For past week, we have witnessed the petulance of Indian Cricketers over the issue of signing WADA (World Anti-Doping Agency) contract . The issue being the 'whereabouts " clause of the contract which specifies that players must notify WADA of their whereabouts for 90 days in advance when not playing(between tournaments)..... This has been interpreted as invasion of privacy by Indian Cricketers and hence they have refused to sign the contract, supported by BCCI(undoubtedly the wealthiest Cricket Board in the world and hence a powerful body).
To be fair, other athletes like Serena Williams and Rafael Nadal also have reservations about the WADA contract, but they have signed the contract nevertheless. All other cricket boards have also signed the contract, Indian Cricket Players being the exception. So ,are their concerns genuine or yet another tantrum (considered to be one of the perks of Superstardom in India) , considering the fact that other Indian players like Saina Nehwal, Sania Mirza, etc. have signed it?
As far as the privacy invasion is concerned, it's a legitimate concern but it is equally valid for the players world over. But, the commitment to make the Sports clean drives their decision to sign the contract or if they have any issues , their respective Boards look into it, rather than supporting the tantrums. WADA has already expressed its commitment to review the "whereabouts" clause by the end of the year. Also, at any given time , only two persons would be aware of an athlete's whereabouts. It's not that WADA is going to announce the whereabouts of the players to all and sundry.
Agreed, Indian Cricketers are under intense media scrutiny and their schedules are hectic, but so do most of the prominent athletes. There's no valid reason that Indian Cricketers should be given preferential treatment. Worse has been the attitude of BCCI, supporting them and hence emerging as the new "Big Bully " of cricket. I know, for some it's a matter of pride that India can take on earlier bullies. I agree, we must stand our ground and BCCI must support its players if something /someone has been unfair to Indian Cricketers but this time , it looks like it has taken the Cricketers' tantrums too seriously. Indian Cricketers and BCCI have come across as surly and petulant .
Some people have raised the question : what's the need to conduct out of tournament dope tests? Well, I don't think that an athlete who wants to cheat would be stupid enough to go into a tournament with proscribed drugs in his/her body . One would think that the break between tournaments would be an ideal time for doping and hence also an ideal time for conducting random tests in order to catch dopers and eliminate doping.
Also, a specious argument forwarded in favour of Indian Cricketers' stand goes like this : Since Cricket is a skill based game, doping won't help cricketers and hence should not be of much concern . Well, it's naive . Have we forgotten Shane Warne or more recently , Mohd. Asif? Need something more be said?
All in all, it's high time cricketers realized that they are not different to other players or immune to rules . They are superstars and role models because they play well and not because of their tantrums . As a Cricket fan myself, it's disheartening to see Indian Cricketers being so unreasonable and churlish. Let our cricketers not destroy their credibility among cricket lovers by displaying petty attitude and demanding preferential treatment .
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Teachability
A few months back , I had read a book "Talent is Never Enough" by John C. Maxwell. The author says that being talented is a wonderful thing for an individual but not necessarily the only criteria for being successful . Talent must be complemeted by a host of other qualities like, diligence, perseverance, hunger to learn (Teachability), etc.One of these qualities, Teachability, caught my attention and after pondering over it, I wrote down my thoughts(which came in form of an article)....I am sharing my thoughts here......
Let's begin with what dictionary says about Teachability.............
Teachability n. of Teachable
Teachable adj. Able and willing to learn
We all know about Leoranado da Vinci , yes, the guy of "The da Vinci Code " . Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci was an Italian Polymath, being a scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, painter, sculptor, architect, botanist, musician and writer ( is anything left that he wasn't, I doubt it !). Leonardo has often been described as the archetype of the renaissance man, a man whose unquenchable curiosity was equaled only by his powers of invention. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest painters of all time and perhaps the most diversely talented person ever to have lived.
Do you know the secret behind this great man’s innumerable achievements in equal number of diverse fields ? It was – “unquenchable curiosity” or the hunger to learn more and more… In words of da Vinci himself , “ Iron rusts from disuse;stagnant water loses its purity and in cold weather becomes frozen;even so does inaction sap the vigor of the mind”.In other words, to keep our mind vigorous, it must not stagnate. We must keep our mind active . How do we achieve that? By keeping our mind open to new ideas. This willingness to keep our mind open to new ideas , new experiences is what we call teachability.Thus, Teachability pertains more to attitude than competence or mental ability.
