6/23/08
6/17/08
The Turkish revival
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
UEFA EURO 2008 Group A - 15 June 2008 - Genève - Stade de Genève
TURKEY 3 - 2 CZECH REPUBLIC
Koller 34,Plašil 62
Arda Turan 75
Nihat Kahveci 87, 89
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The above details go quietly into the history books. However, there is something to share about this game that is beyond what these statistics reveal.
This is not just a football match where 22 jobless fellas run after a ball. This game should be packaged and shown as a part of crucial management training in business schools, firms and where ever required. Most management books state what to do, and some even describe how it has been done. However, this match 'shows' what is written in those management bibles. I thought of tagging this article to my 'Sports Mirror' section alone. However, it is not just about sport. There is a lot for an MBA to extract out of it. So, I tagged it to my "MBA talk" as well.
It was a crucial Group A clash between Turkey and the Czech Republic and the winner automatically reserves a berth in the last eight. With every thing to play for and a penalty shoot out on cards, this pulsating encounter started off with both the teams playing football, interfacing caution with aggression.
In football matches such as these, for that matter any sport, where I am a neutral, when not really biased towards any side, I desire that a weaker team comes from behind and wins the game. In other words, I develop favorites as the match progresses. I particularly don't have any bitter experiences with either sides and I just let the game move on.
I must say that this game is of two halves, where the Czechs dominated and the Turks looked vulnerable in the first half. To show-up for their efforts, the Czechs got their goal, thanks to Koller, The 6 foot 8 tower. I sensed that the game was turning out to be a one sided encounter and made a move to go to bed as it was 1:30 a.m already.
But hang on guys. I sensed something else too: A "Turkish revival". I just wanted to check if those Turks have that grit, that verve to make a game of it. So, I waited for the second half to start. And, I tell you, my decision not to go to bed was probably one the best decisions that I have taken for a long time. Had I slept without watching the second half, I wouldn't have witnessed and shared this remarkable come back of the Turks in the history of the European Championships.
The second half was underway. I had absolutely no idea what the Turkish coach, Fatih Terim, said to his players during, perhaps, the most crucial half time talk of his tenure. He must have hypnotized the entire contingent and fed them the elixir of "BELIEF".
They came out roaring in the second half, with delicately balancing aggression with caution. Move after move, chance after chance they pressed forward with that belief, yes the belief alone. The face of the game transformed quite amazingly. It was all Turks and the Czechs sat back on their knees praying. What a dramatic turn around.
I always love to see fight backs, come backs, twists in the tails, heroics that sport and the war alone provide. Movies do provide. However, it is unreal, a movie after all. They don't excite me. I said to myself, is this the game where I can see such a fight back? Not every game produces such thrillers as these. You must be lucky or else you would end up watching a boring one sided game.
Ok. Back to the game. I could see a goal coming sooner or later from the Turks. At least, not one from the Czechs. The Turks really pressed on and on. They showed all the quality to equalize to get on level terms. By all means they deserved an equalizer. However, chances knocked and disappeared like a playful kid troubling his neighbors. The Turks still played with loads of energy and with a level head until this happened. Just after hour mark, one move from the Czechs and Plasil darted forward and slotted the ball for a second.
This is the point and this is moment that many teams fall apart. The second goal from the Czechs virtually sealed the game off. Any other side would have given it up after this unrecoverable blow. However, now, the actual Turkish revival, the remarkable come back that I was talking about started.
With just 15 minutes to go, with exit doors opening wide and handsome, with the thousands of Czech fans already celebrating, the Turks never ever gave up. They just didn't want to quit. Here goes the famous saying "You lose only when you quit". Turks followed it and they followed it badly. Their shoulders never dropped. Though with aching bodies and draining energy, they hit back hard. They showed tremendous belief that alone won them the first opening, a goal. The much needed one from Arda Turan. With pumped confidence and punching fists Turks were on their way for a second one.
