Rally 'Round the West Indies

For the true cricket lover, the game is unthinkable without taking into account the dignified presence and majestic contribution of several champions from the West Indies across eras. Even in these T20 times, individual performers from the Caribbean continue to enthral us, while contributing towards their franchises' success and folklore across different leagues, and enriching the game’s innovation quotient.

Precisely, why the great downfall of West Indian cricket over the years seems like a Greek tragedy of epic proportions. No matter which country you belong to, you are deeply pained by the misfortune {provided you are not a member of the PR brigade that works overtime to glorify a motley group of superstars who love to get bigger than the game and happily play to the gallery, ruthlessly ignoring those committed soldiers who go about their business with purpose and passion, devoid of theatrics and tomfoolery.}

This thought piece is not to highlight the root cause of the West Indies debacle or find easy targets to squarely place the blame on. The grand hope is to ignite ways and means towards reinstating the 24-carat West Indian glory and pride, which will in turn help world cricket move up the value chain of innovation and integrity. There’s something magical about the way West Indians play, celebrate their success, and come to terms with their failures, all of which makes cricket more enduring than what meets the eye.

The onus is on the stakeholders of West Indian cricket – politicians, bureaucrats,  administrators, players, coaches, commentators, media and industry barons, and even fans and admirers to help create a conducive environment for the renaissance to take root and bear fruit. It will take a while for the Greater Antilles, Lesser Antilles, and the isolated islands to think as one nation at least in the context of cricket, but once they do, even sky is not the limit to reap a bumper harvest, given the sheer abundance of raw talent which can be prudently complimented by a cultivated temperament through focused interventions from experts across the globe.

They need not look far to make a decisive start – they can readily soak in the actionable insights of the great Trinidadian political activist, cultural commentator, and cricket writer C L R James who has penned a definitive primer on the hallmarks of the West Indian culture, as also a definitive guide to comprehend why and how cricket is one of the finest cultural metaphors to appreciate life in all its hues, colours, highs and lows.

To quote the author himself: "This book is neither cricket reminiscences nor autobiography. It poses the question What do they know of cricket who only cricket know?"

A poignant narration of the author's formative years in Tunapuna covers his modest but well-informed upbringing in a cultured family, as also thrilling cricketing exploits as a country bumpkin who internalised a Puritan code of conduct on the field, which meant never appealing for a decision unless he thought the batsman was out, never arguing with the umpire, and never jeering at a defeated opponent.

Moving forward, we are greeted with excellent tributes to the stalwarts of the game including fast bowler George John from Saint Vincent; flamboyant batsman Wilton H. St Hill; cricketer, lawyer, politician and dear friend Learie Nicholas Constantine; contemporary of Sir Don Bradman George Alphonso Headley; legendary Barbadian Sir Frank Mortimer Maglinne Worrell, father of cricket W. G. Grace, Jubilee Book author and leg glance artist Ranjitsinhji, 100-before-lunch fame Victor Trumper, and prolific all rounder C. B. Fry.

The book is a treasure trove of information about a whole lot – class divide, apartheid, political activism and the author’s time in England (primarily London) and the United States - but for cricketers and cricket lovers who are often not holistic enough in their approach to grasp anything beyond 22 yards, there are rich insights on the art and science of cricket including a neat account of the West Indian cricket from 1900 onwards, as also of English cricket from 1860 onwards.

Recalling a few thought gems which call for deep reflection ahead of desperate reproduction:

 “Cricket is first and foremost a dramatic spectacle. It belongs with the theatre, ballet, opera and the dance. Its quality as drama is more specific. It is so organized that at all times it is compelled to reproduce the central action which characterizes all good drama from the days of the Greeks to our own: two individuals are pitted against each other in a conflict that is strictly personal but no less strictly representative of a social group. One individual batsman faces one individual bowler. But each represents his side. The personal achievement may be of the utmost competence or brilliance. Its ultimate value is whether it assists the side to victory or staves off defeat.”

