Outcasting the myths ! Accepting mental disorders !

I am writing this blog to clear the air regarding the acceptance towards mental disorders in the society we live in. The year 2012 along with globalisation and the changing face of India has done little to erase the social stigma which a person has to deal with respect to the mental disorders which he/she is already facing.
Why does this happen? Why can't we accept the reality and try to eradicate this social stigma?
The truth is DOUBLE STANDARDS! If a person is facing from Fever, Infections one is recommended to visit a doctor but a person suffering from a mental disorder is refrained from visiting a psychologist or a psychiatrist and is told to not indulge himself in thinking about it and is also considered to be a certain phase in life which will pass on slowly, which is in fact ignoring the actual cause by not making an intervention but waiting for it to subside somehow on its own, this aggravates the existing situation and the person suffering from it is forced to accept denial.
Today, I will be talking about a mental disorder which goes by the name of OCD which stands for Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. OCD mostly relates to obsessive and compulsive thoughts that make a person feel uncomfortable but at the same time helpless towards it, the major component of OCD is the obsessive thoughts that keep a person occupied most of the time making it a constant activity for the brain which refuses to rest and hence a person suffering from this disorder tends to get exhausted mentally due to over thinking but at the same time finds it difficult to rest or sleep. I won’t be dealing with the medical part of OCD as I am not qualified to do that but I am going to touch on the subject of its acceptance in the society. We call it a social stigma because deep down we fail to understand the implications of a mental disorder and the effect it can have on a person in terms of personal and professional behaviour. OCD is caused due to reduction of a chemical known as Serotonin in the brain which acts as a filter in separating the wanted and the unwanted thoughts in our brain in absence of serotonin the unwanted thoughts are not weeded out and they continue to trouble the person incessantly. Following are some of the common symptoms

1)      Washing hands repeatedly.

2)      Counting things and usage of even numbers and avoidance of odd numbers.

3)      Placing things in a manner which if disturbed creates annoyance.

4)      Over thinking and creating defences for the non existing scenarios.

The first major acceptance comes from the family, a person suffering from a mental disorder has to come out of the closet and accept that it is a disorder which needs cure and has to make his family understand about the symptoms and the way that it affects his/her personal and professional life. One of the main concerns is that the people are not aware about the causes and symptoms and the names of these mental disorders hence they turn deaf ears towards it but the family of the person suffering from these disorders should educate themselves with the material available in the books or the internet or get it known from an authentic source which goes by the name of a psychiatrist. The near and dear ones have to understand that a mental disorder doesn’t mean that the person has gone mad but there are certain problems which are not physical in nature but they affect the person in more or less the same way and that they can be cured with the help of medicines and therapy.  The one thing that a person suffering from a mental disorder needs is acceptance, if the disorder is accepted half the battle is won but if it is ignored or denied then the disorder gets repressed and it comes back to haunt again. If we can accept it instead of judging it I believe that it will be the best support anyone can offer. Think about it !

The society has to learn to not judge people based on a disorder, there are various celebrities who suffer from it but have made it big in their professional life, the way we don't judge a person based on a physical disorder we should never judge a person based on a mental disorder either ! if all of us decide to eradicate this social stigma then it would be possible for a person to freely accept the disorder and find cure for it !

Carnival Fiesta at Bengaluru

After three straight losses the Royal Challengers of Bangalore have arrived. The Pune warriors had piled up a massive total of 182 and it was chased successfully due to the explosive batting of Chris Gayle and the heroics in the end by AB De Villiers and Saurabh Tiwary.

Pune warriors India won the toss and decided to bat first, the move was questionable as RCB were struggling with their bowling and it would have been wise to chase as the bowling unit of RCB was low in morale and confidence of restricting their opposition. RCB had made two major changes of bringing in Dilshan in place of the birthday boy Muralitharan and bringing in K Apanna in place of S Aravind, Whereas Pune decided to bring in Bhuvaneshwar Kumar in place of Murali Karthik. It was a wise decision by Saurav Ganguly, the skipper of PWI to rest Karthik as it would have meant chunk of runs leaking when the left arm spinner would have bowled to the mighty Chris Gayle. Robin Uthappa was sent up the order to open the batting for the PWI along with Jesse Ryder and the strategy paid off as Uthappa scored 69 runs off 45 balls at a strike rate of 153 against his former team. Ryder supported him well and Pune Warriors got the start that they were looking for. Just when Ryder was looking dangerous the young bloke Harshal Patel got rid of him thanks to an amazing or should I say a Karbonn Kamaal Catch by Mayank Agarwal. Saurav Ganguly followed him back into the pavilion soon after scoring just 6 runs off 8 deliveries. Then Marlon Samuels the burly all rounder from the Caribbean decided to up the ante and scored 34 runs off 20 deliveries but unfortunately he was run out and so was Steven Smith.

