The Corrupt Politician

Recently, while watching the movie "The Hunt For Red October", I came across a dialogue which painted a very apt picture of corrupt politicians.

The Corrupt Politician

"Listen, I'm a politician, which means I'm a cheat and a liar, and when I'm not kissing babies, I'm stealing their lollipops, but it also means that I keep my options open."

What a beautiful way to describe these cheats!! It's time to chuck these guys out of the system.

The Jan Lokpal Bill

"Lokpal" is the buzz word these days in India. The second biggest buzz word is "The Civil Society". Till yesterday, I was referred to as a citizen of India. Today, I'm a member of the Civil Society. Definitely, times are changing. 

This blog post aims to discuss my views and opinions, thoughts and ideas on the Jan Lokpal Bill. The views presented here are with due respects to your opinion.

In April 2011, social crusader Anna Hazare went on a fast to insist on the passing of the Lokpal Bill. The main aim of The Lokpal Bill is to provide a better legal framework to work against corrupt officials across different public organizations and in the Government.

Anna Hazare

Taking cognizance of his fast and views, and the tremendous support that he generated across India, the Government of India has setup the Lokpal panel. It is consisting of five members of the Government and five members of the civil society. They are responsible for formulating the Lokpal Bill till 15^th August 2011.

What is the Jan Lokpal Bill? Well, for people with limited knowledge of Hindi - The Jan Lokpal Bill literally means The Citizen's Ombudsman Bill.

And who exactly is an ombudsman? Since the matter has been discussed greatly in public sphere, it would be worthwhile to understand a few definitions.

• An ombudsman is a government appointee who investigates complaints by private persons against the government.
  
  
  
• A government official who hears and investigates complaints by private citizens against other officials or government agencies.
  
  
• A commissioner who acts as independent referee between individual citizens and their government or its administration.

Let us understand the step by step argument put forth by the proponents of the Lokpal Bill.

The proponents say that there are two mechanisms to work against corruption in the functioning of the Government and other public organizations.

• The Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) and the Departmental Vigilance (DV) - responsible for managing vigilance aspect of the corruption cases.
  
  
  
• The Central Bureau of Investigation - responsible for managing the criminal aspect of the corruption cases.

Certain drawbacks are highlighted in the current mechanisms. The drawbacks highlighted are quite true and need to be addressed.

Regarding the CVC

• Lack of adequate resources - limited to less than 200 people.
  
  
  
• Just an advisory body - cannot enforce or ensure action.
  
  
• Cannot initiate independent action or inquiries against people beyond a certain level.
  
  
• Cannot register criminal cases.
  
  
• Cannot have any power over department vigilance wing.
  
  
• Appointment to the CVC is done by the ruling party.

Regarding the Departmental Vigilance Wings

• Officers responsible for vigilance are a part of the same department. This impacts their independence.
  
  
  
• Similar to the CVC, it cannot initiate independent action.
  
  
• No powers against politicians.

Regarding the CBI

• It is overburdened.
  
  
  
• Under the control of Central Government of India.
  
  
• Assumed to be unfair - since it works under orders of the Central Government.

Corruption in Judiciary

What does the Lokpal Bill Propose?

• Setting up the institution of the Lokpal at the Centre and Lokayukta in each state. It will be independent of the government. They will not come under the purview of the any minister or bureaucrat.
  
  
  
• Cases will be completed in one year.
  
  
• The loss caused by the corrupt individual to the state will be recovered.
  
  
• The common man can approach the Lokpal if some of his work related to the Government is not done. Lokpal will be responsible for getting this done and the guilty will be punished.
  
  
• Corrupt Lokpal officers will be punished in two months.
  
  
• CVC, Departmental Vigilance and the Anti-Corruption Branch of the CBI will be merged with the Lokpal.
  
  
• Lokpal can initiate independent proceedings.
  
  
• Lokpal will be responsible for providing protection to the people who are victimized for raising a voice against corruption.

At a face value, all these seem very promising initiatives. Most people will think that this bill will be very helpful.

However, at this moment, I would like to recollect a thought I had read somewhere – India and Indians are good at planning, poor at execution. 

This thought has rumbled through my mind every time I have failed in execution. I look back only to look with awe at my plan, only to shudder at its execution.

What is my opinion? 

With the Lokpal and Lokayukta, we are creating more institutions. Why not look at strengthening existing institutions? Why not look at empowering them to do the work they are supposed to do?

Let's take it step by step.

Addressing "The Lack of Resources".

• The lack of resources in the vigilance departments is a challenge. Staff strength of 200 to have vigilance control over an entire nation is not possible. The Lokpal Bill will not address that challenge in any way.
  
  
  
• The solution is simple. It is necessary to staff these organizations adequately. And staffing is to be done with the right kind of people, the professionals who are trained to do this duty appropriately.
  
