IAS Diaries Part 1 - Formal Dinner

So many people have come to me expressing their desire and desperation to loose weight and when I tell them my way of doing it, they simply start to have second thoughts. No one wants to run five kilometers everyday, no one wants to slog it out in the gym, no one wants only protein diet in the breakfast and no one wants to do away with those sinful little desserts. And hence I pondered upon the dilemma and after putting much thought to it, I have the best solution for such people. Attend as many of "Formal Dinners" as you can!

Some might be thinking what the hell is this guy up to and how can a proper multi-course dinner help to reduce weight. Well folks, welcome to the concept of pseudo-dining where the entire focus is on everything else OTHER than food. You must look razor sharp, you must wear the proper attire, you must not make noises with your cutlery, you must not cross talk with people sitting in front and finally and most importantly you must not eat to your quantitative satisfaction. And also, to state the obvious, you must look satisfied and have that gorgeous little pretentious smile of yours as if you are actually enjoying the nano quantities of food being served to you at a blistering pace.

Now, this whole ball game reminds me of my days in ITBP. There also we had such long dinners which lasted for nearly four hours leaving you even more hungry than you originally were. But there is this another instance that i can relate this to. So, during the training we were supposed to do certain number of pull ups and chin ups to pass the physical tests. Now, initially, most of us weren't able to do many and that's when our CHM told us, " साहब लोग, चिन अप चाहे ना हो, पर तरकीब बिलकुल सही होनी चाहिए ।" Meaning, that even if you are unable to do the actual thing, the procedure should look sublime. It is not what you are supposed to do but it is how you pretend to do, that defines you. Yes yes, inspiration from Batman Begins.

Now, prima facie, a four-course meal seems to be adequate but as they say, do not judge a Formal Dinner by the number of courses it offers. And why are we even counting the few tea-spoons of soup and a minuscule salad as separate courses. There was hardly any discourse they resulted into. Plus, to add to the misery, since around 200 people were dining together, there was no way that all could see the chief guest eating. And hence we had Red and Green lights indicating when to start eating and when to stop. Fabulous it was, waiting at the on-the-mark line, ready to gulp the tiny portions of pretentious food on our plates. They might as well had a yellow light, so that we could figure out which cutlery to use among the whole arsenal kept in front of us and get ready to press the throttle at the hint of the Green. I really felt, most of the times, there was more cutlery than food on our tables.

And then it was time for "Main" course. There is a reason why it is called a "Main" course. If you are going to serve cutlets and two pieces of chicken, we would have to rethink the whole nomenclature folks. I think we had more quantities of food served in the Pro-leagues organized by the Officer's club. And then it was time to raise a toast. And that was followed by a spectacular speech by our Chief guest which goes like, "I must finish this speech really quickly as we all have to go out and have some dinner. I was thinking that I would repeat the speech I made the last time. Why not, it's the same place, same food, same taste as well. The OTs are different but perhaps the faculty would think he is saying the same thing. But i am more than sure that they do not remember what i said as it was hardly relevant. ....". God, what a speech.

And then we raised a toast again. "To the Service!". And as those tiny volumes of apple juice had hardly made a difference, we thought we should go on toasting. To the Cadre, To the District, To Rahul Raj, To Dr. Rajaganapati, To you , To me etc. But then the evening came to an end and we, along with our poorly fed tummies, marched out with a loud outcry "To the Ganga Dhaba!"

P.S. But also, as rightly put by the Chief Guest, these things teach us patience and discipline which impact our lives in several ways, more than we could ever imagine. 

[Essay] Building a civilized society: Respect for privacy in an age of transparency

“Privacy is not something that I'm merely entitled to, it's an absolute prerequisite.” – Marlon Brando

The Information Age

Welcome to the age of Big Data. Welcome to an era where omnipotence is proportional to the amount of information you command. Welcome to an era where the establishment and the corporate houses know your choices and preferences better than yourself. They already know what you want to buy, what you want to own, where you want to travel and what financial transactions you are involved in. There is nothing to hide as everything you do today is quantified and collated inside servers that are thousands of miles away from you. Scary isn’t it? One might even relate to the idea of Skynet featured in a successful film series called Terminator featuring Arnold Schwarzenegger. Of course the omnipresent and super powerful search engine today known by a different name is the obvious reference here.

Furthermore the amount of data that is collected everyday is astounding to say the least. As per Eric Schimidt, CEO of Google, the amount of data collected between the genesis of human civilization and 2003 is nearly equal to the amount of data which is collected every two days in present times. Now that’s some statistics which will sweep you off the floor. All this data is floating over the internet most of which is unsecure and can lead to vulnerabilities of various sorts. Moreover, this data set is here to stay and would probably keep us in doubt for eternity. This creates the risk of Identity thefts, Cyber crimes and cyber espionage. And these are not just lethal-appearing phrases, they are considerably lethal.

Need for Transparency

From this very apprehensive picture of big data, emanates the question of transparency. Transparency is the practice of having everything out in the open for all to see be it the policy decisions, be it the records created for government services or be it anything else. In fact, World Bank defines transparency as one of the crucial features of Good Governance. Now a day’s transparency is one of the prime parameters on which the effectiveness of a government is measured.  With the advent of the Right to Information almost everywhere in the world, the governments are being forced to be more proactive in information dissemination to avoid such unwanted litigation.

The struggle for Right to Information in India started in the form of a social movement to unveil the red carpet and to look beyond it. The Mazdoor Kisaan Shakti Sangthan (MKSS) was one of the key factors which forced the government to open up the vogue of secrecy. This organization under the leadership of Aruna Roy was looking into the non-payment of wages to workers in Rajasthan and started demanding the right to see and verify the government records in this regard. In her paper titled “Fighting for the right to know in India”^[1], she describes how the locals are planning for a dharna in a busy market town of Beawar, in central Rajasthan. It takes form of a procession and moves through the town roads like a snake eventually culminating into a protest in front of the office of the local authorities.  Such movements against local authorities started to come in vogue at several other places as well. It was as if a wave had struck aiming to demolish the veil of secrecy. One thing led to another and suddenly people wanted to see more of what the governments are actually doing on records. And hence was born the movement for Right to Information.

The latest paradigm in the evolution of Public Administration is of e-government^[2] or Digital era governance as it is popularly referred to in administrative journals. This Information and Communication Technology (ICT) platform has empowered the citizens and at the same time has provided the Governments an avenue to realize transparency. Within a blink of an eye, a draft bill can be uploaded and eventually can be seen and deliberated upon by millions of citizens. The comments and suggestions can easily be captured by creating online forums. Citizens can be made aware and sensitized about various programmes and issues through this medium. If not for this instrument, it would have been utterly difficult to realize the idea of transparency.