Now, just 5 minutes to go. Seconds draining like anything, Turks hit and hit. It was a delight to watch the positive body language of the Turks and the coach Terim even in those tense moments. You all must have heard this saying too: "The fortune favors the brave". I too heard it many times. However, I was not sure of relevance of this saying until Petr Cech, one of the best goal keepers in the world at the moment, spilled a cutting cross on to the brave Turkish captain Nihat and to delight of the Turkish fans he placed the ball at the back of the net.
The thousands of Turkish fans behind the Czech goal were just amazing. They pulled their team off. It is all square now. Certainly a penalty shoot seemed coming. But, I felt that Turks with this tremendous momentum could just finish the Czech off. It was all Turkey at the moment and exactly after 2 minutes of finding a unlikely equalizer, the captain courageous, Nihat, broke the off-side trap, and curled a stunner past the goal keeper on to the back of the net. The Winner it was. And one of the remarkable come backs in the history of the game was complete. Czechs, who were comfortably heading to the quarter finals just 15 minutes ago found themselves out of the tournament to their utter disbelief.
This game teaches some essential management lessons such as Team work, Leadership, Strategy etc and practically shows the applicability of these theories. The way the Turkish captain, Nihat, lead from the front and the way the team responded to him is out of the top draw. The sense of urgency and the 'never say die' attitude of the Turks are the qualities that stand out.
When the Turks got the winner, I wasn't excited. I just smiled within me as I know what was coming when a team shows such qualities. I don't know how far Turks go in this championships. But, in this game they not only showed the world what they can do, but also showed the world that one can achieve the so-called impossible with BELIEF.
UEFA EURO 2008 Group A - 15 June 2008 - Genève - Stade de Genève
TURKEY 3 - 2 CZECH REPUBLIC
Koller 34,Plašil 62
Arda Turan 75
Nihat Kahveci 87, 89
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The above details go quietly into the history books. However, there is something to share about this game that is beyond what these statistics reveal.
This is not just a football match where 22 jobless fellas run after a ball. This game should be packaged and shown as a part of crucial management training in business schools, firms and where ever required. Most management books state what to do, and some even describe how it has been done. However, this match 'shows' what is written in those management bibles. I thought of tagging this article to my 'Sports Mirror' section alone. However, it is not just about sport. There is a lot for an MBA to extract out of it. So, I tagged it to my "MBA talk" as well.
It was a crucial Group A clash between Turkey and the Czech Republic and the winner automatically reserves a berth in the last eight. With every thing to play for and a penalty shoot out on cards, this pulsating encounter started off with both the teams playing football, interfacing caution with aggression.
In football matches such as these, for that matter any sport, where I am a neutral, when not really biased towards any side, I desire that a weaker team comes from behind and wins the game. In other words, I develop favorites as the match progresses. I particularly don't have any bitter experiences with either sides and I just let the game move on.
I must say that this game is of two halves, where the Czechs dominated and the Turks looked vulnerable in the first half. To show-up for their efforts, the Czechs got their goal, thanks to Koller, The 6 foot 8 tower. I sensed that the game was turning out to be a one sided encounter and made a move to go to bed as it was 1:30 a.m already.
But hang on guys. I sensed something else too: A "Turkish revival". I just wanted to check if those Turks have that grit, that verve to make a game of it. So, I waited for the second half to start. And, I tell you, my decision not to go to bed was probably one the best decisions that I have taken for a long time. Had I slept without watching the second half, I wouldn't have witnessed and shared this remarkable come back of the Turks in the history of the European Championships.
The second half was underway. I had absolutely no idea what the Turkish coach, Fatih Terim, said to his players during, perhaps, the most crucial half time talk of his tenure. He must have hypnotized the entire contingent and fed them the elixir of "BELIEF".
They came out roaring in the second half, with delicately balancing aggression with caution. Move after move, chance after chance they pressed forward with that belief, yes the belief alone. The face of the game transformed quite amazingly. It was all Turks and the Czechs sat back on their knees praying. What a dramatic turn around.
