~ Sreeshanth: Supremely Competitive or Simply Disgraceful?

I have always cherished watching expressive characters in the cricket field. Indeed, they play a critical part in making the game as thrilling a spectacle as it is. I, for one, used to watch Shane Warne bowl as much for his twirling skills as for his histrionics involving mostly the batsmen and sometimes even the umpires. Needless to say, he was among the most competitive players ever to have played to cricket. Indian speedster Sreeshanth, in his shortish career so far, has shown a very keen desire to match him in that arena. In terms of sheer theatrics, he perhaps surpassed the Aussie legend when he broke into an inconceivable dancing spree mid pitch after smacking a six off Andre Nel.

All said and done, cricket is more about scoring runs and taking wickets than anything else. While skills are a must-have, the mental and behavioral aspects play no trivial role towards a player’s performance. Aggression has been much talked about in that respect, of late. Indians, led by Sreeshanth and Harbhajan, have been very liberal with their tongue in recent times, particularly against Australia. But, does blurting out ceaseless gibberish equate to aggression?

Being aggressive as a bowler is about the unflagging belief that I can get anyone out anywhere in any match situation. More so, it’s about being proactive wherein you create chances out of thin air as opposed to patiently waiting for them to come your way. The logic behind taking a (verbal) dig at the opposition batter is simply to aid this process of inducing reckless mistakes from him. I have a feeling that Sreeshath overlooks this fundamental objective altogether, leading him to behave like a toddler in the company of men. The way he carries on with his antics irritates the viewers more than the batsmen who, by now, have brushed him aside as a crackpot.

One quality I admire in all great competitors is the generosity to applaud a praiseworthy feat by an opponent. Sreeshath’s act of clapping in Symonds’ face after the latter returned to the dressing room following a combative knock is truly against the spirit of sports. He wasn’t even in the playing eleven in that match! Being a sportsman, the least you have got to be able to do is to respect the achievements of your counterparts. Sree has got this one miserably wrong as well. To my mind, this is the most disgraceful aspect of his play, much more lamentable than his endless, pointless chatter.

It was no coincidence that it was Sreeshanth who was at the receiving end of Harbhajan’s smack. Most of the cricketing fraternity opined that Sree “had it coming”. For his own good more than the team’s, I hope he takes a hard look at himself. Else, he is headed to the Shoaib way - being preoccupied with cheesy tantrums and ending up with a career that promised more than it delivered.

PS: One of my favourite two-way sledges (in the clean category):

Glamorgan quickie Greg Thomas to Viv Richards in a county match, after beating his bat a couple of time: “It’s red, round and weighs about five ounces, in case you were wondering.”

King Viv, after thrashing the next delivery out of the ground, into a river: “Greg, you know what it looks like. Now go and find it.”

~ Towards a Just & Sustainable World…

NB 1: I frequently update this recurring post, so please keep visiting.

NB 2: This writing is not a disguised attempt at preaching or self-praising. The sole aim is to evoke a couple of thoughts around helping the hapless.

How do I contribute towards a just & sustainable world?

Rotation of money - Don’t make the rich richer:

• Buy from poor/local vendors (including footpath-bound sellers), NOT corporate giants (including super markets). This encompasses the full gamut - from vegetables/groceries to cloths/furniture.
  • Shopping cloths from a modest place may not always satisfy you in terms of quality/durability, but the compromise is well worth the cause - supporting someone’s means of survival. Moreover, you pay no brand-name charge!
  • This recommendation excludes appliances wherein the locally available technology ain’t adequately energy-efficient.

No wastage of resources such as food, water and power:

• Switch off the (office) computer at the end of the day [and whenever not in use for the next two hours].

• Consume minimum water in your daily activities:
  • Use the tap with minimal water force [e.g., while brushing].
  • Choose a bucket bath instead of a shower bath.
  • Don’t store water unnecessarily [The person going to bathe next may throw it away for (more) heated water].

• Fix leaking taps right away.

• Refrain from birthday celebrations involving cakes/food being pasted on human faces.

• Treat electricity as a need, not luxury [Shouldn't decorative lighting, done as a show of prosperity or excitement, be done away with?].

• Be sure to pass on leftover food, old cloths/furniture to the needy.

Be environment-friendly:

• Plant and preserve trees. Do not print unless it’s absolutely necessary.
  • No paper tissues [Use handkerchiefs] & paper glasses.
  • Replace paper (greeting) cards by their electronic counterparts.
  • Use your notebooks (even the company-gifted free ones) super thriftily, utilizing all the space on offer, including margins.

• Use petrol sparingly and pollute less.
  • Prefer buses over autos. If available, employ cycle rickshaws which also create livelihoods.
  • Prefer long walks over long drives.
  • Choose vehicles based on mileage rather than style [The coolest idea is biking (cycling), esp. to office].
  • Fly light since planes consume more fuel, produce more emissions when heavily loaded.

• Do away with fire crackers altogether.

• Go for energy (power, fuel) efficient, low-pollution appliances, even by paying a bit higher.
  • Replace all your yellow bulbs and even some tubes by the immensely power-saving CFLs.
  • Pick your fridge/washing machine based on its power consumption, and cell phone looking at the battery life/quality.

• Gardening is a lovely hobby! Help plant trees around your place.

Curb corruption:

• No bribes taken or given (for passport, pension, police and all other walks of life).

  • Pay 200 Rs more to the traffic policeman, but take the receipt.

• Make sure you take receipts for all govt services [for instance, bus tickets], even it costs you a little extra. Let the money go to the govt (for the country’s development), NOT to corrupt individuals.

• Pay your taxes honestly.

Take a stand - Fight wrongs around you:

• Suppress any child/woman abuse around you (by reporting to the police or an NGO).

• Don’t tolerate inhumane treatment of maids, watchmans and tea vendors by the so-called white collar chaps.

Celebrations Redefined:

• A special occasion (like marriage, anniversary, house-inauguration) calls for a special contribution (time/money) towards a social cause.
  • If you host functions, utilize these gatherings by keeping a donation box/counter (and urging the invitees to contribute). You could also put NGO/community-made products on sale there.

• Multiply your joy by distributing utilities [blankets, umbrellas, notebooks, fruits] in huts, hospitals or orphanages.

  • Don’t indulge them in nutrition-less things they can rarely avail thereafter - cakes and cold drinks.

Support NGOs, with your time and money:

• Maintain a virtual charity account wherein you add a fixed amount monthly. Every year, make it a point to donate the entire accumulated amount. You could spend a part of this on the education or medication of nearby slum dwellers or your maid.

