There was always that element of surprise and awe in travelling with the towering Anthony Bourdain as the legendary celebrity chef & author ventured into unknown places around the nook and corners of the planet savouring unfamiliar gastronomical delights. Indeed some of the episodes were barbarous and revolting but it was Bourdain’s elucidation of the cuisine and the culture that made the show absorbing. Personally, I wasn’t the strictest follower of Bourdain’s sojourns except when ‘The Layover’ debuted on Netflix, which I binged upon, if not for the food the show was an interesting exploration of the places one might visit.
But just like his stunning TV shows where he surprised the audiences with local delicacies I was enthralled to read about a graphic novel, the ‘Hungry Ghosts’, that he co-authored with Joel Rose. It’s a terrifying piece, and if I may add, graphically explicit in its textual content and colour set in mostly Japanese storytelling. Inspired by the Japanese Edo period parlour game of Hyakumonogatari Kaidankai, it reimagines the classic stories of yokai, yorei, and obake with, of course, the centrepiece of the narrative being food. According to Wikipedia, a ‘Hungry Ghost’ “is a concept in Chinese Buddhism, Chinese traditional religion, Vietnamese Buddhism and Vietnamese traditional religion representing beings who are driven by intense emotional needs in an animalistic way.”, in Hinduism the term they use is preta, and that is evidently showcased in the graphic novel. Incidentally, I haven’t written about graphic novels since I finished the Watchmen in 2010 but this book somehow inspired me to write once again.
8 years since today, one glorious evening on April 2, 2011, India won their second world cup in front of a rapturous crowd at the Wankhede beating Sri Lanka in the finals of the 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup. Prior to that eventful day, India had lifted the WC only once in 1983 (officially called the Prudential Cup ’83) as minnows who beat the mighty West Indies in a thrilling encounter; so magnificent and awe-inspiring was that victory for a generation of cricket fans that they started referring to the conquering side as ‘Kapil’s Devils’. I believe, triumphs in ODI tournaments such as the 1983 World Cup and the 1985 Benson and Hedges World Championship of Cricket that was broadcast live to a worldwide audience enthralled the Indian masses in search for stimulus and stirred them to embrace the sport wholeheartedly, the likes of which we still experience today. In fact, if you ask me, the Benson & Hedges series was the first time that I saw all the games being played under the lights, with a white ball, and all teams wearing coloured clothing. We had to wake up quite early to catch the broadcast in India and it left an indelible impression growing up.
India’s World Cup Hunt
India was in the hunt for the world cup title since 1983 edition and there were some good and not-so-good cricket campaigns starting from 1987 and until 2011, in the process, we also won the inaugural 2007 ICC World Twenty 20 event. However, the one tournament that comes to my memory was the 2003 campaign in South Africa, in that, India had won all their matches but were woefully underprepared to take the Aussies who were a formidable side and the reigning world champs. We had come tantalisingly close to winning the coveted cricket trophy in the finals in which Australia scored a mammoth 359 at the expense of one of the finest bowling attacks in the cricketing world of Zaheer Khan and Javagal Srinath – they went for 154 runs in their combined 17 overs (102 balls); India used 8 bowlers (gulp!). Once the Aussies went past 300 I knew we would end up on the losing side considering they had McGrath, Lee and Bichel who bowl fast and accurate on any pitch in the world.
To my mind, India’s most forgettable world cup campaign has to be the 2007 ICC Cricket World Cup played in the West Indies. India, under the captaincy of Rahul “the Wall” Dravid and an uninspiring coach Greg Chappell, was abruptly booted out in the preliminary round itself for the first time in the history of this global event. It was so disastrous for the Indians that they even lost against lower ranked teams such as Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Interestingly enough, the 2007 WC edition had 16 participating national teams divided into 4 groups — the most for any world cups, which have been reduced to just 10 teams for the 2019 competition in England and Wales.
Triumphant, At Last!
Soon after its unceremonious performance and hurried exit from the 2007 tournament, there was a glimmer of hope for redemption. India had won the inaugural World Twenty20 that year beating Pakistan in the finals, while the next World Cup was being jointly hosted by India-Bangladesh-Sri Lanka with most matches being played in India, although until that edition, no other host country had won the world cup.
India had a glorious start to their campaign scoring a winning total of 370 runs against Bangladesh which remained the highest total in the entire tournament, Sehwag contributed with a well made 175 (140) which was the highest individual score of the competition. Under the captaincy of MS Dhoni who had famously scripted the 2007 World Twenty20 win, they reached the Finals of the tournament for the third time. The Lankan score of 274 was the highest total in WC history finals to be chased ever, which India eventually did with 10 balls and 6 wickets to spare! Yuvraj Singh was adjudged Player of the Series.
India’s 2011 ICC World Cup Winning Campaign
Moving forward, India is all set to fight it out in England and Wales and capture the imagination of a billion fans once again, although looking back at some of the individual performances against Australia at the recently concluded home series I’m keeping my fingers crossed about their form going into the world cup. But hey, this is India, and as we all are aware, the team is quite (in)famous in springing up surprises when we least expect it, much like their triumphant campaigns in 1983 Prudential Cup or the 2007 World Twenty20 when nobody predicted their win. So let’s wait and watch!
