The Jugglery

Recently came across this Twitter Thread about fathers and their constant (and mostly losing) struggle to “have it all” (Link). While still at the early stages of this struggle, something about the theme really resonated.

We keep talking about the having a Work-Life Balance – the El Dorado of the modern corporate “culture”, the promised land, also our biggest illusion ever? Work-life is not a balance but more akin to jugglery, trying (desperately at times) to not drop the balls.

But why does the balance go kaput? Because of work emergencies, urgent submissions & exigencies! According to Oxford Dictionary, an emergency is “a sudden serious and dangerous event or situation which needs immediate action to deal with it”. How many of us work in situations where this dictionary definition of emergency comes up? So, why does “work emergency” keep constantly intruding into people’s personal spaces? Responding with a "No" is difficult, because in a country with a billion plus population, you can be easily replaced by a thousand others at half of your salary! 

So the struggle continues but never give up the fight. But as the thread concludes, remember the old adage “Work, no matter how stimulating and rewarding, will never love you back”. And its just an enabler for life and not the other way round! We need to keep juggling, but also prioritize which balls to keep up in the air for the longest.

P.S. And the thread also has lots of (super-cute) cartoons of a father and his little girl! 

MovieNotes: Le Mans: Racing Is Everything

After Tour de France, comes out another sports documentary series from my Amazon Prime watchlist. Another mega-event based in France – the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The folks at Amazon have christened it the "Mount Everest of sports". It certainly is a different beast from conventional events – an endurance race where the winner is decided by who runs the most in a 24-hour period rather than who finishes the fastest. And uniquely it also is a driver relay race where teams of three drivers take turns driving one car over a 24-hour period. 

The 6-part documentary covers the 2015 event and focuses on six teams who have started the grid – Audi, Porsche, Nissan, Toyota, Rebellion and Aston Martin. Even within these, not all cars get the full share of the limelight. While the race is showcased, the show also provides a good lesson on Le Mans – its history, why it was started, how it has evolved over the years, the ever-present dangers on the track, technical aspects of racing at different times of the day and night, design of cars, different categories going on simultaneously, presence of amateurs. In short, a good 101 for the racing buffs. 

With the increasing role of electronics in the cars, drivers are now being sourced from the gaming world! While traditional drivers still dominate, Nissan was running a car which was driven by drivers who had honed their skills in virtual racing. On the other hand, the likes of Mark Webber, a multiple F1 race winner also practices on simulators. Certainly, the lines are blurring between gaming and racing. With increased digitization & better data access on the one hand and climate concerns & focus on sustainability, motor-racing might be the first sport to shift to esports from current physical model. It will certainly reduce the dangers quite a bit. 

Although a bit over-dramatized at times, this was a compelling watch. 

Previously on MovieNotes: Eat.Race.Win

Road To Tokyo: Episode 11

Presenting the first episode of 20202 in the “Road To Tokyo” series. The Games are approaching vast, although we have the new element in form of Coronavirus interfering on this path. Meanwhile, here is the progress since Episode 10.

Quotas Earned

Athletics

Neeraj Chopra is back and after a prolonged injury lay-off has sent his javelin sailing past the Qualification Mark in his comeback appearance. A genuine medal contender at the Games. 

In Other News

Badminton – The stars are sliding back in rankings. Currently Sai Praneeth, Srikanth & Sindhu Singles and the pair of Satwik Rankireddy & Chirag Shetty are in contention for a direct berth. 

Golf – Rashid Khan, Aditi Ashok & Diksha Dagar are on track to qualify for the Games.

Table Tennis – Both Men & Women failed to clear the last hurdle in the Team Qualifiers and now must wait till April for the next set.

Tennis – Sania Mirza made a winning return to the Doubles Tour, but had a injury setback in the Australian Open. Her progress will determine the Indian presence in Tennis.

Boxing - Nikhat Zareen got her chance for a trial where she was beaten by Mary Kom. But the contest left a bitter after-taste! Meanwhile, the Olympic Qualifiers have been postponed be a month and shifted from China to Jordan because of coronavirus.

Volleyball – both teams are out of contention.

Total Count – Sports - 6, Events – 25, Entries -36, Participants – 63.

Links: 

• Road To Tokyo: Episode 10
• Olympic Golf Ranking - IGF

The Twenty 10s

Another decade passes by. Although inconsequential in terms of the geological time scale, a combination of the widespread acceptance of the Gregorian calendar and decimal number system and the average human lifespan does tend to make a decade a significant passage of time.