  
• This way you will bring in more people to do the required investigations. And this will implicitly resolve the problem related to long time required for execution of the cases. With more honest people at work, the investigations can be prompt and so can be the subsequent judgement.
  
  
• As an offshoot, the Government will be generating employment.

Addressing "The Lack of Independence"

• The drawback highlighted is that the CVC and DV Wings do not have teeth. Let's give them teeth. Let's give them the power to investigate independently.
  
  
  
• Let's have a tree structure of the organization where the DV wing reports to the CVC Wing. This way the CVC can direct and have control over the DV wings. This resolves one problem mentioned earlier.
  
  
• The CVC wing in turn will report into the Prime Minister. This proposal will draw criticism from people who think that such a vigilance team should be independent of the politicians.
  
  
  Yes, that argument holds good. But you always need a leader. You cannot have a headless organization. A leader who has the responsibility and authority. And in my opinion, the Prime Minister of India is the supreme leader in India.
  
  
• The Prime Minister can appoint an individual or a team responsible for managing this entire show. And they will be responsible for its execution – end to end. The ultimate responsibility will be the Prime Minister. If the PM fails, he will be responsible to the Parliament and effectively to the country.
  
  
• The members of the DV wing will not be a part of the same department. They will be independent functionaries working under directly under the CVC.
  
  
• These vigilance commissions are to be given an authority to lodge criminal cases if the need be.
  
  
• Let us not set any boundaries on the people who can be investigated by these authorities. Everyone who is the citizen of India, including the Prime Minister and the Judges, is supposed to function under the same sphere of law and hence should be investigated by the same set of authorities.
  
  
• We will of course need to address the chance of corruption by the very people responsible for managing corruption. This will require setting up an independent control mechanism which can serve as a deterrent against corruption.
  
  
  Haven't we heard of ACB sleuths catching someone from the ACB itself taking bribes? We will need a similar structure.

The Prime Minister

Addressing "The People Question"

Let's now come to the question of the people who will be working in this anti-corruption process. The Jan Lokpal Bill suggests that these people will be elected by a transparent public participatory process.

• With due respects to everyone, we need to remember that India is a country of 120 crore people spread across a land mass of 3.2 million square kilometers. We cannot have an election to select a Lokpal and a Lokayukta. It is simply too expensive.
  
  
  
• And if indeed we need to select such people, what will form as a basis of it? Will there be some campaigning, with its associated expenditure of money? How will people know who is good and who is bad? It's simply not possible.
  
  
• What we can do instead? Well, the team can be selected by the elected representatives of the people. And when I say the elected representatives, I mean the all the members of the Parliament – cutting across party lines. This way, each and every elected representative will be responsible for choosing the vigilance team member.
  
  
• A thorough background check of the candidates must be done to ensure that they themselves are not black sheep.

Addressing "The Time Question"

Without doubt, the time required for execution is huge in corruption cases. This means that in many of the cases, the intent of the proceedings is lost. How do we resolve this problem?

• Setup goals. The Lokpal Bill says that the Lokpal should resolve cases within one year. Well, that is ambitious in some cases while extremely liberal in some cases.
  
  
  
  But yes, it's a good time line. Let's set the same timeline for the Vigilance Commissions. What's the harm? 
  
  
• Importantly, they should be empowered to execute such tasks.

Well, I may have tried to answer some of the questions which the Lokpal Bill is trying to answer. And if you have read intently till now, you might have understood my opinion. 

Summarizing, I'm not in favor of creating a parallel structure for addressing the cases of corruption. Instead we should look at strengthen existing systems and frameworks to address the situation. 

Most importantly, we are missing an important point here. We are looking at addressing the situation after corruption has taken place. Why don't we go a step back?

Why don't we evaluate why corruption take place? Corruption is social phenomenon and the causes of that problem need to be addressed. We should think about what causes people to be corrupt. 

Example of Corruption

Many a times, it is the limited salary offered in the job which causes people to be corrupt – because this gives them an opportunity to get that extra penny. This is a problem which should be resolved. 

On a long term, India should look at creating better opportunities of work and for better equitable distribution of income. This could possibly nip the corruption in the bud.

There have been cases where the well-off people and politicians are found indulging in corruption. They need to be punished strongly so that it can serve as deterrence for occurrence of such cases in future.

Net in net, I will summarize my opinion as below

• The problems highlighted by the proponents of the Lokpal Bill are correct and need to be resolved.
  
  
  
• The Lokpal Bill structure would not resolve those problems.
  
  
• The existing anti corruption organizations need to be enhanced, and empowered. Frameworks need to be created to address this enable them to work independently to yield the required results.
  
  
• The root cause of corruption needs to be addressed.

