A curious case of Brawn and Button

Over the last decade or so I have become from a follower to a fanatic as far as few things in sports go. Formula One racing is one of them. Moto GP, EPL and NBA being the others. With the advent of satellite TV sitting at home I could watch all the build up, frenzy, glitz and glamour and finally the Formula one races itself. From a curious onlooker, to a fan and finally to a crazy fanatic - it all took just 2 seasons of Michael Schumacher's class act with Ferrari. But over the last few seasons since Schumacher had retired, my interest levels had gone down a bit. However I kept myself abreast of the changing technology, rules and regulations etc.

Last season my interest renewed with the advent of Force India Formula One team. Through the season while I was not watching the races with the same eagerness as before but I kept tab on the action and the results and more importantly on the championship challenge. As usual Ferrari was up there with Massa and Raikonen. Lewis Hamilton a rookie in 2007 who went out to almost clinch the championship was also in the reckoning. I still remember very clearly in what was a great race with a nail biting and yet a bit controversial finish, Hamilton was lucky to win the championship in the year 2008.

Come 2009 there was the usual buzz of new rules and technology, drivers will be awarded medals like Olympics and champion will be decided on number of wins, but what was of most interest to me was the result of all this - a slightly different looking car. Our own Force India got a a new look, and I would say the cars looked great. About a week before the race Ferrari commented that Brawn GP was the one to watch out for. That comment made me wonder, a team put together with drivers who were pretty much back markers for the last two seasons in a car which is put on the track hardly 4 weeks before the season started is a serious contender fr Ferrari!!! Hmmm....

With a not so great outing during the pre-qualifiers I thought that it was all gas no fruit. But come the qualifiers I was proven wrong and how. While other teams and drivers were struggling with the new cars and technology here was a team where one driver has just won once in 156 races and the other on the wrong side of 35 thought to be already planning his retirement cracking the circuit. They qualified 1-2. Commentators and experts while acting surprised, started taking the garb of stability and ability of the cars to complete the race. When they won the race 1-2 to create history, the argument was will they remain competitive through the year!!!

I went through the pages of Formula One history to read about the Brawn-Button team... Ross Brawn, who started as a milling machine operator with March Engineering way back in 1976, worked with Williams, Arrows and Jaguar teams before joining as a technical director with Benetton F1 team helping it win back-to-back World Drivers' Championships in 1994 and 1995 with Michael Schumacher, and to take the World Constructors' Championship in 1995. Brawn was credited by much of the specialist press with being an important part of these championships, particularly in terms of devising race strategy. After the initial rebuilding years, he (as Ferrari technical director) helped Ferrari regain glory when the team won the Constructors' Championship in 1999, the first of six consecutive titles. The Brawn-guided Scuderia also powered Schumacher to five consecutive drivers' titles, from 2000 to 2004. Brawn's contributions to this unprecedented string of titles has led many to label him as a vital member of the Ferrari "dream team" along with Schumacher, team principal Jean Todt and chief designer Rory Byrne. After a year with Honda in 2008, just weeks before the start of the 2009 season Brawn completed a 100% buy-out of Honda F1 and announced entry to the F1 World Championship under the new name Brawn GP. The Brawn team was given a financial boost on the eve of the Australian GP when Virgin boss Richard Branson announced he was going to become a team sponsor. Brawn completed his fairytale saga by watching his team of Jenson Button and Rubens Barichello grab a 1-2 in qualifying and go on to finish 1-2 in the opening Melbourne GP.

Jenson Button, a protege with title wins at Formula Ford championship, winner of McLaren Autosport BRDC Young Driver Award in 1998 and a best rookie performance in Formula 3 in 1999, entered the world of Formula One in 2000 with the Williams team. He made his first ever podium finish with a third place in the Malaysian Grand Prix with BAR Honda in 2003. Button took the first win of his career in 2006 at a chaotic Hungarian Grand Prix - the 113th Grand Prix start of his career. Post a couple of dismal seasons with the Honda team, Button along with his partner Barichello was without a team at the end of 2008 season. And it looked like he had to plan his sabbatical. But with hardly weeks to go before the starting of the season, Brawn GP team was announced with the same set of drivers and as they say the rest is history.

A curious case of Brawn and Button indeed!

Memories of Lagaan

Its Diwali today. Am in Rayagada, a small town / district in the south of Orissa. Rayagada is where my father in law worked with JK Paper Mills and retired. Like almost everybody of that generation, he chose to settle down here gotten built a small abode for himself.
With diwali comes new clothes, crackers, sweets and good old family get together around TV. I have grown up watching some Tamil movies over Diwali like Baasha, Muthu and Annamalai. Today while zapping channels I chanced upon the Aamir Khan epic – Lagaan.

I have very very fond memories of this movie…simply because it takes me back to my days in Lintas when I was working on a big consumer promotion for Britannia with Lagaan. While I did catch it in the theatres, over the next 45 days I might have seen it over 30-40 times. And during this time office or the studio was my home...depending on where I was....It was also because the entire consumer promotion and hence the communication package was designed around the movie. The sales audio visual, the TV commercials, radio jingles, posters, danglers etc etc. The project also gave me access to the making of the move, rare footages, pictures, related stories etc. This helped me a great deal in contributing to making the communication so much more in sync with the movie.