 “The spontaneous outburst of thousands at a fierce hook or a dazzling slip-catch, the ripple of recognition at a long-awaited leg-glance, are as genuine and deeply felt expressions of artistic emotion as any I know.”

 “The ultimate greatness of a bowler is in his head. He has a series of methods of attack at his command, but where he pitches any ball and the ball following, where he delivers one and from where he delivers another, where he quickens the pace and where he slows it down, this is the result of a psychological sensitivity and response to a particular batsman at a particular time on a particular wicket at a particular stage in the game.”

“Any cricketer who thinks for a moment can see the enormous change W.G. introduced into the game. I hold him to be, not only the finest player born or unborn, but the maker of modern batting. He turned the old one-stringed instrument into a many-chorded lyre. And, in addition, he made his execution equal his invention. All of us now have the instrument, but we lack his execution. It is not that we do not know, but that we cannot perform. Before W.G. batsmen did not know what could be made of batting. The development of bowling has been natural and gradual; each great bowler has added his quota. W.G. discovered batting; he turned its many narrow straight channels into one great winding river.”

 “The achievements of athletes in recent years which have so astonished the world are not as great as so many people imagine that they are. None of them is anywhere near the ultimate limits. By far the most important part of a great performance is played by the mind. Once the athlete is convinced that the prevailing standards are not high, and that improving upon them is a not very difficult task, he will crack them. Long hours of training are not in the least necessary.”

 “Some young Romantic will extend the boundaries of cricket technique with a classical perfection. He will hit against the break so hard and so often that the poor bowlers will wish he would go back to hitting with it. He will drive overhead and push through any number of short-legs, as W.G. used to do, so that a whole race of bowlers will go underground for fifteen years as they did once, and once more emerge with new tricks.” 

More about C.L.R. James at https://www.marxists.org/archive/james-clr/index.htm

PS: While in London C. L. R. James attended several meetings of the India League. He was a friend of Balkrishna Gupta, an Indian Trotskyist. Records make a passing mention of his accommodation on Boundary Road, London shared with Ajit Mookerjie, a law student at the London School of Economics and Political Science in the year 1938.

I had no idea which Boundary Road to visit, en route my search for some landmark linked to James, and made a wayward trip to three different places Camden, Wimbledon, and St Johns Wood, only to return home feeling like an absolute fool; a real estate agent standing outside his sprawling office on St Johns Wood tried to lure me into buying a 'to let' property valued at a whopping £8,25,000, mistaking me for a property buyer (with deep pockets possibly) given my inquisitive eyes. Needless to say, I tried my best not to let beads of sweat form on my forehead at the mere mention of the price tag.

Ashish Desai uncut: Gem of a saga, literally!

Applying an analogy rooted in his profession, it won’t be an exaggeration to call him a purest of pure type IIa diamond. His zest and zeal to look back in time and connect the dots of a bygone era is the most striking feature of his luminous persona. Above all, his unconditional affability is a welcome breather in this era of “I, me, myself” social media broadcasts of narcissist ‘influencers’ insatiably hungry for followers in the guise of friends, likes in lieu of like-mindedness, and endorsements ahead of conversations.

It didn’t take me much time to sense the million narratives wrapped in his singular story which merit a cohesive retelling given their universal significance. It is only befitting that he found his calling, though not at first go, in the awe-inspiring enterprise called Shree Ramkrishna Exports Pvt. Ltd. founded by visionary entrepreneur and thought leader-practitioner Govind Dholakia.

Desai Family Potrait

Looking back in time at my behest, Ashish shared with me umpteen reminiscences of people, places, events, and reflections with no effort to separate the seemingly trivial from the apparently momentous, which is how it should be given the fact that nothing is inconsequential in life, and all dots connect to form an ever-evolving whole that human life is in essence and significance...

…like the defining Mantra of the Diamond industry, that business is not about transactions, it is about relationships which must necessarily rise above all odds. Upturns or downturns, epidemic or pandemic, geo-political turbulence or trade conflict, nothing should affect the highest standards of quality and ethics which are always non-negotiable. Think twice, thrice, as many times as you wish before committing, but once you give your word, verbal or written, honour it, come what may!

