Our America Tour - Part 1

America, the land of opportunities holds an unique attraction for people all over the world. For many, visiting America at least once is a life-time dream.  We had the fortune of undertaking a tour of this great country for a period of 20 days from 2nd Sep 2019.

We are thankful to our good friends Ms. Ragini Darshan and Mr. Darshan, who have settled in US,  for instilling in us the desire to tour US by repeatedly sending us affectionate invitations. We chose to visit their home first at Princeton, New Jersey before joining the 12-day conducted tour of a well-known tourist operator. We felt highly honored to be received by the great couple at Newark Airport, New Jersey (pic 3, top row above).

Our host's residence built of wood, stood on a plot of 1.25 acres of a virgin forest. Entire colony is a forest. No street lights here to leave the environment unperturbed. Cutting trees is a big no. Tender animals like deer are frequent visitors! Living with them gave us an insight in to the way of life Americans prefer to live and their concern for environment.

We started exploring US under the guidance of our host, by visiting Dukes Park at Hillsborough, NJ.  J.B.Dukes (1856-1925), a leading industrialist has developed this 3000 acre park for the cause of environment. Compare this to 'big people' in India who encroach thousands of acres of forest land every year for selfish use!  The park open to public, is a green beauty to watch which is the home for many rare plants, trees and animals.

Next day our friend took us to Edison National Historic Park.  Edison is the greatest scientist of 20th century who is better known as the inventor of the 'electric bulb'.  His inventions in the fields of power generation, mass communication, motion pictures and sound recording have revolutionized the world.  He holds the unique record of over 1100 patents for his inventions.  Visiting his house of residence and laboratory of research was a special experience. Antique car (pic 2 in top row) seen above was gifted to Edison by his good friend and scientist Ford during early 1900s. The car is in running condition even today!

Mr. Darshan (with red shirt) induced me to go for a bit of adventure of climbing the nearby Sourland Mountain. Being a Sunday, I saw quite a good number of natives venturing to climb the hill.  Many of them were cycling to go up with their pet dogs.  Americans prefer to enjoy their week ends to the fullest extent.

Spending a few days with our friends gave us the confidence to take up an independent trip to Boston (through a local tour operator) for 2 days.  Boston is a very nice city with many parks and monuments.  In this tour we also had the opportunity to visit Harvard and Yale (2nd pic, top row) universities. Earlier we had visited the nearby Princeton University (3rd Pic, top row) wherein our dear son Dr. Subhash had done his post-doctoral research.

On 11th Sep, before joining our tour party, we visited the famous Museum of Natural History, one of the most visited museums of the world at Washington D.C.  How nature evolved is the theme of the museum.  Nature includes both living and non-living beings.

The museum collections include 126 millions of specimens of plants, animals, rocks and minerals.  The museum is also the research lab for about 185 natural scientists.

After joining the tour party, our first visit was Air & Space Museum. The museum is the research center for history of aviation and space travel.  The heroes of the museum include Wright brothers (inventors of aeroplane) and Neil Armstrong (first man to land on moon). The museum includes innumerable interactive models to highlight various scientific facts related to air and space travel. Playing with a few of them was an experience of 'fun and learn'.

Washington D.C. (D.C. stands for District of Colombia which contains the city of Washington) is known for its historic monuments.  Second World War memorial (pic with fountain) includes tributes to thousands of soldiers from different states of the US, who laid down their lives.  But I didn't observe any mention of the thousands of soldiers from other countries, who too have laid down their lives for the cause of US-led alliance.  India alone has lost about one lakh soldiers in this ugly war fighting for the US-alliance.

The capitol (lowest in pic above) which houses legislative assemblies of the US,  the official residence of the US President- White house and Lincoln memorial are interesting to watch.

We were fortunate to travel together with 47 enthusiastic and friendly passengers, mostly from Namma Bengaluru. They were all persons from different walks of life who had all fulfilled most of their life goals.  Moreover every one of them was creative in many fields of life and were good presenters too.  Long bus journeys were God sent opportunities for lively interactions and songs. I too was an active participant and I am thankful that our tour friends over a period of time gave me the role of compere for the journey performances.

Our US tour continued for ten more days.  I assure that I will provide you further details by next week.  In the meanwhile I wish you all 'a happy World Tourism Day' (27th Sep).  Your thoughts on this occasion are most welcome.

Why two beds in US hotel rooms which accommodates only one couple?