Predicaments to Transparency

But every rose comes with its own thorns. Transparency and big data are great idea which seem to be good intentioned as well and are possibly quintessential in this global age. But there are certain components which have the potential of being Orwellian which refers to those elements which are destructive for a free and open society, a term coined after George Orwell. We all know who Edward Snowden is and we all are aware what he stands for. As per the claims made by him, US government and it’s agency named NSA were allegedly snooping on individuals to the extent which no one can ever imagine. This is apparently being done very secretively without letting anyone know even a little thing. The whole episode has sent shock waves across the world and has made citizens from various other countries aware about their right to privacy and the iron fist forced upon them by the governments.

To understand this in our national dimension, let’s take the illustration of RTI in India. We all know the good side of it so would be redundant to mention it here. But also one needs to understand the flip side to it.  As per certain news reports, every year nearly 30 RTI activists are either killed, criminally intimidated or beaten. Nothing is being done to protect the identity of the whistleblowers. Without doing the same how do you expect people to come forward and make their case heard. It is very obvious that they would rather chose to be silent than being made silent in a not so good way. And why are we moving so slow to protect the whistleblowers, you just need to realize those who are to make the call are the ones most likely to get affected.

The other example is that of the UID project. Again prima facie, you would think of it as a brilliant proposition that would eliminate the duplication of the identity cards which we have to get from a myriad government departments. The idea to link it to our accounts is even more brilliant. But among the general apprehensions surfacing today is that our bio-metric stats are not stored with the best of security framework and the risk of identity theft is imminent and ever present. People would like to know what layers of security are being provided and how safe their personal identities are. But nothing particular has been done to mend the trust deficit in this regard and that can prove a costly affair later on.

Privacy Vs Transparency

All these above discussed cases hint at an ongoing debate between Privacy and Transparency. To those well versed in Indian Polity would easily relate it to the debate between Fundamental Rights and Fundamental Duties. Some sections assert the prominence of the former and others opine that the later are equally important and relevant. Can some rights be compromised to realize a particular duty? Can some duties be neglected to fulfill a particular right? These are difficult questions with not a single correct answer. Both are relevant at their places and a fine balance needs to be struck when they come face to face. And every single situation would have its own unique solution. Imposition of generalizations would be a futile exercise.

On the same lines we need to understand that both are relevant in their own frames and a fine balance is what we should aim for. This answers the compatibility question between the two. Now the only dilemma left is that of how to strike that balance. One school of thought believes that the yardstick should be of “Public Interest”. Whenever there is predicament on the question of a compromise between privacy and transparency, we ought to see what is best in the larger interest of the people. There would be times when the levels of transparency would have to be reduced and there would be times when the Right to Privacy shall be curtailed to some extent.

Right to Privacy Bill^[3]

This brings us to the question that is anything being done in India to facilitate the much talked about Right to Privacy. A very detailed bill was drafted and has been discussed in the pubic circles for years but it is still to see the light of day. The basic purpose of this act is to protect the citizens against the misuse of data by the government authorities.  To obtain various services and licenses, citizens have to present certain personal vitals and records to the respective departments. All such records then stay with those departments and at times some confidential information lies at the risk of being compromised. As of now, the bill targets all the citizens only but the other question being shall it be expanded to cover all residents? Besides it also deals with the delicate phenomenon of interception by Intelligence agencies.

Now one needn’t debate on the relevance of such agencies as they are paramount considering the question of internal security. What one needs to debate is that the bill also pondered upon the possibility of giving a blanket exemption to such Intelligence agencies. Now as Lord John Acton had said, “Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely”. Ergo we must think of certain safeguards to prevent the abuse of such raw power. Such blanket exemption should only be given in rarest of rare cases which pertain to the national interest but of course it would be very difficult to prove such urgencies. But the difficulty in the provision of safeguards should never be an excuse for absolutism. In this regard, the bill also proposes the constitution of a Data Protection Authority (DPA) which would also be mandated to prevent the stealing of personal information.

Another debate that is parallel and ongoing is that whether this Right to Privacy can be said to be derived from the Right to life and personal liberty as provided by Article 21. Various judicial pronouncements can be sighted to substantiate this argument. A recent Supreme Court bench while deciding on a matter pertaining to privacy went on to say that “If a man is not safe in his own house, then what remains in Article 21 (right to life and liberty)? Where is the liberty then? If privacy is not there in liberty, then what else can be there?”  Looking at it from an individual’s perspective, there might be certain private vitals which they consider disturbing to be made public and hence the correlation can be made. Another line of thought which has been coming up is that rather than monitoring all the citizens why not only monitor those who are part of the power hierarchies. These are the people who are at positions where such abuse is possible so why not limit the sample to them. Intriguing thought indeed and I am sure the future stakeholders would be coming up with an amicable solution. But the counter view presented is that when it is also about ensuring internal security of the nation and for this there can be no compromises and a zero tolerance approach has to be adopted.

To understand the importance of privacy it would be apt to quote long time privacy activist Simson Garfinkel. In his work Database Nation: The Death of Privacy in the 21st Century^[4], he tries to argue why people are so particular about their privacy. On this note he goes on to say

“Privacy is about self-possession, autonomy, and integrity…. Over the next fifty years we will see new kinds of threats to privacy that don’t find their roots in totalitarianism, but in capitalism, the free market, advanced technology, and the unbridled exchange of electronic information.” This very statement presents the whole worldview which we discussed above in a very concise and precise way that speaks for the need to have privacy. Some people argue that they don’t care about Privacy as they have nothing to hide. Edward Snowden smartly compared it to the situation where people do not care about Freedom of expression because they have nothing to say.

Now the question comes how to evaluate whether the model designed by us balances the elements of privacy and transparency. A better way to understand this would be to take an organization as a reference point.  The work Privacy Payoff offers us a great tool to determine how a particular company is performing in terms of the local information policies and how well they manage customer privacy. They refer to their tool as the “Privacy Diagnostic Tool Workbook which keeps in mind these basic privacy principles such as limiting the collection, disclosure, duration of retention of records etc.” Moreover they also provide a questionnaire pertaining to “Privacy Impact Assessment” which is turning out to be an excellent tool for figuring out whether the novel technological solutions deployed by that company are privacy compliant or not.

Now taking a global perspective on privacy laws, the difficulty is that every country has a different set of Privacy laws and this becomes a big issue for the Multi-national corporations (MNCs) and to clear this legislative jungle, this work by IT experts Albert J. Marcella Jr. and Carol Stucki titled as “Privacy Handbook: Guidelines, Exposures, Policy Implementation, and International Issues”^[5] proves to be an oasis in a desert. Full credits to the makers of this work for trying to accommodate almost all the countries irrespective of their sizes and influences. This in fact became a big issue when several big American firms were asked to comply with the European privacy norm in order to continue their businesses in Europe. Such situations arose with other companies as well in several other nations which eventually led to the development of this kind of a study.

