How India can still become a champion side in Test Cricket : A note

India lost yet another test match to England at Wankhede, Mumbai. Not sure, given the present condition of the Indian Cricket Team in Tests, whether this incident worth a news anymore?! If my bias and love for Cricket put aside, I seriously think it's better the least is talked about this Team. For a simple reason, a team is as good as the result in produces. A set of students is really good in studies (read net practice) but fails in almost every examination shouldn't deserve empathy, even sympathy, to cut the crap short. 

As happened always after a loss, every nook and corner of the country will produce an expert who will suggest something to the team and on the contrary the team will keep playing as it is in the name of professionalism and the spirit of the game to lose. 

Inevitably Sachin Tendulkar will be a subject of PJs on the social media and the commentators turned experts will call Dhoni's name for 48 hours, maximum, post every defeat to help different channels' GRP and TRP go higher. 

Life will go on, nothing will change for the better, BCCI will mint money from telecast rights and other sources and the IPL will rock the nation sending test cricket a step closer to its peril. 

However, if sincere and honest efforts were adopted, even this beleaguered squad could bounce back and turn into a champion side again in no real time. 

The corrective measures should begin from the top. 

It would be more than apt to ask Ducan Fletcher to quit immediately because if a coach can neither motivate a team to win or at least fight like anything before losing nor make strategies when chips are down, his role becomes nothing but like a guest artist's in a movie. And a guest artist hardly makes a movie hit, so, his role is as worthless as my role at NASA as an advertising professional. 

Mr. Fletcher should ideally be replaced by a core committee comprising Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid and Anil Kumble, where Sourav has to be designated as the chief coach. 

The present Indian team definitely lacks aggression and the crux of the problem is more of temperamental than technical, so Sourav's 'I care a damn, you bloody opponent' should be the key to success, currently, as well as on a long-term basis. Plus, Rahul's discipline and technique and Anil's fighting spirit got to be exploited to the best of effects and impacts. 

There's no need, absolutely no need, to retain Dhoni as the skipper for tests. Because he not only shows inefficiency in thinking during fielding but also seems to be clueless while batting. So for what he's in the test squad? Just because he's the captain of Chennai Super Kings?! 

Gautam Gambhir got to be selected to lead this team in tests for five series at least that will help him settle in as the skipper of the side. If his off form is an issue, I don't think Dhoni has been showing any such form either.

Sehwag as a captain or vice captain is a strict no-no. For, he lacks innovation on field and prefers to go with the flow and that is never going to help a test side while it's on the mat.

About Sachin, of course he is the best judge to decide when to quit the game. But still, he needs to perform. For a simple reason, his position No. 4 is equally important as the position No. 3. 

If motivation is a problem for him, as all milestones of the game he has touched already, then it's certainly the time for him to think whether he should continue. More so, as his last test century came in January 2011. And it's quite evident that his problem is not so technical but motivational, which is obvious for anyone when the person has achieved everything in his illustrious career spanning over 22 years and has nothing to prove for that matter. 

Regarding spinners, you can't expect them to come and start bowling their magical spells immediately, using fights and loops, while all through the year they actually prepare themselves for the IPL and practise to bowl at a batsman's boot in order to concede lesser runs in 4 overs. Whoever has played even school cricket will understand that it's NOT at all easy to give the ball any air unless it's practiced really hard, in fact relentlessly in the nets and matches. It takes a lot of skills which cannot be honed overnight or kept alive minus religious practice and experiment. 

And in the midst of IPL culture it's impossible to nourish a proper spinner unless he's at least half resolute as Anil. 

In the pace department, I don't know whom to pick up and whom not to. As whoever is picked up will either under perform or will get injured in a practice session. 

Honestly, I always find it quite bizarre how come one get injured in a practice session while there are so many modern facilities nowadays to practice with! 

Except Umesh Yadav and Ashok Dinda none has the pace either to beat a test level batsman, while it's still Zaheer Khan only who could spearhead the attack. 

Others like Vinay Kumar, Praveen Kumar are good for first-class standard; Sreesanth is good on a dancing floor while Ishant Sharma can book a privileged bed in any reputed hospital under injury quota. And where's Varun Aaron, well, I've no clue!

The team has to be rebuilt and that too keeping in mind NO Sachin for long. So the composition should ideally be - 

1. Gambhir (C), 2. Sehwag / Rahane, 3. Pujara, 4. Kohli (VC), 5. Tendulkar / Tiwary, 6. Yuvraj Singh, 7. Saha (W), 8. Ashwin, 9. Ojha / Harbhajan, 9. Zaheer, 10. Dinda, 11. Umesh Yadav, 12. Irfan Pathan / Varun Aaron. 

Yes, as a wicket-keeper, Wriddhiman Saha deserves more chances than he's got so far comparing to the amount look-ins both Parthiv Patel and Dinesh Karthik have enjoyed. 

If this squad is nourished properly under Sourav, Rahul and Anil, India has some hopes to do well in tests, otherwise nothing is going to happen on despite winning a series or two against teams like Bangladesh, New Zealand at home.  

And there got to be a penalty system as well applicable to every player, senior or junior, that if he's injured during a practice session due to his negligence then he has to pay for that. 

In short this Indian team has no resolve at present, so that needs to be brought back in the dressing room ASAP. And once it's done, rest will happen rather automatically.

