The cricketing paradox of not playing for records

             

 As is every Indian, I grew up watching and obsessing over cricket. From Kapil Dev to Sachin to Dhoni to Kohli, from Richards to Warne to Murali to Stokes, cricket has been an indelible part of life. Over different periods I have obviously been exposed and obsessed with other sports - be it Tennis, Badminton, Hockey, Soccer, American Football, Chess , Formula 1 , but it would be fair to admit that cricket has been a constant part of life. 

              Growing up, my dad bought me a book which had all ODI stats will around 1987. It was like cricinfo statsguru in paperback format and a dream of a 6 year old who loved maths. Unsurprisingly, West Indies, the then-dominant force in ODI cricket with a set of powerful cricketers across all dimensions - Richards , Greenidge and Haynes sharing all possible batting records, Garner , Holding and W. Davies with bowling and Dujon completing the circle with powerful wicketkeeping. 

                 Over the years, Pakistan, SL , Australia have had their share but the dominance of that era has been great. Records deemed impossible once in the past (the first time India ever scored 300 in a 60-over, 55 -over or 50 over match was in 1996 , being the last regular country - even after SL and Zimbabwe did it) now became the new normal. Haynes' once secure record of 17 centuries is now just a "special  mention".  300 became cricket's new 200, an individual score of 150 became a century and a once impossible 200 became common. 

                 But of course, cricket has been subject to an intense debate - one of the most memorable events of them being Tendulkar stranded on 194, just to make sure India left no stone unturned in getting a win. On the other hand, Lara's 400 has been called an extremely selfish innings, and while Sachin has been spared the flak most times, his 100th 100 did come under scrutiny after India lost the match against Bangladesh.

               So then, as all players are trained to say - "We don't play for records" OR more subtly "I am not as happy about the double hundred as I am happy that it made India win it's zillionth match against Sri Lanka , is it really the truth?

              My opinion is - that is the paradox of cricketing records. And at the risk of sounding callous, I'll say that the "I only want my team to win and not care about breaking the record" is just diplomatic lies.  Every player wants their team to win, of course, but if I had taken 9 wickets in an India - Sri Lanka test match, would I still wish someone else would take the 10th and race India to a forgettable test victory or would I wish that I take the 10th, even if it means risking a draw in a series that would be forgotten within weeks if not days? 

            Of course, the other extreme is also not justified .  If everyone simply played for records, the non-striker would never run with passion for his or her partner. People would not push the pace of a game risking their own wickets. Prabhakar's super slow selfish play  is certainly not correct. Just as Lara's 400 wasn't . But then , we saw a glimpse of it in Ajaz' 10-for, where he set a memorable record but the team lost 

            Which brings me to the actual moral of this article. Different entities in cricket, broadcasters, statisticians, portals like cricinfo have somehow managed to bring records to the foray in an otherwise team-oriented game. And they are not to blame, it is eventually their consumers - which span various ages and social classes who are fascinated by records. And unlike other spots where the records are always in line with the goals of winning (eg: soccer where the more goals someone scores, the better it is, OR tennis, which is an individual sport to begin with), cricket can be played with 2 different approaches of either winning the game or setting individual records. And while international matches , where one plays for the country might be some exception, the 664 run partnership is a great example where kambli and tendulkar were able to create the record only because their coach was not on the ground and they continued to go against the "set" principles 

            The paradox of whether records are important or winning is important has evolved unintentionally but certainly will be the talk for at least a few decades. 

Indian Standard Time

      Well, this isn't a discussion on why a country of more than a billion people follows one time zone , or why the US has 11 , which of course is inflated by some states choosing to follow daylight savings and some states don't . It also , makes up for a great ice-breaker conversation especially when someone calls in from India and they ask "What time is it there?". Unrelated to this post, people in India seem to think that the most interesting thing in calling someone in the USA is to demonstrate their understanding of the circularity of the globe in addition to suddenly switching to speaking in English when they realise someone has been in the US for a long time.