As we move forward in the digital age where freedom and privacy have become ultra important for all individuals, the industry is gearing up to use this as a marketing propaganda. Or rather this has already materialized in certain ways. Brands are being made and popularized using privacy as a prop. Internet Service Provider (ISP) company Earthlink were floating a funny commercial accusing other ISPs of sharing and leaking personal information. A similar project was launched by Microsoft titled as Trustworthy computing. This is indeed a smart move to have an early grab as it is almost certain that the Privacy movement is going to get global and is going to succeed not very far from now.

Having understood the relevance of both Privacy and Transparency in modern times, now we need to cautiously craft a sturdy framework that can sustain both these components simultaneously eventually laying a strong foundation upon which we can build a civilized society.  As we have already agreed that transparency is one of the core democratic values which we cannot do away with. What we need to keep in mind is that such information which are pivotal to the strategic and security interests of the country should be dealt with in a secured and sophisticated manner to avoid any mishaps.

On the other hand, we need to give due recognition for a Right to Privacy and we ought to make sure that we move forward in a mission-mode approach for its realization. As we advance through the various paradigms of Public Administration, we have moved from New Public Administration (NPA) to New Public Management (NPM). That represented a transition from rowing to steering. But the future which belongs to the empowered and aware citizenry demands the paradigm of New Public Service (NPS)^[6] which requires the authorities to move from steering to serving. And in this light, the Right to Privacy becomes even more crucial that one could imagine.

Once upon a time, Thomas Hobbes conceptualized the legendary “Social Contract Theory” so that there could be order and not chaos in the society. Today to build a civilized society in this global information age, we need another social contract between the citizenry and the establishment which calls for a fine balance between the Privacy of citizens and the Transparency in governance. With the realization of one such contract, thou shall see the rise of Good Governance. We started with a wonderful quote on Privacy and we end with an equally sublime quote on transparency having come full circle.

“I've come to learn there is a virtuous cycle to transparency and a very vicious cycle of obfuscation.” – Jeff Weiner

References

1.      Fighting for the right to know in India – By Aruna Roy and Nikhil Dey

2.      Reinventing local governments and the e-Government initiative – By Alfred Tat-kei ho

3.      Right to Privacy Bill on Centre for Internet and Society’s website.

4.      Database Nation: The Death of Privacy in the 21st Century by Simson Garfinkel

5.      Privacy Handbook: Guidelines, Exposures, Policy Implementation, and International Issue by Albert J. Marcella Jr. and Carol Stucki

6.      New Public Service by Robert Denhart and Janet Denhart

LBS Diaries Part 25 - Exams and Goodbyes

There are mixed responses to the timeline of the Foundation Course. Some feel they have no idea about how these four months have galloped away. Some say they were counting days and are glad to get rid of the damning cold Mussoorie has been putting upon us. One thing certain, that the former outnumber the later by leaps and bounds. So now came the time to write our Final Exams. The much dreaded affair especially for the victims of the first Management Mid term. This brings out an important aspect to the table, yes, there were "two" mid term exams. That's outrageous people, mid term can be only one right, in the middle of the term. And if you still insist on making this a high school with so many exams, at least be technically right by not calling it so.

Anyways, we are Probationers and given the Rule 12 of Probation Rule, we don't have much say in things happening around. So unwillingly we slogged for the finals in the last weekend of the Foundation Course where people rather wanted free time to go out with friends one last time and rightly so. First things first, on behalf of the entire batch I propose a vote of thanks to all those who prepared short notes and circulated on various social media forums so that the uninitiated could do the needful. Especially Ran Vijay, it is perhaps because of you that many OTs would pass and would not have to come here again saving a lot of government revenue in the form of their TA/DA. Great job man!

And there we were with Public Administration paper as the first strike. Now the name here is terribly misleading and they literally put everything under the Sun under the garb of this holy subject. And then it was coupled with Law. The previous night to the exam became so taxing for some that they thought of consulting the Old Monk. But we all know, he only helps in Philosophy. Anyways the papers of both the subjects were having ample choices and as post-modernist administrative thinkers discuss, public choice theory is good for all. Holds true in exams as well. But then came the Economics paper with a dubious claim that this was the easiest paper in ages. On this, I can say with 99% confidence interval that previous batches would have been all pass outs of DSE/LSE if that was to be true. And I double dare you to to a Z test on my null Hypothesis!

Apart from the difficulty levels, the Economics paper had put people in dilemma. Those writing their exam in Nehru Auditorium were finding it difficult to chose the question which was on the pros of market economy. History can be amusing at times. Nevertheless, it was all over soon and the even more difficult part was here. The time of goodbyes. It has been a wonderful Foundation Course. Getting to meet so many diverse personalities from across the band of services all at once is one rare opportunity. And this idea of bringing people from all services together is very crucial as later on when we go in the field, the pace at which things move will depend upon how your equations with people in other services are. After all, each and every service plays a crucial role in the developmental discourse of the nation. And for that synergy to exist, FC has certainly played a key role.

And what to say of this batch. This bunch of Three Fifty Three is certainly multi-faceted as the faculty phrased it. You name the event and there would be participation. Be it a lazy Sunday or a party Friday. This batch has great sporting talents, wonderful actors, melodious singers, energetic dances and what not. You name the skill and we will show you the SWAG. Sometimes, I wonder how a bunch of UPSC passouts can be so talented in all these aspects. Hat's off to you guys. No kidding. Lastly, I wish everyone Good Luck in all their endeavors. It has been a pleasure knowing so many of you. And it is a pity that we only had three months. I am sure that our paths would cross again and again. Lets hope the warmth of the bonds remains for always. Lets hope that we look out for each other in the testing times that are to come. Lets hope that we all succeed in giving back something to the nation. On this note,  I would like to share with you all, the words that came to me on the day of our result. Click here to read.

I would like to end by quoting the most powerful lines I have ever come across. It gives me immense strength when the times are not right. "Life is like a boxing match. Defeat is declared not when you fall, but when you refuse to stand again".

P.S. This is the last post of 90th Foundation Course. But the show must go on. And so would the posts.

LBS Diaries Part 24 - Of classes & of yawns!

