india

World Cup Win That’s Worth Revisiting!

April 2, 2019 General Happenings

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.

ICC 2011 World Cup Campaign
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!

Delhi Crime – Honest & In Your Face!

March 25, 2019 Movies

A heinous crime has taken place in the capital city of New Delhi, a young woman has been barbarically violated and her boyfriend has escaped with some injuries right in the heart of a bustling metro. It doesn’t take time for the first responders to comprehend the sensitivity of this brutal act which is perpetrated by 6 disgusting individuals in a moving bus. One of the challenges for DCP Vartika Chaturvedi (a brilliant Shefali Shah) is to assemble a task force already on the brink of breakdown from a paucity of funds and lack of infrastructure to a shortage of manpower, to deal with the situation. In all their efforts to apprehend the criminals at the earliest, the law enforcement officers find themselves in a vicious tug of war with both the enraged public, a biased media and some politicians who would walk any length to fix the blame squarely on the department and the “security lapses”. That the police force serves its citizenry diligently and with the utmost integrity to curb anti-social activities despite their unspeakable conditions is part of the narrative of Netflix’s newest original TV-series called Delhi Crime. The storytelling has such truthfulness and bitterness to it that I couldn’t watch it without wiping tears. Thankfully, unlike the other police drama, the unfortunate Powder, the makers have confirmed that Delhi Crime will be an anthology series with the same characters.

In all this, as a cat-and-mouse game is unravelling, a team headed by an investigator named Sudhir Kumar (Gopal Dutt Tiwari) is on its way to the nab one of the culprits in Rajasthan, he’s having an interesting conversation in the vehicle on the implications of a diverse Indian society. Although divided by class, it is at the pinnacle of global economic development on one hand but fighting abject deprivation and illiteracy on the other. His profound explanation for the justification of horrific crimes against females signals a larger implication for an entire generation of Indians to come. Read on.

Scenes from Delhi Crime
Scenes from Delhi Crime (2019) S1E3 (Courtesy Netflix)

ड्राइवर: सर, क्या आप ने इससे पहले ऐसे कभी कुछ देखा है?
सुधीर कुमार: अरे बहुत कुछ देखा है.
ड्राइवर: नहीं Sir. मतलब, हां हां, crimes तो बोहोत है पर ऐसा नहीं कोई किसी के साथ ऐसे कैसे कर सकता है ?
सुधीर कुमार: Simple है यार. Economics है. अमीर और गरीब के बीच का फर्क जितना बढ़ेगा crime भी उतना ही बढ़ेगा। क्या है, अमीरों की वजह से अब काफी पैसा आ गया है society में, लेकिन वह गरीबों तक पोहोचता नहीं है। तो वह छीनने की कोशिश करते है, जिसकी वजह से अनबन पैदा होती है। Normal है, सारी दुनिया में यही हो रहा है. ऊपर से हमारे यहां तो बोहोत ज्यादा अनपढ़ youth है। Sex Education है नहीं लेकिन Internet पे free porn है, जो उनके मासूम दिमागो पर असर डालते है, उन्हें समझ नहीं आता क्या करे। वह औरत को एक चीज़ की तरह देखने लगते है और चाहते है वह सब उनकी ज़िन्दगी में भी हो। नहीं मिलता तो छीनने की कोशिश करते है, बिना अंजाम की परवा किये। खोने के लिए वैसे भी कुछ नहीं उनके पास।
ड्राइवर: Simple है…. hmmm…. और Sir, आप को यह सब कैसे पता?
सुधीर कुमार: हर दो हफ्ते में घर जाता हूँ ना, काफी लम्बी drive है, तो सोचने के लिए काफी टाइम होता है मेरे पास।

Driver: Sir, have you ever seen anything like this before?
Sudhir Kumar: Seen too many like this.
Driver: No…I mean, yeah, there are many violent crimes, but not like this. How can someone do this to another person?
Sudhir Kumar: It’s simple, it’s economics. The bigger the gap between the rich and poor, the more the crimes. You see, the rich have brought more money into society but it’s not reaching the poor, so they try and take it. The result is more strife in society. It’s normal, it’s happening all over the world. Add to that the explosion of uneducated youth here, they have no sex education but get free porn online…which affects their adolescent brains. They don’t know how to interpret it. They objectify women and wish they could have that in their lives. If they don’t get it, they take it, with no regard for the consequences. After all, they have nothing to lose.
Driver: It’s simple…hmmm…and how do you know all this, Sir?
Sudhir Kumar: Every two weeks, I go home, it’s a long drive, I get a lot of time to think.

Dastardly Attack On Democracy

February 15, 2019 Happenings

It was ironic, on the day when the entire world was celebrating an emblem of freedom and democracy there was a reprehensible suicide attack carried out on a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) convoy on the Jammu-Srinagar Highway at Pulwama in the state of Jammu & Kashmir, India. It was an explosive-filled vehicle that was rammed into the convoy and the Pakistan-based Islamist terror outfit, Jaish-e-Mohammed, has taken responsibility for this dastardly act which has resulted in over 40 casualties. I collectively stand, shoulder to shoulder in grief with my fellow citizens in offering my condolences to the soldiers who laid down their lives for their nation. I’m not only hurt but also angry by this mindless stunt of sabotaging our democratic rights and freedom. I sincerely hope that every individual responsible for the planning, logistics and execution of this cowardly deed would be brought to justice, sooner than later.

