My Sincere Apologies

Anand,
Really a tough game, and truly held the spectator’s attention all the time. But you seemed to have lost your cool for a while. I have always have known you as a very nice person, this kind of behavior from you was a real shock to me. Such an attitude towards the umpire is unacceptable in any game. Murali was gracious to have brushed off that comment.
Take this as a friendly advice and don’t do it again because it does not reflect good on you, as a person. All the best in the other games you play.

This is an e-mail note I got from a well wisher after a carrom match we played last Friday. You could sense from the gist of the mail that I'd done something unacceptable during the match. Well, the devil is in the details.

Srinu and I, are a team competing in the carrom tournament. This is the round two. We have already qualified to the round three. Still, we had two more matches in round two. Our opponents were Mahesh and Manoj. They had two wins from two matches just as we had. We were just fighting for the first place in the group. Murali was the referee.

The air in the cafetaria was electrified. Supporters for both the teams had assembled. Before the start of the match, Murali told me that, we were allowed to talk between ourselves during our turns of play and we were not supposed to talk while the opponents took turns. He had obviously watched all our previous matches. We do talk more than we play. He felt it was his duty to remind me of the rules.

The game is played for three boards. Whoever wins two boards, wins the match. Points are counted only for ranking purposes. The first board was a tough one. To be frank, we struggled and lost the board. While we were struggling, once Murali suggested me that, I should not push the striker and rather flick it. He had ignited a spark unknowingly and unintentionally.

People refuse to understand. It was discussed, decided and agreed in the FUWA meeting. That, inspite of we framing all the rules, the referees will not interfere during the game. Referees will award foul play only if the players claim. Murali had clearly violated this twice during our game. For me, he was not just warning me. He was hinting our opponents that I'm prone to foul plays and they better keep a watch over me.

I'm passionate about sport. When I said (hold Shift key while clicking on this link: http://beinganand.blogspot.com/2008/02/about-me-things-my-profile-wont-tell.html) I take sport seriously and life sportively, it was not intended to be catchy. I only meant it. I've always considered sport as the ideal substitute for war. Unfortunately, none of the supporters knew what I was upto in this match. I wanted to win the match badly. It was a kind of obsession. But things were not going as planned. Still, we managed to win the second board.

The contest was not even in the third board. Mahesh and Manoj were playing extremely well and I was goofing up things. It seemed Srinu had also lost his cool. But, he was compensating for my loss of form. Mahesh and Manoj tried covering the Queen a million times. After one of the million tries, I picked up the Queen and placed it in the inner circle. Usually, it is the referee who places the Queen. Players, however, in the flow of the game, place the Queen themselves and continue to play. Murali interrupted. "Anand, if you're placing the Queen and the opponents feel it is not in the inner circle, they can claim foul". I was at my nasty best now. I retorted, "When the opponents claim foul, you do the refereeing. Otherwise", I signalled and actually mouthed the words, "Shut up!". It was the worst thing a player could do to the referee. It was the beginning of the end. We lost the board. I felt really really bad for my behaviour and I felt very sorry for him. After I had cooled down, I went back. I told him I was sorry. Sorry with a capital S. At times, words are inadequate to express yourself.

It went without saying. None of the supporters were there for our next match. And it went without saying. I was completely relieved. I would never lose my temper again for such trivial things. Now on, you've got to quadruple your nonsense to intimidate me. Not to mention, this applies only in sport. In life, I've been tolerating exponential levels of nonsense. I'm used to it. We won the next match 3-0.

The point is, I was right. The problem is, I was rude. You've got to be fun loving, all smiles in the corporate world. Hard emotions are a sin. Yes. Hard emotions are a sin, even in sport. In a country where everyone is naked, you are a rebel, if you're wearing clothes.

Welcome to the Corporate world.