BOOK REVIEW: A WALK IN THE WOODS

Well it’s been very long since I wrote here. Actually I love sports and hence like to write about it. Therefore I started this blog, but in due course of time shifted to a different location (www.icexvi.blogspot.com). Why I did that I don’t remember, but ever since I wanted to write something different on this blog. It was while in office recently when I realised that after sports the thing I enjoy the most is reading. So I thought to myself why not write book reviews. This is how the idea was born.

What I will write here is of course not a professional review (for the simple reason that however I may try I am not that good yet). Hence I’ll use this space to present my views on the books I liked and what was different about them. I will also try and bring out what was novel or missing in them by comparing them to similar books if possible.

I’ll start by penning down about the latest book that I’ve read – mainly because it is fresh in my memory. It is titled “A Walk In The Woods” authored by Bill Bryson. Now for all non Bryson fans reading this, he is an American author now settled in Britain who writes just about anything, though mostly restricting himself to memoirs and travelogues. The moot point is that his books always scratch one’s funny side. He has this uncanny ability to bring a humorous touch to even the most mundane and serious topics. Some of his more popular ones are Neither here nor there, A short history of nearly everything and Life and times of the thunderbolt kid.

This one is his travelogue of the Appalachian Trail. In one of his crazy ventures Bill is enamoured by the woods and decides to hike the trail in its entirety. Despite clear indications from his family in opposition to his eccentricity, Bill thinks it to be a very noble thought with a healthy side to it. His first jolt though is even before he can take a step into the wilderness. Buying supplies for his adventure, Bryson realises that hikes in the new age are meant for millionaires. Actually not just millionaires, they are meant for geek millionaires. And it does not stop there. Without the zillion super specialist (and not to mention exorbitantly priced) attachments, the basic equipment (like a bag) is quite incapable in itself for you to survive the ordeal. The retailer would happily sell you a piece of equipment without which he says you could not live in the woods, only moments later to declare it useless without the even more expensive add-on.

Having survived the shopping spree and lived through incredulous looks of his wife our reborn Crusoe plans out the route, only to realise how big a feat he is about to undertake. Reading about the trail’s (mis)adventures, he suddenly feels the need for a companion both for physical and mental support. Only that it is slightly tough to find a guy who is ready to walk 2000miles through dangerous and intimidating terrain for no particularly evident motive. So Bill is mighty pleased when his childhood friend Stephen Katz calls him to offer his services as his hiking partner. Bill even casually brushes aside his wife’s reminder of his past experience with the good pal in Europe (please read ‘Neither here nor there’ for further info in this regard). All his fears are reborn the instant he meets Katz at the airport. For starters Katz is a perennially hungry, and he pretty much thinks that they’re off for a stroll in a relatively dense park with abundant resources at their disposal. That however does not prevent him from buying a little bit of everything to eat from the superstore in preparation to the trip.

Finally the day arrives when the two trudge out into the woods. Well, actually they catch a flight and then hire a cab to take them till the door step of the trail. The cabby is not particularly excited on seeing yet another hiking enthusiast, most of whom he says give up less than a week into the hike. Not very encouraging then, but our duo is motivated and committed – atleast till they hit the trail for good. Less than half a day into it and Katz has thrown off almost his entire ration, an act not much appreciated by his hiking mate. What goes on ahead is a vivid description of the travails of the trail, the salient points of which I will bring out subsequently.

Bryson says you will meet some of the most interesting and bizarre people on the trail. One such person they met was Mary Ellen. She considered herself a hiker par excellence and the rest, the scum of the trail. With a derogatory suggestion at everything – even as mundane as making morning coffee – she was certainly a nuisance noted by everyone on the trial who happened to be unfortunate enough to run into her (or the other way around). Our protagonists manage to give her a miss at their first stop and after an initial pang of guilt, are mighty relieved to have got rid of the pestilent lady. They manage to survive many torturous phases of the trail hardly enjoying any of the landscapes galore. Bill even contemplates that the trail is an exercise in futility made even tougher by the belligerent Forest Service. But this may just be the learning point of the book. He brings out lucidly the thoughtless destruction man has caused about in the woods with the officials giving nary a thought to the forests until recently. He also elucidates the origin of the trail and how it has fought for survival for almost a century.

