Road To Los Angeles: Episode 4

The Olympics are over 3 years away. However, we now have a bit more clarity on the events itself. There have been quite a few changes in the roster. The most significant impact is that LA28 will be the first ever Games with more female participants than male.

Also, the IOC has a new Boss – Kristy Coventry, herself a multiple Olympics medalist.

Overall, there will be 351 events across 36 sports compared to Paris which had 329 events across 32 sports. Here is a look at the sports wise changes made with respect to Paris 24.

Sports Dropped: Breaking

Sports Added:

1. Cricket: Men & Women Team events
2. Flag Football: Men & Women Team events
3. Lacrosse: Men & Women Team events
4. Squash: Men & Women Individual Events
5. Baseball: Men’s Team event
6. Softball: Women’s Team event

Changes within Sports

1. Swimming: 6 new events
• 50m Backstroke (Men & Women)
• 50m Breaststroke (Men & Women)
• 50m Butterfly (Men & Women)
2. Archery: Compound Mixed Team Event added
3. Athletics
• Addition: 4x100m Mixed Relay
• Dropped: Mixed Marathon racewalk
4. Boxing: One new event for Women. Weight categories have been rejigged for both men and women, now 7 each
5. Golf: Mixed Team event added
6. Gymnastics: Mixed Team event added
7. Rowing:
• Addition: Coastal Beach Sprints – 3 events (Men Solo, Women Solo, Mixed Doubles)
• Dropped: Lightweight Doubles Sculls – 2 events (Men & Women)
8. Shooting: Trap Mixed Team replaces Skeet Mixed team event (back to Tokyo format)
9. Sport climbing
• Addition: Boulder Event (Men & Women)
• Addition: Lead Event (Men & Women)
• Dropped: Boulder and Lead combined Event (Men & Women)
10. Table Tennis
• Additions: Men’s Doubles, Women’s Doubles, Mixed Team
• Dropped: Men’s Team, Women’s Team

Overall, quite a few changes with some of real interest to the Indian hopes (Cricket, Squash, Compound Archery, Golf, Shooting, Table Tennis, Boxing).

Now awaiting the details for the qualification pathways for the events.

Links:

• RTLA Episode 3  
• Detailed Event & Quota LA28 

BookMarks #126: The Bhagavad Gita for Millennials

Title: The Bhagavad Gita for Millennials

Author: Bibek Debroy

Genre: Non-fiction, Spiritual, Self-help

Published: 2020

BookMarks

The book serves as an introduction to Bhagavad Gita. It is not a direct interpretation of the full text but more of a commentary carrying key messages, and also how to read the Bhagavad Gita itself. A few key learnings from the book both about the Gita as well as its messages.

About Gita

• Ved Vyasa is not a single entity. In our present cycle of creation, there have already been twenty-seven Veda Vyasas.
• “The book, Gita, had not been much known to the generality of people before Shankaracharya made it famous by writing his great commentary on it. This has led some infer that Shankaracharya was the author of the Gita, and that it was he who foisted it into the body of the Mahabharata.”- Swami Vivekananda's commentary on Gita
• Writing of Mahabharat - from the original to the final version covers a period of 1000 years, from 500 BCE to 500 CE.
• There are four people who speak in the Bhagavad Gita: Krishna, Arjuna, Sanjaya and Dhritarashtra. Of the 700 shlokas, Dhritarashtra speaks only the first one