I always love to see fight backs, come backs, twists in the tails, heroics that sport and the war alone provide. Movies do provide. However, it is unreal, a movie after all. They don't excite me. I said to myself, is this the game where I can see such a fight back? Not every game produces such thrillers as these. You must be lucky or else you would end up watching a boring one sided game.
Ok. Back to the game. I could see a goal coming sooner or later from the Turks. At least, not one from the Czechs. The Turks really pressed on and on. They showed all the quality to equalize to get on level terms. By all means they deserved an equalizer. However, chances knocked and disappeared like a playful kid troubling his neighbors. The Turks still played with loads of energy and with a level head until this happened. Just after hour mark, one move from the Czechs and Plasil darted forward and slotted the ball for a second.
This is the point and this is moment that many teams fall apart. The second goal from the Czechs virtually sealed the game off. Any other side would have given it up after this unrecoverable blow. However, now, the actual Turkish revival, the remarkable come back that I was talking about started.
With just 15 minutes to go, with exit doors opening wide and handsome, with the thousands of Czech fans already celebrating, the Turks never ever gave up. They just didn't want to quit. Here goes the famous saying "You lose only when you quit". Turks followed it and they followed it badly. Their shoulders never dropped. Though with aching bodies and draining energy, they hit back hard. They showed tremendous belief that alone won them the first opening, a goal. The much needed one from Arda Turan. With pumped confidence and punching fists Turks were on their way for a second one.
Now, just 5 minutes to go. Seconds draining like anything, Turks hit and hit. It was a delight to watch the positive body language of the Turks and the coach Terim even in those tense moments. You all must have heard this saying too: "The fortune favors the brave". I too heard it many times. However, I was not sure of relevance of this saying until Petr Cech, one of the best goal keepers in the world at the moment, spilled a cutting cross on to the brave Turkish captain Nihat and to delight of the Turkish fans he placed the ball at the back of the net.
The thousands of Turkish fans behind the Czech goal were just amazing. They pulled their team off. It is all square now. Certainly a penalty shoot seemed coming. But, I felt that Turks with this tremendous momentum could just finish the Czech off. It was all Turkey at the moment and exactly after 2 minutes of finding a unlikely equalizer, the captain courageous, Nihat, broke the off-side trap, and curled a stunner past the goal keeper on to the back of the net. The Winner it was. And one of the remarkable come backs in the history of the game was complete. Czechs, who were comfortably heading to the quarter finals just 15 minutes ago found themselves out of the tournament to their utter disbelief.
This game teaches some essential management lessons such as Team work, Leadership, Strategy etc and practically shows the applicability of these theories. The way the Turkish captain, Nihat, lead from the front and the way the team responded to him is out of the top draw. The sense of urgency and the 'never say die' attitude of the Turks are the qualities that stand out.
When the Turks got the winner, I wasn't excited. I just smiled within me as I know what was coming when a team shows such qualities. I don't know how far Turks go in this championships. But, in this game they not only showed the world what they can do, but also showed the world that one can achieve the so-called impossible with BELIEF.
6/14/08
Key issues in the face of TCS - my insight
The key issues that TCS faces are typical of Indian IT giants that provide consulting and global offshore outsourcing services. The competitive comparisons in business consulting capabilities between Indian IT services firms and global services majors present an interesting picture. The Indian players today face a myriad of challenges that they need to overcome before they can match the likes of IBM and Accenture in becoming consulting champions. The obvious difficulty first is in building the capability itself. As demonstrated, the company needs to gain both vertical and horizontal expertise (domain and process knowledge) to make its presence felt in the consulting echelon.
Another challenge is that like all other Indian IT companies TCS operates at the lower end of the value chain and to be a really dominant player it needs to move up the value chain. The two-way movement of jobs and labor creates interesting implications for the future. As Indian firms expand in the
P.S: The above article is one of my MBA admission essays, which has been submitted to Warwick Business School.
