A Non Stop Train of Total Revolution
Through an India marginalized and forgotten
THE INCIDENT IN WHICH FIVE PEOPLE WERE CRUSHED TO DEATH BY THE NON-STOP PATNA-DELHI SAMPOORNA KRANTI SUPER EXPRESS, AFTER BEING BRUTALLY PUSHED OUT OF THE STATIONARY FARAKKA EXPRESS AT A RAILWAY STATION IN UP, IN THE EARLY MORNING HOURS OF A LEISURELY SUNDAY, REMINDS US TO THE CURSED AND UNFORTUNATE EVERYDAY EXISTENCE OF AN AVERAGE INDIAN. BLOODY AND BOORISH ASPECTS OF THIS EPISODE ARE, TRULY A SAD AND STRIKING REFLECTION OF THE DISMAL AND CHEERLESS LIFE, VOICELESS MILLIONS ARE CONDEMNED TO CONTINUE. IT’S A VIOLENT WAKE UP CALL TO THE CUNNING SLUMBERS OF ESTABLISHMENT.
Vinod C.V
In Hindi, Sampoorna Kranti means Total Revolution. For hose who experienced the pulse of political India, this powerful yet poetically enticing words would bring the reminisces of a socially and politically tumultuous times when a legend of a leader, in the stature of JP stood like a titan in the minds and hearts of Indian imagination. It is with great application of mind, may be as a tribute to the memory of JP, that the words Sampoorna Kranti was lifted out from the vocabulary of 70s to name a non-stop super express linking the 992 km between Patna and New Delhi. One cannot give a better name to a train connecting New Delhi to Patna or New Delhi to Kanpur especially when it is running through the dusty tracks of drudgery, covering the bare realities of Indian life, which can only be retrieved or salvaged by a Sampoorna Kranti, conceived and visualised by a true socialist like Jayaprakash Narain.
But names of the trains doesn’t mean much to those who were run over by the speeding animal. Still the coincidences strike when the rashness fuelled by the arrogance of power leaves the life and limbs of poor and hapless, threatened and extinguished. 2393 Sampoorna Kranti Express, flagged off by Nitish Kumar, ironically one of the misfated children of JPs crusade against authoritarianism of absolute dimensions, on June 30, 2001 at Patna, was the name of the oncoming train, which perished five wretched people on the tracks, who were forcibly evicted and thrown away by the overbearing army personnel of Rajputana Rifles from an unreserved compartment at the Shikohabad station in Firozabad district of Western Uttar Pradesh.
According to the news reports, the incident took place early morning (4.47 am) of January 23, ironically just three days before the mighty nation commemorates the inauguration of its sovereignty - Republic day. The newspaper reports of most dailies datelined Jan 23 go like this: - five persons including a woman, lost their lives after they were run over by this speeding Sampoorna Kranti Express moments after being allegedly thrown from another train waiting on the adjoining track at the Shikohabad railway station.
The sequence of events according to the newspaper reports goes like this: - A group of people had boarded an unreserved compartment of the 3483 Farakka-Bhiwani Express (via Old Delhi) at Etawah in the early hours. Shortly after boarding the train, they had an altercation, over seats, with army personnel who were travelling in the compartment. The Farakka-Bhiwani express halted for a scheduled stop at Shikhohabad at 4.43 a.m and these people were reportedly forced to get down from the train by the army personnel. While some people fell on the platform, five of them fell on the yard side of the station. Moments later, the Sampoorna Kranti express, which was travelling non-stop from Patna to New Delhi at a very high speed on the adjoining track, crushed all five of them.
Railway accidents are not a news item in India. Only mass murders do catch the attention. But the incident at the nondescript railway station in Western UP is a pointer to the dehumanization and disappearance of human values from the conscience of the nation’s collective psyche. The bottom line of the story is the mindless brutalisation of lives and uncouthness of behavior, in the trying times we live. It denotes the depletion, declining and disappearance of good will and the positive feeling from the attitudes, outlooks and actions.
