‘TIS DARWINISM AT ITS BEST

“Unaccustomed to the pleasures of a good night sleep, I had practically turned into a nocturnal specie, that’s when I decided to be a Cabby, that’s how I adapted to the situation…”

As bizarre as it sounds, Bibek Rao, 23 years old a quality auditor at Evalueserve , was layed off like many of his colleagues, but he decided to fight with the situation instead of being docile and accepting what was thrown at him. He immediately grabbed the vacancy of a cabby in his firm. Now his daily schedule includes picking up and dropping people from Gurgaon suburbs, “it’s an easy task I have been living here for quite a while now; I am quite familiar with the routes.” Says Bibek flippantly. At a time when there are people becoming suicidal, consulting shrinks or are are financially challenged. Bibek is my hero as he emerged out of the state of self pity, and chose to take things under his control.

“I decided to look at the brighter side of things; having lost on the fun guys my age have thanks to the busy schedule I’m treating the current situation as a break from that schedule. I am actually doing what I love to do- I get to drive late in the night on the Delhi roads; I get to make friends with my colleagues. I am utilizing this time to re-instigate some lost values and identify my strengths so that I can play on them as and when the need arises”

Also coming down from a cushy job and a plump pay packet, to a dreary driver’s job with barely enough to lay meal on the table of his family, Bibek each day realizes his loss and in turn gets grittier to work hard to make the ends meet. He looks over worked and undernourished.

There are some upcoming opportunities in other firms, but he refuses to consider them, he wants to start where he left. Perhaps not from the same post. What keeps him motivated to do his current job? “The fact that at least I’m close to my workplace. Each day after dropping my colleagues in the front porch, I go and sit in the concierge and read the newspapers. I wait for my turn to climb up to the 12^th floor to my desk; everyday I wait for the elevator to open…”

There will be NO IPL this year

Sponsors suffering from Losses. Sri Lankan players Injured. Pakistan literally banished from the IPL matches. A handful of players left. Spectators scared. Other players skeptical about the game. Teams and Franchisers in shreds. A widespread pandemonium. So there might be no IPL matches this year. No 2^nd season series. Courtesy Pakistan’s scandalous welcoming strategy. The million cricket fans waiting eagerly for the month long series might have to wait till the next year, for the next season. Where an Ex-head of the state has proclaimed an end of cricket for his country-Pakistan. The repercussions of the attack are going to dangerous-yet inevitable. The Pak will not be entertained anymore in the IPL, (irrespective of the fact that most of the players were banned from touring India anyway). The Sri Lankan cricketers who have suffered multiples injuries will take time to recover physically and mentally- emotionally. After facing a trauma of this degree, they are not proficient enough to start playing cricket. Do you think Indian players and Australian + England team players alone can play the series? A major chunk of fine players will be missing. The players might recover from their physical injuries but what about the sponsors of the IPL and the tours. They might just not heal-up of the financial injuries. At a time when the market is crashing on our head. IPL was considered a life saving boat, which thanks to Pakistan is already cracking up. So what are the teams left with, a handful of players. So there might just be 20 players for playing 20-20 series.