• Spare seven hours a week for (say) teaching kids, running health camps, spreading awareness and similar NGO activities.

• Note: Some of the genuine groups I know are AID, AshaKiran, SUYAM, iVolunteer, Asha, BHUMI and CRY [Have been working with the first two; interacted with all the others]. Most of them accept donations online.

Misc:

• Donate your organs after death [how-to and more].
• Be a blood donor, regularly [Conditions apply].
• Save your maid/cook from the huge interest rate charged by the private money lenders by offering a zero-percent loan i.e. some advance.

Spread the word:

• Get your family/friends/acquaintances to do these with you.

The best way:

• Serve as a politician or an IAS/IPS officer, with integrity and efficiency.

PS: Here are a few personal updates, some of which could give practical insights into (many of) the aforesaid points.

~ Socio-personal Updates

This is a recurring, frequently updated post, containing a (relevant but not necessarily new) subset of happenings in my life. Read PAGE 2 for the full set. You may also be interested in checking this out.

Turned a year wiser!

May 4th was my 26th birthday. As many of you know, I am not big on birthday bashes. But, that didn’t deter my spirits one bit. The best aspect of the day, perhaps, was the surprise edibles cooked by Seju. Speaking of her, the occasion provided a perfect excuse to reflect on the cheeriness and energy she has brought to my life over the last half year [I can't love you enough, baby]. The afternoon was spent delivering twenty blankets to selected elderly in our maid’s slums. In the evening, we chose to hang by the Ulsoor lake, which turned out to be a place good for nothing, other than jogging.

Car Free Day (aka Go Cycle)

Cyclists of from all over Bangalore ganged up and rode around MG road to spread awareness about climate change: i) how we can live merrily without a car ii) how cycling is a workable mode of transport. There is no shame in cycling or taking buses/trains. Several CEOs bike to work daily. Many people, who can afford other means, commute by buses. Yes, there is some pain involved, but that’s well worth the environmental gain of the future generations. Besides, cycling’s health gains are well documented. Nonetheless, if you must burn fuel, prefer a two wheeler over a car. And if you must own a car, choose an electric or a higher-mileage one, and minimize its usage.

Community Computing Center (C Cube)

Since March, some of us, AIDers, have been involved in running a computer center for some economically backward slum kids, near IBM, on the Bannerghatta road. For most of them, this was the first time they were exposed to a PC they can operate. So, we have just been doing basics thus far – identifying various computer components, getting familiar with the OS, using painting software, among other things. [More]

Ahmedabad ‘Chali’ Tution Center (ACTC)

This project took off sooner than envisaged. A tuition center for the not-so-privileged kids in Maninagar, Ahmedabad has now been operational since Jan end. Currently, we help kids from standard 5-7 with their difficulties in Maths, Science and English, 8 hours a week. We intend to commence exercises on “critical thinking” or “values inculcation” shortly, looking to help the young ones grow up into thinking and responsible citizens.

A protest against human trafficking

I and Sejal were there at the Gandhi statue, MG road to show solidarity with those who suffer through the deplorable act of buying and selling human beings - mainly for sexual exploitation. In a stirring report, UNICEF claims that over a million children are forced into this sex trade every year! Anyways, the least we men can do is never to buy sex - break the demand.

A festival of a different kind

Attended an NGO exhibition cum fair called Namma Jatre and wrote an article on it for a news portal called Citizen Matters. I ain’t proud to reveal that I bought some stuff from there on borrowed money :). Not that I am a compulsive shopper. Just wanted to assist the NGOs through my purchase.

An ‘agricultural’ day out

Some of us, AIDers, went on a farming outing on a recent Sunday. We spent nearly the whole day on a couple of farms well alway from the city, learning and discussing about the role of sustainable organic agriculture [employing cost-effective techniques that make use of locally available substances like cow dung as opposed to chemical fertilizers] in alleviating the agrarian crisis in the country. Prasanna also briefed us about their proposed financial model in which they want the farmers to share a part of the profit with their agricultural laborers, with a view to putting in place some incentive for the laborers to do productive work.

Justice for the survivors of the Bhopal Gas Tragedy

This, along with ensuring no more Bhopals, is the goal of Students for Bhopal (Sfb), a global group. I have been trying to form a Bangalore cell of Sfb, along with a bunch of young enthusiasts. The way ahead looks a bit grim unless we beef up the manpower. Having said that, it was pleasing to be part of the children’s day protest, organized by the college youth. [Details on the Bhopal campaign with links]

Metric Mela!

Our AID team organized this event wherein kids ran the show for adults who were the target beneficiaries. The idea was to hold a fun-filled event, focused around estimating various measurements (weight, height, volume, time). Click here for a small report on the event, developed by Satish Sundaram. Here is metric mela on the front page of newspaper Bangalore Mirror.

Shanta amma’s missing daughter

Shanta amma lives in a hut near my (previous) rented house (Q: How do I know her? A: She was one of the people I had distributed blankets to, on my b’day). The land, where her hut is set up, belongs to a contractor, who, in return for the land, has amma’s 13 year old daughter working as a maid in his house (for years). One evening, the contractor folks sent the kid to buy them something from a nearby shop. This was the last she was sighted, when I (accidentally) came to know about this matter. Amma had already lodged an FIR by then. We were all set for a TOI ad (The filthy costs of the ad world were quite a revelation for me), to be followed by one in a free, local TV channel, when the girl made an appearance herself, more than a week after going missing. It turned out that she had been hijacked into an auto that evening, to a place where she was made to work as a maid in wretched conditions . She wasn’t the only child undergoing this misery, she revealed. Thank heavens she managed to escape. Hope the police uncovers the whole racket with her help and the other kids get liberated soon. Sadly, on the very next day of the child’s momentous homecoming, she was back to “work” at the contractor’s. I didn’t even ask Shanta amma why she sent the girl again. With no husband to support and three other kids to raise, she can ill-afford to go land-less i.e. home-less (She fears she will be chucked out of the land the moment she refuses to the contractor). Post this incident, I curse my life a little less.

A day on a ‘fast’ lane

Oct 2, 2007: It was my maiden fast (taking in just water in the 24 hours was my first time; I may have done ‘convenient’ fasts before :) ). No, it wasn’t intended at coaxing the gods to get me a good life partner (I have relived that burden of the Gods by making that choice myself). Thanks to AID, it was a fast for a cause - farmers’ suicides. It served its purpose of creating awareness in my vicinity to a reasonably satisfactory degree. The fact that it was on Gandhi jayanti made it all the more special for me as MKG has long been a source of inspiration to me. Ruchi (sister) and Sejal (GF) made the fast even more memorable by joining in themselves.