Well, different people will have different opinions. Mine might agree with yours or might be opposite to your opinion.

What do you think? What is your opinion?

Losing Brand Equity

Consumer is the King. He buys what he wants. She buys only if she likes it. They buy whenever they want to.

There are a lot of companies out there in the market who are looking for selling their stuff. Usually, within the same product segment, multiple brands from myriad organizations are attempting to have their piece of pie. 

Building a Brand

To get a larger piece of pie and to make an impression in the mind of the consumers, the products are building brands with advertisements. Brands with which people could identify easily and closely. Brands which could make a small place in their hearts and minds.

Usually such brand building exercise converts into increased sales and more profits. However, sometimes, such attempts convert into a loss of brand image.

Let me cite you some examples.

Consider the recent Cricket World Cup 2011, which was played in the Indian sub continent. 

Usually, there is a break between the overs - where the advertisements are shown on TV. Such breaks span approximately 20 to 30 seconds, and can fit in an advertise or two.

However, with the urge of making more money, the television team and the marketeers slip in an ad immediately after a fall of wicket. What does that do to someone like me, who enjoys watching human emotions? 

Well, I'm deprived of seeing the happiness of the bowler who took the wicket. I can't see the pride of his fellow players. I can't watch the disappointment written on the face of the player who got out. And the collective sighs and shouts of triumphs of the thousands of men and women inside the stadium. 

These are the moments for which I'm watching the match. Yet, the silly advertisement that pops up immediately after the wicket prevents me from enjoying the euphoria.

Forced Selling

Net result, I hate (now that is a strong word) the brand for showcasing it's product at such a moment. I stop identifying with it. Couldn't it wait for a few moments more? And frankly, the brand doesn't gain any brownie points for this advertisement.

Do you feel like me?

Let's take another example.

After a day's work, you come home and open your laptop to surf your favorite websites. And as soon as you open the site, a flash advertisement comes up which prevent you from seeing the site. 

In my opinion, such advertisements are desperate to gain attention. It will get attention only if it deserves it. But this forced attention seeking technique is not doing any good to the brand image .

There are some ads which fore scroll the screen and take upto 10 seconds get you back to where you wanted to be. These are the worst.

Brand Equity

If this was about online advertisements, you could have experienced something about paper advertisements too. How many times would you have had a pamphlet thrust into you hands selling some offer, only to realise that it is valid only with "Conditions Applied". 

Well, a popular pizza brand in India is an expert in selling it's pizza with such conditions. And I have stopped taking it's pamphlets. If you need to sell, sell it without any complex conditions.

Just yesterday, I opened my Sunday newspaper only to see a half page advertisement sticking on the front page of the paper. To read the newspaper, I had to tear away the advertise from the paper. I was very careful, yet, I ended up tearing a part of the paper.

Guess what happened with the advertisement? It (and maybe the brand image) became a part of the trash.

There are several examples like these where an attempt to increase the brand equity backfires and translates into a loss of brand image.

I strongly hope that the marketing people are more intelligent and aware of such consumer needs. Only then can they create a sucessfull brand.

Underpromise, Overdeliver

India Inc. has completed its financial year - just a fortnight back. And the annual results have started pouring in, starting with the IT major Infosys Technologies Limited.

Infy for years has been the first company in India to declare the annual results. I don't know the reason behind it. However, it is one of the most keenly watched results in the market. And importantly, it gives an indication of the potential performance of other similar companies.

In the context of financial results, it would be worthwhile to understand the term Guidance.

What is Guidance?

Guidance is the information, usually provided by a company director, about the company's outlook, especially in terms of earnings. Guidance can be positive or negative, and is watched very closely by analysts and investors since it is often a strong indicator of that company's future performance. (Courtesy - Investorwords)

Infosys is a company which gives guidance for next financial quarter, and for the next financial year. It justifies its reasoning and then goes about its task of earning that money.

And usually Infosys - long considered as the darling of the Indian stock market - beats its own guidance by a respectable margin. This sends the market into a state of euphoria. It increases the confidence of the people in the organization and increased the share holder worth.

Consider the complexity of the task at hand. Below is the summary of Infy's guidance over the next quarter and year - extracted from their website (both in rupee term and US dollar term)

~~
Quarter ending June 30, 2011
Revenues are expected to be in the range of 7,311 crore and 7,382 crore
Revenues are expected to be in the range of $1,643 million and $1,659 million

Fiscal year ending March 31, 2012
Revenues are expected to be in the range of 31,727 crore and 32,270 crore
Revenues are expected to be in the range of $7.13 billion and $7.25 billion
~~

Here, you are predicting that you will be earning more than 1.6 Billion USD in just the next three months.

