Field hockey and its progress over time

Last time India won any major tournament in Hockey was the World Cup in 1975, in Kuala Lumpur, under the captainship of Ajit Pal Singh. That was eons ago and many who would be reading this weren't even born.

India did win Moscow Olympics gold in 1980, however it was not a normal tournament, severly curtailed due to the  boycott by the then hockey powerhouses of West Germany, Australia, Pakistan and Netherlands.

Moscow Olympics was followed by India hosting the World Cup tournament in 1981-82. It was perhaps the last World Cup played on grass surface. Led by the fiery finisher Hassan Sardar, Pakistan defeated West Germany 5-3 in the finals.

The gritty Germans hit back through their hard hitting German skipper and Penalty Corner specialist Michael Peter, who scored a hat trick. But it wasn't enough to stop the marauding Pakistani forwards.

Pakistan continued its good form, whereas India's started declining. The difference between the traditional rivals was the finishing inside the D, from where you are allowed to score goals in Hockey. Pakistani forwards Hassan Sardar and later Shahbaz Ahmed would create havoc inside the oppoents D. Indian fowrards though fast, fumbled way too often inside the D and lost their way.

Another weak link of India was its weakness to convert Penalty Corners  into goals, a uniquely valuable goal scoring opportunity. The Dutch Paul Litjens, Jan Bovelander, the Germans Michael Peter, Carsten Fisher, all were accurate, hitting the ball at devaststing speed and scoring tons of goals.

The talented Pakistani PC expert Shoail Abbas, though not as fast as Europeans was an outstanding drag and flick Specialist, who was considered one of the best in the history of hickey. He would hold his nerve inside the D and wait for that split second to drag and flick into the goal.

As hockey slowly shifted to Synthetic Turf, so also the advantage to the Europeans and the Australians. Yet the Pakistanis, gifted by its talented strikers continued their good form. Led by the indomitable Hassan Sardar they won the hockey gold in 1984, where all major powers participated.

Pakistan, with players like Shahbaz Ahmed, Wasim Feroze and Shohail Abbas continued to give the Europeans and the Australians run for money. They went to the finals of World Cup in 1989-90. They also won a bronze in 1992, Barcelona Olympics.

But in spite of having world class players like Mohammed Shahid, Pargat Singh and Dhanraj Pillai and flashes of brilliance, hockey India continued on its path towards decline. The reasons are multiple. Hockey is never a mass sports in any nation but the limited resources  were managed well by their boards.

This is where Indian Hockey Federation, known to be both inept and corrupt, failed spectacularly. I don't want to dig much into it, but KPS Gill, the Punjab super cop's handling of terrorism automatically qualified him to be IHF chief. During his tenure it was rumored that Scotch flowed liberally IHF meetings held in the upper floors of 5 star hotels, where as the ground reality was he failed to resuscitate Indian hockey.

In this context, India reaching the finals of a major tournament after a long time is quite significant. Hockey is going through an interesting phase. The Dutch and Spain aren't in best form. Germany looks wobbly. Only Australia still retains its edge, a perennial thorn in Indian flesh, whether it is cricket or hockey, and not to mention Belgium - the new rising kid in the block.

The Indian team will be the underdogs against their more fancied rival from "Down Under" tonight. Irrespective of the results of the final - there is a lots of positives from team India which bodes well for the future. If sustained on the long run, rest assured we should be back among the rest of the top notch - the perfect boost ahead of the Rio Olympics.

The Orlando killer- A psychological profile

In America, after you turn 18, often your friends (girl or boy) and spouses know more about you, than your parents. Because they're the ones who have the closest access to your closet and privacy  and have knowledge of you within the perimeters of within four walls when the personality of a person can be barely hidden.

In that context the interview of the ex-wife of the Orlando killer Omar on CNN was an interesting view - a rear rooms eye view of a disturbed personality.

Per his ex-wife, Intitially after marriage Omar was a normal, funny guy. But after a month of marriage, the reality came out. He would erupt into Fits of anger, followed  followed by physical abuse.
He showed signs of bipolar disorder, mood swings - a classic case of an unstable, insane person.

