Sushil Kumar has maintained his winning attitude despite a past fraught with challenges and low phases

Sushil Kumar’s journey from the mud pits to Olympics podiums changed the face of Indian wrestling after he won the bronze medal in Beijing Olympics in 2008. He is also the first Indian to win back individual Olympics medals and is working towards upgrading the colour of his medal in the upcoming Rio Olympics. The 31-year-old wrestler is shy, polite and humble, but ruthless when it comes to settling scores on the wrestling mat. Kumar's awards are proof of this — he won the gold medal in 66-kg freestyle competition at the FILA 2010 World Wrestling Championship; a silver medal in the men’s 66-kg freestyle at the 2012 London Olympics; and a gold medal in the 74-kg men’s freestyle in 2014 Commonwealth Games at Glasgow. The modest champion is working towards his goal amid a lot of unspoken tales. He shared them with DW.

WHEN THE GOING GETS TOUGH...

“Our family has a number of wrestlers, including my father and uncle. Later, my cousin Sandeep, who was elder than me, also became a wrestler. I was inspired by Sandeep and decided to follow his footsteps. He had to quit the sport due to financial issues, but by then I had decided to carry forward and chose wrestling as my profession. In fact, Sandeep sacrificed his career to help mine, which motivated me further to do well.

I belong to a lower-middle class family and my family had to work hard to ensure my daily diet and expenses, something that are basic needs for any sportsperson. Every day, my father would go from Najafgarh to Chhatrasal Stadium in Delhi on his bicycle carrying my daily quota of milk and butter. I am a vegetarian and my diet meant three kg of fresh milk and a bowl of white butter every day, and 10 to 15 kg of almonds a month; and this was apart from regular food a young man needs.

The monthly expense on training and diet came to between Rs 50,000-60,000. It was a lot of money for my family members and although they had to face tough times, they sheltered me and didn't allow me to face any problems. They asked me to concentrate only on my wrestling.

It's a different story today and money is not a problem. My father’s daily routine, however, continues; the only difference is that the bicycle has made way for a car.

...THE TOUGH GET GOING

For me, it all started at the Chhatrasal Stadium’s akhara at the age of 14. The akhara (ring) was run by Indian pehelwans (wrestlers) Yashvir and Ramphal, and later by Arjuna Awardee Satpal. I also trained at the Railways camp run by Coach Gyan Singh. I endured tough training conditions, which included sharing a mattress with a fellow wrestler and living in a dormitory with 20 others. Despite all the hardships, or maybe because of them, I became state champion at 18.

I will never forget 1994, when I won the national-level school championship. You will be surprised that I was not even aware about the importance of the title back then. All I knew was that I had done something special, since my coaches were delighted and were praising me for my success.

I soon understood the meaning of winning, though. In 1998, when I won the gold at World Cadet Games in Poland, I realised I can be a world champion. There were so many good wrestlers there and when I defeated several of them, it gave me the confidence to win more medals. And I did — at the most prestigious events such as Olympics and the World Championships. I have won medals in Olympics twice, Commonwealth’ Games, World Championship and other events as well.

BUT THE MIGHTY FALL, TOO

I was disappointed during the Doha Asian Games in 2006, when I could not win the gold despite being in good form. I was disheartened, shattered and lost all my hope. Luckily, this phase didn't last too long and my coaches, friends and family helped me come out from that negative state of mind. Soon I was back with my confidence and ready to win medals for my country.

MY KNOCK-OUT MANTRA

There is no short cut to success. One has to be focused, determined, and eager to learn all the time. Discipline is key to achieving one’s target. I never try to run away from practice and always follow the coach’s instructions. I take great care to maintain my fitness. I also try to read the strengths of my opponents and gauge how they fight. It is extremely important to not only know about your opponents but respect them as well. If you take them lightly, it might cost you the game.

Success brings more responsibility. People give me respect and love, and in return, I do the same. They treat me like a star. What else could I ask for? But if I misbehave with them or am rude to them, I will lose their love and affection. There’s nothing worse than that for me. The love people have for me boosts my morale and helps me in performing better.

STAY REAL

Despite how far I have come, I do not forget my roots and have managed to not let success get to my head. I know the youth, especially young wrestlers who follow me, treat me like an icon. It gives me a sense of responsibility to be more dedicated towards wrestling. As a reason, I prefer not to be in the limelight. I believe if I maintain a low profile and stay away from the trappings of fame, I can give more time to practice, and that will help me to win gold in Rio Olympics.

India’s recent success in Olympics, Asian Games, Commonwealth Games and World Championships has given the confidence to Indian wrestlers that they can win medals for the country in the coming Olympics and World Championships. Our guru Satpalji and other coaches guide us to do better. In turn, I share my experience with them and they are open to looking at new techniques of wrestling I come up with.

