This isnt an attempt to write an elegy about the man. Better and gifted pens have already done that. Neither is this an attempt to "statistically" prove the "greatness" of this man and how he is "non pareil". Those have been done to death as well.
I am just representative of the coterie of preponderant number of people who entered their teenage world with the entry of cable TV, liberalized economy, rapidly changing middle class dynamics, clandestinely purchased Debonairs, paradigm shift in middle class values, increased access to happenings in "western world", ubiquitous Street cricket, cornucopia of Hardy boys, Nancy Drew's and Archies, highly accommodative parents, over achieving siblings, the ravishing Steffi Grafs, vanishing Sabatinis', ebullient Agassis and one man whose presence in the currently playing Indian Cricket team could bring our whole day to a standstill.
Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar.
In hindsight it is amazing how the Sachin phenomenon had perpetrated into the Indian collective consciousness ( especially the middle class the one I was intimately acquainted with ). I am an unabashed Sachin fan ( using it as loosely as possible ) not because of his exquisite strokeplay, his dazzling cover drives, his scintillating straight drives, his pulverizing pulls or the impeccable prancing down the tracks to hoist the hapless fast bowler for a maximum.
It was for all this and so much more.
Again going down the nostalgic lane it is amazing how much of my teenage life I remember revolving around Sachin and his innings.
There would be plenty in this forum who, I am sure ,like me would have feigned illness on a match day just to watch the little Master play.
There would be plenty who would have sneaked a radio into the class just to be updated ball by ball how Sachin (ostensibly "India" ) was progressing. (Remember no mobile phones in mid nineties)
There would be plenty who like me would have dreamed before a match day the Little Master would yet again score a century. Assuming they slept.
There would be plenty who like me could recount in amazing detail the exact words he spoke in the man of the match ceremony, the way he got off the mark, the number of balls he took to do it, the way he "unfortunately" got out, the number of fours and sixes you ask? Child's play.
There would be plenty of people like me who would have had a knot in their stomach every ball he faced. Waiting. Hoping against hope hopen. The desperate of us even praying.
There would be plenty of people who like me would have hurled imprecations on the poor non striker who didn't have the "common sense" to "take a single" and give "strike" to the Little Master.
There would again be plenty like me who would have missed the "model board exam" ( oh what is the wrath of the principle and parents when compared to the master dancing down the track and giving Warne the nightmares of his life? Nothing was comparable to it and nothing could have compensated missing it.) and sneaked into Chepauk stadium just to see the Little man take on the mighty Australians .
There would be plenty like me who would have read the dependable "The Hindu" the moment we woke up after a match day, the habitual morning ablutions hardly being a priority.
There would be plenty like me who when introduced to a girl who professed interest in cricket and actually remembered how much Sachin scored in the last match would immediately start believing in soul mates.
There would be plenty like me who would have devoured every article about the Master ( Favorite being R. Mohan's ) and still feeling no adjectives could do justice to him.
There would be plenty like me who would have expressed an undisguised scorn at the disinterest shown by the sis and the parents with their callous and blasphemous "I don't understand what the big deal is!!"
There would be plenty like me who would have thought spending a whole three hours seeing the Little master striking a ball with a wood a life well spent.
There would be plenty like me who would have stayed well late into the night just to catch the highlights after watching the full match in the morning. Sometimes watch a re run of the match again in the night.
Finally there would be plenty like me for whom teenage life without Sachin would be almost unimaginable as The God Father without Don Corleone.
Lets face it there are probably people like me out there for whom it was never really about India actually "winning". ( If Sachin plays and they win it would be just a "nice feeling". )
Who really cares about how many matches India actually "won" because of his contribution?
It's like arguing Britney Spears sells more than Beethoven ergo Britney Spears is a better artist.
Yes that's bad logic but logic, teenage life and Sachin didn't really go hand in hand
For some of us it wasn't really about winning at all.
It is the realization how far we would have gone to just see him play that shot.
Oh just to see him on the pitch.
Oh the unbridled pure adulation for a man whose dismissal could break a billion hearts.
Oh if there was heaven it would be just it.
It's a moment of epiphany which plenty of people like me would have gone through.
It wouldn't be banal to say "You can take Sachin out of the Indian team but can never ever take him out of some people's teenage life! "
- a great article on a fan's website. It's not my original work.
Monday, May 31, 2010
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Zindagi Kis Talaash Mein Hai
Kuch saaye, kuch parchhaiyyan, kuch chahat ke sajde,
Kuch behtey baadlo pe rakhi ummeedein, barasti rahi, tarasti rahi,
Chaand aasman pe jade suraakh ki tarah jhaankta raha,
Aur raat kisi andhe kuen ki tarah mooh khole haanfti rahi;
Raaste paaon tale nikalte rahe, na ruke, na thame,
Na Roka, na poocha, Zindagi kis talaash mein hai.