The Royal Challengers of Bangalore came to bat with their successful combination of Chris Gayle and Tilakratne Dilshan. The start that they got was slow but the key for PWI victory was to get Gayle early before he could do any damage, as the mighty Jamaican is capable of scoring even at a rate of 18 R.P.O. Asoke Dinda got the break through early when he got rid of Dilshan due to a failed attempt of the "Dilscoop". Mayank Agarwal was sent at number 3 and had impressed everyone with his batting against the Chennai Super Kings and the Rajasthan Royals. Agarwal perished quickly after hitting a six and that brought Kohli in. Kohli scored 16 off 19 balls and his misery with the bat is a major area of concern for the RCB. Gayle then decided to take the matter in his own hands and initiated the Gayle Storm in the Ashish Nehra over, Nehra was clueless and was hit all over the park. The misery for the Pune Warriors continued when Gayle hit 5 sixes in over of the spinner Rahul Sharma, one six became the longest by covering a distance of 106 metres and hit a girl which broke her nose. Gayle scored 81 runs off 48 balls which include 4 boundaries and 8 sixes ! Calypso Carnival !
PWI made some strategic blunders, they were back into the game once they got rid of Gayle, Ganguly did not complete the 4 over quota of Marlon Samuels who was bowling brilliantly and instead handed over the ball to Angelo Mathews. The penultimate over was bowled well by Dinda who actually should have bowled the last over. Ashish Nehra bowled the last over with RCB needing 21 runs off 6 balls and was successfully achieved by RCB thanks to AB de Villiers and Saurabh Tiwary. Saurabh Tiwary hit the last ball for six and RCB finished the game in style. Nehra's over reminded us of the over he bowled in the WC 2011 game against South Africa in which he was dispatched in style by Robin Peterson.

PWI
Should have completed Marlon Samuels' quota of 4 bowlers and should have used Steven Smith who is a wicket taking bowler


RCB
The bowling still looks weak and should bring in Syed Mohammed in place of Harshal Patel. RCB need to make a bold decision and include Dirk Nannes in the squad to strengthen their bowling unit.

Weather alert during the course of the IPL - Gayle Storms expected !

#Rohan Prabhudesai - Signing off !
Please leave your comments and suggestions

Clash of the Titans

Its the clash of the Titans at the MA Chidambaram stadium in Chennai when the Royal Challengers of Bangalore take on the Chennai Super Kings.
RCB and Chennai the finalists of the last edition of IPL are both struggling to find their momentum and a right balance in the side, Last year's Champions Chennai are yet to find an opening combination this season with the unavailability of Mike Hussey and a poor show from Murali Vijay. Whereas on the other side RCB have a problem when it comes to selection of Muttiah Muralitharan and Tilakratne Dilshan due to the 4 overseas players clause. RCB were amazing last year mainly due to the inclusion of Christopher Henry Gayle who transformed the team completely and took them all the way to the finals, whereas Chennai have been a perfect team depending on the complete teamwork rather than the individual performances.

It will be interesting to see the team combinations that both the teams field in today's clash, Chris Gayle was injured during RCB's first game and played in the game against KKR but could not find the perfect rhythm which turns the game into a Calypso Carnival. Virat Kohli has been impressive for Team India but even he is struggling to find momentum this season. Bowling unit of RCB is a concern too, RCB lacks a spearhead who can open the bowling attack alongside Zaheer Khan, Dirk Nannes did the job for them last season and it will be interesting to see if he gets a chance to play this season. R Vinay Kumar is the new recruit for RCB this season and has come off experience while playing for team India in the international scenario.

Chennai Super Kings are struggling to find their momentum too, There were way too many run outs for them in the last game and in the game against Mumbai which has hurt them deeply. The absence of Mike Hussey in the top order is a concern and so is the form of Doug Bollinger with the new ball. M S Dhoni has been using R Ashwin quite impressively in the last season and has always delivered with wickets including the one of Chris Gayle in the final last year which was the main reason for RCB to lose the contest. Dwayne Bravo has been phenomenal with the bat and is hitting big this season. Francois Du Plessis and Murali Vijay are not been able to produce a start that they are looking for and is hurting their chances.

PLAYERS TO WATCH FOR
CSK
1) Expect Raina to fire today, he missed out last time due to a run out, He will come hard at the RCB bowling
2) MS Dhoni will be the Key for CSK in the middle order.