The most prominent thing about the trail though has to be the “Bear”. I have written just “Bear” as no one is sure which kind of a bear one may come across on the trial. But one thing is for sure, not many have come across one who would have been particularly jovial in nature. Almost all the descriptions spoke only of attacking, hungry, savage beasts ready to pounce upon any human in sight. And then there are the ambivalent suggestions to counter a bear attack. One book describes the best way is to stand steady and look directly at the bear, while at the very next line mentions sometimes this ploy may not be the best and on occasions fleeing maybe the better option if the bear is not much in a mood to give chase. Another classic case is where the book suggests making lot of noise while hiking, thereby driving off the bears with the racket. However the book duly backtracks a couple of paragraphs later imploring the fact that the noise may attract/irritate the bears enough to cause it to attack the source of the noise. However the best suggestion is saved for the last, where the book says there is no fool proof way to escape a bear – if it decides to attack there is nothing much that can be done, hence it is best to avoid interaction with the beast. Very helpful then, the answer is simple; if you want to escape a bear attack, do not venture on the trail.

Bryson describes two types of hikers – “Thru” and “Section”. The former are the more adventurous variety who hike the trail in its entirety in a single attempt. There have been extremes in the thru hikers category wherein people have raced through the trail or taken ages to complete it. Both cases however have left the people concerned, shattered but smarter than before. Among the section-hikers, though there is no such excitement, but the buzz word here is perseverance. People as old as 85 have kept on with their commitment to complete the trail in bits and pieces, no matter how many attempts they have to make. The trail though can be a dangerous place due to unnatural reasons too. The most powerful predator – read human being – has not only been after the trees, but also after people out in the woods in search of peace and tranquillity. There have been multiple cases of murder (one during the period the author was out on the trail) and multiple books have been written on the issue. Nothing however deters the average hiker from going out there among the nature.

Talking of which, not many people nowadays see the trail as a way of bonding with nature. Most of them come out on a weekend ”picnic” sort of a trip, with soiling their expensive gear the last thing on their mind. Consequently roads and highways have propped up right through the forests making life miserable for flora, fauna and the hard core hiker. Even with the strong willed hiker, the urge to abstain from the luxury of the modern world is pretty tough to practise. Austerity – the author says – is one thing the trails attempts to teach you, though not many people end up learning the lesson in its spirit. After days in the trail even the remotest motel with the barest facilities seems heavenly and the small pleasures of life an indulgence.

Among these pleasures and perils the narration continues in trademark Bryson tongue-in-cheek humour. Both Bill and Stephen never manage to complete the trail (they were not even close), but they learnt enough along the way (least of all to get along with eachother). They had their hairy encounters, narrow escapes and breathless moments all in the period of these months spent together on the trail. The book is not meant to be a guide to any hiker, let alone the Appalachian Trail hiker. It is more of an expression of thoughts and views on the trail and the salient matters concerned with it. It is not a heavy read, neither a page turner but in the end you finish it with a smile on your face and a thought in your mind. What the thought may be varies with one’s outlook – you may join greenpeace, or jump out into the nearest forest reserve, or even start appreciating that warm shower and clean towels – but you are certainly not disappointed with the effort. Having said that, it’s not Bryson’s best effort when compared to his more illustrious ones. I would give it three stars and recommend it to someone looking for a light fun read, maybe for some laugh and a casual look into the merits and perils of hiking.

ALL ROUND JOY!!!

