In Praise of Lewis Hamilton

It was a disappointing Sunday for those who expected the Lewis Hamilton coronation at the Brazilian Grand Prix.

A gear box problem on lap six did the talented driver in at the crucial race.

But I love to call Hamilton as the champion.

Nobody has taken the Formula One circuit by storm as the 22-year-old rookie driver did. His first season has been exemplary.

The Briton has shown great maturity and remarkable speed from the season-opening Australian Grand Prix.

He has got all the champion ingredients. Fighting spirit, speed, and consistency.

We have seen his 'never say die attitude' many a time.

He slid off the track in bad weather conditions at the European Grand Prix . But he kept his engine going and was controversially winched back on track. The rookie finished ninth in that race.

His heroics were on display at Sao Paulo too. Even after pushed to the 17th place in the sixth lap, the Briton fought valiantly. He recovered both his composure and control. Thus he managed a decent seventh place finish. But it was not enough to claim the coveted title.

For the record, Hamilton has clinched six pole positions, four wins and 109 point in the 17 gruelling races of the 2007 season.

Moreover, Hamilton's driving is less error-prone than his McLaren team-mate Fernando Alonso. The rookie has got a perfect grip on his car.

Here comes the champion. A right inheritor to Ayrton Senna and Michael Schumacher!

Cultural icon

I would also love to call Hamilton a cultural icon.

Formula One has been considered as a white men's world for quite long time.

But Hamilton gate-crashed in to the 'white kingdom' and became the first successful black driver.

It is heartening that he is fully aware of his ethnic credentials.Being black, for him, is not a disadvantage at all.

"Being black is not a negative. It's a positive, if anything, because I'm different. In the future it can open doors to different cultures and that is what motor sport is trying to do anyway. It will show that not only white people can do it, but also black people, Indians, Japanese and Chinese. It will be good to mean something," he was quoted in a recent media interview last month.

"Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King are my heroes," he has declared loudly.

The Right Spirit

The McLaren driver still has a chance to win the drivers' title if the FIA disqualifies BMW and Williams for allegedly using irregular fuel during Brazilian Grand Prix.

Then Hamilton will jump to fourth place, and will get enough points to claim the drivers' title.

However, it all hinges on technicalities.

But Hamilton has already gone on record saying that he did not wish to win the driver's title by default. "I want to win the title on the race track," Hamilton told BBC.

It is this fighting spirit that makes Hamilton a super hero in the Formula One world.

Incorrigible Deve Gowda

Haradanahalli Doddegowda Deve Gowda, the versatile political player Karnataka has ever seen, is famous for his unpredictable moves.

He may sacrifice a pawn (Kumaraswamy’s resignation) to keep his reputation intact. Some times, he will sign peace treaties with staunch rivals to enjoy the upper hand (JD(S)-BJP coalition).

At times, the incorrigible Gowda will resign to his own fate for a political sabbatical (Relinquishing the JD (S) national president post).

He has got an uncanny knack of forging political alliances too. Thus he managed to keep his faction-ridden Janata Dal (Secular), which secured only 54 seats in the 2004 Assembly elections, afloat in the Karnataka politics.

Soon after the last Assembly polls, he struck an alliance with the Congress. In return, his party got key positions in the Dharam Singh ministry.

But the marriage did not last long. JD (S) pulled the plug and ousted the Congress Government after nine months.

When an uncertainty loomed over political landscape of Karnataka, Gowda used his proxy (read son) H D Kumaraswamy to play the cards.

He struck a deal with 'communal' BJP and formed the government in the "larger interests of Karnataka'.

As the news about the unexpected deal broke, Gowda feared a backlash from within his own party and from the minorities. Suddenly he began the fire-fighting mission. He denounced his son; expressed 'shock' over the pact; he even exhorted HDK to break the alliance and return to secular ways.

The father-son spat too, as expected, did not last long. They buried the hatchet in no time, much to the chagrin of card-carrying secularists in the Janata Dal (S).

"It is all for the greater common good of Karnataka and its people," the incorrigible Gowda substantiated the alliance with Sangh Parivar.

The 'humble farmer' thus once again started calling the shots.

Communal Riots

BJP's ascendancy to power only helped in worsening the situations in communally sensitive areas like Baba Budangiri, Mangalore, and several parts of Bangalore City.

Communal clashes erupted at regular intervals. The JD (S)-led government did nothing to stop the marauding rioters, though it was very clear that BJP is instigating the riots.