This question has certainly haunted the minds of US-travelers. I invite our friends to upload below/or whatsapp their views on this interesting puzzle! (My whatsapp No. +91 98455 62603, e-mail id-klakshminarayana1956@rediffmail.com).  I am sure this debate generates loads of fun!
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Cricket Tragedies!

Last Saturday (17th Aug) was one more bad day for the world of cricket! Smith, arguably the greatest batsman among current cricketers was brutally felled by a vicious bouncer from Jofra Archer (Aus-Eng_2nd Test_4th Day at Lords). Helmet he wore was of no help, as the ball hit the back of his neck below.  Were lessons from similar hits witnessed earlier just ignored?

 The Aussie had to be taken on a stretcher for 'concussion tests'. On that day the word 'concussion' was the most searched word from cricket lovers, which meant that it is a state of 'temporary unconsciousness and other symptoms caused by a blow on the head'. Brave Smith came back after a while to resume batting and eventually got out at 92.

That was not all for the great batsman.  On next day morning he was diagnosed with aggravated symptoms of concussion and could not take the field.  Cricket's first-ever 'concussion replacement' was allowed by replacing Smith with Labuschagne who went on to bat, and save the Test by scoring 52 runs. In the meanwhile Smith is ruled out of the next Test (3rd Test) and may even miss out the entire series.  Entire cricketing world is praying for his safe and early recovery!

Smith's injury takes us to the painful memory of young batsman 

Philip Hughes' (25) tragic death.  The Aussie was a promising bat with 26 Tests behind him. On 25th Nov 2014, Hughes was hit by a vicious bouncer on lower-back portion of the neck below the helmet in a local first-class match. He instantly fell down to never get up again.  He died on 27th Nov 2014, three days before his 26th birthday.

Our own Raman Lamba who was not so lucky in cricket with India (only 4 Tests & 36 ODIs)  had to seek fortune by joining a Bangladesh club for playing

club cricket.  In one of the Bangla league matches on 20th Feb 1988 he was fatally hit on his bear head while fielding at 'short leg' and slipped into coma.  He died 3 days later. Unfortunate Lamba, little earlier had ignored the offer to wear a helmet, as only 3 more balls were left on that fateful day.

Our veteran Test skipper Nari Contractor was from an era of 'no-helmets'! He had won a local Test series against England during 

1961-62 and had continued to lead the side in an away series at West Indies.  In a local match against Barbados, while batting he was hit on the back of his skull by a nasty bouncer from Griffith.  He suffered a huge loss of blood.  None other than the rival skipper Sir Frank Worrell donated blood to save him.  No doubt Nari was saved, but he could never return to international cricket again. Nari who wanted to play at least one more Test, never knew that Cricket can be so cruel too!

Dreaded batsman of the 70s-80s, Vivian Richards was fortunate because he never had to face the battery of deadly seamers who were all mostly from his team during those days.  He has the 

distinction of playing throughout without wearing a helmet,  although helmets had already made their way by then to cricket field.

Dennis Amiss of England was the first batsman to wear a helmet in the 'Kerry Packer's world series of cricket' during 1977.  Spectators booed him for his 'act of cowardice'.  During those days many including our own Gavaskar viewed wearing helmet as a distraction for batting.  Slowly helmets became popular with both batsmen and close-in fielders as 'safety first' became the priority. There is a further cry now to remodel the cricket helmets in order to cover the back portion of the neck too, fatal injury to which caused the death of the young batsman Philip Hughes!

 Introduction of helmet has also led to an amendment of cricket rules.  If a ball hits an helmet on the field which is not in use by any player of the fielding side, the batting team will be awarded '5 runs'!
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Tail piece:

Congratulation to Mr. Kumara Sangakkara, the former Sri Lankan wicket-keeper-batsman who is now appointed as the first-non-British President of M.C.C. of England.  M.C.C. which has pioneered the cause of cricket owns 'Lords stadium' and is the repository of cricket rules.  Let's hope Sanga will do yeoman service to the world of cricket like he did for the Sri Lankan cricket as a player.