Minimum wages for textile and garment workers

I hadn’t been on too many such protests before so it was good to be part of this although my contribution was close to zero. Given that a lot of the stuff they make is sold by MNCs in the west and the rest that stays in India too is prized quite high, their demand of 200 Rs. per day seems perfectly justified.It is also of serious concern that several workers have died because of over-time and poor working conditions (in one word, exploitation). Wishing them justice quick and smooth.

A rare physical combat I got into

I was traveling to Hyderabad in a sleeper coach of the Indian railways. It must have been 8 pm-ish when this man in his late 30s, sitting in the neighboring compartment (same coach), showed why he is the villain of this story. The maniac (read the villain) ordered soup from a vendor (an about 16 years old boy) and the poor kid mistakenly spilled a couple of drops of it on the floor. The drops were lying on the corridor and were adequately far from where our prince was seated. But the jerk fumed at the boy, verbally assaulted him before forcing him to find a paper napkin to clean up those drops of soup. The kid started shivering, struggling to cope up with the humiliation as anyone would. I had just about sized up the matter by then and that’s when the merciless moron, discontent with the cleanliness, ordered a repeat act. I had had more than enough and I stepped in. I asked him in a reasonably polite way why he was behaving in such an inhumane way to the boy. His fragile ego got out of hands and he started abusing me, verbally. I kept my cool for a bit until the abuse got out of limits and I retorted with “do you have a problem with your wife?”. The very next nanosecond, I wished I could bend time and erase the “wify” remark. Not to be. The man lost it further and after a handful of minutes, caught my collar and pushed me. By then, people intervened and we were both seated in our respective places. I caught my breath back, told the vendor boy (who had gone entirely out of focus) to put this issue behind him, spent five minutes chalking out the next plan of action and then, got up in search of the TC. The first thing I said to him upon catching him was: “I need help, I have been physically assaulted!”. He and all those who heard and understood this, came rushing after me to my compartment. By then, I had gathered substantial support and there was a big crowd that had assembled near the ‘venue’. My USP was simple: I have undergone a physical attack and I wanna lodge a police complaint! After a fair bit of exchange of words between a lot of old and new characters, there was an appeal for an apology which I rejected forthright as I wanted to keep the pressure on the culprit, even further. Finally, I let him go as my objective, by then, had been met. I wanted to teach him (and all like-minded others) a lesson whereby this sorta treatment is never dished out to any innocent, helpless person, ever again. The prolonged humiliation in front of his wife and kid had served that purpose.

My first vehicle!

Inspired by a presentation on global warming (thanks to HP), I have been riding a pollution-free bicycle to my work place (and everywhere else I can) everyday, since 05-July-2007. [More with a picture]

~ Marriages & Inequality: A Flawed Correlation

The seeds of this post were sown by a couple of emails/comments that I received for the post around my marriage. It was rightly opined that Indian-style marriages, in some ways, allow for the rotation of money - from the families of the bride & groom to a subset of the following: DJs or bandwalas, jewelers, caterers, decorators, dress designers, event organizers and the like. While there is no two ways about it, this observation remains inconclusive until we put under the scanner how the money has been rotated in the typical urban weddings, particularly over the last decade.

Those, who cite the rotation of money as a prime reason for defending weddings full of deluxe ceremonies/functions, invariably presume that in this rotation, the excess money from the rich gets routed to the poor, for whom these marriages are a means of livelihood. While this is a reasonable assumption, it doesn’t always hold. Lately, it has increasingly failed to hold.

The poor bandwalas are out of favour as the DJs are the in thing. Lakhs of ruppes are poured into posh, rich-owned party plots. The practice of getting the jewelery done by your local shops, I hear, is fading, with the advent of the big sharks offering ready-made stuff instantly. The same pattern applies to most modern-day marriage expenses.

Cutting the long story short, this rotation of money doesn’t necessarily yield financial gains for the poor, contrary to the assumption. In other words, our luxurious wedding events don’t always soften economic inequality. In fact, they do more indirect harm than direct good. It’s not that only Aishwaryas and Abhisheks go for the full-on weddings. These elaborate wedding celebrations are woven so deeply into our so-called culture that it doesn’t even escape some of India’s poorest.

I have first-hand information from residents of a poor, Gujarat-bound village that they are forced by the samaj (society) to spend over a lakh on weddings. Our traditions involve too much of exchange of golds, cloths and a plethora of other gifts. More importantly, there is no mechanism that ensures that if I give 100 items in my wedding, I will attend 100 weddings and get those 100 things back. This is partly down to the variability in the number of kids (If I have more kids compared to my relatives, I will incur a significant loss) and partly due to the girl parents being made to bear most of the wedding cost (A father of two girls is often in genuine trouble). The bottom line is that these expensive traditions, that have become a societal must-do thanks to the long-standing insistence of the elite to follow them, really pinch the poor.

If you care beyond you and your family, court-marriages, arya-samaj weddings and group-marriages are unquestionably the way to go. If one has loads of spare money, there are limitless more fulfilling things to spend it on, than a big-ticket marriage. Nevertheless, for some reason, if you must go for some of those ceremonies/celebrations, make sure you rotate your money the right way - bring back the bandwalas, local jewelers, small-scale caterers, non-branded shops and similar lower-income players.

PS: The ill-effect on the environment is probably an even stronger argument against our flashy wedding style. Need I re-iterate the adverse effects of fire crackers? What about the galactic food wastage?

blogathonindia, blogathonindia1

~ A Tale of Tuition Centers!

Ahmedabad ‘Chali’ Tution Center (ACTC)

This project took off sooner than envisaged. A tuition center for the not-so-privileged kids in Maninagar, Ahmedabad has now been operational since Jan end. Currently, we help kids from standard 5-7 with their difficulties in Maths, Science and English, 8 hours a week. We intend to commence exercises on “critical thinking” or “values inculcation” shortly, looking to increase the probability that the young ones grow up to be thinking and responsible citizens unlike many hailing from their sort of background. Whatever we have done thus far could be realized only through the admirable sustained efforts of Ruchi, Jay, Ankita, Dolly and their gang - our teachers! Quite inspirational work at such a young age, esp. by Ruchi - my little sister I can never be adequately proud of - and Jay who both are just about half way through their Bachelor’s in Computers. This idea was actually conceived by Sejal when she came to know of the existence of this ‘chali’ through her maid. The two of us, then, started visiting the chali a couple of times in every Ahmedabad visit. The fact that we had to make four home visits in a relatively short span of time helped this cause. Things soon fell in place - We had people in terms of family and friends and a place offered by a family from the community. By the final day of our last visit, we were taking the first class of the center. Let me not miss out on mentioning the contributions of Seju’s mom, Archit, Harita, Gauri Aunty and mom in getting this on board. If any of you ACTC guys are reading, the next challenge for us is to sustain the curriculum-based classes and begin the work on the “values/thinking” aspect.

