On Wall Street, terrorists and Sachin Tendulkar...

Every now and then I wake up to the political canard like Rip Van Winkle from his reverie. "A little knowledge," said an English poet, "is a dangerous thing." I have always believed that partial knowledge lead us from what little light we have to greater darkness. Meticulous reading and understanding is warranted before one decides to exercise his right to opinion and debate. So I decided to use this Sunday to peruse the dailies and the NY times, to wake up to discussions and debates around me.

World has not changed – Blood bath continues on the Wall Street, Obama is on a quotidian, uninspiring agenda of the bail offs and the complete circle of violence in our unstable 'curry republics' states which slide on the terrorist gravy train in and around India (which looks unstable itself).Employment statistics in the US enter new crevices, the economic uncertainty clamps on the businesses and the optimism business world leaders tanks further.

Bangadesh Rifles just decided to take the pecking order into their own hands and planned a ‘private’ restructuring assignment - all because of a little comp & ben problem (Compensation & Benefits as the HR folks)!! When the army – the most disciplined of organisations - takes up cudgels in such fashion, one is politely reminded that every organisational entity is adrift with cultural and process based underpinnings and no one is immune to it !

The terrorist attack on the Srilankan cricket team proves the myth of inviolability of sportsmen - wrong and reminds us to leave security matters to the heads of the state and policy makers ; we would be best served by listening to their analysis on security and take their recommendations seriously and not plough through it in television debates. The stodgy IPL organisers and Mr. Modi better keep their fingers crossed during the event and pray to all their Gods to revent untoward events – we are in no way different from a Pakistan when it comes to these issues. The TV anchors may also be quietly nudged around the corner – ‘attack on Pakistan opens discussion on the fragility to the security cover of this region and not only Pakistan’.

After a few cursory glances at the cricket match at Christ Church, took a moment to savour the forty third century of our own ‘baby faced dynamite’ Sachin Tendulkar. Being around his age, cricket according for me has been laced with pages from his illustrious career and in every Indian match – my sole concern like millions of Indians,has remained – How much did Tendulkar make ? True, the senior most player of the team displays the kind of enthusiasm that one would expect from a rank fresher or a rookie !