Somebody shall imagine the state of mind of people, willing to enter into a squabble in the early mornings of the day - Brahma Muhoortha according to Indian wisdom and knowledge. It is at this time human mind is expected to be most pure, perfect, calm, receptive and creative. But the mindless dehumanization and the resultant desertification of minds, born out of the stressed-out existence, is extracting the price, in terms of patience, endurance and tolerance.
Another aspect, this incident throws light on, is the ingrained and deep seated state of violent mind and possessive tendency people do assume while being part of the power structure or authority pyramid, however remote they are from the top of the apogee as far as positional location is concerned. The involved army personnel are ordinary Jawans. But they still feel to appropriate and arrogate the spaces which are not legitimate and rightful to them. They feel that they can safely get away with minor peccadilloes and transgressions. Even if the compartment of the Farakka-Bhiwani Express from which military men pushed out the civilian passengers was reserved for the army, they had no business to manhandle anyone so mercilessly. But in the case being discussed, the row was over unreserved seats in an unreserved compartment. These kinds of complaints against defense forces are well known. Instances of them bypassing even the traffic rules, on the belief that they are beyond the pales of the ordinary law & order apparatus, are widely noticed. That tendency to display the might of the forces is supposed to be redirected at the enemy troops, while in combat.
Yet another feature, this disgusting incident reminds is the contempt as a community, we reserve for the disadvantaged. It is sure that those who travel by unreserved coaches in the chilly early morning hours are not the people who can be considered well off. It is the disregard, disdain, disrespect and apathy to the extent of scorn for the underprivileged, that emboldened the personnel from Rajputana Rifles to scream like this. “Go to hell if you cannot make room for us. Vacate the seats for us. Go to other coaches or we will send you flying out into the fields.”
Utter unconcern and contempt for the weak and meek is on the rise, as after the introduction of liberalization, even the mockery of maintaining a cosmetic concern for the powerless and vulnerable was given a cool and convenient go by. Egalitarian thoughts and approaches were given a decent burial in the daily discourse of nation’s life. The pervasive social and political climate in these lines and the often assumed acceptance or acquiescence of ignoring and neglecting the dispossessed shall have surely played a role in shaping a mindset that felt nothing wrong in shoving the unfortunate five through a door in a cold morning. This disrespect coupled with the feudal contempt, most of the time having contours of castist intonations, mostly in rural context but not less in urban settings, makes life really tough and taxing for a socially deprived Indian.
But the pathetic side of all said and done is that the so-called arrogant and apathetic Jawans also belong to the same bracket of the terrorised victims, while analyzing from a different angle. The sad and sorry state of them, not having a reserved coach to travel while they are returning to duty is a reprehensible reminder to the way the military establishment treats them. Condemned to live in the challenging and life-sapping terrains and deserts of the remote border regions for years together, the softer side of the persona must have undergone a negative transformation. While officers and their families are traveling in luxury compartments, army establishment must ensure minimum arrangements like a reserved ticket for ordinary Jawans too. This doesn’t detract the gravity of the crime committed by the personnel. Even in the wearisome and difficult times, they are supposed to behave with restraint and discipline while dealing with civilians.
No amount of rationalization will extenuate the crime committed by the Jawans. Five able bodied people at the prime of their youth (41, 28, 33, 32, 29) lost their life on account of the violent act by a group of irate and irresponsible, paid, taught and trained to protect. JP would have never thought that this kind of suffocating and sickening existence and experience, where social conscience and regard for each other plummets to the levels occurred at Shikohabad railway station, will be visiting the lives of an Indian even after passing half a century of Independence. It is a cruel joke and a sad twist of semantics that it happened with a train, named after a beautiful slogan culled out of the historic student unrest and subsequent political movement, triggered and inspired by JPs exhortations. But what hangs in the Indian air with a threatening luminosity is the irrefutable relevance of a Total Revolution, a Sampoorna Kranti.