Another interesting fact which vindicates his bipolarism - though he pledged allegiance to ISIS, he sang eulogies of Hezbollah, a Shia organization. ISIS, a Sunni outfit consider Shias as heretics and no fan of Hezbollah.

Raja festival and modern usage of Odia

The month of June is regarded as the beginning of summer in USA, whereas in Odisha it marks the beginning of the end of the blistering summer season. Raja Sankranti, a prevalen, popular festival pertaining to Odisha, especially in its long, rich Coastal part, veers around the same time - around mid June per the Gregorian calendar.

It is also considered as the harbinger of cooler rainy season, as the South West monsoon rolls over the state, lashing it with stripes of rain, bringing much needed relief from heat and prickly humidity, healing the parched earth dried from a long Indian summer.

As the silvery monsoon rains ornament the thick humid air, the perfume of PODA PITHA (baked rice cake) pervades the environment. Young and old alike play on swings, with men snarling their blackened teeth and girls exposing red pouty lips - post effect from chewing PAAN (betel leaves with colored condiments).

The drenched earth, now softened by the rains gets ready for tilling, marking the beginning of the tilling season. I still cherish the memories of trips to my ancestral village for a fun filled lunch of GHEE (clarified butter) laced NADIA KHECHUDI (coconut sprinkes sweet rice), followed by afternoon session on DOLI (swing).

Dinner would be PITHA rice cakes) and more PITHA - the icing on the cake would be occasionally PODA PITHA made from ripened TAALA, fruit from tall palm trees, as a fitting finale to a day of RAJA MAUJA (fun).

Couple of summers ago in Odisha, on the morning of RAJA Festival, I switched on TV. A promotional song LEMBU, ATI CHUPUDILE PITA (Excessively squeezed lemon taste bitter) from an Odia movie scheduled for the Raja release was playing in background, as an Odia actress, dancing to the tune of a song from that movie was being interviewed.

It didn't go unnoticed to me, that a discussion about an Odia movie, between an Odia anchor and an Odia leading actress getting released on a leading Odia festival, was taking place with a typical accented Odia with almost an equitable spread of 50% Odia, 30% English and 20% Hindi.

A person usually speaks with an accent when speaking a language other than the mother tongue. Odisha is perhaps the only place on earth, where many love to speak their own mother tongue with an accent.

Came evening, the local Odia channels, started giving me more headaches than a cold virus. During the Odia news, the screen flashed in English "BREAKING NEWS". Transliterated, it means BHANGA KHABARA (broken news) and is literally true, from the way the Odia anchors and newsreaders spoke in needless accented Broken Odia.

Like torrential rains, came pouring in more "Breaking News" - DURDANTA APARADHI CHAKULI GIRAF (Notorious criminal named CHAKULI has been arrested). And more, NAKALI GUTHKA COMPANY UPARE POLICE RA CHADHAU  (Police raids on fake chewing tobacco company).

As if not enough, I have come across a few more terms or phrases of modern Odia, derived from Hindi. A few samples below :

CHUTIA BANEILA (Chutia Banaya) -  Made an ass of me.

MAHANGA PADILA  (Mehnga Pada) - Prove costly.

KANA KHECHUDI PAKUCHI  (Kya Khichdi Pakta hai) - What's cooking

LAJABAAB (wonderful)

God save my mother tongue. Either it is enriching itself by liberally accepting the influx from other languages, or destined towards oblivion.

Ram Dulaari Maike Gayee

Single parenting is tough and no fun. Doing it for the first time in my life, I am  learning it the hard way, with my wife gone to India for more than a week now.

A person once went to an astrologer. The astrologer after seeing his chart said - You will beg after two years. "What will happen next ?" asked the person, now was somewhat concerned, expecting some sooth saying. The astrologer replied "You will get used to begging". Now I have got used to single parenting, as a week is a long time in politics and parenting (single).

Certain things women can do effectively and men are no match to them. Parenting and taking care of the house is one of them. As laundries pile up, the couch potato in me refuses to budge, using those piles as arm cushions on sofa.