So, it was our last class at the computer lab. I don't know about the majority but in my opinion these ICT sessions were absolutely fabulous and utterly quintessential. Not that I didn't know any of the basic stuff which was taught but for the simple fact that every public servant should be made aware of all such ICT tools so that he/she can carry the work efficiently. In the age of e-Governance and m-governance, computer basics is like a little cog in the big machine. Nonetheless, a very crucial cog. And this time spent in labs was made even more special by the lovely faculties who had so much patience for our silly musings and twisted doubts.

As the instructor started the last session, he asked to the class, in his cute little English, "Am I audiable to the class?". Yes Sir, pretty much audible, only grammatically inaudible.  As the class was underway, those already proficient in computer knowledge started playing the Dino-jumping game which the Chrome browser offers to the folks devoid of internet. That cute little game reminds me of Mario and the amusing fact that how such simple games are able to grab our attention for so long. Any way, talking of games, the computer lab had also become the virtual shooting range for the OTs. Everyday after the end of business, a battle was fought between the cops and terrorists. Counter Strike had resurrected from the ashes of college times. Okay, coming back to the point, once ample time had passed, the instructor in the lab would innocently ask us about our assignments "Have you done everybody?". And then we all had to try hard to keep our laughter to inaudible levels. Freakishly funny, how much of a difference an absent comma can make.

But then, an overwhelming majority would agree to the fact that these were the only classroom sessions which we looked forward to, where we didn't indulge in the sin of slumber and we would not mind more. And then there were the regular classroom sessions with more or less the same syllabus which we had studied while preparing for Civils. Be it the quarter group, half group or full group, they were all equally sedative. And it doesn't matter if you had had a good sleep in the night or not. Five minutes into the lecture and your eyes start to give up. One yawn after the other. You try to hide that embarrassing opening with your hands. After a while, you get fed up of doing that camouflage and thus the speaker gets his feedback then and there. Some find a good posture to sleep which won't be that insulting. And some brave souls, let themselves go completely off the hook. Head backwards from the top of the seat, they slide down their seats. And then there are those, who even snore. Nothing less than red and white bravery awards, for such melodious audacity.

Not that all were cliched, we have listened to some excellent lectures and inspiring speeches. But the numbers are minute. Talks by Ramachandra Guha, K. Vijay Kumar, Jayant Sinha and others have been extremely thought provoking. But then there were others where we couldn't join the dots. I am sure many would remember that decibel disaster from a top management institute where the phrase "my ears bled" actually came true. I am sure many would remember that theoretical class on Yoga when clearly somethings are better understood in practice. I am sure many would remember the Australian episode where we desperately needed subtitles to understand even a word. I am sure many would remember that psycho session with no PPT which was responsible for 230 people failing in Management. And I hope you remember the adventurism of listening to a free market economist which pushed us literally to an existential crisis.

Talking of subjects, how can I not mention Public Administration. I don't understand why everyone is after this still evolving subject. As if the distasteful defamation of the subject by UPSC was not enough, the subject has been suffering here as well. Here at the academy, you can clearly classify topics into Law, Management, Political Concepts. And whatever remains from that and whatever cannot be rightly classified into anything else, all is dumped in the umbrella discipline of Public Administration. In a way, this has become the God of academics. What why, जिसका कोई नहीं होता, उसका Pub Ad होता है !

Jokes apart, I simply admire the in-house faculty here at LBS NAA. To me, and perhaps to many more, they are far better than the guest lecturers from across the country and beyond. Be it the breathless prepositions of Law, be it the dynamic display of Economics or be it the subtle nuances of administration, hats off to you guys. In case you are wondering if I really meant the above mentioned, the answer is yes, it has to be, it is more than three lines! At last, the classes are coming to an end. We have learnt several valuable things. We also have had perhaps the best naps ever. Best of both worlds, I would say. Let's hope the wisdom passed on helps us to survive in this VUCA world. And for the benefit of those who were sleeping in that class, VUCA stands for Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous!

In the lectures to come during the professional training, I wish you luck. Hope you get the last row!

Public Administration - Model Anwsers

Hi all, I apologize having used the phrase "model answers". But I couldn't think of any other title. These are some of the answers I had written during preparations and were corrected by Ajay Srivastava Sir from ALS. I incorporated those suggestions and then had re-written these. Posting here the final versions....

LBS Diaries Part 23 - Football, bloody hell!

Here in LBS, the most active society is the Officer's Club and no doubt that Rajaganpati...err my bad, Dr. Rajaganpati has been doing a tremendous job in conducting one activity after another. Hat's off to you man. This guy is like always running around passing sheets in the class to get names for the teams and then making video films to promote the upcoming events. Some of the faculties actually commented that he would have been excellent in the field of marketing. Plus who can forget the delicious cakes and cutlets. And I have been after his life from the very beginning to organize a Football tournament but apparently he had everything sorted out. And finally our chance came today.

As soon as the plan was out, we started practicing in the mornings and in the evenings as well. Now this was going to be a war between different sections. Don't get all worked up, by sections I only mean the lecture groups A, B, C and D. Now in the scheme of things, as we have been playing football here for a while, it was obvious that C was the favorite to win the thing as it had the likes of Irfan, Deepak, Sumit and others. Now our Section D also had a decent team and that day during the practice match, seeing our performance i was pretty sure we would win the thing. It was really getting dark but since everyone wanted to continue, we went on. And in that little light which was there, I got hit by this mighty kick of one of the opposing defenders. It was like that perfectly inelastic collusion we studied in Physics. His stud hitting my toe area. And boy, that pained like hell. Blue toe, that too on my left foot. My best foot. It was that "Achilles foot" moment. Man, you hit the best possible part of me. Heartbreak. Feelings of vengeance started to creep in. But then a toe for a toe would make the world notoerious!

One needs to accept that things are not always hunky-dory for you. You got to accept the shit and move on. What if I cannot kick the ball and give long passes, I can use the short ones breaching their defense. I can stay back ensuring a strengthened defense. I can head the ball in set pieces. Oh, there are so many ways. And this hope carried me through. And then came the match day. We decided to skip practice the day before as we didn't want any more injuries. And more so, we were kind of comfortable with the players we had got for all the positions. Fortunately we got the red color in the draw and with two die hard United fans in the team, it was show time!

Our first match was against lecture group B and from the looks of it they had a good team. The match  started off on equal footing with no major movements. The audience felt that D United was not showing their real colors as they were still warming up to the occasion. Well, I kind of agree to it. We were actually not feeling any pressure from the other end and ergo were little bit easy on our legs. But then one goal and then another and then another. We were on a roll. Excellent forward play by Kelzaang, Apoorv and Sree. Our strategies which we had chalked out during the lectures was finally coming to play. The final score was 8-1 in our favor. I remembered that 8-2 drubbing of Arsenal by Man Utd once. Uncanny resemblances.