Thursday, March 03, 2005
Wednesday, March 02, 2005
FROM AKG TO M.A. BABY ,A Promise In Crisis(Politics- India-Kerala)
FROM AKG TO M.A. BABY ,A Promise In Crisis
THE DOWNFALL IN THE STATURE OF THE LEADERS IS AS PROMINENT AS THEIR UNBECOMING PERSONAL LIFE STYLES. IN KERALA, THE ERA OF PEOPLE’S POLITICS IS FACING GRAVE EXISTENTIAL CRISIS . DRILLED FROM WITHIN, THE POLITICS OF THE MASSES IS CLEVERLY WEAKENED. THE CHALLENGE IS TO RE-POLITICISE DISCOURSES AND REVERSE THE REGRESSIONS. TAKING A TRIP THROUGH THE HISTORY OF COMMUNIST MOVEMENT IN KERALA BY HIGHLIGHTING THE POLITICALLY RETROGRESSIVE TRANSFORMATION IT UNDERWENT.
VINOD CV
It seems almost like the end of a fascinating imagination that captured and illuminated a society’s aspirations and ideals for around 75 years. The sacrifices and legends it left in the trail, is the stuff of folklore. The history of communism and the magnitude of the grip it had in the psyche of an average Malayali is the delight of a political scientist. That it underwent tragic erosion both in terms of popular support and as a belief system is a painful reminder to the selfish cocoon to which a society like Kerala withdrew. But it has a lot to do with the unwelcome fall and unhealthy decadence in the ideological underpinning of the party and the consequent disgraceful departure of the leaders and cadre, from the simple and typical left way of life.
Nothing reflects the decline of commitment and integrity of leadership, than the pathetic standards of personal life to which the leadership of communist parties have fallen. For an observer, what was once a dividing line between a leader of a communist party and an allegedly bourgeoisie party, no longer exists. Though they claim otherwise, and rubbish this as the propaganda of capitalist media, this painful truth of homogenisation or standardisation of the tastes, attitudes and opinions of the leaderships across the spectrum is becoming more and more evident. But for the honourable exceptions of some first generation leaders still alive, one can safely conclude that the difference expected from a left leader or cadre, fuelled by the fervour of political conscience and consciousness, is a thing of distant past now.
Of late, the style of life they lead and the kind of culture they subscribe to, is safely disconnected from the tears and sweat of masses. In the case of Kerala, the thickening of middle mass in the structure of society left the poor bottom as a thin and weak entity, which doesn’t have threshold strength or power in numbers, to alter the democratic decisions in an electoral system that follows the first past post method. The utter neglect the Dalits and Adivasis underwent in the recent years is a classic example of the weakening or non-existence of the democratic pressure they can apply. Thus the politics of the deprived was given a smart pass by, by political parties.
In this scenario, a true communist like some body from AKG’s generation would have jumped in to articulate the needs and aspirations of the unfortunate masses. One doesn’t expect that selfless commitment from a generation of leaders whose peer escapades and involvements even extends to stealthy dealings with infamous rackets, which forced even family suicides. Right or wrong, what is noted is that civil society’s confidence in communist leaders and party is so low and weak that media dared to discuss in hushed tones the names of some leaders and their kith and kin in relation to some of the shocking sex scandals. There was a time, even as late as 70s or 80s, when nobody would venture to do this kind of analysis, though the insidious decaying of the standards were well present then too, albeit at a lesser level.
As an aside, even a casual observation of some modern day communist leaders makes one wonder how their body contours exactly resembles some middle town business men who love to spend their evenings at a nearby beer parlour. Though it sounds trivial, men who are ready to endure the agonies and crosses by upholding people’s politics shouldn’t and couldn’t have a physical structure of a middle-aged businessman or a typical Abkari contractor. The politics and physical look indeed has a connection. It can be an enticing sociological study to link physical morphology with ideological affinities.