…like his birthplace, his maternal grandmother’s home in Pariya, a tiny hamlet in the Valsad district of Gujarat, his formative years spent at Kalyan, a satellite town on the banks of the Ulhas River in Thane district of Maharashtra, in a modest chawl in Joshi Baug, a place now well known as a den for urban camping and nature retreats,

Mr. and Mrs. Desai

..like the highs and lows of his father’s life, son of a veterinary doctor, who studied in Gujarat but worked in Maharashtra, thanks to his ITI certification which had a module on water engineering, in the pumping house of a leading Dyestuff company where his job was to purify the water fed into the boiler for making the steam that powered the entire factory (as also his own home in consequence); who lost his job for vehemently opposing the management decision to sack a night duty employee based on hearsay following which he became  a tea carton supplier to take care of his growing household,

… like the significance of the year 1977 for his parents, in the form of two weddings: one, his father's marriage with his mother, and the other, his paternal aunt’s marriage with his maternal uncle, as part of a tradition called Sate-Lote or family weddings involving a reciprocal exchange of daughters,

…like his favourite phase of growing up years when his father was inducted back into his job, having won the court case against his company, and the family moved to a spacious company-provided accommodation,

…like the memory of his dad’s close friend Hasu Bhai Jalan, an apparel shop owner from Kalyan who helped the Desai family in its darkest hour of crisis and remains their ardent well wisher to this day,

…like the tragedy that left the family shattered, when Ashish lost his mother at a time when he was only eight, preparing for his third standard exams,

First year at SRK Exports

…like the priceless memory of his mother, how she used to hand him a 25 paise coin for a rose-flavoured Gola after much pestering, how sipping the syrupy concoction made him feel, if only for a fleeting moment, that he had he had conquered the whole world,

..like the invaluable life lesson from his grandmother Bhanu ben Hiru Bhai Desai, how one should always help others but never boast about it, and instead delete the instance from memory as if it never happened,

…like the patronage he received from caring mentors at school (like teachers Rama ben, Suraj ben, Jayashree ben, Mamata mam, and Darjee sir; PT instructor Ramesh sir, house master Agastya sir, and principal Meenakshi Ben) which helped him recognize his potential, as also discover his innate fondness for mathematics, particularly algebra,

..like his hostel days first, at the Soonabai Pestonjee Hakimjee High School adjoining the Gholvad beach, and later at HMPS Public School in Andheri, especially the fond memories of a picnic to the South painting and drama sessions on Sunday mornings, and stint as the house captain which earned him the nickname 'Captain',

..like the never-ending financial struggles during formative years that taught him the virtues of resourcefulness, resilience, and adaptability, as also the art and science of juggling multiple responsibilities which later helped him conduct big-ticket business dealings across different continents,

With Karl, close friend and prized customer

…like the therapeutic pleasure of playing football on the sand or trekking solo on stiff mountains that fetched him peace and tranquillity amid the pressures of material pursuits, and the NCC camp with Gadre sir at Khadakwasla working on the simulator and firing gun shots, which harboured in him a starry-eyed ambition to join the armed forces,

…like the powerful influence of Professor Namjoshi whose insightful lectures on auditing motivated him to pursue Chartered Accountancy, ditto for the personal guidance from Jain sir of Mahavir classes and Nandkumar sir of Enkay Classes which helped him master advanced accounting and taxation concepts,

..like the eighteen month stint as LIC agent assisting his father’s colleague; Rs. 300 per month stipend was a princely sum for him in his F.Y.B. COM. days and the exposure told him all about the secret sauce of people interactions,

…like the love and affection from his father figure neighbour Dr. Suresh Thakkar that helped him zero in on the right CA firm for articleship, the good doctor opened the doors of his spacious flat to help Ashish focus on his studies which was not possible in his own match-box flat,

…like the first year of articleship at Harikrishna and Company, when he hardly spoke to anyone and spent most of his time at his chair next to the window, watching the swaying coconut trees outside;