Kannada film songs based on classical ragas

Aradhisuve Madanari
Film: Babruvahana
Year: 1977
Raga: Karaharapriya
Music Director: T.G.Lingappa
Singer: Rajkumar
Lyrics: Chi. Udayashankar

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Bombeyatavayya
Film: Shree Krishna Gaarudi
Year: 1958
Raga: Darbari Kaanada
Music Director: Pendyala Nageswara Rao
Singer: P.B.Srinivas
Lyrics: Hunsur Krishnamurthy

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Kana Kanade Sharade

Film: Apthamitra

Year: 2004

Raga: Jog (nearest equivalent raga in Carnatic music is Natai)

Music Director: Gurukiran

Singer: Madhu Balakrishnan
Lyrics: Kaviraj

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Natavara Gangadhara, Uma Shankara
Film: Swarna Gowri
Year: 1962
Ragas: Aabheri, Darbari Kanada (Ragamalika)


Music Director: M. Venkataraju
Singer: M. Balamurali krishna
Lyrics: Dr. S.K. Karim Khan
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Yava mohana murali kareyithu
Film: Mysura mallige
Year: 1991
Raga: Desh

Music Director: C.Ashwath, MysuruAnanthaSwamy (Right-below)
Singer: Ratnamala Prakash (left)
Lyrics: Gopalakrishna Adiga (Right-top)

Infamous Tie-breakers!

Last Sunday, the 14th July 2019 was a great day for the world of sports. The less pampered game of cricket proved that it is second to none in generating heart-stopping excitement! The battle between two equal-giants in Wimbledon Tennis was more than matched by world-cup cricket finals between veterans England and lesser known giants New Zealand.

The double-tie of cricket was broken by the 'count of boundaries', which most fans are ruing as the most unfair tie-breaker. The longest ever final tennis battle too was decided by the tie-breaker in the 5th set.  Many fans still argue with the count of scores that  Federer was the real winner.  Tie-breakers without exception always result in heart-breaks, both for players and fans! 

Most tied-matches are better known for controversies.  Overthrown boundary which trickled from Ben Stoke's bat is now famous as 

the 'bat of God' has even eclipsed the infamous 'hand of God' of Maradona in the 1986 world-cup football semi-finals.  The hand push of Maradona went unnoticed by the referee and the resultant goal was allowed.  Argentina won (2-1) and even they went on to  win the ultimate championship.

In fact the dictum of tie-breakers is as old as mankind.  Poet 

Valmiki could never think of an example to describe the fierce battle between Ram and Ravan.  It was a true battle between equals and even Lord Ram was clueless when head after head started reappearing for Ravan, in place of the one destroyed.  The tie-breaker was provided by Vibhishan, ironically the brother of Ravan who advised Ram to use the 'brahmastra' and aim at the 'amrit kalash' inside the chest of Ravan.  No doubt Ravan was killed, but there is no dearth of sympathizers for Ravan!

When Lord Ram wanted to bless dying Ravan, Ravan stopped him and remarked.....'Oh Ram, you are no match to me in bravery.  You won because your brother Laxman was with you and I lost because my brother Vibhishan was not with me'! 

Mahabharath is also full of unfair tie-breakers.  Karan was a 

peerless warrior and Arjun was no match for him.  Still Krishna provided the tie-breaker by inducing Arjun to aim at helpless Karan who was trying to lift his sunk chariot-wheel. Grieved sympathizers hail Karan as 'Daan Veer, Shoor'!

Even Indian history is not without unfair tie-breakers. Demand for

a separate country by Muslims had reached the stage of an endless battle.  Cunning British brought in the tie-breaker by way of partition which is not accepted even today by many on both sides of the border.

The injustice of tie-breakers haunts lives of common man too!

The sequence of triangular love too is as old as mankind.  In fact it is a powerful theme for our film world.  In films it ends with sacrifice/death of one of the contenders.  In real life many times the ruling of seniors ends the tie! Unpleasant memories continue to haunt, but life keeps moving.

Most often the mother of the family becomes the referee for 

arbitrating the tied-battle between the egoist father and the aggressive son.  Unable to take sides, the grieving mother tries to work out a compromise giving a feeling of victory to all concerned. 

Coming back to the world of sports, tie-breaker of penalty kicks

was used for the first time in a world cup football finals during 1994. The crucial penalty kick was assigned to the key player,  Roberto Baggio of Italy.  To the disbelief of the fans all over the world,  Baggio's kick ballooned out of the goal post resulting in victory for Germany.

Let me end by recalling the memory of the first ever tied-test 

played between Australia and West Indies.  This was the real tied test, as all 10 wickets fell in all the 4 innings.  The match went on till last but one ball of the match, with two runs needed by Australia to win with the last pair batting.  Batsmen had taken the tying run and the victory run was being tried. Then came the famous throw from Joe Solomon who aimed at the single wicket visible to him from 12 meters and hit the stumps directly to remove the last wicket, leaving the question......why most ties are created by run-outs?  No tie-breaker was resorted to and probably for this reason this test is remembered even today by all concerned!

