Saturday, March 22, 2008

A Swashbuckling Inning !!!

Session by Mr.Krishnamachari Srikkanth on Leadership @ CBS


Never give up in life...Keep pushing the envelope till you achieve what you want...These words are still lingering in my mind. Well, wondering who could deliver these lines with so much panache and style right? None other than our own “Cheeka” a.k.a Kris Srikkanth to the entire world. Yes the pioneering pyrotechnic batsman of the 80s & 90s, when the cricketing world was yet to know about the coming of 20-20's and dashing one-day games !!!


It was a memorable and highly inspiring session by the important member of the 1983 cricket world cup winning Indian team that urged the optimist in me to remain hopeful that anything you aspire to become or desire to possess in life will ultimately bow down in front of you. But to get it surrender to you, one must use the weapons in his artillery called hardwork and diligence to the fullest limit.


Typical of his inimitable style of going after the bowling right at the beginning of his innings, he started off with his view on what an individual must possess in order to scale heights in his/her career. The word was “Faith”.This is necessary to any individual to grow in life , as if one doesn’t believe in his/her capability , the last thing he could expect is the world having faith in him.So believe in oneself and believe that this belief will take you places.


Another important factor that differentiates the best from the rest , is the ability to take up responsibility and deliver under testing conditions. This idea was spoken over by him with examples being stated from the 1983 World Cup , which Indians won , even after being considered the underdogs. Kapil Dev , inspired the entire team, which was feeling quite low after having been defeated by the mighty West Indies team in the first league match. It was very easy to give up under those circumstances and just go through the motions for the rest part of the World Cup. But Kapil paaji did not let this happen.. As they say, “ When the going gets tough , the Tough get going” , Kapil took the responsibility over his shoulders and literally bowled through the opposition to win us the World Cup.


Even after having seen so many greats entering and leaving the cricket field, one man according to Srikkanth who still remains on the top of that league of extraordinary gentlemen is Kapil Dev.
Remember what he said a day before the world cup finals ??? " Don't write us off..". His spirit of never-say-die still inspires the rest of the country.


Srikkanth also struck a philosophical chord when he touched upon the idea of being detached from whatever you do in life , which in a way meant that – Never expect too many things from life , take every day as it comes and live every day to the fullest.That was quite spiritual too.!!! ... No wonder it comes from a man who can hook the fast bouncer from Andy Roberts to a six in the high-tension world cup final and still maintain his cool !


Like an excited and thrilled spectator I kept watching the ball going over the fences far too many times, which is a feature of Srikkanth’s innings and before I could realise the damage done to my herd-mindset by the flurry of shots in the form of inspirationally pulled moments and influentially hooked quotes , the match was won.


This was one unforgettable match , where I saw the Chennai Hurricane 'squarely cut'ting off the mindblocks and 'driving' home his points on real leadership....

By Pradeep, Marcom Varsity, CBS

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