2021: The Year Gone By

As the Year 2021 AD draws to a close, here is looking back at events (and non-events) to remember the year gone by. Some will be remembered, others just forgotten. But then that is the fun of making these lists. And 

1. Covid continues

We thought 2020 was bad. With the arrival of vaccines, 2021 was going to be better. Well, vaccines arrived but so did the deadlier variants as well as deadlier side-effects. Whenever we thought we had ridden a wave, another bigger wave came along. Can never forget the collective trauma of April-May which we in India went through. Hopefully with increasing vaccine coverage and better understanding of the disease we might be able to get a semblance of normalcy. 

2. Ever Given

If ever there was a metaphor for humanity's fight against the virus, it was the image of a tiny excavator trying to move the stuck container ship. One ship (albeit a very large one) disrupted the whole global supply chain. 

3. 87.58m

The distance that javelin flew. And just like that India had an Olympic Gold in Athletics! The crowning glory of our most successful Games ever. Thank You Neeraj Chopra! 

4. US Capitol siege

The seat of most powerful nation seiged by people who looked like they were in a fancy-dress parade. Amongst other things they walked off with the House Speaker’s podium. Surreal doesn’t even begin to describe the scene 

5. The Ultimate Fight

Every action movie director imagines that single shot of perfection – a perfectly choreographed fight scene going all over the place with protagonists moving in and out of the shot, all in a single take. This great Chaat fight of Baghpat had it all. (YouTube Link) 

6. Rise of the Planet of the Apes

Monkeys avenging one infant’s death by killing off 250 puppies. They have even gone started attacking humans who attempted to protect the dogs. (Link)

7. Cred Ads

They are funny, but what exactly is the product? To be honest, seem to be celeb funny videos pretending to be a product ad. Rahul Dravid & Neeraj Chopra’s were the best ones. 

8. Reddit vs Wall Street

When reddit forum decided to take on Wall Street. And from nowhere the Game Stop’s share price zoomed up and stayed up destroying a couple of hedge funds. Lets not underestinate the power of the collective mob! 

9. Zoom Mishaps

Work From Home, online classes and virtual meeting are continuing. So are the additions to the zoom mishaps (or MS teams & Google Meet, platform doesn’t matter). It has become a video category in itself. Special mention – where a lawyer turned up with a cat filter on. He reiterates, “I am not a cat”.

10. The Perfect Work Background Noise 

A recording of a meeting of the Finance & Corporate Committee of Waipa District Council, New Zealand suddenly gained popularity as people started using it as background noise to show that they themselves are in a meeting and to not get disturbed (YouTube Link)

That was the Year 2021. Lets hope that we stop living in these “unprecedented” times soon and get back to the “old normal” in 2022. 

Wishing all readers, a Very Happy, Healthy and Safe 2022!

2021 - TYIL

This Year I Learnt (#TYIL) 

Another year draws to a close. And as is becoming a habit, made a list of some interesting (at least to me) learnings from this year. Although given the year that 2021 was, avoiding references to covid related learnings (and there were lots of them) in my list. 

1. Percussive Maintenance – a malfunctioning machine can be fixed by smacking it a few times. Remember all the radios and TV remotes. (Wiktionary) This definitely works! 
2. Challenger Deep in Mariana Trench is named after a ship the HMS Challenger which explored the world. (BBC) This was literally uncharted territory 
3. Zeigarnik Effect - Completion of a task can lead to it being forgotten. While you are more likely to remember things which are incomplete or where you have been interrupted.  (Psychologist World). Certainly true in Candy Crush where you don't recall any of the levels you breezed through in the first attempt.
4. Harrowing – literally means breaking up big clumps of soil into smaller ones. (Wikipedia) No better word to describe the year that is going by.
5. Pasqua Rosee – founded the first coffee shop in London – the pioneer of Starbucks and other Baristas! (BBC).
6. Smell-o-Vision – a system where odour would also be provided along with the action on screen! Unfortunately (or fortunately), never really took off. (Wikipedia)
7. First known transaction in bitcoins was in 2010 – 10,000 bitcoins for 2 Papa Johns pizza! (in Jan 2021 this would have been worth $300 Million) (Guardian) There is no competition now for the costliest food item ever!
8. First online order (bread, margarine & eggs) was made through a “TV” (BBC)
9. Pareidolia – a tendency to find patterns and images in random places (YouTube) (Merriam Webster)
10. Svetlana & Misha Zilberman – mother-son duo who have been Israel’s mixed doubles badminton champions (Scroll)
11. Hibakusha – people who survived the Hiroshima & Nagasaki bombings (Wikipedia)
12. K A Auty Cup – the oldest international sporting Trophy – for cricket series between Canada & USA. Although given the many change in formats and big gaps, it has not been a regular feature (Wikipedia)
13. Seiryu-Miharashi – railway station in Japan with no other access except by train. Only for people to have a good view. (Link)
14. Richard Norris Williams – survived the Titanic sinking and later that year won US Open. (Link)
15. The US Air Force accidentally dropped an atomic bomb within its territory. Fortunately no human casualties! (How Stuff Works)
16. Mandela effect – a case of collective hallucination where a large group of people remember things differently from how it actually happened! (Healthline)
17. Pakistan’s high commissioner to India, Mohammad Ismail, wished to remain an Indian citizen (to protect his properties in UP) while being accredited to New Delhi as an envoy! 
18. Cryptomnesia - term for when a forgotten memory is repackaged as your own idea. You fail to remember who told you something, or where you read it, so you think it’s your own. (BBC). This is a different level of plagiarism!
19. Peltzman Effect – People are more likely to engage in risky behaviour when security measures have been mandated. Safety perception increases risk appetite (Link). became a popular term during the covid second wave. Couldn't avoid the reference
20. Taco Bell “borrowed” the idea of tacos from a Mexican restaurant “Mitla Café”. Amazingly both are still functioning – one as a fast food chain, other still in its standalone avatar (BBC)
21. Pedestrianism – who moves the most over 6 days! The sport has evolved into endurance racing, iron man triathalons and 24 hours of Le Mans (BBC)
22. Israel’s national anthem has been ripped off in Hindi film music. Well, at least it was a patriotic song! Thanks to the Olympics! (Hindustan Times)
23. Wright’s Law – states that for every cumulative doubling of units produced, costs will fall by a constant percentage. (ARK Invest)
24. Zeolites were used for water filtration by the Mayan civilization (BBC)
25. Slacktivism defined as the self-deluded idea that by liking, sharing, or retweeting something you are helping out. Although there are recent studies which say that that is not necessarily the case. (Urban Dictionary) (BBC)
26. The Great Hedge of India – built by British as a barrier along the customs line for taxing salt. Quite a costly affair to patrol and also a system of oppression of the natives (BBC)
27. Nipper – the dog on HMV’s label, listening to the voice of his late master Mark Barraud. (Firstpost)
28. Dactylonomy - counting on hands – the very basics of counting! (BBC) 
29. Phoebus Cartel – major lightbulb manufacturers including GE, Phillips, Osram decided to fix lightbulbs life at 1,000 hours instead of 2,500 hours. Longer life bulbs were not commercially viable! Started the planned obsolescence (Spectrum)
30. Pascal’s Triangle – every number is the sum of the two numbers directly above (Mathigon)

Well, 2021 was certainly a harrowing year. But we can always keep learning! Let’s see what new variants (in learnings) that 2022 brings. 

