A mother without her most favourite child as the subcontinental giants promise a super sunday

There is never any shortage of emotions nor any dearth of excitement when the subcontinental giants lock horns on a cricket field anywhere on this planet. I do not think ‘frenzy’ could have a better manifestation. Such is the impact of an India-Pakistan match.

A misty morning of 4^th march 1992 arrived amidst a frenzy, literally. The debut tour of this little boy wonder from Bombay had done enough to add to the wild excitement. An unbeaten 54 in 62 balls at SCG meant huge when one travels back the memory lane. India was languishing at 8^th position in the point table before the start of this match. Srikkanth, Azhar, Jadeja were back in the pavilion when Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar, the little master walked in to the middle to join his childhood friend and fellow Mumbaikar Vinod Kambli. Not so long after Kambli pulled a short-pitched one from the lesser Wasim (haidar), Jadeja flicked a delivery of the same bowler straight to Zahid Fazal at short mid-wicket. Came the tryst with the biggest stage, Sachin’s 36^th career ODI match. A fraction short from Aamir Sohail and the little master dispatched that to the deep mid wicket boundary. He drove, he cut and he punched the team go past 200. The man of the match award was the first of the three against the arch rival at the world cup.

The 1996 clash was more remembered for Prasad-Sohail and Jadeja-Waqar mini-battles than any other thing. As regards to Sachin, though the first wicket partnership was worth 90 runs in that high-octane quarter final at Chinnaswamy it was Navjot Singh Sidhu’s blade that was blazing more. Ajay Jadeja’s late assault could not probably have been timed better. What happened in the 2^nd half was epic and glad that Sachin’s patient 31 did not go in vain.

A bereaved master in 1999 joined back the team post finishing the last rituals and scored a classy century against Kenya. The loss against Zimbawe kept haunting the team as Ajay Jadeja’s brilliantly compiled century went in vain in the first match at the super six stage. Only a win over Pakistan at Old Trafford could have been the saving grace as they had carried nothing forward from the group stage. Not a big knock, but Sachin’s 45 was as fluent as it could have ever got. A strange rush of blood and he danced down to the track to Azhar Mahmood just to gist away an easy catch to Saqlain. Forgettable can only be apt to say the least. Thanks largely to a fiery Bangalorean who only knew how to take Pakistani wickets in pressure cooker situations that the master blaster ended up in the winning side.

A blistering statement of intent in the most eagerly awaited spectacle of the 2003, as was claimed by some cricket pundits  says it all. A chase of 273 never looked beyond reach. Cometh the occasion, cometh the man. Saeed Anwar’s classy century was reduced to a mere footnote as Sachin punched Wasim through covers. A little shuffle of the feet and a crafty handwork unfolded  the magic as the Shoaib’s bang got deposited over backward ropes. Such a pity that the six off Andrew Caddick was immediately rendered a lesser one. As if that was not enough, he followed it up with two sweeter-than-sweet boundaries. Shoiab was immediately taken off the attack, but the damage was already done. Even the cramps in his legs failed to put brake on the run machine. And guess what, Sachin was finally dismissed by him. Superstitions at work- I wish he had not taken the runner. Not a single word after this- 2003 was sent to the history book.

2007 was plain unlucky not to have witnessed an Indo-Pak meeting. A win over Pakistan, had they met and won would have given some real solace. Alas, destiny had other plans to force me to save some words. Horrendous time in the Caribbean islands, the Indian team had flown back even before the real business actually began. 

A fitting 2011 edition from India’s point of view looked like scripted and played to perfection. To quote a certain Virat Kohli, “It is time to carry a person (Sachin) on our shoulders, who has been carrying the dreams of millions on his shoulders since two decades.” I do not think I could coin better words or I could frame a better sentence. Sachin rode on greasy Pakistani palms to yet another man of the match and a ticket to history. I do not think Sachin himself would be so proud of the way it happened. However in the context of the game the 85 runs     studded with 11 hits to the fence ensured that the juggernaut rolled on. It would have been such a shame for the best batsman to have donned the coloured clothing in the biggest cricketing extravaganza had he walked into the sunset with the trophy still eluding his kitty.

Life has moved on ever since a Dhoni-led Indian team revisited the podium after a good 28 years. However, the tag of defending champion is quite intimidating. We may not possibly imagine the amount of pressure that this Indian squad will have to handle. But as followers a billion cricket enthusiasts in India will certainly not accept anything less than the coveted trophy. Of late, things have not really been so sweet to write about. Many eyebrows were raised when the world cup bound squad was announced. Most, including your truly, were expecting a certain Yuvraj Singh in the scheme of things especially after his three tons in domestic circuit. But the selectors had other plans and I guess we have to live with that. I must drop a caveat here that all Indians wear a non-challengeable I-know-my-cricket tag on their sleeves. Come what may, they do not like those to be challenged, let alone being taken away.