Indian Classical Music, the real source of Leadership : A practical analysis

Disclaimer: This article of mine might offend, semi-offend and quarter-offend you. If it does, please accuse and abuse me. Openly and vehemently. Based on which Arnab might invite you to his show on Times NOW. Your 'gaalis' should ideally be either in English or in Hindi or in Bengali. Other languages I don't understand, so my apology in advance! And one thing, please note, if, as a social media don, you wish to call me 'son of a bitch', kindly write 'bitch' as 'bitch', not 'beach'. Okay? Because if you take it on me, I need to feel bad, not laugh at you. But in any case, for a change at least, if you like my lines, please don't like them only. Instead, try to love and support the cause, practically in real life, for which I'm bleeding from my heart.

"The world suffers a lot. Not because of the violence of bad people. But because of the silence of good people." Napoleon Bonaparte had quoted this.  

The said quote was not only relevant earlier but also relevant today. 

Giving an example: A few days back I went to an ATM counter. There I had to stand outside the counter for almost 15 minutes because a smart lady was inside. No, she was not withdrawing any money or depositing any cheque. She was simply enjoying the air conditioned comfort while reading her mini a/c statement. Attentively. As if a new history of mankind was written on that small piece of paper. (See the pic. Click on it to enlarge).

Of course, she was not a bad person who was committing any violence, while she was simply 'good' enough to 'silently' produce sufferings for me, as well as for other 6 odd people who were helplessly stranded in the queue.

Alternatively, as none of us was a bad person but good, so we also maintained our collective silence multiplying our woes by shrugging off shoulders and breathing out heavily like the hippopotamus deported to a desert. 

However, all was required to get rid of that suffering was just to tell the 'good' lady in a 'good' way that she had already taken 'good' enough time inside, so she was expected to let us - the other 'good' people - do our respective 'good' work. 

No violence or hard talk was needed but only some 'music to ears' words would have done the task. Because it's only 'music', an universal language, understood and appreciated by all. Even by animals. 

To prove this point, I've done an experiment on October 28th, 2012. 

On that day, a few monkeys, precisely hanumans, visited our place and were in a mood to make their trademark menace a great show from outside the window and the balcony.

Anticipating that, what I did was just played The Lonely Shepherd track of Gheroghe Zamfir on our music system and found the soothing effect of flutes - as he plays an expanded version of the Romanian-style pan flute of 20 pipes to 30 - actually captivated the leader of the monkey brigade and then all other members, gradually. 

Their menace came to a halt and they rather settled on the window grills to indulge in music, have some loafs and bananas and then eventually leave, merrily. (See the pic. Click on it to enlarge). 

This boils down to behaviour i.e. how we behave. 

One's behaviour actually varies from time to time; from person to person. If a claim is made that one behaves with everyone, exactly in the same way, every time, it's a lie. It's never possible. 

Because research has shown one's behaviour is very closely associated with his 'thinking process' and 'decision making ability'. But not so closely associated with DNA and other inherited traits notwithstanding the prevalent notion. 

On the other hand, you should take into consideration that one's 'thinking process' and 'decision making ability' as a whole depends on the balance of his 'left brain thinking' and his 'right brain thinking'. While the 'left brain' helps to think and decide 'analytically' the 'right brain' helps to think and decide 'perceptually'. 

Whose brain has a greater balance, possesses a better thinking process and decision making ability; thus can control and camouflage; manage and manipulate his behaviour according to a situation. (See the picture. Click on it to enlarge).

Though the thinking process and decision making ability depends on the balance of LB and RB but that gets developed and evolved by personality and character. 

These two are very crucial factors that can actually make or break one's life. 

Again to reiterate the fact that they are also quite distant from DNA - the sacrosanct, rigid and unchangeable factor present in one. 

This provides with an opportunity that, if proper training and methods are adopted, one's personality and character could be developed in a much better way irrespective of his DNA - bad or worse. 

One's personality and character together gets manifested by his leadership quality. 

This leadership quality helps one lead a meaningful life for self and for others without compromising on the finesse of life on the basis of morals, ethics and values. 

How to develop that leadership quality?

It can be developed through Indian Classical Music (ICM) from the grassroots level ideally across society. 

Four basic premises: 'Discipline', 'Devotion', 'Practice' and 'Perseverance' that help the construction of such a leadership quality are by default available in ICM. 

It's a simple pyramid structure by blocks that one can follow in ICM to obtain that coveted leadership. Which is imperative nowadays and a priceless disposition in order to counter and encounter the severe dearth of leadership worldwide... causing confusion, outrage, agitation and cacophony all around for nothing. (See the picture. Click on it to enlarge). 

The major problem gets created due to lack of leadership is, a tremendous decay in 'commonsense'. The incident that took place inside the ATM counter was nothing but a real life instance of such a 'commonsense lapse'. 

Nothing can help here but ICM which has been averring and augmenting the reality that 'Music is Life Knowledge' i.e. MiLK, since ancient ages. 

An essential and must component for one's growth - physical, mental, and overall.

The growth, what helps one build an attitude of a tree. Which is deep rooted i.e. humble and arrogant (not in negative sense) i.e. upright in the air. 

That kind of attitude always makes one acceptable to different SECs. And that too, minus any clash and crash of interest between or among the SECs. (See the picture. Click on it to enlarge). 

A certain standard automatically gets built by one with such an attitude. As a result, the overall standard of society tends to go up, providing more oxygen - in terms of care, compassion and concern - to lives. 

So, obviously, the sufferings of the world are likely to come down to a nadir almost, following a system that's neither based on violence nor based on silence, but Music. Precisely, PURE Indian Classical Music that unfurls Life's Knowledge which in the process motivates one lead from within, healthily and happily. And all for a future that's no mean to a Fairy Tale.