Prachet's Views
My thoughts
Wednesday, December 29, 2021
An unheard conversation between a mother and son!!
Saturday, July 17, 2021
MOTHER
naasti matrusamam tranam naasti matrusama prapa
In English, the above Sanskrit sloka means - There is no shade like a mother, no resort like a mother, no security like a mother, no water house like a mother.
Per Wikipedia, a mother is the female parent of a child. Wikipedia elaboration
is certainly correct. But, isn’t it simple? In fact, the word ‘Mother’ can’t be
defined in words. She is popular through various names like ‘Maa’, ‘Bou’, ‘Mama’,
‘Mom’, ‘Mummy’ etc. even though the role is the same. Starting from the very
beginning, a woman bears excruciating pain for nine months to deliver her child.
Although she goes through agonizing times during her pregnancy period, she cuddles
and enjoys her time through muted interaction with her upcoming baby which no
other person can feel and understand. She takes undue care of her child and it simply
keeps on increasing as day progresses. Her insurmountable and unconditional love
and affection is second to none. Before a child pursues formal education, she plays
the role of a teacher and ensures all the pre-requisites are cascaded. She remains
steadfast and does every single bit to provide the best education and inculcate
the best skills to her child irrespective of her own educational background. Even
sometimes she would not have taken a breakfast/lunch/dinner for her child and
no one even comes to know about it. Such is the aura of a mother.
A mother can fit into any role for her child which in fact is quite unexplainable.
As a perfect crisis management master, she stands with the child in case of any
challenge and encourages to face it with supreme confidence and bravery. She is
the pivot in a family and infuses all the moral values in her child to make a
better human being. Hardly she expresses her struggle and tough times she would have gone through in bringing her child up, that is a mother. Whatever we are or whatever success we have achieved
till date, it’s mostly because of her blessings and sacrifice. Her shoes can’t
be filled by anyone. A BIG SALUE TO ALL THE MOTHERS on this planet. Simply bow
our heads in front of that illustrious personality called as “Mother”…
Saturday, March 27, 2021
Self-Belief & Teamwork – A Deadly Combo!!
When Justin Langer (coach of the Australian Cricket Team) during an interview with Matthew Hayden said “Learnt a lesson from the series, never ever underestimate India”, gave me goosebumps and made me quite proud as any other Indian. The fragmented version of “Impossible” – ‘I’m possible’ turned into a reality. History was rewritten on 19th Jan this year when the Indian cricket team were crowned as the Champions in the Indo-Aussies Test cricket series, invading Fortress Gabba. Yesss…we did it – were the words that as a remote spectator came out from my mouth. Decimating the Aussies in their own backyard in the absence of the captain Virat and key bowlers like Bumrah & Ishant and also rising from the ashes post the terrible loss in the 1st Test speaks volumes of the never-say-die attitude of this Indian Team.
Despite
innumerable injuries, this new-generation Indian players of the likes of Rishabh
Pant, Shardul Thakur, Shubman Gill, Mohammed Siraj and Washington Sundar backed
by their immense self-belief has made it happen. Rahane’s astute leadership
along with a century in the 2nd test itself set the tone for the
series as it seemed that the team had taken a pledge to bounce back. Even
though the team was being bowled out for a meagre 36 in the second innings of
the 1st test, Rahane along with Aswin, Gill, Pujara and Pant were mentally
very tough and stayed positive during hardest of the times while
encountering one of the fiercest bowling attacks. To come back after being
battered and bruised in the 1st Test, it is really difficult to pull
oneself up and needed a lot of character. The team didn’t brood over the past
rather developed the inner quality to rejuvenate themselves and think of the
present and march ahead. This certainly says it all about this cricketing unit
where hierarchy isn’t followed but respected within. The partnership
between Washington Sundar and Shardul Thakur in the 2nd test was
another peak moment that kept the team highly energized and optimistic. Cheteshwar
Pujara relatively didn’t score much, but his dogmatic approach and determined
mindset enabled him to hang around 1000 balls taking blows after blows on
his body, thus becoming one of the key ingredients of Indian team’s success.
Rishabh Pant who is very often criticized for his reckless batting, turned it
for his country. The display of his batting prowess coupled with his resolve
to carry the winner’s tag converted a possible draw to a win. The tenacity
and resilience of two injured warriors in the form of Ashwin and Vihari in
the 3rd Test to salvage a draw when the team was on the verge of
loss is no less than a huge victory. Even though both of them couldn’t make it
to the squad in the 4th test, but they ensured that they don’t give it
up at any cost in spite of their excruciating pain. It certainly created a
ripple effect and the morale of the team went sky-high before the 4th
test. The rookie pace attack combined with Ashwin’s supreme confidence deserved
full credit for their relentless perseverance throughout the entire
series, rising up to the occasion whenever the situation demanded.