P.S. Lists from 2019 & 2020. 

BookMarks #90: Bhagat Singh Jail Diary

Title: Bhagat Singh Jail Diary 

Compiled By: Yadavinder Singh Sandhu 

Genre: Diary 

Published: 2021 

BookMarks 

The book is a collection of notes from Bhagat Singh’s jail term from September, 1929 to just the day before his martyrdom in March, 1931. The jail diaries are a series of notes kept by Bhagat Singh from his readings. In modern times it would have been a blog or a podcast. The notes cover a variety of subjects including history, civic society, the many hypocrisies of the British rule, economics, law etc. There are quotes from various authors and extracts from poems kept for his records. The notes also present Bhagat Singh’s views on a variety of subjects like marriage, charity, slavery, inequality in distribution of wealth, conducting a revolution etc. 

We have been reading about Bhagat Singh since childhood. His image has been of an action figure, but he certainly was much more than that. Just look at the variety of subjects he covers in his notes and the clarity of the thoughts. Also, he was just 23. Certainly someone much more mature beyond their age. The biggest tragedy is that such a life got cut short so early. 

And inspired by his writings, here is me taking notes from his notes. These are the lines which stood out to me. 

• The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. 
• Their’s not to make reply, Their’s not to reason why; Their’s but to do and die 
• Don’t ask for rights. Take them. And don’t let anyone give them to you. 
• Great are great because we are on knees. 
• So long as the laws are made by the ruling class and the courts are presided over by members of the class; so long as lawyers are private practitioners who sell their skill to the highest bidder, and litigation is technical and costly, so long will the nominal equality before the law be a hollow mockery. 
• For reform, a threat of revolution is necessary 
• Neither the machine nor the machine owner may rule the human race. 
• In politics as in war, tactics means the art of conducting isolated operations; strategy means the art of victory, that is the actual seizure of power. 
• Teach him to live rather than to avoid death! Life is not breath, but action! Life consists less in length of days than in keen sense of living. 
• The end of Law is not to abolish or restrain but to preserve or enlarge freedom. 
• A revolution is justifiable when the government ceases to fulfil its part of contract — the protection of personal rights. 
• No one should be rich enough to buy another nor poor enough to be forced to sell himself. Great inequalities pave the way for tyranny. 
• The first man who, having enclosed a piece of land, thought of saying ‘that is mine’, and found people simple enough to believe him, was the true founder of Civil Society. 
• An insurrection is an equation with very indefinite magnitudes, the value of which may change every day. 
• Remember that plague and cholera may attack you tomorrow, and is it not better for you to die as heroes? - Can't beat this logic for motivating more people to join the revolution

What remarkable thoughts! 

Previously on BookMarks: Siddhartha  

Previously on Bhagat Singh on the blog: Learn N Blog #11 

BookMarks #89: Siddhartha

Title: Siddhartha

Author: Hermann Hesse

Genre: Historical Fiction, Self-discovery

Published: 1922 (German)

BookMarks

Siddhartha is the story of the journey of self-discovery of a man who is a contemporary of the Buddha. Siddhartha seeks knowledge and his search leads him to renouncing his home, meditating, then coming back to the world, and stepping away again. He also meets the Buddha but doesn't become a follower. In this journey his paths with those he left behind crosses again completing the circle of life. 

My favorite line from the book - "Knowledge can be conveyed but not wisdom". This line is the essence of the tale. Siddhartha finds his own way and learns through his own experiences and not just by becoming a follower. 

I had been under the impression that the book is the story of Gautam Buddha. Turns out its a parallel to the Buddha.

Previously on BookMarks: The Picture of Dorian Gray

BookMarks #88: The Picture of Dorian Gray

Title: The Picture of Dorian Gray 

Author: Oscar Wilde 

Genre: Fiction 

Published: 1891 

BookMarks 

Going back to the Classics era – The Picture of Dorian Gray is a comment on the debauched lifestyle of the elite classes. A man commits all possible sins and nothing leaves a mark on him, while a portrait of his bears all the signs, getting progressively older and uglier with each sin. The central characters all live, not so ideal lifestyles and finally do end up paying for it, but not till quite some time has passed. Overall, quite a lesson in morals, although must not have been taken in good humor by the “classes” of the time. 

There are a few lines which stood out. 

• "All art is quite useless" – Yet look at the monetary value which people are willing to pay for “art” 
• "Experience is the name men have to their mistakes" – A nice euphemism 
• "To get back my youth I would do anything in the world, except take exercise, get up early, or be respectable" – Also true for everyone who wishes to start going to the gym from tomorrow. 

Previously on BookMarks: A Bear, A Dog and A Kangaroo 

On Nationality

Emma Raducanu’s stupendous and scarcely believable run to becoming US Open Champion triggered off an interesting chain of thoughts. A citizen of UK, born in Canada to parents who are originally from Romania and China respectively. Obviously, every one of these countries immediately staked their claim on her success! Even us Indians, who are far removed from the action managed to find our own little claim – her biggest tournament win before this was the Pune ITF Challenger in 2019! 

With increased movement across borders, nationalities are becoming fluid. Take the case of the Labuschagne brothers – born in South Africa, Marnus is a leading Australian batter, while Frank leads the Japanese rugby side! Sporting world is replete with such examples. The globalization of cricket is currently running on the shoulders of the expatriate South Asian populace. Then the oil rich Middle Eastern countries are importing global talent to boost themselves in the medal tables! 

Then we have the case of India. Having punched below our potential weight over the last century in the global arena, we have found innovative ways of inflating our collective success. No better example here than this list of Indian Nobel Prize winners on Wikipedia. The list contains 12 names of whom only 5 are citizens of India! It also includes people who gave up Indian citizenship, Britishers born in India during the Raj and even the Dalai Lama. And just to round things off has a link to VS Naipaul’s wiki page at the bottom! Basically, providing a perfect analogy to the phrase, success has many fathers! 

But coming back to the question, who should claim an individual’s success? The country of birth, or of citizenship (and what of multiple passport holders), or of ethnicity (mixed inheritances?), or where the actual work was done? IMO seems an irrelevant question. Let the individual decide, what they identify with? Could be single or multiple. Meanwhile, let others bask in the reflected glory of others. And cases like Raducanu can be a bridge across cultures!

BookMarks #87: A Bear, A Dog and A Kangaroo

Title: A Bear, A Dog and A Kangaroo: Three Comedy Memoirs… with Teeth and Claws 

Author: Tony James Slater 

Genre: Travelogue, Memoirs 

Published: 2020 

BookMarks 

This is not one but a collection of three books: “That Bear Ate My Pants”, “Don’t need the Whole Dog” and “Kamikaze Kangaroos”. They narrate the adventures of the author Tony Slater, a person who will not be bound by a regular job but rather go around gathering experiences and making money as it comes through volunteering and temporary jobs. The adventures take him across Ecuador, USA, UK, Thailand, Myanmar, Australia and New Zealand and more. 

The first book is set in Ecuador where he has a volunteering gig at a animal shelter. The main sources of hilarity are Tony’s attempts at proving himself to be “a man” and his inability to speak the Spanish language, leading to often deadly situations for himself. 

