"83"

 “Taste success once, tongue want more”…

39 years ago on 25th June 1983, India defeated the mighty West Indian team to win the Cricket World Cup. Although India won two more world cricket titles since then, the 1983 World Cup victory was the greatest triumph of the underdog ever scripted. Winning against all odds, this scintillating success inspired generations of Indian youngsters to take up cricket and dream big. The inspirational leadership by team captain, Kapil Dev, and his “dare-to-dream” outlook ensured that there is no greater religion than cricket in the subcontinent. This piece of legendary Indian history of doing the impossible by trouncing the two-time defending champions on the world stage is beautifully portrayed in the movie, “83” which I watched on Netflix today. A bit longish at almost 3 hours but what a beautiful story and such a well- made movie starring Ranveer Singh as Kapil Dev.

According to the bookmakers, the odds of India winning the World Cup was 66-1. Even the Indian cricket team itself accepted this humiliating prediction as they had booked a holiday to the USA immediately after their first round matches. They too didn’t have any hopes of progressing into the semi-finals. But they did not take into account the inspirational leadership of the Hurricane from Hariyana, Kapil Dev, with his understated manner, broad smile and Punjabi-laced English who rewrote the history books and put India on the cricket world map.

It is the first time I watched the actor who plays Kapil Dev, the dashing Ranveer Singh, in action and I must say he did an incredibly amazing job to portray Kaps or Kapsi as the Indian captain is affectionately known as. On watching Singh walk, talk, bat and bowl like Kapil, I wondered how long it must have taken him to learn these moves and mannerisms given the fact that the real life sportsman would have taken years and years of practice to achieve his unique stature in the form of movement, gestures and facial expressions. He has certainly taken his career to new heights by playing Kapil’s mannerisms, his strong Haryana accent, his broken English, his body language, pauses in his speech & the famous Nataraja pose. A touch of glamour was added to the movie too with Ranveer Singh’s real life wife, Deepika Padukone, making a cameo appearance as his  wife, Romi.

For me personally, one of the best parts of the movie was seeing the West Indian cricket greats in action. I always loved Calypso cricket and the swagger and swoon of the West Indians was a thrill to watch. Like Srikkanth says when the Indian team watched a practice match of the West Indian team: ”it is like watching a horror movie”! With the rhythmic beat of the Caribbean music in the background and the close-ups of the heavyweights like the Whispering Death(Michael Holding) , the Hit Man (Andy Roberts), the fastest bowler in the world at that time, Malcolm Marshall and the absolute terror of bowling against the best batsman in the legend of Viv Richards - such superb acting that you had to blink to realise this was not the real team.

The director, Kabir Khan, and the scriptwriters must be complimented for their brilliant work in recreating this iconic moment in cricket history with such amazing attention to details in the pursuit of realism. This movie could have so easily veered into an over-the-top, Bollywood style direction with exaggerated dramatisation, focus on glorifying a single hero and opening the taps of compassion of the viewers by milking the political incorrectness and derogatory treatment of the Indian team but it doesn’t thankfully. Rather, there is careful control in portraying the actual events of the 1983 World Cup series as well as in the understated restraint of the captain whose sole mantra in motivating his team to the top with “Taste success once, tongue want more”…

More than a sports film, this is the best three-hour session of professional development or motivational work at its supreme best. All work teams or even youngsters at school or an individual who feels that the cards are stacked against you or there is no way forward, you should take a lesson from the class of 83. India was a team that had only ever won a single match at the previous two world cups, that too against East Africa (which is not even a country!). India had never beaten England in England, ever. Kapil Dev and his thirteen team mates dared to dream the impossible dream and achieved the unthinkable. The rest, as they say, is history!

The movie’s message underlined the universal truth that in sport: the full nation automatically gets united, irrespective of the state or the caste or religious beliefs that one may have. And while India laments that there is no footage of Kapil Dev’s match-winning knock of 175 against Zimbabwe in one of the lead up games to the final, I wish that I could have watched this masterful movie on the big screen instead of my lounge TV to relive the magic that once was on the hallowed turf of Lords in the summer of 1983.

#83movie #83moviereview

Quit while you are Ahead!

“ Making a big life change is pretty scary. But know what is even scarier? Regret.”                     Zig Ziglar 

Just a week ago, Australian tennis champion, Ashleigh Barty, sent shockwaves around the world by retiring from competitive tennis . She was number 1 in world tennis ranking and just 25 years of age. Tennis players and the public alike were stunned at how someone at their prime of their game and at their peak of their career could suddenly throw in the  towel. It just didn’t make sense when she was at the top of her earning capacity too. 

You see, from a young age we are groomed to think that winners don’t quit and quitters don’t win, isn’t that so? Therefore, we stick our heels in and tolerate unpleasant jobs, toxic relationships and life-sucking habits because we are taught to do the “right thing” and persevere. If we leave, ditch someone or give up a way of life , it goes counter to deeply held beliefs of our previous generations. Financial stability, upward mobility and social status favours the workhouse who holds in there for dear life. 

