The Union Budget 2018-19: a bag of tricks

My take on the Union Budget 2018... not that it should matter to anyone. Slightly long, so pick up a tea or coffee, if you will, as you read this.
Statutory Warning: Read at your own risk. Anybody complaining of dying from a heavy dose of satire is solely himself/herself to blame.
The budget presented yesterday is the last budget of the current government. I would have preferred though if this was the last government offering the current budget.
The budget is supposed to be an exercise in which the government tries to balance the earnings and expenditure of the state, and doles out some freebies to the needy while strengthening some purse-strings with those who have more than they need. The 2018 budget, while attempting to do so, seems to have actually been prepared not by a financial wizard but by a wannabe-magician who seems to have got his rabbits and saw-blades mixed up. Given the budget document, I'm surely not going to be the one to volunteer to try and pull out the rabbit from his hat, for I could easily end up getting into the saw-the-lady-into-two chamber instead and not come out alive. In any case, I have a general mistrust of magicians, and the better they are the more untrustworthy they become. So, pardon me, but I am cynical.
Let's start by taking a look at various things in the budget. Some seem quite good, some seem not-so-great, while some are clearly excellent bridal make-up trying to cover up the blemishes and moon-craters.
The most popular thing first – the income tax and the benefits given to the middle class. The salaried people have been given a largesse in standard deduction of Rs. 40,000/-. Yesterday, every minister and all side-kicks of the party in power kept harping about the fact how this means additional Rs. 40,000/- in the hands of the people. Well, either these guys can’t pass a simple arithmetic test of plus & minus, or they’re full of ignorant innocence of the highest order. While the Standard Deduction has indeed been increased, the usual deductions under medical insurance & conveyance allowance totaling to almost Rs. 35,000/- have been taken away. This is the simplest case evidenced in economic history and entire political science of taking from the left pocket to put in the right one. Resultantly, the benefit is a magnanimous Rs. 5,000/- per annum instead of the promised Rs. 40,000/-. Add to this the additional 1% Education Cess that one needs to pay now, and the income tax is actually going to increase. So, we’ll all be left with a smell of good food that we can never see, touch or eat. Ah! The joys of mathematical jugglery know no bounds.
Not that spending additionally on education is a bad thing. All governments must definitely contribute more & more towards education and healthcare. However, what confuses me is that despite this 1% additional cess, the actual allocation to the HRD Ministry (that controls education) has reduced from 3.70% last year to 3.48% this year. This is actually a 6% decrease in actual spends from last year, and if one takes the current inflation rate of over 5.5%, this would actually mean a reduction by almost 12% over the last year. Even if one looks at the total spend on Education alone, it has gone up by Rs. 3,000 crore from Rs. 82,000 crore last year to 85,000 crore this year (less than 4% increase against an inflation rate of over 5.5% and a GDP growth forecast of 7%). This means that we’ll be actually spending about 8.5% lesser than last year after taking into account the inflation and GDP growth. Huh! How does that make any sense? Also, income tax receipts FY 2017-18 were Rs. 4.41 lakh crore in 2017-18. Given a 1% increase education surcharge, this would mean an additional collection of Rs. 4,410 crore even if the income tax collected is same as last year. So, why am I being asked to pay more if the government is going to be spending less?
That brings me to the one really good thing that hardly anybody can criticize – the health insurance plan for the poor, already been called Modicare (ala Obamacare). Before you read the next sentence, I would like to re-emphasize two key-words in the previous one – hardly anybody. Having made that clarification, here goes. On the surface, this seems really great, almost as good as being told that we’re all not going to be taxed anymore ever. However, as the saying goes, the devil lies in the details. 10 crore poorest families or 50 crore people (40% of India’s population) are proposed to be covered by the government for medical expenses up to Rs. 5 lac/annum. Well, which madman could argue against that? Ahem, even though I’d like to disagree, some people do call me mad… so, I’ll try and live up to that reputation, if only for once.
Personally, I am absolutely delighted with this I-care-for-the-poor-and-the-sick approach. That is what social care is all about, which I strongly support. The expense for this medical insurance (even at rock-bottom rates) is going to be about Rs. 5,000/- per family. So, that’s Rs. 50,000 crore public expenditure on healthcare. But why do I not see an allocation for this in the budget? The National Health Mission budget has actually been reduced by over Rs. 650 crore (2% decrease over last year) this year, and the total budgetary allocation of Rs 52,800 crore for health in 2018-19 is merely Rs. 2,720 crore higher (5% increase) than the revised estimate of Rs 50,080 crore in 2017-18. So, where’s the additional Rs. 50,000 crore for this insurance (which needs doubling of the health budget) going to come from? And why is the government not willing to spend this money on building hospitals instead and providing free care to all? Who will be the real financial beneficiaries of this medical insurance? Obviously, the insurance companies and the private hospitals. Surely, with a medical insurance of this nature, no person is likely to go to a government hospital anymore, and we shall see a mushrooming of private nursing homes (most likely leading to suboptimal care) and lots of inflated & fake medical bills that earn private hospitals millions without having much impact on overall health. In fact, this would also mean an immediate increase in private hospital charges, as demand will quickly outstrip supply of hospitals, beds and doctors. Who pays for this big farce? Well, of course, the honest tax payer constituting the top 15% population, who’s got absolutely no relief from the government in this budget. I have no problem paying for this great initiative, but the government, while announcing this grand schemed, hasn’t earmarked any funds at all for the same. No marks for guessing that it is a great magic trick by a good wannabe-magician trying to charm the audience through make-believe and sleight of hand.
While we’re on the subject of good things for the poor, let us also look at the MSP guarantee for Kharif crops at 150% of cost. While this MSP benefit is announced only for Kharif crop and not for Rabi and Zaid, it still seems to be really good, given the huge number of farmer suicides our country sees every year due to crop failure or inability to get the right price for their product or farm debt repayment. Let us look at how the government defines cost to understand this better. Total cost includes the basic purchase cost including seeds, fertilizers, manure, pesticides, etc. not including the cost of labour, land rent or interest on loan. An average farmer in India currently spends about Rs. 60,000 on each crop. Effectively, this means that over a 4 month period (July-October) of the Kharif crop, an average farmer is guaranteed Rs. 90,000 for his labour, or, Rs. 30,000 income for 4 months, and he still has to pay for land rent (almost half of the cultivated land in India is rented) and the interest on the loan taken from the local money-lender (which can be as high as 5% per month). Nonetheless, it is a good initiative. Though increased MSP always means increased prices and inflation. But, we can live with that to save farmer lives. If only the farmer got that benefit instead of traders and middle-men who actually make a clean 200-300% profit on agrarian produce. And, if only, he got it for all three crop seasons instead of just one.
Before I end, let’s also look at the biggest social initiative of this government and the pet project of our Pradhan Sevak – the Swachh Bhaarat Mission. Well, as the numbers point out, this year, it sees a decrease in budget by over Rs. 1,400 crore (7.3% decrease over last year). Guess, India has become much, much cleaner over the past 3 years and doesn’t need more investment on this anymore? Why do I not see the change though, I completely fail to understand! Somebody help me.
Yours ignoramus, Shailesh Nigam

MBA's are creating Professional Slaves rather than Entrepreneurs

Two days ago, on 11th January 2017, I was invited by my MBA institute, BIMTECH (Birla Institute of Management Technology) to moderate a panel discussion/debate on the topic, "MBAs are creating Professional Slaves rather than Entrepreneurs". The panelists were divided into 4 teams - 2 for and 2 against the motion - comprising 1 faculty and 1 student each. It was a brilliant debate and I loved listening to and interacting with the young minds as well as experienced professors. Thought I'd share my own views on the same topic, and so here I go...