Community Computing Center (C Cube)

Since March, some of us, AIDers, have been involved in running a computer center for some economically backward slum kids, near IBM, on the Bannerghatta road. For most of them, this was the first time they were exposed to a PC they can operate. So, we have just been doing basics thus far – identifying various computer components, getting familiar with the OS, using painting software, among other things.

I know that teaching computers to slum kids isn’t a social activity that finds unequivocal approval form all parties. Indeed, there is merit in the argument that higher preference should be given to crying issues such as fairer (higher) wages, health-care, social security, addictions and work conditions. Unfortunately, for many part-time contributors like me, the availability of time is a limiting factor in effectively contributing towards these fundamental needs of slum dwellers. Achieving higher wages for construction labourers or better work conditions for female garment workers is a herculean task which demands dedicated activism – sensitizing/awakening people and protesting/fighting against government and/or corporate forces, over a considerable length of time. So, many find the task of taking computer classes their only feasible way of making regular weekly contributions. Needless to say that in this cyber-age, computer education makes a lot more sense than it would have a decade back. There is also the aspect of boosting a child’s confidence/personality that holds for any form of learning.

Of course, teaching school subjects like science, math and English will always bear more fruit. Although this would require a more dedicated, better prepared supply of volunteers over much longer time compared a computer course [which can be rapped up in less than half a year], we definitely have our eye on it. Having said all this, activism, beyond any doubt, is the ultimate sustainable solution, from a non-governmental perspective. Thanks to organizations like ivolunteer and SJS, I have had the opportunity to partake in some protests of this kind, the latest of which was one on human trafficking.

PS: Even after the course is done, we plan to keep the center going for twin purposes: the kids stay hands-on, and through them, the elders see beyond their limited horizons through the power of internet.

~ A photo essay on slum dwellers

A commendable job done by Senthil (an active AID volunteer) and co. in summarizing the perpetual agony of millions of Indians who leave their villages in the hope of finding better employment and get entrapped into what some of us call the “garbage areas” of the city - the urban slums. The essay also contains some heart-wrenching and thought-provoking pictures. Here is one that I found deeply moving, showing Mohan Lal who had words “neevi jaat” (low caste), etched on his back with hot iron rods.

I sincerely hope that their effort succeeds in igniting many of us to do more than ever before - financially as well as through volunteer work - to restore some justice for these ill-fated folks. Please read the full article here.

~ [Updated] A glimpse into my marriage (rich in photos!)

Characters Involved:

• Sejal: She currently works with Wipro Bangalore [telecom sector]. A native of Ahmedabad, she has done BE EC from DDIT, Nadiad (Gujarat). More on her blog and Orkut page.
  

  

• Pulkit (This intro is meant for the first-timers on this blog): He currently works with HP Labs Bangalore [R&D in image processing]. A native of Ahmedabad, he has done MS by Research from IIIT, Hydearabad and BE IT from Nirma Institute, Ahmedabad. More on his Orkut page and here.

Marriage Theme We Followed:

Divert the marriage money to community development. In plain words, keep the wedding simple and support NGOs/social work from the money saved [Yes, this has to be over and above your other/regular donations, if any] [More].

Why Make the Donations Public?:

However big an amount you donate (and however many hours you put in for social work), a small set of individuals/NGOs can never hit inequity/injustice hard enough. To make a real difference, much greater participation is needed, which can only be attained through more awareness and sensitivity in all of us about our roles in creating a fairer society. The most effective way to make people more sensitive/aware is to share your actions with them, hoping that just like their good deeds inspire you, some of your efforts will spark a thought in them.

Wedding Venue: Arya Samaj (Mandir), Ahmedabad. None of us expected such a spacious place for 2200 bucks! [Having said that, Seju and I still consider the Marriage Registrar's office (as in court marriage) as the ideal wedding place.]

Events: Just the ceremony with rituals (No reception, No music night, etc.)

Spectators: Immediate relatives (around 20 from either side)

Exchange: After a number of requests/arguments, we managed to ensure minimal give-and-take of gold and gifts, but couldn’t avoid the exchange totally.

Why Simple Marriage?:

• We feel that the galactic sums of money spent on flashy marriages should be diverted to better causes. This prompted us to celebrate our wedding through modest donations to needy welfare groups (Details).

• Expensive marriages have almost become a must, even for low-income families, due to the fear of what “people” will think otherwise. We wanted to emphatically break this unwritten societal norm. No one should be forced in the name of customs/society (for anything).

• Because the marriage cost mostly falls on the shoulders of the girl parents, costly marriages cause parents to prefer a son over a daughter (grossly unfair to women) #. While the ideal solution to this is equal sharing of the expense between girl folks and guy folks, the best short term solution is to keep the marriage cost nominal, so that a major reason for not wanting a girl child goes away *.

• Simple wedding also avoids pollution through crackers [Over a lakh small children work in cracker manufacturing units, undergoing harmful chemical exposure; Promise no crackers ever], food wastage [Average marriage-wasted food can feed ten families for a week] and stress.

# For many financially ill-equipped parents, the birth of a girl means over two decades of cost cutting (to ensure enough savings for the daughter’s marriage).

* Even those of us, who ourselves do not engage in any gender-based discrimination, should bear this point in mind because this is about setting the right trends in the society [People with less education/privileges are immensely influenced by the actions of people like us].

Marriage “Intimation” Card:

Wondering why a simple marriage needs a wedding card? Well, our card encompasses much more than a wedding announcement. It is the medium through which we convey to friends/relatives why the wedding was low-key. It also serves as a subtle way of promoting the theme of simple marriages coupled with contributions to social work, so that more of us adopt similar ways. The e-card option was ruled out since not all people back-home are net-savvy. Instead, we made Gujarati letters.

We got the cards prepared from environment-friendly [hand-made] paper by the underprivileged kids of Arzoo, an Ahmedabad-based NGO that provides education and livelihood to disadvantaged kids. We appeal you to use and promote this kind of greeting cards, as opposed to the Arches kind [Ideally, we should replace paper-based cards by e-cards, wherever possible].