Messages from the Gita

• The Bhagavad Gita is about evolution, from a lower plane to a higher one.
• Knowledge, when it becomes fully mature is Bhakti.
• The heart is associated with bhakti, the mind is associated with jnana and the body is associated with karma.
• The definition of Religion is four-fold; Veda, Smriti, Sadacharah (good conduct) and Atmatushti (self-satisfaction).’
• One would need to have a very bloated sense of ego to presume that one could change the external world and others. All of us are insignificant. What we can change is our own selves.
• Quid pro quos, giving something in return for something else taken, is a feature of human relationships, not a divine one.
• One who considers oneself free is free indeed and one who considers himself bound remains bound
• Everything depends on perseverance and effort. The success or failure of any message depends on the transmitter, as well as the receiver.
• The jivatman does not die. Death does not come as an end. It marks a new beginning.
• ‘What is the greatest wonder?’ Yudhishthira answered, ‘Day after day, living beings go to Yama’s abode. Yet, those who remain, desire to live forever. What can be a greater wonder than that?’
• A king must learn from the conduct of a crow, a cuckoo, a bee, a crane, a snake, a peacock, a swan, a cock and iron. Perseverance from the crow, accumulation from the cuckoo, collection of taxes from the bee, patience from the crane, concentrated virulence from the snake, extension (of the kingdom) from the peacock, discrimination from the swan, arising at the right time from the cock and hardness from iron. Towards the enemy, a king must behave like an owl. At the right time, the king must act like an ant.
• It is extremely difficult to know what dharma and karma are. Therefore, what should be done is never evident.

General Knowledge

• A Kshetra is a place of pilgrimage where there is no flowing water and tirtha is a place of pilgrimage where there is flowing water.
• ‘Money is the root of all evil.’ We have heard it and we often quote it. The original is from the Bible. The correct quote, in an English language translation is, ‘The love of money is the root of all evil.’ The entire meaning changes.

Overall, an interesting read. However, the narrative does go all over the place at times probably like the original Mahabharat text itself. 

Previously on BookMarks: Corporate Chanakya on Leadership

BookMarks #125: Corporate Chanakya on Leadership

Title: Corporate Chanakya on Leadership

Author: Radhakrishnan Pillai

Genre: Non-fiction, Management

Published: 2012

BookMarks

The book attempts to convert the learnings from Chanakya’a Arthshastra into modern corporate leadership. The coverage is grouped under

• power of a leader
• responsibilities of a leader
• decision making
• nurturing people
• ethics in business
• how to prepare for competition
• what a leader should avoid doing

Overall, a succinct reading, but doesn’t go much in depth. A few more examples/illustrations would have been better to enforce the points. Gives more of a feeling of PowerPoint bullets than a text.

Previously on BookMarks: The Beekeeper of Aleppo 

Tea Making by George Orwell

• Use tea from India or Ceylon not China.
• Use a teapot, preferably ceramic. 
• Warm the pot over direct heat. 
• Tea should be strong, six spoons of leaves per litre. 
• Let the leaves move around the pot. 
• No bags or strainers. 
• Take the pot to the boiling kettle. 
• Stir or shake the pot. 
• Drink out of a tall, mug-shaped teacup. 
• Don’t add creamy milk. 
• Add milk to the tea, not vice versa. 
• No sugar!

Detailed instructions on how to make tea by George Orwell - the only Nobel Laureate born in Bihar. Quite insightful to say the least.

(The Guardian)

BookMarks #124: The Beekeeper of Aleppo

Title: The Beekeeper of Aleppo

Author: Christy Lefteri

Genre: Fiction, Historical

Published: 2019

BookMarks

The Beekeeper of Aleppo is the tale of a Syrian family and its harrowing journey to escape the war and reaching asylum in the UK. The story goes back and forth. Each chapter divided into two parts separated by a bridging word. The first part deals with the stay in England, interactions with other asylum seekers and the process of getting an asylum. The second half of each chapter narrates the origins, the journey of escape filled with own hardships. The book also deals with mental battles fought by the protagonists as they create their own illusions to escape the harsh reality around them.

Some of the lines which stood out.

• Inside the person you know, there is a person you do not know.
• Keep me alive as long as is good for me, and when death is better for me, take me.
• People are not like bees. We do not work together, we have no real sense of a greater good
• Sometimes we create such powerful illusions, so that we do not get lost in the darkness.

Overall, quite an engaging read. It’s a sad tale but also one which provides a faint glimmer of hope at every step. Just enough to help them overcome the hardships. It’s the hope which sustains them despite the uncertainties all round them. After all hope is a beautiful thing.