Disjunctions from the concerns of the toiling class were clearly visible in many of the actions of the left leadership of Kerala during the last Nayanar regime. The much-celebrated Manaveeyam was one in that category. An AKG, Chadayan Govindan or C. Kannan wouldn’t have justified smoking up money, as it happened in the case of Manaveeyam. The financial resources, focus and energy which is to be redirected for the welfare of luckless millions was appropriated and abused for celebrating the elite and even non-existing sensibilities of pretentious middle and upper classes. One shall remember M.A. Baby’s democratically unaudited and unsolicited presence in the whole episode. A communist leader is expected to put forward the idioms of the excluded, and narratives of the silenced, not the snobbish sensitivities of the well-heeled.
For that matter, it is not right to find fault with individuals. The cardinal point is the false priorities and agendas of a leadership, which has lost both focus and politics. Individuals symbolise the disease that the new, self-financing- generation leaders are infected with. That is why the distance covered by history when travelling from A.K Gopalan to M.A Baby is the history of a downfall on which a politically charged society can only painfully ponder.
THE DOWNFALL IN THE STATURE OF THE LEADERS IS AS PROMINENT AS THEIR UNBECOMING PERSONAL LIFE STYLES. IN KERALA, THE ERA OF PEOPLE’S POLITICS IS FACING GRAVE EXISTENTIAL CRISIS . DRILLED FROM WITHIN, THE POLITICS OF THE MASSES IS CLEVERLY WEAKENED. THE CHALLENGE IS TO RE-POLITICISE DISCOURSES AND REVERSE THE REGRESSIONS. TAKING A TRIP THROUGH THE HISTORY OF COMMUNIST MOVEMENT IN KERALA BY HIGHLIGHTING THE POLITICALLY RETROGRESSIVE TRANSFORMATION IT UNDERWENT.
VINOD CV
It seems almost like the end of a fascinating imagination that captured and illuminated a society’s aspirations and ideals for around 75 years. The sacrifices and legends it left in the trail, is the stuff of folklore. The history of communism and the magnitude of the grip it had in the psyche of an average Malayali is the delight of a political scientist. That it underwent tragic erosion both in terms of popular support and as a belief system is a painful reminder to the selfish cocoon to which a society like Kerala withdrew. But it has a lot to do with the unwelcome fall and unhealthy decadence in the ideological underpinning of the party and the consequent disgraceful departure of the leaders and cadre, from the simple and typical left way of life.
Nothing reflects the decline of commitment and integrity of leadership, than the pathetic standards of personal life to which the leadership of communist parties have fallen. For an observer, what was once a dividing line between a leader of a communist party and an allegedly bourgeoisie party, no longer exists. Though they claim otherwise, and rubbish this as the propaganda of capitalist media, this painful truth of homogenisation or standardisation of the tastes, attitudes and opinions of the leaderships across the spectrum is becoming more and more evident. But for the honourable exceptions of some first generation leaders still alive, one can safely conclude that the difference expected from a left leader or cadre, fuelled by the fervour of political conscience and consciousness, is a thing of distant past now.
Of late, the style of life they lead and the kind of culture they subscribe to, is safely disconnected from the tears and sweat of masses. In the case of Kerala, the thickening of middle mass in the structure of society left the poor bottom as a thin and weak entity, which doesn’t have threshold strength or power in numbers, to alter the democratic decisions in an electoral system that follows the first past post method. The utter neglect the Dalits and Adivasis underwent in the recent years is a classic example of the weakening or non-existence of the democratic pressure they can apply. Thus the politics of the deprived was given a smart pass by, by political parties.
