The Great Wall of India

Wait... don’t rush out in search of 21,196 km long wall (The Great Wall of China) or any such sort of a thing along the vast geographical stretch of India because you won’t find any. Confused then???

Rahul Dravid - the name says it all. A gentle giant of the game, he is fondly called, ‘The Wall of Indian Cricket’, after he was called 'A wall' in a Reebok commercial, owing to his strong temperament and mental strength to carry on. Cricket is called the 'Gentleman's Game'. I have often wondered whether this name was adopted after Rahul Dravid arrived on the scene. He is as humble as one could get. Rahul Dravid is the reason I developed a liking for test cricket. He made the defensive technique seem all the more interesting. His batting style is a way of life. Face every challenge head on, stick in there no matter what, and you are bound to be successful more often than not. When he made his debut in ODIs against Sri Lanka on 3rd April, 1996, it wasn’t a great outing for him. But his test debut against England on 20th June, 1996 saw him make a 95 in Lords. That time, one just knew that a future Lord of the game has just been born in Lords. And he proved everyone right too. His hunger was tremendous. He never seemed satiated and always appeared to be game for more. He was a fighter and never went down without a struggle. He just never gave up. A value that is not seen in many players in today’s cricket.

Sachin Tendulkar undoubtedly qualifies to be among the greatest ever cricketers of the world; Virender Sehwag one of the greatest entertainers who can dismantle any bowling attack with sheer disdain; Mohammed Azharuddin the master of the wristy strokes. But Rahul Dravid will always remain the universal role model, on and off the field. On the field, Dravid was always concentration personified, impeccable in his approach; off it, he is the ideal cricketer for innumerable youngsters. Despite his huge demeanor and stature in the game, he has always been down to earth. He has been one of the greatest achievers in the game. Dravid is the second highest run scorer in tests for India, behind only Sachin Tendulkar. It has often been argued that had Dravid played as much as Sachin has, he may have surpassed the Little Maestro too! He has played the most balls in test matches, taken the most catches, and is the first batsman to score a century in all test playing nations. The list of his achievements is never ending. He was always the unsung hero. And instead of being angry about it, he liked to bask in the glory of his other team mates. He was always there for the team. He fielded at every position; opened and batted at different slots in the batting order; came in the middle order and kept things from falling apart; he came in the slog overs and adapted his batting style to get quick runs. And he did this with success more often than not. Dravid brought with him a sense of security, of surety. He brought with him a semblance of calm to whichever team he was related to.

No surprise then that Dravid became the first Indian cricketer ever to give a speech at Bradman Oration in Australia. Rahul Dravid has delivered a stirring speech on the spirit of cricket, proving he is just as eloquent on the podium as he is with a bat on a cricket wicket.

Glimpses of his achievements:

Ø  1998: Arjuna award

Ø  1999: CEAT International Cricketer of the World Cup

Ø  2000: Wisden Cricketer of the Year 2000

Ø  2004: Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy Winner (Awarded for ICC Player of the Year)

Ø  2004: Padma Shri

Ø  2004: ICC Test Player of The Year, ICC Cricketer of The Year

Ø  2006: Captain of the ICC's Test Team

Ø  2011: NDTV Indian of the Year's Lifetime Achievement Award

Ø  2012: Don Bradman Award

Ø  2013: Padma Bhushan

 

Dravid is arguably the most respected cricketer in the world, not only for the way he plays but also the way he conducts himself both on and off the pitch. Hope that others like him will come along and act as guardians of a sport that unites so many people. To India's new cricket audience, Dravid must seem a cricketer out of kilter with the times. He is an education when they fancy a day out; a figure of sanity when what they really want is a figure of fun; a batsman best appreciated by the rheumy-eyed. Rahul Dravid's retirement call may be considered a setback to Indian cricket by many. But it is not. This move by Dravid too, has been well thought of like many of his other moves. He knew it was time to move on and give the talented youngsters waiting in the wings a chance to prove their mettle. Now all we can do is appreciate his call and all the things he has done for Indian Cricket and for World Cricket too. Dravid has been a role model for millions, and a pleasure to watch on the field for even more people. He built his career brick by brick and built a foundation; laid a cornerstone for the next generation. He has given us a chance to reach newer heights and zeniths. Now it's up to the others to build on The Wall's success and build a fortress out of that wall. So as the fact sinks in that we won’t be seeing Dravid playing on the field again, at least we can take some time out to look back on his glory days and all that he has managed to achieve.