At the same time, my father continues to work; I have asked him to sit back and rest now but he simply refuses and says, “You should focus on your wrestling and let me do my work.” A simple man, he is now nurturing a 17-year-old athlete who recently won a medal in the Asian Championship. My father is supporting him in all possible ways — this is the only way he knows how to live his life.

A NAGGING PAIN

Despite all that I have achieved, however, there is one regret I will always have — that my grandfather was not alive to see me win a bronze medal in the Beijing Olympics. Unfortunately, he passed away just three months before the tournament. I still remember the day when I went to meet him after hearing that he was seriously ill. His reaction was one of surprise and he gently reprimanded me saying I should not have come to meet him since this was a crucial time for me to prepare for the Olympics. But he blessed me and told me that I was going win the medal. And I did. I only wish he was there to see his blessings bear fruit.

GRATITUDE AND GRACE

It is my family that has made me what I am today. I am also thankful to my guru, Satpalji. I can also not overlook the contribution of my support staff, which have worked hard behind the scenes to ensure I am in top form. My success is dedicated to well-wishers who never gave up on me. My dream will be fulfilled if I bag a gold medal, which I have promised to my loved ones in the upcoming 2016 Rio Olympics.”

As Facebook and Apple take the lead in offering women employees the option of postponing motherhood in lieu of pursuing a career, the debate is if it will really mean emancipation for the women workforce, or is it another ploy to make women fit into corporate roles set by men?

SAIREE CHAHAL// If you look at this move by Facebook and Apple in terms of whether it expands the choices for a woman, I think it does as an option. It is a known fact that women put their plans of starting a family on hold so that they can go out and chase their careers.

If you put it in the benefits basket of maternity, paternity, LGBT and other rights, I feel it’s an excellent option. But if you pitch it as something that is in lieu of, say a maternity leave, it is skewed logic.

So far, it is an option of choice. Right now these companies are offering it as a choice, saying if you want to be on a career track, here is an option you have — you can freeze your eggs. But there are things that don’t get said. I think this needs more debate and discussion.

Having said that, however, does it expand the choice in a corporate context? I think it can be fairly intrusive as a choice. It is like the unsaid norm, and if most people start doing it, or if even some companies start doing it, it becomes a norm. Just like staying late is not a rule but it has become the norm. Thus, it has the danger of falling into that trap.

Back home in India, we don’t have to worry about something like this in the near future. I don’t think we are going to go there. One, because this option of freezing one’s eggs is an expensive procedure. Two, it is hard to do this. Also, the procedure is vague, it’s painful and it also means that a lot of these fail. No one talks about these issues.

Coming back to this option of freezing one’s eggs, however, let me make it clear that it is a part of several options. For instance, enhanced baby care, crèche, maternity leave, flexibility and so on. These are all part of the entire employee benefits basket. But this one move has pretty much bypassed all other benefits. We all know that the flexibility part never really took off in that sense. People in the corporate world never talk about flexibility. In the US, where this is being implemented, maternity leave is a huge thing and most people don’t have it.

From that point of view, the option of choosing to put off motherhood has got a lot of advantages. At the same time, it is a little audacious and fairly impractical. It is not something everybody can choose. I know of some women who have done it but they are rare exceptions.

I also feel women will not opt for this benefit so easily, especially not in India where the business of starting a family or not is decided for you by your family – like everything else.

A percentage of women will, but they will be a small number. It’s like an insurance policy—you hope you don’t ever have to use it. Just like the insurance policy, this is not something lucrative or interesting or fancy. It is painful, it may go wrong and it really needs thinking through about your life and decide whether this is exactly what you want.

I would understand choosing this option if a woman is in a career that is fairly non-negotiable; if you were trying to become a head in the army or an astronaut or if it’s a really high-stress career. Then you have something to come back to. Like I say, it’s an option, it can’t be a norm.

It should never be looked upon as an alternate option whether to adopt, or have a child or have a LGBT spouse. It should never be an alternate to any of that. It is a fairly independent alternate on the spot.

Sairee Chahal is a serial entrepreneur, mentor and workflex evangelist. She is founder, CEO, Sheroes, a company that helps create and enhance work-flex options for women. She is also mother to a feisty seven-year-old daughter. Chahal has also been the finalist for the Cartier Women’s Award initiative for 2012, a TED speaker, on Business Today’s list of “Most Powerful Women in Indian Business 2012” and has been featured on shows such as Young Turks, Pioneering Spirit and What Women Want.

PRANAV KUKRETI// I applaud any instance or format that gives incentives to an employee – be it a man or a woman. It would be a welcome move and I would totally support it. But the way this particular incentive for women to freeze their eggs has been presented is disagreeable to me. First of all, you talk about equality at workplace and yet, you are singling out the women for an incentive.

