The skewed priorities!

dear cheeniya sir,
as usual you have beautifully narrated the priority from sports to our life. only you can do this with your master skill in the language. coming to the cricket, i was
a fanatic in my college days. at that time when Nari contractor
was hit by the ball bowled by a west indian bowler we had a heated discussion. after these " match fixing and all" i lost interest " ellame panaththukkuthanda". coming to the priority, it changes from person to person and even from time to time. for your mother taking food at correct time is first important thing. this the case with all mothers including me.
your question , regarding the brain is though provoking. at that time , i think neraves connected to brain were strong. but as the days go on, because of so much tension in all the fields nerves have become weak , i think. what do you say sir? there are parents who always give preferance to govt bridegrooms because of the security. and after retirement also they can enjoy the fruit of their work.
with love
pad.

Dear Padmini
Thank you for your kind word of appreciation. I see that you joined IL in March 2008 and your first year here has been eventful. Apart from, causing a 'Green Revolution' here, you have already crossed a thousand posts which is no mean an achievement. Please keep up this tempo!

It was a short ball from the West Indies pace bowler Griffith that felled Contractor in 1962. Expecting the ball to rise, he ducked but the ball did not gain the expected trajectory and hit him on the back of the skull. He was unconscious for six days and never played any meaningful cricket after that. He was an extremely stylish batsman who scored a century in each innings on his debut! Though named 'Nari', he was quite manly! But as you say, cricket has become big business now with billions changing hands every year. But despite all that, it is difficult to lose interest in that damned game! I agree with the Shawian comment that it is a game played by eleven fools and watched by 11000 fools and yet I sit glued to the TV even when it is a replay of an old match!

You are right about about Govt bridegrooms being preferred those days. My friends always tell me that if I had not become a Bank officer, I could never have got married! In the matter of mothers feeling anxious about feeding their children, do we need a greater proof than the Loka Matha Herself running to feed the young Sambandar at Sirkazhi?
Sri

Originally Posted by Cheeniya

Dear Padmini
Thank you for your kind word of appreciation. I see that you joined IL in March 2008 and your first year here has been eventful. Apart from, causing a 'Green Revolution' here, you have already crossed a thousand posts which is no mean an achievement. Please keep up this tempo!

It was a short ball from the West Indies pace bowler Griffith that felled Contractor in 1962. Expecting the ball to rise, he ducked but the ball did not gain the expected trajectory and hit him on the back of the skull. He was unconscious for six days and never played any meaningful cricket after that. He was an extremely stylish batsman who scored a century in each innings on his debut! Though named 'Nari', he was quite manly! But as you say, cricket has become big business now with billions changing hands every year. But despite all that, it is difficult to lose interest in that damned game! I agree with the Shawian comment that it is a game played by eleven fools and watched by 11000 fools and yet I sit glued to the TV even when it is a replay of an old match!

You are right about about Govt bridegrooms being preferred those days. My friends always tell me that if I had not become a Bank officer, I could never have got married! In the matter of mothers feeling anxious about feeding their children, do we need a greater proof than the Loka Matha Herself running to feed the young Sambandar at Sirkazhi?
Sri

dear cheeniya sir,
thank you for your wishes. wow!! you are having a great knowledge about all the things and you remember it also!!!your comparison of Loka matha made me dumbfounded. hats of to you!!!
with love
pad.

Sir,
Politicians are the epitome for skewed priorities as for them birthday celebrations and dinners are more important than poverty eradication or educational programs.
Almost everywhere we see skewed priorities. Some are benign some are malignant.
You have rightly said the priorities change with time and age. As to PPE (personal protective equipments) worn by cricketeers , i enjoyed your remarks. Replying to you in the same coin i suppose the Board decided that man can funtion without brain but not without their tool. So protection was given in the form of abdomen guard. Later when the board realized for to tool function it also needs the aid of brain stimulant, hard hats (helment) came into vogue.Big Laugh Here the priorities didn't change they aided the priorities set before.

I suppose i will go with you regards the food being the most important to moms, for they know hungry man is an angry man. After the flush of marriage slowly men settle down for food & would enjoy a good meal than........

In Professional and academic field the there is a great shift. Since we are in information age, eligible guys working in the related fields have high market value. Well, now only dull and the mediocres are employed in Govt service. Long service, secured service are of the past,live ,live well for the day is the mantra. Quick and fast cash has more followers .Our smartness lies in moving with the priorities of the time.

