Annoying Habits

My flatmate has an annoying habit of locking the main door every time he leaves the house. What's so annoying about that I hear you ask? Well he does so even when there are other people at home! As students, we're always running a minute behind the clock. Those precious 30 seconds lost in the morning searching for your keys, when you realize he's locked you in again, can be the difference between catching the bus, and having to hike it.

Well, this happened a few days. And since then, I've found the door open more often than not even when he's not home.

The Power Struggle: European Football and the Caste System

Leicester city have won the English Premier League beating odds of 5000 to 1. Yet while the rest of the world celebrates their victory, there is a serious cause for concern. Newcomers like Leicester and Tottenham have upset the elite clubs by qualifying for the Champions League. By establishing an exclusive European league, the sporting giants aim to cement their power structure - a major blow to the principles of competition. This kind of power grab is not new to the Indian subcontinent, where it continues to operate under the 'Caste System'.   

Leicester City F.C., Premier League Champions 2016

In March the Jats of Haryana took the state by storm. Their long standing agitation for OBC (Other Backward Classes) status turned violent and claimed hundreds of lives. The age old  'Caste System' is a power-structure  to ensure people were 'kept in their places'. The Jats formed the middle class of this virtually unshakable system.

However, the Green Revolution, brought power and public influence to the land-owning Jats. Similarly, in the late 20th and 21st centuries, technological and legislative changes pushed the backward castes up the socio-economic ladder. The best example of this is the current Chief Minister of the state, who is the first non-Jat in almost two decades. The recent riots are representative of a desperate effort to maintain, this volatile power structure.

Upper caste Brahmin performing a ceremony

In the world of football, sponsorships are to elite clubs, what land is to the Jats. And Leicester's entry into the Champions League draws a football parallel of untouchability. Historically the clubs that gave the best wages attracted the best talents, in turn emerging at the top of their domestic competitions. Those who best managed their finances, remained at the top of their game, increasing their corporate value, and their worldwide fanbase; creating a cycle of perpetual domination.

An underdog, Leicester City broke this cycle by winning the domestic competition this year. The elite would consider this to be a transgression into the sanctimonious space of the Champions League. With qualification based on merit and performance, other clubs like Tottenham Hotspur, are also forcing their way up the table. The president of Real Madrid, Florentino Perez, hinted at a European competition, that does away with the performance based qualification process. The 'Super League' will be a competition between the elite clubs of Europe, Perez's idea to "guarantee that the best always play against the best", notwithstanding who the best is.

Leicester's success mirrors the socio-economic progress, of the non-Jats of Haryana. They have both overcome incalculable odds through their skill and hard work.

Arguably, professional football is as much a business as it is a sport. Thus sustainability relies equally on business acumen as it does on skill. The 'Super League', with its own rules of entry based on perceived status, will erode the core foundation of football, that of open competition.

Iran Calling

Iran has finally come calling; well atleast metaphorically. I got contacted by a student in Iran who's interested in learning English, so it seems that language exchange portal isn't a complete waste, you just need to put across your offer in some detail and those interested will contact you. Ali is a university student based in Mashhad and is studying history, and wants to improve his English speaking skills so he's more comfortable with the language in holding conversations.

Mashhad, Iran

I was a little apprehensive when he wrote to me initially, since few people actually make an effort to go beyond saying 'I'd like to improve my English'. I repeatedly grilled him saying that he had to 'show' me that he wanted to really learn, not just say it but actually prove it. So we then did a Skype call. He was in his university hostel with his roommates and seemed surprised that we were having the call. You'd have expected that we'd exchange pleasantries and talk about other things first, but I just got down to the purpose of the call, asking him outright to explain 'how' interested he was in improving his skills. Perhaps a bit rushed you might say, but I wanted to put across how seriously I take my teaching and time, I'm a really sweet person!

We've established a modus operandi of Skype two times a week for quarter of an hour. Majority of that time we'll be spending on his learning, while mine relate mostly to written submissions and corrections. I'm not going to start talking fluent Persian, but it's meant as a strong preparatory for when I go to Iran and join a short term program.

On other fronts, I've tried to get in touch with the Iranian Embassies in India and Switzerland through email, but I haven't herd from them; maybe I've sent it to the wrong department so I think I'll have to just pick up the phone - something I learned from writing to the universities in Iran, always always always follow up with a phone call.

The most important and worrying thing for me though, is accommodation and knowing people in Tehran. Housing there is like in any big city, a major hassle and with the right circumstances, an absolute impossibility. This is why it's important to know people who already live there, not only to help you find a place, but to make sure you don't get swindled. 

If you're interested, there's an ongoing discussion among people who are interested to go there to learn the language, including myself. This is the forum link.   

Time to get more coffee!