That is one part. I also smell commercialisation in it. Having a baby now or later should be a matter of freewill, a personal choice. If a woman wants to freeze her eggs and plan a baby at a later date, it should be her wish. With this incentive, we are giving bait to these women. Is that the right thing to do? You are tempting them by saying if you work hard, we will give you this option of putting off motherhood.

The success rate of freezing your eggs now and having a child later is pretty low – it is between 2 and 12 per cent. But you are not communicating that to the people. There are also so many risks associated with this. There is a way in which a man or a woman’s body responds to things like this and it is not necessarily a healthy way.

This option to freeze one’s eggs was actually devised for women in case of HIV or cancer. You freeze your eggs in the hope of some kind of medical intervention that might help you fight cancer or make you HIV-free. In such cases, it is a scientifically healthy thing. Here the reason to do so is totally commercial. There are so many issues involved with not having children at a certain age.

Medical journals are choc-a-bloc with information about the benefits of breastfeeding a child and having children on time and so on. On the other hand, you see these capitalist moves.

I see the double face of companies over here. Why, for instance, is no one is talking about what after the woman has frozen her eggs for, say, five years and then has a child? Does she suddenly quit her job then? There’s no mention of maternity leave, postdelivery leave. You also need to nurture a child. It isn’t about just having the baby. What happens to her career after the baby?

I am also of the opinion that having a child is a big responsibility and a personal choice. Why should a company interfere in such a personal choice? Raising a child is so different from having a child. The real job starts after that. What are the options then?

In my opinion, employees, be it men or women, should be given flexible working hours and not be made slaves or given such small temptations. There are people who are working from home and doing a great job. Some of the better companies are doing that. We are only talking about bigger companies such as Facebook and Apple. I know about so many Indian and multinational companies that are the unsung heroes of human resource management. They give women employees the choice of working from home after having a baby.

A company works on productivity, efficiency, profitability and taking care of the people working there. Why not let the woman work from home for five years; so what if she is working for Facebook or Apple? You have 3G and 4G, there’s internet connectivity in the remotest part of the world. Let new mothers work from home.

More thought should be put on ways to monitor productivity. You have biometric scans such as thumb impressions, eye impressions or simple log-ins .

There should also be a system to monitor an employee’s output. For journalists, there should be quality and quantity of words you have written. For software professionals, the quantity and quality of code that you have written. If you are working for a sales company, then it is the amount of money you have generated for a company. Why should a carer be only about going to a fancy campus all the time?

With this nifty telling of the story about giving woman an incentive to freeze their eggs is like making an ad campaign of human relations. You are giving it some fancy word and asking women to take the bait. It is like a Burger King ad for me. It is wrong for me in every way.

The thought of human resources has to be non-commercial and human-centric. It can’t just be about money. You have to listen to the people. Flexible working hours across the board will work wonderfully. I also feel you are ostracising women by such an option. Why should we in the corporate world be mean? Why should there be harshness? We can be kind and humane and yet be demanding when it comes to performance. After all, every human being likes a productive atmosphere.

Believe me, it is feasible and achievable. In my company Treks ‘n Rapids, for instance, we sincerely and honestly practice what we preach. We don’t treat men and women differently, which means men get the same kind of work flexibility as women.

A management graduate from NMIMS, Pranav Kukreti is Co-founder and Director, Treks ‘n Rapids, one of India’s premier adventure sports and experiential learning companies, which has been voted India’s number one adventure sports company seven times between 2005 and 2013. Kukreti is also an active member of CII and has been convenor of panel on tourism development (Uttarakhand) for over five years.

There's a spate of sports leagues in India. Yes IPL worked, and so did kabaddi, but what about the other me-too copycats?

WHAT SAY, guys, should we get a league going?”

“Sounds good. What sport?”

“Anything — can someone check what’s left? Something the Indians are good at.”

“Well, you’ve got football and tennis — two of them for tennis actually. I think there’s something for golf… Kabaddi, of course... Maybe badminton?”

“Done! Just get Saina and that new girl, Sindhu, the Kashyap guy, and some of the Chinese and Malaysian players and we’re on.”

No doubt these conversations are a tad weightier than that, but with the way sports leagues are mushrooming around the country, one must wonder how many are in it for the long haul.

As a journalist interacting with sportspersons across disciplines, you are guaranteed to hear things such as “The media is only interested in cricket” and “All the money goes to cricket”. Some of it is snide. Not all of it is unjustified.

But those are the players. When the officials mouth similar sentiments, it’s often misplaced. After all, it’s a cycle. Cricket, for the past two-three decades, has occupied the sweet spot. It is a sport India has done well at. A sport that attracts money and fans. Do well and there will be attention, which brings in the money; and if money comes in, the overall standard of the sport goes up.

