The Story of Non-existing Braveheart

Business Standard is a pink paper published from India.

This tweet raised my eyebrows, as the word, 'Braveheart' has been the Indian media's cliche for a rape victim. I searched the major dictionries and the Corpus of Contemporary American English.

There was no word called Braveheart in any of the dictionaries. At least officially! And there is no reference in the Online Etymology Dictionary. "Braveheart may now be used allusively to encapsulate a view of Scottish nationalism maintained against English oppression," says Encyclopedia.com

There was Mel Gibson's Braveheart in 1995. I remember the hype on the glossy mags and television. I did not watch that movie.

To impose a non-existing word on the media audience is a crime. 

Virtuoso Guitarist Yngwie Malmsteen in India

In the India of early 90s, there were no CDs, DVDs, or mp3s. There were only audio tapes. And one among them was a recorded version of Malmsteen's Rising Force album.

I, along with a few of metal friends, was overawed by the sheer creativity and neo-classical wizardry of Malmsteen's lead solos. There were a few who hang up their guitars, admitting that they cannot ever play like Malmsteen. Malmsteen along with Joe Satriani and Steve Vai was too much to handle in those days.

In fact we did not want Malmsteen to join other bands. We wanted him to keep on releasing one classic album after the other. David Chastain faded into memory because of Malmsteen.

I was overjoyed when I read Malmsteen is making his first visit to India, that too for a not much hyped festival in the north eastern state of Arunachal Pradesh. Disappointed that I could not go to watch the master, or think about going, I thought a post on Malmsteen is due.

Let me share one of my favourite Malmsteen songs:

We still need our governments

Delhi, the capital of India, is reeling under an outbreak of Dengue and Chikungunya fever. The Delhi chief minister was in Bengaluru for a throat operation and his deputy is reportedly in Finland. All hell has broken loose and there is utter chaos.

Another terrorist attack killed 18 soldiers in Uri, bringing Kashmir to the international limelight again. The Indian public wanted immediate retribution across the border, reported the media. The public wanted the government of India to do something, an eye for an eye, to avenge the lost lives.

In both the cases, the public belonging to all classes exhorted the government to intervene or perform a proactive role. Whereas in other matters, we often hear arguments that advocate a lesser and lesser government role, regulation and control.

While national security and territorial integrity would invite governmental intervention, the outcry for lack of government intervention in areas like health and education illustrate another point. Much of the basic infrastructure is still lacking in these primary sectors. For example, health care is heavily privatized and beyond the reach of the majority of Indians. A clean, mosquito-free environment is still a dream for millions.

This is why even at this age of globalization and automation, we still need our governments. Strong central and state governments to provide basic facilities. It is also one area that we have consistently underperformed and underachieved since the 90s. The earlier we realize it, the better it is for India.

Heavy rainfall in India not associated with global warming

It is common nowadays to link spells of rainfall and the collateral damage they create to climate change. It is not the rains, but the urban mayhem and disaster bred by human incompetence, so characteristic of India, that is hyped by the breaking news hungry media.

A report published in The Hindu newspaper says that "...extreme rainfall events over India do not have significant association with land surface air temperature over India and sea surface temperature over central Indian Ocean..." The report, quoting a paper in Scientific Reports, says that the widely held belief that climate change is responsible over extreme rainfall patterns in the tropics does not seem to be true.

The authors recommend that "...the changing patterns of extremes over the Indian subcontinent need a scientific re-evaluation, which is possible due to availability of the unique long-term in-situ data."

India loses to Australia despite a big 309

India has once again lost to the Aussies in Australia. Chasing a big total of 309, the Aussies won the match in the last over with five wickets to spare.

A bouncy WACA pitch usually does not favor the visiting teams. But an in-form Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli ensured that India reach a respectable total. After making 309, India would have expected to win this match, but the crucial let-off to Bailey by the umpire saw both Bailey and Smith growing in strength to clinch the match. And Steve Smith, as I had predicted in my previous post, went to win the man of the match trophy.

It needs to be seen why umpires make such crucial errors and whether India's denial of selecting DRS has to do with such seemingly innocent umpiring errors. Bailey's dismissal could have changed the complexion of the match as the next ball was a hat-trick ball for the new-comer Sran. There are too many decisions going against India at crucial times and there seems to be no action against such umpiring mistakes. It's time the Indian cricketing think-tank does something about this issue. 

The logic of selecting two spinners in Perth also needs to be questioned. India would have been better if they had included another fast bowler. Since spinners can only effect containment, it is risky to field two spinners on fast and bouncy pitches Down Under.

India will win matches when we our expectations are at the lowest. Let us see whether they can spring one or two surprises in later matches.