Almost ten years back, I had written a post on the noughties. Simply my reflection on the decade gone by. Had ended that post with a wish of reviewing the tens on this platform. And here I am still putting in my thoughts on the past decade. As they say, the more things change the more they remain the same.

So how did the last ten years go. Things are quite different now. Started the decade alone and with a nomadic existence. Ending it not alone and having spent the entire period in the same city & company! Stability with constant evolution has been the mantra.

During the noughties, home referred to one city in the first half and another in the second, without having lived in either. The tens changed that bit. Lived in Mumbai/Navi Mumbai throughout but still can’t get around to calling it home. There certainly is a sense of losing touch with own roots.

There were new experiences including some life changing ones. Also, the passport was put to its proper use for the first time ever! And there is the constant battle with time which keeps slipping away in the fight against the ever-expanding “To Do” list. Yet the true moments of Happyness were always sneaked in.

Work evolved in its own way with exposure levels getting changed. However, it did stay very much in the realm of Outlook, Word, Excel and PowerPoint and of course that constant pest, the smartphone (a new arrival in this decade, for me at least).

People came in, people went away, some reconnected, others may connect again. The cycle continued and probably will keep going on. There are more ways of being in touch than ever before.

So that was the Twenty Tens for me. The new decade certainly brings its own anticipation. And I wonder if there will be a similar post in 2030. Would certainly hope so! Meanwhile, the pursuit of Happyness will continue!

P.S. And I was wrong, this decade was exciting in its own way compared to the noughties!

Goodbye 2019

Another year went by, but personally what an year it was!

Early in the year, the Little One arrived. And after that let's say things were a bit different. It was a fascinating time watching someone take their first tentative steps into this world. 

Of course, uninterrupted sleep became a fantasy. As did the earlier entertainment means. Movies, TV episodes and books were sneaked in. I believe this was first year in over two decades that there was no movie theatre visit! But wasn't really missed.

And now to the other events of the year.

• Attended a couple of musical concerts and Arijit Singh simply outshines Maroon 5!
• Also somehow found myself amidst a full constellation of "stars".
• And I voted. Twice!
• And there was an offshore trip to round off the year.

Now to the year 2020, which amongst other things has an extra day!

And throwing in this Backstreet Boys song which really resonated this year.

BookMarks #65: Why I Stopped Wearing My Socks

Title: Why I Stopped Wearing My Socks

Author: Alok Kejriwal

Genre: Management, Autobiography

Published: 2018

Summary

Tells the story, in his own words, of Alok Kejriwal's business journey and the lessons he has drawn from them.

BookMarks

I liked the format of the book - a brief narration of events followed by a short summary of the learnings to be taken out of them.  Each anecdote providing its own lesson. 

The author has structured the chapters chronologically starting with his time in his grandfather's transport business, moving forward to his father's socks manufacturing business and finally transitioning to the internet and mobile domain. Lets say the career path has been quite interesting. The title is metaphor of his quitting the family run socks manufacturing business and starting on the internet journey.

There are a few lessons which everyone can imbibe, even if they are not the entrepreneurial type. And these are not out-of-the-ordinary. They are ones which we do know, but have been presented in a single book. e.g. connecting with the right people, being adaptable to the circumstances, trying to identify the right problem and then working on its solution, being patient, being observant, being prepared and most important communicating well.

Overall, an interesting read.

Previously on BookMarks: The Barefoot Coach

Road To Tokyo: Episode 10

Presenting the last episode of 2019 in the “Road To Tokyo” series. Come 2020 and the Tokyo Games will seem much closer. Here is the progress since Episode 9.

Quotas Earned

Equestrian

Fouaad Mirza won a Quota place in Individual Eventing. The Asian Games Silver medallist is thus set to become the first Indian Equestrienne Olympian in 20 years.

Archery

India added a Quota place in the Women’s Individual through Deepika Kumari in the Asian Qualification Event. This Quota also gives India a berth in the Mixed Event with the Men’s Team having already qualified. There is a potential to add 2 more Women’s archers through the Final Qualifying Event in June, 2020 in Berlin. However, the Archery Association does need to pull up its socks. It can’t continue to remain banned ensuring that Indian archers do not get international exposure at this critical juncture.

In Other News

South Asian Games

An event held for Indian athletes to register “international” medals against their names! However, we could not get a single quota from the Games! Speaks about the standards of the meet itself. Meanwhile Pakistan earned a direct Athletics Quota for the first time in decades – a feat which was noted by Athletics India and publicized in social media. Good to see the sportsman spirit is still alive in some sections even in these increasingly polarized times. 