The second book, while mainly about his adventures in Thailand, where he volunteers at a animals clinic and has a job as a diving trainer, also throws more light on his family. It starts in USA, where he is on a holiday with his mother and sister and friends. Then there is an attempt to flip a house in his country Wales, which is also a part of a reality show on real estate business. Throw in some paid volunteering for medical purposes (to earn money), a trip on a sailboat and even a stint in the Territorial Army. Life in Thailand comprises mostly about partying, getting drunk, and losing stuff and making regular trips to Burma for visa renewal. 

The third book are the adventures in the great Australian outback, where he along with his sister and a friend make journeys by van and hiking. In between, they also do temporary jobs to make a living. Finally they end up in New Zealand, where they are working on a ski resort. 

The books are long (1700+ pages combined), there is the regular comedy although some of it gets a tad boring. We barely see the touristy side of the places he stays, but its more of the actual stay which is described. And across the pages Tony, his quirks and the friendships he forges keep growing on the reader, as we vicariously live the adventures though him. Not exactly a life most people would be interested in, but it does grow on you. 

Previously on BookMarks: Three Men in a Boat

LearnNBlog #19: The Hydrogen Rainbow

Climate change concerns have propelled the shift from fossil fuels to alternates in the quest for cleaner energy resources. 

In high school chemistry, Hydrogen was described as a colourless gas. Yet today when we hear talk of a green economy, it is the various shades of Hydrogen hogging the headlines. But what exactly do the different colours signify? The colours indicate the source of Hydrogen and how it has been produced. The primary ones are as follows (and it is an ever expanding spectrum) 

• White: Naturally occurring but of limited commercial value. 
• Brown/Black: Produced by transforming coal into gas. 
• Grey: Produced from Natural Gas through Steam Forming. The most common process currently 
• Blue: Same as grey. However the emissions are captured and stored. 
• Turquoise: Extracted from Natural gas but leaving Solid Carbon as a by-product 
• Pink: Electrolysis using Nuclear Energy 
• Green: Electrolysis using Renewable energy 

For a really clean economy, green hydrogen is "The One" as the others still release carbon emissions! Thus not fully suitable for a Net Zero emissions ambitions being articulated. 

How will this all pan out? Well, the answer is not easy but at least the world is trying before its too late!

Links:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrogen
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrogen_economy
• https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2021/07/clean-energy-green-hydrogen/
• https://energy-cities.eu/50-shades-of-grey-and-blue-and-green-hydrogen/

Previously on Learn N Blog: Ubuntu 

India @74

Well, last year I was wrong!

Things took a turn for the worse in India’s 74th year, a lot worse. We nearly sailed over the Covid wave, celebrated early, even declared victory and then got hit hard by the variant. Those terrible weeks of April & May, where the nation was living through a collective trauma have been one of the most painful ones of recent times. People running around for oxygen cylinders and essential medicines. Queues for hospitals and even for cremations. Existing systems and the people manning them completely overwhelmed, yet carrying on. Even the crematoriums were malfunctioning due to excess use! Almost everyone was either affected themselves or had near and dear ones impacted. We were living in a dystopian reality. 

Amidst all this the key stakeholders in the Central government had gone incognito. There was an eerie silence, no words of reassurance or even acknowledgment of the grim situation came forth, and as it came out later no data as well. In fact, they were more in a denial mode. Meanwhile, ordinary citizens tried to help each other out. However, amidst the good Samaritans were the rotten apples as well, selling making a killing with exorbitant rates or worse providing fake medicines. Some finding their “aapda me avsar” while most citizens got a brutal lesson in becoming aatm-nirbhar. 

The government can’t even take full blame though, as the citizens kept flocking to potential hotspots – election rallies, sporting events, religious festivals and tourist spots, while not following even the basic mask and social distancing protocols. It has been a long year, but some more restraint would help. 

Then the Farmer Protests which have been going on for a while with no resolution in sight. Simply, because, it is in nobody’s interest to resolve it. The longer an issue runs, the longer it can be milked for various political purposes. 

The polarization of opinion on social media is near absolute. Every single issue is seen as either for or against with people picking sides based on their confirmation bias. Balance and logic in debates has simply gone for a toss. 

But enough of the negativity. It is said, read the newspaper back to front. The sports pages at the last register the human achievements while the rest of the pages are simply chronicling our failures.

Success in the sporting arena provided some succor. India had their best Olympics haul ever including a second Gold medalist in Neeraj Chopra and a potential resurgence in Hockey. What a moment it was to hear Jana Gana Mana played out in Tokyo! Hopefully the other Indian sports (i.e. non-cricket ones) build on from these Games. After all, our one billion plus populace should be able to easily accommodate all sports in the World. 

Cricket provided epic rearguard moment as the Aussie bastion of Gabba was finally breached. Yet, it was also in news for hosting the IPL amidst a pandemic. The argument of IPL providing a welcome distraction in the covid times began to ring hollow. And finally had to be suspended. The virus breaches even the most secure bio-bubbles. 

So, after a harrowing year, where do we stand? Dare we hope again for normalcy, as the vaccine roll-out gathers a bit of momentum while simultaneously bracing ourselves for further waves? Will there ever be a normal again? Or we keep adapting to the “new normal”? If the covid ravaged days have given one positive, it is the fact that one is not totally alone. Just ask for help. It might not necessarily come on time. But there will be people who will try (as per their might) to help out. And that to me is the silver lining amidst all the dark clouds. 

On that tiny note of positivity, a Very Happy Birthday to India! 

Talking Tokyo

Why do we follow sports? I read somewhere that Emotional investment in sports is just weird. You have absolutely no control on the result and are dependent on the efforts of some random people who currently have the allegiance to the same flag as your passport! And who most likely have no idea you exist. Yet, we somehow share the collective joy and disappointments! 

The Tokyo Olympics actually happened. And India achieved its best medal tally. After two weeks of action all that is left is an Olympics sized void in its aftermath! And lots of memories and interesting factoids for future sports quizzes! Here is what the Tokyo Games would be remembered from an Indian perspective (or maybe not). 