Convincing the Parents:

We got them to view this as a special opportunity of contributing to the society. Still, there remained a bit of resistance, as anticipated. But, with time, seeing that our beliefs were unshakable, they softened their stance and have been supportive ever since. Now, they are super happy about this marriage theme. So, the key is to tell yourself that mom-dad’s current unhappiness will soon turn into joyous pride. Don’t be driven by momentary emotions. Show commitment to your noble plans. The buzzword is strong-minded persistence. Our advice: Start (casually) telling parents about your simple marriage plans from today itself.

For Those Who Support this Marriage Theme:

We feel good to have your support. But, this feel-good factor won’t contribute to creating a better society. To make a difference, all of us need to aggressively practice this theme in our lives. Equally importantly, we need to get many more folks to do the same. This theme is generic, applicable to all your special events, not just the marriage. Direct the money you typically spend on a lavish party to the uplifting of the underprivileged, whatever be the occasion. However, this should NOT de-emphasize the practice of donating a part of your salary, every month. In an unrelated request, we urge you to buy only/mostly from small vendors as opposed to branded showrooms, reducing the financial inequality.

An Implementation Bottleneck:

I have learnt that many chaps are put off from donations because they can’t catch hold of a reliable NGO. If you are one of them, feel free to contact me. I will be more than happy to guide you to some deserving organizations I know. You could also visit here to find concrete details on ways to contribute. Here is some info on who all we have donated to.

Un-Anticipated Recognition:

Mom was distributing the marriage cards in her bank where an employee of Divya Bhaskar, a leading daily of Gujarat, caught hold of a copy. Soon, I was called up for more details. A day later, there was a quarter-page newspaper article on “the new marriage mantra: Combine simplicity and charity”.

More Photos:

~ Our marriage celebrations

Every couple tying the knot wants their marriage to be memorable. This typically gives rise to ostentatious celebrations and towering expenses. Our case is interestingly different. While we too wanted a wedding that lasts long in the memory, our celebration style is a shade uncommon (the celebrations are on-going, btw!). It does involve money but for a different purpose. Our marriage celebrations consist of a handful of donations. Nothing more, nothing less.

To be more concrete, the minimum amount chosen for our cumulative contribution is one lakh (parents’ contribution excluded). Since this contribution is attached to the marriage, it has to be over and above any other/regular donations in the future or past. While we want to contribute the full amount ASAP, we have given ourselves a worst-case bound of one year (to ascertain the genuineness/neediness of the recipient NGOs/activists).

Current status: Reached a little over half way (money-wise). Here is some info on who all we have contributed to. [We have committed to two others, as well.]

• Name: Mr Paras
  • From: MKSS (Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan)

• Name: Ms Vinita
  • From: Maitri

• Name: Lancy and Vilma
  • From: Shramik Seva Dal
• Name: Shyam and Kumar
  • Theme: Rural development (linked with Jeevan Vidya)

PS 1: Some other organizations, that we know to be genuine, are SUYAM, AID and Asha.

PS 2: The above groups have been adequately verified w.r.t. genuineness. We found almost all of them through the social service organizations/people we work with. Actually, all the NGOs we have come across thus far are genuine, which is contrary to the general belief.

~ T20 Final: India against the Muslims of the World?!

After last year’s enthralling Twenty-20 cricket world cup finale, Ravi Shastri, the anchor at the presentation ceremony, asked the Pakistan skipper Shoaib Malik to reflect on the game. Malik’s response began with a disgustingly ridiculous remark which I would go to the extent of describing as communal or even racist, given the context in which it was made. Here is what I can recollect:

“First of all I want to say something over here. I want to thank you back home Pakistan and where the Muslim lives all over the world.”

Who the trash cares about your thanks-giving desires for the Muslim world, Mr. Malik? Hasn’t the newly appointed captain been told that he represented Pakistan - the nation in the T20 world cup, NOT Muslim - the religion? We have all come to expect linguistic (English in particular) blunders, plentiful at that, from a typical Pakistani but this one had all to do with the semantics and nothing with the syntax. It’s NOT as if Malik meant something and his lack of expressive skills brought out something else. Linking his appalling statement to the context of the match re-emphasizes the growing concern that many Indians, me being one of them, share: Do a majority of Muslims pick the religion over the nation (and humanity, talking at a larger scale)?

If I were the PCB (Pakistan Cricket Board) chief, I would certainly reprimand Malik and ensure that no such comment, bordering on religion-based discrimination, ever surfaces again. Cricket (any sport for that matter) is supposed to bridge divides among races, colors, castes and nations. Anything that violates this spirit should be treated with a zero-tolerance policy by the governing bodies of the game.

Stepping aside from the post-match stuff and digging into the match itself, it was an exhilarating contest. However, what made it that way was not the quality of cricket. It was actually the lack of it. The best way to describe India in the inaugural T20 WC final, in my book, would be something like “the lesser of the two evils”. An unbiased cricket fan has every right to say “I have seen better”. Sure, this one went right down to the wire. But, that’s because the Pakistanis didn’t know to how to win, NOT because the Indians knew how to win. I had come early from the office, mainly to see two of my favorite modern-day batters blaze away: the brutally elegant Yuvraj and the ever-excitable, huge-hitting Afridi. Sadly, neither fired (Ironically, Afridi bagged the man of the series award, leaving me bewildered as to why).

However way the win was achieved, the emotion-filled celebration, that this victory evoked in India, was typically gigantic. Around my place (in B’lore), people walked out onto the roads, many drove (something I don’t approve of) across the streets, some fired crackers (again something I don’t approve of) and plenty jumped for joy, literally. It was really pleasing to witness that (After all, sports are designed to entertain, evoke smiles). What was more heartening to see was the sense of oneness, the sense of patriotism that had prevailed. I really hope the same joy and the united spirit was there to be seen among the poorer sections and more crucially, among the Muslim sections of the country.

~ Turning today’s beggars into tomorrow’s bigshots

Not so long ago, you could have spotted some of the kids in this photo begging on the streets of Chennai. Now, they are found engrossed in shaping their self-reliant tomorrows, through Sirugu Montessori School. Sirugu is a free, residential school, started with the aim of imparting quality education to underprivileged kids (street children, children from brick chambers, etc.).

But, how do middle class folks approach the begging community and end up getting their kids into a school, built almost exclusively for them? The answer is a story which is as fascinating as it is inspiring. Because I only know Uma and Muthuram from the Sirugu team, they play the lead roles in my recital of the story.