Few hours from now and all eyeballs will be eagerly diverted to the island continent. If the build up to the tournament is anything to go by Indian hopes are so unfairly hovering around the wicket keeper captain and his deputy who regained his red hot form in the just concluded test series down under. Some amount of cynicism is bound to creep in as our expectations are as high as an Everest.

Notwithstanding the  over reactive fans and critics ripping apart the team even before the tourney takes off, I would certainly give whatever Dhoni’s men deserve. Team selection is something we do not really need to worry about. What we must now look forward to is how the combination of an eleven performs on those given days. I am sure the guys know their business the best. And, they are out there to do the job. Its only us who get high on a win and low on a loss without even shading a split second’s thought that the opposition teams are not just there to complete the draw. 

I am still trying hard to come to terms with a world cup without the two master blasters -Sunil Gavaskar and Sachin Tendulkar taking part. Though we will, most certainly, get to see or hear Sunny as a commentator and/or a columnist, Sachin may elude us. On a very personal note, I had never visualised any cricket world cup without Sachin, honestly. So I will take this one on 14^th February 2015 with a pinch of salt. Mother of all cricketing clashes will certainly miss her most favourite child. Now it is up to the Sunday to live up to its promise.

SACH a Day that belonged to no one else !!!

19^th May 1999 it was. Cannot possibly forget this day. Was lying on my bed at SGPGI, Lucknow after going under the knife to correct prolapsed L-4, L-5 discs. It was freaking painful to lay on the bed 24x7. Life was like: straight from the cricket ground to the OT. Though I knew deep down there that the surgery could be due anytime, something in me never listened to the docs and thereby aggravating the injury. Few mad late-nights of games of baddy and volleyball at IIT-K and then a trip to BITs Pilani for their sports meet in fact proved to be too expensive.  Wearing the morning sun on the shoulders is  ok as long as it is not burning your skin. But I had in fact allowed myself a dive into the nuclei of the hot sun.

With his reading glasses up on the forehead Dr Chhabra looked at my  MRI reports and then turned to his young residents. Exact words were – “ well, I don’t see a purpose in investing my time for this case. Completely useless”. I broke into tears- not because I thought I might not get cured properly but simply because I was in the grip of a terrible sense of uncertainty ‘ I might not be stepping into a sports-shed again’. I started tumbling. With a desperate try get back some sort of composure, I blabbered – Sir, will I be able to play again?’ . Dr Chhabra gave me a real dirty look and said “ will India lose a gold medal if you don’t go to Sydney Olympics? Any ways, do not worry I have told these docs to take good care of your freakin a**”. I got back my life that I had just lost 2 min back. Rest of time spent at SGPGI was nothing less than meaningless for me.  Couple of days later I was on my routine rehab along th 6^th floor corridor of the neuro surgery ward. Overheard a conversation between a doc and an old man- could easily be into his 80’s who was due for his scalp to be wide open on 23^rd. The gentleman was pleading to postpone his surgery by a solitary day (solitary day?)

By that time India had suffered a major blow to its dwindling World Cup hopes when Sachin Tendulkar returned home following the death of his father. And his teammates made it worse for him and the country by losing the match against Zimbabwe from a seemingly `unlosable' position.

Going into the match with a big handicap such as the absence of Sachin, India made a complete hash of things while bowling to Zimbabwe conceding 51 extras and, worse, being penalised four full overs for slow overrate. As if this complete lack of cricketing acumen were not enough they followed it up with a batting performance which alternately lifted and sank India's spirits before finally crumbling by just three runs. All it required was one batsman to stand up and snatch victory which was within their grasp, but player after player flattered only to deceive.

All that old man was begging was to watch the match vs Kenya. This guy puts behind the loss of his father to play a god-damn cricket match. He was not prepared to concede that it  was  just a cricket match. For him, it was worth trading a life for. I cannot afford to lay unconscious on the operation table while he takes the field, come what may. To my utter disbelief I had allowed two heavy teary lines down my cheeks. The entire ward was lined up behind that old gentleman’s passion forcing the team of docs to do just as destiny would have scripted. What unfolded on 23^rd May 1999, as they say is history.

I had completely forgotten that my back was cut and hammered couple of days back. Was dying to get on my knees, touch this grand old man’s feet which was never to be. But man, I tell you I get moist eyed even today when I recall that day even in passing.

SACH was /is the impact. Happy birth day, SACHIN !

SACH is the IMPACT !

Sachayee ki kasam, aaj jo kahunga sach kahunga. Sachin , oops I mean sirf Sach hi Sach, in ke siwa kuchh nehin kahunga......

A misty evening of 1987 winter. We, a bunch of 12-14 yr olds, were done with our daily bit of cricket and with our share of casual chit-chats. My maternal uncle, who I still admire as the greatest follower of the game of cricket was, almost like a Whatmore, giving us a pep-talk. On any other day, he would throw at us some anecdotes from 1983 world cup and then the audi aura. This day was different. He just pulled out a local news magazine (prajatantra saptahiki, from those good old days). That’s the only thing we always used to read from the last page. It was a story about these two young boys from Bombay smashing their way to a world record partnership of 664. We were like , awwww- a partnership of 664 runs!!! Little we knew at that point in time that we were to destined to have sach (such) a reason to be happy for the next two decades.