• 2021 – The bizarre answer to the question, “In which year were the Tokyo 2020 Olympics held?” There were Covid cases (thankfully very few), some bio-bubble breaches (dealt with severely), Russians masquerading as ROC (what is even the point of that ban then!), a missing Ugandan weightlifter, a nearly kidnapped Belarussian runner, and a coach who punched a horse! In all not too many off-field distractions. 
• 1988 – That was the last Olympics in which Leander Paes - the man who got India back to medal winning ways - was not part of the Indian contingent. 
• 126 – Final count of Indian athletes at the Olympics, with Diksha Dagar sneaking in after the Games started. And whatever the armchair critics might say, they were all there on merit, making through the long drawn Qualifying cycle disrupted by a global pandemic. 
• 87.58 – metres, that’s how far Neeraj Chopra’s javelin flew earning India’s first ever Athletics Gold. In one of the most dominant displays by an Indian athlete, Neeraj Chopra’s throws would have placed him 1st, 2nd & 4th and all this despite not even meeting his Personal Best! Just to give a perspective, Avinash Sable broke his own Steeplechase National Record, while the Men’s 4x400m relay broke the Asian Record and yet failed to reach the respective Finals. 
• 41 – Years since we last got a Hockey medal. It had been a while coming. We waited nearly half a century for the Indian team to reach the semi-finals and then in a matter of 24 hours we had two Hockey teams in the last 4! And somehow PR Sreejesh ended up on top of the goal-posts!
• 7 – Medals won by India - 1 Gold, 2 Silvers & 4 Bronze Medals. one more than the 6 at London 2012. Also improved the total medal tally by a whopping 25%. Remember the Names - Neeraj Chopra, Mirabai Chanu, Ravi Dahiya, PV Sindhu, Lovlina Borgohain, Bajrang Punia & the Hockey team (Dilpreet Singh, Rupinder Pal Singh, Surender Kumar, Manpreet Singh, Hardik Singh, Gurjant Singh, Simranjeet Singh, Mandeep Singh, Harmanpreet Singh, Lalit Upadhyay, P. R. Sreejesh, Sumit, Nilakanta Sharma, Shamsher Singh, Varun Kumar, Birendra Lakra, Amit Rohidas and Vivek Prasad).
• 7 – medals won by Indian wrestlers till date. The Gold still eludes but we are getting closer. 
• 4 – India has a long history of 4th Place finishes. In some instances, they are more celebrated than some medalists even. In this edition, we added a few more chapters. Aditi Ashok in Golf (where India got a quick lesson in bogeys and birdies), the women’s Hockey team (where real life nearly imitated reel) and Deepak Punia. Aditi missed birdies by an inch or so, while Deepak was leading for most of his bout. 
• 2 – PV Sindhu added a Bronze to her Silver at Rio, joining Sushil Kumar as the most decorated Indian individual athletes. Still 2 short of Hockey Legends Leslie Claudius and Udham Singh. 
• 1 Billion – Number of armchair experts who popped up during the Games, giving a detailed critique of every athlete’s sporting technique, physical fitness and mental toughness, while themselves having zero idea of (a) the rules of the game, (b) the qualifying process and previous competitions, and (c) even the names of the athletes. And then there are the abusive trolls, channeling all their misplaced anger and frustrations at the athletes! 

There is a very fine line between fame and anonymity. Nowhere is this adage truer than the Olympics. Take the case of Chirag Shetty & Satwik Rankireddy – they beat the eventual gold medallists in the first match but ended up finishing 3rd in the group despite winning two matches and were eliminated in the first round itself. 

And then there are the other heroic stories:

• Bhavani Devi – a true trailblazer, becoming the first Indian fencer to not only qualify but also win a round at the Olympics. 
• Fouaad Mirza and Signeur marking India’s return to the Equestrian arena after 2 decades. And making it to the very last stage, quite a commendable feat. 
• Kamalpreet Kaur making us watch the Discus Throw Final and finishing a creditable 6th 
• Satish Kumar boxing through stitches on the face for a chance for a medal 
• Vishnu Sarvanan registering a 3rd place in one of the legs 
• Saurabh Chaudhary – the only shooter who did not disappoint, he had a bad start in his Finals, but did well overall. 

And then there were the bizarre stories 

• Mary Kom thinking she had won the bout. Well, Boxing judging is weird to say the least so can't blame her. 
• The journos who spread rumors of dope testing for Chinese Gold winner in Mirabai’s event! 

And finally the disappointments 

• Sony Sports Network – where navigating through its myriad channels was an Olympian task in itself. Toggling between their various channels and invariably landing into ads rather than the real action. And they did not exactly cover themselves in glory by reducing the Indian contingent marching in at the Opening Ceremony to a small box on the screen 
• Then there is the rush to take credit for every success and was the blame game for every other result. 
• The Jinxers - small progress by an Indian athlete and they start updating the medal table. Wonder why the need to always jump the gun!

That was it for Tokyo (the Paralympics are still to take place). In Eminem's words - "If you had one shot or one opportunity, to seize everything that you wanted, Would You take it or let it go?" Quite a few of the Indian contingent took the first option thus leading to the best ever tally and yet there is that nagging feeling that we could easily have got many more! 

And now we begin the Road To Paris. It is a shorter one this time (hopefully)!

BookMarks #86: Three Men In A Boat

Title: Three Men in a Boat 

Author: Jerome K Jerome 

Genre: Fiction, Humour, Travelogue 

Published: 1889 

BookMarks 

It had been a while since I read one of the Classics of English Literature. “Three men in a Boat” became a fantastic choice to revisit the era because of (a) the fantastically named author with the same first and last names, and (b) being mentioned in the writings of Mr. Bond which I read a few months back. 

I had read the book quite some years back and yet it still seemed fresh on re-reading. I guess that’s why these are classics – one can revisit them at intervals! 

It’s a tale of adventure, and quite a bit of it is not even real adventure. It’s the account of three men and a dog undertaking a fortnight long trip on Thames by boat. From planning, to packing, to setting out, then encountering myriad things as they row their boat up the river, and finally abandoning the trip! Every step is full of anecdotes and further anecdotes. Also, it serves as a travelogue with histories of the sights along the way.

Why the book clicks – because of many passages which are still so relatable even though more than a century has passed since its first publication. Passages like 

• "Throw the lumber over, man! Let your boat of life be light, packed with only what you need—a homely home and simple pleasures, one or two friends, worth the name, someone to love and someone to love you, enough to eat and enough to wear" - No better explanation of life and wants & needs!
• Also reading about ailments and discovering you have the same - not much different from googling diseases and wondering how you are a medical miracle to be still alive! 
• "Will it be the same in the future? Will the prized treasures of to-day always be the cheap trifles of the day before?" - Our tendency to hold on to things assuming they have value!
• "What the eye does not see, the stomach does not get upset over" - Thats why don't peek into the kitchen of any restaurant!
• "I like work: it fascinates me. I can sit and look at it for hours. I love to keep it by me" - the epitome of being busy and lazy!

And a major learning: Pub is shortened form of public house 

Overall, quite fun to revisit that era. 

Previously on BookMarks: Let Me Say it Now 

Road To Tokyo: Episode 21 - The Bearers of a Billion Hopes

With less than a week to go, it seems the Games may finally happen after all. The contingents have started trickling into Tokyo. The Covid screening is on at full swing making global headlines whenever they catch even one case (without ever giving the total numbers tested). 

Now if it’s a sporting extravaganza, then its also time to make predictions. I am no octopus (given how my predictions were way off for Rio). Predicting is an inherently risky business, but this time there is added uncertainty. Many warm-up & test events were either cancelled or poorly attended. Differing travel restrictions and ever-changing quarantine guidelines have further complicated the process. And then there is the chance of athletes testing positive and being barred from the competition at the very last moment. But all this uncertainty just adds to the fun (of making predictions, not the Games itself). 

"The important thing in the Olympic Games is not to win, but to take part; the important thing in Life is not triumph, but the struggle; the essential thing is not to have conquered but to have fought well."  - Baron Pierre de Coubertin

For years, Indian contingents at Olympics fully endorsed this line. However, there has been a marked change with many of them becoming world champions and medallists. Here are my sport-by-sport expectations from the Indian contingent, who bear the expectations of a Billion plus people.

