Land of Lime

Here in America, some have been saying that the 2008 Presidential contest is perhaps the most important election of their lifetime.

So where does the upcoming Karnataka Assembly election stand, in comparison? Will the BJP finally turn the corner and come to power on its own in a southern state? If that were to happen, how will BJP’s success change Karnataka, especially caste and communal relations?

It is depressing to talk about how elections might impact social relations instead of debating what new public policy might a new government execute. Given how politics has become a business, perhaps the most profitable one, we shouldn’t even talk about a public policy anymore.

Sadly, money will not be issue, it seems, to any candidate. That’s not a good thing but these are the wages of prosperity that Karnataka has seen.

It will be interesting to see how the smaller parties and independents might impact the results in each constituency.

Sam Smith, Chicago Tribune’s long time NBA writer, is one of my favorite sports journalists. Sam is smart, very funny, has an engaging personality and loves basketball, which seeps through every word he writes. His columns as well as the weekly NBA mail bag are always both playful and serious. Sam knows everybody, is deeply knowledgeable and has enormous credibility in basketball circles. When he makes his wacky but legendary trade proposals, NBA types and fans alike just go nuts. Mark Cuban often railed against Sam. Minnesota fans couldn’t wait to berate Sam’s frequent ‘Garnett to Chicago’ proposals.

Sam has a loyal following of deeply knowledgeable basketball fans in all corners of the world; to read his NBA mailbag (which truly was about NBA and not merely Bulls) every week is to get a geography lesson. I, like all his readers, admired him for his simple perspective: the game is bigger than the players, who have an obligation to realize what a privilege it is to play basketball for a living, play the game the right way and not disrespect the game. So when he writes about knuckleheads like Tyrus Thomas, he brings in his knowledge and love of the game as well as the wisdom gathered from watching the greats compete.

Read the following excerpt from his last NBA mailbag. The questioner wants to know how Sam feels about having to watch this Bulls team play:

One of the great advantages of having a job like I have is knowing what goes on behind the scenes and not just the stories or where players go and what they do. I know when there might be issues between players and I will watch to see how they react to one another or what they do. Or don’t, like refuse to pass because they might be mad at someone. Basketball is like life, except with more cars. The players have a great talent none of us have. But otherwise they are the same with bad moods, bad days, spouses and kids driving them nuts and petty disputes at the office. Though that’s a small part of my enjoyment of the games.

I stay up late every night watching the last NBA games on satellite and will watch Clippers-Timberwolves to the conclusion. What, that’s worse than Dancing with the Stars or American Idol? They all make fools of themselves on some level. I know just about all the players, at least by reputation and ability. So I watch to see what they will do at important times, which is the measure of anyone at their job. Will they make a big shot or play or shy away and not want the ball or pressure? I like to watch what teams are doing, the matchups and which coach is taking advantage. There’s a story in every NBA game and every game is a chapter in a season-long book.

I never much root for a team and don’t usually care who wins. The only time I really did was the 1991 Bulls, whom I traveled with for several years in the era before charter travel and I knew them well. I felt a part of that team like a family and rooted for them when they had that chance and was truly happy for them. I think I even hugged Jerry Krause in the postgame locker room in L.A. And I didn’t regret it.

So it doesn’t much matter to me that the Bulls’ record is so bad this season. I enjoy watching the response and the story within that. There’s always dozens of things that happen in every NBA game I look for and enjoy, and it’s no different with these Bulls.

As many of you know by now, I am leaving the Tribune. I need to set the record straight. I am not retiring, just moving on to work elsewhere, though that’s not certain where as yet. I’ve had a great run at the Tribune and while it looks like maybe the best job ever, it has been. I’m grateful for the Tribune to have given me the opportunity to have the job I always wanted. I was among a rare few who can look forward every day to work. When kids ask about professions, I always say to find something you love doing and look forward to and have passion for, and if you can find that, you’ll be a success. That’s the secret. Of course, I was hoping for Major League baseball player first, but this has been second. But a close second.

I’ve gotten a wonderful response from readers, and that’s one of the things I’ll miss most. And what I’ve discovered over the years is how in tune so many readers are. Sure, there’s the occasional suggestion of a Kobe for Chris Duhon trade, but the majority of emails I get are reasoned, knowledgeable and especially passionate. Some are angry and some are accusatory and some say I’m an idiot. So like I haven’t heard that at home or in the locker room. I actually enjoy the debate, which is why I try to come up with different ideas and ways of looking at things. What’s the fun in sports if everyone agrees?

The fun is when you don’t. Sports is never having to say your sorry when you’re wrong. Or ever believing you are wrong. So I will miss the debate and conversation with the readers.

These words aren’t hollow and the highlighted quotes in particular capture and represent Sam’s spirit than anything I could write.

Today, Sam Smith leaves The Chicago Tribune after 28 years of service. Along with many of his colleagues, Sam accepted a voluntary buyout.

Since buying The Tribune, Sam Zell has had a controversial tenure, be it with his various newspapers or the Chicago Cubs. Downsize LATimes. Warn employees over their behavior. Sell the naming rights to Wrigleyville. I get the logic of downsizing sometimes. But for all his business success, if Zell doesn’t realize losing Sam Smith (and his colleagues too) simply means he is really downsizing the value of his asset, The Chicago Tribune, then he is a fool.

The Hindu reports that the chairperson of the Karnataka Backward Classes Commission C. S. Dwarakanath has been asked to resign.