No hitherto existing adjective could probably be sufficient to describe Sachin Tendulkar, the phenomenon. My intention has never been to undermine the contribution of others to this beautiful game of cricket. However, when it comes to single out a reason for myself to describe why I loved this game so much I may not even have to shed a hundredth of a second. The name silently grew from the tranquillity of that misty evening to the uneasy calmness of inevitability through every single cricketing day.

As the Indian team travelled across the border, it signalled the start of a wonderful journey -the journey, not of Sachin, but of mine. The journey that could not have been scripted better. The journey that was filled with fun, loaded with emotions, bumped by expectations of unmatchable magnitude not exceeded, tagged with an incommunicable sense of feeling that was sometimes sweeter than sweet and sometimes more painful than pain. Now when I take a pause and look back with poise, I see a journey that has been so superbly embarked on and so amazingly performed.

I enjoyed the thrashing of Abdul Qadir like any other Indian would have.  The thrill of listening to the commentary on AIR is still unmatched even after 24 years of serious following of sports across the globe. The arrival on the biggest stage was loud and clear. Then on it was a seamless travel for me across the countries, across the cricketing venues and over weeks, months, years and decades. Now this inevitable does not make me feel depressing nor does it make me wish for anything more.

The agony over the missed ton at Napier in 1990, the joy of the maiden century at Old Trafford in 1991, the graduation from a boy wonder to a little master at WACA 1992, the redefining of one day cricket at Auckland in 1994, the baptising at Johannesburg in 1992,  the Sydney saga that also began in 1992, the first ODI hundred in Colombo in 1994, the anguish over the 1996 world cup semi-final at Eden, the Nottingham masterpiece in 1996,  the desert storm at Sharjah in 1998 that became a folklore in latter days, the chepauk and chinnaswamy mauling in 1998 that gave warnie nightmares, the incurable pain of Chepauk in 1999, shrugging off the irreparable loss of his father and turning around for a business like ton against Kenya in 1999 world cup, the upper cut at Bloemfontein in 2001 that must have come from 10+years of experience, the even more audacious one that was specially reserved to derail  the Rawalpindi express ,  the Durban pull in 2003 (ask Andy Caddick),  the straight-drives that would have gone past the best of the bowlers in business a thousand times, the Sydney masterclass of 2004, the history-making at Gwalior in 2008, the healing touch from  Chennai  at the backdrop of 26/11 in 2008, the repeat of a Sharjah in the CB series best-of-three finals in Australia in 2008, the Aussie thrashing again at Hyderabad in 2009, the resurgence of vintage Sachin in 2010, the capetown revisit in 2011, the arrival of the long eluded trophy in 2011, the history making in 2012  and finally the walk into the sunset……Thanks Sachin for giving us what you have given us.

As Sachin travelled, travelled dreams of a billion. As he straight drove past the bowler, drove crazy a billion feet. As he stepped out to loft over the bowler’s head, stepped up the hopes of an entire nation. As he punched one through the covers, punched the fists of a billion. As he square cut a rising outswinger, squared fairly the duel over bowlers’ reputations. As he paddle swept, swept away the opposition’s plans to contain the run machine.  As he released the pressure of the batsman at the other end, put under pressure were the opposition bowlers. As he raised his bat acknowledging the applause, raised the wave of his supporters’ pride. As Sachin  lived his dreams over 24 years, we  lived HIM with huge privilege and distinct pride.

I have absolutely no clue how someone can actually remain so humble, so unassuming and so sane. I keep saying this to my folks, if I were Sachin Tendulkar I would have employed someone to run for me in the middle. Before 1989 it was just ‘cricket’ for me, then came ‘Sachin’ and from now on it would be just ‘cricket’ again. At this moment as I steal a glance of the sunset and evolution of this beautiful game with incredibly huge sense of contentment I can only say THANK YOU SACHIN for having been there and done that!

Sur na saje kya gaaun mein....

Heard someone saying ‘every song has its DEY’! Sans this Dey- Prabodh Chandra Dey aka manna dey- songs are never going to be the same again... I faintly remember as a very young boy I used to get glued to my transistor to listen to an oriya song 'jamuna jaa na, jaa na jamuna, kadamba mula re luchichi se kanha...." the singer of which I had absolutely no idea about...Sometime down the line when I kind of developed some elementary sense of/for music, it was the velvet voice in that  duet- 'aja sanam madhur chandni mein hum'  from the hindi movie 'chori chori' took me into its grip....Melody at its typical best and manna-da doing what he always does the best... The inimitable rendering in 'laga chunri mein daag'  from 'dil hi to hai' was just a chance stumble upon and remains one of my ATFs till date... The taraana to end that song, I reckon is the best possible thing to have ever happened to hindi film music.. Those were the times when we were not blessed with getting any song that you want at your finger tip. All India Radio and/or cassette tapes were the only resort. There was this friend of mine in Hyderabad, Satya who must have taken pain to sing (on demand)the taraana for us umpteen number of times , anytime anywhere- many times reluctantly and understandably so.... Some of my Bengali hostel mates introduced me to the bangla gem- 'coffee houser sei adda ta aaj aar nei' and ‘bado adorer chhoto boun'. I don’t think I can thank them enough. As if those were not enough, the silken touch in 'ae meri zohra jabeen' stamped manna da's impact somewhere in me which later got reinforced by the 'basant bahar' locking-horns-of-the-titans rendering (with pt Bhimsen Joshi), 'ketaki gulab juhi champak bane phoole....' . Another dear friend Bama can only vouch for the number of times we would have passionately listened to and endlessly discussed this particular song.