It all began when Uma and others got an assignment in their videography course wherein they had to create a documentary film. Uma decided to capture real life and turned the camera on the road side where she saw many families living on platforms and on the (metro) wanter pipe. At first, they rushed towards Uma and tried to brake the camera, complaining that many people take such pictures and make money out of it. Eventually, the team were able to pacify them.

This followed what was perhaps the critical period, wherein the team bonded with the community by spending lots time near their huts, understanding their issues. Muthuram and others wrote an artistic write up on what had been learnt about the beggars’ lives. Finally, a 20 minute documentary was born. That’s when they took an oath to come back and do something to assist the people. What followed was an endless list of interactive sessions wherein the team tried to inculcate self-confidence and values. A glorious example is Muthuram’s 90 minute counseling with one family man, resulting in him changing his mind and going ahead with the family planning operation after his wife had given birth to four or five children. In all, it took the team 5 years to convince the begging community about the importance education.

Initially, 3 children were put into a private school. By the time the strength went up to 20, the costs were too high to manage. Just when the team were wondering what next, the people, depicting a participatory approach, suggested the team to build a school near their housing location. This was the spark that the team needed to establish the Sirugu school, which now lights up over 200 little lives. Kudos to the entire team!

PS: This (true) story was composed based on a mail I had received from Muthuram.

~ AID on the front page of newspaper Bangalore Mirror

[Click on the image to zoom.]

Excerpts from the article (Date: Nov 3, Newspaper: Bangalore Mirror):

Hefty pay packets, posh lifestyle, foreign projects, stylish flat, swanky cars…. Such goodies no longer attract these software geeks. What has caught their attention is the mounting agrarian crisis in the state.

AID Bangalore chapter is not an NGO. It is mainly a volunteer movement. In solidarity with non-violent people’s struggles, AID Bangalore supports grassroots organizations in Bangalore and Karnataka and initiates efforts in various interconnected spheres such as education, livelihoods, natural resources, health, women’s empowerment and social justice. “AID Bangalore believes that all these problems are interconnected, and so must be the solution!” said convener Prasanna Saligrama.

PS: Newspaper Bangalore Mirror is not available online (yet). But, I can email the full article in the form of scanned images, to whoever interested.

~ This Diwali, let’s Measure the true Cost of Celebration!

~ Me and Dowry? Of Course Not… Unless Offered!

I and a couple of friends were engaged in what was intended to be nothing more than a chitchat when things stirred up. We were wondering away at some imminent wed locks when we digressed a shade onto the contentious dowry issue. We were ridiculing the outrageous amounts that some of our batch mates would receive, should they choose to accept. The last part of the previous statement is of interest here: Whether the dowry will be turned down or not, if offered. I always thought (childishly, in hindsight) that all the people, as well educated as I am, would not even contemplate accepting it. However, I was proven spectacularly wrong when, one of my friends, the one who had forked this topic into discussion, said while he would never “ask for” any kinda dowry, he would have no issues in accepting it if the gal’s family made an offer!

I was stunned by that for a moment or two. Of course, I vehemently opposed it because, for me, this is analogous to the bribe issue. The person offering the bribe is not the only guilty party. The person accepting the bribe also has to share part of the blame because he/she encourages further such offers. (The whole vicious cycle makes it impossible for an ordinary man to access the concerned service).

Something similar happens in the dowry scenario. The moment it is known that you were open to dowry or you accepted it, some girl parents would rue the fact that they didn’t reinforce their candidature with cash. Next time, they and others around them might not repeat “the mistake” of not offering dowry. So even when you don’t “demand” dowry, by accepting it, you still encourage this inhumane practice that discriminates against the gal child, trapping some parents into valuing and looking after boys more or better than girls. In poorer and worse-developed communities, this also gets reflected in heightened female foeticide rates. (Recently, this prompted the government to open centres where people can abandon unwanted daughters.) The other injustice is to the girl parents who have to raise the dowry amount, by begging, borrowing or stealing, almost literally. In any event, the Indian society needs to cut back needless expenses on marriages, funerals and what not.)

Recently, while interacting with the people of a village in Ahmedabad, we learnt that the poor farmers there spend 1 to 1.5 lakhs on a marriage. It’s a ludicrously high amount considering the fact that there were barely any children going beyond standard 7 in the entire village, comprising close to 1200 occupants. We had gone there to work for children’s education but it turned out that we would have to educate the “uneducated” adults first. Now, it turns out that we may have to educate some of the “educated” adults first (what kind of a spineless loser feasts on others’ money – dowry?).

blogathonindia, blogathonindia1

~ A pain in the … back!

With this post, I am kicking off a new series (category) of posts in the blog, called health awareness. The posts in this category will be less in number and small in size. The idea is to share my (modest) experience/knowledge on some of the unheard or less-heard medical issues.

The motivation for the current post is my encounters with a disease called Ankylosing Spondylitis (AS), for the past decade or so.

This picture is surely worth quite a few (may be, not a thousand) words as it projects the deformities that AS can cause to your spinal structure. For comprehensive information on this back-related disease, please visit this excellent site. This info is meant especially for people who neglect chronic and severe back pain.

AS symptoms typically strike in your teens and never vanish thereafter (Yes, the disease is incurable). However, the good news is that, like Diabetes, damage control is very much possible and you have every chance of avoiding the ultimate AS consequence: loss of spinal mobility.

Exercises, special painkillers [Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDs)] and proper posture maintenance form a big part of keeping fit despite the disease. As most of us know, all pain-killers come with side-effects embedded inside. So, I recommend bearing the pain as much as possible to keep the frequency of painkillers down. However, since NSAIDs are anti inflammatory (unlike ordinary painkillers, e.g. Brufen), their frequency should be high enough to ensure there is no swelling.

Hope this post goes on to be of some use to some chap. Please feel free to suggest how the posts in this series can be made more useful.

~ An interesting duo of geometric problems

Problem 1: Given a set of 2D points, find an efficient way of computing the least area rectangle that encloses them.

One (probably good) way of approaching this to stamp down on the data size by first showing that the least area enclosing rectangle of these points is the same as that of the convex hull of the points (For now, I have taken this for granted. Will try and prove it in the next train journey :)) and working only on the hull points thereafter.