It seems no explanation has been provided.

The relevant section (Chapter II and Section 4) of the THE KARNATAKA STATE COMMISSION FOR BACKWARD CLASSES ACT, 1995 states (note especially the highlighted portions):

4. Term of office and conditions of service of Chairman and Members.- (1)
Subject to the pleasure of the State Government the Chairman and every member shall
hold office for the term of three years from the date he assumes office 1[x x x]1.
1. Omited by Act, 24 of 1997 w.e.f. 29.9.1997.
(2) The Chairman or a member may in writing under his hand addressed to the State
Government, resign from the office of the Chairman or of member, as the case may be
at any time.
(3) The State Government shall remove a person from the office of the Chairman or
of a member if that person,-
(a) becomes an undischarged insolvent;
(b) is convicted and sentenced to imprisonment for an offence which, in the
opinion of the State Government, involves moral turpitude;
(c) becomes of unsound mind and stands so declared by a competent court;
(d) refuses to act or becomes incapable of acting;
(e) is, without obtaining leave of absence from the Commission, absents from
three consecutive meetings of the Commission; or
(f) has, in the opinion of the Government so abused the position of Chairman or
member as to render that person’s continuance in office is detrimental to the interests of
backward classes or the public interest:
Provided that no person shall be removed under this clause until that person has
been given an opportunity of being heard in the matter.

Well, what is it? will the Governor Raj explain?

(Updated below) 

Mangalore Univerisity Hindi Teachers belatedly realized they didn’t want to teach Samskara.

My response to that at Churumuri. Here is the money quote:

So if we are not debating with URA on his suggestion on how we can go beyond a hierarchical caste system (that only sexual contact can break caste taboos), then I don’t know what else are we going to discuss in our classrooms with our youngsters.

If Mangalore University’s Hindi teachers aren’t raising these questions in their classrooms, if all they find in Samskara are these references to or descriptions of sexual encounters, and if their worry is merely how to teach such episodes, then I think they should find another line of work.

The issues that Samskara raises are some of the great questions of our time and regardless of our opinion, we must raise them and hold vigorous discussions in our classroom. I don’t care if a professor were to defend the caste system or say URA is wrong in his description of Brahmin women or Madhva community. That is perfectly reasonable. But what is unacceptable is the refusal to discuss these issues with 19- or 20-year-old young men and women in a language and literature class. That would be a disservice to the students, as well as a great under-estimation of their maturity and capabilities.

Update: ಕನ್ನಡಪ್ರಭದ ಈ ಲೇಖನ ಗಮನಿಸಿ. ನನ್ನ ವಾದದ ಹಲವು ಅಂಶಗಳು ಇಲ್ಲೂ ಕಾಣುತ್ತವೆ. 

Gideon Haigh asks in the Guardian an interesting question in light of India’s miserable performance at the World Cup:

India is cricket’s financial hub, providing 70% of the game’s global income; India’s most lucrative franchise is the rivalry with Pakistan. Over the past five to seven years, under Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid, India have achieved on-field success to complement their off-field stature: it has been worth playing India in a cricket sense as well as a financial one. But what are the implications if the world’s richest cricket nation and its opposing team of choice rank among its poorer teams in performance?

Haigh doesn’t have any good answers, other pointing out the rot that has set in all cricket organizations, including the ICC. Indeed, there are no good answers. For a long time cricket enthusiast, I haven’t watched any cricket nor do I know who is playing whom. And when. I didn’t learn about Bangladesh beating South Africa until a couple of days ago. It’s a pity because in spite of the presence of (indeed, deserving) minnows in the Super 8, there is some good cricket being played. True, it has taken an eternity to get the Semifinal stage and it has been very difficult to muster any enthusiasm until now.
Is this the charamagite (funeral song) for World Cricket, at least for the time being? I don’t know.

Haigh’s piece has a couple of good lines on BCCI.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), with its unruly blend of hypercapitalism and feudalism, exhibits the entrepreneurial ebullience of Don King.

and

And if the jet-propelled bullock cart that is the BCCI remains incapable of producing a team worth the country’s cumulative talent, what then?

Indeed. Jet-propelled bullock cart, heh!

Do you dig Bermuda? And all 20 stones/140 Kilograms of my man, Dwayne Leverock. And that incredible catch that Leverock took against India the other day. Folks watch this lovely tribute to the old man.

And that young kid, Malachi Jones, the first ever player to take a wicket with his first world cup delivery. All of Seventeen years old.
Bermuda are this World Cup’s Togo!

If you remember, last summer Togolese, led by their mercurial forward Emmanuel Adebayor of Arsenal, entertained us immensely in the Soccer World Cup. Bermuda don’t do any of the nakras that Togo team did. (To jog your memory here is how Togo’s World Cup unfolded: Manager quit before the first game, only to come back; the team almost opted not to play the second and were eliminated before the third game began. It was compelling drama, with each new development more implausible than the previous one.)

Bermuda are like me playing league cricket now. Not as good as Ireland or Bangladesh, the two heroic teams of this World Cup, whose exploits are worthy of ballads. But how do you not love this most unlikely cricket player on the international scene. A police man, and prison van driver, who lives above a curry house and seems to live to eat enormous quantities of his favorite dish, beef Korma.

What a character!
Dwayne, take a bow. We will watch you give hell to Bangladesh.