The final game with C was to played in the evening. I wanted it the next day but so much is happening towards the fag end of FC that it had to be concluded today only. Now our opponents were notorious for their forward play and hence we tweaked our formation a bit which worked fine for most part of the game. And we had taken the lead and had good control over the ball. But then there was this own goal which perhaps brought down the morale of the team. But good teams keep their composure unhurt by such unfortunate happenings. But some of us couldn't which is where we lost the game. Battles are fought in the field but won in the minds. Very true for sports as well. But then we showed resurgence and came back in the game. But then sometimes things don't go the way you expect them too. They played well in the closing moments. Kudos Section C for your victory.

D United
From L-R: Rohit, George, Sree, Apoorv, Arawind, Kelzaang, Mukesh, Yours truly and Aman.

I have said this before and I would again say it, Winning isn't everything but wanting to win is. And we did put our best. Great stuff guys, proud of the way you played. It was undoubtedly the best football game I have played. Thank you for this. And I know the expression i am going to use is for Epic occasions but for me it was one the best footballing days. "Football, bloody hell!"

LBS Diaries Part 22 - India Day

How time flies, I wonder. As I indulged myself in deep thoughts pertaining to the breathtaking pace of events here at LBS NAA, we looked forward to perhaps the last big bang event of the 90th Foundation Course, India Day. For the benefit of the outside world, India day is a celebration of our cultural diversity and the fraternity that is shared among vary many sections. The fundamental idea is to showcase proudly ones culture and to sensitize the others who might not be aware. As officers we might get to serve in different parts of India and hence its always a good idea to broaden the circle of your cultural outreach.

And for the last big bang, the preparations and the efforts were also going to be pretty proportionate. It started with lots of meetings. One for the food coordinators, one for the overall coordinators, one for the exhibition coordinators and many others which people forgot to attend and which I am unable to recall as well. The initial euphoria disappeared soon with the deadline looming large for the Village Visit report submissions. Also, the FC has been so hectic with numerous events that some started feeling participation fatigue and distanced themselves from any further activity. Almost as if they had taken VRS from the FC. People alleged that the total number of emails they have received from Officer's Club is more than the cumulative emails they have ever received in their entire lifetime from all sources collectively. Apparently the bait of delicious cakes and cutlets was not enticing enough.

For the chosen ones, i mean the coordinators, the toughest job was to get people to the meetings and divide responsibilities. You would see the same old four five faces from each zone everywhere. On top of that, the picture wasn't much clear. What are we supposed to do during the procession? What the hell is Explore India and how is it different from Exhibition? If people from outside are coming to put their exhibits then why do we have coordinators for exhibition? This hazy picture was soon getting better as we moved closer to the designated day and people started pouring in. Couple of days before the big bang, the store containing exhibits from the previous batches was thrown open to the OTs. And boy, the way OTs pounced on the objects was what you usually see the housewives doing on a Big Bazaar Mega Sale day.

Now as far as the decoration of the designated areas is concerned, mostly all groups seem to be going for the flex war. Who can have the largest number and the biggest ones for their benefit. But I guess the war was won by innovation by the North. On that day, we saw this beautiful creation of the Himalayas and with the river flowing out of it. They had people sitting alongside the river doing their chores. There was this maple like tree with these beautiful leaves which I heard they had spent hours cutting them by their own hands. Beautiful creation folks, kudos. Meanwhile, I was finding it difficult to motivate people of the West zone to contribute something for the exhibition. Thanks to the bunch of people that came to the rescue and I would like to believe that we did a decent job at the end. The time spent painting would be remembered forever as some of it is still on my tie and pants.

These were the days when the nights were vibrant and full of energy. Anywhere you go in the campus, you could find the floors shaking and music playing. Almost everyone was practicing some dance form for the cultural evening. Some were even involved in two or more. Fortunately all dances were different which negated the possibility of a constructive interference leading to destructive resonance. Amazing zest shown by the entire batch which eventually went down to participation by nearly 250 OTs on that night. Must be unprecedented in the history of LBS NAA.

Finally India day dawned upon us. The early morning hours were spent in decorating our respective zones as that was to be opened just after the procession. Slowly people dressed in their cultural attire poured near the main gate. Then there were those who were dressed up as famous personalities from their respective states. It was almost like a miniature India both geographically and temporally. As the procession started, you could see various dance forms of India suddenly coming to life. The music and atmosphere was so electric that those posing as Mahatma Gandhi, Meera Bai, Saint Jabali, Budhha and others couldn't control themselves and joined the party and seeing them dance we wondered has history been rightly told to us?!

But one of the most beautiful moment of the procession was to see the intermingling of cultures. The bhangra group of the north coming and joining one of the groups from South. Such fusions were everywhere to be seen. That is the kind of India we seek. Then it was time for the exhibitions. Our west zone had used the theme of Gandhi as he went to all the states of our zone. Besides we were showcasing the major architectural and natural heritage of our states. We had also made a tiger cutout which was placed behind some small plants to which people questioned if he had gone veggie? We told them as the theme was Gandhian, even the Tiger had to do some compromise. Then there was this cutout of this camel which looked too cute to be one so we just passed it off as a deer.

The exhibition fun was followed by a delicious lunch which was served by our fellow OTs while rest were sitting down and eating. That way is more fun rather than sitting with sophistication on the table chair. And that brought us to the final chapter of India Day. The culturals. In back-to-back performances from all the zones we saw almost all possible dance forms of India and we also were fortunate to see the performance of a lifetime by Surpanakha. Deserves nothing less than the Oscar. So you actually need to see all this to understand the cultural diversity of India and only reading notes from Farji Ram and Sons won't suffice. Another gem moment was people from northern India performing dances like Bihu which eventually was the whole point of India Day. Cultural integration. Kudos to all for their wonderful performances and also to those who worked tirelessly behind the drapes.

We might be going on a 55-day long Bharat darshan soon but i think we all got a glimpse of the entire country in just one day courtesy India Day!

P.S. Had made this video on MP's tribal culture and heritage which could not be eventually screened. Hence sharing it here with you all.

PS 2 . Long ago had written an article on Madhya Pradesh, Click here to read!

  

Shades of Love

There is something unique with the place where you were born and where you have spent the early years of your life. You feel rooted into it. That thirst of our origins is quenched only when you are there. One feels at ease, at home. And these were the exact feelings which surfaced as I was en route home on a bus from Delhi. As was the case last time, as is the case every time. Of course, with the cosmopolitan life of 21st century, we move quite often into newer homes, but they rather are houses. Home remains one.