       Actually, this post is about the rather universally distributed nature of people, who always think that birthday invite times always have an associated factor. Similar to Max Planck , Newton  and Avogradro, people always feel that there's a constant , which defines , sometimes in minutes or hours, the amount of time you should arrive to a party after the scheduled time. 

       Many years back, I was invited to a colleague's daughter's birthday party. The invite said 11 am, but unfortunately, something went wrong with my car and I got super late. I stretched the tensile power of my corolla and the flexibility of California speeding laws to barely make it at 11:40 am. Shamefully, I rung the doorbell, and was about to apologize to my heart's content, when someone opened the door in tracks, t-shirt and unkempt hair. It took me a few seconds to realise, that I still had to apologize, but for different reasons . I had reached the party way too soon .

         As I sat around and helped the host clean the house, organize their food, and wait for the rest of the guests (who promptly and correctly showed up after 1 pm), it dawned upon me that I should have realised what Jaspal Bhatti did years ago . And that's when I realised how rude I had been to not understand people's feelings and associate the "IST constant" with the party invite.     

          Growing up, I was actually the person who would always be late. Engineering days at VESIT meant a strict regiment in which we had to get into college by 8:30 am or else stay out for an hour (which I thought was for good reason, that a late coming student should not disturb the decorum of those who showed up on time). It was also sometimes nice to socialize right at the start of the day and simulate your brain for the rest of the day. But still, there was an attempt to get in the door by 8:40 (which was the allowed time), and catch the last possible train which could possible get you there. I was often late to play cricket, to return back home, and sometimes waste my parents' hard earned money on autorickshaws than buses just because I was late.

           But as age has progressed, I have realised that in the universe of latecomers, I was just a Hemang Badani of cricket or Avinash Wadhvan of Bollywood. In the course of the last few years, I have been blown away by the Amitabhs and Tendulkars of this sport. What is further notable is that there's a strange bit of pride in being the last one, since in the group of people, you technically optimized for your time in the best possible way. And to top it all, if the majority is composed of latecomers, you are the odd man out and taunted for coming in too early. Not too much respect for Socrates , really.

           Parties aside, gatherings, movies, picnics have all had this problem. Which brings me to the main point. The IST factor. Over the last several years, I have mentally modelled the IST factor with most of my friends. While for some Subodhs, the number tends to zero, for most people it tends towards infinity. The IST factor is calculated by a complicated, dynamic and slightly biased equation which involves the number of minutes they arrived late, the stupidity of their reason , the plausibility of their lie  the promptness of their informing that they would be late, and often the sheer shamelessness (or pride, as they like to call it) of their actions.  It is also a self-training model, meaning your good actions can quickly wipe out your sins of the past, but the converse is also true .

             And oh, does not go to say that my late factor is similar to Subodhs, but I certainly don't take pride in it. Back to work in US Pacific time. 

                          

         

The Indian airport emotion

A few weeks from when I was going to depart to the US for my Master's program, I had come to Bombay's Sahar airport (since renamed CST international airport) to drop someone . That's when I realized something.

This was the last time I was coming to the airport without much emotion. Growing up in India, flying was not as frequent and easy as it is today. Every time someone took a flight, the entire family came to drop. Everytime someone took an international flight, the entire town seemed to come to drop them. Earlier, sitting inside the airport was also available. Security was much less , people were few, systems were archaic, but still even the thought of someone else flying seemed to be a big deal for the entire family to make an airport run. Couple with the fact that India has adapted well to the "leave at night" international flights. The ordeal is simple. Most flights leave after midnight. It is said that this system originated because in the initial days of flying , when flights were mostly through frankfurt or london, it was difficult to get airport staff in those cities at odd hours, so all flights were timed in such a way that Bombay would take the hit. But what seemed to be an uncomfortable time to fly somehow became the highly preferred time to fly - for multiple reasons.

First among them - traffic , it is so much comfortable driving to the airport at midnight, enjoy the cool breeze on the empty highway, rather than trying to reach at 7 , for which even a lead time of 4 hours was no guarantee. 