6/2/08
My trip to the "religious heaven" - Tirupathi
I am seriously agnostic. As any fellow agnostic human, I too have my two sides. One of which is the belief in the existence of god. Perhaps my "never take chances" attitude makes me agnostic. Who knows, after I die, if heaven and hell exist? And that If I don't care about god through out my life, I will be taken to hell straight away. Therefore, as I never take chances, I do place a bit of belief in god.
To me, if there is god it has to be Lord Venkateshwara(Balaji). This belief has been passed on to me by my grandmother in particular and the rest of my family in general. I don't place a lot of overhead on him though. However, I feel that I should do my best and the god will 'then' do the rest. As, my wish is full filled and as I promised god that I would climb the seven sacred hills on foot and as I promised him that I would get a tonsure done, I decided to make a trip to Tirupathi.
Making a trip to Tirupathi is by no means a joke. If you screw your planning then it will be a religious hell. Especially, in this season, the crowd will be terrible. I booked my tickets 20 days ago and planned that my mom, dad and my cousin from Bangalore would join me at Tirupathi on 30th. To make our lives easier, my mom has a very close friend there who is a Judge in Tirupathi. What else is required with a Judge around. I met my parents in the morning at my aunt's place and after refreshing and regrouping, I started off with my cousin to climb the hill by foot. Well, this is my fifth time by foot and I have a substantial experience in this regard.
All the difficulty lies in the first leg. It will be literally a mountain to climb in the beginning. Once that phase is finished, one can feel a lot better. Along the way, we were accompanied by people from different backgrounds, the rich and the poor, some climbing by applying Pasupu(turmeric) and kunkum and also placing a lit candle on each step. Two other guys were climbing each step by their knees. I was amazed by the piece of belief that these people had. With minimum of the stoppages, my cousin and I, climbed the mountains and reached the Tirimula (Hill top) in 3 hours. My father, who reached before us in my aunt's car, had received us and took us a plush double bed room cottage. I have seen places packed with pilgrims and people having a tough time. It was lunch time and after a sumptuous meal at a nice restaurant, we headed back to our cottage.
Now, the moment. The barber had finally come to shave my head off. I was reluctant to go first and asked my cousin to get it done. Then, on my turn, I bribed the barber with 10 bucks and asked him to do it smoothly. It started, now all kinds of thoughts went around my mind: A few months of agony with 'gundu', my already useless look would go worse etc. However, I felt, it is all for the sake of the god and remained calm. I asked the barber about his earnings, which are staggering(100 tonsures in a matter of 12 hours each day and gets a minimum of 10 rupess per head). After that, I had a look at my face in the mirror. I instantly laughed at that sight. It's all over now.
Around 6 p.m, we were escorted by some judicial office staff to the temple entrance. It was people, people and people and nothing else. This is considered 'the rush hour' and with summer break on, Tirumala has been hit by a human tsunami. Both the rich and the poor, no matter what their back grounds are, no matter what places they had come from, they are dwelling on roads, waiting for hours and hours, running behind officials for rooms, for shelter and most importantly, one small glimpse of the Lord himself. People waiting in the line for 20-30 hours, just like prisoners inside Jewish camp, amidst horrible stampedes and hustles, made me feel that what great power is that, lying in the middle of the temple, and what great belief people place in one stony structure that is driving these millions.
I felt that I am blessed to have such a comfortable life and at least now, I should stop cursing god for what he hadn't given me. We were escorted all the way inside the temple for a 'break darshan'- the VVIPS alone get it. And came out after a small meet with the Lord. We also got tickets for 'Suprabhata Seva' and "Archana Anantara Darshan', which had 2:30 am and 4:30 am as the reporting times respectively the following day. My cousin, who came by foot with me, was seriously troubled by the aching legs and dropped out on the next darshan. My father too was reluctant for a second one. Therefore, my mom and I decided to go for the 'Suprabhata Seva' early in the morning at 2:30. We reached on time and not many people were around. The queues were just starting to get populated. This time my 'Darshan' was much more pleasant. We were made to stand inside the main temple and for the first time, I found some time to observe the beautiful golden cravings on the roof , a sight we generally miss out concentrating on scouts who would drag us off mercilessly. I just prayed god and told him that I hadn't had enough time to read my lengthy wish list now and as he is the god, he must have already known what I want and asked him to make me and the people around happy.