‘Coffee houser sei adda ta’ and ‘laga chunri mein daag’ will walk into my top-10 all time favourites, if I am put at gun point and asked to pick such a list. Had Manna-da sung only these two and nothing else, I repeat nothing else, still he would be a darling of same stature that he is right now.

I cannot possibly imagine the movie Anand being complete without manna da’s immaculate rendering ‘zindagi kaisi hai paheli haye, kabhi to hasaye kabhi to rulaye.’ At the same time, I don’t think anyone else could have done better justice to Jaydev’s mesmerizing composition of Harivanshrai Bachchan’s ‘madhushala’.

It is a no-brainer that for a classical number Manna-da must have been the first choice for many music composers of yesteryears. But he was equally preferred for many unforgettable melodies. I was always in awe of Manna-da’s  versatility that he established by singing songs of an incredibly  wide range of genres and singing them with impeccable ease . While we could easily associate the songs like ‘ sur na saje kya gaaun mein’, ‘puchho na  kaise’, ‘kaun aya mere man ke dware’, ‘jhanak jhanak tore baje payaliya’, etc. for their classical base, others like ‘aao twist karein’ , ‘ae mere pyare watan’ , ‘chalat musafir moh liya re’ , ‘masti bhara yeh sama’, ‘yeh raat bheegi bheegi’, ‘bade miyan deewane’ etc. are not the usual suspects that one would typically attribute to manna da’s kind of singing. May be a Md. Rafi or  a Talat Mahmood could easily cross any unaided mind.

Thank you Manna-da for being such a huge reason for the happiness of many. As you leave for your heavenly abode I can only feel the void and an irreparable loss. RIP.

An Apple to an(other) Apple

My obsession with ‘apple’ continues. Taking from where I had left in the previous edition of Jijnasa, the curious case of ‘apple’ gets even more curious. Few days ago I was driving back home piercing through the heavenly rain drops when something from the music system of my car struck me: “Tu chanda mein chandni, tu taruvar mein shakh re....”from the 1970 movie “Reshma aur Shera”. For a while I allowed myself to keep inhaling in a half-conscious state the rhythms, the words, the music that very succinctly brought out the ingenuity of the trio Lata Mangeshkar, Jaidev and Kavi Balkavi Bairagi. I am sure any music lover would say Lata ji could only have done justice to the beautiful composition by Jaydev and to the imagination penned down by Balkavi Bairagi. The moving frames of a desert landscape where Wahida Rahman in traditional rajasthani attire sneaked out of her house for a waiting Sunil Dutt danced in front of my eyes. Before I could get further into the grip of the song, something else got superimposed on my captivation. And guess what, the next moment I was comparing a seasoned nightingale that Lata ji was with a thirteen-year-old child prodigy on the stage of the mega finale programme of the reality show ‘meri awaaz suno’ in 1996- a certain young Sunidhi Chauhan. The mesmerized looks of Manna Dey, Bhupen Hazarika, Pt. Jashraj and Lata Mangeskar herself in the judges’ seats were just about enough to tell the story. I knew what I was thinking. But I somehow could not help that thought crossing my mind so judgementally. I was imagining an improbable thing and that was, may be a young Sunidhi Chauhan sang that song better than Lata ji did. For goodness sake and with a sense of unknown dismay, I locked up that thought only to myself. I would be declared either a paranoid or an obsessed soul if I had discussed this with anyone who understood music, even in passing. To tell you the truth I have spent hours listening to both renderings one line from Lata ji’s original song and then the same by Sunidhi on Youtube (whatever limited was/is available) and so on. I would end up convincing myself that Sunidhi’s rendering was more convincing. But then, what is the yardstick? Do I have a benchmark or a referral point on the basis of which I would draw a comparison? Well, pat comes the answer. Yes, that has/had to be Lata ji’s original number. However, that is beside the point. The point that I am trying to drive home here is why ‘comparisons’ become so invariably inevitable. We agree, we disagree, we fight, we scream, we argue and we do what-not. Logic goes for a toss. Reasoning is rendered quickly meaningless. We go to any possible extent to defend our views over the others’ sending merit and context to the back burner. Let alone an ‘apple to apple’ comparison. We don’t even let go an apple to orange one. A dear friend of mine received a shock of his life when I very subtly placed before him my thoughts about the song ‘tu chanda mein chandni’ and he without dropping an eyelid declared me crazy and my comparison as something like ‘an apple to a pumpkin’. I had all the reasons in the world to spitefully agree with him.