Predicting this figure, I would say, would require a lot of skill. After all, you need to earn this money. And how much you earn would be dependent on the business you do. And for the business you do, there has to be someone who pays. And it will be difficult for you to decide how much will be be willing spend. And then, of course, you need to sell. And selling isn't an easy task.

Add additional complexities. The USD INR exchange rate fluctuates wildly. You have a risk of recession - which is like a slumbering monster. You have the risks of changing regulations. You have the risks of new players on the block. And the established competitors too.

In my modest personal opinion, if Infy projects a revenue as mentioned earlier, which is approximately 18% to 20% above the current fiscal,  and meets that guidance - I think it would be a very respectable performance. You have delivered what you have promised. And if it beats the guidance, then you could call it as icing-on-the-cake.

With this, I fail to decipher the reaction of the market yesterday. Infy met its guidance for FY11 and Q4FY11. Yet the stock lost more than 9% in the Indian market and approximately 13% on NASDAQ.

I would call it knee jerk reaction. It would be unreasonable to expect Infy to beat its own guidance by huge margins year after year. Yes, it can be done in some quarters. And for the rest, even if the guidance is met - it's a job well done.

But the market does not seem to understand that. Why is someone punished for meeting expectations? It's not fair.

All this made one thought rumble though my mind since yesterday - Underpromise, Overdeliver.

Save The Girl Child

Census is an activity which is carried out in India every decade. The aim of the census is to take a count of the population of the country, understand the detailed demographics and use this for detailed planning of future activities and resource distribution.

India Census 2011 has been completed recently, in Feb 2011. Among the significant highlights are the the following facts.

• India's current population is a staggering 1.2 Billion - almost 17% of the world's population.

• The population has grown by 181 Million in the last decade - but at a rate slower as compared to the previous decade. 

• The sex ratio has been tagged at 940. It means that for every 1000 men, there are 940 women.

These statistics highlight the immenseness of our population. As for the sex ratio, it has been a positive move from 2001 - when the sex ratio was 933. 

However, there is another alarming statistic that has emerged.

• The child sex ratio (determined for children between the the age 1 day to 6 years) has declined to 914 from the 2001 value of 927.  

• This child sex ratio is the lowest since our Independence in 1947.

A closer look at the detailed demographics would reveal that the child sex ratio is less than 900 in 8 states across India - including the two biggest states - Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra. 

If this statistic is alarming, the next graph would leave you dismayed.

The child sex ratio has been continuously reducing since the 1961 i.e. for the last 50 years.

What is it that is causing an unabated decline in the Child Sex Ratio? 

It would be worthwhile to go back to the school days and understand how a baby boy or a baby girl is born.

• Every human being has 46 chromosomes - a total of 23 sets. Each of the two parents contribute one from each of the 23 sets to the baby - a total of 23 chromosomes.

• One set of chromosomes determine the sex of the baby.

• The lady has only one type of egg - with an X chromosome. It can be either the X or Y chromosome containing sperm - from the man - that fertilizes the egg.

• If the baby has two X chromosomes, a baby girl is conceived. If the baby has a X and a Y chromosome, a baby boy is conceived.

And considering the fact that you cannot govern whether a sperm containing a X chromosome or a Y chromosome  would fertilize the egg, the probability of conceiving a boy or a girl would be uniform. In simplest terms, it would be 50-50.

But if this is the case, what is it that is causing such an imbalance in the Child Sex Ratio? Why is is that you have just 914 little girls for every 1000 little boys? Is there something which does not meet the eye?

Let's go back to 1971. It was in 1971 that Abortion was legalized in India. The Indian MTP (Medical Termination of Pregnancy) Act laid down the conditions under which an abortion could be taken up. It aimed to empower the women - to take a conscious decision to give birth to a child - and protect her from harmful medical conditions.

But as all good things come with certain bad things, this too had its own share.

Using a technique called as ultra sound scanning, the people could determine the sex of the baby carried by the lady. If this was just for information purposes, it wouldn't have done any harm. 

But people started misusing this information. If the sex of the baby was not as per their expectations, or the expectations of their family, or other such conditions - abortions were done to terminate the pregnancy. Sometimes it was with the concurrence of both parents, while in many many cases - it was done without respecting the thoughts and views of the lady or both the parents.

A child was being killed before he or she was born. This was foeticide. And it was female foeticide which resulted in the imbalance in the child sex ratio.

The Indian Government woke up to this harmful practice in 1994 - by making ultrasound scanning, just to determine the sex of the fetus, illegal.

While this was a step in the right direction, it has not completely arrested the problem. If you would read this news article, you would understand that still we have many people in the society who beat the law to carry out ultrasound scanning for the very purpose it was banned. 

You would be hurt when you read that a district, with 19 ultrasound scanning centers, has a very low child sex ratio of 774. Definitely, malpractices are on. 

