Slave trade back?

Just watch this interview of Gayatri, the co-owner of the Deccan Chargers. If you cannot watch it here, watch it on YouTube. It was conducted by a pea-headed IPL anchor, who didn't know her questions and was probably targeting the socialite crowd and those more interested in the Page-3 aspect of the game, rather than serious sports viewers and analysts.

Watch and hear carefully the question asked at 0:18. The way the question was framed is outrageous and extremely silly. What is the point that the interviewer is trying to prove? Brought up in the beliefs of the "breaking news" era, she just wants to create some sensation, using her heavily accented English. And she just succeeded in that! Her statement provoked me to blog about this.

Just look how casually she mentions the act of bidding for players. "Buying people like that!!" And on top of that, she goes on an ego massaging spree. Asking Gayatri whether she enjoys being in a position where she can "buy people" at the stroke of the gavel.

But, I liked Gayatri's response. Calm and composed. Nothing out of the way, just going-about-my-job kind of answer. That, I think is the hallmark of a person who actually realises the importance and impact of the position he or she holds.

The next question, at 0:34, almost scales the peaks of stupidity. Asking a business-person, whether there was some strategy in bidding for the players, who are "bought" not at a price that is uniform for everybody, but the better the player, the more is the cost in acquiring him. Come on lady, you can never ever run a successful business. I wish Gayatri had answered her like- "Oh no, what strategy, I had the money, I wanted to splurge it, so just bid for whoever I thought will cost more!!" And from here, the questions become a cliche. Watch for the question at 1:56 and you will realise what I mean.

But, it is alarming to see the downfall in the way interviews are conducted. Do you want to just fill the time before an innings starts or are you really interested in dishing out that "insider" bit of information. From what this lady does, I do not see any genuine interest in making things more informative.

On a parting note, I wonder if there is some mechanisms where these anchors can be auctioned. I would love to bid for this lady and then say in an interview- "I bought her because she is sexy, doesn't have too deep intellect and hence is useful to fill time whenever and wherever required."

On the back of my mind

Sometimes, we hear statements that get etched on our mind for a very long time. We may forget the context in which that statement was made, who made it, etc. but the statement can be clearly recalled any time of the day. I do not know why have these statements been there in my mind for me to recall them. I have actually forgotten the context of many of those. In a few cases, I've even forgotten at what place and time did I here the statement. Sample these

1. This is sometime around 1994-95. My father and me were waiting on the New Delhi airport after the security check to board a flight, probably to Bangalore. From the public telephone, a lady was calling up somebody and suddenly she screamed into the phone- "Hailllo Papppuuuuuu !!" Me and my father just stared at each other and had a good laugh. That is all I can remember about the event. Nothing else.

2. This is some cricket match in which India was involved. A one-day international. Ajit Agarkar, at that time was relatively new and was brimming with raw pace. This was before he visited the MRF pace academy and Dennis Lillee, instead of helping him increase his pace, reduced it and thus ruined Agarkar's career. Coming back to the match. Agarkar was back into the side after being out because of injury. India was fielding, Agarkar was the bowler and Ravi Shastri was the commentator. Agarkar bowled a delivery and immediately took a wicket. I do not remember the mode of dismissal, but part of Shastri's commentary was "... and Agarkar is back, to his wicket taking ways." This piece of Shastri's commentary still rings in the back of my mind, while I remember nothing else about that match. Not even the opposition!

3. I used to attend summer camps in my childhood. I've attended two such camps. After that, I consider my childhood as over. In one such camp, we were being told a story. It was supposed to be a comedy story, as it was being told to kids. It was about some lady who had come to Pune city from a village and didn't understand the city. Somewhere in the story the lady mentions to someone, "माझा भाऽव ड्यॅक्कन कॉलेजाऽऽऽत सुपारी टुण-टुण हाय", which means, "my brother is a superintendent at Deccan College." In this case too, I do not remember the story, but this sentence has been etched into my memory.

4. This was when cable TV was new in India. They had a game show on Star Plus, called "The Crystal Maze". In the final round of this game show, the participants used to gather inside a large crystal shaped dome. Their job was to collect the maximum number of gold and silver foils in a specific time. The gold foils carried more points than silver foils. The team that scored the maximum points used to win. These foils were blown into the crystal dome using blowers that created air currents turbulent enough to set the foils in a Brownian motion. After the team had gathered into the dome and the dome gate locked, the host used to say his trademark sentence- "Will you start the fans, please." This sentence too rings at the back of my mind, though I remember very little of this show.

BTW, Breaking News, I just found old videos of The Crystal Maze on YouTube.

I find this ability of the brain pretty amazing. Retaining bits and pieces of information that have flashed only momentarily. But on the flip side, there are some equations that I see daily, but can not remember them if anybody asks about them later. There may be many more such incidents stored in the back of my mind, which I cannot recall right now, but it would be interesting to jot them down as and when I recall them.