 Then the restiveness climbed up looking for an apple and yet another apple to pit against it. Frankly saying, I did not have to shed any sweat for that. A single press of the button to the trip down the memory lane took me straight to my college days. I would have shouted my lungs out in frenzied arguments (cannot qualify those to be called discussions) over Md. Rafi vs Kishore Kumar or an even more popular one Sachin Tendulkar vs. Brian Lara. We never cared for the unprecedented amount of respect that these legends command on their own rights. What we essentially used to get into was profoundly pronouncing our own limited knowledge of what they had achieved and pick up an argument and make it uglier than ugly. I would always claim that Md. Rafi sang the song ‘tum bin jaun kahan...’ from the 1969 hindi movie ‘pyar ka mausam’ better than Kishore Kumar. Some of my friends would pull out the audio cassette (those were the days of taped cassettes) and play both the songs. Post that, what would have been a discussion until then would turn into an argument. We would end up looking at the versatility of both the geniuses. My friend would pick Kishore-da’s songs of various genres and I would have my picks from Rafi sa’b’s renderings and a quiet evening would go into a noisy mid-night in no time. By the stroke of midnight we would have moved on to comparing Manna Dey and Pt. Bhimsen Joshi over the song “Ketaki Gulab Juhi...” from the 1956 movie Basant Bahar. And to everyone’s shock, I would have purposefully dragged Rafi sa’b’s classical number ‘madhuban mein radhika naache re...” from Kohinoor. The old monks by then would be in a panic room exploring further. Genre after genre in a free flow we would be in the grip of ghazals discussing Ghulam Ali, Mehdi Hasan, etc. Out of nowhere I would come up with ‘koyee saagar dil ko bahtlata nehin’ from the 1966 film ‘dil diya dard liya’ and then ‘kahin bekhayal ho kar’ from the 1965 movie ‘Teen Deviyan’ and further claim that Rafi was a better ghazal singer too, just to get my head banged by another friend declaring that ‘this guy is impossible... hence no point in discussing any further’.

 In a country like India where we all claim to be a better cricket pundit than any other one on the planet, any discussion on a comparison of Sachin Tendulkar and Brian Lara has a huge potential to get anywhere, literally anywhere. I reckon the amount of bandwidth that is spent on ‘statsguru’ at cricinfo.com may easily be second to none, not even pornography. Then we start abusing e/o saying- you know nothing about cricket....Lara has a 400 in a test inning and 500 in a first class inning to his name and Sachin does not even have a triple ton. Lara plays better under pressure and has won more matches for his team (very much like an ignorant Ponting did some time back). An ardent Sachin follower would blast back with a barrage of facts and figures. 20 out of 51 Sachin’s test centuries and 37.01% of career test runs have gone into winning cause where Lara has only eight tons and 24.50% of his runs to similar effect. So, who is a better match winner? Now the counter punch comes: well, sachin plays only for his records and is so selfishly holding onto his place in the team and he only cares for making more and more money. Boy, what is that? What about this- Lara played that 400 inning only to get back his record which was snatched away by certain Mat Hayden? There is nothing called giving away your place to anyone else in a professional sport. Other deserving players have to earn their places. That’s his profession and he has earned it through his hard work and talent. Why does someone’s thick wallet pinch me? Any argument on someone’s earning (if through fair means) does not make any sense whatsoever. Ok, let’s dump money here and move ahead with the discussion. Lara played better with tail-enders. Now, give me a break. The numbers tell me a different story altogether. By the way, what was Ponting trying to tell? During his tenure and against his own mighty bowling attack if one has scored 3060 runs in 29 matches at an average of 61.20 with 9 centuries and another scored 1453 runs in 16 matches at an average of 46.87 with 6 tons, who should he be losing more sleep over?

There was this mixed and confused sense of being counted and make things count, choosing which attitude to wear and which to let go, shackles which to be winged and which to be clipped, allowing oneself to go with the undefined flow or get judgmental....... I am sent into the grip of nostalgia. Needless to say those were the best days of life, when apple was just a fruit. Coming back to apples vs apples, our lives also tell a similar kind of tale. Don’t we have this tendency to think that others do less work than us? Don’t we get inclined to reckon that others are happier than us? If I get something, I always deserved that. And if someone contemporary to me gets that before I do, then he must be up to something. My views are always wiser than others. Doesn’t every generation think that it is smarter than the preceding one and more intelligent than the succeeding one? Time to wonder whether we see the apples in our mind’s eyes or do we see them in real !!! When we are a part of any system or order, each of us has a role to play so that the larger system that we are essentially a part of moves on as Durkheim would put it. For that to happen there must be a division (and dignity) of labour. Be it an apple or be it an orange.