As I reached the city, my mother was there to take me home. She has recently learned how to drive and there is no doubt that i am super proud of her for doing that but it becomes difficult when she insists on driving when I am around. But you have to take those chances you know, she's your mother for God's sake. As we eventually reached home, my pulse came down to normal.  We had some important work for which I was there and we got started on that as soon as we could. In the evening hours when my mother was out for some work, I was alone back home. Well not actually, our pet parrot was with me.

Since my mother is all alone at home usually as we both kids study in Delhi, we thought it would be a good idea to get a pet. And since my mother loves birds even more than us, a parrot was the obvious choice. And so we got one. He doesn't speak much though but surely reacts to our gestures. He loves peanuts like mad and that's the only thing we can put as bait to get him out of his cage. Surprisingly he loves his cage too much and rarely comes out even when we open that cute little door. So as I sat next to him watching over, I felt bad. I personally never liked the idea of having pets. I think it restrains them. Especially birds. I mean they have got wings for crying out loud. And bloody hell they are meant to fly not to spread them inside a stupid cavity for the sake of our enjoyment.

At least I could let him fly inside the room, I thought. I tried a zillion ways to get that lazy ass out of that cage but he won't budge. And then the eureka moment, peanuts! As i laid a trail of peanuts out, that greedy birdie fell for that. He was out in the open and that was a huge room that offered him the opportunity of a reasonably long flight which he was perhaps not interested to take. Was he always inside a cage and never realized his potential to fly. I wondered.  To my surprise, I suddenly realized the window was open. But then looking at this lethargic little creature, I thought there isn't any point in closing it. Suddenly a couple of birds came and sat outside that window. It was almost as if they were mocking that poor guy inside. My parrot looked at them feeling confused but then he suddenly  looked away and started his way back to his cage.

I decided to give a final attempt. I instigated him with this wooden stick. And them some more. And then the unthinkable happened. He turned around, flew effortlessly and out of the window. He was gone. I tried to search him in the near vicinity of our house but only in vain. And then I felt happy that finally he was free. He was now in a place where he actually belonged. He had the whole sky to his disposal. He could perhaps meet another lady parrot and have a family. Looking at all these possibilities and staring at that skyline, I smiled.

As I turned back to go inside, a weird thought came to my mind. That poor parrot has never been outside his entire life. Will he be able to find food? Where will he find his favorite peanuts? What if he is unable to fly for long? That devilish cat that roams around, what if he falls prey to her? What if he wants to come back and could not find the way back? My smile transformed into worry as I pondered over all these questions. He has been with us for so long, of course I was scared for him.

As I again turned back and looked at the sky, I felt amused at these different shades of love. You want your beloved to be free but you also want your beloved safe in your embrace. Amidst this catch 22 situation, I only wish he gets his peanuts, where ever he is.

LBS Diaries Part 21 - Jumpin Heights

They say that the best things happen to you when you least expect it. They come unannounced and you don't get to plan for them. Seems right to me. So all of sudden the Adventure Club of LBS came into action with the proposal to go for Bungee Jumping and Rafting the coming Saturday which in fact had almost arrived knocking on our doors. Now this weekend was already packed with lots of writing to do for the reports, essay and book review so people had a hard time making up their minds or a sadist point of view would be that they had a genuine excuse to excuse themselves from the peer pressure of indulging in that free fall.

And there we were, at the reception, on a Saturday and at 0600 hrs. Doesn't seem that difficult for the uninitiated but we are the members of the league of shadows errr i meant Officer Trainees of the 90th Foundation Course and we love these two days where we need not wake up early for that pretentious little act of PT. As I reached the designated launch pad, I could see only a couple of people there with no signs of anyone from the Adventure club and the buses that were to take us to Rishikesh. But as the sunlight broke the dullness of the night, more people crept it. And we had nearly 25 people for the Bungee Jump which was surprisingly more than those who had only signed up for rafting. Way to go 90th FC!

Starting about an hour late, we reached Jumpin Heights Elevenish. On to the bus, as that place came near and near, the heart beats went higher and higher. There are always some people who would tell you they don't feel a thing. Just ignore them. Every one experiences fear, what differentiates us is how we handle it. Wow, that's too much philosophy for this not-so serious blog post. Apologies my Lords and Queens. At jumping heights, they offered three things - Bungee itself, Giant Swing and flying fox. Now the Giant Swing was a little mellowed down version of the Bungee with more horizontal displacement for those who cannot take the sudden downfall or for those who were obsessed with the swings in their childhood. Flying fox was like pretending to be Superman without the cape, the underwear and of course the power. So all of us went only for Bungee except one who had some knee issues who took the Giant Swing.

Now their office had these screens all around which were streaming the live feed from the jumping platform and that got us all worked out. People were planning out various stances they would take at the edge and all that jazz. And then came a form which really started the freaking out phase. The indemnity bond. Jumpin height would not be responsible if you get screwed in the air or if their reliable equipment fail at the time of your jump. That's sweet. After signing our death papers, we marched towards the jumping platform and this is the time when you get that feeling. The why-the-hell-I-signed-up-for-this feeling. And then the dilemma of whether to just jump right away or to let your friends do it first so as to buy some time. But as it turned out, waiting for your turn there is more killing than the act of jumping itself. Believe you me on this.

As we were discussing the right technique to take the jump head first (as if it really matters!), it was my turn. I moved along the long walk to the tipping point pretending that all is normal. But i tell you, my heart wanted to come out of the body and would only return once I am on the ground safely. The guy putting the gear on me told me that I should not look down and just jump. Duh, as if we have a control on that. As I readied myself for the final act, a few laws of gravity passed by my head. And then came the Murphy's law. Whatever bad can happen, will happen. Swallowing that realization, I proceeded to the edge. And I tell you, it is only those 02 second when you stand at the edge and when you actually jump. Once you jump, the fall is epic and you actually enjoy it like anything. Especially the rebounds and the 360 degree swirls. You just don't feel like hitting ground zero.

Post the jump, that feeling, of having done it, is sweet. And if someone asks you would you like to do it again, your reply would only be the affirmative. Since there were so many people, we were running way behind our schedule and would have missed out on the rafting but for the efforts of Paramveer and Karan who decided that one batch should leave ASAP and the other can come afterwards. As we reached the starting point of the rafting, we could see the beautiful blue waters of Ganga and it was so difficult to resist the temptation of just jumping in that heaven. But we held our horses as our raft guy filled us in on the do's and the don'ts which BTW are very crucial and quintessential. Finally we moved into the waters and oh, it was so beautiful. And then there were the rapids, the sweet turbulence, the jumps and swims and the not so synchronized movement of the pedals.