But, this is just data reduction. How do we use these points to compute the rectangle? The approach I have successfully implemented is not as efficient as I would like it to be. I based my thing on parameterizing the min area rectangle by just the orientation parameter. This is because once the orientation is frozen, once can easily and uniquely determine the min area rectangle by computing minx, maxx, miny, maxy along that and its perpendicular direction. So, it boiled down to optimization in the angle space. Currently, I am using a brute force method but one can study the objective function and better the convergence. However, I have an inkling that there is a non-iterative, closed-form solution to this. To discuss about and arrive at that elegant solution, actually, is the motive of this post.

The second problem is similar but a little more complex. I will post my solution (again, suboptimal) once (and if) there is some interaction about the first one. I will leave you with the problem statement, nevertheless.

Problem 2: Given a set of 2D points, find, efficiently, the maximum area rectangle that is enclosed within their convex hull.

~ Rewind to the biggest ever industrial disaster

Yes, I am referring to the Bhopal Gas Tragedy (The image is of the morning after the dreaded gas leak), considered as the Hiroshima of chemical disasters, having taken about 20,000 lives till date and left more than 1,20,000 people with chronic ailments.

“But didn’t it happen 23 long years ago?” Yes.

“So, aren’t you a pessimist who likes to dig up dead events from the past to mourn about?” Not really!

This journey into the history is a result of a (pre-planned) discussion with Shalini (representing SfB - Students of Bhopal), bringing out the tragic fact that the struggle of the gas victims and their progenies is far from over. The event may have occurred in the past but it’s consequences are very much alive, even today.

Shalini has chosen fighting for the rights of the Bhopal tragedy survivors as her career, her mission, almost her life. Some of the stuff (pictures as well as the distressing fact that even the third generation hasn’t escaped the aftermath), she shared, evoked two kinda emotions: a feeling of relief (thank heavens I haven’t had to go through any of this) and a genuine urge of doing whatever possible to bring them justice/peace/happiness.

Thanks to the interaction with her, I and some others are contemplating to join Sfb’s campaign by starting a Bangalore cell. Our objective, from a bird’s eye view, can be summarized as follows:

To fight with the government (national and state) and the corporate entity involved (Dow Chemical which acquired the then liable Union Carbide) to

• ensure justice (medical, financial and otherwise) for the survivors and the gas-affected next generation.

• put in place government and corporate accountability, ascertaining no more”Bhopals” ever again.

Interested folks are requested to go through the SfB site and choose, for themselves, the ways to contribute (Here are SfB’s demands and a photo exhibition on the disaster). On top of that, what you could always do readily is to diffuse this campaign among friends and acquaintances. Let’s set out to achieve justice for all!

~ There is more to life than earning money!

It’s not been that long since I got involved with AID (Association for India’s Development)’s B’lore chapter but it’s already been an inspiring association for me. I have met a couple of people whose kind I had heard and read about (that too, once in a long while), but never got the privilege to see in person.

Prasanna and Meera have been with AID for close to a decade. Both have left their (money-fetching) jobs and are into activities that center around community development (social service if you like), full time. If you thought they did so because their jobs anyway used to earn them peanuts, think again. If my memory/knowledge serves me right, Prasanna was a management person and Meera used to do (something in the area of) journalism. It’s always commendable to see societal interest being preferred over personal interest but doing that, in the manner these AIDers have been, certainly isn’t everyone’s dish. Hats off to them!

If you were to ask me what the take-home message of this story is, I’d simply quote Prasanna (who happens to be quite an eloquent speaker by the bye) and say: There is more to life than earning money!

PS a): Did you know that the movie Swades and Shahrukh Khan’s character in it were inspired by an AID person?

PS b): Did you know there exists an organization that sends updates on upcoming social activities in town, gathering info from various NGOs, so that you can pick the volunteering task that fits your bill?

~ Curbing corruption: Can I do something?

I have been traveling to work in local government buses for the past few days. There is something that I caught my attention. More than once, I got offered by the conductor/driver to travel by giving less than the amount stipulated by the government. The gain for the conductor/driver lied in the other side of the deal: no ticket to be issued to me. If I accept the offer and do not give the additional money (a rupee or two, usually) to buy the ticket, the money I paid will go in the personal pocket, not to the government. This is obviously unfair because it’s the government that owns the whole bus system and providing you the service; the drivers/conductors just do what they are paid to do by their employers – the government. So, if this sort of corruption continues at a large scale, soon you will see the BMTC (Bangalore Metropolitan Transportation Corporation) incurring severe losses and this, being pushed on the verge of discontinuing the service. Thus, saving that rupee or two by not taking the ticket is not just morally wrong, it could also be detrimental to your long term comfort as you stand to lose the service.

An analogous situation is when a traffic policeman catches you for the breach of a traffic law. If you want the receipt, you are charged 500 (the money goes to the government). Most people are interested in personal (short-term) gain so they give off a 100 rupee note and flee the hell from the place with no receipt, feeding the pocket of the corrupt policeman.

I can understand and may be, even excuse a lower-middle class person doing these things but there can’t be any excuse for people who pour money for all kinds of non-necessities. As a matter of fact, I know certain people very close to me, having done this kind of “cheating” (it has to be said). What makes me more exasperated is that the same set of people, sometime later, will sit in their comfort chairs and complaint at length about the system (the government) and the country, being useless. All I can say to these people is that you are part of the system as well as the country. So let the blame start with you and your useless, corrupt ways (Note that offering the bribe is as corrupt as accepting it). It’s tempting to think these things are trivial and won’t affect anything much. Yes, they could be brushed aside as trivial when only one in a billion does them. The moment they become a habit, a widely assumed norm, which is the case in India, they are no longer trivial. So I appeal to all of you, reading this, to always

1. Acquire the bus ticket by paying the additional buck or two.
2. Take the receipt of the amount paid to the traffic policeman.

3. Help in kicking out corruption from other walks of life (bribing the passport officer for a smoother dealing, using your political contacts to get the PI (police inspector) to expedite the progress on your case, etc.) by adopting similar ways.

The passport case has occurred in my (ex-) college. Students were found willing to pay the passport delivery guy 100 bucks extra. There was also a school of thought defending the 100 bucks being dished out. The logic proposed was that he is coming to your door step; so in return, you do this favour. This is completely flawed because it is a part of the (paid) duty of the passport guy. Another argument in favour of the bribing was “think of these 100 bucks as a kind of “tip” to him. What’s wrong with that?

What is wrong is the outcome of such a practice: either the passport guy will either deliver for ONLY those who pay or (in the best case) delay the delivery of non-payers. This will mean that the students from a modest financial background, the ones already struggling to cope with the fees and other expenses, will find it extremely difficult to avail the service. The same thing happens in the police scenario. The poor folks, who don’t have the contacts or the capacity to bribe, never get treated in a just and timely manner by the police.