Which should come first though? The money or the performances? That’s the question, isn’t it? The purse-holders wait for athletes to do well, and the athletes have no option but to wait for the money to come in. We have right old status quo. [This doesn’t include sports such as shooting or golf or lawn tennis, which are the reserve of the upper classes and attract sportspersons who can fund their own way up the ladder without doles.] The officials, who are in it to raise the standards and attract money, do little.

At least that’s how things used to be.

Then we had the Indian Premier League (IPL). Or, well, to be fair, it started with the Indian Cricket League (ICL), which was scuttled by the bosses of the game in India — the Board of Control for Cricket in India — and then was born the IPL. It is run along similar lines as the ICL, but more glamorous, with the best cricketers in the world, played over an easy-to-follow format.

It was the Big Idea, a replicable one, though: Get sponsors on board, get the best players in the world with the promise of good money, get the necessary permissions, don’t mess with the international schedules, and voila! Other sports got into the game, too.

The catch? It is an idea tailormade for cricket. It worked because India is the centre — financial and otherwise — of the game. Spectators are guaranteed. There are top-drawer players at home. It wasn’t a bother to get the best players in the world to swing by and so powerful is the Indian cricket board that an occasional disruption of the game’s existing calendar wasn’t a trouble.

How does that translate for other sports, though?

Kabaddi — quite well, actually. The sport has spread to many parts of the world, but isn’t big anywhere outside India. Getting the best Indian and foreign talent was easy. The monetary expectation of the players wasn’t much, so a low-finance competition was worked out. TV slots were arranged. And it was a success.

What about football then? It’s a game that’s growing in India with each passing day. But it is skewed growth: one that only takes in the top clubs across Europe, specifically England and Spain. There is increased TV viewership, and there are some youngsters — urban youngsters — flocking to the nearest coaching clinic set up by visiting European clubs to cash in on the Indian market.

Nice. Just that none of it actually helps Indian football grow. More importantly, none of it helps tick the boxes that a football league trying to cash in on the post-IPL popularity of franchise-based leagues needs.

Would you, who gets to watch Premier League and La Liga every weekend, pay to watch former European players and Indian footballers you don’t care about anyway, in the Indian Super League? Yes, there might be the thrill of the new for a season, but how viable is the promise? Is the game going to be top-class, like the IPL is? Or like the Pro- Kabaddi League is? The IPL works because everyone from Chris Gayle and Mitchell Johnson and AB de Villiers to the top Indian players are a part of it. In football, that would mean bringing Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo and Luis Suarez over, no? Who then? Robert Pires, whose senior career ended in 2011? Or Alessandro Del Piero, who has been on retirement postings since 2012?

And now we have the two tennis leagues: The International Premier Tennis League (IPTL), helmed by Mahesh Bhupathi; and the Champions Tennis League (CTL), put together by Vijay Amritraj. The two are not in competition with each other and an ICL vs IPL-like situation is unlikely to arise. But which one will you watch?

The IPTL will have Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, Maria Sharapova, Andy Murray, Serena Williams and others — the cream of the crop. The CTL headlines players such as Sergi Bruguera, Pat Cash, Mark Philippoussis, Greg Rusedski and others; players from the 1990s. It’s like a veterans’ event. Interesting for some of us who grew up in the 1970s and 1980s and remember Cash’s Wimbledon final win over Ivan Lendl back in 1987, and Bruguera’s Roland Garros baseline-slugging in 1993 and 1994. But are we the target audience if the event wants to sell anything but nostalgia? Wouldn’t the average fan prefer Federer and Sharapova?

The league format is a fine bandwagon to get on to, but at the moment there appears to be a sort of reckless rush in the overall sporting scene here. And, really, a big idea is hardly big enough if it is just a me-too.

Life’s rude shocks can sometimes teach the biggest lessons. Rajjat K Barjatya’s successful battle with cancer gave him a chance to give back to the society

Second chances are rare and when you get it you don’t lose it. What you make of it forms the basis of your identity and makes you stand out among the rest. This is the story of Rajjat A Barjatya, MD and CEO of Rajshri Entertainment, who being a leukemia survivor wanted his second innings to be far more purposeful. He formed Rajshri Foundation, the non-profit arm of the 67-yearold Rajshri Group, India’s leading film, TV, music and digital entertainment studio to do just that.

Formed with a vision to live in a world where no one goes hungry, the organisation supports the underprivileged and empowers the youth to become self-reliant through its food programme.

The Foundation has fused its anna daan initiative (food donation) with education, which forms the basis of its Food With a Purpose programme. Presently, it serves nutritious snacks to 1,500 students of 13 night schools and colleges in Mumbai everyday throughout the academic year.