1. Archery: A discipline which has consistently disappointed since the days of Limba Ram. Recent form in the World Cups has been good, but a couple of caveats here – many countries skipped these events. Then the Indian women’s team got Gold at both World Cup stages but lost in the first round of Qualifiers in between! Hopefully this could be a redemption of sorts for Deepika Kumari. India has a good chance for a medal in all the 4 disciplines 
2. Athletics: The Qualification cut-offs were tougher this time around. Most Indian athletes had to break National records just to meet the qualifying standards. And some of them broke them multiple times. However, Neeraj Chopra is the only one who could be considered a strong contender for a Top 3 finish. A special mention of the race-walking disciplines, which has seen a steady rise in direct qualifiers. A Few National Records and Personal Bests are the best hopes for most of the contingent
3. Badminton: Badminton qualification were severely hit by the virus with tournaments getting cancelled everywhere and scuttling the chances of Srikanth & Saina and the doubles teams. PV Sindhu enters the Games as the defending world champion but hasn’t played for quite a while now. Same for Praneeth and the doubles duo of Satwik & Chirag. They can certainly bring in the medals but there is no idea of their or the rivals’ forms. 
4. Boxing:After the low of Rio, the boxing team is getting back on track with 9 quota places. Amit Panghal is the top ranked boxer in his category and then there is Mary Kom who can never be counted out. The likes of Manish Kaushik have a decent chance of getting to the sem-finals as well. 
5. Equestrian: Fouaad Mirza is India’s first qualifier in over 2 decades. Let’s see how he and Seigneur perform at the big stage 
6. Fencing: Bhavani Devi created history by becoming the first Indian to qualify in the Fencing sport. Can she do a Dipa Karmakar now? 
7. Hockey:  It has been 4 decades since our last hockey medal. But Hockey is our National Sport. The Mens team is currently ranked 4th in the World & the Women have qualified again after the disappointment of the last place finish at Rio. We certainly can hope for the elusive medal. 
8. Golf: Anirban Lahiri, Udayan Mane & Aditi Ashok will be representing India at Tokyo. Aditi could spring a surprise with her recent performance in the European LPGA tour. 
9. Gymnastics: After Dipa Karmakar, it is the turn of Pranati Nayak to qualify for the Games. No one had heard of an Indian Gymanst till Dipa nearly vaulted to a medal. Let’s see what Pranati has in store. 
10. Judo: Sushila Devi is India’s sole representative at the Games 
11. Rowing: Arjun Lal & Arvind Singh will be participating in the Lightweight Double Sculls category. India couldn’t participate in the Final Qualifiers due to covid restrictions. 
12. Sailing: Nethra Kumanan is all set to India’s first ever female sailor at the Olympics. Also, these are the first Games in which India will be represented in more than one sailing event 
13. Shooting: India is sending its largest ever shooting contingent. Rio was a disaster for the Indian shooting team. Since then, there has been a big change in the personnel with quite a few young guns coming into the fray. As for the medal hopes, on their day all of them could bring in the medals especially the likes of Saurabh Chaudhary (who is named in Time’s athletes to watch out for) and Manu Bhaker. Or they could bring in no medals – that is how unpredictable the sport of Shooting is!
14. Swimming: For the first time Indian swimmers achieved the A Qualifying mark. Thus, there are 2 entrants in the Mens, Sajan Prakash & Srihari Nataraj, while Maana Patel got the Universality Place for women. Best case scenario will be bettering the National Records 
15. Table Tennis: With the arrival of Manika Batra, Indian table Tennis has seen a rise in popularity. While they haven’t yet broken the East Asian grasp on the medals, they are starting to get there. There is certainly an outside chance for the Mixed Doubles pair of Sharath Kamal & Manika, who also got a Bronze at the 2018 Asiad. 
16. Tennis: India’s best bet would have been the Mixed Doubles but they couldn’t qualify (as yet due to the extremely complex ITF qualifying scenarios). Don’t see either Sumit Nagal or the Doubles pair of Sania & Ankita Raina progressing much further. 
17. Weightlifting: Mirabai Chanu should get at least the Silver Medal and bury the demons of Rio for good 
18. Wrestling: India lost one Quota due to Doping. None of their previous medalists qualified for these Games. Yet Wrestling could certainly bring in 2-3 medals with Bajrang Punia, Deepa Punia & Vinesh Phogat starting favourites in their respective categories. 

So overall, this could be India’s best ever Games with a potential double-digit medal count and with some luck in favour could surpass the combined medal count of the last 4 decades! Or we end up with no medals at all. After all these are the strangest Olympics of all times!

And Now let the Games Begin! (Also fingers crossed that the Games proceed with minimal Covid impact) 

Links: 

• Road To Tokyo: Episode 20 
• The Rio Hopes
• Olympic Predictions

BookMarks #85: Let Me Say it Now

Title: Let Me Say It Now 

Author: Rakesh Maria 

Genre: Non-fiction, Memoirs 

Published: 2020 

BookMarks 

“Let Me Say It Now” is the autobiography of Rakesh Maria, the former Commissioner of Police of Mumbai. While featuring his own personal life, it is also a sort of criminal history of Mumbai of the last three decades! Featuring local gangs, international gangs, terrorist attacks, shootouts, serial criminals, diabolical murderers, filmstars, business people, politicians and what not. 

While going through the narrative, got reminded of the adage “Everyone is the hero in their own story”. And why not? Given the high-profile nature of the job that Mr. Maria had. 

Key message - Policing is not easy, especially in a megapolis like Mumbai, and with the resource crunch faced by those in charge. And it’s a job which is filled with brickbats coming from everywhere – politicians, media (& now social media) and even their own internal politics! So it does take a different level of commitment to carry on in the face of all this. 

Recently had read another similar memoir, “Biting the Bullet”. There is stark difference. While Mr. Ajai Raj Sharma’s stories are from rural UP, Mr. Maria’s is from urban Mumbai, making them more in-the-news. But in essence they are same – fighting crimes & criminals. 

Funniest tale from the book – Mr. Maria trying to make his bachelor’s pad presentable to his to-be father-in-law. 

Overall, quite a pacy and interesting read! Less of an autobiography and more of a crime thriller at times.

Previously on Bookmarks: The Vault of Vishnu 

Road To Tokyo: Episode 20

We are almost there. Although the shadow of Covid still looms, the Games seem to be on track, although with lots of restrictions in place. And more could come depending on how the testing & bio-bubbles hold up. Meanwhile, we are at the fag end of the qualifying cycle. Any changes from now will be mostly on account of withdrawals. 

So here is the India contingent update since the last episode. 

New Qualifiers 

• Weightlifting: Mirabai Chanu qualified via rankings in the 49 KG category. 
• Tennis: The duo of Sania Mirza and Ankita Raina have qualified for the Doubles category. 
• Athletics: Tejinderpal Singh Toor qualified for Shot Put with a new National Record & Asian Record. Seema Punia made the qualifying cut in the Discus Throw joining Kamalpreet Kaur. Through World Rankings athletes qualified are Dutee Chand (100m & 200m), Annu Rani (Javelin), MP Jabir (400m Hurdles) and Mens 4x400m Relay team. 
• Golf: Aditi Ashok, Anirban Lahiri & Udayan Mane have made the cut for the respective individual sections 
• Swimming: Sajan Prakash & Srihari Natraj became the first ever Indian swimmers to qualify for the Olympics by beating the “A” timing in the 200m Butterfly & 100m Backstroke respectively. Meanwhile Maana Patel got the Universality place in the womes’s 100m Backstroke event. 