In this scenario, a true communist like some body from AKG’s generation would have jumped in to articulate the needs and aspirations of the unfortunate masses. One doesn’t expect that selfless commitment from a generation of leaders whose peer escapades and involvements even extends to stealthy dealings with infamous rackets, which forced even family suicides. Right or wrong, what is noted is that civil society’s confidence in communist leaders and party is so low and weak that media dared to discuss in hushed tones the names of some leaders and their kith and kin in relation to some of the shocking sex scandals. There was a time, even as late as 70s or 80s, when nobody would venture to do this kind of analysis, though the insidious decaying of the standards were well present then too, albeit at a lesser level.
As an aside, even a casual observation of some modern day communist leaders makes one wonder how their body contours exactly resembles some middle town business men who love to spend their evenings at a nearby beer parlour. Though it sounds trivial, men who are ready to endure the agonies and crosses by upholding people’s politics shouldn’t and couldn’t have a physical structure of a middle-aged businessman or a typical Abkari contractor. The politics and physical look indeed has a connection. It can be an enticing sociological study to link physical morphology with ideological affinities.
Disjunctions from the concerns of the toiling class were clearly visible in many of the actions of the left leadership of Kerala during the last Nayanar regime. The much-celebrated Manaveeyam was one in that category. An AKG, Chadayan Govindan or C. Kannan wouldn’t have justified smoking up money, as it happened in the case of Manaveeyam. The financial resources, focus and energy which is to be redirected for the welfare of luckless millions was appropriated and abused for celebrating the elite and even non-existing sensibilities of pretentious middle and upper classes. One shall remember M.A. Baby’s democratically unaudited and unsolicited presence in the whole episode. A communist leader is expected to put forward the idioms of the excluded, and narratives of the silenced, not the snobbish sensitivities of the well-heeled.
For that matter, it is not right to find fault with individuals. The cardinal point is the false priorities and agendas of a leadership, which has lost both focus and politics. Individuals symbolise the disease that the new, self-financing- generation leaders are infected with. That is why the distance covered by history when travelling from A.K Gopalan to M.A Baby is the history of a downfall on which a politically charged society can only painfully ponder.
Tuesday, March 01, 2005
VIRENDAR SEHWAG – THE LORD OF 22 YARDS( Sports-cricket)
VIRENDAR SEHWAG – THE LORD OF 22 YARDS
Aggression is the article of faith. From the word go, it is adventure unlimited. Living on the edges of experience on the brown strip of battle in grassy green, Virendar Sehwag, like an oracle possessed loves to pound the opposition to the knees. This genial cricketer with humble demeanour reflects the transformation of the cricket as a game in India and elsewhere. From the secluded Nawabi pastimes, the voyage cricket took to the popular consciousness and mass attention for the last many decades is signified by the arrival of heroes like Sehwag from the native soil with indigenous upbringing.
VINOD CV
He is the darling of the cricket loving Indian. After Sachin Tendulkar, he is now the Hero No.1. Virendar Sehwag captures the imagination of the cricketing nation by his matchless audacity and murderous boldness. While on song, he is the daredevil willow-wielding genius with reckless passion for the game. He is the ruthless marauder who enjoys demolishing famed and celebrated attacks. He does make mistakes. But once he got his eye in, Sehwag is simply unstoppable and unbeatable.
It is with his advent, the democratisation or de-elitisation of cricket that began with Kapil Dev seems completed. The local flavours brought into the game by this Hindi speaking Jat from Delhi was the much needed dose that the ordinary fans of cricket badly wanted to relate with the game. Playing strokes, which are totally out of the cricket coaching manuals, Virendar Sehwag introduced many subaltern shots of wild fancy and reckless abandon into cricket lexicon. This passionate approach untouched by hypocrisy is typical of the cultural settings from which a person hails.
Not alone Sehwag, the young bunch of players like Pathan, Zaheer Khan & Kaif represents the spirit of rustic India. The character of that spirit is embedded and inbuilt in the action and belief system of these players. They don’t belong to the upper side of the great Indian divide. Rise of these small town boys represents the percolation of mass interest in the game. It shows the ability of the Other India to respond to the challenges. It is when challenges are thrown, a player like Sehwag likes to hang loose.
