Dinesh Kamath's Editorial (India scores over China) that was published in Newsband

India scores over China
Some say that China's political model is superior to the western liberal democratic one. No democratic minded person will agree. America and China are two giants that have fundamentally different political outlooks. America sees democratic governance as "an end in itself", while China sees its current model "as a means to achieving larger national ends".
India and China are two competitors which are striving for prosperity and eradication of poverty - using two very different models of governance. China's model today resembles not socialism with Chinese characteristics but an immense pyramid of state-corporate capitalism.
Today's China is not yesterday's Soviet Union. Its economy is intricately meshed in the world's economy. Its exports flood world markets like the Soviet Union's never did. Its three trillion dollars-plus stockpile of foreign exchange reserves makes it way more influential in real terms than the Soviet Union's huge but effectively idle pile of nuclear weapons ever could.
India's democratic model of governance, on the other hand, is far less impressive at first sight. It is messy, it is corrupt, its coalitional politics impels its political managers to be indecisive and its poverty is out there for the world to see.
Many from India's rapidly expanding and impatient middle class are frustrated with bureaucratic inefficiencies in the delivery of public goods and services. But if you look closely, Indian model reveals economic growth over the past decade at an average annual rate of around 7%. This is second only to China's among major economies. Democratic governance, however deficient, hasn't crippled that performance. Poverty remains agonisingly visible but the number of millions lifted above 'absolute poverty' in the past two decades is, again, second only to China's record. Democracy is a bit slow, but it works.
Citizens of India are irritated with the present governance. But they are lucky because they still have powers that the Chinese don't. They can, and do, throw out any ruling management through regular elections while freely airing frustrations through the media. They did it once again in recent state elections. They might fret that all they can do is replace a bunch of thieves with a gang of thugs. But the fact is their electoral power is extraordinary. It generates, on the whole, a decent degree of accountability in the system.
Free, fair and regular elections form the fundament of democracy. Nations that choose their rulers freely have more overall freedom and a higher quality of life than those that don't.
Nations fail when it is ruled by elite who uses his power to loot national wealth. An ideal government is the one which has come to power through electoral democracy, can protect individual rights, encourage investment and reward effort to allow prosperity to follow.
What we witness today is China's state-corporate model and the western liberal democratic one adopted by India. There is obviously a rivalry over governance models between the world's two largest nations. Ultimately, it is a contest over values and human rights and there India scores over China.

Dinesh Kamath's column on 'Movie and TV World' (Blood Money) that was published in Newsband

Dinesh Kamath's cartoons on 'Alooramji' that were published in Newsband

Dinesh Kamath's column on 'Movie and TV World' (Movie Blood Money) that was published in Newsband

Dinesh Kamath's Editorial (Our cricketers are best diplomats) that was published in Newsband

Our cricketers are best diplomats
Our Indian test cricketers believe in the policy 'Love thy neighbour'. They love their neighbours so much that they allow the neighbours to win in International matches whether it is a test match or ODI. That generous and big-hearted are our test cricketers. They are able to please any foreign country by this attitude. They are able to do what our professional diplomats are not able to do. They can win the heart of any foreign country. Now where can you find better diplomats then our Indian test cricketers? Our cricketers believe that international sports are not played to win. According to them these matches are played to spread goodwill and nobody spreads it as generously around the world as Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his men.
Just recently we allowed Australian cricketers to dominate over us even when Australian cricket was in the dumps before we landed in Australia. They had just lost to arch rivals New Zealand and the public standing of the Aussie team was very low. But our cricketers were so kind and generous that they went out of the way to please both Australian cricketers and public by losing to Australia. One should really appreciate the diplomatic tactics that our cricketers adopted. They helped the Australian batsmen who were out of form to regain their peak form and they helped their bowlers to rediscover their rhythm. Our professional Indian diplomats should learn a thing or two from our cricketers
In Bangladesh, we were even more magnanimous. Here was a country represented by third rate cricketers. The Indian team took it upon themselves to bring about a transformation in them by providing them an opportunity to beat the world champions; thus we made a nation of 160 million feel good about itself. It was like a scholar winning the endearing popularity of the backbenchers and letting them share the limelight by personally bringing himself down and letting the backbenchers score over him. This is called diplomacy and our cricketers just displayed their terrific diplomatic skills.
We all know of ambitious young executives who get ignominiously defeated by their ageing bosses on the badminton court, and soon after get plum postings and out of turn promotions. What works for individuals works even better for nations. Our ministry of external affairs should sit with members of Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and exploit our cricketers' diplomatic skills by applying them to countries with whom we have outstanding issues. This method will certainly prove more productive than the mainstream efforts of our envoys because it appeals directly to the masses. Our Indian cricketers who are supposed to be superstars have that knack of converting the local boys of other countries into heroes overnight. This is the kind of diplomatic tactics that our ministry of external affairs should adopt. Our country won't have a single enemy after that.