If this sorta thing exists in all arenas, the net result would be: the rich class becomes richer and the poor get slammed further down. In other words, the chances of a bloke born poor, getting up the ladder, being able to enjoy his rights (Having access to the government services like the police help is every citizen’s right, not just of those with cash and/or contacts) are made very slim. Once under-privileged, forever under-privileged.

I find this grossly unfair and I fail to fathom why many other people don’t find it that way. It fumes me no end that we let ourselves live in a world where your luck (as to where you are born) dictates the quality of your life, not your virtues/merit. It’s high time we changed that and gave every human being (regardless of whether he/she was born in a poor family or rich) an equal chance to lead a good-quality life.

~ Sachin’s mirror says what a billion Indians never could!

Three years ago,

Sachin to an “honest” mirror: Mirror mirror on the wall, who is the best batsman of all?

Mirror: Brian Charles Lara

Now,

Sachin to the same mirror: Mirror mirror on the wall, should I retire?

Mirror: Yes!

Bemused as to what’s going on? Well, this is Ian Chappell’s way of showing Sachin Tendulkar the exit route from cricket. For those who only follow cricket at the outer surface, Greg Chappell’s brother, Ian is a highly acclaimed cricket writer and arguably, the best Test captain ever. Whatever he has done in his stint with cricket, be it on the field as captain or off it as a media man, has been flamboyantly in-your-face. In my book (as well as Shane Keith Warne’s), he is the most astute talker of cricket. In one of his recent posts, he has ripped into Tendulkar’s conservative and ‘statistical’ (playing solely to boost the numbers) approach to batting in the last few years. He has gone on further in his assault on Sachin and established Brian Lara as a superior batter than Tendulkar, an opinion I have held for ages, amidst all the heated resistance. Sure Tendulkar has been more consistent but Lara has been more delightful to watch (through his uniquely different, “kids, don’t try at home” technique, making cricket more watchable), more match-winning and thus, more nightmarish for the opposition.

Even at the minute, the general view in India goes in defense of the 33 year old premier batsman (except some frenetically frustrated fans who want the whole team to be replaced by brand new faces). The most frequently encountered (and the most ludicrous) argument in favor of Tendulkar is the immense “pressure” he has to cope with. Pressure..hmm..what kind?

Financial: A big NO. He is India’s richest sportsman, head and shoulders above the rest.

The pressure of preserving his reputation: Again, no. His reputation was built around match-winning, stroke-filled, dominating play; not meek accumulation of runs aimed at keeping the Test and one-day averages above 50 and 40 respectively.

The only pressure I see is that of heart-broken, maddened fans setting his house on fire after a debacle like the one we witnessed in this world cup. Even that is a very meager possibility as no one has been revered as much in an Indian sport than ST.

This also reminds me of what the best left-arm bowler of all time, Akram said about the hyped word “pressure” recently. He said something like “Ask Imran Khan or Kapil Dev if they ever felt any pressure. Great players revel in crunch situations”.

This quality has been conspicuously missing from the Indian (ex-) giant.

B C Lara, on the contrary, bats like a true king. His recent pre-lunch century against Pakistan, wherein he absolutely pulverized the best leg-spinner going around, was an evidence of that (it was only the fifth hundred scored within the first session of a Test match). It should be noted here that where Sachin milks the spinners behind the wicket for two runs at best, Lara smacks them out of the park, straight down the ground. Mind you, Lara is 37, good four years elder to Tendullkar. So it’s not the aging of the proclaimed little master that has incapacitated him with regards to stamping his authority on the match. It’s the mental side of the game, as Chappell rightly pointed out. Lara has scored two record breaking Test knocks (highest test score in an innings), separated by 10 years. This shows his sustained dominance (not just numbers, but the sheer weight of the feat). He has had a much poorer team and thus, a much less competitive environment to contend with. But he has remained true to himself and said to himself and the world: I play my game this way (however “untextbookish” it is). I aint changing it for anybody, be it fans, ex-cricketers or even the captain (e.g., Jimmy Adams) on the odd occasion. It’s remarkable that the golf-swing-like follow-through, the imposing back-lift (even the slightly trimmed one following Sobers’ advice) and thereby, the fascinating flair of BCL have survived the test of time (17 long years).

Even in his captaincy, Brian hasn’t at all been averse to controversies and the threat of public criticism. His leadership has been as unconventional as his batting. The recent public spat between the national selector Andy Roberts and Brian, over the selection of a genuine batsman at number 8 over fast bowler Taylor, exhibited just that.

The summary is that having raw talent isn’t good enough to remain at the top. You need to mix it up with unflagging belief and pride (I would go to the extent of saying arrogance) in your talent. Having said what I have, I reckon it’s best for Indian cricket if Sachin does NOT retire for another year or two. Not because I am hopeful that he will read my blog and rediscover the winning ways. It’s simply because India’s reserve pool isn’t rich enough to find a decent (let alone better) replacement for him.

Reference: IC’s article

~ An under-used cricketing weapon

Any (Indian) kid in the street will tell you what length to bowl at the fag end of a one day innings. Full. Preferably, yorker length.

Yorkers, however, are not every bowler’s cup of tea. If you under pitch, you end up delivering a half volley which is easy meat for one and all. If you over pitch, it’s somewhat better. But with the bats becoming more powerful than ever, especially meaty at the bottom, low full tosses can also travel the distance (as shown by the likes of Abdul Razzak, M S Dhoni and Mark Boucher).

So you can’t rely solely on your length to restrain the batsman. Then, how about using an unfamiliar angle to accompany the fullish length? Very rarely in cricket, have we seen a right hand (fast) bowler bowling round the wicket to a right hand batsman. The predominant reason, I believe, is the fact that the bowl will invariably pitch outside the leg stump, resulting in virtually no chance of an lbw. But between overs 40 to 50, the emphasis is usually on saving runs, more than picking wickets and this tactic can turn out to be masterful in that.

The reason I say the above is that many sloggers like Razzak, Dhoni and Boucher favour the on side (esp. midwicket) for hitting their big shots so you play into their hands when you angle the ball into them. By coming around the wicket, the right arm bowler can bow full, a bit wide of the off stump and create a difficult angle for the on-side hitters (with the odd bouncer thrown in).

Having said what I have, this method is no panacea. Against players like Kallis, Michel Clarke and Jayewardene who hit inside out superbly, you may be better off over the wicket, spearing into their legs.