Youth Social Responsibility: Some Sense and Some Sensibility

I am not sure if there exists any universal definition of youth. However, in sociological terms ‘youth’ can best be expressed as a period of transition between the dependence of childhood and the relative independence of adulthood. A more popular usage of the term would associate youth with people in the age group of 15-24 years. Youth, in this age group who are either in schools or colleges or in the process of taking up jobs in various walks of life, constitute nearly one-fifth of India’s population rendering themselves a very significant target population segment for market, for policy makers, for demographers, for media, etc. Though social responsibility has not eluded this vibrant demographic segment, it is not honky dory either. Having said this, I am not demeaning those who have in fact shouldered loads of them. But, many from our older generation would, at the drop of a hat, tend to associate freaky, care-free, restless, just-take-it-easy kind of attitude with today’s youth. Blame it on their perception, but they are not entirely wrong in their assessment. Youth today are to a large extent an indifferent lot, especially the urban youth who are more focused on individual achievements (well, nothing wrong with that at all), but are little withdrawn when it comes to the willingness to initiate action to further larger social interest. I am inclined to believe that most of them are kind of trapped in a false sense of contentment that once you post or share a status message on facebook and receive some likes and comments, you are done. Or for that matter, retweeting a socially appealing message from someone is believed to be you-know-what-I-did-my-bit. This vibrant and strong resource of the country needs to be motivated and mobilized to travel some extra miles for the society. Are our young people conveniently shying away from their responsibilities for the society at large, passing the buck to others? It would be unfortunate if the answer is ‘yes’. We live in a country where a Sachin shines at 16, where a Koneru Humphy humbles the big dads of chess at 15, where a Darsheel Safary at 9 inspires millions of children reach out to the stars, where an Agatha Sangma at 28 breaks into the parliament, where a Sania Mizra sizzles at the Flinders Park before even getting behind the wheels. But aren’t these names just a few? Don’t we need one such name in every street and every mohalla? Youth and Social Participation We focus on those young people between the ages of 15 and 24, because they are old enough to understand civic obligations but still young enough to be forming and/or setting examples of civic habits. Young people have a role as targets of community-building work and as active leaders and participants in it. Not only does youth participation in social activities have societal benefits through the development of social responsibility and the fostering of social inclusion but equally importantly it also has potential benefits for the young people themselves. Social participation encourages the interpersonal and practical skills that give young people a sense of self-worth and self-confidence. Civic engagement can thus empower communities and citizens to take greater control over the issues that affect them as significant agents of positive change. The personal benefits participants acquire through opportunities for civic involvement help foster a sense of social cohesion and responsibility. Put simply, if you take a certain amount out of the system, you must give a certain amount back. The more you take out, the more you should give back. By being socially responsible, it has to participate in the development process of the country and accelerate the process of development. With respect to the present generation of young people, sometimes written off as a group of indifferent freeloaders, the reality is much better than the perception. On the positive side, today’s youth are more likely to volunteer than at any time in the past. Youth of yesteryears can show the right path to this generation. The older generation always has viewed the younger one with a mix of hope and alarm. On one hand, the older ones hope their children will improve the society they have inherited. On the other hand, each generation of young people seems all too willing to discard tradition, embrace individualism, and carves out its own niche and course. How well the younger generation lives up to the expectations of its predecessors, or to its own, is a question to which every generation, sooner or later, turns its attention. Youth and Social Capital To each generation, the term ‘youth’ evokes contradictory yet powerful images. We might think of individualistic, self centered, intolerant ones who rebel against traditional values more often than not. But we are just as likely to witness s/w professionals, sport stars, entrepreneurs, social activists, artists, etc. Whether good or bad, the prevailing images or stereotypes of young people often say as much about the communities in which youths are coming of age as about the young people themselves. Young people want what everyone else wants: affiliation, community, solidarity, respect, success, and opportunity. Whether those needs are provided by anti-social elements or conversely by families, peers, market, and schools– is entirely up to us as a society. The nature of the social capital available to young people influences how well they learn, the odds that they will attend college, whether they will set examples as responsible citizen, and the likelihood that they will do drugs or commit crimes. In a nation that prides itself on its young people representing the promise of a more progressive India, their well-being is one of the determining indicators of the nation’s future. As our young people go, so goes our nation. Tad Homer-Dixon at the Tyler Booker Memorial Lecture on ‘Youth, Social Responsibility, and Political Action’ (march 1989) had lauded , “a person is required to do his part as defined by the rules of an institution when two conditions are met: First, the institution is just (or fair)…., and second, one has voluntarily accepted the benefits of the arrangement or taken advantage of the opportunities it offers to further one’s interests…..We are not to gain from the cooperative labours of others without doing our fair share.” In light of the principle of fairness, does youth have any special