Previously on BookMarks: Robinson Crusoe 

Road To Los Angeles: Episode 3

The Olympics are still over 3 years away. And most of the Olympics sports & stars have receded back in the collective national memory. But some of us continue to trudge on.

Here is some of the goings on in the India Olympic sports scene in the past few months.

India submitted its application for hosting the 2036 Olympics. The way things are shaping up, there is a decent chance of it actually happening. Ironically it was a non-sporting event (the Coldplay concert) at the same venue which has boosted the chances!

Hockey

• India easily won the Women’s Asian Champions Trophy held in Rajgir, Bihar.
• The Hockey India League is back although marred by timing issues. However, good to see both the men’s & women’s editions run in parallel. The international exposure should help the game.

Cricket - The Men’s T20 team continues its blistering performance with convincing series wins away in South Africa and at home in India. On the other hand, the Women’s team had a comfortable home series win against the West Indies after a bad outing in Australia.

Tennis -  Is 15-year old Maaya Rajeshwaran Revathi the next Indian Tennis star? The superb run to reach the semi-finals at Mumbai Open does bode good signs for the youngster! However, it is still very early days.

Boxing - Nishant Dev turned pro. Well, not really a surprise, given that the sport itself faces uncertainty with still no clarity on whether it will be part of the Los Angeles roster!

Off-the-field

• The Khel Ratna Awards had some unnecessary controversy. What should have been a celebration of sporting achievements left a bad taste for all. Although, in the end they did sort it out a bit.
• The wrestlers are off the mat again missing international ranking events, as the uncertainty in the Federation itself continues.

Meanwhile, Los Angeles has been struck by major wildfires with large loss of life and damage to property. This has resulted in some whispers about the preparations of the city for hosting the Games.

So that was it for the 3rd Episode in the Road To LA. Till next time.

Links: Road To LA: Episode 2 

BookMarks #123: Robinson Crusoe

Title: Robinson Crusoe

Author: Daniel Defoe

Genre: Fiction

Published: 1719

BookMarks

Robinson Crusoe – it is one of the most familiar tales in the English language, the story of a man who gets ship-wrecked and stranded on a remote island alone, how he manages to build his own little world there and then finally after a two decade long near-incarceration is able to return to his home. This is the abridged version on the story that I was familiar with (In fact it is considered to be amongst the first novels in English). But the actual book goes into deeper details of his life on the island and follows it up with more adventures across the world, till finally Crusoe in his seventies decided to settle down at home.

While I was familiar with the story, reading the full version in detail left a different impression. While I understand the times were different at the time of publication (early 18th century), still the sheer amount of bigotry, slave trade, human trafficking, racism, religious supremacy which features in the book is simply unbelievable by modern standards. There is no equality, natives are described as savages and barbaric (of course the cannibalism doesn’t help). But it’s not just restricted to them – there is hardly a good word in general for anyone who is not English or Christian – whether the Spaniards, Mongols, Chinese, Russians – no one is spared. Everyone else’s customs are against God. Conversion is a recurring theme in the book. Crusoe even goes on to destroy the idols and places of worship of others!

No wonder, what we read as kids is a very mild version which just puts in the adventure part and removes the rest.

And then there is the spelling – shewed (for showed), hallooed (for calling out), and more. Even the words have entirely different meanings to the modern usage.

A couple of lines which stood out:

• to-day we love what to-morrow we hate; to-day we seek what to-morrow we shun; to-day we desire what to-morrow we fear; nay, even tremble at the apprehensions of.
• attempting to teach others is sometimes the best way of teaching ourselves.

Reading this version gave a totally different impression of what was a simple familiar story!