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(I am thankful to the sources of pictures used here.  I solicit their permission for using them).

Some of my friends have found difficulty in uploading their comments below.  I suggest them to send me their comments through mail (klakshminarayana1956@rediffmail.com) or whatsapp (98455 62603).

Yayati - A Father's Cry!

At the outset I wish 'Happy Father's Day' to all fathers. Fathers are unsung heroes of the world of parenting.  In most of the Indian families with the passage of family stages, mother keeps growing in command and stature, often leading to a feeling of redundancy among fathers!  Moreover fathers by nature are less expressive when compared to mothers, which is not desirable for their physical and emotional health. They become loners. But fathers have their own emotions and desires. All these range of fathers' emotions are well portrayed in the play Yayati, written by Girish Karnad, who passed away recently.

Yayati, the King and ancestor of Pandavas of Mahabharat was married to Devayani, the daughter of asura priest Shukracharya. He had relationship with Sharmistha, the maid-servant of Devayani. This infuriates Shukracharya who curses him with premature old age! Yayati could redeem this curse only if someone was ready to exchange his youth with him. Yayati's son Puru (through Sharmistha) agrees to exchange his youth.  Yayati regains his youth and enjoys family life with his two wives for thousand years.  Finally the King accepts his old age and gifts his youth to his son Puru. Yayati crowns Puru as the King, as a reward for his obedience. Karnad's play examines the moment of crisis that Puru's decision sparks, and the dilemma it presents for Yayati, Puru and Puru's young wife.

Is there a Yayati in every senior father of modern times? Certainly yes! And that is why the character of Yayati has stood as a lovable character although centuries have passed. But can there be an young son who is prepared to exchange his youth with the old age of his father? 'Probably no' may be the instant answer! Let us examine the possibilities from all angles.

Even today there are sons and daughters who are ever ready to take good care of their parents. Modern health facilities have enhanced the longevity of seniors' life. Foreign trips/pilgrimages of seniors sponsored by well placed children are quite common. Children helping parents to exchange their old cars with new ones is also not uncommon.  Moreover modern seniors too are clever enough to build savings and assets during their best earning periods. These factors have made 'yayati moment' a reality for our seniors. Of course, not all seniors may be fortunate this way. 

Mahabharath has more messages for modern fathers. Shantanu, one more ancestor of Pandavas was caught in the web of unconditional love with his sweetheart Ganga.  He married Ganga forfeiting his rights to question any of her acts.  Ganga gave birth to seven children, but she drowned all of them to death. Finally when Shantanu mustered courage to question his wife during the birth of their eighth child, Ganga invokes her writ and goes away with the child deserting him. Even in modern life 'Shantanus' are not uncommon who keep mum even on disgraceful acts of their wives.

Shakespeare's drama King Lear, has a great message for modern fathers.  Old King decides to give away his crown and all assets to his daughters.  He calls his daughters one by one and asks them to express their love for him.  The first two clever daughters, Regan and Goneril profusely express their love to their father. But more balanced youngest daughter Cordelia remains modest and refuses to exaggerate her love to her father.  King Lear becomes furious and gives away his crown and all assets to first two daughters, thereby deserting Cordelia.  King Lear also banishes his faithful friend Kent, for publicly standing up for Cordelia.  King of France impressed by Cordelia's honesty marries her.  Soon Regan and Goneril start acting in their true colors deserting the old King.  Cordelia comes with her army to rescue the King, only to be caught as a prisoner, leading to one more Shakespearean tragedy.

Shakespeare's message is very clear.  Modern parents should never part with their assets as long as they live. They should never be tempted by the emotional plots created by their children and give away their assets. 

Father's Day is an occasion for young children to show their love towards their parents.  But it is also a day of caution for seniors to review the position of harsh realities.  A senior father's best companion is his wife. Even a wife can't be a substitute for an intimate friend.  It is worth having at least one such friend. They should pursue hobbies of their interest to keep themselves engaged and remain creative. Physical activity and controlled diet are certainly going to help. Self-sufficiency and independence are the two best friends of old age.
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(I am thankful to the sources of pictures used here.  I solicit their permission for using them).

Some of my friends have found difficulty in uploading their comments below.  I suggest them to send me their comments through mail (klakshminarayana1956@rediffmail.com) or whatsapp (98455 62603).

Is Cricket killing Cricket?

