Maradona – the Hand of God with a touch of the devil

Diego Armando Maradona - a once in a century player, he was a maverick, a genius, a maestro with the ball guiding a football with his left foot, drugs. Taking mediocre teams to glory not seen before or since (Argentina & Napoli). Worshipped as a deity by not just his countrymen but fans all over the world (there is even a Church of Maradona). And yet also embroiled in all sorts of controversies – drugs issues, tax problems, violent behavior, health issues, the company of not so good men! 

And yet all through this time he remained someone who continued being loved and adored by fans across the world. Probably because he was more open about his flaws than many famous ones. 

The bare stats first – he has trophies at the biggest stages - World Cup, Youth World Cup, World Cup Golden Ball, La Liga, Copa del Rey, Serie A (twice), UEFA Cup, Argentine Primera Division and many others. However, even this list glittering doesn’t some close to describe what a phenomenon he was. After all, not many players transcended the game the way he did and managed to enhance the beauty of the beautiful game! 

That game against England (World Cup 86) put on display the contradictions of this maverick. On one side there was the stealth of the “Hand of God” punching in the ball over the keeper and just four minutes later, single-footedly leaving the entire England defense stupefied. The ball dancing along with his foot is one of the most mesmerizing pieces of wizardry seen on a football field. Did he have a wand with him? Not for nothing is it the Goal of the Century! Have read so much of this event in the past few days that I don’t even have to see the footage anymore of this goal! 

Just how big an influence was he on a tiny me? For all my pretense to be a big sports fan, the only sports shirt I own is a replica “La Albiceleste” shirt! Italia 90 was the event which introduced the biggest single sport tournament to me. And he was the God there, even though his powers had started waning. Somehow dragged Argentina into the final where they lost to West Germany and haven’t won since. But that hasn’t stopped me supporting Argentina ever! Now this is the impact on someone who did not see him play at his peak. No wonder why the whole world paused to grieve his passing away. 

Finally, no Maradona tribute can be complete without a video displaying his almost non-human skills. So here is my favorite bit – not of him in action but just warming up! And hope that Asif Kapadia documentary comes soon! 

Farewell Diego Armando Maradona! You have gone to a better place. 

P.S. The best article I read on Maradona - From The Guardian

BookMarks #75: The Tales Next Door

Title: The Tales Next Door: A Collection of Short Stories 

Author: Ranjana Joshi 

Genre: Fiction, Anthology 

Published: 2020 

BookMarks 

A collection of ten short stories covering a variety of themes. Most cover the common, everyday life. Quite a few of these have a twist in the tail. Even when you can see the twist coming, it still provides an engaging read. And I liked the fact that most of the stories do not have a finality but leave on a note pregnant with possibility of developing into a bigger story by itself. 

My favorite of the ten stories is the last one “The Station Artist” which depicts the full circle of life! 

Overall, quite an engaging read. 

Previously on BookMarks: Journey Down the Years

BookMarks #74: Journey Down the Years

Title: Journey Down the Years 

Author: Ruskin Bond 

Genre: Non-fiction, Memoirs 

Published: 2017 

Summary 

A collection of 25 “tales” by the maestro Mr. Bond (as I like to read his name) 

BookMarks 

It is always a pleasure going back to the writings of Ruskin Bond. The stories are simplistic and yet fill with an unadulterated joy. While the book’s title suggests that it is Mr. Bond’s autobiography and thats how the initial stories start off but then the book takes its own course into nature. A constant theme of the stories is the lament of nature losing its battle against human development but everywhere hope springs up. This is a tale of the adventurous wind which the writer first encountered in his childhood and which has taken him places. 

Mr. Bond (I like saying the name) says that it is easier to write without being constrained by a subject. And that is how the book flows flitting from one subject to another - a collection of tales traversed by that adventurous wind. Some on his own life, some his observations. Sometimes the writer is the hero of his tale and sometimes he is just a commentator providing us the "aankhon dekha haal". 