Zindagi thakne lagi hai,
Aur ye, zindagi ka judwa,
Uski unglee pakde, sheher ki nangi sadko par,
Abhi tak kuch been raha hai, kuch dhoond raha hai
-Gulzar
Kuch behtey baadlo pe rakhi ummeedein, barasti rahi, tarasti rahi,
Chaand aasman pe jade suraakh ki tarah jhaankta raha,
Aur raat kisi andhe kuen ki tarah mooh khole haanfti rahi;
Raaste paaon tale nikalte rahe, na ruke, na thame,
Na Roka, na poocha, Zindagi kis talaash mein hai.
Zindagi thakne lagi hai,
Aur ye, zindagi ka judwa,
Uski unglee pakde, sheher ki nangi sadko par,
Abhi tak kuch been raha hai, kuch dhoond raha hai
-Gulzar
Friday, April 23, 2010
Fortune 100 Companies - Profile Manager - BUS657 Final Project.wmv
MBA Decision Tools and Visualization: Fortune 100 Company Profile Manager
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Strategic Decision Analysis..I'm loving it !
Rivalry of Technology giants: Microsoft, Yahoo, Google and Apple - Importance of strategies and strategic moves.
The Big 4 have battled for long and employed different strategies, made a mix of sequential and simultaneous strategic moves against each other to excel in the industry.
Microsoft had the first mover advantage with "Hotmail" but couldn't keep up. "Yahoo mail" and eventually "Gmail" overtook.
Yahoo, with the launch of its search engine, became the most popular website. It's strategy was to identify what people wanted and then build upon the requirement. Google made the strategic move by thinking ahead in time what people might want, what would be beneficial for future users. It used this concept to launch the most successful search engine, as we all know: www.google.com
Microsoft is trying to catch up and it recently launched "Bing". It's strategic move was to differentiate by providing an active engine for searching low air fares, electronics etc. If latest talks are to be believed, Microsoft and other media companies are thinking of ways to block Google from indexing their content and make it available exclusively by Bing.
Now, Yahoo has recently launched BOSS (Build Your Own Search Service), a customizable search engine by user itself.
In terms of OS (Operating System), who can forget the launch of MAC from Apple, amidst the monopoly ( and hence huge success) of Microsoft Windows. Apple played it on user experience, security and innovation and took a pie from Microsoft. It was important for Apple to launch Mac OS as Apple was going through a rough phase. Now, Google has joined the race and launched "Google Chrome OS", just a few days ago. It takes the step into the future by utilizing "Cloud Computing". The success of Chrome OS is yet to be observed.
Music industry couldn't remain unaffected. When Apple launched iPod, Microsoft responded with Zune.
There are numerous examples, from past, present and will continue in the future. Strategically, it's better for all of them to work together ( somehow ! ) and continue to enhance user-experience. ( this is at least I want as a user myself)
Microsoft's bid to acquire Yahoo, although an unsuccessful attempt, does indicate the strategic moves that companies are willing to make in order to gain competitive advantage.
Sources (Live links):
http://www.istockanalyst.com/article/viewarticle/articleid/3207435
http://www.economist.com/businessfinance/displaystory.cfm?story_id=14955213&fsrc=rss
http://developer.yahoo.com/search/boss/
The Big 4 have battled for long and employed different strategies, made a mix of sequential and simultaneous strategic moves against each other to excel in the industry.
Microsoft had the first mover advantage with "Hotmail" but couldn't keep up. "Yahoo mail" and eventually "Gmail" overtook.
Yahoo, with the launch of its search engine, became the most popular website. It's strategy was to identify what people wanted and then build upon the requirement. Google made the strategic move by thinking ahead in time what people might want, what would be beneficial for future users. It used this concept to launch the most successful search engine, as we all know: www.google.com
Microsoft is trying to catch up and it recently launched "Bing". It's strategic move was to differentiate by providing an active engine for searching low air fares, electronics etc. If latest talks are to be believed, Microsoft and other media companies are thinking of ways to block Google from indexing their content and make it available exclusively by Bing.
Now, Yahoo has recently launched BOSS (Build Your Own Search Service), a customizable search engine by user itself.
In terms of OS (Operating System), who can forget the launch of MAC from Apple, amidst the monopoly ( and hence huge success) of Microsoft Windows. Apple played it on user experience, security and innovation and took a pie from Microsoft. It was important for Apple to launch Mac OS as Apple was going through a rough phase. Now, Google has joined the race and launched "Google Chrome OS", just a few days ago. It takes the step into the future by utilizing "Cloud Computing". The success of Chrome OS is yet to be observed.
Music industry couldn't remain unaffected. When Apple launched iPod, Microsoft responded with Zune.
There are numerous examples, from past, present and will continue in the future. Strategically, it's better for all of them to work together ( somehow ! ) and continue to enhance user-experience. ( this is at least I want as a user myself)
Microsoft's bid to acquire Yahoo, although an unsuccessful attempt, does indicate the strategic moves that companies are willing to make in order to gain competitive advantage.
Sources (Live links):
http://www.istockanalyst.com/article/viewarticle/articleid/3207435
http://www.economist.com/businessfinance/displaystory.cfm?story_id=14955213&fsrc=rss
http://developer.yahoo.com/search/boss/
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
SDA - Drug Hoarding and 'Prisoner's Dilemma'
What is Prisoner's Dilemma ?
