Is Today's media responsible enough?

There is a never a dull moment in any sport and in the world of sports. Such is the magnitude of activity spread across multiple disciplines. However, not all sports are given equal attention by the media.

It is frustrating to notice that an incident as trivial as the deliberate over-stepping by Suraj Randiv to bowl a no-ball and thereby denying Virender Sehwag of a century ( in the ongoing tri-series in Srilanka) hogged the limelight in all forms of media when many more important events took place at the same time around the world. Andy Murray contributed to Federer's losing streak in the Roger's cup finals, Indian teenagers continue their dry spell in the youth Olympics in Singapore etc., More importantly, there hasn't been even one report on how the Indian contingent is preparing for the Commonwealth games which is scheduled to start in 45 days from now.

I understand media is a business by itself, (and follows the golden rule that the customer is at the centre of the business) and any piece of news is churned or reported ( however you like to call it) keeping in mind the interest of the people it is directed at. But, this is an issue that has clearly been blown out of proportion.

Randiv broke no law, did not violate any code of conduct laid down by the ICC. By publicly announcing that Randiv's act was a let down for Srilankan cricket, ( on the back drop of the fact that Srilanka has been winning the award for the 'spirit of the game' by ICC for the past two years,) the Srilankan board has let itself down. Worse is to have handed him an one ODI ban. It is concerning to note that the whole drama is because of the hype created by the media and the looming pressure on the Srilankan board by virtue of the fact the it is bankrupt and is at the mercy of BCCI!

Randiv's act was at best a mischief and nothing more. 'Spirit of the game' is such a vague concept. It is modified and accepted time and again by different sects of people. If cricketers were to follow the spirit of the game,

* Batsmen should start walking as soon as they know they are out and not wait for the umpire's decision.

* The fielding team should keep conversations with the batting team at the level of a friendly banter and not take it up to riling.

* Fielders shouldn't do their best( or rather worst) to cheat a favourable decision out of the umpires.

None of the above ever gets so much importance in the media, but this one did. Randiv walked upto Sehwag's room after the match to apologize and the story ended have ended there if it were responsible media that was covering it!

See ball.. Hit ball..

Few people make you take notice of them because of their expertise in a chosen field of endeavor, few for their their physical attractiveness. But, very few because of their very presence. One such person from the cricketing world in Virender Sehwag – fondly known as the Nawab of Najafgarh.

The purists of the game would frown at the way he plays the game and the coaches point to him to show a living example to kids on how not to play cricket – such is the lack of footwork in his game. Despite this, he is one of finest cricketers of contemporary cricket. Blessed with an uncluttered mind and operating with the simple rule ‘see ball, hit ball’ irrespective of the situation of the match, he remains a nightmare to all the bowling attacks in the world.

A normal batsman’s modus operandi is like this – you walk in to bat, get your eye in, play few defensive shots, try middling the ball, a couple of gentle pushes and jabs into the gaps to grow in confidence, few sweetly timed shots to get into the flow before starting to score in boundaries. But, with Sehwag, step 7 follows immediately after step 1. He walks in to bat and the carnage starts.

This attitude of his, spills onto press conferences too. A press conference is not a place where questions are answered directly. It is a place where one answers questions in a way that the answer cleverly eludes the question and the person who puts it forth, with a subtle attempt to come close to answering but vague enough for anyone including the person telling it to understand.

Viru has often been quoted saying things like “Bangladesh is an ordinary team, they cannot defeat India in Tests!” on the eve of a test match series. Well, it is Virender Sehwag, the swashbuckling cricketer we are speaking about. Diplomacy much like technically adept batting was in vogue!

Baffling consumer buying patterns buoyed by misunderstood tradition.

The media around the country flash one prominent news amongst others - Collapse in the Greece market triggers gold price rise - even in India. As a result, gold price is at an all time high hovering around 55k per oz. Going by this, you would expect a heavy selling from customers with possession of gold to make the most out of the boom. If you are expecting this, prepare to get disappointed as we live in India where laws of economics prove themselves wrong time and again.

Tomorrow is the 16th May and all the Jewellery shops around the country are going to be packed with people who vie for their share of Gold. And the reason? Akshaya tritiya.

Akshaya means never diminishing and tritiya means day ( both in Sanskrit.) So, Akshya tritiya is a day that brings you good luck and success. If you do charity on this day, the returns will be many fold. However, look at how this has morphed over the years. Shrewd marketing by Indian Jewellers, coupled with the naivety of Indian consumers has resulted in an interpretation that goes something like this - buy as much gold as you can on this day and you will inherit more and more gold with time.

Clearly, India is one of it's kind - in every aspect of life!

Discontinuing 'the train romance' online

Dear readers,

Thank you for your overwhelming support in 'the train romance.' I have decided to take the story off-line because I intend to write a full-fledged story and publish it at a later point in time. Continuing it here would spoil the suspense I have managed to build up.

In the meanwhile I will continue to write about other things that cross my mind on this space. Thank you once again for being such a wonderful audience and motivating me to write!


Santhosh

Music and the range of emotions they bring along with them

Apologies for disappointing all those who were expecting chapter four of the 'Train Romance.' I promise I'll get back with the story at a later point in time :-)

I spent a night out at Shyam's place as it had been really long since we caught up. We were listening to old songs in all languages we know ( Tamil, Telugu & Hindi - English songs aren't my kind.) It is when I was going through the range of emotions that the thought process - 'Is the music that really makes you feel a particular way or how you felt when you heard that song ( because of things that happened then) that is making you feel the way you do currently' started and hence this post.

I have not learnt music and naturally do not have the ability to appreciate the nitty-gritty of it. So, I really can't comment on what is a good piece of music and what is not. However, there are songs that make me feel good and songs that don't.

Funnily, I felt sad on hearing few songs that are supposedly excellent pieces of music. When I delve deeper into this, I realize I heard that particular song over and over again when I was going through a tough phase in life.

On the other hand, some random piece of music which may turn off any student of music top my charts of best music because I heard that song when things were 'happening' in life. Over time, I have developed this ability ( if I can really call it one) to associate the emotion predominantly spread in my mind when I started to listen to a song and eventually let that emotion decide how good that song itself is.

This also leads me to write about another psychological phenomenon which is worth pondering over. "Happiness, sadness or for that matter any other emotion is a state of mind and not actually a reflection of the reality outside."

The Christmas bonus Googlers get is a classic example to elaborate this. Few are really thankful to the company for giving them a bonus, few feel they deserve it & there is actually no reason to be thankful to the company and few are anything but satisfied. "They say our profits doubled, tripled etc.. but why the hell does the Christmas bonus stay at 20 grands year over year like a stunted kid" isn't that uncommon a comment you'll hear.

Going with the tone of this write up, this post might come across interesting to some, boring to few, trigger a 'why the hell do you think so much' in some, 'don't you have a better way to spend a night out than writing stuff on blogger?' or a simple smile. You know why you feel the way you do more than me. Don't you? I am smiling as I wrap up!