Is Cricket killing Cricket?  The question looks strange when we are in midst of ODI world-cup! Are our players and fans suffering from an overdose of cricket? Are cricket players undergoing acute fatigue and burnout owing to crammed schedules? Are we killing the goose that is laying golden eggs? Are our cricket administrators listening?

Look at our Indian team.  They are 'number 1' in Test cricket and 
quite dominant in ODIs and T20s too. Since last year they are undergoing a gruelling schedule which started with an away-Test-series against the mighty South Africans. It was followed by intense twin  away-Test-clashes against England and Australia.  In between there were innumerable ODIs and T20s.  How could our players resist the temptation of 'grabbing' the IPL-2019 opportunity

with both hands?And to top all that now is the ODI world-cup.  Rightly our players preferred to rest and relax after IPL instead of a coaching camp for the world-cup. 

Fatigue and burnout is taking its toll on our players. They are allowed to ignore our domestic cricket.  Who cares if it becomes poorer?  Key players like Dhoni have earlier taken breaks from ODI series and even Test cricket.  But not many players can afford to take such costly risks.  Often they try hiding injuries too! Uncertainty haunts our players.  Nobody can blame them if they prefer to make quick money by playing IPL instead of getting exhausted by playing Test cricket. Even spectators prefer IPL to Tests. Is Test cricket dying?

Test cricket has a history of more than 140 years and has survived in spite of  changes like ODIs and T20s. For connoisseurs of cricket, even today 'Test' is the real test! World's top-most modern 

batsman, our own Virat Kohli too has said that 'Test cricket is the most beautiful format'. What makes Test cricket so special?

The stage for Test cricket is set with the 'conditions, the toss and the team combination'. Test cricket needs specialist batsmen and bowlers whereas all-rounders are enough to win shorter formats. Our own test-giant Sunil Gavaskar used to say that 'give first hour to bowlers and the next five hours will be yours'! Perseverance is the watch-word for a Test batsman to excel. 

Experts have rated our Rahul Dravid a better Test batsman in overseas conditions even when compared to Tendulkar.  So often we see our best batsmen struggling against pace and swing in England and Australia. Same way overseas players struggle against our spinners in Sub-continent conditions. This problem is not there for batsmen in shorter formats.  This underlines the challenge of Test cricket.

Who says 'cricket is a batsman's game'? One can't win a Test match unless his team has bowlers who can take 20 wickets.  Test bowlers have to bowl long spells, both in new and old balls to outwit the batsman. 

'Test captaincy is 90% luck and 10% skill, but you should never try if you don't have that 10% skill', used to say Richie Benaud. 

Test cricket has its own glorious history.  Memories of the first ever 'tied-Test' of 1960 played between Australia and West Indies in Brisbane (pic above) is still green in our minds.  It was only a poetic justice to our Country's progress in the world of 

cricket that  we were involved in the only 'second tied-Test' played against Australia during 1986 in Chennai (see Pic above).

ICC's World Test Championship being launched from July 2019 to April 2021 is a step in the right direction. Although experts are against, 'tinkering with Test cricket', day-night play is worth trying which can help increasing viewership of Tests. Cricket can't survive unless Test cricket keeps thriving.

'Cricketainment' is the modern buzz word which has given rise to the concept of IPL. Despite the devil of 'betting' haunting IPL, even luring players, support staff and administrators,  IPL is now India's top sports-brand and it is growing in strength year after year.  It's a matter of our pride that top players from all over the world vie with each other to get a berth in IPL. IPL has now shown the way to globalize cricket! 

Thus while Test cricket is for serious students of cricket, T20 is for entertainment and taking the game forward.  In between ODI looks redundant and is causing strain on both players and fans. Changes in ODI like two balls for 50-overs and fielding restrictions have made it predominantly a batsman's game, further robbing the charm of cricket.  Scores of 350 are chased with disdainful ease!

ODI neither has the classical charm of Tests, nor the speed and thrill of T20s.  Scrapping of Champions Trophy of ODI by ICC is in the right direction.  What if ODI is scrapped? Will it provide relief to players and spectators from fatigue and burnout? I leave it to the judgment of our readers.

Last but not the least, our national cricket body BCCI, is probably the richest in the world.  They have a responsibility to patronize other sports and games in our country.  They can contribute at least 20% of their revenue for the betterment of others sports and sportsmen. Will they do?

Long live Indian Cricket

 Long live Indian Sports and Games

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(Thanks to the sources of various pictures used here.  I solicit their permission through this blog.)