PLANTING THE SEED

But first, the beginning. The thought to form Rajshri Foundation came while Barjatya was undergoing chemotherapy in 2011. As he says it himself, “Being a cancer survivor, I didn’t want to start an organisation on cancer, since I felt it would not allow me to move on.” This urge to embrace life and work for a future where no one goes hungry led him to form Rajshri Foundation.

After establishing it in late-2012, the organisation came up with its first programme — Food with a Purpose.

“With our first programme, we have tried to connect food with a purpose and that purpose is education, which we believe is the only way for our nation to progress,” says Barjatya. Once the education factor was decided, it was schools that were to be targetted.

While the day-schools were covered through the Midday Meal Schemes by the government and various NGOs, it was the night schools and junior colleges that were neglected. Night schools give the opportunity of education to those who can’t attend school during the day. Coming from the weaker section of society, most of these children have to work for a livelihood or are school dropouts or migrants. The food programme encourages students who want to study and reduces school dropouts.

SEEING IT GROW

While exploring the options, the organisation also found that these night schools had major attendance and performance issues. Considering that most of the students came directly from their workplace, after having put eight-10 hours of work and sometimes after traveling long distances to school, they were too tired and hungry to attend classes. Also, there was a mix of students — ranging from teens to those studying after a gap of 20 years. There was an urge to study among all of them, but the circumstances were not conducive.

According to Barjatya, one of the major problems in India is the number of school dropouts. These children discontinue their education because of poverty and need to earn a livelihood to support themselves and their families. The major gap lies in secondary education, which plays a fundamental role in preparing young people for the job/ labour market in today’s growing economy.

“The purpose is to address this vicious cycle of poverty, hunger and lack of education through this programme. Rajshri Foundation focuses on the issue of completion of secondary education. If food, the most basic of all human needs, is taken care of, other endeavours become easier,” adds Bela Rathod, Manager, Rajshri Foundation. And this is what prompted the Foundation to start serving nutritious evening snacks to students.

REAPING THE CROP

The journey according to Barjatya has been an amazing one, with the satisfaction writ not only in the faces of students but the teachers and principals as well, who had to earlier deal with dismal examination results. The introduction of food programme has become one of the major motivating factors for the children. As a result, there’s higher attendance, higher level of concentration in class, better retention, lower dropouts and better academic performance.

“Before the introduction of this programme, we had poor examination results. It has changed since last year – in class 10, we had a pass percentage of 100 per cent, and class 12 commerce results were also 65 per cent,” says Ghodke, Principal, Social Service Night High School, Parel. He adds that the programme has reduced the dropouts considerably, increased concentration, along with a 100 per cent attendance in most of the classes.”

“The desire to come to school is something everyone is eager to talk about,” says Sonali Dalvi, a Class 12 night school student, who works in a garment factory during the day. Considering the snacks are served 15 minutes prior to starting of the class, the classroom seems to be brimming with students. “Earlier we had to go downstairs to eat vada-pav or something else when we were hungry. Invariably, we used to miss out on something in the class. But, with nutritious and tasty snacks, there is more energy and fulfillment,” says Shankar Vhatkar, a class 12 student in one such school.

Amol Nalawade, one of the teachers in a night school, is extremely happy with the change in his classroom. Not only are the classes full, the students are more attentive and ready to learn more. There is increased confidence among the students to realise their academic goals.

To maintain the excitement about food, the menu keeps changing through the week, with a variety of food items such as poha, upma, chana masala, sheera and so on. During examinations, as per the request of principals and teachers, more dry snacks are provided since it becomes easier to distribute and saves time. The Foundation also takes regular feedback from the teachers and the students on the quality and quantity of food. Changes in the menu or food items are done accordingly.

The Foundation currently operates from Rajshri Entertainment’s Worli office and is supported by the women who cook and assistants who deliver the food, and comprises drivers, office-boys and delivery personnel.

Through the programme, the Foundation also helps in providing jobs to underprivileged women. The snacks are prepared by these women in their household kitchens, who in turn are able to earn, become self-reliant and support their families with the income.

BROADENING HORIZONS

Taking into account the lives affected by this programme, the Foundation is planning to reach out to more schools and juniur colleges in Mumbai (there are around 150 of them in Mumbai) and the rest of Maharashtra. While the foundation is currently working through seed capital given by the Rajshri Group, it is open to donations and tie-ups to take this vision ahead. In the near future, Rajshri Foundation is looking at expanding its awareness and scaling the operations.

While the journey has been a learning lesson, it has also led to an enriching and satisfying experience for Barjatya, who feels it’s just the first step and the Foundation has miles to go.