Iam unable to say anything abt cricket because i don't follow except for the headlines.
Jaya

Dear Jaya
Politicians don't change their priorities but priorities change them! When price of rice keeps rising, they take it as priority and announce that they'll supply rice at one rupee a kg in their election manifesto. The current election fever is hotting up and every politician in Tamilnadu talks about the problem in Srilanka. Each party is criticising the other for not doing anything to liberate the Tamils from the clutches of the Sinhalese. Everyone is forgetting that Srilanka is not part of India but a separate sovereign nation. All other problems in Tamilnadu have taken a back seat and only the Srilankan Tamilian issue has become hot! When Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated, people became so hateful of LTTE that all its supporters were just dumped in the then election!

To become victorious in Gujaret, you need to talk about the persecution of the Hindus there. In UP, every one should promise building of a Temple for Sri Rama as well as rebuilding the Babri Masjid. In some States, they even talk about abolition of English education and computers! Each election will have new priorities depending on the burning issues of the day. No one addresses the ever present problems of Aam Admi which will continue unabated!

About cricket being important to the nation, the priorities never change but for cricketeers, the priorities keep shifting from top to bottom or rather bottom to top! Even if they play a predetermined game, we'll all be there to watch it. We do get a feeling that we are being taken for a ride by them but then so what! Who is not taking us for a ride in this country?!

I too love spot cash. And plenty of it too. In those days, a good husband was one who lasted in his job for at least four decades and became an honourable pensioner. Today a good husband is one who earns faster than his wife can spend! Talking of priorities, nothing could beat this shift in evaluating a husband!
Sri

Dear Sri:

Despite being one of your ardent fans, I must say you had me clean bowled today, or almost so, with this post. I had to read it endlessly many times before I saw the importance of a silly three letter word "too". Indeed, had I not been far more careful than usual, neither my abdomen guard nor my helmet would have protected whatever they are supposed to protect. Besides, I had not come prepared to play cricket with you, for no one ever told me that I had a distinguished career lying ahead in that direction.

So, you almost did me in. To tell you frankly Sri, I wouldn't have slept well tonight, weighed down as I was by my complexes till a few minutes ago. Complexes arising from the fact that several people commented on the post with confidence, a confidence that I appeared to be lacking almost completely. I was reminded alas of the old Chinese proverb:

He who knows and knows he knows, he is a wise man, follow him.
He who knows and knows not he knows, he is asleep, awake him.
He who knows not and knows he knows not, he is a child, teach him.
He who knows not and knows not he knows not, he is a FOOL, shun him.

I saw only too clearly which of these four categories I obviously belonged to. Fortunately though, God cares for the weakest of his creations. So he finally focussed his flashlight on the key to the puzzle that you had posed:

I hope I have fully justified the cricketing clan taking a hundred years to realise that the head too is important!

Till I noted that "t" word, I had been spinning. What does this guy mean? Sure enough, Purohits' sons have turned into neuro-surgeons, but they gave up their chanting abilities in the process, didn't they? It appears to be an "either--or" kind of choice.

But do cricketers have that choice? I mean, can they afford to face a fiery Imran Khan with a well-protected head but a bare abdomen? You scared the hell out of me. I told you, didn't I, that I hadn't arrived here to play cricket even with you, leave alone Imran or the Rawalpindi Express? But after thinking about your thoughts for the billionth time I couldn't help asking myself what's this chap talking about?

He appears to be aiming at me with a cricket ball that's a 100 grams or whatever in weight. Now even if his bowling speed is around six inches per hour, then the momentum with which he'll hit me would be 100 times 6 inches per hour = 600 gram inches per hour !!!!!!!!! I dread, I shiver, I faint almost as I imagine the calamitous prospect of being hit by this world's slowest bowler.

Not a friendly gesture to say the least. Caesar like I exclaimed: Thou too Brutus? And as soon as I uttered the magic three letter word "too", the truth dawned on me. Ah that was soothing indeed. The "too" that drew the decisive line between comprehension and total incomprehension. Thank the Lord that he showed me light. Or else I would've descended into a coma for the rest of eternity.