Second, for the person departing, it was perfect, spend time with family, have dinner, joke around a little over tea and recharge. Then spend the night at the airport , and start adapting to US time zones to get rid of the jet lag. Finally, board the flight, eat like you've been hungry for days, drink like a dog , and sleep off at 8 am India time. About 9:30 US Pacific time, and your body has already become 'angrez' 

Lastly, the inconvenience caused to the people dropping at the airport. Somehow growing up, the excitement of going to the airport trumped all such things . Seeing people wear suits and ties on a 24 hour long flight seemed perfectly normal. After all , they were going to Amrika , where everyone expects them to show up in suits on day 1 (On a rather interesting note , when I first flew , I wore a suit and a leather jacket, since at the last minute that was the only way to fit all luggage)

But then on, I was the passenger and the emotion changed so much. I almost felt jealous of the people dropping me, since I knew they would go home whereas I was to take the rather cattle class flight and after spending 24 hours sitting in crammed seat and eating limited tasteless food , and watching movies over and over again, I would be greeted by the friendly immigration officer, who , if my luck was good scribble something on my passport and let me go, and if my luck was bad, I might be subject to the ultimate Software engineering torture

Over the years a number of things have changed. Flights have become smaller, food has become worse, premium economy is what used to be called economy, and economy is like travelling ticketless . Of course , I have seen an increase in various dimensions including age, weight, circumference etc. all making this flight even more interesting.  Things have also moved on from the time when you would give up your mobile phone at the airport and then talk with parents over a glass wall , which almost seemed like being in prison , to having smarter mobile phones to still simulate the same stupid behavior . I have also become a dad, and the two times I flew, I have been sad that my daughter was so well behaved, and I could not take my revenge of the 10 odd years that I was constantly troubled by babies crying , and parents pushing them closer to my ear and looking at me as if I was obliged to care for them just because they had a baby. The presence of Ipads, offline videos and smart headsets has meant that I can now look forward to some more interesting movies.

However, at the core, some emotions remain the same. It's still the middle of the night, parents are still there. There's always a crowd, someone always breaks a queue, and an old uncle comes out of nowhere to curse you for not doing anything about it. But surprisingly, I have always and still long for the time when i sit on the flight and I am asked to switch off my phone. I think of this as the time, when I can't communicate with the world , and hence have zero control to do anything. It surprisingly puts me in a state of great bliss, where all I can do is eat, sleep or watch movies. In this modern , ever-connected world, that serenity has been always very precious, and while I know sooner or later technology will get there, for this one time, I am hoping it takes some more time.

Sometimes the helplessness of a 24 hour flight (Mumbai and San Francisco are really the most extreme when it comes to air travel) sounds very overwhelming, it sometimes dawns that life would be so simple if we just called one place an eternal home. The airport emotion is hard to fathom. It'll always be.

A sad yet deep thought !

         This is a post I want to write for a long time. The events of last year have taught us the importance of health and how vulnerable we are against the forces of nature. Who would have thought that a micro-organism would disrupt our lives in such a way.

        But frankly, the motivation goes beyond the last year of COVID. It's about a constant realization of how tricky and unpredictable death is, and how life has it's own plans and how helpless you can be ! It is also a rather deeper realization of how tiny and powerless we are in the Universe, and that we should be grateful to nature for giving us what we have (most of all - a human life) and that we should strive to give back (by making sure we are being conscious about environmental issues)

        We all know that death will come one day . Yet, we have different philosophies around it. At 19, I was Hrithik Roshan in Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara (of course sans his body and looks). I wanted to earn all the money and retire as early as possible and then "live life to the fullest" . His number was 40, mine was 35 . The fallacy of that approach hit me pretty soon (fortunately) , but not before I said no to a number of fun events and trips with friends. I once had an opportunity to drive to Vegas on a hunch, but decided that 8 hours of time could be utilized in doing the one school project which could propel my grade from A- to A (which it did not :D ) . I missed some fun games because I was doing that "extra project to get a reco from a professor" . I took up a saturday job and missed a bunch of fun trips because I could make "21 dollars more every week" . But fortunately, the moment came early enough and I realised that I had to make every moment count. While I do believe balance is necessary ( you can't live paycheck to paycheck your entire life), enjoying every moment is certainly something to live for.I do believe that most of the people whom I know either believe in the prior point , or have had some point in their life which led them to believe it. 