How many of you have played Monopoly? Which are the most valuable properties? Don’t bother answering it… Mayfair & Park Lane; everyone knows that. Which are the least valued properties? Anybody knows that?

Old Kent Road, followed by Whitechapel Road. At £ 60/- each, both of them cost just 15% of Mayfair. And so, they are properties where you can easily build hotels at a very low cost and start getting more rent than Mayfair without a hotel, at a fraction of the basic cost of Mayfair. I have often beaten people owning both Mayfair and Park Lane with a portfolio boasting of Old Kent Road and Whitechapel Road and their likes. There are some safe bets too in Monopoly – the utility companies, the railway stations; but then only my grandmother played for safety in Monopoly. The young turks always ditched safety for a dream to build an empire. And that’s what I love about the game – despite the throw of the dice, you drive your own destiny and fortune definitely favours the brave.

As a player, as a banker, as an uninvolved watcher-on, we all love Monopoly. You know why we all love it? Because it allows us to dream big and become super successful. It indeed reflects entrepreneurship – if you take big risks and are willing to play the slow, waiting game without being too selfish in trying to own everything that you can lay your hands on – Mayfair and Park Lane will make you rich, very rich. If you play it shrewdly, you could sit with Old Kent Road & Whitechapel Road and still emerge fairly successful at the end. However, if you play it safe with Electric Company, Waterworks and Kings Cross Station, you will soon meet your Waterloo.

Unarguably, Monopoly – the game of building a business empire – is the most exciting game ever. And yet, it is probably the most stressful game too. And that is why it is so close to reality of being an entrepreneur. For stress & anxiety are bosom buddies of any half-successful entrepreneur.

Ben Horowitz, the co-founder of Opsware and  co-founder of the VC firm, Andreessen Horowitz, was once asked by a reporter, “With such a large business, it must be quite stressful for you. How do you ever go to sleep?”

“Oh! I sleep like a baby.”

“Really?”

“Yes. I wake up every two hours and cry.”

So, should you choose the stressful life of an entrepreneur who has his ups & downs or the safety cocoon of a corporate employee whose career graph is more or less charted out even before the first day in office?

The perks of working at a large corporate are many. An enviable brand name, a sprawling office complex, a big fat salary, a business card with a fancy designation, lots of cool colleagues to hang out and party with every day, office bashes where you get to sample the best whiskies and wines of unpronounceable names & unthinkable prices.

What’s more, for guys like me - who neither deserve nor get a second look from members of the fairer sex - there’s the additional perk of getting to dance with pretty girls. Corporates are indeed where you need to be. Right?

I mean, c’mon… where else will you get the pleasure of bitching about your boss with your colleagues while sucking up to her in private?

And, then there’s always the biggest perk around the corner – the huge possibility of finding a filthy-rich spouse at work!

And now think about entrepreneurship. I mean it doesn’t take rocket science to figure out which loser would choose to slog for 80 hours a week just to avoid working 40 hour weekdays in a corporate? Drink the cheapest, warm beer at 1:00 am at night in the solitude of your small office, if you can at all call your wealthy cousin’s garage or the 3+1 extra servant room in your parent’s 1500 sq. feet apartment your office.

And what are the chances of meeting and dancing with lovely, booze-enthused girls? Well, they’re as bright as finding kangaroos in Kenya. Oh, isn’t entrepreneurship fascinating!

And yet, after spending close to 2 dozen fully fun-filled years enslaved in the corporate world, I chose the latter. Why? Because I was fed up of the charade that all my colleagues – seniors, peers and juniors included – and I carried out every year, or being in a fulfilling job, when the biggest thing on everyone’s mind was occupying the all-powerful corner office, the high 7-figure salary package, and the long limo that would come with it. Anxiously waiting for the next appraisal announcement every year that would enslave me further, eagerly looking forward to the next bigger cell to become my office room, excitedly holding meetings with clients and colleagues who were all present inside those conference rooms just because of their own, self-chosen enslavement terms for getting the promised dole at the end of the month.

Well, those were my beautiful 24 years as a slave. Not that I didn’t enjoy them. I totally loved my life, especially in my last role as the Chief Strategy Officer, APAC of the world’s largest digital marketing company. I was travelling business class, staying at the world’s fanciest 5-star hotels, brushing shoulders with the who’s who of the corporate world globally. And yet, I felt unfulfilled and incomplete.

For, even a 5-star hotel can be quite a bore when you actually check-in at 10:00 pm to either sleep for 6 hours or type your next PowerPoint presentation before leaving sharp at 4:00 am to catch your next flight. And, I mean who – besides a pilot or an air hostess – wants to be on a jet plane every second day? It’s not that I don’t like to fly, but when you’re flying an average of 5,000 miles every week, catching flights mostly at unearthly hours, eating stale airline food from a plastic tray, trying to catch some quick shut-eye on the plane while an infant in the next seat is trying to find his highest vocal notes, it is not exactly a dream world.

But, quite frankly, I loved my job of being a marketing consultant. Who won’t like having the COOs and CEOs of large MNCs like Pepsi, HP, MetLife, Samsung, Microsoft, and their likes sit back with rapt attention and listen to & implement your suggestions to increase their business?

Yet, what my job lacked was the ability to create and nurture something unique for ‘myself’, instead of for others. I had the good fortune of being part of the team leading the strategy for designing, launching and managing the eCommerce portals for HP and Samsung in India. The strategy that we devised won them huge business and us many accolades and awards. And that was the problem – our clients won huge business, while we won only admiration. They earned big fat bonuses for implementing what we proposed, while we just earned a good case study to go out and woo more clients like them.

You know what sucks about awards? They are like medals given to soldiers for having taken bullets in the line of duty. The world sees and admires the medal, but only the wearer knows the pain.

With the phenomenal response that HP and Samsung eCom portals received, another newer business vertical for my organization had spawned. The vertical of building and managing more such websites.

At that juncture, I was pretty sure that I didn’t want to continue working for others’ success, and I didn’t want to continue being one of the spokes in the wheel, even if the most important one. And so, I decided to become my own boss. With a dream to do something interesting for MYSELF rather than for the safety of my bank balance. With a desire to address consumer needs based on what consumers want and not based on what a brand wishes to push. With a determination to work alone if it were to be so, in my quest for creating something valued and valuable. And that’s how I launched my own eCommerce portal, DesiFirangi.com. Finally, I stopped being a corporate caterpillar, and entered chrysalis to become a business butterfly.

A caterpillar is one of the most fascinating creatures. It evolves during its lifetime like no other living being. Yet a caterpillar, which only seeks the safety of readily-available food in plant leaves, will never become a butterfly that flies wherever it wishes, to feed on nectar from various flowers. And yet, you can’t become an admired butterfly before leading the life of a humble caterpillar, even if it is in your own organization.