Russian Ban - Meanwhile Russia has been banned from all sporting events for fudging dope tests. Quotas earned by Russian athletes and teams would suddenly up to all.

Shooting

India’s shooters continued their good performance in the year-end finals winning medals aplenty. There are also selection headaches in the Women’s Rifle team with Elavenil Valerian and Mehuli Ghosh outperforming the Quota winners Anjum Moudgil & Apurvi Chandela. Nice problem to have though! Mehuli Ghosh smashed through the World Record at the South Asian Games (although not ratified as an official mark!)

Hockey

Men’s Team have been placed in Pool A along with Australia, Argentina, Spain, New Zealand & Japan.

Women’s Team have been placed in Pool A along with Netherlands, Germany, Great Britain, Ireland and South Africa.

Boxing

The federation has agreed to have trials for a chance to represent India at the Olympics qualifiers. So Nikhat Zareen’s wish is fulfilled.

Rugby – Both Teams have failed to qualify for the Final Qualifiers.

Total Count – Sports - 6, Events – 24, Entries -35, Participants – 62.

Lets see what the new year will have in store for the Indian contingent. Wishing all readers a very Happy Olympics Year!

Links: 

Road To Tokyo: Episode 9

BookMarks #64: The Barefoot Coach

Title: The Barefoot Coach

Author: Paddy Upton

Genre: Sports Management

Published: 2019

Setting: From 1990s to current

Summary

Management lessons from Paddy Upton’s experience of coaching different cricket teams over the past two decades.

BookMarks

Paddy Upton has been associated with multiple high profile and successful cricket teams in his over decades of coaching experience. In this book he presents his insights from different experiences in this journey. The coaching career has seen highs (India winning World Cup, South Africa getting to be the top-ranked Test Team, success with the franchisee teams) and lows (bottom of the table finish in the leagues, accidental scandals) etc.

The book begins at a slow pace when Upton is giving his background and sharing some coaching theories. A that point, it does feel like a tedious management read. However, the tone changes, once he starts with his coaching journey, first with the Indian team, then the Proteas and finally to the T20 franchisees. Most of the experiences shared are by Upton are not about applying management theory to a sport but more of learning to evolve with the situation. There are no hard and fast rules except to be adaptable. Many a times, he has narrated how he came with a big presentation ready but had to change his approach given the audience reaction. 

The highlight of the book are the many anecdotes which are especially more interesting for a cricket follower. (like the instance when Sehwag got out because he had forgotten the lyrics of a song). The little behind-the-scenes stories make it real fun and enable better understanding of the coaching principles. Playing to your strength as against covering your weakness, Being in the zone, mental strength, what makes an alpha leader are good theories, how to play like a team but how does one get there? Again there is no single defined way but a good coach can assist you in getting there. How does one start making the little changes which can help in the long run.

Overall, a good read and worth investing the time. 

Previously on BookMarks: Guns, Germs, and Steel

2019 TYIL

TYIL - This Year I Learnt.

Sometime, very early in the year, decided to compile a list of "interesting" (for me at least) things which I have learnt during the course of the year. And publish it close to the end of the year. So, at least one New Year's resolution got complete. And I have my own hashtag for it as well - #TYIL. So here goes. 