responsibility? Well, the answer is simple and is ‘yes’. Self belief is the order of the day. Today’s youth symbolizes energy and enthusiasm. They stand for innocence and innocence that makes them believe that impossible is nothing. Because young people embody our hopes and carry out our dreams, they and the organizations of which they are a part must be at the center of efforts to rebuild social capital. The i-pad/facebook generation is yet to be disillusioned and yet to be cynical because they have the energy and the belief that they can move mountains. They need to act to bring about the change they want in this world. They need to be socially responsible because if they are they can change the society. History bears the testimony to the very fact that all the major revolutions in the world have been led by the youth and campuses have been the hotbed of revolutions. At the same time young people have less invested in the status quo; they have less to lose from change. Role of Media Youth-focused institutions in our country are not generally designed to solicit young people’s input on bigger social issues- governance, social development, poverty alleviation, clean environment, etc. This lapse translates into thousands of squandered opportunities to prepare the next generation of social capitalists. It will take a major shift in attitude and practice to create a lifelong pathway of civic engagement. As young people seem to grow up faster and more independently than their parents did, the society needs to provide them the right platform to translate their energy into meaningful social action. Concern about the current generation of youth's sense of social responsibility and commitment to larger social cause surfaces frequently in the media. At best, youth are presented as disinterested in political processes and ill prepared to help run the country; at worst, they are portrayed as self-indulgent and increasingly impatient. Current debates about mandating corruption free system, community service programs, revamping citizenship education, and changing juvenile justice legislation represent attempts to promote social and political engagement in youth and to control their rebellious tendencies. The Surf Excel 10/10 campaign to help poor children, the concept of citizen journalist of CNN IBN, among others have certainly contributed in raising awareness. Lifebuoy ad campaign, to cite another example, depicts young children charging up for cleaning up their neighbourhood. Again, it starts with the idea that a single individual can make a difference. The ad campaign by a popular tea brand shows a vote seeking politician getting outwitted by a young man. These are not really a fictitious plot but quite contemporary and pragmatic. Lead India was a wonderful platform to expose young minds to several needs of the hour. ‘Range De Basanti’ was not a writer’s imagination, rather an imaginative pick from the reality which went on to have significant impact on the psyche of the young people of India. The NDTV campaign to get a retrial for Jessica Lal is what we get in return. And I salute the renaissance of youth as a powerful catalyst of change. The greeting cards marketed by CRY on occasions like New Year, Christmas, etc. have always caught our attention and at times without our knowledge we have acted responsibly. So why not doing is consciously and leaving others to follow the suit? The media has am affirmative role to play in molding this generation youth. This role is not given or authorised by anyone but the media is vested with this role by itself. With the 24x7 news and entertainment channels and social media taking the centre stage, media shapes the character of people not just by providing information, education and entertainment to them but also by acting as the forum for public discussion and debate thus providing an opportunity to find expressions for their ideas and feelings. When it comes to youth that are increasingly media savvy these days, media provides to them not only information but also educates them on various aspects of the society pertaining to their career choice, moral growth and entertainment needs. We all know how unprecedented can the viral impact of facebook or twitter go. With information moving faster than ever before, it makes the youth aware of global social changes, developments, innovations, research and experiments being carried out in various fields aiming at changing the very human existence for betterment, etc. It inculcates in the youth the desire to learn more and more and imbibe the fast changing technologies and development processes while competing and vying with each other. The Way forward On the greener side, today’s youth are more rational, less corrupt, more progressive, less tolerant and more risk-taking. Let’s allow them the luxury of being little more impatient than what we think we are/were. If the common wisdom prompts them to take the path less traveled by and take the plunge into the unknown by violating a rule or two, then be it. Two wrongs will never make one thing right. But, if the wrongdoing can be self-destroying or self-defeating then I think every wrong thing must be allowed to be done once and once for all. Thomas Hardy puts it this way- “In dreams begin responsibilities”. So the need of the hour is to dream big and be more (socially) responsible. Being socially responsible one does not need to be like another Raja Ram Mohan Roy or a Swami Vivekananda or types to start with. If one can make even the smallest yet desirable difference to the society that would make the world a better place to live in. A small storm in the tea pot may just snowball into a far reaching and defining change in the society. Merely blaming the system (we do it quite often and quite conveniently) for anything and everything that is perceived as not-done is not really done. Today’s youth should come forward and be a part of the system to initiate changes. Rome was never built in a day. But I am sure one can lay a brick everyday to ensure that a Rome is built in due time. Today’s youth possess the right/balanced mix of self belief and attitude to make things happen. Let "if not us, who; if not now, when?" be the mantra. Nothing changes unless you make it change. Go for the kill, boys! The elders have not brought about the change, you have to. Because I have all the reasons to believe that you believe in change and you believe you can bring about that change.