I'm wrong - it's not malpractices. It's murder. And no one is being punished.

To understand the reasons why people go to such clinics, it would be important to consider an example - which I came across recently. 

The question plaguing the mind of the lady is simply depressing.

==

I have been married for seven years into a very good family. I have a daughter and am pregnant with my second child. My husband wants a son to carry on his business. I explained to him that we cannot choose what sex our child is born, children are God's gift. But he says we must keep trying till we have a son. I don't want to have more than two children and am very disturbed. My in- laws also are with my husband on this issue. What do I do?

==

Here you have a lady who is definitely well educated, with an equally educated husband. She has her mind over her shoulders. Yet, her husband and family are pressurizing her to have a boy child - a thing which she can't control.

In this case, if the lady has to meet the whims and fancies of her husband and the family, she would end up having more than two children - a thing which she is averse too (in our modern difficult times).

While in some cases the parents do have more than two children with the intention of having at least one boy child, for others - it is simply not possible - given their economic and social conditions. And in such cases, they go in for female foeticide.

And if this is the case with well educated people, consider what would be the case with women who are not literate. Women who don't have the power to choose. Women who are not economically and socially independent. The situation is indeed dejecting.

To understand the gravity of the problem, you can consider the note below.

==

A survey by Action India of Women in Delhi revealed that even the highly educated women have resorted to as many as a whopping eight abortions to ensure that they only give birth to a son. 

==

Why is someone averse to having a girl child? Is it because they are apprehensive that the girl child will not be sucessfull in this world? Or is it because they want a boy to take care of them in their twilight years? Or is it just for the sake of it? 

Or is it just to meet the wishes of senior members of the family? Or is it because the difficulties the girl will face in her life, in a society - which many perceive as - a male dominated society? 

A study by Government of India indicates the few significant reasons for such situations.

• Menace of dowry   

• Fear of loss of face in local community     

• Desire to keep the wealth within the family, through sons

• Fear of dependence of the girl on the family, for life   

• Attempt to control family size 

• Wish to appease Gods in times of crisis

As you can see, most of the reasons are social. And most are irrational. Most are unjustified. It is very important to understand these reasons and causes, because only then steps can be taken to avoid the situation due to any of this causes.

The reasons for not having a girl child can be many. But all such fears are unfounded. All such concerns are irrational. The social reasons are created by the society itself and they need to be banished.

It is important to ask some questions which would make someone think twice - if the thought of being averse to having a girl child - would cross his or her mind. 

If it is a question of being sucessfull, a woman can be equally sucessfull as a man. In some cases, she can be much more sucessfull. 

In the real life illustration quoted earlier, the father wanted a boy child so that he could carry forward his family business. Doesn't he know that you have many intelligent and sucessfull women at the top of many businesses? Doesn't he know that the President of our country is a lady? 

Doesn't he know that some of the biggest politicians are ladies? And doesn't the entire nation listen to them when they take on to the dais? Aren't our girls the best in the world of sports? Haven't we sent our girl to space?

And if someone is thinking that a woman can be sucessfull only in a urban environment, then he or she is wrong. You should have a look at this news article - featuring Sunita Devi. 

Sunita Devi is the sarpanch (head) of her village in Haryana. She has made a difference to the life of women in her village and will inspire other women in other villages in similar situations. 

While this was a case of a traditional middle-aged woman donning the roles of a leader, Chhavi Rajawat is an inspiring new age lady. She is a management graduate and the head of her village. 

She had recently being to the U.N. - speaking about the "Role of Civil Society in Fighting Poverty and Promoting Development". You should read this news article about her U.N. visit. She was also featured on India Today.

Well, the writing is on the wall. There isn't absolutely anything that a girl cannot achieve. She can win the world. 

India is considered to be a land of many God's and Goddess's. We pray to these Gods and Goddess's to seek their blessings - both in good times and time of needs. The all powerful Goddess's are also women and we look upto them. And we should also look upto the girls. And should abolish the discerning thoughts of having a girl child.

There is absolutely no harm in having a girl child. The parents and the society should be empowered to make the girl ready for the future, ready for her life ahead.

A little girl should be given the right and the best possible education. She should be bought up without any prejudice against her. She should be given whatever her parents are capable of. And if all these are done, there isn't even an iota of doubt that she is on the road to success. 

She will definitely be sucessfull enough to take care of her family. Her independence - social and economic - would make her strong and brave to face our difficult world. And such a girl would certainly be able to take care of her aging parents.

If someone is so detrimental to have a girl, and would like to have a boy child, they should think that some two decades down the line - they would be searching for a suitable girl to get their son married. And if all parents would just like to have boys - like they do - where would you get a girl from?

