To the uninformed the title would sound mysterious. If you google it you will discover an Indian cricket player that had tenacity to stay the course while the other wickets fell around him and walk home at sunset with a small pool of runs on the field.
He was not known for his meteoric rise in the alums of batting or flamboyant performance against the bowlers. Far from it. He simply stayed put when out on the wicket and collected his ones and twos.
Many of us are in that boat. We are not trail blazers of any sort but simply do what we must to earn our living. There is no major glory of being glam or in with the couture, but the metronomic tedium of moving to the next sunrise.
That can be good. Its a matter of perspective. There is glamour in scarcity. Conversely ubiquity brings loss of the cool factor. That is how our society is programmed to operate.
Vengsarkar was ubiquitous when it came to staying on... throw any bowler at him and he would stick to the wicket like a leach on skin. Did not shake.
Its like a McDonald's. A known entity. Simple. Boring. Its everywhere and you know what you are going to get. That can be Good. People often get caught in wanting to chase - something - money, fame, glory, titles, power, EPS, growth et al..the next IT thing. That is not to discourage those born with an ability to stretch the proverbial blankets and seek out new frontiers or ideas or the unconventional.
But to acknowledge that for every bright idea from Silicon Valley or any other hub of innovation comes a repeatable and predictable formula and people that breathe it to support the economic success of that very original idea.
This is a blog to raise a toast to those unsung heroes - the middle of the bell curve - the majority - the commuters - whatever you label it - that make it work.
Even a brand like Apple can face worries of its own success...unless you innovate you are not a darling and therefore relegated to the Vengsarkar pile. But what of all the efforts you did put in earlier? Well we always want to look to the future. So if you are not part of the roadmap its adieu.
I am not sure if that construct is eventually what defines progress but it certainly is responsible for a lot of strife in today's society.
Here is another essay on the subject of first names. As in birth names. Or names provided to an offspring at birth. While the developed world tends to shy away from the exotic like Refrigerator or Coca Cola for their new production there is a plethora of Jims and Johns and Bobs or Robs. Speaking of which I do not think there is a categoric decision point at the time of birth if a child will be hereafter called as Bob. I mean have not yet met a toddler called Bob or Rob for that matter. At some point though the parental instinct to mouth out multiple syllables runs out and they switch from calling the crawler Robert to simply Robbie to Rob. Now speaking of - it is strange that the name sounds like something you would not want Rob to do - i.e. Rob anyone. Then why call someone that? After all Rob Peter to Pay Paul is not exactly a maxim to live a young life? Is it? Perhaps Peter or Paul might want to have a say in it? Then there is this matter of going to the John. Why degrad...
Here's a toast to the Vengsarkars...good coinage, by the way.
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