RCB
1) Chris Gayle missed out last time against the Knight riders, if he gets going then G Force will bring a G Storm
2)Virat Kohli has looked a bit out of touch, he will be raring to go against the CSK bowling line up

STRATEGIES

RCB
RCB should bring Dilshan into the mix in place of Muttiah Muralitharan as it will strengthen their opening slot and will provide the perfect support for Gayle during the Powerplay.
Leave out Cheteshwar Pujara and introduce Mohammed Syed, he can be a perfect replacement for Murali and has done the job for RCB last year and will complement Daniel Vettori in the spin department

CSK
Vijay and Badrinath to start the proceedings for CSK.
Introduce Randiv in place of Faf Du Plesssis if he is available for selection. Three spinners along with Raina will make the job difficult for RCB batsmen at the Chennai Track


Please leave your comments
#Rohan Prabhudesai - Signing off

Caribbean Calypso at Wankhede

12th Match of the DLF IPL 2012 turned out to be exciting, with a break from the low - scoring totals. It was a high scoring match with Kieron Pollard going Boom Boom ! at the Rajasthan Royals' bowlers. It was a power packed performance from both the sides especially from the mighty Trinidadian and the Englishman Owais Shah. It was a battle of nerves and Mumbai Indians came out victorious in the end due to another stunning performance by Lasith Malinga and Munaf Patel.

Earlier in the evening Rahul Dravid won the toss put Mumbai to bat. Levi and Suman started off the proceedings well and took 21 runs in the third over. Amit Singh took the pace off the ball and got rid of Suman who was looking dangerous and then Rohit Sharma played a nice cameo by scoring 21 runs of 13 balls. Richard Levi was looking good and was looking set for a big innings when the veteran bowler Brad Hogg got rid of him and Rohit Sharma.
It was Ambati Rayudu and Kieron Pollard who had to ensure that the team reaches a total of 170 at least and were playing very sensibly, all hell broke loose when Kieron Pollard started attacking the Royals' bowlers and hit a six which almost went out of the stadium. In order to restrict the scoring by these two players, Rahul Dravid decided to bring Johan Botha into the attack and this plan back fired as Kieron Pollard took 23 runs of this over making it a turning point of the game and the difference between the two sides. The best moment of MI batting was when Kieron Pollard hit a straight drive which ricocheted off the stumps and went for a four. It was massive power hitting. Kieron Pollard scored 64 off 33 deliveries and was caught at long on by Ajinkya Rahane off the bowling of the left arm spinner Ankeet Chavan. Mumbai Indians lost two quick wickets in succession (D Karthik, James Franklin) but a cameo from Harbhajan Singh in the end ensured that Mumbai Indians piling up a mammoth total of 197 in 20 overs.


 It was a shaky start by the Royals' losing two quick wickets of the skipper Rahul Dravid and Shreevats Goswami in successive deliveries which brought Owais Shah on the crease. It was a difficult time to walk out in the middle and face a hat trick ball from Munaf Patel, but Owais Shah batted so very well that the mammoth total of 197 was looking easily gettable. Rahane and Shah took the Rajasthan innings forward and were giving tough competition. Kieron Pollard got rid of Rahane with the help of a deceptive slower delivery and got Mumbai back into the competition. Owais Shah from the other end was going all guns blazing smashing the Mumbai bowlers all over the park and ended up scoring 76 runs from 42 balls. Harbhajan Singh looked exhausted with bowling changes as Owais Shah was ruining the party for MI and hence decided to go back to his spearhead Lasith Malinga, Malinga bowled a yorker and got rid of Owais Shah, it was a turning point and tilted the balance of the game in Mumbai's favour. Johan Botha was the next to go in the same over. RR still had hope with the Trinidadian Kevon Cooper in the middle and he proved his mettle by hitting two sixes but he was dismissed by Munaf Patel. With the dismissal of Kevon Cooper it was inevitable that Mumbai will seal off a victory, their maiden victory at home.
The bowling unit did a good job for Mumbai, Munaf Patel and Kieron Pollard took 4 wickets each and Lasith Malinga took two which includes the wicket of the dangerous Owais Shah.

POSITIVES FOR RR
1- RR have a solid middle order and they should bring in Shaun Tait in place of Johan Botha. Shaun Tait is a natural wicket taking bowler and will act as a spearhead in the bowling unit.
2- Owais Shah to be promoted up the order at number 3.

POSITIVES FOR MI
1- Mumbai Indians should promote Kieron Pollard up the order as we know what he is capable of doing when he faces a few deliveries first.
2- Mumbai Indians should play Herschelle Gibbs in place of James Franklin to strengthen the batting unit till the time Sachin Tendulkar is available for selection.

Halla Bol !

Its Halla Bol at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur. Rahul Dravid and his men pulled off an amazing victory against the Kolkata Knight Riders and have now won two matches in a row. Rajasthan Royals have had a dream start this season and have the perfect squad to pose a serious threat to their counterparts in the league this year.