Haven't we heard of the quote - Educate a man, you educate one person, educate a woman, you educate a complete family. It is here you can understand the importance of a lady. 

The Government of India has taken steps in the right direction to improve the situation. Some prime initiatives include free and compulsory education for the girl child, and enacting laws against dowry. 

The first one is to make the girl ready for her future, make her independent and enterprising. The second one is to set her on course for the rest of her life - without causing any hardships for her family and herself.

But what is more important is to have a mindset revolution. People should discard the gender bias they have in their mind. People should overthrow any apprehensions they have towards the girl child. 

They have to realise that she is very important for the success of our society. That's why the Girl Child Campaign in India says - A happy girl is the future of our country.

After all, a Girl Child can become an inspiration for your life!!

India Wins Cricket World Cup 2011

India has won the Cricket World Cup 2011. India is the champion of the world of Cricket. Blessed by God Almighty, India has won the ultimate prize in Cricket - sending the entire nation into a state of frenzy.

In the biggest showdown in the world of cricket, hosts India took on co-hosts Sri Lanka in a high voltage final at Wankhede stadium, Mumbai on 2nd April 2011. 

Sri Lanka won a controversial toss and decided to bat first. They scored a majestic 275 runs, inspired by a great century by Mahela Jayawardane. 

Chasing under pressure was never India's forte, and the top order collapsed. However, powered by a great sheet anchor knock by Gautam Gambhir and super cool innings by uber cool captain - MS Dhoni, India won the World Cup it style. Gary Kirsten - India's coach - was also a great influencing factor in this victory.

Winning moments like these are rare, and India have done it in great style.

India had last won the World Cup in 1983 - under the leadership of Kapil Dev. And in 2011, just less than 10 hours back, entire India was on tenterhooks. Sachin was playing in what was most likely his final World Cup match, and the entire nation wanted Team India to win the Cup.

The toss was a disaster. MSD threw the coin and Sangakarra made the wrong call. Incidentally, neither the referee nor MSD had heard what the Sri Lankan captain had called. The referee insisted that the toss be done again. The Lankans won it this time and chose to bat. The entire country contemplated whether this toss-gate would result in the loss of the Cup 9 hours later.

Sri Lanka got off to a good start - but not a great one. Their top players - Tharanga, Dilshan and Sangakarra - couldn't score freely and were out without scoring heavily. 

Mahela Jayawardane stepped up and took on the responsibility of steering the innings. He scored 103 runs - proudly cheered by his wife. The lower order batsmen too hit some great boundaries and sixes. Sri Lanka made it to 275 runs, a score which would have scared most Indians.

Zaheer Khan, Harbhajan Singh and Munaf Patel had kept their cool in the most important match of their career. Yuvraj too bowled his quota of 10 overs, taking crucial wickets. The surprise selection - Sreesanth - took some stick. Yet, he didn't let the match  completely slip out of India's match.

And when India took to the field to start the batting, the hopes of the entire nation rested on master blaster Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag. 

Sehwag got out in the first over of the match - caught leg-before-wicket to Malinga. My thoughts raced by to 2003, when Sachin had got out to McGrath in the finals against Australia. Would India lose the finals again? 

Next came Gautam Gambhir. If there is any man in the Indian team who is the most under-rated, it's Gautam. If there is any man who plays without seeking any attention, it's Gautam. 

Sachin Tendulkar looked to be in great touch, scoring good runs. But then came then moment which the entire nation feared. Sachin Tendulkar got out for 18 runs, and people across the country felt that the Cup had slipped out of India's hands.

Virat Kohli came into the middle and scored a respectable 35 runs. He was caught out by a stunning catch by Dilshan. At this moment, India were under immense pressure. The fire was on. And in walked the uber-cool skipper, MS Dhoni, ahead of the man in form - Yuvraj Singh.

If you have noticed MSD keeping the stumps, you would notice that he goes about his job with heavy concentration and supreme determination. India needed these very qualities at this moment. 

Dhoni rose to the occasion. He went about scoring runs with a quiet pace. He kept Gambhir on his feet and made him do the same. And after doing all the hard work though the middle of the innings, India were standing at the door steps of victory.

Gambhir got out on the score of 97, with India needing just 53 odd runs. I had got into a superstitious habit of not sitting down for the last 20 overs. Incidentally, I sat down for a single ball and Gambhir got out. That made me curse myself, but only to make a resolution of not sitting down - until India wins the World Cup.

Once Gambhir was back, the Man of the Series Yuvraj Singh joined his skipper in the middle. Both the champions went about scoring the runs with ease, never letting the pressure get on to them. At the same time, they didn't let the strike rate to climb.

They say - Strike while the iron is hot. True to this axiom, when Kulasekara came to bowl in the 47th over, Dhoni and Yuvi ripped apart his bowling to bring India on to striking distance of a victory - a victory which could not have been stolen from the nation - come what may!!