Other Updates 

• Wrestling: India lose a quota spot as Sumit Malik (FS, 125 KG) failed a dope test at the Qualifying event where he had earned the Quota. 
• Athletics: Already qualified Kamalpreet Kaur surpassed her National Record once again in the Discus Throw. 
• Archery: Indian women’s team failed to qualify in the final qualification tournament. However at the following World Cup stage days later they won the Gold. Deepika Kumari won the Gold medals in Individual, Team & Mixed events. Lets see if the jinx of the Olympics finally breaks for the Indian archers. 
• Shooting: Not a great haul for India in the final World Cup. Rahi Sarnobat got a Gold while the duo of Saurabh Chaudhary-Manu Bhaker managed only a silver in the mixed event (after a run of 5 Golds). Saurabh also won an individual bronze. 

Squad Announcement 

Hockey (W): GOALKEEPERS: Savita DEFENDERS: Deep Grace Ekka, Nikki Pradhan, Gurjit Kaur, Udita. MIDFIELDERS: Nisha, Neha, Sushila Chanu Pukhrambam, Monika, Nanjot Kaur, Salima Tete. FORWARDS: Rani, Navneet Kaur, Lalremsiami, Vandana Katariya, Sharmila Devi. 

Hockey (M): GOALKEEPERS: PR Sreejesh, DEFENDERS: Harmanpreet Singh, Rupinder Pal Singh, Surender Kumar, Amit Rohidas, Birendra Lakra, MIDFIELDERS: Hardik Singh, Manpreet Singh, Vivek Sagar Prasad, Nilakanta Sharma, Sumit, FORWARDS: Shamsher Singh, Dilpreet Singh, Gurjant Singh, Lalit Kumar Upadhyay, Mandeep Singh 

Indian Contingent 

Total Count – Sports - 18, Events – 70, Entries - 90, Participants – 117 

Links: 

• Road To Tokyo: Episode 19 
• Sumit Malik doping violation:
• India specific protocols: Sportstar

BookMarks #84: The Vault of Vishnu

Title: The Vault of Vishnu 

Author: Ashwin Sanghi 

Genre: Fiction, History 

Published: 2020 

Summary 

An account of a medieval Buddhist’s monk journey from China to India to acquire secret powers. Meanwhile in the modern times, the Chinese are keen on acquiring the same and showing off their powers to the rest of the world. 

BookMarks 

The book is a gripping tale with some surprising and not so surprising twists. Also, I guess this is two stories running in parallel. There is the historic one of Huen Tsang’s journey to India. And then there is the mystery of Chinese super soldiers who had come at Doklam. Meanwhile the Indian establishment with the help of other powers try to get to the bottom of it and uncover a connection going back to the Pallava empire. 

Overall, an interesting narrative merging history with modern intelligence services and myths with biotechnology. Although a word of caution – the author has mixed facts with myths and fiction to create a story. Hopefully it is just taken as that and not anymore. He does give references to actual historical texts but they have to be treated with caution. Especially in today’s times when people believe as per their confirmation bias. 

Previously on BookMarks: The Great Train Journey 

Also by Ashwin Sanghi: #48 – Chanakya’s Chant

Road To Tokyo: Episode 19

We are now less than two months from the Games. And yet the question remains – Will the Games happen at all? Japanese public opinion is increasingly against the Games happening. Similar to the general feeling in India about holding the IPL in the midst of pandemic. And yet, the qualifications and the preparations, while disrupted, continue. 

While the suspense remains, there have been further progress on the field with a few more sportspersons qualifying for the Games. 

New Qualifiers 

• Wrestling: At the final qualifying event, Sumit Malik earned a Quota place in the 125 KG Freestyle category while Seema Bisla earned a Quota place in the 50 KG Women’s category. Thus India have qualified 8 wrestlers for the Games. However, there were no qualifiers in the Greco-Roman category. 
• Rowing: Arjun Lal & Arvind Singh qualified via the Asian Qualification Regatta in the Men’s Lightweight Double Sculls. 
• Gymnastics: Pranati Nayak has qualified for the Games through the Asian Continental Qouta 
• Badminton: The final three qualification events got cancelled. And based on the rankings, PV Sindhu & B Sai Praneeth qualified in the Singles category, while the duo of Chirag Shetty & Satwik Rankireddy qualified in the Doubles. 
• Judo: Sushila Devi has earned a Quota place in the 48 KG Women’s event 

Other Updates 

• Shooting: The squad is now based in Croatia for training till the Games 
• Wrestling: The squad will move to Poland for training and practice events. 
• Boxing: At the Asian Championships, in a depleted field the Indian contingent hauled in 15 medals. This was the first proper event for many since the pandemic began. 

Covid-19 impact 

• Badminton: Malaysian Open & Singapore Open were cancelled thus ending the qualifying journey. 
• Rowing: Due to Covid travel restrictions, India did not enter the Final World Qualification Regatta. 

Indian Contingent 

Total Count – Sports - 14, Events – 57, Entries - 79, Participants – 100 

Links: Road To Tokyo: Episode 18 

BookMarks #83: The Great Train Journey

Title: The Great Train Journey 

Author: Ruskin Bond 

Genre: Fiction, Short Stories, Anthology 

Published: 2018 

BookMarks 

After the heavy duty Paradoxical PM and the prevailing covid news all around, it was time to try to relax. And that’s how once again I found myself in the familiar world of Ruskin Bond’s writings. 

The Great Train Journey is a collection of 14 short stories entwined by the Indian Railways encompassing the trains, tracks, stations, and the journeys. In this short story collection, read a a few new ones and got reacquainted with some old ones. And there were repetitions with the stories themselves. 

I think there are at least three where the key plot is driving the leopard out of the tunnel before the dragon like train moves along. And I found Deoli and Shamli to be identical stations – having a station master’s office, a waiting room, a tea stall and few dogs, where the trains stopped for ten minuted but no one ever got on or off. Of course there is one key difference – the author never gets off at Deoli but in Shamli he does! 

It is this familiarity which I guess keeps bringing me back to the works of Mr. Bond! And as he has quoted in the Introduction, these stories also bring back the times “When life was not so full of care and there was time to stand and stare” 

Previously on BookMarks – The Paradoxical Prime Minister 

Others works by Ruskin Bond on BookMarks 

• #74 A Journey Down the Years – Collection of “Tales” 
• #59 - The Perfect Murder – An anthology compiled by Mr. Bond. 
• #53 - A Gathering of Friends - A collection of short stories.

BookMarks #82: The Paradoxical Prime Minister

Title: The Paradoxical Prime Minister – Narendra Modi and His India 

Author: Shashi Tharoor 

Genre: Non-fiction, Politics, India 

Published: 2018 

BookMarks 

The Paradoxical PM is a critique of the first four year of Mr. Narendra Modi’s term as India’s Prime Minister by Shashi Tharoor, a member of the Opposition and a former Union minister. So while, he has a given a disclaimer upfront, the book has to be read with the background of an upcoming election (2019). 

The author states that “everyone is entitled to their own opinions, but not to their own facts”. But whom does one believe for the facts! After all given the echo chambers that the web has transformed into and the varying degrees of inherent “Confirmation Bias” that everyone has, getting the real facts is an onerous ask! 