No, Rahul Dravid's retirement is not the end of an era or legacy. It is the start of a new one...

Rainy Nights

Brace for a bit of a rain dance. Weather officials conceded that intermittent showers like the one that drenched the city on Tuesday are expected to continue through this week. In fact, the sky is expected to clear only from next Monday. Meanwhile, Ahmedabad has received 46 mm of rain since October 1-this is the highest in the last 13 years for this month. In 1999, the city received 60.4 mm in October. On Wednesday, rain or thundershowers, sometimes heavy, are expected to occur in some areas.

Monsoon refuses to bid farewell to the city much to the disappointment of garba revelers. An over-clouded sky on Tuesday and two hours of heavy downpour had some garba venues in the city cancelling the evening’s event. With the Ahmedabad Met department predicting light to heavy showers in the city for the next three days, what is left of Navratri may turn out to be a damp squib. Gujarat Tourism Department which is hosting the Vibrant Navratri – one of the biggest garba events in the city – at GMDC ground cancelled its event for Tuesday following heavy downpour. The organizer said, “We have cancelled the event keeping in mind public safety. The ground is slippery. It is not possible for us to pump out all the water and get the ground ready for the revelers in time.” A garba event at Godrej Garden City was also cancelled. Vishal Bhatt, a garba enthusiast who had his heart set on attending the GMDC garba on Tuesday said, “I thought the monsoon was over. It feels as if the rain gods are deliberately playing spoilsport. I understand why the organisers had to cancel the event. I just pray that the remaining days of Navratri are dry and sunny.”

Amidst the natural thunders and showers the city also witnessed some protests from the local communities related to the newly released film “RAMLEELA”. Members of Rajput community gathered outside the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel international airport in Ahmedabad on Wednesday to protest Ram Leela star Deepika Padukone’s visit to Ahmedabad. Local police faced tough time to push the protesters outside the airport area. Police had to use some force. At least six protesters were detained. They are likely to be released only after Deepika’s Ahmedabad visit is over. Deepika arrived at the airport in Jet Airways plane. They couldn't come out of the airport building due to protest. Local police contacted the headquarters to seek more force to take the starts safely to their destination. After Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s assurance that the caste words will be replaced by fictitious words, the agitation has ended.

Some garba grounds were wet enough and therefore unfit to host third night of Garba. Some other grounds were water logged. Garba organizers had to work hard to save their sound and light systems from the attack of rain. Some garba organizers also tried to make the ground ready again for garba on war foot basis. Showers – enough strong to force cancellation of Navratri events – are reported at Ambaji, Bhavnagar and other areas of Gujarat too.

There is some good news for Garba goers. The situation of sky was better on Wednesday compared to Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. Yes, the sky is still cloudy, but not as dense as earlier days. Added to this, the quality of clouds today is not as rich as earlier days. So you can be positive about your Navratri plans for today and most probably coming days.

To conclude with I think it’s time for our famous word “Jugaad”:  Now is the time for jugaad, replace dandia with pichkari and enjoy Holratri....!!!

FOOD OR VOTE SECURITY BILL???

The National Food Security Bill, 2013 passed by the parliament was signed into law by the president on September 12, 2013 gives right to subsidised food grain to 67 percent of India's 1.2 billion people of which 75 percent will be rural beneficiaries and 50 percent urban beneficiaries and it also provides penalty for non-compliance by public servants. Pregnant women, lactating mothers, and certain categories of children are eligible for daily free meals. The bill was highly controversial, and despite introduction into Parliament in December 2011 was passed only in late August 2013, after initially being promulgated as a presidential ordinance on 5^th July.