And in the 49th over, the skipper MS Dhoni won the World Cup for India, hitting the biggest six of the match, in great style. India had won the World Cup. India were crowned as the Champions. India had won the title - sending the entire nation of 1.2 billions into a state of euphoria, pride and happiness.

If you have to relive those moments, it is these three minutes of magic. The entire country wanted Dhoni to finish it in style with a four. He delivered a sixer - the most stylish one. He didn't start celebrating until the ball had landed in the stands. After that, it was just party all the way. 



Jubilant and emotional scenes were seen across the entire nation. Almost every single player said that they had won the Cup for Sachin. Sachin was his modest self in the victory, crediting the entire team. MSD was his frank self - playing a captain's knock in the most important match of his career, backing his decisions, laying any doubts about his leadership capabilities to rest.

Importantly, a great team work powered India to this majestic victory. Different player fired when it mattered the most in different matches. India made true of the saying - the sum is more than its parts. 

After a long gap of 28 years, India had won the World Cup. I was not even a 28 day baby when India had won the Cup back in 1983. And today, it is a proud moment to see India being crowned as the Champions of World Cricket.

Jai Ho!!! 

(All pictures courtesy - Getty Images, Google and The Times Of India)

Arab World Protests And Crisis

The Arab World is in turmoil. Agitations are the order of the day - across several Arab world countries. And many of them are on a verge of a mass social and a political upheaval.

This has caused media furore all over the world. The eyes of the entire world is focussed on this region.

Which countries exactly are said to be a part of the Arab world? 

The picture above would give you a broad idea. Right at the center of the world map - slightly above the equator, these countries compose the elite Arab world.

Starting from the Middle East countries - Saudi Arabia, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, Yemen, Bahrain, and Kuwait to the countries in the north of Africa - Mauritania, Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Libya, Lebanon and Sudan are a part of the Arab world. 

Also included are the African power houses - Egypt and Jordan. Iraq too is a part of the Arab world. And so is Somalia - which is known as the pirate capital of the world these days.

You might wonder why did I use the term elite to describe the Arab world nations?

It's not without a reason. First of all, these Arab countries are rich in oil. Not just rich - they are mega rich.

Oil is something which drives the energy generators across the world. It is the fuel for the vehicles which you own. And all of this increases the dependency of the world on these oil rich Arab countries.

A conflict in Iraq sends the cost of the oil barrel right through the roof. And this has a downward spiraling effect on the rest of the economy - right across the world.

How are these Arab world countries structured - socially, economically and politically?

Arabic is the first language for most countries in this part of the world. And most people practice Islam as their religion. A good point to note is that most of these countries enjoy a good literacy rate.

Arab countries are considered to be economically thriving. The Sheiks of the Arab worlds are the icons of this mass wealth. They make their money by selling oil, gas and other petroleum products.

Most countries are considered to be emerging economies. Dubai, a part of the UAE, for example, is a hub for expatriates and home to the tallest building in the world - the Burj Khalifa. Qatar has been chosen to host the Soccer World Cup in 2022.

Bahrain is the fastest growing economy in the Arab world. And Qatar tops the charts for the highest GDP in the world.

If oil and gas money unite these countries on the economic front, the style of leadership unites them at the political front.

Almost all these countries have an authoritarian regime. If we consider the Freedom Index, then it would be noteworthy to understand that countries with authoritarian regimes are considered to be dictatorial.

They would indicate a considerable lack of democratic freedom. And lack of democratic freedom would have an impact on various parts of life - the social freedom, the economic freedom, the political freedom, the press freedom etc.

Human rights are a reason of concern in these countries. Women rights too are a matter of concern.

With all this background information, you would be thinking of one thing.

If the economies of the Arab world are thriving, so must be its people? And if the people are thriving, are they really happy? Or aren't they thriving at all? What is it that is causing the sea of protests at the heart of the Arab world?

To give you a pre-cursor, have a look at this statement by the Saudi Prince - Bandar Bin Sultan.

"If you tell me that building this whole country ... out of $400bn, that we misused, or got, $50bn, I'll tell you, 'Yes. So what?'."

This would give you a view that Arabian leaders are quite cocky. And if the allegations are true, they would have amassed a mass of wealth while ruling their respective nations. The ex Egyptian president - Hosni Mubarak, the Saudi rulers, the former leader of Iraq - Saddam Hussein were known to be filthy rich.

It all started in Tunisia on Dec 2010. Starting 18th Dec 2010, people took to the streets of Tunisia - protesting against corruption, lack of freedom of various points which compose the Freedom Index, inflation, unemployment plus a lot of other factors.

