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Cricket, Nano & Bharat Ratna India Holds Sway At Work Or Play
By: R.S. Mooshahary

India has regained its cricketing mojo through a stunning victory in the third test at Perth. The final test begins at Adelaide today with 2-1 Oz lead. Despite discontent among some senior players with the tri-series team selection due next month in Australia, Team India is likely to demonstrate an enlivening spirit in this crucial match and repeat the Perth performance.

I am not an archetypal cricket enthusiast to equate this game with our national prestige. I am rather silly enough as I cannot distinguish the silly mid on from silly mid off or the googly from lbw, but I am aware that this colonial legacy of a game is as firmly embedded in our sporting heart as the English language is in our tongue. That is what makes cricket matches national events in India, which borders on irrationality.

It makes things emotional rather than sporting. Remember the outcry for the recall of our team midway after the second test because of some controversy – a move that was so redolent of our unsporting national character. Some one had even filed “publicity” interest litigation in the apex court for direction to recall the team stating that the national pride was at stake if it continued to play in Australia.

Young people who play cricket or any other game are normal human beings with youthful temerity and exuberance. They get worked-up, sledge, and in the process sometimes make unsavory comments. Cricket is after all a game of hit-and-run and not everything is polished and smooth in the pitch. And all this adds charm to the competitiveness of the game. So the question is whether or not Bhajji called Andrew Symonds a monkey, which can be construed as a racial insult, or whether subsequent three-match ban on him (put on hold for now) was unjustified, or whether the umpire, Mr. Bucknor was anti team India. We may have our own judgements on all of them and so have others theirs. The question is whether we can uphold our national pride and interest by sulking and baulking instead of by playing and fighting.

India is too important a country to be undermined by this type of aberrations in a sporting event. We must demonstrate our maturity in reacting to such events and leave the players and the managers to handle them. Our national pride would have been hurt much more by our indefensible reaction like boycotting the series or recalling the team. India is commercially too important a country in the international cricket to be ignored if we know how to handle the problem.

We should allow our players to play and not play politics in sports. It is obvious that our players want to play and take on Australia straightway by the horns as they have done at Perth. What a national disgrace it would have been had we left the tour midway with 2-0 against us? There is no pride in running away after the defeat; the pride comes out of fighting; honor out of winning. Now we can have both.

The Nano is something of an automotive miracle for India. After decades of trial and error, we have come of age in developing and showcasing a car with totally indigenous talent, which the world industry head honchos have acknowledged as an extraordinary example of technological skill and perseverance. The marvel is that this car has already occupied such a large space in people’s heart that it is going to revolutionize the transportation dynamics in this country as never before.

Ratan Tata promised this sliver of a car for rupees one lakh not knowing how long it would take to produce it five years ago. He could have convincingly hiked its price at the present cost index but he has not done that and that is another miracle. It is a business with a social face. A million Indians will own this car year after year for safe, affordable and comfortable means of transportation. Here is why our bien pensant environmentalists have expressed their opposition to its production, as they fear it is going to degrade our environment and cause road congestion.

No one disputes the need for clean air, to protect environmental purity and road safety but no one should also dispute the need for transporting the human life to a more enjoyable, safe and modern experience. We cannot propagate a life of bullock cart in this age of instant mobility and as long as people can afford a car, they will own one. Nano is set to change the industrial face of West Bengal and it is going to make automotive transportation for an average family affordable as Air Deccan has air travel.

The automobile emission problem can be likened to sex and AIDS. The scourge of AIDS can best be solved by abstaining from sex. Without sex, there will be no AIDS. But it is not the solution; it is the problem because without sex humanity will disappear and sex will always be there as long as there is humanity. So we need to work for safe sex and not abstinence, to enable enjoyment of sex without fear of AIDS. Transportation likewise is essential for progress; without it, there will be stagnation. The need is to find ways to control emission. Indian vehicles reportedly spewed 219 million tons of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere in 2005. At this rate, the figure will enhance to 1470 million tons by 2035. This is frightening

Big cars consume more fuels and emit more fumes. They occupy more space. Those who use them get more benefit out of the subsidy on petroleum products and public infrastructure. There is need to discourage it by introducing more fuel-efficient and emission controlled vehicles. Cars like the Nano can be like safe sex enabling the people to be in the transports of joy without adverse impact.

Bharat Ratna is on high demand. This Republic day round every conceivable group has put forward the claim for its leaders for this award. It looks strange that the clamor is only for the political personalities. Surely, in this country politicians are not the only ones who have contributed to its growth. May be that the country is growing in spite of them.

The bizarre practice of conferring this award on the people dead and gone has expanded the scope for its eligibility. Of the many demands currently in circulation, half is for the ones not alive. Is it necessary to confer a temporal honor on someone who no longer can delight in the recognition of his or her achievement? It is also a sad reflection on the system of awards that sycophancy and elitist networking play more important roles than achievements to get them. Obviously, it serves no national purpose and it is best to do away with them.

If Bharat Ratna is to be given then let it be to the people who had risked their positions to make a difference. Ratan Tata and Budhadev Bhattacharya are the two stalwarts of change who did not buckle under extreme adversities and threat to their reputation. Their vision and social commitment have enabled Nano to become a reality. They are the catalyst for economic transformation and social equity. They are the jewels in the crown of Bharat. Let them be officially conferred the Bharat Ratna.

The writer, a former Director General of Police in Kerala and Director General of the National Security Guard and the Border Security Force, is currently the State Chief Information Commissioner, Assam)