Family snap

…like the invaluable experience his firm gave him across different facets of work like audit, balance sheet preparation, and computation of income tax for diverse a clientele including proprietorship, partnership and private limited companies,

…like the fraud he detected in a statutory audit of a bank's treasury chest, how one rural branch had granted eight animal loans with the same photograph attached as documentary evidence,

…like the enlightening industrial training at Godrej & Boyce, where he honed his analytical skills and business acumen, preparing daily cash flow summaries for the CEO and doing the paperwork of the firm’s FDs and ICDs,

…like his first interaction with friend and future wife Savita in the arid environs of a coaching class, and their strictly academic courtship en route the physically draining but intellectually fulfilling CA exam, articleship, and industrial training grind that finally culminated in a semi-decisive moment on a moonlit beach in Alibaug over Mangola sips when he proposed to her only to fetch a neutral response, which was neither a yes, nor a no (The ‘yes’ came later when she cleared her CA and he was still one group short of the ultimate triumph amid the demise of his grandmother)

…like the special connect with Hotel Sea View of Alibaug where they had checked in as part of the audit team; many years later, they stayed at the same place to rekindle memories,

..like the memories of another of his dad’s friends Dilip Vaishnav, a flute manufacturer who belonged to the lineage of the great poet Narsinh Mehta, and who learnt the flute purely by intuition as the direct blessing of Lord Krishna,

With dad on vacation

…like the chance interaction with Vaishnav uncle's son, student of IIT, Kharagpur who introduced Ashish to Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s Art of Living and taught him Sudarshan Kriya; later, Ashish did the Art of Living course and his life changed forever; it was here that he learnt from a teacher about the Guru's love for disciples which was 100 times more than that of one's own mother. This line energised him from within. Till that point, he sensed a deep void in his life, having lost his mother very early in life,

…like his journey through various industries after qualifying as a CA; a brief stint at HDFC as a credit card agent taught him the nitty-gritty of customer relationship management, while his role as audit team manager at a Bandra CA firm honed his leadership abilities, both experiences polished the rough diamond in him and paved the way for the shiny gemstone that was yet in the making,

…like the true test of his character during his stint at a healthcare company, where his protest against unethical practices—much like what his father did at the dyestuff plant—cost him his job but reinforced his sterling commitment to ethical business conduct. The stress and strain of this toxic jolt drove him to seek solace in the Himalayas,

…like the destined intervention from Babu Kaka, his former senior and mentor at the healthcare company, who unlocked a god sent opportunity in a diamond company. Coincidentally, some time back, Ashish had prepared an agreement for their commercial tie up with a well known brand which had won the management’s appreciation. Post training, Ashish left no stone unturned to comprehend Surat's diamond dynamics, grading procedures, and intricate sale processes,

…like his first major sale, a $40,000 diamond to an Israeli businessman in Hong Kong, which was a moment of epiphany. The tiny gem was priced nearly as much as his spacious Borivali apartment, and this revelation expanded his vision manifold. His CA background gave him a unique advantage in advising clients on business matters as a trusted advisor,

With SRK Exports founder Govind bhai and dad

…like the robust network of clients turned friends he built across diverse geographies, whether US, Europe, Far East, Australia or New Zealand, thanks to his multicultural adaptability,

…like the counsel of his boss when Ashish was lured by a seemingly attractive commission-based proposition from an industry veteran that claimed to grow the luxury brand division by leaps and bounds. "We can't run the race for the longer haul on the crutches of someone else's support," these wise words reinforced his belief in building sustainable, ethical businesses based on intrinsic value creation,

Going forward, Ashish has plans to seed many pioneering ventures across diverse sectors and given his innate ability and agility, success in those fields seems a foregone conclusion, but we have a humble request to him; never lose your umbilical connect with diamonds which has beyond doubt shaped and strengthened your core competence and value proposition.

Ashish bhai, your boss is right, Diamond is indeed God! …and you are indeed blessed!