Like Sholay & a lot of other cult movies I could almost recite the whole story frame by frame, the character names, dialogues etc. While it was a very very serious movie, it had its own share of comedy which kept it light. The entire cricket team of Bhuvan (Aamir) was so well casted! So were the other elements in the movie – the location, sets, music etc. To top it all the legendary narration of Amitabh Bachchan!

Though I had watched the movie so many times, every time I saw a piece of communication coming out I would jump with joy.

After all the handwork, the highpoint was when I got a chance to be part of the launch press conference where in Aamir & his cricket team was present. I was surprised to see all of them look at the screen in utmost awe when the audio visual was played. The icing on the cake was of course a personalized autograph from Aamir and of course a cricket bat with the autograph of the entire team!

Its been a good 7 years. Watching the movie made me feel as if it was yesterday. Time is flying……..And how!!!

Its that time of the year again!

Vendors are already on the roads selling flags and badges. TV & radio channels are suddenly showing freedom fighters showreels and patriotic sound tracks. Channels are also premiering independence related movies....and then its that time of the year. You will also Independence day promotions with more intensity given its a long weekend. Tomorrow India celebrates its 61st Independence Day!!!

Over the years days like 15th August, 26th January, 2nd October and the likes have become just another holiday in our calendar. Other days like Diwali & Christmas are more eagerly awaited given there are festivities attached to it unlike say the Independence Day. Things haven't changed much since I was a 5-6 year old kid. In school and even now, given I come from a defence background, patriotism amongst us was very high. We would practice for the parade with all eagerness and perform well. Post the ceremony at school we would rush back to watch the ceremonies in Delhi on TV followed by watching the legendary movie 'Gandhi' (which incidentally was played for almost 5 years on such occasions on TV). If it was mid week life would be normal, but if it was a Friday or a Monday we would take life and studies a little more lightly.


At college it was a bit different. There would be a flag hoisting followed by an address by the principal. Once over I would be back home and given I was at Madurai would watch a bit of Sun TV. I think probably it was one of the first channels to celebrate these 'days'...apart from the usual festivals, new years etc. The day will be packed with patriotic songs, interview, movies, celebrity bytes etc. People would be glued to their TVs for hours!!!

Once at work celebration of Independence days was unfortunately left to the India Day celebrations at office (Lowe). We used to have a competition amongst the various floors. I remember one of those years we on our floor motivated to win it did a fab job. The whole theme we worked with was corrupt system and how everybody in the government is wasting public money and time. Was quite an experience putting it together right from the decor...the background music a quick video etc. Had penned (rather typed) a poem on the occasion as well. We won too!!! But that's it we were back to our usual ways..

My Poem..

Beyond Statues & Holidays
It’s 15th August…
The most important day,
In the history of
this great nation of ours!

Thanks to those sacrifices
Thousands and many more
We are here celebrating…

What have we done
to remember and salute
these sacrifices beyond imaginations?

Erected statues?
To be garlanded
By the current ‘leaders’
To ‘show’ how much they are remembered?
And forgotten
for the rest of the year?

Announced Holidays?
Supposed to be as a
mark of respect
But ended up being
Another reason to party…

Renamed museums & airports…
Am glad,
thanks to this gesture
People will think,
They were special and that’s why.

Is this all we can do?
For those for whom
Independence was the reward
Not bothered about
the price needed to be paid?

Lets go beyond
Statues & holidays
And teach the generations
To come,
Who they were
And what they did

To let us celebrate
Our Independence Day.

Quite recently the patriotic fervour was rejuvenated by a plethora of movies like Border, LOC and Aamir Khan's Rang De Basanti. I remember i watched RDB on 26th Jan along with friends. It was quite a moving tale. But I was sure it wouldn't have touched more than 80% of the audience...if not all. One of these years the funniest thing to happen was HBO played the hollywood movie Independence Day on 15th Aug in India!!!

Its 2008 and we have yet another Independence Day upon us. This time its a long weekend. And people are taking this opportunity to head to destinations like Goa and Kerala. You ask them and they will promptly call it Independence from 9 to 5!

I hope in between all the running around we pay little more respect to our past then looking at it as an excuse to party...

Times haven't changed much...or have they?

Its the year of Olympics....a year which of late has been associated with controversies and scandals galore. This time its China, the Asian and arguably world superpower laying the host. It all started with an impeccable opening ceremony. Even before it finished people & bureaucrats were wondering if the next host London will be able to match up. Like a lot of others who even after all these years are keen to watch sports beyond cricket...like others who are still eagerly waiting for 4 years to catch a glimpse of talent across a plethora of sports, games & competitions. And at the same time like others I was hoping that Doordarshan the only telecaster of the Olympics (others don't touch it because they don't get the numbers and hence the moolah) would do better than last time round. But then I was disappointed. While over the last 2-3 decades the technology has grown by leaps & bounds but when it comes to Doordarshan it seems to be the same as it was at least 15 years ago. The same old commentators...making more incorrect comments than the right ones...mistakes in the events, nationality, records etc etc. Watching them it looked like its unusual if they do commentary without making a single mistake. People with grey hairs and beards with inadequate information, always looking through reams of paper...for gods sake somebody give them a laptop...the same old antique looking sets, etc etc.