However, I leave it to each one you to judge for yourself which is better – being an entrepreneur or being a corporate executive. For one has seen many talented employees rise up the corporate ladder to become CEOs of large global corporates, and define & drive their destinies. Even if I were to just take Indian names, there are far too many who have risen to the very top of their global organizations, and today wield the power to direct not just their own fate, but the fate of their companies and to an extent the fate of the entire world & its populace.

The likes of Indra Nooyi of Pepsi, Sundar Pichai of Google, Satya Nadella of Microsoft, Ajaypal Singh Banga of MasterCard, Rakesh Kapoor of Reckitt Benckiser, Shantanu Narayen of Adobe Systems, Nikesh Arora of SoftBank, Vikram Pandit of Citibank, Sanjay Jha of GlobalFoundaries and earlier of Motorola, who became the highest paid CEO globally in 2014 receiving US$ 66 million as a ‘Golden Parachute’ when Google acquired Motorola. So, finally, the choice is yours.

Somebody once remarked to me that employees are like turtles, seeking the safety of their shells, and entrepreneurs are like cheetahs, running fast to catch their prey. I am not so sure that that analogy is correct. I like cheetahs but I also very much admire turtles. For while a cheetah only hunts to survive, a turtle has the guts to stick his neck out to make any progress in life. And turtles – as we all know – are one of the oldest living and longest living, most evolutionary creatures on Earth. You can choose what you wish to be – an entrepreneur or a corporate executive. Just don’t stop taking risks and don’t stop evolving. 

All the best!

Secret Revealed - The real culprit behind failure of a cashless economy

Got my cooking gas cylinder refill from Indane delivered yesterday. Even though Indane is a central government PSU, the vendor refused to accept PayTM, cheque or bank transfer, asking for hard cash only. If the government cannot ensure cashless transactions for its own departments and their vendors even after a month of launching this cashless drive, how can it accept private companies, merchants and traders to do so? There are very few, at two ends of the spectrum, who are adopting PayTM - the very large who are already okay with accepting payments in credit card/debit card, and those who are really very small traders and see this as a saviour in the current times where they have lost 70-80% business. Neither of those loses anything in terms of additional white money sales and taxes. The real problems lies amongst those in-between these two segments - the mid-level traders who suppress sales and income.

I realized this just now when I learnt through my neighbourhood chemist the real reason why merchants like him are not adopting PayTM or other non-credit card/debit card payment options. Accepting payments through PayTM or other wallets - that even the poorest can have and use - would mean virtually 60-70% payments for all their sales would come to them in white money against less than 10% that comes currently (through credit card/debit card payments, where card penetration is small and usage is virtually negligible). Which means they will now need to pay sales tax on that additional 50-60% (actually 6-7 times more than what they reported earlier), plus income tax as well on additional reported income by them.

But besides that issue, the bigger problem is elsewhere. If they suddenly start showing 6-7 times greater sales (60-70% reported sales now against 10% reported sales till last month), the sales tax authorities will definitely question them. This is definitely a highly avoidable situation, which they would go to any length to avoid even at the cost of losing some sales in the interim.

However, this final one takes the cake in the non-adoption of PayTM or UPI. They purchase a bulk of their merchandise in cash and sell in cash, with no bills for purchase or sales. If they adopt PayTM, even bigger will be this issue of now having to declare their total purchases (which they suppressed till now), as they cannot suddenly show sales of Rs. 6-7 lacs/month against purchase of Rs. 80,000/- only against which they till now showed sales of Rs. 1 lac. There are two problems contained herein. One, they definitely don't want to show this increase in sale and purchase, as it will also result in them having to pay income tax, which they totally avoid till now. Two, their distributor doesn't want to show increased sales from him, and thereby forcibly having to show increased purchases by him, and simply refuses to sell on cheque more than 20% of the total merchandise.

Given this, it is clear that the black economy will continue to exist and black money will continue to be generated even after 30th December, 2016. Because we, the people, want it to be so, and the government and its officials actually encourage us to do so, by turning a blind eye to the real source of generation of black money in the consumer goods economy - the factories and the import hubs. The producers/importers are encouraged to avoid invoicing and taxes by corrupt government officials who - as we all know - cannot function fully without the blessings and guidance of their seniors. This leads to a flow of unreported production/import, leading to black money being generated at multiple levels - right from the sourcing done by the factory/importer, to its production/repackaging, to its distributors, to its wholesalers and, finally, to the retailers.

The only way to stop this is at the production/import level (at factories and ports of import) itself, by ensuring everything is fully accounted for before leaving the premises. That way, everything will need to be fully invoiced, and will be able to move through the white money channel only. Wonder, given the economic compulsions and commercial friendships of various political parties, if we can ever see that happening.

A new kid on the block may not be only be competitive, but may even give you a run for your money

Many organizations take pride in what they've created and how they've crushed competition in the past to rise to and remain at the top, and how they will remain untouched by the small newcomers.

Cricket today showed how inaccurate that fallacy can be. How it is so foolish to ignore the warning bells and just keep looking within and at big teams like yourself thinking you're away from danger.

Unfancied Ireland today chased a huge 300+ target with exceptional ease and over 4 overs to spare against two-times world champions and one of the ICC World Cup Tournament favourites, West Indies.

West Indies would've surely assumed that they had the match in their pocket after scoring 304. However, a great top order batting performance by Ireland made world class bowlers like Roach, Taylor, and company look totally pedestrian, and Ireland romped home with 4 wickets and 4 overs to spare. This was not just a victory, it was a humiliating defeat beyond comprehension.

Reminds me of 1983 when Kapil's Devils showed to the world that cricket can produce Davids who will not only take on Goliaths but also conquer them.

Today, traditional brick and mortar businesses are facing a similar threat to their very existence due to the growth of eCommerce companies. These newcomers are rewriting every rule in the book - whether it is about range, or about pricing, or about customer service - and are finally making consumer the king. 

Those hit hardest are the traditional trade stores. Whether they're the neighbourhood mom-n-pop stores or whether they're mall-based modern retail chains, the story is the same. These businesses just did not see the snow coming down, and now it's an avalanche that's hit them so hard that they're finding it difficult to even survive. Such is the storm that even huge global brands like HP and Samsung are at their wits end as to how to ensure that their traditional channel partners remain profitable and loyal to them. Their retail partners can't match the deep-pockets of the eCom giants on marketing, can't match their reach, and definitely can't match the prices or the product range & availability given their huge costs for high-street-retail infrastructure, limited shelf-space, limited shop-floor inventory and front-end staff.

While one the one hand it can be said that these businesses did not expect eCommerce to grow so big so fast in India, the truth is that they simply ignored the threat perception and did not prepare themselves for this.

Today, some brands have learnt their lesson the hard way and are quickly making amends. Tatas have already invested in snapdeal.com, thereby ensuring that their brand Croma doesn't suffer so much and, in fact, benefits from the growth of eCommerce. Croma mentions that products across various electronic categories like mobiles, tablets and laptops, that are available at its physical stores will be available for purchase on Croma's brand store on SnapDeal, taking Croma's reach far beyond their 101 stores in just 25 cities.

