Saturday, September 27, 2014

Mangalyaan and Cricket - The Difference Really

I was wondering what the connection between Magalyaan and cricket was really. Many people including our Prime Minister apparently, if reports are true, believe that the Mangalyaan deserves a bigger applause than winning a cricket match. I am sure it does.

Only the comparison beats me.

Why cricket? Why not Salman Khan? Or Dabang? Or Deepika Padulone? Or the winner of Jhalak dikhla ja?

Why are we cheering stuff like sports and games and politicians instead of Mangalyaan seems to be the question. Let me put this into perspective as I understand it.

There are two types of performances we stand up and applaud. On that touches us spontaneously and titillates us enough to make us applaud without thinking. Its the show, the glitz, the moment and the timing that just works, makes us forget our mundane lives and hitches us on to something that lifts us if for a moment. It may not need any understanding of the craft or how it works, just what it does to us that moment is important. T20 cricket, a cabaret, a badly made movie, a popular song, book which makes no sense could all fall into this category. But hey, we can't ignore the fact that they are serving a need.

The other type of a performance is one where we understand deeply that we are witnessing something special. A performance which needs a lot of understanding of the craft to truly appreciate its greatness. Even those who may not fully comprehend its greatness, stand up in respect quietly because they know they are seeing something special. This is long term, this is stuff that requires knowledge, dedication, commitment, responsibility, pushing of boundaries. This is excellence. This is true creation. This deserves a respectful salute, not a lusty cheer. This is respect.

When a Gavsakar, Vishwanath, Tendulkar, Dravid, Laxman, Sehwag  do something special, we applaud respectfully. When artistes of the highest calibre to something special we stand up and salute. At an item number we throw coins. Different, but both exist and both serve a need.

The crucial difference is that the one that titillates may not inspire us to do stuff we are capable of. We cannot exhort someone to get inspired to do an item dance perhaps. But the truly excellent stuff is something that all of us can take lessons from and get inspired by.

It's here that Mr. Modi may have missed a trick (or perhaps may even have been quoted out of context for all I know). Its not about who is applauding who and why and why not. If anything, I think we should take inspiration and learn lessons from this Mangalyaan team. To begin with Mr. Modi, we can salute the ISRO team and then ask ourselves why our roads, our public infrastructure, our toilets and all the other things we see which reflect governance and public order cannot learn from this team. If we can send this wonderful contraption at such a low cost into orbit at first instance, why cannot we lay roads, irrigate our lands, distribute food, provide employment, provide transparency? Why can't we see this type of efficiency, excellence more in our world? Why has such a wonderful opportunity been lost to inspire all the regular, mediocre tasks we do to a higher level? Instead, why choose to compare a T20 hoick with the excellence of a Gavsakar straight drive? Why demean the effort by urging people to throw coins?

Salute the ISRO. Salute all excellence. Highlight it for what it is. And urge the people to take lessons and inspiration from these rare acts of excellence in our country.

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