We were fortunate enough to get the longest stretch for rafting which was about three and half hours of bliss. When we reached the place of the cliff jumping, we thought it was a very mediocre height to jump from. But as they say, you only feel the heat, when you are the one in trouble. As we got on the top of the cliff, our view of this mediocre jump magically transformed. We needed some time to convince ourselves to make the jump. And the water down was so freaking cold, i think it froze my nose for a while. It was getting dark and our guide wanted to end the raft there itself but we convinced him to continue till the end. And that view in that dusk, of those lights on the ghats of Rishikesh, from the middle of the river, on that raft, simply outstanding.

As we waited alongside the road for a conveyance to take us to our bus, a procession of sort was approaching. A truck full of people making loud tribal voices. First we thought they are some aggrieved set of local tribal people but as they came, we realized that it was the other group of Officer trainees who came late. Nothing like finding your pals in a state of "Huha Huha...". As we started the drive back to Mussoorie, we pondered upon the same thought, what a day it was. Packed with Bungee and rafting. At last, I would only pass on that one cent of wisdom we all got.

"डर के नीचे ........ जीत है !"

Bridge of Spies

The weather was getting treacherous every passing moment as the snowfall became severe. The Glienicke Bridge had never looked so dreary as if a betrayal was on the offing. It was dark and it was time. Both sides were present at the respective ends of the bridge with an exchange of spies on the cards. No one present there could still fathom how this deal was actually happening at the peak of the cold war. How on earth could the Americans and the Russians agree to a deal? These men were certainly no ordinary spies. Something pivotal was at stake which the rest of the world was myopic to.

The two spies started their long walk to freedom. Bogdon and Peter had been subjected to severe degrees of torture as the respective Police departments tried their best to get any information about the status of nuclear programs. They had been beaten, sliced and butchered but none of them had revealed anything like true patriots. Bogdon was hopeful that he would certainly be rewarded by the Soviet for his unrelenting loyalty. Peter was thoughtless. They had made a stone out of him. He could hardly feel any nerve.

As they crossed each other, Bogdon glanced sideways at Peter but he could only see the scares. There was nothing in his eyes. It was as if a walking dead going back to Uncle Sam. Bogdon now was half past the bridge. His steps were getting bigger and his pace faster. He was hopeful for normalcy. Peter kept the same pace. As if he knew what beckons on home turf. When a spy returns to his home country, there is this one little problem. How do they ensure, he is still “their” spy?

But Bogdon had a better picture in mind nothing less than a knight, shinning bright. He had been successful at his mission. He had revealed no information. And he had been successful in sending loads of information back home. But to his surprise, he was arrested as soon as he stepped into his country. Soviet intelligence had doubts over his integrity. Was Bogdon with the Americans now? There was no way to find out. He was kept in custody for all these years and no intimation was given to his family. To them, he was already a martyr.

Bogdon had lost his composure by now. He shouted out loud his innocence which only fell on deaf ears. They wouldn’t risk anything for the security reasons. What was his fault anyway? He gave up everything to go live anonymously in a foreign land risking whatever he had with him. He gave up his family, his loving wife Maria and his little boy Konstantine. They didn’t even know that he was alive and decaying in their own country. Slowly he gave up hope.  He remained in that dark cell forever. No one knows what happened to him.

And, on the other continent, no one knows what happened to Peter!

LBS Diaries Part 20 - Village Visit

Foundation Course is like a marathon itself. You need to keep on moving and pushing yourself for a really really long time. We had not even recovered from the fatigue of the Athletics Meet and before we knew, we had boarded the train to our respective villages. Our sub-group of six was allocated Gram Panchayat Sohwal in the Rae Bareli district. On that train there were many other groups as well who were going to nearby districts. Our village visit started early, as we could only manage seats in the Sleeper coach and that too the first compartment from the washrooms. Oh, that strong smell of urea up your noses. And then the constant inflow of people who apparently think that an empty seat in the Sleeper Class is their Fundamental Right. Overall a good ice-breaking experience for all i guess.

The next day in the morning the train stopped at a station. When it stood there for like an hour or so, we decided to get down and find out. The moment we stepped down and read the name of the place, we pondered over the possibilities of all this being a conspiracy. It was Kakori railway station. When you are at such places of historic relevance, you tend to get these visuals of what happened here. And then these visuals shake you up real nice. Respect to all the revolutionaries of the freedom struggle. As our train crawled forward, we finally reached Rae Bareli junction around noon. At the station the local administration was there to receive us and they perhaps brought all the govt. vehicles of the district for our convenience.

As we moved across the city there were many wine shops which were captioned as "घनघोर महा ठंडी वियर " for crying out loud. Amusing. Soon after our lunch we were off to the DM's office for a briefing session which fortunately was also attended by all other functionaries of the district. It was perhaps also a monthly review meeting and we did get to learn few things. In his address, the DM gave a special mention to the KTP community and jokingly stated that it is for them that the others get to peace out. Amusing again. Post that all the subgroups started for their respective guest houses where they were supposed to stay for the rest of the visit.

Finally the other morning we started for our village Sohwal. Now the agenda for the first day was to meet all the stakeholders, do a transact walk through the entire village and to observe and analyze the basic statistics available about the village. Talking of the first impressions, as we moved into the narrow and dusty streets into the villages, it was all very dry, fewer people and malnutrition across ages. Children playing in the dust or rather left unattended alongside the road was common. They were probably wearing the school uniform which they collected on the only day they went to the school. As the procession of government vehicles passed by, they looked upon us. Perhaps with hope, perhaps a deja vu. They have seen this a million times. People come, people talk, people go. Nothing changes for them.

First stop, the Pradhan's residence. In fact, you cannot call that a residence. A palace of sorts when you compare it to the rest of the households throughout the village. Neatly dressed in white, he had a larger than life persona. But bigger than that was the gold chain that he was showing off. We were welcomed with numerous sweets and other delicacies. Everything so symbolic that within an instant we understood the political dynamics of the village panchayat. All the village functionaries were there and so were some of the block administration people as if this was the so called secretariat. After a quick briefing we started the transact walk exploring the resources and housing patterns throughout the village, the schools, the ponds, the dry fields, the lost faces and those very many condescending eyes. The better half of the day was spent understanding the village so that we could do some relevant work.

In the coming days we used many PLA techniques like Timeline Exercise, Problem Preference, Venn Diagram etc to analyze the issues pertaining to the villagers. Many pressing things came up which are alarming to the uninitiated. One of the things that shocked me to the core was the problem of drinking water. The only source for drinking water was the hand pump but the water it was dispensing was clearly yellowish which we got tested from the block JE and it was indeed extremely toxic as the fluoride levels were very high. You could actually see the effects especially in the children. Most of them had yellow teeth, brown hair and stunted growth. Many other people had issues with the underdevelopment of bones. They were not aware of this problem and had no knowledge of how to filter the water.