ANALYSIS
Royals did not have the start that they were hoping for in the initial stages of the match after losing the Orange cap holder Ajinkya Rahane cheaply, although it was amazing to see Rahul Dravid hit sixes but he wasn't able to accelerate the innings in a manner that he would have liked and fell for 26 off 24 deliveries which included two sixes and two fours. Isn't it amazing to see Rahul Dravid hit a six ? It certainly is for me.....
Menaria and Hodge ensured that they would up the ante and both played magical innings for the Royals and their partnership ensured that the Royals would pose a target above 160. Royals were defending their record winning streak at the SMS (Sawai Mansingh Stadium) after scoring a total above 160, although I feel that the Royals were still 15 -20 runs short of the total that they would have expected and the main reason was holding back hitters like Shah, Botha, and Cooper. If one of them could have been introduced early the score would have easily gone above 180 for the Royals but needless to say that the score of 164 was enough to keep KKR at bay who were struggling for a win after their loss to Delhi at their home ground of Kolkata.
KKR had to chase 165 in 20 overs and they had the firepower in their arsenal to reach it, but things turned sour for them after losing Jacques Kallis, Brendon McCullum, and the skipper Gautam Gambhir in a quick succession leaving the Knight Riders reeling at 13/3 in the first four overs. It was downside for them after losing Yusuf Pathan who was their only hope to get out of this situation. The stage was perfectly set for Yusuf Pathan who has a reputation to go Boom Boom ! at the opposition, but an amazing catch from ex Knight Riders player Brad Hodge off the bowling of Trivedi ensured that they were en route to victory. Manoj Tiwary's brilliant innings of 59 went in vain as he did not have the necessary support from the other batsmen,
In the end there were some power hits from Brett Lee but it was too late for KKR to up the ante and the KKR innings came to an end at 142...
It would be criminal if I don't mention the role Kevon Cooper is playing for the Royals, he came with a reputation in the IPL after having a good campaign for Trinidad and Tobago in the Champions league and he has lived up to it till now, took 4 wickets against the Kings XI Punjab and took 3 wickets today against Knight Riders. I am looking forward to see the big hitting from Cooper in the upcoming matches.

POSITIVES FOR KKR
1 - Gautam Gambhir should open the innings along with Jacques Kallis, it ensures a left- right combination and GG would have relished batting against a left arm spinner Ankeet Chavan as we all know that GG is one of the best players against the spin bowling attack
2- KKR should play Shakib-Al- Hassan as he is an explosive batsman and a quality spin bowler, his inclusion in the squad will strengthen the spin department as he will be accompanying Iqbal Abdullah, and Sunil Narine.

POSITIVES FOR RR
1- RR should ensure that Johan Botha should play at number 3 or else RR should play Shaun Tait as they do not have a quality fast bowler in their line up and it may cause problems for them against the big hitters.
2- Owais Shah to be promoted up the order as he has a reputation of quick scoring in the Big Bash league.

Finally, the Jaipur pitch this season is amazing and competitive.....

Please leave your comments.....
#Rohan Prabhudesai - Signing off !
 

Match Analysis, MI Vs PWI

Mumbai Indians started the tournament with an impressive victory against the Chennai Super Kings and announced themselves as the contenders for the title.
So ? What went wrong in their first game against the Pune Warriors who started the game as under dogs, Let us see the reasons.
1) Toss - After winning the toss it was crucial to bat first in the scorching summer of Mumbai, but instead Bhajji decided to field first as they had done so and won the game at Chepauk by fielding first. This decision drained the players and set a bad tone for the match
2) Accept it or not, Sachin Tendulkar is an impact player for the Mumbai Indians in a similar way to Chris Gayle who is doing the same job for Royal Challengers of Bangalore. In Tendulkar's absence Mumbai Indians' batting is clueless in a similar manner when the soldiers become clueless after losing their general in the battle. Richard Levi who is supposed to be the next big thing was stumped by the wicket keeper while chasing a mediocre total of 130. In the absence of Sachin Tendulkar, MI Batting line up gets confused about when to attack and when to defend.
3) James Franklin's innings of 32 runs came from 42 balls and there was no effort done by him to up the ante in the later part of the game, initially it was crucial for him to bat sensibly but in T20 cricket you have to attack at some stage. The only player who looked comfortable and positive in the MI batting lineup was Dinesh Karthik.
4)The Big hitting Kieron Pollard arrived at Mumbai this year with a reputation of big hitting against countries like India and Australia and was expected to deliver but the woes continued and was dismissed by Rahul Sharma, the spin woes continue for Pollard.
These are some of the reasons that led to Pune Warriors' victory against MIghty Mumbai Indians

Please post your reviews. #Rohan Prabhudesai
Signing off !