Other traditional retail majors like Arvind and Reliance have also made forays online. In August last year, retail firm Arvind launched an online site Creyate, which retails customizable apparel. After a quiet foray in eCommerce for their grocery business restricted to Mumbai only last November, Reliance Industries announced its plans to start online sales of mobile phones, laptops, televisions and hope appliances within a month in December, 2014. Finally, the realization has dawned, and big businesses are coming around to the fact that David can beat Goliath with its nimbleness and with public on its side, and they need to move fast to counter them or be left behind.

Guess, it is the season of small guys winning against mighty giants!

Give me a home where no terrorists roam

This poem - written by me in 1984 - is dedicated to the 132 children who fell to the cowardice of terrorists in Peshawar yesterday.

Give me a home
Where no terrorists roam
And the kids can play
On the streets all day

No firing, no gun shots
No killing of tiny tots
No fear in the air
No mothers in despair

No murders in religion’s name
Let’s not make life easy game
Guns are not anyone’s toy
Funerals don’t bring anyone joy

Does it matter which God I pray
Does your God hate mine, I say
Is your blood’s colour different than mine
Is your prayer and temple more divine

So, why are we all fighting each other
And killing one another’s son and brother
Is this what you really call freedom of choice
Where only one religion can have a voice

Let’s make our country, our home a beautiful place
Where peacefully can reside human race
And all of us can live together in peace
May I have my paradise back, please

Give me a home
Where no terrorists roam
And the kids can play
On the streets all day

Oh! Give me a home
Where no terrorists roam
And the kids can play
On the streets all day

Instead of religion, give humanity a chance!

I find it quite strange - and really sick - that some people who claim to be highly educated, wise, cultured, religious, spiritual and helpful to others, jump to attack another religion at the slightest provocation. They do not just condemn the followers of that religion for their misdeeds (which is what any sensible person should/would do), they actually condemn the religion itself for the simple reason that they don't follow that religion. And they do it with complete impunity, without for a moment thinking that it is not the religion that may be bad, it is its misinterpretation by the people who turn evil and commit heinous acts.

Tolerance, compassion, benevolence, humanity - qualities which should manifest themselves much more in such "spiritual" people - seem to have not touched them at all. What's more, they don't have an iota of shame in goading their own religious brethren to put the other faith's followers in their proper place and propagating violence against the followers of the religion that they so disagree with. So much for their wisdom & spirituality!

While I am among the first to condemn the misdeeds of any religion (including the one I follow), I find such partisan & parochial behaviour from the so-called-religious-minded completely obnoxious. I hope and pray that they rise above such intolerance by showing some forbearance and give religious solidarity (I did not say secularism) a real chance.

Curbing corruption and reining in black money through radical reforms in the fiscal and monetary policies

The AAP was sworn into power in Delhi on the 28th of December, 2013. I was left delightfully amazed about this brilliant marketing master-stroke by AAP to be sworn into power at the Ramlila Maidan rather than at the state assembly. Never before has a Chief Minister's swearing-in been such a publicised affair, and even the BJP's PM-candidate Mr. Narendra Modi's very recent 3rd term swearing-in as the Gujarat Chief Minister did not get this kind of media and pan-India attention. Also, if I am not much mistaken, even the outgoing PM, Dr. Manmohan Singh was not accorded this kind of attention at both his swearing-in ceremonies.

The strategy of taking oath publicly was fabulous on two counts. One, it showed the public that the AAP members are one of them, who would much rather take charge publicly in front of the common people than amidst privileged few in the closed doors of the assembly, truly showcasing that this is a "government of the people, by the people, for the people". Two, it allowed all the common people across the nation witness the phenomenal rise of the AAP and its true ability of being able to provide a credible alternative to the thus-far bi-polar politics of India, which the general public is so fed up of. What would otherwise have been relegated to a 60-second news item at best on all news channels, with one master-stroke became the most-viewed event and the biggest discussion point of the nation. Suddenly, without any big announcement or spend from their party, very intelligently, the AAP used the might of the media and went national on a 'zero-budget'. To my mind, this is marketing at its very best.

The AAP had surely played a brilliant opening gambit in its preparation for the forthcoming 2014 general election, and I called up my closest friend and somebody whose opinion I value immensely, Varun Khanna, to discuss the same. Amongst various things, we also discussed that if it nurtured national ambitions (and both of us think it should), the AAP would need to go beyond anti-corruption as its sole/primary agenda and define for the nation its stance on various issues - local, national, and international. On the corruption front and possible ways of curbing black money, we discussed four things which could help the nation weed our corruption - one, doing away with large currency notes at least in the short term; two, land reforms focusing upon taxation; three introduction of a time-bound tax-free/minimal-taxation amnesty scheme for bringing back the black money into circulation; and four, abolition of multiple taxation and replacement of the same with a simple banking transaction tax.

Both of us were extremely surprised and yet glad to notice a similar discussion on two counts (about abolition of large currency notes and introduction of a banking transaction tax) emanating from Baba Ramdev just a week later. Before I go further to define what we feel can work to free the country of black money at a large scale, let me on the outset state very clearly that though my family and I do use Patanjali's products (which we do believe are very good), I have no personal affection for Baba Ramdev as a person or as a protestor or as a politico. At best, I think he is an FMCG major who is providing good quality products. Unlike him, I do not support Mr. Narendra Modi or the BJP; my political beliefs and support are with the AAP right now. To think that Baba Ramdev should define the national politics and play a crucial role in who will become the PM - because of his mass following as a great yoga guru (please don't mistake that for a spiritual guru) or as the principal guiding force of a good ayurveda pharmacy - is immature, at best. Nonetheless, he has enough supporters - many of who are far more educated, experienced and enlightened than me - who can surely help define the discourse for him as a person, and the direction for India as a nation. So, some things that he said recently find complete resonance with me. Having defined my opinion of Baba Ramdev, let me now elaborate upon how the abolition of large currency notes and a banking transaction tax can work better instead of the current multiple taxation regime in curbing black money, and yet generating revenue for the government. And how the other two things that Varun and I discussed can make a huge difference as well.

The root cause of black money - as we all know - is corruption, and the ill-gains are mostly taken in cash... cheques and banking almost never play a role in the same. Also, such large funds are normally parked in real-estate though cash deals and benami transactions, and some of this is transferred abroad through hawala transactions. This results in easy give-n-take of money in cash. Now, suppose that the government decided to do away with not just large currency notes but cash altogether to curb such practices! No, no, hold your horses for a minute - what I am suggesting is not a wild fantasy; it is actually feasible, albeit in the long run. Let me first explain how this can happen, and then get onto explaining what could be the road to this utopia. Just remember one word as you read on - 'mCommerce' - and you'd understand everything thereafter.

In September 2013, the active mobile phone base in India was 738.89 million connections - of which 54% were in rural areas. The resultant tele-density (number of people owning mobile phones vis-a-vis the total population) was 70.63% - 137.93% in urban areas and 40.97% in rural areas. Assuming an industry average of 2 connections per user across all geographies, this results in a teledensity of 35% in urban areas and 20% in rural areas. Taking the average household size of 5 members pan-India, this translates to at least 1 mobile connection per household. So, mobile-wise we are already reaching virtually every single household, and can move to mCommerce completely and abolish cash completely. Or, can we? One may argue that there are still some back-of-beyond and extremely impoverished and tribal areas where mobile adoption is very low and it will take a lot of time to reach a respectable threshold level, but the impoverished, dying of hunger types are definitely not the people we need to be concerned about for black money generation, right?

