Maximizing yourself

The release of Bollywood movie (or should I say a self-promotional Indian film) Aap Ka Surroor speaks a lot about how the Indian mind works. Taking advantage of a certain monopoly over a particular industry and promoting yourself to do something that is clearly not within your set of talents is what Mr. HR has unsuccessfully tried to do with his film.

When I first saw the promos of the movie and there was a different name in the Producer slot, I wondered whether HR had used a pen name this time. Because it is ridiculously clear that it was his movie through and through.

Self-promotion has been taken to a new level through the release of this definitely do-not-see movie. With this emerges a new concept of selling yourself, but definitely not a pleasing one.....

Progressing towards a new horizon.....

1 $ = Rs. 40.something
Inflation - drops to 4.8 percent.
Sensex - continues to boom.
Growth rate - Crossed 9%.

The above statistics are beginning to implicate India's stunning recent growth and progress. And leave me, for one, very pleased. In the age of rapid globalization and liberalization, India is beginning to emerge as the focal point of the spectrum of progress in developing countries.

Add to that, justice being imparted to the victims of the 1993 Mumbai blasts, a Formula One race track in development at Delhi by 2009 and the potential return to form of both the national hockey and cricket sides and you feel like there's positivity flowing all around.

In the end, the country's vast talent pool is all that makes the difference.....

Graham Ford's retrospective

The hunt for the new Indian cricket coach has come to a standstill, with prime candidate Graham Ford's withdrawal from the race. It takes more than just vast cricketing knowledge and experience to be at the helm of the job that has become cricket's answer to Real Madrid, the Spanish football club which has become unmanageable over the past few years.

The job pays very well, undoutedbly. But the pressures and expectations associated with it outdo any kind of financial satisfaction that a coach can gain. The Indian cricketing system is way too complex for coaches, who have to come through a thousand influences and interferences before making their mark.

Ford's withdrawal is also a sign of how the BCCI has actually "hyped" the job into the cricketing stratosphere. English hope John Emburey has also rejected the offer made to him. I think a home-grown coach, who has seen and done it all, should be in the mainframe for the job. But even yesteryear heroes want to stay out of the pool of controversies that it generates. The lack of applications speaks for that.

In the end, it will all come down to the players getting back to their best. A rejuvenated India did produce a commanding show in Bangladesh, but the challenges that lie ahead are way tougher.....