Dinesh Kamath's column on 'Movie and TV World' (Movie: Wrath of the Titans) that was published in Newsband

Dinesh Kamath's editorial (Government should lay emphasis on health and education) that was published in Newsband

Government should lay emphasis on Health and EducationOnly if Indian government lays total emphasis on education and healthcare can India become a developed country in the near future. But our system remains deeply unjust. Access to excellence is open only to those who can afford it, while the less-affluent majority has been left behind without even full schooling. In matter of imparting education, India is worse than China and Brazil.
Tragically, political parties, which see education as too distant an issue to produce electoral victories, have shown little anxiety to improve the country's standing. It is time to change this sorry legacy.
It is high time the government gave importance to education and health while making its next plan. More funds should be spent on these two aspects. These funds should be spent in a manner that produces tangible, measurable outcomes.
The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act empowers all children to demand eight years of schooling, and everything must be done to encourage people to exercise this fundamental right.
In the matter of both education and health new infrastructures are required. The lack of human resources is something that causes most worry. There is half a million teacher-vacancies existing in India. There is the need to have another half a million teachers with requisite qualifications to meet the RTE Act's pupil-teacher ratio. Priority must therefore be accorded to start as many accredited teacher training institutions as necessary. Such a measure can improve learning outcomes, which are far below desirable levels now.
Raising the gross enrolment ratio at the secondary school level from 60 per cent should be the other priority. Expansion of both primary and secondary schooling should remain the responsibility of the state.
But Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, the main vehicle for universalisation of elementary education, can tap non-profit initiatives for speedy infrastructure building. Strong commitment towards rising outlays for education alone can determine India's long-term development.

Video: Dinesh Kamath tells his success story and about his future plans

Dinesh Kamath's Editorial (A tribute to Rahul Dravid) that was published in Newsband