Having defined the mobile penetration in India, let's take this a bit further. In October 2013, the internet users in India crossed 205 million, and in December 2013, the number of mobile internet users in India was estimated at 130 million which is estimated to grow to 155 million by March 2014 and will more than double in one year to over 265 million by 2014-end. This mobile and internet revolution is fuelled by many things happening simultaneously - availability of good quality, cheaper smart-phones (currently at sub Rs. 4,000/- mark, which may actually be available at sub Rs. 2,000/- mark in the second-hand market), cheap and wide-spread internet (a 300MB 3G mobile internet connection is available for just Rs. 100/- per month and rates are rapidly going south every month), quick adoption and penetration of google, facebook, gaming & music apps that are driving smart-phone and internet adoption, and a healthily growing usage of online banking and eCommerce sites (specially from smaller cities).

Given all of the above, India already is - or will surely be - ready for mCommerce within the next 1-2 years. This can eliminate the use of hard currency. Already most people in urban areas - specially salaried employees like me - are using their credit cards & debit cards for virtually every transaction (including grocery purchases at neighbourhood modern retail stores like Big Bazaar or Reliance Fresh). Still, there are those occasions when one needs to take out cash for some payments - grocery purchased from roadside hawkers, salaries paid to domestic help, milkman's monthly payments, newspaper guy, everyday needs like bread and eggs, children's coaching classes, public transport tickets, toll tax, home delivery of various items, et al. Apart from this, one needs to give petty cash to the children for their every needs - canteen, stationery, chocolates, etc. Other than these, I don't see any need to purchase anything in cash. All of these don't require large notes and can be easily replaced by notes with a maximum currency value of Rs. 100/-. In any case, such payments don't result in creation of black money mostly. The rare case being the neighbourhood kirana store owner who gets such notes only and still accumulates huge revenues & profits, and pays virtually nil income tax in most cases. That is something that I shall also tackle a bit later - through tax reforms and land reforms. But the larger picture is that most things can today be purchased using debit/credit card, and I don't really need cash in my wallet. If I take my own example, my salary gets transferred from my organization's bank account directly to my bank account, through which I make most payments using my debit/credit cards or online bill payments - so, for a large part of my needs I never need cash. I withdraw cash just to meet my smaller needs - which I cited earlier - and those can be taken care of through Rs. 100/- notes very easily. My mobile is internet-ready, I have already downloaded my bank's mobile-banking app and - while I haven't used it as yet - I am as ready as anybody can be to shift to mCommerce... just like many others who already have. Doable? I certainly think so!

That can take care of doing away with large currency notes and curbing black money creation to a large extent. The next thing is to announce land reforms. Since I do not know too much on this subject, I will limit myself to professing just one idea here - taxation reform. My advice is to do away with such high registration charges and capital gains tax. A big reason why transaction size is suppressed by both the buyer and the seller is that the buyer has to shell out at least 5% towards stamp duty & registration of the property in her name (if the buyer is a male, this increases by 2%) and the seller has to pay capital gains tax (unless he/she purchases property of similar value within 3 years). Considering that most properties in metros like Delhi or Mumbai exceed Rs. 1 crore in value, this translates into a payment of at least Rs. 5 lacs when a property changes hands. So, what do buyers/sellers do? They simply work on a 50-50 formula - 50% in cheque and 50% in cash, to bring down the transaction value for registration purposes. Also, this is not a one-time payment... every time the property is sold & registered (even if the same is within a single financial year), the new buyer has to pay this 5%! Now, is that fair? I don't think so. How about introducing a simple and small 1-2% tax at the time of registration and a fraction thereof every year thereafter (combined house tax as well as property ownership tax as well as capital gains tax)? Given that this would result in small payment (EMI-like annual payments), one won't mind revealing true value of the transaction and transacting completely in white. Also, if one has already taken step one above (of doing away with large currency notes), cash won't play any role in such transactions. Imagine someone having to pay/receive Rs. 50 lacs cash in Rs. 100/- currency notes - that's 500 bundles of Rs. 100/- notes. An average person would never be able to carry or store it easily and safely (not in a bank locker, not at home). Also, if we look at the seller's perspective, the primary reason why people refuse to sell their properties wholly in white is because of the 20% capital gains tax in long term and up to 30% tax in the short term. If capital gains tax on property is abolished completely, then we won't have a problem of suppression of price by the seller - who would want the entire payment in white only - and we would've nicked the problem of black money transaction in the bud itself. Radical? Yes. Workable? Surely yes!

Next thing to do - announce an amnesty scheme for tax defaulters to bring back the black money. This is not a new suggestion; in 1997, the then-government announced VDIS (Voluntary Declaration of Income Scheme), which was as a very unconventional but hugely successful step in mopping up black money. It provided an opportunity to all income tax/wealth tax defaulters (individuals as well as corporates) to disclose their undisclosed income (total of all previous years) at the prevailing (and till then the lowest ever at the highest slab) tax rate of 30%. 3,50,000 people disclosed their income &  assets under this scheme, and declared assets worth Rs. 26,000 crore which bought an additional revenue of Rs. 7,800 crore to India - a good 20% more than the previous financial year. Introduce the same yet again - either at an even lower rate or, if possible, at zero-rate, to bring back the money into circulation. Also, replace at least 50% of the money thus unearthed with Government of India bonds (since currency notes of large denomination wouldn't be available anymore), to ensure that the general public of India can benefit from the money collected, without causing too much heart-burn to the persons disclosing such income in the scheme. What do you say?

Last, but not the least, let's visit my final point - something that Baba Ramdev also propagated last Saturday. Currently, there are far too many direct and indirect taxes - the income tax, the sales tax, the service tax, excise duty, custom duty, entertainment tax, wealth tax, gift tax, corporation tax, stamp duty on property transfer and what not. In 2012-13, the government collected a total of Rs. 10.36 lakh crore through various taxes. Compare this to the Indian banking industry, which has a turnover of Rs. 77 lakh crore for 2012-13. If one were to simply replace all taxes by a simple 10% banking transactions tax, the government would've garnered Rs. 7.7 lakh crores and saved huge monies in salaries, infrastructure and related expenses in collecting taxes. Additionally, assuming that currency transactions are abolished or are negligible and small in nature, all transactions henceforth will be through banks only. One can safely assume that at least 20% more will be added to the current taxes (based on the VDIS learning of 1997), which would swell up the kitty by another 1.54 lakh crore to take tax collection to 9.24 lakh crore (at base value of 2012-13). This is just 1.12 lakh crore less than the total tax collected in 2012-13 (about 10%), and it may be safely assumed that this would be close to the savings in terms of employee and other related costs for tax collection. Now, it may be argued that this would result in taxation of everyone, including those with minimal income who need to be given a respite from taxes. The argument against this is quite simple in my mind. They are already being taxed in any case - through sales tax, through road tax, through vehicle registration tax, through excise, through service tax, etc. - and they will save on those taxes (which will result in bringing down the cost of goods) and end up paying a banking transaction tax only, resultantly having the same spending power. If one still has a problem with this, the government can establish a minimum benchmark for banking transactions which will not be taxed - say, all transactions up to a transaction value of Rs. 2.5 lakh per annum (the current Income Tax waiver limit) will not be taxed. Thereafter, all transactions will be taxed @ 10% flat. Also, all large transactions (say, single transaction value of Rs. 50,000/- or above) should also be taxed @ 10% flat. This should pretty much do the trick, in my very humble opinion.