The heat was directed towards the President Ben Ali who was in power for the last 23 years. Ben Ali could not sustain the pressure of mass unrest and resigned on 14th Jan 2011 and fled to Saudi Arabia. The winners were the Tunisian people.

But the real take away of the Tunisian revolution was the motivation it set in the mind of the other people in the Arab world - who were also be suppressed under such long running leaders.

The Egyptian protests began on 25th Jan 2011. People took to the streets of Cairo, Alexandria and other major Egyptian cities.

Hosni Mubarak had been the Egyptian president for 3 decades. He tried his best to quell the people's uprising but was unsuccessful. After trying to take some steps to make him appear good in the eyes of the nation, he finally resigned on 11th Feb 2011. Since then, he has been untraceable. But the Egyptian people got what they wanted.

Protests also started in Algeria in late December 2010. The people of Yemen and Jordan too have started with the protests against their regime since Jan 2011.

They have been unsuccessful till now to overthrow the current rulers. But with the kind of heat building up across the region, the leaders are bound to succumb and hand over the reins to the authorities chosen by the masses.

Taking a cue from the victorious Egyptian people, the janata in Bahrain and Libya have also taken to the streets in Feb 2011. In Bahrain, people took to the streets of Manama - demanding greater political freedom and an end to the rule of the monarchs.

The leaders of the Bahrain have used the military to squelch these protests. Till today, the protests are on. And these brave people are hopeful that they will get what they want.

The protests in Libya have been more bloody. Libya is under the rule of Muammar Gaddafi who has been ruling the nations for a long 42 years.

Now, four decades is a long time to be in power. And if someone in power for such a long time in modern times, you can safely conclude that brute force has played its part.

Needless to say, Gaddafi has the tag of been the worlds longest ruling autocrat. He has been accused of ordering the bombing of a Pan Am jet off the coast of Scotland in 1988, which resulted in the death of 270 people.

Protesters have been demonstrating strongly in Tripoli, Benghazi, and other Libyan cities. The protests have later spread to other cities too. While Gaddafi asked his armed forces to launch a deathly offensive against his own common men, some of the armed forces revolted against him and have gone against his order.

This has resulted in a deathly battle across various Egyptian cities. Gaddafi has also resorted to bombings by fighter jets to quell the uprising.

Libya is the largest producer of oil in Africa. And this conflict has sent the prices of the crude oil through the roofs. The cost of crude oil is hovering around 110 USD. This has resulted in soaring prices of the commodities across the world.

The entire world watches these protests in Libya and other African nations closely. They hope for a speedy resolution. They expect that the people of these nations are victorious, without loss of precious lives of men and women. All of this is in hope for a more democratic and secure world.

Respect Food Save Food

Food - It is the most important thing along with oxygen and water that drives life.

Me and You can consider ourselves lucky that we can afford meals everyday to satisfy our hunger pans. After all, there are several people across the globe who do not get enough food every day - resulting in hunger, stress, ailments etc.

I try my best not to waste food. Avoiding wasting can mean taking only the required quantity of food at meal time. Avoiding wasting can mean eating what was cooked for you as you had told. 

But sometimes circumstances come up where I simply can't avoid the waste. It leaves me feeling bad and guilty.

But off late, I have observed, that when such a thing happens - I end up not getting an opportunity to eat a meal in the next few days. 

This can be due to being busy in meetings at meal time. Or coming back home late - only to realise that the cook hasn't shown up. Or not getting your required choice of vegetarian meal on a plane. And maybe several other reasons. 

Maybe this is God's little way of showing that I need to show more respect for food when it is available.

A recent incident on the need to respect food left me humbled.

In a foreign land, I was rushing to office at 7.00 o clock in the morning. After giving the keys of my room at the reception, the lady told me that my friend - who had checked out a day earlier - had left behind some food stuff for me.

I asked her - Is it OK if I collect the bag later in the evening? 

The city was Moscow, Russia and a delay of few minutes could result in getting stuck in a big traffic jam. And I had a very important meeting coming up in an hour and a half.

She replied in negative. She said that I should take the bag now itself, go back to the room and put all the stuff in the refrigerator. She said that the food stuff would spoil if I wait till the evening. And she gave me back the keys - like a commander-in-chief.

I thought for a moment and I agreed with her.

Rushing back to the room, I kept all the stuff in the refrigerator and then came running back to the reception to hand over the keys to the lady. And then I departed with a big thank you - Spasiba Bolshoi.

This hadn't taken more than three minutes. And the delay was almost negligible. And I ended up saving some food stuff.

This lady - with this very small incident - had shown me the importance we should give towards food. It is important that we take adequate steps to ensure that the food is not wasted. 

She didn't have any stake in ensuring that the food items remain unspoilt. But yet - with her basic life skills - she insisited that I respect food and save food.

She was my Hero for the day.