Stephen Alter’s latest brings in the spiritual, mystical, natural aspects of the Himalayas and the lessons the towering mountains can teach you

HERE’S GOOD news for author Stephen Alter’s readers as he adds another feather to his cap after the success of his espionage thriller The Rataban Betrayal. Alter’s latest book, a result of four years of hard labour, Becoming A Mountain: Himalayan Journeys in Search of the Sacred and the Sublime that hit the stands last November is based on a topic close to the author’s heart. The book beautifully blends mythology, science, and the historical and natural history of the Himalayas.

For someone who grew up steeped in love and lore for the mountains and mountaineering from an early age, Alter reveals how Becoming A Mountain was inspired by treks he took to three sacred mountains: Nanda Devi, which he approached from several angles but didn’t climb; Kailash which he circumambulated on foot; and Bandarpunch, which he attempted to climb on two occasions. “Each of these challenging journeys was undertaken out of a need to overcome tragedy and trauma and seek the contentment and absolution that only the Himalayas can offer,” he adds.

Alter’s fascination with the Himalayas makes the reader wonder how mountains, which are, after all, made of ice and rock, exert and inspire one’s imagination to such degree. The allure of the unknown is gently brought to the forefront as he takes his readers on an arduous trek through central Himalayas and the Tibetan plateau.

As for the interesting title of the book, Alter explains, “The title suggests that the only way to understand and appreciate a mountain is to allow yourself to be completely absorbed by its presence.”

The book makes for excellent reading for those who are interested in the Himalayan region as a place of exploration and adventure. It is also a must-read for those who consider their bond with the mountains as an opportunity for self-discovery and learning not only for themselves, but for their children as well. It will appeal to those who are looking for some spiritual or mystical experience, peeling back layers of reality and myth in an untouched, sacred landscape.

Yes, there’s something special about Chetan Bhagat. Love him or hate him, but you can’t ignore him. All of his five previous novels have proved to be blockbusters and each of them has been adapted for a Bollywood film. His latest, Half Girlfriend will also make its way to the 70mm screen. Bhagat does not veer from his tradition of giving the male leads names synonymous with Lord Krishna. His novels’ titles also features numbers and Half Girlfriend is no exception, which is yet another love tale packed with all the CB ingredients.

This time, it’s Madhav, a Bihari boy who falls for Riya, a rich Delhi girl. While Madhav struggles to speak in English, it is a language that naturally comes to Riya. Be it money, looks or their overall personalities, both Madhav and Riya are poles apart. But hey, there has to be something common. The fire has to be lit, after all. So, basketball it is.

Half Girlfriend has been narrated the same way as Revolution 2020, and that’s a turn-off when you are reading India’s paperback king. But the simple language, intelligent humour and the Bollywoodstyle plot does make Half Girlfriend a nice treat. Bhagat also talks about the nonsensical divide between Hindi- and English-speaking people in our country.

The problem with the book: It is extremely predictable. You read the last 30 pages only to get to a climax that you already know.

The controversy: Deti hai toh de varna kat le, is a phrase from the book that had created outrage on social media. Now that I am done reading the book, I feel that he could have easily done away without using such a crass phrase. But then Bhagat does like to get noticed.

“Took me back to R K Narayan’s Swami and friends” —Ruskin Bond. The testimony of a great author is enough to draw the reader to The Game that Matters This story with cricket as a metaphor for life narrates a small-town story of the perpetually-losing underdog winning in the end. There is, however, a word of caution, too: to not be lulled into forecasting how the climactic moments of this tale would play out.

As in R K Narayan’s fictitious town Malgudi, the author here creates a town Devgarh located somewhere in Haryana or thereabouts. The boys of Holy Mission School, talented and passionate about cricket, also have a fancy name for their cricket team: All Star Eleven, with dreams of making cricket their profession. All this, despite parental opposition, some cruel and indifferent teachers, whose only mission it seems is to force the children not to follow their heart.

But the story is more than the narration of cricket matches, score sheets and the team’s moments of frustration and agony. Through the various twists and turns in the plot, the team realises the rewards for honesty, integrity and hard work, along with the dangers of taking the easy way out by cheating, lying and stealing. There are also the usual teenager boys’ pangs: girls, jealousy, envy, examination blues, report cards and so on.

Towards the end, the reader may also recall Paulo Coelho’s quote in The Alchemist: “When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.”

When the journey is the reward. When this IT geek and visually-challenged author decides to take on his own complacency and accept a trekking challenge to the rolling meadows of Dayara in Uttarakhand

The breeze was behind me. It was gentle. I stood under the stars balanced on the slope, and tried to banish the images of rolling downhill. Mother Nature was calling but my body was frozen despite the layers of clothing; no wait, it was my brain, unwilling to give up the security of my current position on a 30 degree incline.

I cannot tell when my passive interest in wanting to climb a mountain crystallised into a firm desire. Perhaps, it was when I realised, Atul, my friend who I had known for over a decade and who had been on several treks, was willing to organise another one. Or was it all the dystopian literature I had read?