Then, my mom and I went to a place were we get the 'Laddu'(the sacred and famous prasadam). Then returned, looking at the plight of some well-to-do families, who couldn't find accommodation, sleeping under the trees. We had reached home at 4:30 am and I slept happily. I got up and was ready to get down the hill by foot. This time, I was all alone, as my cousin gave up due to his sore legs. I got down the hills without much hassle in 2 hours and reached my aunt's house. That evening we went to "Alivelu Mangapuram Temple", temple of Lord Venketeshwara's wife. We were escorted by the office staff and were treated royally. That trip was a breezy one even with hundreds of pilgrims fighting inside the queues.
TRIP TO SRI KALAHASTEESHWARA TEMPLE :
The following day, as we had a day in hand and more importantly a vehicle in hand, we decided to go to Sri Kalahasti. It is a 45 mins drive from Tirupathi where a very famous Shiva temple is located. 'Sri' means 'Spider', 'Kala' means 'Serpent', 'Hasti' means 'Elephant's tusks'. As the Shiva Lingam has Spider as its base, two Elephant's tusks as its trunk and a Serpent as its head, incarnation of Shiva is called "Sri Kalahasteeshwara". The temple is known for its huge four-fold structure and beautiful stone carvings, that survived hundreds of years. It is truly a beautiful temple.
As the E.O (Executive officer and the head of the temple) is known to my father and my father himself was a Regional Joint Commissioner of Endowments, we were greeted very warmly with priests and other staff guided us at each and every step. I had a 'Rahu-ketu-Sarpa' pooja done and then saw that famous Shiva Lingam without any coverings. That was really amazing and a aura of religious feeling struck within me. After that, we headed back home in the afternoon. I had lunch at my aunt's place and that evening caught the train back home to land of Biriyani, that I missed on this pilgrimage.
To me, if there is god it has to be Lord Venkateshwara(Balaji). This belief has been passed on to me by my grandmother in particular and the rest of my family in general. I don't place a lot of overhead on him though. However, I feel that I should do my best and the god will 'then' do the rest. As, my wish is full filled and as I promised god that I would climb the seven sacred hills on foot and as I promised him that I would get a tonsure done, I decided to make a trip to Tirupathi.
Making a trip to Tirupathi is by no means a joke. If you screw your planning then it will be a religious hell. Especially, in this season, the crowd will be terrible. I booked my tickets 20 days ago and planned that my mom, dad and my cousin from Bangalore would join me at Tirupathi on 30th. To make our lives easier, my mom has a very close friend there who is a Judge in Tirupathi. What else is required with a Judge around. I met my parents in the morning at my aunt's place and after refreshing and regrouping, I started off with my cousin to climb the hill by foot. Well, this is my fifth time by foot and I have a substantial experience in this regard.
All the difficulty lies in the first leg. It will be literally a mountain to climb in the beginning. Once that phase is finished, one can feel a lot better. Along the way, we were accompanied by people from different backgrounds, the rich and the poor, some climbing by applying Pasupu(turmeric) and kunkum and also placing a lit candle on each step. Two other guys were climbing each step by their knees. I was amazed by the piece of belief that these people had. With minimum of the stoppages, my cousin and I, climbed the mountains and reached the Tirimula (Hill top) in 3 hours. My father, who reached before us in my aunt's car, had received us and took us a plush double bed room cottage. I have seen places packed with pilgrims and people having a tough time. It was lunch time and after a sumptuous meal at a nice restaurant, we headed back to our cottage.