Though I love preparing exotic dishes, cooking is a real pain in the butt when home alone. Cooking as a hobby is exhilarating, but as a habit can be boring - as Routine activities vs the Occasional ones. That explains the difference  between the phrases "eat to live" and "live to eat".

More than cooking, I feel bothered at the prospect of cleaning the AINTHA (soiled) plates. Even dumping the dishes into the dishwasher after the initial perfunctory rinse, has become a daunting task for the lazy me.

Frozen grocery items like the one in the picture are manna dew, providing some helping after a hard day at work. I also whole heartedly thank all my friends to help me outsource their perennial supply of food flowing into my plate. Their food keep my stomach filled, as the perpetual flow of water from the Himalayan glaciers prevent the river Ganga from going dry.

I fully miss my half attire (ARDHANGINI) or the better half - in simple terms, my wife. Lying flat on a pile of laundries, time and again I keep murmuring this Kishore Kumar's funny number ...

RAM DULARI MAIKE GAYEE
JO BHI PYAARI MAIKE GAYEE..

"My wife is at her parent's abode,
The loved one has gone abroad."

The icing on the cake is the following line from the song.

HUM SE BANIYE NA
BAINGAN KA BHARTA.

"Poor me can never make
The mashed Eggplant, easy to bake"..

Frugal coverage of Modi on American media - June 2016

A lot of coverage on Indian media, social or otherwise, is made of Modi's visit to US (in general) and his address to a joint session of their Congress (consists of members from House of Representatives and Senate) in particular.

It was a stupendous speech by a powerful orator who readily connects to the audience - a whole lot difference from his predecessors. Manmohan Singh hardly spoke. Vajpayee though a great orator in election rallies, was a poor communicator in townhall kind of format of addresses and interviews. Modi is a master of all platforms, which was vindicated from the body language of the audience and the applause he got.

But true to their color, our media back home goes by silly nuances, not substances. It hardly matters if Modi got 6 claps or 66 claps, 9 or 19 standing ovations. These numbers hardly matter.

What really matters is the result of his hard sell of India, which he should follow by removing still prevalent regulatory bottlenecks and improving the archaic infrastructure. Otherwise, Vietnam still beating India as a favored investment destination can't be reversed.

Sowing these seeds today will at least take till the year 2024 to yield some tangible results on the ground, assuming Modi gets another term. Till then, uncorking the Champagne can wait.

Yesterday, I scanned through several Indian and American news channels. All Indian news channels made extensive coverage of Modi's Congressional address, whereas not a single American Cable network, notably CNN, Fox and MSNBC thought it newsworty enough to take it to their Prime time slots.

My intention here is not to question Modi's ability or his mission to put India on the global map, putting a spanner on his rolling juggernaut. Modi's intention is sincere, noble and patriotic. There is not an iota of doubt about it.

Still whatever may be the reason behind this frugal coverage of Modi on Coke Land - it is, what it is. Feel free to infer, concurr or whatever, what I see is what I report, with a neutral prospective and without malice. If and when I see otherwise, your's truly will be the first person to report it. Till then....

Jubilee test of 1980

An one odd test match was played between India and England at Bombay (it wasn't Mumbai yet), in the month of February, 1980. It was called "The Jubilee Test" - a special test match to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of cricket matches played between the two nations.

Those days, there used to be a rest day scheduled in between, after the 3rd day of a Test match. This match, apart from being the Jubilee test, was special on another account. The rest day was scheduled on 16th of February, after the 1st day of the Test match, rather than the 3rd day. This was due to the Total Solar Eclipse which was viewed in many parts of India on 16th of February that year.

This match was memorable for mutiple reasons. Chasing India's first imnings total of 242, England was reeling at 5 wickets down with a meagre 58 on board.

Soon came the English wicket keeper Bob Taylor at the crease, only to be given out caught behind from a Kapil Dev delivery early in his innings. He protested with the skipper Vishwanath standing at the slip of not getting a nick. The ever gentleman Vishwanath, felt that Taylor was right and recalled him to bat.