The prisoner's dilemma is only one of many illustrative examples of the logical reasoning and complex decisions involved in game theory. The prisoner's dilemma takes the form of a situation or game where two people must separately make decisions that will have consequences not only for their own self, but also for each other. When stuck in the situation or when playing the game, people confront a dilemma concerning their decisions, because when motivated solely by self-interest, they face more severe consequences than when motivated by group interests, as illustrated below. In order to make the best choice, each player would have to know what the other will do, but the structure of prisoner's dilemma prohibits players from having such knowledge, unless the situation or game is repeated. The prisoner's dilemma also is generally characterized by its lack of a single optimal strategy and the reliance of both parties on each other to achieve more favorable results.
Drug Hoarding Example: Understanding the Rash Urge to Stockpile Antibiotics
Dilemmas often arise when people feel vulnerable. A case in point is the situation regarding the drug Ciprofloxacin, which some are stockpiling more to combat anxiety than to ward off anthrax.
The benefit of these purchases is a feeling of greater personal security, but one social cost is that Cipro may be in short supply if and when it's needed in large quantities. Another social cost is the increased bacterial resistance to the antibiotic that is likely to result from its widespread use.
This is a classic case of The Prisoner's Dilemma.
If we refrain from buying our own supplies of Cipro, there will be more available in any emergency and the bacteria that constitute our common environment will not have as many tutorials to help them learn how to outwit the antibiotics.
Alas, this is not to say that buying Cipro in anticipation of a possible emergency never makes sense, especially if one believes that the conditions of the prisoner's dilemma simply do not apply or that the public health system will not be up to the job in an emergency.
The best way public health people can minimize hoarding is to repeatedly stress that there is not yet such an emergency. And short of an unpredictable and improbable scientific breakthrough by a scientist in the employ of terrorists, the risk from anthrax is tiny.
Another way to limit private stockpiling is for authorities, preferably scientists rather than politicians, to clearly proclaim that penicillin and doxycycline are also effective in combatting anthrax and that there is no shortage of these drugs. Finally, if and when much more Cipro is deemed necessary, government officials can always break the drug's patent, as Canada has done prematurely, and go to generic versions of the drug.
I reinforce the writer's viewpoint that the bottom line is that private stockpiling of antibiotics makes no sense for most people. Nevertheless, for the relatively few who feel especially vulnerable — because of their psychology, physical location, or occupation — buying the drugs is not an irrational way to increase their feeling of security (as long as they refrain from taking them without a very good reason to suspect exposure).
The results and after-effects of such a scenario are eagerly awaited which might lead to another form of dilemma.
Reference: http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/
The prisoner's dilemma is only one of many illustrative examples of the logical reasoning and complex decisions involved in game theory. The prisoner's dilemma takes the form of a situation or game where two people must separately make decisions that will have consequences not only for their own self, but also for each other. When stuck in the situation or when playing the game, people confront a dilemma concerning their decisions, because when motivated solely by self-interest, they face more severe consequences than when motivated by group interests, as illustrated below. In order to make the best choice, each player would have to know what the other will do, but the structure of prisoner's dilemma prohibits players from having such knowledge, unless the situation or game is repeated. The prisoner's dilemma also is generally characterized by its lack of a single optimal strategy and the reliance of both parties on each other to achieve more favorable results.
Drug Hoarding Example: Understanding the Rash Urge to Stockpile Antibiotics
Dilemmas often arise when people feel vulnerable. A case in point is the situation regarding the drug Ciprofloxacin, which some are stockpiling more to combat anxiety than to ward off anthrax.
The benefit of these purchases is a feeling of greater personal security, but one social cost is that Cipro may be in short supply if and when it's needed in large quantities. Another social cost is the increased bacterial resistance to the antibiotic that is likely to result from its widespread use.
This is a classic case of The Prisoner's Dilemma.
If we refrain from buying our own supplies of Cipro, there will be more available in any emergency and the bacteria that constitute our common environment will not have as many tutorials to help them learn how to outwit the antibiotics.
Alas, this is not to say that buying Cipro in anticipation of a possible emergency never makes sense, especially if one believes that the conditions of the prisoner's dilemma simply do not apply or that the public health system will not be up to the job in an emergency.
The best way public health people can minimize hoarding is to repeatedly stress that there is not yet such an emergency. And short of an unpredictable and improbable scientific breakthrough by a scientist in the employ of terrorists, the risk from anthrax is tiny.
Another way to limit private stockpiling is for authorities, preferably scientists rather than politicians, to clearly proclaim that penicillin and doxycycline are also effective in combatting anthrax and that there is no shortage of these drugs. Finally, if and when much more Cipro is deemed necessary, government officials can always break the drug's patent, as Canada has done prematurely, and go to generic versions of the drug.
I reinforce the writer's viewpoint that the bottom line is that private stockpiling of antibiotics makes no sense for most people. Nevertheless, for the relatively few who feel especially vulnerable — because of their psychology, physical location, or occupation — buying the drugs is not an irrational way to increase their feeling of security (as long as they refrain from taking them without a very good reason to suspect exposure).
The results and after-effects of such a scenario are eagerly awaited which might lead to another form of dilemma.
Reference: http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/
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