       The second philosophy is to have a "bucket-list". All of us have it in some form or the other. Some day, I want to become CEO of a company. Some day, I want to see my daughter graduate from a great place. Some day, I want to tour the world. Some day, I want to start an orphanage.  Some day, I want to be as great as my Dad. A combination of adventure, love, noble and sometimes funny yet heartwarming wishes. As with most people, I believe that it helps in life if you have a list and work towards it. Some people also have an extension of it like "Places to visit " or " things to do before you are 30,40,50 and so on...." . In my opinion, it is one of the healthy things to do. Planning helps you align your actions, keep your focus and gain satisfaction when you check it off. After all, Farhan Qureshi did not want to be 70, dying in a hospital and thinking "Only if I had convinced Dad to allow me to pursue wildlife photography". 

        The third philosophy is - to have something in your heart, good or bad - that you'll tell people one day. One day I'll show my boss that inspite of what he thought, I worked really hard for his success and wshes him well. One day, I'll thank my parents for what I am in life. One day, I'll tell the friend that inspite of not talking for many years over a small issue, I remember his SRK imitation everytime SRK says "kkkk". One day, I'll meet the old uncle who used to help me jump puddles and watch over me as I went home int he dark. We all have a secret list of mostly good, some maybe brutally honest things, we want to tell people. Or do - for example, I'll donate a bunch of money to charity . I'll sponsor a kids' education. At the very least , we all have a speech prepared to say when we are successful, rich or old - like "I would like to thank ...."

        Except that most likely you won't ever say it . Which brings me to the fourth and rather most important realization - something that hit me int he last year or so. Someone close to me passed away, his last words being "my heart hurts". I heard of someone who went scuba diving and never returned back. Someone who was sitting on a beach and was eaten away by a wave, to be never found. Someone who could only manage to say "I can't breathe". And which is the truth of life - that unlike SRK and Rajesh Khanna movies, when it happens, you won't have the time or the opportunity to say what you wanted to . Achieving everything in life is not in our control - and living each day as if it is your last will probably make it the last one day - but telling people you love them in advance, mending relationships and getting together does not take too much effort. If you haven't heard this, please listen to this very interesting perspective from Steve Jobs 

    

    

A year of COVID ...and a year of realizations !

<Started writing around March 5th 2020 , lazily completed > 

      

      It was March 5th. 2020.  Our CEO, sent out a message that given COVID-19 has started to create some impact on global health, we should be prepared for a scenario when we are forced to work from home. We had an award function that night , and we all went to a nice party in San Francisco. It was Thursday and it was announced that the next day , would be a "game day" where all of us would work from home just to work out the kinks in case there came an emergency that we would "temporarily" need to work from home "for a few days". Very very thankfully, my parents who wanted to spend some time with their granddaughter narrowly made it to the USA on that very day.

           The day was weirdly memorable. The awards function was great with some amazing performances and some deserving award winners. There was an after party but soon we were on our way home. I had a long walk to the BART station, and as I was eager to get home to my parents and daughter, I was passing through a pretty lonely street when a middle-aged woman approached me. I initially felt that she was asking for money, but she asked 

        "Sir , this is a pretty lonely street, I am waiting for my bus to go the BART station. Do you mind waiting with me?"  . Well, I did not admit, but I was frankly scared to walk on the street myself. But the thought of waiting there was a little scary too. The security that my parents were home with my wife and daughter and reaching late would be OK, coupled with just the instinctive reaction, I waited at the bus stop. Any case, I really doubt if I would have turned down such a request unless things were absolutely out-of-hand. A bus arrived 15 minutes later and we took it to the BART station and we both managed to catch out respective trains.  In those 15 minutes, I was thinking of a lot of things. Some around just routinely planning my next week, some about calculating how much I was delayed, but more so, being grateful that I was in the position of "helping" rather than "being helped". Also in my mind was the emotion (both positive and negative) of having to work from home for a few weeks. 