Sehwag belongs to the tribe of Adam Gilchrist and Sanat Jayasurya, for whom bashing the ball to the fence is not an option, but a ritual and religion. They bring a carnival mood to the stands by rewriting the art of aggression. Being a prominent member of that school, Virender Sehwag, loves to unsettle the bowlers off their natural rhythm. “I cannot resist playing my shots,” he once said. “I know there are situations when I might invite criticism with a loose stroke but I cannot shed my natural game. I would not be half the batsman that I am if I allow the situation to dominate. I have a bat in my hands and that to me is a weapon to destroy the bowler. You win some, lose some,” he said on one occasion while explaining his style of play. “Aggression at the start can give the right message,” says Sehwag, who enjoys playing his shots regardless of the situation. A pull off the first short ball or a pre-determined square-drive are some of Sehwag’s methods to perturb the bowlers.
Poetically speaking, aggression is the declaration of freedom -a disinclination to be shackled and defined by the situation. Aggression by a batsman carries the signature of a spirit that seeks joy of creativity in every action. Exploding with the beauty of sheer power, an attacking batsman is stretching the limits of possibility. By hoisting a straight six off a good ball, batsman is declaring his independence and launching himself into the creative sphere of existence. It is like scoring an impossible goal from a zero angle in a football match. In the case of Sehwag, aggression is not borrowed. It comes naturally to him and is the manifestation of his refreshing freedom and fearlessness in the middle. “I like to compete,” says Sehwag.
But the team interest is predominant in his calculation. ‘Viru’, as Sehwag is affectionately called by his team-mates, is a kind of guy who never reaches late for practice sessions. For a man who was thrust with the opener’s slot, he has not only accepted the job in the team’s interests but has made remarkable progress in the slot to become its key member. “It feels nice to be an important part of the team. I’ve always longed for such a responsibility,” he confesses. He has the sanction of team management to stick to his natural game. “That’s the way he plays and it suits us because he has the ability to ruin the attack,” says Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly. When he is around, the bowlers often switch from an aggressive mode to a defensive one, and this takes the pressure off the other batsmen.
Purists and sophisticated may disagree with this man from Najafgarh, one of the rustic outposts of Delhi. The technically correct classical cricket theorists will turn in their graves when he hooks and pulls with merry, defying the conventional wisdom of the aged and outdated cricketing manuals. He demolished the myth that technique is paramount for a batsman to succeed at the highest level. “I don’t read books on cricket but I don’t miss an opportunity to watch and learn,” he admits. He may not be much bothered about the science of the sport, but the art of attacking is well implanted in the way he conducts himself in 22-yard ribbon of challenges. His lovely drives through the offside, ferocious cuts and sweetly timed strokes through the mid wicket carry the stamp of aggression, authority and supreme confidence. He played many such marvellous innings with scintillating shots all around the wicket.
This predominantly back foot player relies heavily on his reflexes, instincts and timing. Sehwag does not really get behind the line of the pace men. Rather, he tends to make a movement towards the leg-stump, create more room to strike the ball on the offside, and chooses to play beside the line of the ball. This will invariably send the ball to the fence. Thus, by these shots, he lords over the arc between point and cover. He won’t brook a slightest error in width and direction. Though his footwork is limited against quickies, he can play his shots even in bouncy tracks.
In the last tour, he averaged 58 from four tests in Australia with a total of 464 runs. His 195 in Melbourne against Australia on a boxing day was a superb effort. His record making 309 runs in 375 balls in Multan was punishing to the Pakistani fast bowlers. Waiting on the back foot, he uses the pace of the ball to send the quickest of the deliveries to the ropes quite authoritatively. It is his ability to pick the line early which is helping him to manage the bowlers.