Dr. Tharoor covers the various issues raised during the tenure (2104-18) attempting to highlight the paradox between what is said and what has been done. No issue is left untouched – cow, muslims, Bharat Mata Ki Jai, the Constitution, Hindu rashtra, women’s rights, demonetization, health, education, newspapers and media, governance, minimum governance. foreign relations et al. Here Dr. Tharoor has provided a critique of the government policies and in some areas a good summary of what should be India’s vision. 

A couple of lines which I really liked in the book. 

• it is the idea that a nation may endure differences of caste, creed, colour, culture, cuisine, conviction, costume and custom, and still rally around a consensus 
• in a democracy you don’t really need to agree—except on the ground rules of how you will disagree. 

The author has summarized the tenure as “in the end, therefore, he must be judged for himself; since he claims all successes as his own, his transcendent failures must inevitably also be laid at his own door". making the book an apt reading in these Covid times. The combination of arrogance and ineptitude is certainly deadly. 

Of course, there are things unsaid. Like the areas in which the current government couldn’t really do much because of various legacy issues created by the previous regimes. While Dr. Tharoor has highlighted all the failings, the fact that the government still got re-elected in 2019 (with an increased majority) says a lot about the Opposition’s terrible messaging to the voters. The Opposition parties certainly need an image sprucing and better communication. 

Overall, an interesting critique of the Government!

Previously on BookMarks: Think Straight 

Road To Tokyo: Episode 18

The second wave (seems more like a tsunami) of Covid-19 has created havoc in India. Help for oxygen, hospital beds, medicines are all what the social media is talking about. It has also led to more and more restrictions in terms of movement and supplies. And as a collateral damage it has also severely impacted India’s Olympics preparations and qualifiers. Certainly there is more confusion now about the Games than ever before, especially about the participation and travel. 

Meanwhile on the field, these are the major updates for our Indian contingent since Episode 17. 

New Qualifiers 

• Sailing: Through the Mussanah Cup, India has qualified in three events. Nethra Kumanan becomes the first Indian female to qualify for Olympics sailing, after earning the Quota in Women’s Laser Radial. KC Ganapathy & Varun Thakkar have qualified for the Mens 49er race. V Sarvanan qualified for the Mens Laser race. 
• Wrestling: Anshu Malik (Women’s Freestyle 57 KG) & Sonam Malik (Women’s Freestyle 62 KG) have booked their Quota places at the Asian Qualifiers. This is in addition to the four Quota places earned earlier though the World Qualifiers. There is one more World Qualifying event in May to complete the set. India also had a good outing at the Asian Wrestling Championships but given the depleted field these results should not be an indicator of actual form. 

Other Updates 

• Weightlifting: At the Asian Championships, Mirabai Chanu created a new World Record in Clean & Jerk section. 
• Archery: At the World Cup stage in Guatemala, the Indian archers secured 3 of the 5 Gold medals in the Olympics events. However, quite a few of the leading teams were missing in action. 
• Hockey: India had good tour of Argentina and secured 2 wins against the reigning Olympics champions in the Hockey Pro League. But the prevailing Covid situation has led to the postponement of their next European leg. 
• Gymnastics: Pranati Nayak is in contention for the Continental Quota, although it is yet to be confirmed. 

Covid-19 impact 

• Judo: The India contingent had to be withdrawn from the Asia-Oceania Qualifiers due to Covid cases in the team. 
• Athletics: The Indian team could not participate in the World Relay championships due to travel restrictions. 
• Badminton: The Indian Open which was to be qualifying event for the Olympics has been cancelled leaving just the Malaysian Open & Singapore Open as the final two qualifying events. 

Squad Announcement 

Shooting: India have announced a 15 member squad for the Olympics. There have been 2 Quota changes. Chinki Yadav has been replaced by Elavenil Valerian. Manu Bhaker will take the 25m pistol spot instead of Chinki. Meawhile Elavenil, who is ranked No. 1 in the world replaces Anjum Moudgil in the 10m Air Rifle category. Anjum will participate in the 50m 3 Positions instead. India has 2 entries in both mixed 10m Pistol & Rifle events. Here is the full squad. 

10m air rifle (M): Divyansh Singh Panwar, Deepak Kumar. Reserves: Sandeep Singh, Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar. 

50m rifle 3-position (M): Sanjeev Rajput, Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar. Reserves: Swapnil Kusale, Chain Singh. 

10m air pistol (M): Saurabh Chaudhary, Abhishek Verma. Reserves: Shahzar Rizvi, Om Prakash Mitharval. 

Skeet (M): Angad Vir Singh Bajwa, Mairaj Ahmad Khan. Reserves: Gurjoat Singh Khangura, Sheeraz Sheikh. 

10m air rifle (W): Apurvi Chandela, Elavenil Valarivan. Reserves: Anjum Moudgil, Shreya Agrawal. 

50m rifle 3-position (W): Anjum Moudgil, Tejaswini Sawant. Reserves: Sunidhi Chauhan, Gaayathri Nithyanandam. 

10m air pistol (W): Manu Bhaker, Yashaswini Singh Deswal. Reserves: P Shri Nivetha, Shweta Singh. 

25m sports pistol (W): Rahi Sarnobat, Manu Bhaker. Reserves: Chinki Yadav, Abhidnya Patil. 

10m air rifle (X): Divyansh Singh Panwar, Elavenil Valarivan; Deepak Kumar, Anjum Moudgil. 

10m air pistol (X): Saurabh Chaudhary, Manu Bhaker; Abhishek Verma, Yashaswini Singh Deswal. 

In Other News 

North Korea has pulled out of the Games! What happens to their earned Quotas is still to be decided. And thus improving the medal hopes of some of the Indian contingent. 

Indian Contingent: Sports - 10, Events – 49, Entries - 64, Participants – 90 

Praying for the Covid situation in India to improve fast. Even sports is not able to provide a balm in the current environment.  

Links: 

• Road To Tokyo: Episode 17 
• Shooting Contingent: Sportstar
• North Korea out of the Games: The Guardian 
• North Korea pulling out impact on India: Indian Express 
• Nethra Kumanan: Business Insider 
• India's Top 10 medal prospects: ESPN 
• Pranati Nayak: ESPN 
• Travel impact on Indian sportspersons: ESPN 

Road To Tokyo: Episode 17

We are heading closer to the Olympics with crossed fingers that the Games actually happen. Vaccinations have started rolling out in various parts of the world and some have also prioritized their sportspersons in this regard. On the other hand, many parts are facing a second wave and mutant versions of the virus. The various qualifiers are still being rescheduled due to with lockdowns and travel restrictions of varying degree in different regions. With this backdrop, the Olympic Torch relay has resumed, and the Japanese government has decided to ban foreign spectators. A collateral impact of this ban is the reduction in personal entourages of the athletes as only the accredited support staff can be part of the delegations. 

Well, all this is still a bridge too far. Meanwhile a few more Indian sportspersons have qualified for the Games 

Fencing: Bhavani Devi became the 1st ever Indian to qualify for Olympics Fencing. Will be participating in the Individual Sabre event. 