The intent of the National Food Security Bill is spelled out in the Lok Sabha committee report, The National Food Security Bill, 2011, Twenty Seventh Report, which states, "Food security means availability of sufficient food grains to meet the domestic demand as well as access, at the individual level, to adequate quantities of food at affordable prices." The report adds, "The proposed legislation marks a paradigm shift in addressing the problem of food security – from the current welfare approach to a right based approach. About two thirds of the population will be entitled to receive subsidized food grains under Targeted Public Distribution System." The Food Security Bill guarantees 5 kg of rice, wheat and coarse cereals per month per individual at a fixed price of Rs 3, 2, 1, respectively, to nearly 67% of the population.

The government estimates suggest that food security will cost Rs 1,24,723 crore per year. But that is just one estimate. Andy Mukherjee, a columnist with Reuters, puts the cost at around $25 billion. The Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices(CACP) of the Ministry of Agriculture in a research paper titled National Food Security Bill – Challenges and Options puts the cost of the food security scheme over a three year period at Rs 6,82,163 crore. During the first year the cost to the government has been estimated at Rs 2,41,263 crore. Economist Surjit Bhalla in a column in The Indian Express put the cost of the bill at Rs 3,14,000 crore or around 3% of the gross domestic product (GDP).

This will likely create the world’s largest welfare scheme. It has caused much hand wringing amongst political pundits, economists and the media, asking if India, already suffering from a budget deficit and struggling with a slowing economy and a depreciating currency, can afford this extra burden. India already provides subsidized food to a certain section of its population. The new bill will expand that coverage at a cost of about 1.35% of the GDP. It stars next year in April and that means it will not impact the fiscal deficit target for this year.

The weakest point of the right to food security is that it will use the extremely “leaky” public distribution system to distribute food grains. As Jagdish Bhagwati and Arvind Panagariya write in India’s Tryst With Destiny – Debunking Myths That Undermine Progress and Addressing New Challenges “A recent study by Jha and Ramaswami estimates that in 2004-05, 70 per cent of the poor received no grain through the pubic distribution system while 70 per cent of those who did receive it were non-poor. They also estimate that as much as 55 per cent of the grain supplied through the public distribution system leaked out along the distribution chain, with only 45 per cent actually sold to beneficiaries through fair-price shops. The share of food subsidy received by the poor turned out to be astonishingly low 10.5 per cent.”

The Indian Ministry of Agriculture's Commission on Agricultural Costs and Prices warned that enactment of the Bill could be expected to "induce severe imbalance in the production of oilseeds and pulses, will create demand pressures, which will inevitably spillover to market prices of food grains. Furthermore, the higher food subsidy burden on the budget will raise the fiscal deficit, exacerbating macro level inflationary pressures." The Commission argued further that the Bill would restrict private initiative in agriculture, reduce competition in the marketplace due to government domination of the grain market, shift money from investments in agriculture to subsidies, and continue focus on cereals production when shifts in consumer demand patterns indicate a need to focus more on protein, fruits and vegetables.

Criticism of the National Food Security Bill includes accusations of both political motivation and fiscal irresponsibility. One senior opposition politician, Murli Manohar Joshi, went so far as to describe the bill as a measure for "vote security" (for the ruling government coalition) rather than food security. Another political figure, Mulayam Singh Yadav, declared, "It is clearly being brought for elections. Why didn’t you bring this bill earlier when poor people were dying because of hunger? Every election, you bring up a measure. There is nothing for the poor."

To conclude, the basic point is that food security will turn out to be a fairly expensive proposition for India. But then Sonia Gandhi believes in it and so do other parties which have voted for it. With this Congress has firmly gone back to the garibi hatao politics of Indira Gandhi. And that is not surprising given the huge influence Indira Gandhi has had on Sonia. A lot of critics of this bill say that this is a last ditch attempt by Sonia Gandhi-led Congress to buy votes in national elections due next year. Maybe so, but if along the way a few hundred million starving poor get some food to eat, is that really so bad?