Great Stories in Time 100

The ‘Time 100’ for all its American slant and shortcomings always manages to showcase some extraordinary people. The current list has legends like Oprah, Bill Clinton, Obama, Jobs and Elton John who have exercised enormous influence on millions.

It also features the Brazilian President Lula, who started working after fifth grade to support his family, worked as a shoeshine boy, lost part of his finger in a factory accident and then at 25 watched his wife Maria and child die during pregnancy. Now he steers Brazil to a new high. Judge Sonia Sotomayor was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at 8, lost her factory worker father at 9 and with her trail blazing work has now been nominated to the US Supreme Court as an associate justice, the third woman in history and the first Latin American.

Fifty years ago, nobody gave Singapore a chance to survive and almost single-handedly, Lee Kuan Yew has transformed it to a leading city-state. Kissinger calls him the finest strategist in the world.

Elon Musk, 38 and born in South African is in the Da Vinci mould. He has designed and/or founded PayPal, Tesla (electric cars), and Space X (now with a contract for NASA’s outer space transport) and is the largest provider of solar power systems in the US. Truly, extraordinary.

With nine in the list, the Indians seem over -represented. Chetan Bhagat is a curious choice. Some like Namperumalsamy and Sanjit Roy, despite sterling work, are yet to be widely acknowledged in India. Manmohan Singh, Amartya Sen and Tendulkar continue to shine.

Indian Tamasha League(ITL)

Periodically, the Indian public is treated to some sumptuous plays in the theatre of its public life. The stage is the media. There is a new and exciting play in town.

It is called IPL. It is a definite blockbuster. The story is fast-paced and interesting with dramatic twists. The dramatis personae are a motley lot. There is a suave minister with an attractive lover. There is someone with a doubtful background who has managed to create an extraordinary brand but with opaque deals. There is the ruling party, its ally and the assorted opposition.

The opening salvoes in the play were fired on twitter and then there is a slanging match between the opponents. The other players like the opposition, the Government enter the arena quickly after three days and all hell breaks loose. The first protagonist is sacrificed and his erstwhile camp commences a barrage of attacks against the second protagonist. The play is now in full swing with the IT department, the Enforcement Directorate, BCCI, Shilpa Shetty, Poorna Patel and key actors from the Government. The end is unclear but the story holds attention.

This has been spectacular entertainment for the public with heated debates; TV channels have seen higher TRPs. The mix of sleaze, money, glamour, fights, intrigues has been a heady cocktail of a plotline.

We have seen many plays like before –Bofors, Madhu Koda, Jayalalitha etc but IPL is the hit of the year. And like all good plays this will also see high billings and leave some psychological impact on the public.

But we have to remember that it is a play and nothing else. Nothing will change or happen.

Hockey in India

The World cup Hockey has given a great fillip to the sport in India. The average sports lover discovered that Hockey is alive and can be exciting. The slightly more evolved sports fan got an opportunity to see truly outstanding Hockey.

The threats by Al Qaida were psychological deterrents in the early part of the tournament. But as the tournament progressed, we saw enthusiasm picking up and the crowds in the stadium were as vociferous as possible even when India was not playing. For some inexplicable reason,Germany was a particular favourite of the crowd. In the stadium, I heard ecstatic cries of ‘Deutschland’ whenever Germany touched the ball in their matches.

The Australians were fast and skilful. The Germans displayed tremendous organization. The Brits were the surprise package. The Dutch showed power and excellent long-range passing Hockey.

The Indians played Hockey with excellent dribbling in patches. But the lack of consistency and weak technical skills did not enable them to progress to the last four. Nevertheless it was a creditable performance from the Indians.

The kids enjoyed it thoroughly and for once Hockey and not Man U became the topic of conversation for most kids. The newspapers devoted two pages everyday to the matches but on 12th when IPL started, and the tournament had reached the climax with the last four stages, I found Hockey relegated to a barely noticeable part of the sports page.

The Second Half of Life

The excessive length of life is a phenomenon of the last hundred years. In the early twentieth century, the life expectancy of an American was around 45 years. In 2007, it was 78 years. The life expectancy of the average Japanese is 82.6 years. Today, only a handful of African countries beset by poor health services and AIDS have life expectancies of below 50.

This throws up peculiar challenges for human beings. The concept of retirement at 58 was developed when life expectancies were around 65 to 70.Now many people are left with a substantial part of their life after retirement.

Many lose their bearings once they stop working and deteriorate both physically and mentally. Indians turn to spirituality. But this is not the answer.

It was Drucker who explained that after even two decades of doing the same work, many retire on the job,much earlier than the official retirement age. With empty nests and no satisfaction from work they also find their lives meaningless. But there are people who plan their second lives.They are in a minority and will become role-models and leaders.

The second life can be of social entrepreneurship, advisory roles or community service -essentially a passion or purposeful work . But the prerequisite to a second life is starting early and taking the small, initial steps around 35.