Many friends have asked “Why?” The question is a logical one. Why leave the comforts of civilisation and voluntarily subject yourself to hardship? The answer, gentle reader is that I wanted to do two things. First, I wanted to test my brain; could I survive without my technology and the trappings of civilisation? Second, I wanted to take pictures using my visual prosthesis called the vOICe, which converts images to sound. I had read much about the beauty of the mountains and I wanted to capture that. I could have done the second with your average trip to a hill station but the former, certainly not.

Things moved quickly after my call to Atul. Tata Steel has an adventure sports department headed by Bachendri Pal, the first Indian woman to climb Mt Everest in 1984. Word spread and before I knew it, we had a group consisting of six sighted people, 14 people with varying degrees of visual impairment and five trainers from the Tata Steel Adventure Foundation.

My first problem when preparing for the trek was the lack of specific information. I wanted to know if I could charge my mobile phone at Dayara. I then wanted to know what the terrain would be like. Would I need climbing gear? How much rope should I carry? For once, the internet failed to come up with the Answer.

There was also the question of training. I spend most of my day sitting at a laptop. That sort of lifestyle would not give me the stamina and endurance I needed. I am fortunate to live in a building with five floors and a clean staircase. I began to climb up and down to build my “climbing muscles”, which had the fringe benefit of trimming my body.

The trek began on October 2, with a ride to the Old Delhi railway station. I will not bore you with a blow-byblow account of the rest of the journey. One of the most harrowing experiences came when we had to get to base camp for the first time. I had had a seven-hour ride from Haridwar to Kaflon. The Bolero I was in came to a stop, my baggage was unloaded and I was left along with the group standing at the base of a hill. There was not enough light for my sighted escorts to navigate effectively. It was just the forest and us. A river ran to our right. One slip meant we would be in the drink. We did have a guide but he was ahead of me. We got up alright using mobile phone flashlights. The good thing was that no assent was too much to handle after that point.

From Kaflon, we trekked to Bernala, Dayara and as the bonus, to Dayara pass. The promised snows did come and I had a chance to appreciate the beauty of the mountains using the vOICe.

I was successful. I saw a mix of dark and light with different textures. Mountains were hard sort of dark shapes, while clouds were bright and soft. There was sunlight between these, which had no shape so was a loud blob.I did see plenty of grass, rocks and the camp in general. One thing that surprised me was my ability to manage without a clock.Sunrise and sunset were all that mattered.

I had planned to use the vOICe on the trail but that did not happen. I was too focused on putting one foot after another. I knew I should not be worried. My feet knew where to go. Did I slip? Not once on the main trails. I slipped while climbing up to the camp and recovered without any damage.

I had a chance to reflect on management. In management and other walks of life, more information is considered a good thing. I am no longer so sure about that. At least on the trek, less information proved to be better because I did not have to cognitively process so much and was able to let my feet do everything.

The hiking pole and the time I spent at the spinal injuries institute was one of the best investments I made. My left palm resembles a hammer. I wanted to hold the pole in my left hand while holding the escort with my fully formed right hand. I am eternallygrateful to Nekram Upadhyay for his hairdryer shaped splint which allowed me to strap the pole to my left hand.

My heights and distances calculations went out the window. I had asked muleteers the question “How far to Dayara?” most answered “1 km” or “not far now.”I stopped thinking of our destination. It was just the present, namely the next step, and the world around me. If I had a pedometer, things would have been different, perhaps, but who has the time to look at it? All I eventually carried was my rain poncho, water bottle, my mobile phone and a sweater.

Will I do it again? I do not know. I have resumed training but that is for general maintenance. It is good to stay in shape. Much more of the world is accessible to me and I am less dependent on motorised transport though appreciate it much better now.

You can taste the most delicious Naga food at the night bazaar in Kohima during the Hornbill festival. Locals set up barbecues and sell smoked pork and other delicacies in a lively atmosphere not found in any other city, says Vidya Deshpande.

If you are moving around in Kohima and are looking for a restaurant selling Naga food, you are most probably not going to find it. But if you are willing to move away from the table and take a stroll down the streets, you will find the most exotic dishes being served right by the roadside.

The night bazaar of Kohima is famous among food enthusiasts and popular among locals. Every evening, and mind you it gets dark by 4 pm here, during the Hornbill Festival in the first week of December, a bustling market unfolds on the main street of Kohima. It is here you can sample the whole range of Naga staples — from chicken and pork to dog, insects and worms.

Pork is the staple dish for almost all 16 tribes of Nagaland. So all pork lovers, you will be in food heaven here. In almost every Naga home, you will find pork cuts hanging over the fireplace. The pork gets smoked slowly over a few days and is akin to a piece of meat jerky. The pork gets a deliciously smokey flavour and a stew made from this pork tastes divine. The smoked pork is also eaten like a tandoori dish, where a piece of the meat is heated on a skewer and served with a light dusting of salt.