We, the citizens of modern society, proudly advocate the values of freedom and believe in the advantages of global peace & security, in whose absence mankind has suffered in an endless loop of struggle, conflict & survival. The state actors who commit brutality on a democratic society do not believe in the worthiness of a strong & harmonious nation for all humanity, rather, they openly justify the assault on freedom for their own vested interests and falsely driven radical ideologies. These state actors spread misinformation by forcibly suppressing the truth to divide our society and inject their violent doctrine amongst us. But time and again, the ultimate truth and beliefs have strongly prevailed over these inordinate forces.

Therefore, it doesn’t come as a surprise that despite countless attacks on her innocent souls, be it the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, the 2001 J&K Legislative Assembly or the 2016 Uri attack, whenever radical terrorism has challenged & attempted to clamp down on the democracy and values for freedom India has triumphed over tyranny and falsehood with her vast & diverse society, it has emerged unscathed, proven herself much stronger and highly resilient for her adversaries! Even in this melancholic moment, I am certain that a nation which has stood on the tenets of morality, equality, truth and justice for humanity, will prevail over this misadventure once again. Jai Hind!

GSLV-III And India’s Human Spaceflight Dream

November 14, 2018 Happenings
GSLV Mk.III launching from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre.

Always the one to glorify any news relating to advances made in science & space technology, I couldn’t hide my emotions when I read about the successful mission of one of India’s heaviest launch vehicle systems the GSLV-III (aka GSLV Mark III) which placed a communication satellite payload to its GEO orbit, the 3,423 kg (7,546 lb) GSAT 29. However, when this 13-storey tall heavy rocket took-off from the Satish Dhawan Space Center it not only connected the country’s remotest, most crucial parts with a high-speed network it also marked a step closer in achieving the goal of putting ‘Vyomanauts’ into space.

One of the most ambitious ISRO projects is the proposed manned mission into space, that will lift-off on a homegrown launch vehicle; the GSLV-III, with an all-Indian crew. The project has been named Gaganyaan or ‘sky craft’ and a planned date for the launch is 2022. If you want to truly understand the significance of today’s launch you will have to go back to the 90s when India was prevented from gaining access to the cryogenic engine technology by the US from Russia’s Glavkosmos which cited the dual purpose use of the technology and prohibited its transfer under the provisions of the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR). That pushed back the development of the GSLV rockets by decades. 

The GSLV-III handles payloads of up to 4-5 tons into the GEO orbit with the cryogenic upper stage providing the extra thrust required by the rocket to carry heavier payloads into deeper space. That (second) stage is designated as ‘C-25’ and contains the CE-20 cryogenic rocket engine which was developed indigenously. It’s one of the most powerful cryogenic upper stages in the world today.

India has plans to orbit an Indian crew into space in 2022 and that mission will be accomplished by GSLV-III (nicknamed ‘Bahubali’). Meanwhile, this mighty launch vehicle is also slated to carry another most anticipated lunar probe with a rover landing, the Chandrayaan 2 in January 2019. In all of this, today’s successful flight of the GSLV-III rocket indeed brings India closer to its human spaceflight dream. Vyomanauts! Let’s go!!

Some GSLV-III stats in a nutshell:

  • Height – 43.4 m
  • Mass – 640,000 kg
  • Payload to LEO – 8,000 kg
  • Payload to GTO – 4,000 kg
  • Stages – 3
  • Boosters – 2x S200

Photo – Indian Space Research Organization

Coke Ad Celebrating The Diwali Season

November 4, 2018 General
Coke - Diwali Diya

There are instances of TV commercials which have endured the test of time. Some have been influential through a combination of visual appeal and a haunting melody (jingles) & yet there are some ads that have forever changed our perception of products and are considered iconic today. But there’s one commercial made by Coke for Canada which has appealed to my creative tastes ever since I first saw it around 2015-16, and I’m certain it will also resonate with individuals who have chosen to settle elsewhere and miss their loved ones during the festive season.

It’s never futile to embark in decoding the diverse cultures of India, to discover its colourful and vibrant celebratory traditions which are out in full glory during the festivities. The most vivacious of them is Diwali, or famously called the ‘festival of lights’ which starts from today. It’s when neighbourhoods across the subcontinent will light ‘diyas‘ (an earthen lamp), dangle radiant lanterns outside their homes and honour the tradition by lighting crackers; often loud but never lacking in its radiance, and of course, partake homemade sweets and other delicious delicacies. It’s the occasion for bonding with loved ones, the likes of whom have been lost to time, and some to the unfortunate rift as they settle in far-away places for a better future.

This Coke Diwali ad featured on the Facebook page of Coca-Cola Canada with the caption “What Makes Diwali in Canada a #HappyDiwali?” capturing the emotional longing of countless people during Diwali and the role Coke plays in bringing lost souls together. The realism in the messaging imagined through a long-distance call in recounting the sentiments of love perfectly drive home the point. Its reproduction in Hindi and Punjabi languages further adds to its mass appeal and the music makes it particularly surrealistic, sincere, and subliminal. On that wonderful note, I want to wish you all a prosperous and a cheerful Happy Diwali. Have loads of fun!