This weekend’s been really tumultuous. With two of the top clubs – and fiercest rivals – in the premier league going head to head, and one of the most surprising races of this year, there was certainly much to thank for the sports enthusiast (though that also depends on which side your loyalty lies).

Let me start with football. Liverpool vs Manchester United is a fixture that gets everyone excited every single time. This time the prelude was dominated by the transfer (and possible debut) of Dimitar Berbatov for Man U and the possible absence of the home heavyweights Gerrard and Torres. Both the rumours were vindicated as Sir Alex went for an aggressive 4-3-3 formation placing Berbatov alongside Rooney and Tevez; while his opposite number played safe by placing his aces on the bench and not risking injury. The veteran manger had the first laugh – and an early laugh at that – as Berbatov deceived Carragher along the right goal line to set up Tevez who stormed the ball past Pepe Reina. With just 2 minutes on the board, it seemed that the Kop were in for another humiliation by the hands of the red devils as so often in recent years. Man U were connecting well in the first half with the defence keeping solid to deny the home side any major attempt for the initial stages. The first sight of goal to the Merseysiders was gifted by Edwin Van Der Sar who miscued a corner and tapped it right into the feet of Dirk Kuyt. The Dutchman however could not capitalise as his weak shot rebounded off Paul Scholes at the line.

The Kop however had their lucky break at 27 minutes when a swerving kick from MOTM Xavi Alonso from 20 yards deflected off Patrice Evra and Van Der Sar could not deal with it well, only knocking it into the way of the retreating Wes Brown. The defender watched helplessly as the ball ricocheted off him and trudged into the net. If this was supposed to liven up Liverpool, it had that effect on the visitors instead with Tevez shooting over form six yards to let the home side off the hook going into the break.

There must have been some strong words said during half time, but it dint bring the change that the crowd was hoping for in the Liverpool ranks. Their mighty two were still on the bench, while Man U opted to bring on Giggs for Carrick possible owing to a knock the mid fielder received during the first half. But by now Liverpool were enjoying the extra space in midfield (courtesy United’s aggressive formation) with Masherano and Alonso troubling the United backs with regularity. They did not come close but were certainly enjoying more possession and thus control of the game. Finally as Gerrard came on for Benayoun amidst much cheer, one hoped this would just be the factor to tilt the balance (even as Hargreaves came on for Scholes). Gerrard seemed to have done just the opposite as a mistake from him almost cost his side a goal, only for Reina to smartly tip over Ryan Giggs’ lob.

Benitez decided to get more firepower by substituting Babel for Riera who had had an impressive debut, and it turned out to be a master stroke. With Liverpool already dominating, the impressive Mascherano managed to eke out a mistake from the usually faultless veteran. Giggs’ failed attempt to let the ball run out for a goal kick was pounced upon by Masherano, and Kuyt deftly sent it across to his compatriot Ryan Babel, who standing free at six yards stormed the ball into the net. As United poured forward with Nani (brought on for Anderson) providing extra impetus there were yet more counter attacks by the home side. Keane got clear in the mid field and Rio Ferdinand had no option but to bring him down and was duly shown a yellow card. Things however got ugly as substitute Nani and Vidic too received yellow cards in quick succession.

The misery for the visitors was complete when Vidic went for a rash header, elbowing Alonso hard on the face and knocking the mid fielder out. The referee had no option but to show a second yellow to the Man U player and give him his marching orders. But the add on effect of the lapse by Vidic means, he will miss the all important match against Chelsea which is up next. When even Sir Alex accepts after the match that his team were indeed outplayed by a stronger team on the day, then you really feel that Man U played badly. But there were goals galore on the day as Arsenal knocked four past Blackburn playing away with Adebayor getting a hat trick. Everton too won a five goal thriller against Stoke City.