Previously on BookMarks: The Fine Art of Small Talk 

BookMarks #122: The Fine Art of Small Talk

Title: The Fine Art of Small Talk

Author: Debra Fine

Genre: Non-fiction, Self-help

Published: 1997

BookMarks

A book targeting the introverts, who find it difficult to make and continue conversations in informal settings. Some of the techniques suggested to be a good conversationalist are:

• Express empathy
• Greet people warmly, make eye contact and smile
• Be first to say hello
• Use the person's name and correctly
• Show an interest in others
• Dig deeper
• Be a good listener and an active one
• Stop being an adviser
• Find connections to continue the conversation
• Don't kill conversation
• Don't just question

And most importantly Practice, in effect Fake it till it becomes a second nature.

While the tips are there some of the content is repetitive. Some of the opening lines suggested can border on the rude. And the author makes the assumption that the other person is also mutually interested in a conversation!

Overall, an okayish read. The nook can be much shorter and feels more like a dragged out Ted Talk kind of presentation. 

Previously on BookMarks: Train To Pakistan 

Goodbye 2024

As the Year 2024 AD draws to a close, it is safe to say as a collective, humankind has moved on from the challenges of the Covid pandemic. As we bid farewell to the year going by, time to reflect on and recall a few of the memories to hold on (or maybe not)

1. Word of the Year

Brain Rot was chosen as Oxford’s Word of the Year – the phenomenon of damage to mental health from an ever-increasing consumption of social media with its echo chambers, endless doomscrolling. All of us are victims of it only the impact varies. Its really time to get off the screen!

2. The Geopolitical Chessboard

It has been more than a decade since the last recognized country, South Sudan, came into existence – relatively such a prolonged period of stability in the global political map has been unprecedented. However, this balance is certainly in threat. The Russia-Ukraine conflict is in its 3rd year, Israel has multiple battle fronts open in the Middle East with both state and non-state actors. Simultaneously, regional skirmishes continue to flare up in various parts of the world. On the other hand, many governments changed either democratically or were thrown out. 

Regime changes in Syria, Bangladesh, India-Canada diplomatic stand-off, Iran firing missiles into Pakistan, Myanmar-Bangladesh border clashes, Assassination attempts in Europe & USA, South Korean President declaring martial law and getting impeached - the list seems endless. The whole global geopolitical landscape seems to be a tinderbox waiting to explode. And the people in-charge at best seem unwilling to prevent the explosion or worse adding fuel to the fire.

And the weapons in the war games have expanded - from sanctions and diplomatic cutoffs to missiles and exploding pagers!

3. The Bureaucratic Masterstroke

Donald Trump has announced the creation of DOGE – the Department of Government Efficiency – an advisory body to streamline the government’s functioning! And there are TWO people in-charge of it. The makers of Yes Minister must be kicking themselves for not coming up with this storyline. Somewhere, irony is having a hearty laugh!

4. We Are The Champions

It came home and in grand style. Multiple players in the Candidates, followed by both Open & Women’s Team winning the Chess Olympiad titles, Arjun Erigiasi breaking into elite 2800 ratings club, a 3-year old Anish Sarkar becoming a rated player. All culminating in Gukesh becoming the youngest undisputed World Chess Champion.

Not many sports have had such a success. Chess certainly has been the showstopper in a year in which India won the Men’s T20 World Cup and Neeraj Chopra further cemented his status as India’s GOAT sportsperson.

5. The Fine Margins

Battling back from hell and then being thrown back in – what a tragedy it was for Vinesh Phogat. A turbulent build-up to the Games, a draw which couldn’t have been tougher, a win for the ages, reaches the Final. The stage was set for a fairytale finish even Disney would have been proud of. And the next morning it all crumbled down in the most brutal fashion, being disqualified for being unable to cut down the weight by a meagre 100g. That was sports at its cruelest.

6. Sporting (Non-)Performance of the Year

Raygun’s Breaking display at the Paris Games. Enough to ensure that Breaking doesn’t come into Olympics discussion in the near future.

7. The Mt. Everest moment – Video Game edition

Tetris was finally conquered, just 34 years since it first came into being. The seemingly endless game was finally beaten by a 13 year old.