These are some suggestions from two very humble common people with a slightly more than fertile imagination. We do think they're a good starting point, but don't know how much of this is really workable... economic gurus will need to think this through. Just hope all political parties will at least give an ear and a thought to the suggestions made by two aam-aadmis, and define a road ahead for this country to prosper.

Is it actually a Hindu India?

Of late, I have been hearing too many Sangh Parivar followers, BJP-sympathizers and self-appointed-Hindu-rakshaks talk about how Muslim invaders and Islam have destroyed our country and Hindu culture. How they systematically killed millions of Hindus and ensured that Hinduism crumbled under their tyranny.

There is no denying that Mahmud Ghazni, Qutub-ud-din-Aibak, Balban, Alauddin-Khilji, Muhammad-bin-Tughlaq, Feroze Shah, Babar, and God-only-knows-who-else, were tyrants of the worst order. That part is recorded in history, which is being quoted by the safe-keepers of Hinduism. But they forget that such wars and plunders are the history of not just India, but of the entire world. And they are not just of Muslim warriors... historically even Indian Hindu kings were forever fighting wars and killing one-another and annexing lands, men and very shamefully 'women of the palaces'.

Even Emperor Ashoka (who's better known as Ashoka the Great) is guilty of spreading his kingdom through mass-slaughter of many Hindu Kings and their Hindu warriors. He conquered Kalinga, which none of his ancestors (starting from Chandragupta Maurya) had done. The battle of Kalinga resulted in more than 100,000 deaths and 150,000 deportations, and it was only when he was walking through the grounds of Kalinga after his conquest, rejoicing in his victory, he was moved by the number of bodies strewn there and the wails of the kith and kin of the dead. Sorrowed, he embraced Buddhism after witnessing the mass deaths of the Kalinga War, which he himself had waged out of a desire for conquest. So, just saying that Muslims killed Hindus is showing a very selective part of the history, in my opinion.

Let us talk about the Hindu India that so many are dreaming about, and what is the contribution of current day Muslims to the glory of India.

• India's foremost scientist (and an ex-President) - APJ Abdul Kalam
• India's foremost actor - take your pick from SRK, Aamir, Salman or Yusuf Khan
• India's foremost dialogue and song-writer - Javed Akhtar
• India's foremost music composer - A.R. Rehman
• India's foremost female tennis player - Sania Mirza
• India's foremost film director, actor, singer, et al - Farhan Akhtar 
• India's foremost tabla maestro - Ustad Zakir Hussain 
• India's foremost sarod maestro - Ustad Amjad Ali Khan 
• India's foremost shahnai vadak - Ustad Bismillah Khan
• India's foremost painter - M.F. Hussein
• India's foremost author - Salman Rushdie
• India's foremost fashion designer and first to display at Harrod's - Abu Jani
• India's 3rd richest business tycoon, twice been listed among the 100 most influential people by TIME Magazine, and the donor of $2 billion of personal funds for improving school education in India - Azim Premji. Azim Premji has become the first Indian to sign up for 'Giving Pledge', a campaign led by Warren Buffett and Bill Gates, to encourage the wealthiest people to make a commitment to give most of their wealth to philanthropic causes. He is just the third non-American after Richard Branson and David Sainsbury to join this philanthropy club. As of April 2013, he had already given more than 25% of his personal wealth to charity. Now, show me a Hindu who has done so much for Indians?

Without a doubt, there are many fields where Hindus are at the forefront, and this is not a debate about whose contribution is greater - of the Hindus or of the Muslims? This is just an attempt to show the complete truth. Given that what I have stated above are indisputable facts, I have a very small question of those seeking a Hindu India... "Is it truly a Hindu India? And is such a Hindu India the one that we must crave for?"

Would anyone choose Hitler as a leader just for his development agenda... or should we consider his misdeeds and ensure he doesn't ever become a ruler?

Hitler brought a lot of development to Germany, achieving notable economic successes during the first 5 years of his rule. He substantially revived the industry & economy. Unemployment - so pivotal in bringing him to power - dropped from 6 million (when he came to power) to less than 1 million between 1933 and 1937, at a time when the US was still wallowing in the Depression. 

National production and income doubled during the same period. This was partly owing to Hitler's rearmament policy, but also to more benign forms of public spending. The world's first major highway system, the autobahns, began snaking across the country, and a vision to providing every citizen with a cheap automobile, the people's car, or Volkswagen - gave birth to what is today the world's largest and one of the most respected car-makers.

Nazism took root in the world's most powerful scientific culture, boasting half of the world's Nobel Prizes and a sizable fraction of the world's patents. German science and medicine were the envy of the world. The world's first magnetic tape recording is of a speech by Hitler. While the Englishman, Farnsworth, gets credit for the invention of a very rudimentary television, it was the Third Reich that perfected television and conducted the first television broadcast, featuring Hitler's speech at the opening of the 1936 Berlin Olympics.

On the social welfare side, in 1938, all artisans came to be covered under compulsory social insurance, and in 1941 public health insurance coverage was extended to pensioners. In 1942, all wage-earners - regardless of occupation - were covered by accident insurance, health care became unlimited, and maternity leave was extended to twelve fully paid weeks with job protection.

But does the entire world - and almost every, if not every, German - remember Hitler for his growth agenda or for his politics of hate? Of the 9 million Jews who had resided in Europe before the Holocaust, approximately 6 million were killed, including over 1 million Jewish children and approximately 2 million Jewish women. Did Germany (and Germans) not suffer under the Hitler regime because of his supreme ambition of being the supreme ruler of the world, under the pretext of bringing Germany glory.

Should the world forgive Hitler's sins of the holocaust just because he brought development to not just Germany, but many other countries (including foes) who benefited from the Nazi inventions? Should we Indians take a learning from this, or should we be ignoramuses who forget the same while selecting our own national leader in 2014, just for the sake of development? I can't; hope you won't.

The Delhi Rape... awake & arise yourselves; for those who need to take care of us couldn't care less.

Totally pained by the revelations of the rape victim's friend, and the heartless comments by those in power - members of almost all political parties, the police, the so-called moral police and the self-appointed gurus. My heart pours out with these lines...