As you walk down the street, small barbecues dot the street. They serve mainly roast pork and beef, while some serve roast chicken, too. One of the more popular dishes is pork steamed in yam or banana leaves. To make the famous pork patotdiya, the meat is lightly spiced, wrapped in yam or banana leaves and steamed. The dish is then eaten with local sticky rice.

Naga cuisine has three popular seasonings: bamboo shoots, axone (aka akhuni in local lingo), which is fermented soya bean, and yam and yam leaves. Smoked pork cooked with bamboo shoots is another popular dish. The jerkylike smoked pork is cooked over a slow flame with bamboo shoots, some vegetables (potatoes and yam leaves, mainly), along with a dose of the potent Naga chilly.

Axone or fermented soya bean has a strong smell, almost like the smell of sweat, and many nonfoodies find it difficult to handle. But once you get used to the overpowering pungency, the taste is enjoyable. Again, the cooking style is simple — smoked pork slow-cooked with fermented soya beans and Naga chilly. The third popular dish served on the streets is pork cooked with yam and yam leaves. The dish may be a bit bland, but add the Naga chili sauce to it and the flavour hits you between the eyes.

Chicken is also a popular dish. Diced chicken pieces cooked with glutinous rice and yam leaves may be a simple dish but keeps you warm in the cold winter air of Kohima.

The streets are filled with monand- pop teams dishing up food from their homes, although not everything is indigenous dishes of pork and meat. You also get the ubiquitous momos, homemade by the lovely ladies. The regular chow mien, found on every other Indian street, is popular here, too. You can even get the vegetarian version.

As we walked further down the street, some of the small restaurants had laid out a buffet spread on the street. For as little as Rs 250 you could plate up with rice, a chicken dish, a pork dish and vegetables. In the middle of all this, I even found an enterprising Andhra man, selling idlis, dosas and spicy Hyderabadi biryani! Needless to say, his stall was popular with both the locals and the tourists.

Although there was so much food on the street, we did not find any desserts. In spite of its rich Christian tribal culture, there were no X-mas puddings or plum cakes on sale. In fact, I didn’t even see too many bakeries on the street.

The lack of desserts, however, can be made up with fresh fruit. The night bazaar closes sharp at 8 pm. The local police and Army start calling out a few minutes before 8 in the evening, for the stalls to wind up and in a methodical manner, everyone complies with the rule and leaves the bazaar on time. More than the food, it’s the lively atmosphere that keeps pulling you back. Surely something you can’t miss while on a trip to the Hornbill Festival.

WHEN I HEARD Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg say “Namaste India” in Delhi earlier this month, I could feel myself beam from ear to ear.

Zuckerberg was the third high-profile CEO of a US-based firm to have tried his hand at Hindi when in the country. Earlier this year, it was two other corporate top guns — Amazon’s Jeff Bezos and Microsoft's Satya Nadella — who paid a visit to India. This July, Facebook’s Chief Operating Officer and author of Lean In Sheryl Sandberg also came to India.

Are these visits by some of the biggest heavyweights in the business world pure coincidence? Not by a long shot. For with time, the way the world views us as a culture and a country is affecting the business strategies of overseas industry giants and foreign policies of other countries.

I recently read an essay “India’s time for growth” by Rich Karlgaard in the August 18, 2014, issue of Forbes Asia. The author was expecting to be welcomed by “the land of dreams and utter dysfunction”.

But customs, in his words was “a breeze”, Terminal 2 was “stunning” and the ride to his hotel took all of 40 minutes. He says, “If the India of five years ago made one worry that a country so gifted in software could never do hardware — or infrastructure — well, it’s time to rethink that image. The ducks are lining up for India. Remember the Zuckerbergs, Nadellas and Bozos.”

It’s not just about reports and numbers, though. A positive change is more than visible in every aspect of the Indian life. It’s a fact brought out interestingly in our interview with Piyush Pandey, who has made a mark in the global advertising world with more than 900 awards!

Pandey not only wears his Indian-ness on his sleeve, his finger on the Indian consumer’s throbbing pulse has given rise to some of the most iconic brand campaigns. The ad maverick’s innate sense of understanding the colloquial, the traditional and the Indianness of everything has put his agency, Ogilvy & Mather India, at the very top of ad agencies in India. In short, he has been instrumental in reclaiming the cool quotient for everything India.

Our Foreign Dispatches section draws attention to how perception towards Indian cinema is changing at great speed. Positive changes are afoot in the Indian society, too, curiously by rehashing old traditions for the common good, as is shown in the Good Karma section this time.

Here’s every reason to celebrate India!