Certainly, an unreal victory in absolute terms after getting all-out for 36 and
this has become real only because of the deadly combo of self-belief and
teamwork. These lessons would be highly beneficial for every individual and
team irrespective of domain and should get injected to the DNAs.
I would end
here with Joe Paterno’s quote, “When a team outgrows individual performance and
learns team confidence, excellence becomes a reality.”
Sunday, October 25, 2020
Mahi’s Impeccable Leadership – A Case Study!!
15th Aug 2020, Mahi or MS
or MSD or Thala’s retirement date from International Cricket. Not so
astonishing, but he continued with his low-profile approach even while announcing
his retirement through an Instagram post. Captain Cool as he is popularly known
has put an end to the continuous discussions about his retirement post India’s exit
from the 2019 World Cup. But very less people would be aware of the fact that
he took a sabbatical from cricket and joined his regiment in the Territorial
Army as he couldn’t digest his run-out incident in the semi-final match against
New Zealand. The last two inches to the crease which he couldn’t make it on
that day was haunting him like anything. Making it to the play-offs for the eleventh
time in the IPL history seems to be pretty difficult for him now and the
critics have not missed a single moment to raise questions about his captaincy
and batsmanship. However, Dhoni has been transparent and admitted about the process
gaps during a conversation with his Chennai Super Kings fans and potentially gearing
up for the next IPL season. Such is the aura of the India’s greatest ever cricket
leader who accepts loss with grace even after earning the Winners’ tag in three
major ICC Championships.
The journey of this small-town boy
from Ranchi must be a dream for him prior to 2004 but he has turned it to a
reality. His ethics, personality and way of leadership is certainly a
case-study for management professionals as well as business conglomerates. His leadership
style undoubtedly offers invaluable lessons to all people managers at all
levels. Many of us many a times have realized that leadership is not about a
position or designation but an attitude. It’s all about making a difference to
one’s own self and others. Handing over the last over to a non-regular bowler
named Joginder Sharma in the first ICC Twenty-20 World Cup against the
arch-rivals Pakistan stunned the cricketing pundits of the world and the rest
is history, thus led to the evolution of one of the best ever cricketing brains
in world cricket and an unconventional leader. The triangular series win
against Australia in Australia in 2008 was a redefining moment in India’s cricketing
history as a young Indian side under the charismatic leadership of Dhoni
defeated the mighty Aussies in their own backyard which was next to impossible
during that time. He has built a culture of fearlessness attitude and raised the
confidence quotient to the highest degree within the team. He promoted himself
up in the batting order during the finals of 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup and
steered India to victory when he was not in his prime form, thus leading by example
from the front basically when it mattered the most. When Rohit Sharma was going
through mediocre performances in the earlier part of his cricketing career,
Dhoni promoted Rohit as an opener. Needless to say, but that very decision is still
paying rich dividends to Indian cricket. Dhoni has the uncanny ability to
identify the spark in his team members and later capitalizes on it. Since then Rohit
has never looked back and is currently regarded as one of the most explosive openers
in world cricket. The world was in a state of shock in ICC Champions Trophy
2013 Final when Dhoni gave the ball to Ishant Sharma in a crunch situation, who
got smacked all around the park in his previous over. Believe me or not, Ishant
picked up two valuable wickets that eventually led to India winning the
championship. Dhoni’s enormous trust on his team-members is second to none and
is very much needed in any team. In ICC World Twenty20 2016, his tactical
prowess came to the fore when he did the unthinkable while keeping, with
Bangladesh needing two runs off the last ball, he decided not to wear his right
glove. He collected the ball in his right hand and ran himself towards the
stumps to get the run-out executed in a nail-bitter finish at Bangalore. It exactly
happened as he scripted. His immaculate strategy puts himself in the category
of the finest readers of the game. No matter what the situation is, MS stays calm
and composed every time and instills the same in his team also. When he
realized that Wriddhiman Saha can fill his shoes in the Test Cricket side, he hung
his boots in the midst of the Australian Tour. He has played a vital role in
the emergence of Virat as a leader and moved out from the captaincy role at the
right juncture. This speaks volumes of a leader who nurtures future players and
leaders too. As a true servant of Indian cricket, he drew attention of the
Selection Committee about the fitness issue of the senior players thereby
raising eyebrows among the public. Brickbats were hurled at him and even his effigies
were burnt but as a visionary leader, he was thinking ahead of times only for
the betterment of Indian cricket.
I may not be wrong in stating that few sports analytics companies by now would have created AI/ML models to analyze his on-field leadership tactics. In a nutshell, Dhoni as India’s
cricket captain has displayed true facets of leadership which all people managers
across domains can imbibe and get their style enriched. It’s high
time for Corporate India to learn from this unconventional yet astute leader.
I would end by putting one of his famous quotes – “To be a great leader, you
need to go down the untraveled path for others to follow”.