The curious case of APPLE

Immobilized by the gravity of inquisitiveness, I stretched my imagination to check if there was any other ‘fruit’ which can come close to an ‘apple’ in terms of having such a kaleidoscopic presence in history and discovered my curiosity bouncing back with not much to drive home. This prompted me to take a stab at some portion of existing gamut of knowledge to demystify (is it?) the case of Apple. A for Apple Guess, 9 out of 10 kids all over the globe learn the first letter of English alphabet with an almost obvious reference to the fruit. And I am sure no hell will break loose if kids start learning ‘A’ for aeroplane or ant or something else. Why does it have to be an apple to start with? All said and done, apple is so easy to pronounce and equally easy or even easier to remember no matter how lackadaisical we may be inclined to be. As I see it, life always offers many choices and blessed are those who cherry-pick the simplest one. Something as simple as an apple cannot be left to hindsight which is always a rear-view. Adam & Eve and the forbidden apple Reckon, any story on apple would have this inevitable reference to the origin of (all the sins of) human race on the planet. Though the forbidden fruit in many of the books is not identified, popular Christian tradition has held that it was an apple that Eve coaxed Adam to share with her. As a result, in the story of Adam and Eve, the apple became a symbol for knowledge, immortality, temptation, the fall of man into sin, and sin itself. Amidst all the human drama the poor apple had to swallow all the blame for the rest part of history. Some eye-brows would rise to know was it all that necessary to attribute this to an apple? What if Adam and Eve chose otherwise? However, the case in point here is simple yet huge. Anything that is apparently forbidden gets the first stab (or let’s call it biting). I cannot say if that happens because of this apple saga. Look at the typical human nature. You ask someone not to do a certain thing and its anyone’s guess that he/she would either take a vow to do only that and then turn to something else or allow it to play on the back of his/her mind as if ‘if’ and ‘but’ are the only two words existing on the earth. And then, almost every-time the buck stops at the third one which has to own up take the responsibility for you and I. Newton and the apple falling from the tree I don’t really think anyone else has popularized ‘apple’ more than how Newton seems to have done. If he chose to change his date of birth, the royalty money from Apple Inc. would probably make him a banker’s darling. I sometimes wonder why Newton had to sit under an apple tree. Did not he ever notice any other thing falling onto the ground? There is nothing left to be desired, but may be his idle mind or the good fortune of the apple which was destined to fall that day. More often than not, we so conveniently ignore such obvious things in life unless one fine day we wake up to embrace reality and then turn ourselves into a Newton. Not for a moment I intend to say that life throws surprises at us at the slightest of opportunity. But then, senses and sensibilities are far bigger virtues only if we carry them on our sleeves wherever we go. An apple a day keeps a doctor away The phrase is probably a close second when the question is again about popularizing the ‘apple’. The proverbial apple here needed the Godly breed of doctors to stamp its presence in the DNA of all the goodness on the earth. Apples have a good claim to promote health as they contain Vitamin C, which aid the immune system and phenols, which reduce cholesterol. They also reduce tooth decay by cleaning one's teeth and killing off bacteria. It has also been suggested by Cornell University researchers that the quercetin found in apples protects brain cells against neuro-degenerative disorders like Alzheimer's disease. (http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/an-apple-a-day.html). However someone also tells me that apples may be good for us but it wasn't their precise medicinal properties that were being exalted when this phrase was coined. Guess what- we always need a doctor to tell us to stop smoking, else as if we don’t realise the ill effects smoking, otherwise. I grew up seeing people literally live on fags . Many of them would have never even gone to consult a doctor for they seemingly led a healthy life albeit without getting themselves medically examined. But imagine if they run into some (God forbid) terrible health ailment and see a doctor, the 1st thing probably the doctor would advise is to drop the stick. And then, it would be anyone’s guess what these guys would resort to. At times, we humans knowing fully well that what we are doing is not ok, end up doing only that for reasons may be unknown to even ourselves. We actually feel at times that its infra-dig for us to learn from mistakes no matter whose. And being knocked on the head to accept that from the significant others is like – common, give me a break- do I even know you? In any case, it is my life!!! Apple, the i-factor I am sure it would be hard for the turn-of-the-millennium-generation folks to imagine a world without Apple. Such is the impact of ‘apple’ in the world of computation and digital life-style. RIP, Steve Jobs! What the team offered to the world is something really out of the world. Incidentally, it was an apple. Started with the name ‘Apple Computers’, it did away with the word ‘computer’ to venture into the consumer electronics market in addition to its traditional focus on personal computers. Little over three decades and its insanely amazing to see i-pod, i-phone and i-pad almost replacing roti, kapdaa aur makaan as the basic needs! Need I say any further? The ‘i’ factor has certainly revolutionized the term further. Little the founders knew in 1976 how they would be redefining digital behaviour. It all started with Mac OS. With a paltry market share of less than 2% it gave sleepless nights to the giant leader- Microsoft. The case in point inspires many by emphasizing that size does not matter. The larger than life image of ‘apple’ draws me to have a closer look at life out there. The basic needs of human life seem to have taken a real backseat allowing those with aspiration-values to call the shots, don’t they? Innovation at its innocent best I was narrating this passing thought of putting down something on apple and make it a real curious case. Then, my six-yrs old daughter twisted my thoughts and gave me a blank look. Out of sheer inquisitiveness, i turned to her and waited to hear. Blended with innocence she demystified it further, saying how is this? I asked what? Pat came the 24 carats of fun- How about- A for apple, B for bada- apple, C for chhota apple, D for dusra apple..........? I almost fainted!