To start with shouldn't they look at roping in some fresh talent apart from trying to rope in famous people like Harsh Bhogle etc etc...Am sure money is not the problem its the will I think...

It was the same on the field as well

To start with the team makes a mockery especially the women...of the opening ceremony wearing (can you believe it???) track pants and pullovers when the guys were in great looking sherwanis. Especially Sunita Rao an NRI who claims that for her its India calling... truth of the matter being she wouldn't have stood a chance in her country USA and fortunately India doesn't have anybody better either marched on in sports outfits...She, Sania and the other lady could have as well stayed out!!!! We failed to qualify for men's hockey...something which was our domain in the 60s through to the 80s winning us golds till the Moscow Olympics. We had a bunch of 'promising' archers and shooters who failed on the first hurdle...Amongst them was Anjali Bhagwat who apparently gave up shooting as she was 'disillusioned' with her failure at Athens but got motivated and made a comeback. And qualified too!!! Quite an achievement...only to fail in the first round itself....Ha ha ha...sorry but all I can do is laugh. The there is the much hyped and talked about Sania Mirza retired hurt in the first round....How did she pass the fitness test then???

But all's not bad

While all this was happening Saina (no spello there) Nehwal a teenager representing India in Badminton was quietly putting her opposition by the wayside. While people know a lot about Sania Mirza thanks to the media hype and the sport she is into you would be surprised that Saina is ranked world number 15th and has reached the quarter final beating world number 4. Lets see how far she goes...Am supporting her big time.... Boxers have done so well so far and then came the news of Abhinav Bhindra striking gold...the first individual gold in Indian Olympic history...Wow everybody associated with the movement and for that matter every Indian should be proud...as somebody said its bigger...much bigger than India's T-20 victory. Indian government and a few corporates were quick to announce cash and other rewards. A channel has gone ahead and said that this will change the face of Indian sports...I just hope this at least motivates a few people to take up sports other than Cricket. Am hoping that Leander Paes & Mahesh Bhupathi will bury their animosity and do some wonders this time...

In between all this its high time Doordarshan shapes up and does something to revamp its offering starting from the commentators....I hope they do...let me wait for another 4 years....

Chak De Appa!

It was a lazy...rather boring Sunday afternoon. Like all other weekends, I was lounging on my bed, TV was on, channels being flipped and so was the laptop on which I was cracking scrabble against the computer. Phew...multi-tasking at its best on a Sunday afternoon. While flipping the channels came to know that 'Chak De India' was being played from 12.00 pm on Set Max. With about 20-25 mins to go I settled down on my bed with snacks and a bottle of water.

Wondering if I am catching it for the first time? Nope. Have seen it in theatre ( one of the few movies of late) and also on TV a couple of times. Then? Come on its a good movie, in fact the best sports based Indian movie for sure and I had all the time in the world thanks to the rains (has been raining for the past 3 days) coupled with it there was nothing better to watch...Hmm come to think of it, the biggest reason was that I was suddenly reminded of appa (may be am missing him...may be I'm missing a lot of people...wish I cud take a sabbatical for a year or for a lifetime!!!!) and his life which he dedicated to sports.

I've grown up watching appa strive and succeed in sports. From athletics & football to basketball and finally handball. As the move progressed I could see the parallels between appa's struggle against the establishment, against the opponents and against the odds to succeed. Right from picking a team - a healthy mix of experience, youth and talent, to training them and finally winning accolades. When the scene in the movie unfolds where in the team introduces itself and one of the girls land up late I immediately recollected a rather unique punishment which appa used to give for punctuality - if am not mistaken it was Rs. 5 for a 5 minute delay, Rs. 20 for more than that and Rs. 100 for being absent. Money collected at the end of the camp would go in either getting extra kits or a small dinner party at our place. Appa always treated the team members as his kids. Another scene where the team in the movie goes cross country running again made me recollect of days when appa used to conduct a similar exercise aimed at increasing stamina. Other scenes of the team doing warm up and practice were also reminding me of appa's hay days on the field. And so did all those scenes where SRK shows the moves on the board. I remember appa used to have this bounded book which had sketches of the handball court, wherein first he would devise moves and then share with his players during practice. In fact his team also had its share of scuffles and fights like in the movie. And so did the sarcasm from senior players...

For appa sports was above almost everything till he retired. It was his way of life. And during all those days he was forthright due to which he had a lot of admirers and quite a few angry people as well. His high point came when his team won the national championships back to back and he went on to be the coach of the services team. During the Doordarshan days and even now he watches handball matches with the same amount of eagerness and concentration which he used to possess during his years as a player and a coach. Every time I used to go home I would spend time going through his sports album and ask about his friends from those days. In fact hes still in touch with quite a few of them for the past 30 years and more!!!

With the team in the movie winning each match it felt like me watching appa's team winning. I really enjoyed watching the movie and also walking down the memory lane!!!