Jab Duryodhan durachaar ko theek bataye
Jab Duhshasan ka dussahas barhta jaaye
Jab Shakuni har chhal-shakti ka zor lagaye
Tab samjho ki Krishna sabhi ko banna hoga

Jab netraheen Dhritrashtra mook-badhir ban jaaye
Jab daanveer Karna bhee sirf daridrata dikhaye
Jab gyaansagar Kripacharya hee agyaan barhaye
Tab samjho ki Krishna sabhi ko banna hoga

Jab mahaveer Guru Drona bas aankhein churaye
Jab maha-vidvaan Vidur bebas ho sar ko jhukaye
Jab pita-tulya Bheeshm bhee laachaar ho jaaye
Tab samjho ki Krishna sabhi ko banna hoga

Jab rakshak hee bhakshak bankar bas muskuraye
Jab karm naheein, tark-vitark charcha ban jaaye
Jab vivash-laachaar naari par koi taras na khaaye
Tab samjho ki Krishna sabhi ko banna hoga
Tab samjho ki Krishna sabhi ko banna hoga

It's the lack of imagination & courage that will push India out of the World T20

A loss to Australia followed by a loss to West Indies in the pre-semi-final stage has led India to a curious situation. All but out, and praying for a miracle.

Theoretically, India can still make it to the next stage. What they have to do is win against SL either with a margin of 20 runs if India bats first, or with 14 balls to spare if they chase. And then, pray and pray and pray that Australia win their match against Windies.

The second task is much easier, and something that I am sure everyone in India is already doing. For once, every Indian is praying for an Aussie victory.

It is the first task that makes me worried; the task is not just difficult, it also needs Dhoni to really start rethinking about the team needs. So far, at least in this World Cup, he’s lacked imagination & courage, and has to an extent tried to be defensive rather than attacking. None of these have ever been his hallmarks, and therefore it surprises me. If you want to win, you can’t just try and build a cocoon around yourself and hope to win. You have to get out of your safe zone and try to shake things up a bit, so that you can then take strides towards success. Sadly, Dhoni was too concerned about preventing the team from losing, and therefore couldn’t win.

There are many examples of this. Take for instance the fact that R Vinay Kumar is cooling his heels, when he should have been firing down a few in conditions that favour pace bowling. Take for example the fact that yesterday Windies bowled just 3 overs of spin vis-à-vis India which bowled 12 on a bouncy wicket. Another thing to ponder over this is the fact that given that both Vijay & Gambhir are not clicking (especially Murali), it might be a good idea to bring in Dinesh Karthik, who’s equally good at opening the innings, and pairing him with Gambhir, since both play together in domestic cricket as well. And what about playing either himself or Pathan so low down the order at times, that by the time they try to do something, the task is well beyond them.

What a batsman, sirji!

200 runs in an ODI match - that's what teams used to score... and not just in a 50-over match, in the earlier avatar of the ODI, which was 60 overs long. And at times it was good enough to win the match. Why, India won the 1983 World Cup Final against West Indies scoring just 183, before being all out in 54.4 overs (of the allotted 60 overs), and just when everyone and their mother believed that the Windies were going to do a hattrick of world cup victories, bowled them out for 140 in 52 overs.

So, when a batsman scores 200* in a 50-overs a side match, it is a moment to stand up and applaud. Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar, and as only he could, becomes the first man in the history of the game to score a double hundred in an ODI match. This man has so many records to his name that he possibly also holds the record for holding maximum records, and he still has the hunger in him to keep going on and on and on. And when other around his age (and even much younger than him) are hanging their boots, this man keeps mellowing with every passing day. At almost 37 years, he has today achieved what 17 or 27 year olds have not been able to ever.

I am one big critic of the man, and was specially harsh towards him in the past couple of years, when I thought that his body was tiring and he was no more capable of leading India to victory. My criticism of Sachin became even more sharp after Sourav Ganguly (in my opinion the world's second best ODI player after Sachin) was forced to announce his retirement, despite being in a decent form (and not in any way worse than Sachin) at that juncture. I genuinely believed that having achieved so much, he should have gracefully made way for the others in the team (after all, who can dare tell Sachin to retire).

My friend and co-blogger, Varun, always felt that I was far too impatient with Sachin and a disbeliever (atheist would probably be his chosen word, for the God Sachin is), who did not understand the greatness of the man.

Today, I partly agree with Varun (I still believe that even Sourav should be playing for the team, which he does not), and humbly bow my head to Sachin.

Afghanistan - the new cricketing force of Asia!

The highest 4th innings total by a team winning a test match is 418/7 by West Indies against Australia at Saint John’s in 2003. There are only 3 more instances of teams scoring 400 plus runs in the 4th innings to win the match. South Africa’s 414/4 against Australia at Perth in 2008, India’s 406/4 against West Indies at Port of Spain in 1976, and Australia’s 404/3 against England at Leeds in 1948.

I checked up the record books for all kinds of International matches, where 2 nations played in a two-innings-a-side game, and found not a single team raking up over 500 to win in the 4th innings. Afghanistan – yes, Afghanistan – did that yesterday, when they chased 494 against much more fancied (at least against them) Canada, to hit 494/4, after trailing by over 300 runs in the first innings, and after Canada declared their second innings at 191/4, setting Afghanistan an almost unachievable target of around 500 runs.

All I can say is that it is extremely heartening to notice such big scores being chased down. But I’d also like to add that probably Canada played it too safe by not enforcing a follow-on and resultantly lost the game that they should’ve won.

For Afghanistan, this is a day of reckoning where everyone stands up and applauds them for their heroics. For a country tormented by war and terrorists, this is a shining example of the glory the youth can achieve for their nation by treading the right path.

400-plus scores - what do they foretell about the 2011 World Cup

The 2011 Cricket World Cup, scheduled to start in February, is just about an year away. The cup is going to be played in the subcontinent on pitches in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh & India. Spread over 6 weeks, this is going to be a long & tough tournament, where defending team Australia would be trying to go beyond their hattrick of wins against others. They have defeated 3 subcontinent teams in 3 World Cup Finals – Pakistan in 1999, India in 2003 & Sri Lanka in 2007 – and the fact that this tournament is going to be held in the subcontinent is going to be worrisome for the defending champs.

I think the task is pretty difficult, given that Australia is going to be without some of their biggest heroes of their past wins. But even more so, given the emergence of the Pakistan, Sri Lanka & India teams as extremely strong contenders. A view of what is going to be on offer were visible yesterday in the First ODI between India & Sri Lanka at Rajkot. I’d love to use the phrase “what a match”, except that I am speechless!

Only the second instance of a 400-plus score in both innings in the history of one day cricket. Reminded me, and I am sure everyone else, of the first such match, played between Australia & South Africa, where Australia scored 434/4 to set a world record, and found them on the losing side and robbed of their record 3½ hours later when South Africa pulled out a hare from the hat to score 438/9 with a ball to spare, at Johannesburg on 12th March, 2006. And much like that match, it seemed that the maximum runs record that India had created on Indian soil would be erased effortlessly by Sri Lanka. In fact, they were on the chase till the 48th over, at the end of which they required 15 runs with 5 wickets to spare. Having scored at over 8 runs for the first 48 over, and being ahead of the asking rate, how they could not get 7.5 runs/over in the last 2 overs, and how they lost from there foxes me. Despite being an Indian fan who was cheering all the way for India, I feel for the Sri Lankans and my heart goes out to them. At the end, the only consolation is in saying, “Very well played guys; with 400-plus to chase, you made a match out of what appeared to be a hopeless situation even before you started your batting innings.”