Its the same adventurous wind which brings in that restlessness in the humans so that they are not satisfied with what they have. Rural folk want the hustle bustle of the city life and the urban folks crave  the tranquil of the hills. People come to see the Taj while a young fellow who has lived there ignores the monument and sees the people. 

Yes, the Taj Mahal. As the author writes - it doesn’t change. Therein lies its beauty. For the effect on the traveller is the same today as it was three hundred years ago when the Frenchman, Bernier, wrote: ‘Nothing offends the eye….… No part can be found that is not skillfully wrought, or that has not its peculiar beauty.’ Oh, and I haven't seen it yet! 

The book is filled with tales from the nature - the peacocks of Mathura, the crows who follow humans everywhere, the bat with a misguided radar, a spring making its way into a river. The garden lizard’s story has all the thrills of an Animal Planet documentary with a narration at par with Attenborough. 

A couple of interesting lines about boredom and loneliness that I cherish - ‘Lonely! Why should I feel lonely? Is not our planet in the Milky Way?’ and 'Find a book to read & you will never be bored!' Both lines hold a profound meaning in these weird times. And the book has given me two tasks – Read Kipling’s Kim and re-read Jerome K Jerome’s “Three Men in a Boat”. 

Finally, there was a passage quoted from Farmer's Glory by AG Street which is quite relevant in the covid-19 times 

It is perhaps nothing to boast about, but there is little doubt that the present prosperity of British farming is mainly due to one man, who is now dead. His name was Adolf Hitler. There is no disputing that it was the fear of famine during the early 1940s which taught the British nation that despite all man’s cleverness and inventions, when real danger comes an island people must turn for succour to the only permanent asset they possess, the land of their own country. It has never, and will never, let them down; always provided they realize and obey this eternal truth—that to make the land serve man, man must first be content to serve the land. 

A better analogy of self-sufficiency (or becoming aatm-nirbhar) can’t be provided. 

Overall, a truly wonderful read! 

Previously on BookMarks: My India

Other works of Ruskin Bond on BookMarks 

#59 - The Perfect Murder – An anthology compiled by Mr. Bond.  

#53 - A Gathering of Friends - A collection of short stories.

T20 cricket as seen by a 20-month old

It was the IPL 2020 season, thus presenting an apt time to introduce the gentleman’s game, albeit in its shortest official format to the kiddo. 

But how do you explain the rules and nuances of this most complex game to a toddler. I mean how does one even start. But turns out it is not required. The game gets to you as you watch. So here is how the play goes as per the little one. 

One "uncle" has the ball, does “run run run”. Another "uncle" has bat. The ball moves all over the place making everyone go “run run run”. Sometime ball is “catch”. And many a times somebody or the other goes "gir gaya". 

Overall, resulting in a completely entertaining spectacle at par with "Baby Shark". 

And it's not just uncles, aunty and didi also play on some evenings.

Meanwhile, the little one has also attempted to delay sleep time by asking Papa to watch some cricket! Not for nothing is T20 complete family entertainment!

BookMarks #73: My India

Title: My India 

Author: Jim Corbett 

Genre: Non-fiction, Memoirs 

Published: 1952 

Summary 

The story of India and its people as seen by Jim Corbett. 

BookMarks 

Jim Corbett has been one of my favorite authors since my childhood days. His narration was always thrilling, to say the least. Don’t think any other writer has brought in words the thrill of a hunt as Mr. Corbett did. 

However, My India is not one of his usual hunting tales. Yes, the guns, game, tracking in the jungle is there. But this book is more about the stories of the people he encounters in his twin roles as a railway contractor based at Mokameh Ghat (modern day Mokama in Bihar) and his “home base” in Kaldhungi (now in Uttarakhand). The people are poor, but very honest and if you do good to them, they will return and repay you in every way possible. 