Anybody would have his technical shortcomings. While negotiating deliveries, Sehwag puts too much pressure on his right leg, and thus gets cramped when the ball is dug in short around the rib-cage area. There is a certain lack of footwork that has landed him in trouble when the slip cordon is in place. His limited feet movement often turns as a liability when probed in the corridor by the pacemen. Some times he tends to play away from the body around the off stump. This is disastrous for an opening batsman, especially when facing truly competent speed merchants.
With all his faults and foibles, this man, humble to the core is capable of bringing masses to the stadium. This master of action in the middle has the inherent explosiveness to inject an ecstatic enthusiasm when he wields the willow. “For Viru, there is action in every ball,” says Kumble. But Sehwag thinks he has just started off a great journey, and is humble enough to admit that. “I’ve a long way to go,” he says. He is the kind of cricketer, who can bring back crowds to the stadium. Even for test matches, he belts into attack at the slightest provocation. When he is there, the magic of passionate cricket will be dished out, irrespective of the format of the game. The economics of the game need players like Sehwag as more and more viewers hitched to the screens while he is batting.
Aggression is the article of faith. From the word go, it is adventure unlimited. Living on the edges of experience on the brown strip of battle in grassy green, Virendar Sehwag, like an oracle possessed loves to pound the opposition to the knees. This genial cricketer with humble demeanour reflects the transformation of the cricket as a game in India and elsewhere. From the secluded Nawabi pastimes, the voyage cricket took to the popular consciousness and mass attention for the last many decades is signified by the arrival of heroes like Sehwag from the native soil with indigenous upbringing.
VINOD CV
He is the darling of the cricket loving Indian. After Sachin Tendulkar, he is now the Hero No.1. Virendar Sehwag captures the imagination of the cricketing nation by his matchless audacity and murderous boldness. While on song, he is the daredevil willow-wielding genius with reckless passion for the game. He is the ruthless marauder who enjoys demolishing famed and celebrated attacks. He does make mistakes. But once he got his eye in, Sehwag is simply unstoppable and unbeatable.
It is with his advent, the democratisation or de-elitisation of cricket that began with Kapil Dev seems completed. The local flavours brought into the game by this Hindi speaking Jat from Delhi was the much needed dose that the ordinary fans of cricket badly wanted to relate with the game. Playing strokes, which are totally out of the cricket coaching manuals, Virendar Sehwag introduced many subaltern shots of wild fancy and reckless abandon into cricket lexicon. This passionate approach untouched by hypocrisy is typical of the cultural settings from which a person hails.
Not alone Sehwag, the young bunch of players like Pathan, Zaheer Khan & Kaif represents the spirit of rustic India. The character of that spirit is embedded and inbuilt in the action and belief system of these players. They don’t belong to the upper side of the great Indian divide. Rise of these small town boys represents the percolation of mass interest in the game. It shows the ability of the Other India to respond to the challenges. It is when challenges are thrown, a player like Sehwag likes to hang loose.
Sehwag belongs to the tribe of Adam Gilchrist and Sanat Jayasurya, for whom bashing the ball to the fence is not an option, but a ritual and religion. They bring a carnival mood to the stands by rewriting the art of aggression. Being a prominent member of that school, Virender Sehwag, loves to unsettle the bowlers off their natural rhythm. “I cannot resist playing my shots,” he once said. “I know there are situations when I might invite criticism with a loose stroke but I cannot shed my natural game. I would not be half the batsman that I am if I allow the situation to dominate. I have a bat in my hands and that to me is a weapon to destroy the bowler. You win some, lose some,” he said on one occasion while explaining his style of play. “Aggression at the start can give the right message,” says Sehwag, who enjoys playing his shots regardless of the situation. A pull off the first short ball or a pre-determined square-drive are some of Sehwag’s methods to perturb the bowlers.