Athletics: M Sreeshankar qualified for the Men's Long Jump event after creating a new National Record in the Federation Cup. Kamalpreet Kaur qualified for the Women's Discus Throw event with a new National Record in the Federation Cup 

Table Tennis: Sathian Gnansekharan & Achanta Sharat Kamal booked spots in the Men’s Singles from the Asian qualifying event. Suthirtha Mukherjee and Manika Batra qualified for the Women’s singles category. Sharath Kamal & Manika Batra upset the Top seeds to win the sole Mixed Doubles Quota at the Asian Qualifying event. 

In other news 

Boxing: The Final World Qualification events have been cancelled and instead the Quotas will be allocated to the top-ranked boxer yet qualify from each continental region. India had already qualified 9 boxers (an all-time high) through last year’s Asian qualification. However, in the other 4 categories, the quotas have gone to other nations. 

Athletics: New National Records for already qualified athletes Neeraj Chopra (Men's Javelin Throw) & Avinash Sable (3,000m steeplechase). Both of them nicely warming up for the Games.

Shooting: At the New Delhi World Cup, the Indian contingent returned a rich haul. Although the field was depleted but it was good to see the shooters strike a rich vein of form in the run-up to the Olympics. Special mention of the Manu Bhaker-Saurabh Chaudhary duo who have now won Gold at their 5th consecutive World Cup! 

Archery: The team has been announced. Atanu Das, Tarundeep Rai & Pravin Jadhav who had earned the Quota will be representing in the Men’s team and Individual Events. Deepika Kumari will be representing in the Women’s individual event. India is yet to qualify for the Women’s Team event. 

Indian Contingent: Sports - 9, Events – 42, Entries - 58, Participants – 84 

Links: 

• Road To Tokyo: Episode 16 
• Who is Bhavani Devi? (Olympics) 
• Overseas Fans Barred from Tokyo Olympics: (Times of India), (ESPN)
• India's Tokyo Squad (World Archery)
• India at the New Delhi Shooting World Cup (ESPN)

Corona Chronicles – WFH/Office Edition

It has been over a year since that fateful day in March of 2020, when the office issued a “temporary” Work From Home orders. It was extended by a fortnight, then another fortnight and then sine die. Over a year of working from home has been an interesting experience. 

The biggest realization has been that what is referred to as "work" comprises of sending emails, checking calendars, arranging and attending meetings and finally preparing documents (excel, powerpoint, word and then transforming them to pdfs). In short almost wholly dependent on the power of Microsoft Office and Microsoft Teams! 

The commute disappeared (not a bad thing given the Mumbai traffic) but with it also went away the buffer zone between office and home. Earlier we used to get ready for office, travel to office, settle in and start “work”. Now we switch on the laptop, connect the internet and the vpn and then maybe “get ready” while simultaneously cleaning up, preparing meals and entertaining the kid. 

Office attire has changed to Polo T-shirts & pajamas/shorts. As for the usual work clothes – the shoes are gathering dust in the shoe rack, socks have gone into the deepest recesses of the cupboards and the shirts & trousers are lying neatly ironed and folded. All of them wondering if their wearer has vanished altogether! 

And office meetings & calls keep getting interrupted. Because the little one likes to make their presence felt. Meanwhile the office colleagues actually welcome this interruption. 

Meanwhile meetings have developed their own idiosyncrasies. 

One can join multiple meetings simultaneously – one from laptop, one from phone; maybe take another call while being “present” in one meeting. Sometimes “move” from one meeting to the other and find almost the same group present there as well. It has also resulted in meetings mostly starting on time, because you don’t have to physically move. 

Speaking up and making a point and then wondering why no has responded, and realizing you forgot to "unmute" yourself. Then repeating the same point after unmuting (with lesser effect) while the the opportunity has already sailed away. 

Using backgrounds when you switch on the camera and realizing multiple people in the meeting are in the same setting. After all not everyone has the luxury of a well-stocked cupboard filled with photogenic books in the background! 

Multi-tasking in meetings is something we have become adept at – working on another document or reading something else or watching the game on TV or maybe chopping vegetables.  

The golden words oft heard during the past year – “Am I audible?”, “Is my screen visible?”, “I am sorry I was on mute”, “Are you there? You seem to be on mute”. “Can those who are not speaking mute themselves”. See, getting the hang of the mute button is the skill!

Meanwhile the responsibility of the HR team has increased as they have to now organize virtual Fun sessions as well! 

While these are the fun aspects, there are a few on the flip side as well. 

Somehow the meetings have just multiplied. And more meetings leading to more fatigue. The number of visitors to the ophthalmologists would have seen a drastic jump given the increased time spent staring at a screen. 

Then there has been an exponential growth in Webinars (a parallel pandemic in itself). Can’t even give the excuse of having a meeting in another city these days! Attended more conferences and industry meets – without leaving the chair/desk/floor/bed. Yet what we got was just the boring part of the meet – listening to presenters & not the fun part – going somewhere! And all this while still being in the regular day job environment. Overall, making things more tedious. 

Increased hours and disappearing holidays. How to take a leave is becoming a challenge in itself? And there is the lack of informal connects, in the absence of face-to-face interaction it takes more effort to ping/call someone than just corridor talk. 

Then there is that MS Teams ringtone – tun tung tun tung tun tung! Sometimes coming from multiple devices simultaneously. There is simply no escape! 

And finally no coffee and snacks! If you want to have a hot beverage go and prepare it yourself, a process which starts with cleaning the bartan! 

Not for nothing is this being referred to as the “New Normal”. Wondering how it would feel when we return to office and actually see the same people face to face!

BookMarks #81: Think Straight

Title: Think Straight 

Author: Darius Foroux 

Published: 2017 

Genre: Non-fiction, Self-help 

BookMarks 

The book keeps it short providing a mix of ideas on thinking straight, focusing on whats important and touching upon the philosophy of pragmatism. Although the book hardly goes in-depth on any theme there were a few ideas which I liked, . Here are some key takeaways. 

Cogito Ergo Sum - I think therefore I am. Hence thoughts should serve a useful purpose. That’s why it is critical to control your thoughts or rather decide what to think. Certainly not an easy ask, given the way our thoughts have tendency to run all over. But "watching" them and deliberately making yourself focus can be good starting point. Achieving this is not easy but one can always start. 

Getting a clear purpose out of the chaos of thoughts cluttering the mind should be the chief goal. After all, the quality of our thoughts determines our decisions and subsequently our actions. The author suggests to focus on useful thoughts which he has categorized into (a) Thinking about how you can solve problems and (b) Understanding knowledge for improving your life, career, work, relationships, etc.

While not easy, the author has given some actionable points which need to be reinforced.

• Before making any decision/commitment take time to think. (Very useful in chess.com games where you have a day to make a move)
• Read & take notes. Also keeping a journal of thoughts and going back to them. After all what is not written is forgotten. 
• When the learning hits a wall, take a break, recharge and come back to the task.
• Visualizing ideas before detailing them out.
• Learning to relax. Something which most of us forget.
• The choice of "this or that" vs "this and that".
• Look back, learn and move forward (don't live in the past)
• At the end of the day, thinking by itself is useless without action. But actions must follow thoughts.

And finally finding inner calm or as Master Shifu would say "inner peace"

Overall an interesting book from which a few ideas resonated well. 

Previously on BookMarks: Biting the Bullet