PRG's Thoughts

“The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, But in ourselves, that we are underlings.” Cassius Julius Caesar Act I Scene II It came on slowly. The first few doses were small and perked your curiosity. ‘Wow,’ you said, 'this is good stuff.' It was after all a brilliantly concocted cocktail. It had a suicide, alleged murder, drugs, celebrities, nepotism, arrests, whatsapp chats, Bollywood and multiple stars with multiple opinions. It consumed you. You didn’t just wait till your supply arrived at 9 pm, you were addicted all day. You forwarded videos and articles. You tweeted with hashtags and debated with friends. And all along the enablers of this addiction had you begging them for more. Yet, today, months after this started, you are standing here demanding apologies from the very media houses and anchors who provided you with the supply for your addiction. That is like an alcoholic blaming the bartender for serving him.  While I do agree that journalism and the media hit rock

The decision to ‘default’ the match against Novak Djokovic was a harsh one. The punishment, in my view, did not fit the crime.  I may be in the minority when it comes to this viewpoint. Legends of the game like Billie Jean King have said on twitter - ‘The rule is the rule. It is unfortunate for everyone involved, but in this specific situation the default was the right call’.  The US Open website had a report on what happened. In a nutshell when a player violates a code, the Point Penalty Schedule is as follows- The first code violation is a warning, the second is a point penalty and the third (and subsequent) is a game penalty. This scheduled may be bypassed in favour of an immediate default.  The USTA Statement read, ‘In accordance with the Grand Slam rulebook, following his actions of intentionally hitting a ball dangerously or recklessly within the court or hitting a ball with negligent disregard of the consequences, the tournament referee defaulted Novak Djokovic from the 2020 US

Did they all get it wrong? An even bigger concern is whether they are still getting it wrong. Trump, Modi, Merkel, Johnson, Conte and the rest of the world leaders. Are they leading us to safe waters or bringing on a storm of Tsunamic proportions? Some locked down their country and some did not. Some have announced stimulus’ while others are waiting for things unfold. In the darkest of times which leader has made the right choices and whose decisions are bringing on a despondent future? Possibly for the first time in history, there is no incontrovertible right answer. Even if there is one, at this point in the crisis, it is certain that neither you, any head of state or I know the right way forward. For leaders of countries this is a watershed moment. In their lifetime, no crisis or calamity will ever eclipse what they face today. There have been wars, terror attacks, famines, floods, recessions and financial meltdowns. Yet, this faceless enemy is more unpredictable, dangerou