A tribute to Rahul Dravid
Rahul Dravid's arrival in mid-1996 did a lot of good to Indian cricket. He was another middle-class Indian all set to control and steer Indian cricket forward. He was deter-mined and passionate, committed and hard-working. He was a typical modern Indian who belonged to middle-class ethos and with a global outlook. The away pitches of Australia, South Africa and England did not scare him for he represented a different India, hardly ever insecure. Dravid epitomised virtues that a turn of the century India would need; reliability, reliability and further reliability.
Even when things did not necessarily go his way, his commitment never wavered. How do we define Rahul Dravid in a sentence? The answer is fairly simple. Had Sachin Tendulkar not played his cricket at the same time, Dravid would surely be the best batsman to have ever played the game for India. At a time when we are ruing our sudden dip in form in overseas conditions, Dravid's achievements overseas, more than anything else, appear staggering.
Most if not all of India's famous away wins between 2002-08 have one common factor, Dravid. Not always associated with his style of batsmanship, Dravid has been the catalyst for all of India's famous overseas Test wins in the course of the last decade, a record incredible enough to catapult him to the echelons of the game's greatest of all time.
Rediscovering himself against Steve Waugh's Australians at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata in 2001 with a peerless 180, Dravid fashioned the Headingley (2002), Adelaide (2003-04), Rawalpindi (2004), Kingston (2006) and Perth (2008) away wins for his team. His scores in these matches, 148, 232 and 72, 270, 81 and 68 in a low-scoring contest in Jamaica and 93 are Bradman-esque figures, which put the debate over who is the best ever number three of all time after the Don himself.
No tribute to Rahul Dravid can be complete without mentioning his off-field persona. Even when the going was tough, he exuded a sense of calm at press conferences, just like the way he batted. Dravid is recognized as a true ambassador of the game. He never gesticulated to the crowd nor hurled abuses at the opposition nor misbehaved with scribes nor acted in a high-handed manner. Not without reason does Tendulkar say, "There was, and is, only one Rahul Dravid and there can be no other."
All his cricketing achievements are owing to his sheer determination and unflinching commitment and integrity in his approach to the game. Dravid wasn't particularly suited to the 50-over format. Yet, he ended up scoring 10,000 runs. This statistic, more than any other, defines Dravid the cricketer.
To conclude, it is fitting to leave the last words on Dravid to Tendulkar, who has spent more time with him on the field than any other player over the last 16 years. "For someone who has played 164 Test matches and scored 13,200-plus runs, no tribute can be enough.”

Dinesh Kamath's column on 'Movie and TV World' (Movie: Anjunaa Beach) that was published in Newsband

Dinesh Kamath's Editorial (Hats off to Sachin Tendulkar) that was published in Newsband

Hats off to Sachin TendulkarSachin Tendulkar has at last scored his hundredth international hundred. This is an exciting climax for his glittering career. He was under tremendous pressure for a long time after he had scored the 99th century. Now that he has completed century in the matter of scoring century he must be feeling like a free man devoid of any kind of stress, tension or pressure.
The Little Master appeared to have tremendously enjoyed his career at international level. The national obsession with him has become still stronger. The 38-year-old genius would play cricket in such a way that every innings of his would affect the country's mood. Typically, Tendulkar has pursued his career with absolute dignity. He would talk little and he would always maintain that he plays not for records but because he loves the game. Yet it's his numbers that help put his greatness in perspective. A 100th hundred has solid weight. The roundness of the figure allows us to stand back and comprehend its staggering enormity.
Longevity is the gold standard of greatness. Tendulkar has survived for very long in international cricket arena. In his 23 years in international cricket, the great man has seen the game evolve both subtly and significantly. Tendulkar has been a major part of the evolution, his batsmanship and the bowlers' reaction to it has altered the game of cricket. Cricket hasn't seen a better Test and One-Day International batsman. Sir Vivian Richards was a dominant master too and he's Tendulkar's only competitor for the honour but the Indian has done it for longer and with greater consistency than the illustrious West Indian. Tendulkar holds Richards in the highest esteem.
The list of first-rate bowlers Tendulkar has faced is a long one. These bowlers include Imran Khan, Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Sir Richard Hadlee, Craig McDermott, Malcolm Marshall, Curtly Ambrose, Courtney Walsh, Allan Donald, Glenn McGrath, Shane Warne, Jason Gillespie, Muttiah Muralitharan, Brett Lee, James Anderson, and Dale Steyn. A hundred hundreds against these worthies is, without a doubt, one of the finest achievements in modern-day cricket.
Thus with Tendulkar's hundred, a peak has been scaled, a long wait fulfilled and a glorious chapter added to cricketing lore. Sachin Tendulkar's love affair with international hundreds, which began with an unbeaten 119 against England at Manchester in August 1990, registered an immense statistical high. The maestro's 100th century in the global arena 51 in Tests, 49 in ODIs will remain a benchmark that will hold batsmen in awe much like Sir Don Bradman's Test average of 99.94. Congrats, Sachin!

Dinesh Kamath's old cartoons on 'Alooramji' which were published in weekly newspaper 'In New Bombay' and daily newspaper 'Newsband'