Time to move on to Formula 1 then. The conditions at Monza were stormy – keeping in tune with the events about to come up north – and this worried the field as everyone opted for extreme wets during qualifying. But as much as the hot lap, it was the timing of the lap which seemed to count on the day. As Vettel timed his to perfection, the biggest losers were Kimi and Hamilton who did not make it to Q3 and finished 14^th and 15^th respectively. Meanwhile Fisichella had a minor triumph leading Force India F1 into Q2 for the first time in the current season. But all eyes were on the lad hailed to be the successor of Schumi, as one the smallest team on the grid captured pole at their home race. Title contender Massa meanwhile was way back in 7^th, but more pertinently quite ahead of his nearest rival Lewis Hamilton.

By the time of the race start conditions certainly did not improve and hence the organizers had to go for a start behind the safety car. The start itself was not as exciting as it may have been had it been a standing start. However with the incessant rain much was to follow. Poor Fisichella after having qualifying his best of the year and hoping for a points scoring finish, hit Coulthard in the 12^th lap and had to retire. While Kovalainen could not implement his plan of jumping Vettel at the start or in the initial laps, his team mate was driving as a man possessed. In his bid to keep his position in the championship intact he made short shrift the defending champion, Kimi Raikonnen. While Kimi would end the race with the fastest lap to his name, he could not match the aggression of the Brit in that phase of the race.

The first round of pit stops did not jumble things up much though some drivers did stop very late. The big names among the late stoppers were Hamilton and Kubica. BMW seemed to have timed their stop to perfection and it enabled Kubica to come out with fuel sufficient to take him to finish and intermediate tyres in the same stop. Hamilton chose to stick to the extreme wets and initially his choice seemed to be going well as he climbed upto second in the standings. With a little luck (namely rain) he could have challenged for a podium place surely if not a victory, and that would have been an amazing feat considering where he started the race. He however, later had to stop and change to intermediates, and that dropped him behind Massa again.

No such problems for Vettel who had the added luxury of driving amid no spray on an empty track. Even then he needed to be on his toes not to commit a mistake leading to a spin or crashing into the barriers, which would have been such a shame. Talking of which none of the other drivers (other than Fisichella) committed any mistake either, and all made it to the finish line. In the end it finished with Vettel emerging as the youngest GP winner in the history of the sport ahead of Kovalainen and Kubica. The two top title contenders finished 7^th and 6^th enabling Massa to chew off Hamilton’s lead to a solitary point. McLaren on the other hand edged closer to Ferrari in the constructors championship with just five points separating the two powerhouses now. The day though belonged to Vettel and the tiny Italian outfit, Scuderia Torro Rosso who proved that size does not matter always.

So that brought an end to a truly enjoyable “sports” weekend with upsets in both the main features. The race could be termed slightly more fun as that broke the duck for a team and a driver (and may be remembered as the day when a champion was born). Practically speaking Torro Rosso cannot hope much in the season ahead, but the title race is absolutely scalding hot heading into the most anticipated circuit of the year – the first night race in the history of the championship, at a brand new venue, on a brand new circuit. As for football, Man U have tougher times ahead and they just cannot afford to lose to Chelsea and trail their main rivals this early in the season. Chelsea too have their troubles with Terry being unavailable courtesy a red card during the weekend. All this is good news for sports fans who have really had a ball this year and the party just seems to go on and on........

THE TRUTH IS OUT THERE

The Nano; it came, it showed and it conquered (though as of now only our heart and not the market). But unlike the antiquity of Alexander, things get forgotten pretty fast nowadays. And the latest buzz is about how the future of the auto industry is moulded in India as the government’s Automotive Mission Plan 2006-2016 (AMP) is just starting to creak its gears (not least with the sops given in the latest budget by the Finance ministry). It cannot be denied that the auto industry for long has been one of the defining threads in any country’s economic fabric. The amount of jobs in the manufacturing sector it creates is phenomenal. On an average an additional car creates 5 additional jobs, while a commercial vehicle 13! But even though India is the 2^nd largest two wheeler, 11^th largest four wheeler and 5^th largest commercial vehicles manufacturer in the world, its employment in this sector, at 12%, lags far behind that of other Asian countries like Malaysia (50%), Korea (62%) and China (31%). The AMP figures it to change and at an increase of 10% in GDP by this sector, hopes to create 25 million additional jobs by 2016.