Poetically speaking, aggression is the declaration of freedom -a disinclination to be shackled and defined by the situation. Aggression by a batsman carries the signature of a spirit that seeks joy of creativity in every action. Exploding with the beauty of sheer power, an attacking batsman is stretching the limits of possibility. By hoisting a straight six off a good ball, batsman is declaring his independence and launching himself into the creative sphere of existence. It is like scoring an impossible goal from a zero angle in a football match. In the case of Sehwag, aggression is not borrowed. It comes naturally to him and is the manifestation of his refreshing freedom and fearlessness in the middle. “I like to compete,” says Sehwag.
But the team interest is predominant in his calculation. ‘Viru’, as Sehwag is affectionately called by his team-mates, is a kind of guy who never reaches late for practice sessions. For a man who was thrust with the opener’s slot, he has not only accepted the job in the team’s interests but has made remarkable progress in the slot to become its key member. “It feels nice to be an important part of the team. I’ve always longed for such a responsibility,” he confesses. He has the sanction of team management to stick to his natural game. “That’s the way he plays and it suits us because he has the ability to ruin the attack,” says Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly. When he is around, the bowlers often switch from an aggressive mode to a defensive one, and this takes the pressure off the other batsmen.
Purists and sophisticated may disagree with this man from Najafgarh, one of the rustic outposts of Delhi. The technically correct classical cricket theorists will turn in their graves when he hooks and pulls with merry, defying the conventional wisdom of the aged and outdated cricketing manuals. He demolished the myth that technique is paramount for a batsman to succeed at the highest level. “I don’t read books on cricket but I don’t miss an opportunity to watch and learn,” he admits. He may not be much bothered about the science of the sport, but the art of attacking is well implanted in the way he conducts himself in 22-yard ribbon of challenges. His lovely drives through the offside, ferocious cuts and sweetly timed strokes through the mid wicket carry the stamp of aggression, authority and supreme confidence. He played many such marvellous innings with scintillating shots all around the wicket.
This predominantly back foot player relies heavily on his reflexes, instincts and timing. Sehwag does not really get behind the line of the pace men. Rather, he tends to make a movement towards the leg-stump, create more room to strike the ball on the offside, and chooses to play beside the line of the ball. This will invariably send the ball to the fence. Thus, by these shots, he lords over the arc between point and cover. He won’t brook a slightest error in width and direction. Though his footwork is limited against quickies, he can play his shots even in bouncy tracks.
In the last tour, he averaged 58 from four tests in Australia with a total of 464 runs. His 195 in Melbourne against Australia on a boxing day was a superb effort. His record making 309 runs in 375 balls in Multan was punishing to the Pakistani fast bowlers. Waiting on the back foot, he uses the pace of the ball to send the quickest of the deliveries to the ropes quite authoritatively. It is his ability to pick the line early which is helping him to manage the bowlers.
Anybody would have his technical shortcomings. While negotiating deliveries, Sehwag puts too much pressure on his right leg, and thus gets cramped when the ball is dug in short around the rib-cage area. There is a certain lack of footwork that has landed him in trouble when the slip cordon is in place. His limited feet movement often turns as a liability when probed in the corridor by the pacemen. Some times he tends to play away from the body around the off stump. This is disastrous for an opening batsman, especially when facing truly competent speed merchants.
With all his faults and foibles, this man, humble to the core is capable of bringing masses to the stadium. This master of action in the middle has the inherent explosiveness to inject an ecstatic enthusiasm when he wields the willow. “For Viru, there is action in every ball,” says Kumble. But Sehwag thinks he has just started off a great journey, and is humble enough to admit that. “I’ve a long way to go,” he says. He is the kind of cricketer, who can bring back crowds to the stadium. Even for test matches, he belts into attack at the slightest provocation. When he is there, the magic of passionate cricket will be dished out, irrespective of the format of the game. The economics of the game need players like Sehwag as more and more viewers hitched to the screens while he is batting.
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