In his writings Corbett displays a better understanding of Indian traditions, caste system and village life than many of our own writers. Understanding and depiction of caste hierarchy, the money-lending system, social standing of different people – some of it can be compared to the writings of Munshi Premchand. The fact that he lived with the villagers and spoke the language of the people certainly helped. 

Of course, reading the book almost a hundred years later does bring a different perspective. Corbett and his people live in a kind of cocoon. There is no resentment of any kind against the British rule and no mention of the freedom struggle which was underway in the time. Quite a surprising omission when one reads it now. And did Corbett never face any ill-treatment? But these do not take anything away from the simple yet gripping tale of My India. 

The book ends with a story of “Snake” in the chapter “Life at Mokameh Ghat”. Incidentally this story was in my Std 6 Gulmohar graded Reader, which was my first experience of Corbett’s writing. So quite an interesting end! 

Previously on BookMarks: Veerappan: Chasing the Brigand

BookMarks #72: Veerappan: Chasing the Brigand

Title: Veerappan: Chasing the Brigand 

Author: K. Vijay Kumar 

Genre: Non-fiction, Biography 

Published: 2017 

Summary 

Narrative of the how the reign of terror of the dreaded bandit Veerappan ended. 

BookMarks 

A slick narrative of how the Special Task Force led by the author, K. Vijay Kumar, managed to finally hunt down Veerappan, the dreaded bandit – who had spread his reign of terror for over two decades across the states of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. 

The best thing about the book – the author keeps his focus on Veerappan. Every chapter, every anecdote builds up towards the end. Crime finally does not pay, even though criminals take a lot of toll on the state machinery. And everyone’s luck finally runs out even though they may have survived many close brushes with fate. 

The book keeps the narrative taut and avoids all controversy trying to focus on the facts as much as possible. Leaders are shown in positive light or not mentioned at all. (The contrast between Jayalalitha & Karunanidhi in this case). Even the nefarious elements of the society are not named (Mr. X). Instead the focus is solely on the STF personnel who waged decades long operations, making huge personal sacrifices in the process. We get a glimpse of the hardships faced by these extra-ordinarily brave men who put everything in line for their mission, in return getting meager rewards. 

My favorite line from the book – “Activity should not be confused with progress”. 

Another bit I liked is the use of relevant anecdotes from situations around the globe to compare with the hunt in the jungle. However, the bits when the author gives an insight into conversations and thoughts of Veerappan is a bit jarring – I mean how would he have known, unless there was a telepathic connect! But overall a great narrative! 

Previously on BookMarks: Born in the Purple 

ax^2 + bx + c

The phone buzzes, providing a necessary distraction from the tedium of another online meeting (a parallel pandemic in these Covid times).

It was a whatsapp forward!

For some odd reason, instead of focusing on the joke, decided to attempt the problem asked by Ms. Bethanie. The mind jogged back to days of engineering preparation, using integral calculus to solve the area bounded by curves. After managing to correctly remember the rules of integration, found myself staring at an equation. And came to realization that the limits were missing.

The attempt to get the limits/intersection points ended up in a quadratic equation. And howsoever much I wracked my brains, had no recollection of the formula for calculating the roots of a quadratic equation! And as with most small issues Google came to the help it and I reconnected with an old friend. 

Pic – roots of a quadratic equation 

Roots of a Quadratic Equation derivation

Realized that this particular equation could not be solved as the parabola and the line do not intersect. Hence the area bound is zero (or infinity), depending on how you look at it! (Link)

But what happened to the simple formula of quadratic equations which was a constant companion in those years of struggle - for admission to an engineering college and during engineering days. I know it has been a while but how could something just slip off (I could remember the integration part)

Most of the formulae, derivations and theorems which had been hammered in as a student has been so rarely used that they have been forgotten. Wonder what kind of commentary this is about our higher education! Or maybe forgetting the quadratic equation roots is symbolic of how disconnected we are becoming with our roots.

