NaMo phenomenon

Now when Narendra Damodardas Modi has been elevated to prime ministerial candidate of BJP, I thought to pen down what could be possible pros and cons of NaMo phenomenon:

1) Current Government: With Food Security Bill, government has put final nail in the coffin to make sure that we don't meet up our current account deficit target of 3.8% in this fiscal. 

2) Pulse of the industry leaders: Nearly three-quarters of Indian business leaders want Modi to lead the country after the elections, Reuters reported recently citing a survey by the Economic Times/Nielsen. According to the report, the CEOs think the UPA has mismanaged the country over the last few years.

3) Absence of other candidates for BJP: Compared to the other contenders for the post, Narendra Modi has certainly got brilliant credentials. He has revitalised the Gujarat economic scene and it certainly meant something when Ratan Tata shifted the Tata Nano plant there.

4) Finest manager of Indian media: He has got a full fledged PR team that makes sure that his popularity meter keeps on rising. Whatever he says, is presented in a very delicate manner to ensure that he wins all the critics who doubt on him. 

5) Motivational Skills: He has excellent organisational capabilities, dynamic personality and can motivate even a corpse to move with his powerful words, to name a few of his qualities.

But with these pros come some cons as well:

1) His alleged role in Gujrat riots: Even though Modi seems to be doing nothing wrong these days, he is still pretty much haunted by his alleged involvement in Godhra riot case; and as is truly said- ‘Corpses are not buried in politics. They are kept alive so that they can speak when the time comes.’ So no prizes for guessing that Modi will have a very tough time ahead maintaining a balance between his image of a staunch enthusiast of Hinduism and keeping Muslims content, if becomes the next PM.

2) His stand for Hindutva: Though Modi claims that he has risen above religions and castes, he is still very much the 'poster boy' of Hindutva and RSS. 

So, all in all, NaMo phenomenon is growing and growing rapidly and thus, he may become the next PM, provided congress does not come up with a remedy to cut it.

Come 2014 general election. It would be interesting to see it this time. 

Sreesanth Saga

India and Rajasthan Royals fast bowler Shantakumaran Sreesanth has been handed a life ban by the BCCI today for his involvement in spot-fixing in IPL 2013.  At 30, he was already a has-been, someone whose last few headlines had been for bizarre behaviour rather than on-field excellence. Then, you think of the Wanderers less than seven years ago, and logic exits the room, replaced by lingering sadness. You think of the madcap celebration after a six off Andre Nel, and contrast that with  the image taken from the court in May, of a young man being taken in like a common criminal. The numbers reveal as much as they conceal – 87 wickets from 27 Tests, at an average of 37.59. He was neither consistent nor reliable. What those figures don’t tell you, though, is how he could change a game. At the end of the South African tour in January 2007, Allan Donald said that he had not come across any bowler who could hit the pitch with seam bolt upright ball after ball as Sreesanth had done at the Wanderers [he took 8 for 99].

On the next tour of South Africa, he had Jacques Kallis contorting like a marionette on a string in Durban as India won by 87 runs. History, revisionist or otherwise, doesn’t view the Chappell [coaching] years with much fondness, but the one thing that can’t be disputed is that he came closer than anyone else to harnessing Sreesanth’s full potential. When he got carried away and resorted to Malcolm Marshall impersonations and other futile experiments, Chappell would be in his ear asking: “Were you Good Sree or Bad Sree?” For Chappell, Good Sree meant keeping it simple – pitching it on the fourth stump and getting swing away from the right-hander.

He was a lone kid in the entire dressing room. None of his teammates had a good relationship with him. His family didn’t really help either. As the media in Kerala made him out to be the next big thing, those closest to him opened their doors to the cameras and microphones instead of slamming them firmly shut. With those that should have known what was best for him becoming part of a tawdry rent-a-quote industry.

Sreesanth has said that he will challenge the decision of BCCI in the court, but the swing bowler that India could have got is lost and lost for ever. A sad day in the history of Indian Cricket.