Now, the moment. The barber had finally come to shave my head off. I was reluctant to go first and asked my cousin to get it done. Then, on my turn, I bribed the barber with 10 bucks and asked him to do it smoothly. It started, now all kinds of thoughts went around my mind: A few months of agony with 'gundu', my already useless look would go worse etc. However, I felt, it is all for the sake of the god and remained calm. I asked the barber about his earnings, which are staggering(100 tonsures in a matter of 12 hours each day and gets a minimum of 10 rupess per head). After that, I had a look at my face in the mirror. I instantly laughed at that sight. It's all over now.
Around 6 p.m, we were escorted by some judicial office staff to the temple entrance. It was people, people and people and nothing else. This is considered 'the rush hour' and with summer break on, Tirumala has been hit by a human tsunami. Both the rich and the poor, no matter what their back grounds are, no matter what places they had come from, they are dwelling on roads, waiting for hours and hours, running behind officials for rooms, for shelter and most importantly, one small glimpse of the Lord himself. People waiting in the line for 20-30 hours, just like prisoners inside Jewish camp, amidst horrible stampedes and hustles, made me feel that what great power is that, lying in the middle of the temple, and what great belief people place in one stony structure that is driving these millions.
I felt that I am blessed to have such a comfortable life and at least now, I should stop cursing god for what he hadn't given me. We were escorted all the way inside the temple for a 'break darshan'- the VVIPS alone get it. And came out after a small meet with the Lord. We also got tickets for 'Suprabhata Seva' and "Archana Anantara Darshan', which had 2:30 am and 4:30 am as the reporting times respectively the following day. My cousin, who came by foot with me, was seriously troubled by the aching legs and dropped out on the next darshan. My father too was reluctant for a second one. Therefore, my mom and I decided to go for the 'Suprabhata Seva' early in the morning at 2:30. We reached on time and not many people were around. The queues were just starting to get populated. This time my 'Darshan' was much more pleasant. We were made to stand inside the main temple and for the first time, I found some time to observe the beautiful golden cravings on the roof , a sight we generally miss out concentrating on scouts who would drag us off mercilessly. I just prayed god and told him that I hadn't had enough time to read my lengthy wish list now and as he is the god, he must have already known what I want and asked him to make me and the people around happy.
Then, my mom and I went to a place were we get the 'Laddu'(the sacred and famous prasadam). Then returned, looking at the plight of some well-to-do families, who couldn't find accommodation, sleeping under the trees. We had reached home at 4:30 am and I slept happily. I got up and was ready to get down the hill by foot. This time, I was all alone, as my cousin gave up due to his sore legs. I got down the hills without much hassle in 2 hours and reached my aunt's house. That evening we went to "Alivelu Mangapuram Temple", temple of Lord Venketeshwara's wife. We were escorted by the office staff and were treated royally. That trip was a breezy one even with hundreds of pilgrims fighting inside the queues.
TRIP TO SRI KALAHASTEESHWARA TEMPLE :
The following day, as we had a day in hand and more importantly a vehicle in hand, we decided to go to Sri Kalahasti. It is a 45 mins drive from Tirupathi where a very famous Shiva temple is located. 'Sri' means 'Spider', 'Kala' means 'Serpent', 'Hasti' means 'Elephant's tusks'. As the Shiva Lingam has Spider as its base, two Elephant's tusks as its trunk and a Serpent as its head, incarnation of Shiva is called "Sri Kalahasteeshwara". The temple is known for its huge four-fold structure and beautiful stone carvings, that survived hundreds of years. It is truly a beautiful temple.
As the E.O (Executive officer and the head of the temple) is known to my father and my father himself was a Regional Joint Commissioner of Endowments, we were greeted very warmly with priests and other staff guided us at each and every step. I had a 'Rahu-ketu-Sarpa' pooja done and then saw that famous Shiva Lingam without any coverings. That was really amazing and a aura of religious feeling struck within me. After that, we headed back home in the afternoon. I had lunch at my aunt's place and that evening caught the train back home to land of Biriyani, that I missed on this pilgrimage.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)