Learner

STUDENT DRIVER (Photo credit: the past tends to disappear)

It was to be expected from a student driver, the occasional meandering into another lane and the overcautious approach to corners, turning and checking for hidden tigers at the same time. So too was the long line of cars slowed down and stuck behind him, cursing their luck and falsely confident that when they were at this stage, they weren't this bad. 

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There's nothing more effective than the Driving School or Student Driver board on a vehicle to add a fully aware, all senses at full alert segment into the most boring of everyday drives even for the most jaded of drivers. A student driver, especially a self proclaimed one is an element of the road who represents a mystery, an unknown quantity in this mostly orderly world. What will he do next, is the question on everybody's mind while they are trying their best to stay out of his 'attack' zone.

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Now if a 15 ton, 50 feet long bus has the words "STUDENT DRIVER" emblazoned on it, just imagine the excitement it brings with it on the average aimlessly beautiful Sunday afternoon. Every other driver on the road now has only one concern, how on earth do I get as far away as possible; possibly even the average student driver in a car is trying to do the same thing.

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I was one of those other drivers yesterday afternoon and never having seen a bus driver in training before, now realized that everyone has a learning curve to follow! Sure, the notorious bus drivers of India's highways I had known and feared for a long time but I never thought that they too would have had this nervous phase, the time before they became sure that their bus was only an auto-rickshaw and drove it likewise. 

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[http://virtual-inksanity.blogspot.com/2014/05/learner.html]

Duplicate Sachin

Virender Sehwag(Sihag) (Photo credit: sihagjat)

The past couple of days have been quite traumatic for me, given the results of the Indian general elections. The last time I have felt as low as this was after the 2003 World Cup final in South Africa, when India was given a hiding by the Aussies. I realize the folly in comparing the result of a cricket match to the result of a general election but I bring it up only to emphasize that as a committed Indian cricket fan and a committed Indian, my stand is unchanged. I will be there to cheer for it at the best of times, I will be there to fight for it in the worst of times. No matter who is the Prime Minister.

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I still don't know how long it will take me to recover. In the Indian cricket team's case, at least the 2011 World Cup final was my redemption. Mixed feelings dominate as I have had conversations with people who voted for Narendra Modi strictly on his "development" agenda despite knowing the darker shades of his camp, but disturbingly also with the rabid anti-Muslim side who sincerely insist that the 2002 post Godhra riots were "cleaning up" activities where only people who "deserved" to be murdered were murdered & support more of the same at the India level. Time will tell.

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On such days, I give myself consolation by remembering days when I was proven wrong. One such day was a day in 2001 when Virender Sehwag burst onto the Indian cricket team.

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A 64 ball ODI century against New Zealand century caused a classmate of mine to come bounding up to my apartment. "Kyaa player aayelaa hai! [What a find for the team]", said Bhavesh all excited. I shot him down with a "Bhagg saala! Kaun hai yeh duplicate Sachin? [Who is this duplicate Sachin?]" To this day, I remember the hurt look in his eyes, and my lack of respect for his enthusiasm. In fact, I almost said sorry right then. Almost.

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Sehwag did look like a duplicate Sachin at first glance, the same physical build and the same aggressive mentality. Only that his technique was vastly inferior to Sachin's and for lack of a better word very 'raw'. How long could anyone get by with that kind of foundation?

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Boy, was I off the mark! Because Viru is not Sachin 2, he is Viru 1 (Discounting filmy Virus here). As the years went by, my admiration for Viru only grew, as did my shame at not recognizing his skill at first glance. Bhavesh, if you are reading this, I was wrong and you were right.

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The term "force of nature" is the king of cliches in the case of sportsmen but there is frankly no other way to describe Virender Sehwag. The physics defying bat speed, the smack and deliver approach and the match winning prowess - all packed in a guy as nice as Sachin in attitude. If you've read any of my blogs before, you would know how hard-core a Sachin fan I am but I must agree that Viru has been as influential as Sachin and at times more, since he started playing for India.

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The 2011 semi-final versus Pakistan may have looked like a Sachin show helped along by the butter-fingered Pakistani fielders but the real story began with the first few overs. Umar Gul, the bowler of the tournament leading into the match was taken apart by our man from Najafgarh. Once the Pakistani attack's most lethal weapon was neutralized, everyone including Sachin reaped its benefits.

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There are those who call him a "hudjudiyaa" (a term used in the cricket fields of Gujarat for the 'swing and pray' type of mindless batting). I say no hudjudiyaa in the world can score two international Test triple centuries and be the current holder of the highest ODI score in the world (219 v/s West Indies). There is method to the madness and because his technique is simplified does not mean that he is not thinking about his game.

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It's sad to see his hand-eye co-ordination desert him in his later years but that is the pitfall of being a purely natural player, a fate suffered by fellow legends like Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman. Unlike this trio, the focus on technique helped slow the decline of players like Rahul Dravid and Sachin significantly. But to each his own. Team India needs every sort to balance its needs and they have all served us well.

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He may never make it back to the international team. Much as I hope for a sparkling return to form for him, I know it's quite unrealistic a hope. But there was a unique excitement to watching Sehwag face up to the most fearsome bowlers in the world, knowing that whatever happened, nice guy though Viru was, he would not hold back when it came to his bat doing the talking. 

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Even Indian cricket's enemy number one (IMO... just kidding :D, maybe not :[ ) Ricky Ponting quietly acknowledged it one day, when he said about David Warner "We have FINALLY found ourselves an opener in the Sehwag mould..."

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For better or for worse, Virender Sehwag has only one mode. Swashbuckler.

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[http://virtual-inksanity.blogspot.com/2014/05/duplicate-sachin.html]