Teachability is the quality that makes one continually strive to grow, learn and improvise. There has to be a desire to learn, adapt and grow. Striving for excellence brings success. Having an agile mind expands your knowledge and helps in making informed decisions. Hunger to learn is what separates an able mind from an agile one. We complain most of the time that this topic is not interesting or this is not useful. Nothing is interesting if we are not interested. And gaining knowledge in diverse areas which may not be of immediate use , is not a waste. It expands our horizon, challenges us to learn new things, conquer new peaks and adapt the knowledge gained, to suit our needs.
Most of us feel that our learning ends with the degrees we have earned or when we have got a job . But learning is not an event. Getting a degree is an event but learning is a continuous process ; it’s the way of working. Learning is meant to be a lifelong pursuit.
Many talented people believe that there’s nothing left for them to learn. They are content after achieving a certain measure of success.This contentment leads to complacency . Complacency leads to inaction of mind. As much talented as anyone can be, there’s always scope to learn more, diversify the talent, enhance it, redefine it and take it to a new level.
Most often , pride comes into the way of talented individuals’ teachability. Their innate talent leads them to an easy success , leading them to believe that they have learnt all there is to learn. But there are always new things to be learnt and talent to be expanded.Pride closes our mind to new ideas and feedback. It prevents us from admitting mistakes and making needed changes.
So first thing to inculcate teachability and expand your talent in the process is to recognize our pride, and understand its detrimental effects on our progress. We must get out of our comfort zones and stretch ourselves towards an extra mile, one more goal to achieve. Let’s say …Ye dil maange more !!!!!!!!!!
We must remember these memorable lines by Robert Frost
“The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.”
Let's begin with what dictionary says about Teachability.............
Teachability n. of Teachable
Teachable adj. Able and willing to learn
We all know about Leoranado da Vinci , yes, the guy of "The da Vinci Code " . Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci was an Italian Polymath, being a scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, painter, sculptor, architect, botanist, musician and writer ( is anything left that he wasn't, I doubt it !). Leonardo has often been described as the archetype of the renaissance man, a man whose unquenchable curiosity was equaled only by his powers of invention. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest painters of all time and perhaps the most diversely talented person ever to have lived.
Do you know the secret behind this great man’s innumerable achievements in equal number of diverse fields ? It was – “unquenchable curiosity” or the hunger to learn more and more… In words of da Vinci himself , “ Iron rusts from disuse;stagnant water loses its purity and in cold weather becomes frozen;even so does inaction sap the vigor of the mind”.In other words, to keep our mind vigorous, it must not stagnate. We must keep our mind active . How do we achieve that? By keeping our mind open to new ideas. This willingness to keep our mind open to new ideas , new experiences is what we call teachability.Thus, Teachability pertains more to attitude than competence or mental ability.
Teachability is the quality that makes one continually strive to grow, learn and improvise. There has to be a desire to learn, adapt and grow. Striving for excellence brings success. Having an agile mind expands your knowledge and helps in making informed decisions. Hunger to learn is what separates an able mind from an agile one. We complain most of the time that this topic is not interesting or this is not useful. Nothing is interesting if we are not interested. And gaining knowledge in diverse areas which may not be of immediate use , is not a waste. It expands our horizon, challenges us to learn new things, conquer new peaks and adapt the knowledge gained, to suit our needs.
Most of us feel that our learning ends with the degrees we have earned or when we have got a job . But learning is not an event. Getting a degree is an event but learning is a continuous process ; it’s the way of working. Learning is meant to be a lifelong pursuit.
Many talented people believe that there’s nothing left for them to learn. They are content after achieving a certain measure of success.This contentment leads to complacency . Complacency leads to inaction of mind. As much talented as anyone can be, there’s always scope to learn more, diversify the talent, enhance it, redefine it and take it to a new level.
Most often , pride comes into the way of talented individuals’ teachability. Their innate talent leads them to an easy success , leading them to believe that they have learnt all there is to learn. But there are always new things to be learnt and talent to be expanded.Pride closes our mind to new ideas and feedback. It prevents us from admitting mistakes and making needed changes.
So first thing to inculcate teachability and expand your talent in the process is to recognize our pride, and understand its detrimental effects on our progress. We must get out of our comfort zones and stretch ourselves towards an extra mile, one more goal to achieve. Let’s say …Ye dil maange more !!!!!!!!!!
We must remember these memorable lines by Robert Frost
“The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.”
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