400-plus – what does it mean really, and how often has it happened? Incidentally, all 400-plus scores have come in the 21st century. The first instance being Australia in the match mentioned earlier, and the second instance being South Africa in the very same match. A few months later, the third instance was on 4th July, 2006, Sri Lanka broke the world record by scoring 443/9 against Netherlands at Amstelveen. That is the standing record till now. Other than that, both Sri Lanka & South Africa have one more 400-plus, India have 2, and New Zealand has one. So, in all, there are 8 occasions of such instances – all within the last 4 years. some of them have been hit against minnows, but half of them are against extremely strong oppositions – 1 against South Africa, Australia, Sri Lanka & India. Is this where ODI cricket is headed, where even 400-plus may be a par score? One doesn’t know, but numbers do have a story to tell.

If one looks at the highest 25 innings in ODIs ever, 19 of them are in 2000s, and incidentally, every single one of them from 2005 onwards. If one expands this to look at innings of 350 and more, we get 44 such innings. Incidentally, every single of those 19 additional innings were in the 2000s! Does this tell us a story? Sure, it does, and you don’t need to be a rocket scientist to work out that team aggression (or batting aggression, if one may say so more correctly) has really peaked in the 21st century. At the top of this order now are India with 13, followed by South Africa with 9, Australia with 7, New Zealand & Sri Lanka with 4 each, Pakistan with 3, England with 2 and West Indies & Zimbabwe with 1 each.

So, I guess that the next world cup is going to be a very exciting one for everyone, and one-day cricket, if it keeps going vertical, has its place despite T20s. For it offers the thrill of the unknown like never before. Because if a team has scored 200-plus in T20s, we still believe it is chaseable. But a 400-plus in 50 overs? I’d still like to believe that there is a huge element of doubt there. And that element of doubt along with the subcontinental teams’ abilities to knock up huge scores, coupled with the batting-feast supporting wickets are going to make it some task for Australia to retain the crown.

Let umpires & referees not become the hand of God!

Two incidents happened yesterday, across two continents and across the world’s two most followed sports – football & cricket – that made me wonder what the role of the referee or the umpire really is. How important are they really in determining the course of a match, and how important is it for them to have the final say.

In the first incident, Thierry Henry, the captain of France, in a play-off between France & Ireland for a place in the 2010 FIFA Cup Finals, handled the ball before passing it to William Gallas to head in a crucial 103-minute goal, scored in extra time, that helped them level scores & grab a final spot in the cup, robbing Ireland of a well-deserved win. Henry knew that he had handled the ball, and in a post match interview said, “Yes, there was a hand, but I’m not the referee.” He further added, “Of course, I kept playing. The referee didn’t whistle for hand-ball. I was behind two Irish players, the ball bounced and it hit my hand.” The evidence was there for all to see in television replays, but the referee missed seeing it. There have been protests by Ireland, including even their prime minister throwing his weight behind this and asking for a rematch. However, FAI has refused to let a rematch happen, citing rules that say that a referee’s decision is final, despite their statement earlier in the day: “The blatantly incorrect decision by the referee to award the goal has damaged the integrity of the sport.” It is, after all, a judgment error by the person in-charge of judgments, and more than anything, it is the governing body’s unwillingness to correct the error citing outdated rules, that is causing more heartburn than Henry’s non-sporting spirit.

In the second incident, Rahul Dravid was adjudged LBW in the ongoing cricket test match between Sri Lanka & India, whereas television replays showed that the ball would have missed the leg-stump. With India fighting with their backs to the wall, the last thing they needed was a wrong decision going against them, and that too against a batsman of the caliber of Dravid, who India desperately needed at the crease. However, nobody is a culprit here (unlike Henry in the first incident), and it is truly a case of judgmental error on the part of umpire Daryl Harper, who declared Dravid out. One does not know as yet what the outcome of the match will finally be, and whether even Dravid could have made a difference had he not been sent back to the pavilion, but clearly India have suffered.

In the context of the above two, let us examine the role that referees & umpires are supposed to play.

First, they are supposed to be guardians of the game, and ensure fair-play between the two teams playing the match.

Second, they are supposed to be disciplinarians, given absolute authority, who ensure that each member of both teams follows the rules of the game at all times.

Third, they are supposed to be unbiased in their approach irrespective of which side their loyalties may lie with as a fan/countryman.

So, let us examine what went wrong. In both the instances, I think the referee and the umpire followed all three true to their heart & their profession. Still, wrong decisions happened. Human error, surely, that could be taken as just a human error, and we get on with the game. However, such errors were acceptable in the good, old days, when there were no means to check if there was any error, and you had to accept the referee’s/umpire’s verdict, come what may. Today, with technology like instant television replays, hawk-eye, snick-o-meter, etc. available, which help in minimizing human error, why should human error be acceptable at all? After all, the ultimate objective of refereeing or umpiring is to give fair decisions in case of dispute or doubt. And in the interest of that, if technology can aid, why should we shy away from that?

Cricket has evolved to a certain extent with third-umpire referrals, and the world’s most famous, loved & record-holding cricketer, Sachin Tendulkar, became the first player to be declared out by a third umpire. Howsoever the Indians may have rued that incident, it was a step in the right direction. It does away with ambiguity and it does away with cheating. After all, Henry is the captain of his national side, as was Diego Maradona of Argentina, when he became the ‘Hand of God’ in the 1986 FIFA World Cup. So, we know, that even the best are prone to a little cheating to win a match.

Cricket, has its own instance of infamy with batsmen refusing to walk, especially in caught behind decisions, unless given out by the umpire. However, Adam Gilchrist of Australia always went against his team’s policy of remaining standing at the crease unless given out (as per the game’s rules), and always walked magnanimously whenever he thought he was out, without waiting for the umpire’s decision. More recently, there have been very sporting gestures by captains that are unprecedented, and show that cricket still has some gentlemen left. In a recent match between England & Sri Lanka, England’s captain Andrew Strauss recalled Angelo Mathews of Sri Lanka, who had been stranded after a mid-pitch collision with Graham Onions and run out, and asked him to bat on despite being declared out. Even more significant was a decision by New Zealand’s captain Daniel Vettori this year, when he spared Paul Collingwood of England, after he strayed out of his crease before the over was called and was run out by the wicket-keeper McCullum. According to the rules of the game, Collingwood was out. But Vettori went with the spirit of the game, and allowed him to bat on. This despite a similar incident happening a year ago at The Oval, when Collingwood himself, as captain of England, had disallowed New Zealand's Grant Elliott a reprieve, after he had been run out after a mid-pitch collision with England’s Ryan Sidebottom. The umpires were obliged to rule him out, and Collingwood's refusal to withdraw the appeal had infuriated Vettori.

Next week, cricket takes a giant leap in ensuring correctness of decision making and therefore, in fair-play & results. In the three test series between New Zealand & Pakistan, ICC will introduce a new system to review umpire’s decisions, the Umpire Decision Review System (UDRS), using ball tracking technology. This is indeed the right and a very welcome step towards making the sport error-free, and I guess football can also take some lessons from cricket. Otherwise, the umpires & the referees may continue to become the hand of God, and continue to deal cruel blows.