        Would not commuting be good? Of course. Having taken the train for 8-9 months, it was draining. The frantic search for parking in the morning , the hope to get a seat (and not having to give it up in "being a gentleman"), the uphill climb on 2nd street on an empty stomach , plus the scare of COVID due to packed trains (BART was particularly crowded in the rush hours)

        But barring that, I had loved coming to the city. The office was almost always full, there was always chatter, the food (and especially the chocolates and desserts ) were nice, our CEO would greet everyone like they were family and in the evening, I would love the pace of the city as people scrambled to get home , reminding me of some of the office trips I did with my Mom and Dad to VT in Bombay (yeah, VT and Bombay ! )

           The bus arrived soon, and I was able to escort the lady all the way to a public place on the Bart station where she (and I also) felt relieved and went on with our day.  I was feeling happy that I was able to get her and also wasn't too delayed . Now, I was a train ride away from "home" given my parents, wife and daughter were all there.

         The next day, we went to a grocery store to "stock up". A store where normally you would not see 3 customers at one time, had a line which stretched 50 yards out of the store. The owner was so slow in billing, that I almost felt like volunteering for some time to relieve everyone of the stress . In the line, a few young Indian kids were behind me (yeah, I am now at an age where I can use that term). One hour into the line, and the guy had managed to get the girl's name and add her on LinkedIn . I was patiently waiting and this thought had brought some humor / positivity to the otherwise looming stress that everyone was  anticipating. 

    

        There were so many funny things we did. For example, I went to Safeway a day before the county's stay at home order took place. The crowd there was more than I had ever seen. An elderly staffer there told me that the store was going to open as normal tomorrow at 6 am and she assured that everything would be available. But still, no one was willing to wait , no one knew what was coming. I remember buying things like "powdered milk creamers" - just in case things reached a point where a curfew-like atmosphere ensued.

        The next few weeks were different. As everyone adopted to the new lifestyle, they were happy than sad . People played games, played music with plates, adopted a "enjoy these days", "respect the healthcare workers" . Soon enough, the plight of those affected economically by this saddened us. The plight of migrants, business owners, restauranters drowned the early cheer .  Some images made the world stand up and pay attention to the seriousness behind this.

         But still, by and large, everyone expected this to be a temporary phase. A month, two at most and then things will return to normal. After all, Mumbai local trains have never shut down for more than a few days (even during heavy rains) , either ways, we'll get there. 

 

         Except that it did not. Numbers started growing, emotions became murkier. Businesses started shutting down. People started struggling with life. Children were losing their active life. Doctors were working overtime . A year down the line , while life has moderately returned to "some" normalcy, it looks like the thought of living life as it was before 2020 seems like a far fetched dream. It almost always feels like, some day , I'll tell Kavya. Yeah, those things, yes, we used to do them before 2020 . 

          And that brings me to the main thought I wanted to express. That of gratitude. To be, to live, to exist. To have the technology that at least made life livable - imagine it happening in 1990 . Gratitude t have doctors and researches who have been racing to get to a vaccine. To have a smartphone and the internet to make medical co-ordination easier. If someone told me that I would spend an entire year without traveling 40 miles away from my house, I would have laughed like crazy.  It someone told me that I would not visit a movie theater for an entire year, or not sit down in a restaurant for an entire year, I would have said "I'll go mad". If I did not meet friends or co-workers for a year, I thought I would have a nervous breakdown.

           Yet, here we are. One year down. A realization that when life gives you problems, it gives you enough strength to face them.  Of course, it is easy for me to say, but I am sure some people have suffered much more economic hardships and my heart goes out to them. 

And for one, this time we are united in the fight. All of you reading it. All 7,854,896,896 of us. Needless to say , this speech is more important in today's time than ever before