Hopefully the roots of the quadratic equation are now firmly back in place inside the brain. It was good to go back (with a little help from the omniscient google) to these problems instead of the real-world ones

BookMarks #71: Born in the Purple

Title: Born in the Purple 

Author: Dora Ilieva 

Genre: Historical Fiction 

Published: 2020 

Summary 

The tumultuous life story of Princess Anna of Constantinopole, a learned woman who could have been the Empress, yet had to live away in exile. 

BookMarks 

The book is set in the Byzantine empire in the late 11th & early 12th centuries. It is the era of turbulence in European history with Crusades going on under the direction of the Pope. The story gives an interesting insight into the motives of the knights of the Crusades. They were mostly second sons, who were looking at an opportunity the take a fiefdom of their own in the guise of this holy war! We also learn a bit about the knowledge of the era and the political machinations of the Byzantine courts. 

The story is told in a series of flashbacks and herein lies the biggest flaw of this book. There is a disconnect in the narrative. Characters are built up as interesting and when we get back to them, often they are long dead in the very next passage! 

The story also presents the take on the place of woman in the society (of that time). An educated woman is considered the biggest threat by those in power, especially the religious leaders. And they set in all sorts of manipulations to keep them in control. Well, maybe not too different from the current time! 

Everything is about power. And a fight in the battlefield is the least preferred way of gaining one. Manipulations, marriage alliances, coups, treachery, revolts and religion are the most effective ways to gain power! And there is the uneasy alliance between religion and politics, both using each other for backing but also at the same time wary of each other! To reiterate, the more things change, the more they remain the same! 

Born in the Purple is one of those books which tells an interesting narrative yet falls a bit short in the narration. 

Previously on BookMarks: The Ickabog

MovieNotes: The Test

After a brief hiatus, I am back on my journey into the world of sports documentary series. And this time I foray into the world of Cricket! 

The Test is a 8-part documentary chronicling the journey of the Australian Men’s cricket team over a period of 18 months from the lows of the ball-tampering scandal in 2018 to the high of retaining the Ashes away from home in late-2019. For a cricket tragic like yours truly, all the events depicted are familiar. Yet, that doesn’t take away any of the excitement of re-living the events. 

These were extra-ordinary times for Australian cricket. Over the years Australian teams had been pushing the lines of the sportsman spirit – something which Steve Waugh famously called “mental disintegration”. But in Newlands, they were caught literally with their hands in their pants! The repercussion of being branded cheats in public were huge. Long bans for Smith, Warner & Bancroft and resignation of head coach Lehmann. Cricket Australia needed a thorough overhaul of the system. 

It is at this point which “The Test” begins. No doubt a good PR exercise in collaboration with Amazon to redeem the image of Australian cricket. On the cricketing front, Justin Langer took over as coach, with Tim Paine as the captain. After a while Paine, who was surplus to the limited overs set-up handed over the ODI & T20I reins to Aaron Finch. Retired legends like Ponting, Steve Waugh, Gilchrist, Haddin came into consulting roles. 

Initially the team struggles in filing the voids caused by the bans of their best players. But over time, new players put up their hands and take the place. The path is difficult, and they take baby steps. They celebrate their little successes – a hard-earned draw, a home Test victory, a Home Test series victory, an away ODI series victory in India, a semi-final finish in the World Cup and finally retaining the Ashes taway from home! And it’s not just the on-field performances, there is also a change in the approach to the game. As Harsha Bhogle said, you can’t keep any Australian team down for too long! 

And there is the parallel track of Steve Smith – relieved from captaincy and banned for a year, makes a comeback, faces the boos of the crowds, but with his on-field exploits manages to turn the jeers into cheers. In between also gets knocked out while batting! Quite a phoenix like rise from the ashes for him. 

Then there is the story of the rise of Tim Paine. From being seen as a stand-in captain to becoming an Ashes winning captain, earning the respect of a nation in a job considered as the second-most important in Australia after the Prime Minister. 

