Thumbs Down to Livspace ad campaign - Down with stereotypes and Stereotyping

A big thumbs down for Livspace. Their latest ad is pretty dumb, to say the least.

They have Anuskha and Virat Kohli as models and what do they do? Portray Virat Kohli as the bumbling Sardarji.

Come on Livspace. It is 2022 and it is time to stop reinforcing old Stereotypes. We don't do Sardarji jokes any longer, anywhere.

And let us not forget that one of our brilliant finance ministers and two-term Prime minister was a Sardar - Man Mohan Singh. And one of our most brilliant economists was another Sardar - Montek Singh Ahluwalia. Down with stereotypes and Stereotyping! 

Washing dirty linen in public – How not to deal with your Human Resources! - Virat Kohli vs BCCI

 

” Common Sense is not common”, I often comment in my classroom. The unfolding saga of Virat Kohli vs Saurav Ganguly Vs BCCI vs Azharuddin vs Sunil Gavaskar vs every other Indian has left me bemused and perplexed, to say the least.

First let us put things in perspective. Whether we like it or not Virat Kohli is a superstar cricketer. His popularity is phenomenal, only second to Sachin Tendulkar and his records speak for themselves. His captaincy record has been outstanding and his win percentage too has been good. His only blemish, not winning any ICC championships.

But why blame him? Even the great Sachin Tendulkar was not a great captain. We were lucky to have a Dhoni who did so well in ICC championships. But to hound and play the fool with Virat Kohli is not done at all.

First of all, Saurav Ganguly says that he asked Virat Kohli to reconsider his decision to give up T20I captaincy. Immediately Virat Kohli says that there was no such communication to him and that the decision to relieve him of ODI captaincy was conveyed only 90 minutes before the selection committee meeting.

Fine, BCCI. Why can’t you have all these discussions in-camera. Why do you need to wash your dirty linen in public? Then suddenly Rohit Sharma becomes injured and will not play test matches. On cue Virat Kohli says that it is his daughter’s birthday in January 2022 and that he would not play in the ODI series against south Africa.

Katti or tit for tat. BCCI has become the laughing stock of the world. And the comedy has yet not ended, Virat Kohli now says that he is available to play the Odo series against South Africa. One thing that BCCI has to realize is that Virat Kohli is a big draw and a superstar cricketer. It is better to deal with him with butter gloves.

BCCI is known to grovel before superstars. They had to humour Kapil Dev till he reached 432 wickets and had to put up with Sachin Tendulkar till he got 100 international hundreds and played 200 test matches.

I am sure that BCCI will placate Virat Kohli too. Why in the world would BCCI want to kill its golden goose! A goose that lays eggs worth crores of rupees!

Sportsperson of the Decade – King Kohli.

An advance happy new year to all my friends, As we draw close to a terrific year and an interesting and turbulent decade, I was pondering on what to write. As usual, sports was the first thing that came to my mind and I thought who is the person who influenced our thought process the most in this decade? The answer was easy - King Virat Kohli.

I penned a 642-word letter and shot it off to The Hans India. Luckily for me, they obliged and published it in the letters column today (30-12-2019). Yes, they trimmed it! The letter is down to 426 words but no regrets. I am also posting the original letter for readers who want to read the letter as it is without any edits!

When Sachin Tendulkar retired on 16th November 2013, a sense of loss and nostalgia swept the country. Cricket lovers who swore by Sachin’s name made resolutions not to watch cricket any longer. It was as if the light had gone out of their life!

Emerging out of the shadows of the god of cricket was his prodigy, Virat King Kohli. For all his records and achievements, Sachin was not a leader. His record in test cricket speaks for itself, 4 wins in 25 tests as a captain.

As we draw to a close on a very eventful decade, Virat Kohli proved that he is a worthy successor. His work ethic, professionalism, his foresight, hunger for runs and success, ability to think beyond for the team and India, Aggression (sometimes he does go overbroad with his brand of machismo), his down to earth persona and his delightful marriage with Anushka Sharma has won him fans throughout the world. 

Under Sunil Gavaskar’s captaincy, India played well and looked at drawing test matches. It was Sourav Ganguly who gave Indian cricket the self-belief and the first glimpses of the swagger that would become pronounced under the captaincy of Virat Kohli. India now is the team that everybody wants to beat. They are the latest bullies in world cricket - the tag worn by West Indies in the eighties and which was later the domain of the Aussies.

India now has great batsmen, and in a country that was known for its spin wizards has the best fast bowlers in the world. Amazing the way Kohli has moulded this team into a bunch of world-beaters with a self-belief that is so endearing and charming! The only anomaly that Kohl wants to correct is India’s recent inability to win in ICC championships and world cups. I am sure that in the next decade even that anomaly would be rectified.

Some of the amazing world records that Kohli has amassed over the years are interesting to recap. In ODIs, Kohli has the second-highest number of centuries and the highest number of centuries in run chases. He holds the world record for being the fastest batsman to 10,000 and 11,000 runs in ODI cricket, reaching the milestones in 205 and 222 innings respectively.

His batting average in successful run cases in ODIs is a mild boggling 98.93. He almost averages 100 when India wins while batting second!

Virat Kohli is the only cricketer to have an average of 50 plus in all the formats, Tests, ODIs and T20I. That is terrific consistency. He now has 33 wins out of 53 as a test captain and trails Clive Lloyd, 36 wins out of 74, Steve Waugh, 41wins out of 57, Ricky Ponting, 48 wins out of 77 and Graeme Smith, 53 wins out of 109.

Virat Kohli has so far played 401 international matches (Tests, ODIs and T20I) and has scored a mammoth 21,444 runs and is at 8th place among all the players who have played this great game. He has scored 70 centuries and 101 half-centuries and has a staggering average of 57.13 across the formats. And he is only 31 years old and god willing he could play for another 7 to 8 years.

Indeed, Virat Kohli is the king! All others including Steve Smith, Kane Williamson, Joe Root and Babar Azam are only pretenders! King Kohli sits on the throne and does not look like relinquishing it to anyone in the near future.

What is on the bucket list of the king? Getting to a 100 centuries, as early as possible, win the world championship of test cricket and winning the world cup in the ODIs and T20I. That would be the crowning glory to an illustrious cricketer who has sacrificed a lot and has become a worthy successor to the god of cricket, Sachin Tendulkar.