Secondly, in spite of having some toilets, the entire village indulged in open defecation. They felt that the amount which was provided by the govt to make the toilet was not sufficient and hence most people were hesitant as they had no money. Also, the issue of water unavailability made the whole idea of toilets redundant. Most of the villagers were using these toilets as changing room or as a place to store things. In the Swacha Bharat campaign that we conducted, we majorly focused on spreading awareness about open defecation. We targeted all the schools as it is easy to make the children understand. We organized a poster making competition and screened various educative films on cleanliness and hygiene by the UNICEF. It's such a joy to be among the children. Pure hearts.

Talking of schools, there is a major problem with the large number of vacancies for the posts of teacher. Also, the uneven deployment of teachers is also an issue. Somewhere we found 7 teachers and somewhere a single one was managing the entire school. Moreover, since the School Management committees (SMCs) are non functional mostly everywhere, the responsibility of Midday Meal, construction activities and maintenance comes upon the teachers. As a result they loose half of their teaching time which is a really unfortunate situation. In spite of having good teachers, the students cannot benefit because of the additional administrative responsibilities thrown upon them. Plus, the funds under various heads are not revised regularly which further multiplies the problems for the teachers.

Thirdly, no heed has been given to the issue of irrigation. It has been years since the canals have dried up and still there is no substitute for that. People are so destitute that almost no one has a pump. And even for those who have, the electricity plays hide and seek with them and seldom is there. Those having access to pumps and generators are even doing contract farming hinting that it's only the lack of resources which is stopping our farmers from reaping benefits and hence most of them end up doing subsistence farming. The per capital land share shows a dismal figure of around 1-2 bigha. Hardly enough for subsistence agriculture. Such scarcities even prevent them from doing Animal husbandry and other allied avenues thus resulting in large levels of unemployment.

All the people we came across were very simple and genuine. They were happy for the fact that at least someone is there to listen to their problems. But at times, it was difficult to listen to them. Especially knowing the fact that we can only listen and not do much about it. And they also knew this. It was like making fancy tables and charts from the miseries they face in life. I don't know what people mean when they ask me "Did you enjoy the village visit? Did you have fun?" How can one "enjoy" a village. Did you not see the extreme levels of poverty? Did you not see the fluoride contaminated water running down their veins? Did you not see the grief? Did you not see the frustration?

Yes, it was perhaps the most relevant part of the Foundation Course. The opportunity to understand them and their issues was unique and more such exposure visits should be conceptualized. At the end, we had a debriefing session with the DM where we presented the problems of the villages and our analysis. I hope some changes are made based on the suggestions. And I also hope that when we go to the field, we do remember what we saw in the villages, we do remember the administrative apathy they face and we do remember that we owe it to them.

Lastly as I feel the nostalgia of those village days, I remember this quote by Mahatma Gandhi " India's way is not Europe's; India is not Calcutta or Bombay. India lives in her seven hundred thousand villages".

LBS Diaries Part 19 – Athletics Meet

So we had been practicing the drill for quite some time now, we had to perform this parade you see. And we had been sweating it out for a full four days. Perhaps even more, five days. My god, that’s way too much even considering the military standards. Anyway, the opening of the Athletics Meet was supposed to have a synchronized parade by all the OTs. Now, given my short stay at ITBP, I can say it with some confidence that it takes several months for the steps to get synchronized. And this was a batch of 353. So honestly, even a year wouldn’t suffice. But you can’t give away the legacy systems so we would go on performing it irrespective of the quality at display. But in spite of this ephemeral window of preparation, we did manage a decent show.

All the Counselor Groups were color coded and the result was a beautiful rainbow revolution in the Polo ground.  As these groups moved through the so called “best-track-ever”, a dust storm engulfed the entire sitting stands where our guests were struggling to see our display of hyper-entropy march past. As we settled down in the middle of the ground, the horse contingent also followed pursuit but then apparently one of the horses had diarrhea or something to that effect. The amount of shit which came out equaled the quantum which we generally see on railway platforms.  And meanwhile the Chief Guest addressed this august gathering, we were struggling to breathe in this shit-flavored  air.

And soon the meet was declared open by the respected Chief Guest who BTW delivered a wonderfully balanced and sensible speech emphasizing essentially on what our role as future public servants can be in promoting sports in our respective jurisdictions. To read more about him and the Archery workshop he conducted the previous day, CLICK HERE. There were numerous track and field events lined up for the two day long extravaganza but we started with heats for the most popular track event of 100m sprint. Suddenly most of the OTs changed into their running gears and we could see everyone warming up with an intensity which would have even made Bolt nervous.

Now, the issue was that the number of events was huge and the people showing up for them were the same.  That also put a lot of pressure on the participants as there was no time to rest their limbs in between the races. Perhaps this is one of the reasons why the academy records are mostly long standing. Anyway, thanks to Ankita Sree couple of records were broken indeed. Her brilliant display across the forum of events was only surpassed by perhaps Dema and Kelzaang. Courtesy these two, so much gold is going to Bhutan that it might eventually distort the market equations there. It’s inspiring to see how determined and hardworking these Bhutanese Officers are. They surely are doing a great job for their country.

Vince Lombardi once said “Winning isn’t everything but wanting to win is”. And folks, that precisely was the spirit displayed by the entire batch. There was immense participation in all the events and the number of people trying it for the first time was indeed overwhelming. Moreover, the number of people cheering them up was even larger. And I am sure, that encouragement did make us run faster, jump higher and throw that ball further. In other works, the support took out the best from us.

Another interesting development this time was OTs winning the tug of war beating the Faculty team. It’s hard to believe that OTs had never won  but certainly this time around we had a strong team courtesy the Incredible Hulk on our side. Plus, you know who was missing from the faculty team. Both these factors resulted in the setting of a new record. The faculty lost. And as if this was not enough, the Phase V officers also defeated them. As Chandler would say, “Can it be more embarrassing?!”

Lastly, it was a great run of events and on a personal level too. I remember in school I was not at all athletic and never got a medal in sports. I always regretted that. Lately since I have been enjoying my new found love for running, I decided to take part in all of the track events. Now the only problem is that marathoners like to run in a rhythm and sprinting does not come naturally to them. Still, I am more than glad that I managed to get two silver medals for the 100m and 400m relay races. For some it might be just another medal, for me, it was very special. Great going CG14-30!

With another round of parade followed by the prize distribution, the meet was declared close. And we said our final goodbyes to our beloved Polo Ground. Oh no wait, Penal PT abhi baki hai mere dost!