Phew!!! Pretty boring all these economic (crap) figures, so I am not going to speak much about them. As the industry plans to invest Rs 75000 crores in India, the focus is not on big wigs arriving with their “can-anyone-afford-it” products, instead it is on the more mundane vehicles (like the i10) which contribute to about 70% (uff, again figures) of the sales, and more importantly are exclusively made in India for the world. These exports (and not the gleaming “don’t-drive-on-road” masterpieces) are what will define our presence in the world and take us into the future. But as the industry aims to meet the AMP’s targets (and hopefully supersede them), road blocks are aplenty. There is the depreciating dollar (killing exports), rising taxes and interest rates, and many other factors which any economic guru can tell you in more detail than I will ever be able to master.

But just making them will not solve the problem, infact it just might give birth to a larger one. Again coming back to the revered Nano, the problems I am referring to are what is being feared as the aftermath of the Indian “bug”. Yes I am speaking of traffic jams, pollution, et all. Here is where the role of the manufacturer diminishes and our sanctimonious (pun intended) government comes into play. Firstly, mass transport has to be more organised. We all have seen what an impact the Delhi metro has had on the city, and know pretty well that Mumbai cannot survive without its trademark (though much criticised) ”locals”. Over the last 10 years road availability in Delhi (one of our better cities) has declined from 2.21km per 1000 people to just 1.94km (I just love these figures, don’t I). This despite the numerous road projects undertaken in the mentioned period. The writing then, is there on the wall for all to see. The government just isn’t keeping up with the pace of the auto industry. India has got the 2^nd largest road network in the world, behind only the US, though the US has 11 times the number of vehicles. Even puny Japan has 7 times the vehicles for just a third of our roads. Then there are China and Brazil, who again have more cars and less roads then us. Just goes on to show how important mass transport is.

But this is not even a mole as compared to the mountain of the problem of tail pipe emissions. Yes we’ve got our Bharat stage norms, but they are implemented in a strange city based system. Do people residing in the metros have a right to breathe cleaner air than those in some part of Bihar/Rajasthan? Certainly not, then why two different norms for them? The excuse that there are more vehicles in metros is lame, as nothing restricts a vehicle of one zone entering the other. Then there is the issue of hybrids, bio fuel and fuel cells. Compared to the governments in developed countries who are pouring money by buckets for R&D in these fields, our government has paid a phenomenal..................NOTHING. It’s then up to, either tenacious manufacturers like Mahindra to do it on their own (their hybrid project), or opportunist outsiders like Daimler Chrysler to fund our efforts and patent it as theirs in the bargain (the ambitious Jatropha bio-diesel project). As fuel prices break all barriers, we need to focus on these measures more than anyone else for economic reasons as well (considering lot of our foreign currency goes in importing oil). This freedom for R&D will lead to more novel products like the Nano (not quite completely forgotten isn’t it) and then the results will spiral out faster than ever before. If not that, the least the government can do is help companies (like Toyota who is trying its best to get the hybrid car Prius in India) by mandating subsidy to such products and incite the common man for their use by awareness campaigns.

Tatas have surely put us on the automotive map with a bang, and now we only need to consolidate on that position by spilling our influence on other aspects too. One thing is for certain now, whatever the who’s who abroad may say, we’ve got the talent to do it better than the best, only someone with a weltanschauung like Ratan Tata is required. Yes, certainly things are improving and the government is responding. And while the above measures may only be the tip of the iceberg, one thing is for sure, the auto surge of India cannot be bated. It’s only up to us to steer it in an optimal direction rather than let things go chaotic. As the famous X-Files adage goes “The truth is out there”.