1. Michelin Star was designed to ensure people have places to go out for dinner, in their cars and wear out their tires. Thus needing more tires and increasing the revenues of Michelin. It was a part of the Michelin Guide. (Business Insider)
2. Yellow Cane Toads are so poisonous that a python, or even a crocodile, will die if they eat the frogs. Hence that python was smart and allowed these pesky creatures a ride on its back. (Link)
3. The phrase “Rule of Thumb” has seemingly negative origins. According to folk etymology, English Law permitted a man to beat his wife with a stick no thicker than the width of his thumb. If true, quite a bizarre origin of an everyday phrase! (Link)
4. Zugzwang – German for Compulsion to Move – A situation in Chess where any move you make will weaken your positional advantage! (Chessdotcom)
5. Ikigai – Japanese formula – a reason to jump out of bed each morning (Link)
6. Nagashi Somen – Japanese system of eating flowing noodles! Catch the noodles with chopsticks before it flows away from you! (BBC)
7. Captology – the invisible ways in which technology can persuade and influence those who use it. Coined by BJ Fogg, a behavioural scientist. Derived from “Computers As Persuasive Technology” (Stanford)
8. DC stands for Detective Comics. Somehow for all this time never tried to figure it out! 
9. The ‘3-6-3’ rule of Banking - borrow at 3 per cent, lend at 6 per cent, and head off to the golf course at 3 P.M. {Life was simple then}(Investopedia)
10. The Three Comma Club – or in simple terms a Billionaire – well, that could be an aspiration (Link) 
11. Eugene Shoemaker – The only person whose ashes are buried on the Moon. (NASA)
12. Marginalia - the writing in the margins of a printed book to underlining or otherwise marking out passages with asterisks or other symbols — essentially any type of visible interaction a reader has with their book. {Something we all indulge in but didn't know there was a word for it}(Firstpost)
13. Shampoo originates from Champi – Washing hair from head massage – an interesting leap of language! (Link) 
14. Henry Cavill’s mustache was subject of a $3 Million contractual dispute between the makers of Mission Impossible: Fallout & Justice League. (Link)
15. Gandhiji’s 3 Monkeys have their origins in Japan – Mizaru, Kikazaru, Iwazaru (Natgeo)
16. Steiff – a German company which is the creator of children’s teddy bears. All their toys have a button tag in the ear for authenticity! (BBC)
17. The “Traps” in the Deccan Traps comes from the Swedish word “Trappa” meaning steps (Link)
18. Karoshi – Japanese for “death-by-overwork” {Japanese do have a lot of terms to offer} (Business Insider)
19. Men’s Underwear Index – is an economic index which can supposedly detect the beginnings of a recovery during an economic slump. (Wikipedia) 
20. Badluram Ka Badan Zameen Ke Neeche Hai – marching song of Assam Regiment, dedicated to the memory of Badluram, a soldier who had died during World War II, but his platoon still got his share of rations! (Firstpost) 
21. Kessler Syndrome - The concept that collisions between objects create space debris and will cause a cascade of further collisions, making space activities and satellite use impossible. (Wikipedia) 
22. Pineapples can eat your mouth while you are eating it! (Link) 
23. Gibbous Moon - when the Moon is more than half full, but not quite fully illuminated, when you look at it from the perspective of Earth. (Link)
24. Lipstick Effect – purchases of smaller and more modest consumer discretionary items tend to pick-up during uncertain economic times. (Investopedia).Mr. Ravishankar Prasad, may please take note! (ET)
25. Anna Karenina Principle - a deficiency in any one of a number of factors dooms an endeavor to failure. Consequently, a successful endeavor (subject to this principle) is one where every possible deficiency has been avoided. (Wikipedia)
26.  The "high" in "high tea" refers to the height of the table on which it is served. 
27. Mosambi’s name originates from Mozambique, from where the fruit was brought by the Portuguese to India (ET).

So this was 2019. There was no specific number planned - just a list which grew with time. 

Certainly more will be added next year. After all, the more I learn, the more I realize that like Jon Snow, I know nothing!

MovieNotes: Eat.Race.Win

Wading my way through Amazon’s collection of sports documentary series, found this interesting one on Tour de France. But Eat.Race.Win breaks the embedded sports documentary format by focusing not just on a particular team but instead choosing to highlight the work done by its performance chef during the course of the race. So here we go into a 6-part series covering the nutrition aspects on 1 team in one racing tournament! Talk about a niche within a niche. 

The series is narrated from the point of view of Hannah Grant, who is the Head Chef for Team Orica Scott, an Australian based cycling team participating in the 2017 Tour de France. The team has nine riders (at the start) with their chief priority being to win the White Jersey (awarded to the best rider under the age of 26, who finishes within the Top-10 overall as well). Any stage wins are treated as a bonus. Simon Yates is the chosen contender from the team. And he achieves the objective. 

Meanwhile, Hannah Grant and her crew are tasked with feeding the riders and the support staff as they journey through the Tour. Every episode is a different culinary adventure as Hannah and her team visits the local farms and markets to get the best of French healthy taste for the team. 

The highlight of the series is the way it showcases what goes behind the scenes. The usual image of Tour de France is a big peloton of bikers racing across the French countryside with cars following them and spectators cheering them by the tracks. We get to see some of the dangers of road biking and also the team work of both the support staff and the fellow riders in creating the winner. Till I watched the series, never realized that riding is a team sport. Unlike F1, the lead identified rider has to get full support from his fellow riders to achieve the overall objective! And food as the fuel for the riders makes an interesting analogy. 

This certainly was an interesting one to watch giving a different perspective to something familiar.. 

Previously on MovieNotes: Six Dreams