Throughout the series, there is a recurring narrative of being together and helping each other out. Someone even remarks that this was a happy & united team despite continuously losing! “Elite Mateship” is a term which they come up with. However, Adam Zampa & Marcus Stoinis take it to a different level altogether! 

They take potshots at Virat Kohli for his on-field gestures & in your face aggression in Australia. But for some reason they miss the footage of him asking Indian fans not to boo Smith during the World Cup. Sometimes when you get too worked up into building a narrative that you forget the balance in it. However, Eoin Morgan’s interview is shown where he responds in negative when asked whether he would ask the fans to stop booing Warner & Smith! 

Massive defeats are easier to live with than the ones that slipped away. England running 481 in an ODI and beating Australia by 200+ runs margin was easier to accept. While Ben Stokes’ heist at Edgbaston was a bitter pill to swallow! 

There were a couple of lines which stood out for me. And this is something which we can incorporate in our everyday life (and work). 

1. Nathan Lyon talking about how celebrating every win is important. Because you never know if that would be your last win. 
2. Ricky Ponting berating David Warner, asking him what he had won that he was afraid of losing. 

So that was “The Test”. A must-watch for every cricket tragic! 

Previously on MovieNotes: Le Mans: Racing Is Everything 

India @ 73

Independence Day is here, and alongwith it comes the 14th edition of the Annual India post. 

There was a tiny little change to our political map. The Union Territories of “Dadra and Nagar Haveli” and “Daman and Diu” have been merged into a single Union Territory of “Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu”. The bureaucracy seriously lacks imagination! 

Like the rest of the world, we have also been brought to a halt by the Covid-19 pandemic. Although we started a bit late, but our densely packed massive population has enabled us to climb very high in the infections chart! And this rise has been aided by our strong "Indianness" – remember the WhatsApp forwards boasting of our “extra-strong” immunity system built over years of living in unhygienic environment or of dthe virus not surviving in our summer heat. and similar others. But even a strict and seemingly never-ending lockdown couldn’t stop us from taking the No.3 spot globally. It has resulted in an already creaking health infrastructure stretched beyond its limits, and a stumbling economy being further crippled down. There has also been the struggle of trying to convince people to follow the social distancing protocols, the reason why the virus is now making inroads into the hinterland (although in this respect we are still much better than the likes of USA). 

We went from Lockdown 1.0 to 4.0 & then started the Unlocks (currently at ver 3.0). But the way our populace behaves it is more like Bhagwan Bharose 1.0 that we live in. 

Apart from the virus, we have had cyclones battering both the East & West coasts, a locust attack from the North, landslides in Kerala, flooding in Bihar & Assam. Nature seems to have taken out its entire arsenal to batter us puny humans. And we have also made our share of the contribution in getting rid of ourselves – the migrant labour disaster, a plane crash, an oil well blowout, a deadly skirmish with China all contributing to making this a terrible 2020. 

Sports the usual saving grace has been the biggest casualty of the pandemic. Before the pandemic hit, we were all set to be sending our biggest ever contingent for the Olympics. Unfortunately, the Games themselves have been postponed by a year! Since the Women’s T20 World Cup Final, there hasn’t been a single event of Indian presence since March! Although our enterprising fellows have managed to conduct a fake match with masked players in Chandigarh pretending to be Sri Lankan veterans playing in their home country. And there was huge betting on it too! This was literally a fantasy league!

Coming to India’s other favorite pastime – politics. The country is presided a by a party whose biggest strengths are how to grab power by hook or by crook. They also know how to take “strong” decisions with scarce a thought on its implementation. And the less said about the Opposition party the better – it still is lead by an interim president for more than a year now! In short, a recipe for ensuring that the common man better become “aatm nirbhar”! 

Enough of the negativity now, because it is a day to celebrate. Happy Birthday India! Because next year will be better! Because we are a resilient lot!

The 2019 edition is here (Link)