8. The Crowd is on Strike moment

One fine July morning, there was a global Microsoft outage. People couldn’t log into their systems, resulting in work shutting down. Some turned to the old-school pen & paper workaround but things still stayed slow. While this was a scenario straight out of any cyber-attackers’ wildest dreams, the cause was simple - a faulty update being rolled out.

9. The e-queues

The online scramble for concert tickets (Coldplay, Diljt Dosanjh)—and the torrent of hilarious complaints that followed—seems to have made people forget the alternative. At least it’s better than standing in a physical queue, exposed to all the elements, getting jostled around, worrying about pickpockets, or facing the occasional lathi charge!.

10. What is Art?

A question which remains unanswered. After all, if a banana taped to a wall can be sold for $ 6.2 Million, then it raises some existential questions for “artists”. [Aside - the banana was eaten, so now also has its place in the costliest food list, alongwith the two Papa Jones pizza which were bought for 10,000 bitcoins!]

11. And Finally from the animal world

There was Moo Deng, a baby pygmy hippo. But the pride of place must go to a pair of brawling koalas stopping traffic! (Video)

So, this was a bit of 2024. Wishing all readers a Very Happy New Year 2025!

2024 - TYIL

The more I learn, the more I realize that I know nothing.

As another Gregorian calendar year draws to a close, ‘tis time to draw up the list of some totally irrelevant, some funny and some interesting things (or not) which I learnt during its course (or rather remembered to list). So without much ado, here goes #TYIL (or This Year I Learnt), featuring amongst others the usual suspects - Numbers, Economics,  A Japanese term and a big German word.

1. The IKEA Effect – People tend to value an object more if they make/assemble it themselves. [Decision Lab]
2. Vellichor – The pleasure of smelling the odour of old books, especially is old bookstores [Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows] (A sibling of petrichor). [Aside - there is a dictionary of obscure sorrows!)
3. Raketa Watches – A Russian watch company who replace the number 12 by 0 on their dial. [GQ]
4. 381 km by 381 km – The Maximum possible size of a pdf page, imposed by Adobe Acrobat software. Now if only someone could find a printer for it! [YCombinator] 
5. The famous white symbols on green screen from the movie Matrix are actually a Japanese text for a sushi recipe [Wired]. It was once a very popular screensaver.
6. The names Chital & Cheetah come from the same Sanskrit root Chitrala. [Link] 
7. Dutch Disease - When countries experience a sudden large increase in income, the consequences can be harmful. Increased income from a resource boom leads to inflation [Link]
8. The name jeans comes from the city of Genoa. French “bleu de Genes” or blue of Genoa. [Link] 
9. In the initial years, certain Lok Sabha constituencies had 2 MPs elected, one General and one Reserved.[Moneycontrol] 
10. Umarell – old men who spend their time watching construction sites, usually with hands behind their backs. An Italian origin word, there has to be an Indian equivalent for people watching JCBs at work! [Wikipedia] 
11. Ganko Keitai – the ‘wild-geese-flying pattern’ of economic growth, whereby production shifts from the lead goose (advanced nation) to the next flock of geese (developing nations) [Wikipedia] 
12. India’s first Director Identification Number (DIN) was issued to Ratan Tata [Link] 
13. 2^136279841 – 1: The largest prime number discovered till date, with over 41 Million digits. It took 6 years to get to the new record. [Mersenne]
14. Dunkelflaute - a period of time in which little or no energy can be generated with wind and solar power, because there is neither wind nor sunlight. The killer of renewable energy! [Wikipedia] 
15. The 1st item in UK supermarket to have a barcode - A box of teabags (Guess can’t go more British than this) [BBC] 
16. Cushy – an English word used to describe an easy job environment comes from the Hindi Khushi. Probably how some Brits saw their India posting!
17. And to round it off, today 23rd December is marked as Christmas Adam - The eve of Christmas Eve (24th December), because as per Christian tradition Adam came before Eve. I guess in some time we will know what happens to 22nd December! [Grammarist] 

P.S. Lists from 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 & 2023.

P.P.S Seems the lists are getting smaller every year. Need to get better at recording them.