Smiling at the other end was his partner, the danger man at the height of his form who earlier snapped 6 wickets out of India's first innings, the indomitable Ian Botham.

Needless to say, Bob and Botham made the most out of this decision. They went on a 100 run partnership, with Botham himself scoring a century, managing to carve out a valuable 50 plus first innings lead.

The English side showly recovered from that point, gaining steam and turning the match their way. Botham took 7 wickets in Indian second innings to polish off the home team for a paltry 149. England won this historic test by 10 wickets, aided by Botham's 10 wicket haul and century at a crucial moment.

It was Botham's test and expectedly he was the "Man of the Match". But the results could've been different, if Vishy didn't recall Taylor at a crucial juncture. Such gentlemanly gestures in the Gentleman's game, are now thing of past - a history by itself.

Modi's 4th trip to USA - June 2016

Once Obama's secretary informed the President - Someone just called but isn't saying anything. "Must be Manmohan, tell him Namaste" - said Obama. It's a joke we heard before.

But it is not a joke, when compared to our ex-Prime Minster, his present bearded counterpart is on the other side of the spectrum. He is extrovert, overtly flamboyant, doesn't hesitate to speak his mind or shy away from snatching the limelight in international forums.

As Modi visits Coke Land yet again, a record 4th time, it's turbulent time in American politics. Obama is considered as a lame duck at the fag end of his Presidency. So Modi is doing the smart thing by strategically addressing the Congress, whose members unlike their President are not restricted by term limit.

They have nothing to lose by accepting Modi's lucrative business offers, in the form of Arms and Defence deals and investments. For any Congressman (or woman), it would bring more revenue and jobs to their electorates, improving their electability in the next election. A win win situation for them.

No one understands business better than Uncle Sam - due to its rare ability to  blend innovation with trade to perfection, like rarest of the rare Blended Scotch Whiskeys. Its investors are attracted by seer number of people in India, their purchasing power fuelled by 8% GDP  growth.

It explains why the CEOs from Facebook to Apple visit India on regular basis. This happens at a time when China is showing all signs of a slowdown (After 35 years of stupendous growth, it was bound to and can afford a slowdown). This is an opportunity India shouldn't miss.

Modi, who is not alien to the Whirlwinds of politics, should be amart enough to understand the political wind blowing in the American heartland - a phenomena called Donal Trump, with the wind of change firmly behind him.

The Indian PM should take a moment to meet the man with the momentum. For
Modi it is deja vu - been there, seen that. Trump could be very well catapulted to power, same way he did. Not meeting Trump would be akin to missing an opportunity. (It will be wise not to put all eggs in one basket by meeting Hillary too).

First impression lasts long and personal chemistry amongs national leaders matter a lot. It's entirely possible, Modi and Trump, both Demagogues with similarities, can carry on as leaders of respective countries till 2014 (Modi if wins his reelection in 2019 and Trump could very well be a 2 term elected President, a tradition only broken twice in last 50 years).

There are challenges in this relationship.
Notwithstanding the reported bonhomie between India and US (seen mostly by our media back home, the mainstream American media doesn’t share the same euphoria), Pakistan continues to be strategically important to America, especially vis a vis in relation to its contentious Af-Pak (Afghanistan - Pakistan) policy. Just reverse the way  "Af-Pak", "Fak-Ap". As it sounds, it aptly summarizes the issue as it stands today, so also US policy in that turbulent neighborhood.

Call it an obsession, reality is the big elephant in the room called Pakistan, a factor which it can't easily ignore. Pakistan is America's first love, an old flame which just refuses to extinguish, coming back to haunt like a recurring migraine. Our western neighbor is often treated by Uncle Sam as a "con**m" time and again, used for convenience and conveniently discarded afterwards.

In that context, Modi is doing the right thing by sticking to his Business. A growing economy is making "Make in India" more attractive and he is doing a good job at hard selling it. It took China years to build its muscle power by building its economy. It's time not to rock the boat with as he stedies it at its helm.