Being an independent consultant isn’t easy, to start with. At the onset, one is answerable to several corporate structures, and being an SME conclusively makes you lonely within a team. It’s obvious, therefore, that the role of a consultant is looked upon with a lot of scepticism, with no less than the legendary Steve Jobs who had his personal take on the topic of consulting.
For some vague reasons, consultants have garnered a notorious reputation for themselves for the misplaced belief in the industry that they do not focus on the outcomes and for “not owning the results”, and costing dollars to the companies for nothing. Quite evidently, that’s not true. While there cannot be any debate on the role & responsibilities of an internal consultant (full-time hire) which is well-defined and aligned with the company’s overarching vision it’s the vast majority of the external consultants working on contracts that come under heavy criticism and undue scrutiny. It isn’t about seeking tangible outcomes alone, but the constraints of budget and time sometimes render the viable goals of the engagement (yes, it’s treated as an “engagement”, short-term or long-term, not a project) out of reach. Consultants, therefore, favour tasks that they feel would clearly deliver the value proposition for the company in the long run. On the other side, companies hire external consultants with the sole purpose of squeezing multiple outcomes in a limited timeframe, expect that consultant deliver practically on the vision which has been laid out, and more so, without justifying the value of the process and the investment in human resources. While the expectation is not completely misplaced, a third-party consultant comes with a fresh pair of eyes and is able to weed out insufficient and incoherent tasks which may not deliver the outcomes the company is striving to achieve. Hence, there might be a review of the processes and team structure to bring the efficiency back. Moreover, outcomes are as achievable and as valuable as the process would be.
We have all known Mario and his rescue efforts since childhood. Despite its deep-rooted admiration and fame, it is reasonable that an average person may not likely associate with the eponymous gaming icon from the classic Mariofranchise of platform games, though it’s very unlikely that no one would even recognize this iconic mascot even if they aren’t gaming. There are distinctive features to its figure which cannot be missed like the red t-shirt, the blue overalls with yellow buttons, an unmistakable moustache, and to (literally) top it up, the most recognized signature symbol…yup, I’m talking about his red cap with the ‘M’ logo. He’s playful, joyful with a cute pretence for an actual plumber, Super Mario was a significant part of my growing up era and being popular with my generation, he instantly became synonymous with the activity of gaming itself. Glad to experience those moments once again on my Nintendo Classic but that apart, I was able to discover a small piece of history behind the culmination of its name and it was mind-boggling!
In the early 80s, Nintendo had rented warehouses in New York for establishing its US headquarters and the owner of the business park was visiting the warehouse to collect overdue rent when he started berating Minoru Arakawa, President of Nintendo of America in front of employees. At the time, Nintendo was developing the famous arcade platform game Donkey Kong which had a character called ‘Jumpman’ who must dodge and jump over obstacles to rescue a damsel in distress called Pauline. After this rather discourteous display of temper, Arakawa and the developers decided to rename ‘Jumpman’ after the landlord who was called Mario Segale, also because the character itself resembled the suspenders-wearing Italian-American. If there was an instance of killing someone with kindness this one takes the trophy!
Original Donkey Kong arcade gameplay with Mario saving Pauline.
Before I address the elephant in the room called 2019 I must confess it has been a pleasurable 2018, which started dull like the rest of its predecessors but ended on a high note! Though, unmistakably, it’s also a peculiar time of the year today — the year’s last day, which has always pushed me to take stock of the events as I wade through the memories of the bygone era.
New Year, New Beginnings
A new year is like a bunch of 365 fresh pages to channelize infinite energies into writing new chapters, ones which couldn’t materialize in the past year. I always endeavour to accomplish something novel — 2018 was the proving grounds and 2019 is not going to be different at all. However, 2018 was overwhelming in many ways, in which, it felt like it were a ride on some dreamlike magical rollercoaster. To begin with, I became a proud father, while my consulting practice rocketed to greater heights with new ventures, I came across some great reading material as usual that reinforced my belief in my ‘innovation by design’ principles, and I got to experience the latest in PS4 gaming with Lara Croft’s newest treasure hunting. On the downside though, I had to convey my goodbyes to some longtime friends and colleagues although a few new ones joined me in my journey, so in a nutshell, these consequent ebbs and flow enlightened my moments in 2018.
Cannot Wait for 2019
I believe I have emerged stronger, more optimistic and conscious of my purposes thanks to 2018. It was similar to climbing the summit of a mountain, then descending, and preparing to mount another big one, and continuing on the trail until I discovered the spot where I truly belonged. Of course, in this adventure, ‘change’ has been my best ally and I truly believe that the returns of 2018 would continue flowing well beyond 2019 as well, unchanged and quadrupled in volume. So, may the positivity, the knowledge-seeking, and the abundance of joy and happiness also continue to come to everyone’s life. Fingers crossed and hoping for the best and Happy New Year to you all!
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