Man, you are a genius with words. Nay, a genius with precision. Just take the "too" out of the last sentence and see what remains! And the subtlety of the conclusion, the deep layers of meaning! But I must admit that I feel like accusing you of unfairness. I mean think of Subhash Gupte. He belonged to pre-headgear age didn't he? He didn't even wear the camouflaged Gavaskar cap. Gary Sobers? Hmmm... And then Don Bradman himself.

Did they or did they not appreciate the importance of the head TOO?

You'd surely give them credit for having recognized the need for their heads as well as procreative abilities. No????

Now don't tell me I haven't understood a word of what you wrote. I will surely start weeping, seeing especially that everyone else on earth has figured out things so well.

Anyway, I tried. Drowning

All the best.

oj

hello cheeniya Sir ,

the abdomen guard was necessary it protected the family jewels sitting in the middle of the body ..whereas the brain was at one extreme
also not many cricketers suffered head injury because of no head guard ..obviously they were cautious .
Nari Contractor, opening batsman and wicket keeper I heard was injured in the head ..
Cricketers dont wear white anymore which is a pity.. half their shirt and pant has advertisements form sponsors for which they are paid well , no more 5 day matches, and with all the gear .one can hardly see their faces sitting in the stands ..
so it's a toss as to which is better :)

jaijui

Originally Posted by jaijui0

hello cheeniya Sir ,

the abdomen guard was necessary it protected the family jewels sitting in the middle of the body ..whereas the brain was at one extreme
also not many cricketers suffered head injury because of no head guard ..obviously they were cautious .
Nari Contractor, opening batsman and wicket keeper I heard was injured in the head ..
Cricketers dont wear white anymore which is a pity.. half their shirt and pant has advertisements form sponsors for which they are paid well , no more 5 day matches, and with all the gear .one can hardly see their faces sitting in the stands ..
so it's a toss as to which is better :)

jaijui

Dear Jaijui:

My knowledge of cricket is close to zero. Not that I am too knowledgable in other fields of life. However, my age being what it is, I cannot disown tidbits of inconsequential knowledge that I picked up during the course of my journey to nowhere. And one such piece of information is that Contractor was not a wicket keeper. He certainly was an opening batsman though. Cheeniya will enlighten us more on this issue.

oj

My dear oj
You have added as much sheen to your post through your slick mid day editing as a fiery pace bowler would add to the already gleaming ball through some spitting and polishing! I read it an hour back and left not knowing how to deal with it. I come back an hour later and the post looks all new and glamorous like a girl after her bridal make up!

This post of yours leaves me totally undecided if it is meant to be complimentary or a tongue in cheek kind of a dig! It is nice of you to have left the choice to me to take it either way and I naturally take it as a compliment.

I have always been saying that the Chinese are unbeatable when it comes to producing all human needs at a ludicrously cheap cost and of course when it comes to uttering profound proverbs. This one that you have so kindly quoted is typically Chinese. Very tough to understand unless it is read twice! Having understood its import beyond any pale of doubt, I will have no hesitation in putting you under the first category. That explains why I am after you so fiercely.

It is often said of Samson that his head was not as strong as his body as otherwise he would not have laid it on a harlot’s lap! If you look at all the career of Rawalpindi Express, you would tend to compare him with Samson. He had the same power in delivering the ball but couldn’t capitalize on it as his weak head often led him astray!

Pardon me, oj, but your indulgence towards me is overflowing! If I had a 100 gram ball, I would be lucky if I don’t drop it on my toes and here you are talking about me bowling it at you! The 600 gram inches should be worse than Tsunami judging by the damage that I could cause to my toes by dropping the ball on it!

If you ask Shah Rukh Khan, he would blame it on the non wearing of helmet that caused Gavaskar taking all the bullets on his head and consequently utter such nonsense against him!

At least you have justified through this FB of yours why I call my posts as ‘Ramblings’!
Sri

Dear jaijui
The more I think about God's creative sagacity, my admiration for Him becomes unbounded. Look at the way He has put our brain inside the head and placed it on top of the body. He knew that it had to be placed at such a vantage point where it would be least prone to damages and accidents being an organ that directed all human activities. Had He kept it at the feet, even a small stone on the road would damage our head beyond repair. But God was challenged by the bowlers and He could bear it no longer after Contractor was hit on the head. He gave the men enough wisdom to create a head gear that would protect the head from the bowlers' fury.

Nari Contractor was never the wicket keeper but he was one of the gifted batsmen who could protect the wicket against the wily bowlers as long as he could!
Sri