In times where it is commonplace to talk of bringing down walls here is one Wall that we could do with more of. If you are a cricket buff or from India you would know of whom I am talking about β Rahul Dravid a cricketer par excellence.
Rahul in his heydays was known as the Wall for his stolid reliability and patience to spend hours and hours at the crease despite all odds. Although he has his own self-deprecating theories about why he was named so.
He retired from cricket in 2012 and could have easily been a wall and rested on his laurels. But the Wall is just a sobriquet. Heβs a doer. Given the opportunity he accepted the coaching the Indian Under-19 cricket team.
And worked his magic.
They won the 2018 ICC World Cup early this month. Celebrations, jubilation, accolades and cash prizes rained down. The BCCI announced cash rewards for the coach (Rs 50 lakh), team members (Rs 30 lakh) and coaching staff (Rs 20 lakh).
The Wall took objection to this announcement.
Why the discrepancy? He expressed his displeasure.
Excuse us but how much more money do you want?
No! Why should I get so much more than the rest of the staff?
What?! Err…that’s the norm. In any case, they canβt be given as much as you.
FINE. Then Iβll take less and weβll share it equally.
The BCCI had little choice but to bow down to this hitherto unheard of stance.
To reiterate, as it is difficult to believe that some one would actually do such a thing in todayβs time and era of each one for himself, Rahul Dravid took a Rs 25-lakh (or nearly a $ 40,000) pay cut just to ensure parity in incentive to all support staff. Now every member of the coaching staff including Dravid will get Rs 25 lakhs
Rahul Dravid has shown that the shelf life of a sportsperson maybe short but a gentleman lives forever.
May his tribe grow and prosper.
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This is my submission for the monthly We Are the World Blogfest which seeks to promote positive news.
Do share your views, opinions, suggestions and positive news.
Wishing you all a wonderful colorful and joyous Holi and a super weekend.
An impressive tree, I think, a mango tree perhaps. If so she would have been stoned, prodded and climbed all over the entire long summer. But undaunted, unconcerned she has continued her journey to reach for the sky.
I come closer. She allows a money plant to drape her like a scarf, even allow a lamp to rest on her curves.
Hey wait! That’s no drapery – it’s growing out of her. Just another surrogate mother for one who is not even her kind. My kind? she asks. What’s that? All life is my kind.
Just look at those wounds and scars. Don’t they hurt? I ask. No she shakes her branches.
Liar. I choke on tears as I walk over to the other side. Her silent howl of despair unheard in this vast preoccupied universe.
A smoggy or is it foggy winter morning at 9.30 am! Thank God the worst seems to be over but it’s already time to brace up for the heat and dust π
Coming out from being cooped up in the office the whole day long, I snapped a quick pic of the sky where the feathery clouds had been busy painting it white.
On another day, when a demonstration turned a 10-min drive into a 30-min one I made the most of my time clicking pictures sure that Cee would certainly give me an opportunity to display them sooner or later π Yet, I couldn’t get what I really wanted – off the birds flying home in beautiful formations. But don’t you think the sky looks lovely? Okay! Enough of skies for now – lets move on to something else before you accuse me of repetitive stuff.
An exquisitely hand carved temple. Can you imagine the vision, the planning and the workmanship that went into building such a marvelous piece of art so many centuries ago? I could simply look at the perfectly designed symmetry for hours and hours. Couldn’t you?
Can you see the yellowing leaves on the yellow-brown path? Actually I wanted to draw your attention to the yonder tree π
It was a very interesting and exciting tree (like most trees!) See those roots dropping down – just something Tarzan would love to shimmy down right?
Wait! There’s more. The roots got tired of just standing around so one particularly antsy one decided to indulge in some yoga on the way down π
A yellow butterfly from our garden at home captured by my sister.
Why? Well like I said Why Not? This photo was shared by my friend Svkuki while on her trip the States and has been crying for some screen space for quite a while now. Besides surely you can see the Y created by the shadow and the cacti in the background?
Stories and more 