However, when life becomes unmanageable and some do quit because of a bad job or relationship, it is understandable. When the heat is too hot, we get out of the kitchen. That’s what we do. The reason we are gobsmacked with Ash Barty’s announcement of early retirement, is because she is in winning form. This is something we are not used to. Australia’s homegrown tennis queen is a lady after my own heart. It is not my intention to trivialise Ash’s stardom or to compare a nonentity like me to an elite sportswoman but I, too, have followed my own heart and made sudden decisions to leave even though life was so rosy. 

We were living in South Africa in a lovely house in a middle-class, suburban neighbourhood, our family completed (that’s what I thought!) with two delightful boys under three years of age and both my husband and I in high school teaching jobs. Life was good and very cosy. After fourteen years of teaching, I suddenly got the feeling that getting up to go to school was not sparking my joy anymore. The teaching fraternity in South Africa in 1998 became very unionised with chalk downs, slow-downs and shut downs. This was further compounded by in-house school politics. Fortuitously, a newspaper article notifying about a seminar on teaching overseas caught my eye and barely six months later, two parents with two children on their hips and four suitcases made their way to the other side of the world to New Zealand to start a new life.

We quickly settled to the strange but oh-so-satisfying New Zealand life with teaching jobs and the boys attending the local daycare centre. I was at the top of my element in my dream job as Head of English at the local, high school. We lived in a custom built, modern house on a sprawling two and half acre homestead on top of the hill overlooking vineyards. Through divine intervention, I was pregnant with my third child. Could life get any better?

Two weeks before my daughter was born, I was on maternity leave and was watching what we now refer to as 9/11 - the terrifying and disturbing images of the hijacked airplanes by Al Qaeda flying into the Twin Towers buildings in New York City. I was numb with the horror of what was going on. I called my principal and notified him I was resigning as Head of English with immediate effect. He advised me it was a rash decision and that I should wait for the baby to be born before I thought about quitting. He reasoned that I had a year’s maternity leave due and there was no reason to quit now. He probably thought my hormones were working overtime too to reach such a sudden decision with such finality. The terrorist attack taught me that life could end tomorrow and I needed to discover other joys that life had to offer. 

Two weeks after the news that rocked the world, we welcomed a beautiful baby girl and a few days later I handed in my resignation. The 9/11 disaster underlined how unpredictable life was and there were many more dreams I wanted to fulfil. The first year of my daughter’s life was one of the happiest and most productive years where I studied part time for a post graduate diploma to be a professional writer(something I always wanted to do but didn’t have the time) and I had so much fun renovating a property which we flipped for almost twice my annual teacher’s salary(and tax free too!). I got to stay at home and take care of my daughter - a wonderful bonding experience which may be why we are so close now! 

Sometimes you have to quit to win. There are only 24 hours in a day, only so many years in a lifetime and if we don’t quit, where is the time to realise our many dreams? When are we going to do the things that really matter? It is a human tendency that we have in thinking that we stand to lose so much  after we have invested so much time, effort and money in a certain pursuit. It is probably the reason why we have certain professionals like engineers, accountants or medical practitioners who are reluctant to leave their career path  no matter how disenchanted or unhappy they are. We seem to know what our loss will amount to by leaving but can’t seem to envision the gains we may make by stepping into unchartered territories. 

Life in New Zealand was a blissful existence in the countryside but it didn’t stop me making the sudden decision to sell up and trek cross the Tasman to make a new home on the Gold Coast, Australia. After completing the required hours of teaching, I was offered a permanent position in the maths department at the local high school. I turned the much sought after position down because I decided to work smarter, not harder. Teaching at a school did not nurture my creativity with its characteristic bureaucracy and my curiosity of dipping my toes into the tempting waters of the business world , was piqued. It was time to go. 

Throw away the coffee that tastes bitter, leave the restaurant if the meal is not too your taste,  quit that book that doesn’t take you anywhere. Get out of that cinema if the film is boring - doesn’t matter that you paid for those tickets. You deserve better! A few years ago I paid an arm and a leg for my husband and I to attend a Tony Robbins seminar in Sydney which included flights, hotel accommodation and the event fee which alone was around $3500 each. Barely a few minutes after registration, the seminar started and we were asked to jump up and down in wild abandon to blaring, ear-deafening music and then hug random strangers next to us. I just upped and left. This was not my style. My husband couldn’t believe I did this and there were three more days besides this to go! I quit while my husband continued to attend ( suited more his gregarious personality) but the upside was I got to spend three glorious days with my son who lives in Sydney doing touristy jaunts -  that was priceless!

With the recent, event of the Corona virus pandemic which has introduced a “new normal” way of life, it is perhaps a good time to get rid of old beliefs and realise that quitting while you are ahead is not a bad thing after all. We should stop associating quitting with failure. If your soul tells you it is time to go, just go. Have faith that everything will work out for the better. When we cast away long held beliefs, we allow ourselves to grow and to live in joyful harmony of body, spirit and soul. 

Thank you to Australia’s humble, Aussie sports star who is teaching us that it is okay to jump out even when the dream machine is running on well oiled wheels. Have a super week, Folks, and remember to follow the beat of your own drum. 

#winnersdon’tquit  #followyourheart #followthebeatofyourowndrum