilji had seen her through a mirror and wanted to marry her. If there are any other interpretations of this piece of history, which I can vouch from what I had read as a child in Amar Chitra Katha, or whether she danced like she does in the movie is utterly trash. India's political establishment still has remnants of feudalism in its veins and so political parties across the spectrum have jumped on to the 'ban' wagon even before the film has been certified for screening.

History repeats its characters even if the script may not be tailor-made.

Towards Swachh Bharat - Of Doggy Potty and Cow Dung Vigilantism

As I set about to write this time piece on Swachh Bharat - the flavour of the season - it is 2nd October 2017, now linked to the PM's Swachh Bharat Abhiyan. In a small way I have in my personal and official capacity done a little bit for the most pressing need of our times.

My morning walk in a well-laid out colony is peppered with two distinct smells. One is doggy potty, that is littered along the edges of the pucca roads and the other is parched cow dung. Why my colony alone, you find the two on all roads in cities and towns. Cows left to roam and ruminate all night leave the residues of their attendance in the form of an evaporating stench of urine and cow dung residue left stuck to the road after it has been wiped off by poor women living in nearby slums.

As someone born in a Hindu family, cow has been more than sacred. We have always been told of the purifying nature of cow dung and urine. I do not doubt the scientific or religious basis of that philosophy. In fact, when I landed in China nine years ago for a training program, in response to food preferences asked for by our generous hosts, I remember having written NO BEEF in bold capitals. But is cow dung sacrosanct? Does it not breed infectious germs? Though it is dangerous to raise such questions at this point of time in India, I am irritated by doggy potty and cow dung as I try to ensure I keep a watchful eye on the roads I walk every morning.

The government has nothing to do with this. This is a matter in the hands of the common man. People like me, who own cows and dogs are littering the streets. We have already seen that our municipalities have lost all control over even their routine tasks of garbage collection. So it would be too much to expect them to clean up the shit.

On the Mahatma's birth anniversary, I appeal to the elite dog owners and the not-so-elite cow owners to spare the environment and help make India open defecation free.

Reminiscence of a remarkable journey that began today

Seven years ago, on 24th July 2010, I was taking a small nostalgic trip of my own. Having spent 20 years in different sections of the Power System Department of Bhilai Steel Plant (BSP), SAIL, I thought it would be pertinent to re-visit those places where I had worked. Post-lunch I had to join the Education Department as Senior Principal of BSP Senior Secondary School, Sector-10 (SSS-10) - which later turned out to be the most remarkable phase of not only my career but also my personal life.

I started the day by finally handing over the last technical assignment to my boss in the morning. I decided to go over to Sub-Station-4 (Pump House-2) which was one of my first areas along with Blast Furnaces when I joined the then Distribution Networks Department in August 1990. A trip to MSDS-I Control Room where I had spent six years as Shift In-Charge and 11 months as Shift Manager ( a newly created post in 2007) was like a pilgrimage. In fact when I was on night shift duty in the Plant Control on 31st December 2015, I had spent some time there again.

After completing the mandatory tours, I landed in the Town Administration building post-lunch for joining formalities. "We have great expectations from you", said Shri D M Jaltare, GM (Town Services). For me, who was taking a risk by moving from technical stream to an area I had absolutely no idea about, these words still ring in my ears. The management had been looking for a person with technical background for the expansion and modernisation of the school (SSS-10) for almost two years. I was the seventh or eighth candidate to be precise. The project, conceived by Mr Sanjay Kumar way back in 2004-05, had been on the back-burner for five to six years. Making SSS-10 a Model School required expanding the school infrastructure to which the top management had accented by then.

When I look back on that momentous day in my career and life, I am filled with a lot of emotions. It was the start of the most remarkable journey for me personally. Apart from the technical, academic and administrative part of the roles that I had to perform as head of Bhilai's most iconic school, what I gained in my association with the institution was life-long relationships with if not thousands, at least hundreds of students who still care, and teachers with whom I worked for five years, and a few parents who still recognise me even if I don't. In a Public Sector Undertaking, it is the perfect example of leadership with a vision with elements of mentoring thrown in in large measure. That the top management of BSP had a vision about making SSS-10 a Model School and persisted in its quest would look so preposterous today. Results of such endeavours take years to fructify, more so in the academic arena. And it is no wonder that SSS-10 has recorded its ever-best academic performance in 2017.

I would like to dedicate this post to my loving students, my teacher friends and all those who guided me in what was and perhaps will remain the best part of my life (and career). I promise to return with more tales from my repertoire as and when I get a stimulus.

Post-Truth - The Aussie Way

The recent India-Australia Test Cricket Series was literally a great clash. The Australians, and that included Suderland and the top journos chose to target Kohli. Their game plan was simple. Attack the top player and skipper and you will floor the Indians. And they successfully did. On a doctored pitch that suited O'Keefe more than a tired Ashwin-Jadeja combine, they beat India in three days at Pune. Except for Rahul, no one showed any temperament to 'wall' the Aussie attack.

The win emboldened the Aussies, even leading to Steve Smith's famous 'brain-fade' at Bengaluru. But when Kohli questioned the cheats - Smith and Handscomb, it was a return to the 1976-77 Bedi's expose of Lever using his vaseline-soaked handkerchief used as a headband to polish the ball. The Aussie media including the ACB supremo were aghast. How dare a brown man question the post-truth that Smith wanted, if not the world, but the Indians to believe? That triggered the ugly Aussie way which continued to plague the rest of the series. But Kohli, as is his wont, had the last word - that he had 'unfriended' some of his 'mates'. As a postscript, the new post-truth has found Rahane a better captain than Kohli. To prove the Aussies right Rahane has after all a 100% record as Test captain! But Rahane did not rise to lead the side just because Kohli hurt himself at Ranchi. More than two seasons ago when the BCCI chose to rest senior players including Kohli, Rahane was chosen ahead of Ashwin to lead the team in an ODI series in Zimbabwe. So what do the Aussies want. By their own measurement method - captain who wins 100% or someone who loses sometimes. Kohli chose to lose than draw in Australia twice in his first series as Test captain in 2014-15 where he hit centuries in each of the four Tests.

The 2018-19 Test series in Australia will see sparks fly as India will be given a more than warm reception. What would the Australians prefer - a captain who will give them a mouthfull even if he has to lose by taking risks or someone who has a 100% record till date?