People's Democratic Forum, a 40-member fact-finding team which visited Mangalore soon after the 2006 riots, squarely blamed the Sangh Parivar and the local police for the communal riots.

" Sangh Parivar forces had gained strength after B. Nagaraja Shetty of the Bharatiya Janata Party took over as the district-in-charge Minister," observed the independent panel.

But Deve Gowda and his Home Minister (M P Prakash) took a soft line on the crucial issues.

Reason: they did not want to annoy their coalition partner.

Fall from Grace

Those who have heard (read) Gowda chanting the secular mantra again two weeks back might have laughed aloud.

"The Sangh Parivar will make Karnataka another Hindutva laboratory if we (JD (S) transfer power to the BJP," he told the mediapersons.

It is hard to believe that a senior leader like Deve Gowda had failed to understand the perils of forming a coalition with BJP.

He talked as if he came to know about the evil designs of Sangh Parivar very recently (on the eve of the power transfer to BJP. As per the 20:20 deal, the JD (S) had to transfer power on October 2, 2007).

The ‘power transfer’ drama exposed the ‘secular’ Gowda.

He was hailed (even very recently) as a tallest secular leader in India. But his actions made people believe that he is the most power hungry politician.

Deve Gowda’s fall from grace, indeed, is one of the saddest political tales in contemporary India.

Sachin vs Anand - Who's the best?

Suppose one of the 24X7 news channels in India conducts an SMS poll. The topic is Sachin vs Anand – who is the best? Can you guess what the poll outcome will be?

You need not be an avid sports follower to predict the correct answer.

It will definitely be Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar. No doubt about that. You cannot expect otherwise in a country that eats, drinks and sleeps cricket.

But if I get a chance to send an SMS, I will vote only for Viswanathan Anand. For I believe that Anand is the greatest Indian sportsperson.

I know majority of Indians will beg to differ.

Don’t count me in the anti-cricket brigade. I do enjoy cricket. Moreover, I admire the on field heroics of Sachin, Dravid, Dhoni and even Sreesanth.

Ripping Apart

Let us rip apart the professional achievements of India’s two sporting icons.

Sachin, 34, and Anand, 36, began their careers around the same time.

One hails from Chennai (erstwhile Madras), and the other is the son of Mumbai.

Both have carved a niche for themselves in their chosen sport.

Wisden had named Sachin as the second greatest Test and ODI player in the world.

Anand had won three world titles, including the one at the junior level. Winning titles has become a habit for Anand. For the record, the Grand Master has won the World Chess Championship at Mexico City last month.

Difficult Times

Anand struggled a lot in his quest to reach on the top of the chess world.

He took to the sports when the game was at its infancy in India.

In the beginning, the media paid scant attention to his feats.

He won the national sub-junior championship at the age of 14 in 1984. From then on, the Anand juggernaut kept on rolling. He has become the undisputed leader of the world chess. His victories in the national and international events forced the media houses to devote a little space in their newspaper columns for the mind game.

Thus the champion gave the much-needed fillip for the game in India. Slowly more and more youngsters started taking the game seriously. Coaching centres mushroomed in every nook and cranny of the country.

Thus India was able to produce a handful of young champions in Sasikiran, P. Harikrishna, Koneru Humpy, Dronavalli Harika, Tania Sachdev, S. Vijayalakshmi, to name a few. They kept the Indian flag flying in the international stage.

Sachin’s Easy Journey

But Sachin faced no qualms in his ascendancy to the pinnacle of the cricket.

The game has already caught the fancy of Indians even before he padded up for his first game. The players were rewarded well. Sports journalists paid too much attention for the ‘gentleman’s game’.

Sachin utilised this situation to the maximum. He fully concentrated on his game. Naturally, the media came to him. Thus he became the pin-up hero of millions of Indians.

Money Factor

Sachin became an integral part of the international cricket. He is labeled as the great crowd puller, no matter India won or lost a particular match.

Thus Sachin’s market value has soared to stratospheric levels. Now he is one of the highest earning sportspersons (brand ambassador?) in the country.

He endorses more than a dozen brands (17 approximately) all over the world. Besides, he owns two restaurants in Mumbai.

Love for the Game

On the contrary, India’s world champion Viswanathan Anand has been running on the single sponsorship of NIIT.

His market value never went up.

It never let 36-year-old Anand down.

At a time when most of the sportspersons will seriously mull over retirement (even Sachin is planning retirement, say media reports), the ‘tiger from madras’ is hungry for more titles.

It is the love for the game that keeps him on. Not money or market.

He is India’s most consistent champion. Hail the King!