The Canadian Parvasi - Issue 20

The International News Weekly VIEW
November 10, 2017 | Toronto
17
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella says he
learnt leandership while playing cricket
Agencies
GURGAON: For Satya
Nadella, the leadership
values he learnt while
playing cricket in India
helped him compete
vigorously in the face of
uncertainty -- putting the
team first and bringing
out the best in everybody
-- during his 25-year career
at Microsoft.
On a smog-hit
afternoon as he shared
the stage with veteran
cricketer Anil Kumble
here on Tuesday during
a discussion on his book
"Hit Refresh," Nadella said
you certainly need to have
empathy in life to succeed.
"Microsoft's core
business is about
meeting the unmet and
unarticulated needs of the
customers. There is no
way we can succeed in life
if we don't have empathy.
I have come to realise
that empathy needs to be
developed and it is not a
destination," Nadella told
the audience.
The birth of his child
Zain -- who was born in
1996 after being diagnosed
with cerebral palsy -- was
an event that changed his
life forever.
It was then when
Nadella learnt about the
value of empathy from his
wife and decided to focus
on improving Zain's life
instead of delving upon
how this was going to
affect him on the personal
level. Afterwards, Nadella
kept hitting refresh on
his emotions and outlook
towards life.
"If you take Microsoft,
we are in existence for
43 years. I have been
associated with the
company for 25 years now
and every five years, we
face an existential threat.
But we are still here.
That means we are doing
something right to stay
at that level, to continue
to question status quo,"
Nadella noted.
For Kumble, India's
1983 World Cup victory
served as an inspiration
for the people in the
country.
"For the Indian cricket,
the 1983 World Cup win
was a 'Hit Refresh' moment
that inspired millions,"
Kumble said.
"For me, the 'Hit
Refresh' moment came in
2001 during the Test series
against Australia at the
home turf and I could not
take part owing to injury.
We lost the first match but
then I thought we shouldn't
lose the confidence and
that confidence led us
to win the series 2-1," he
added.
When Kumble asked
Nadella about Artificial
Intelligence (AI) and
Internet of Things (IoT),
the Microsoft CEO replied
that three key technologies
would lead to a massive
shift soon.
"The three technologies
are Mixed Reality,
Artificial Intelligence and
Quantum Computing.
The man-machine
interface -- from graphics
to touchscreen and
now speech -- has made
technology more natural
and intuitive," Nadella
told Kumble.
They also discussed
the positive impact of
intelligent technologies
on cricket and how these
will redefine the game for
players as well as viewers.
Why white poppies never
really caught on in Canada
Agencies
TORONTO: More than five years after the white poppy
campaign sparked a rancorous debate about how Canadians
should reflect on Remembrance Day, the anti-war movement
is still stinging from its ugly standoff with the Royal
Canadian Legion.
Organizers behind the low-key campaign, which
promotes peace and remembers civilian casualties of war,
admit the legion's opposition has undermined the popularity
of the white poppy, with only 1,200 of the pale, homemade
flowers distributed last year in advance of Remembrance
Day. "Unfortunately, the legion's negativity — turning it
into an either/or — has done a lot of damage in terms of
discouraging people," says author and peace activist Heather
Menzies. "In terms of message control, they have succeeded
in communicating: 'If you wear the white poppy, it means
that you are not honouring the war dead.'"
A spokeswoman for the legion's Dominion Command
in Ottawa said the organization, which represents 275,000
veterans and distributes millions of red poppies every
November, would not comment on the white poppy
movement.
In the past, the legion has called the white flowers —
some with the word "peace" appearing in the centre — an
insult to veterans and a possible copyright violation because
the legion owns the trademark on the poppy.
In 2010, the legion threatened to launch a lawsuit to stop
the alternative poppy drive.
In February 2011, the advocacy group Canadian Voice
of Women for Peace met with the legion's leadership to seek
a compromise, but the veterans weren't interested, Menzies
says. "I thought we had made some progress in shifting the
paradigm on what would be the focus of Remembrance
Day," says Menzies, whose great uncle was the victim of a
gas attack during the First World War, and whose father was
wounded by shrapnel while fighting in France and Holland
during the Second World War.
"That would mean honouring the dead but also
lamenting war because it is so destructive ... I thought they
heard us that day ... (But) they just kept reiterating, 'We want
to defend our brand,' which is the red poppy."
Since then, Canadian Voice of Women for Peace has
quietly soldiered on with its campaign, even thought it hasn't
gained much momentum.
Read what a descendant of Rani
Padmavati says about film on her
By Radhika Bhiran
NEW DELHI: The
drama and debates over
Sanjay Leela Bhansali's film
"Padmavati" -- the story of
Rajput queen Padmini -- has
upset a direct descendant of
the Mewar royal family.
Baijiraj Trivikrama
Kumari Jamwal, daughter
of Mahendra Singh Mewar
-- the 76th Maharana of
the Mewar dynasty and a
former Lok Sabha member
-- is otherwise quietly going
about her life as an English
teacher at a school in New
Delhi.
But amidst heightened
protests
against
"Padmavati", which she
has tagged an "inauthentic
venture", Trivikrama says
it's unfair that her family's
name is being dragged into
generating "free publicity"
for the film.
"The sad part is that
the film is getting free prerelease
publicity, and that a
commercial and inauthentic
venture like this is using my
family's name.
"It's not just a question of
incorrect portrayal, which is
established from the trailer
and the 'Ghoomar' song itself,
but also the fact that you're
using my family's name for
the commercial pre-release
publicity of your film, free of
cost... And the national media
is talking about it. That's my
problem," Trivikrama told
IANS in an interview here.
Bhansali's "Padmavati"
has been mired in
controversy. The conjecture
that it distorts history has
led organisations like Shri
Rajput Karni Sena and Sarv
Brahmin Mahasabha to
go up in arms against the
release of the movie, while
BJP leaders have been
making statements and
appeals to stop its release on
December 1.
"That's why I am so
upset. People have political
and commercial agendas.
There's nothing wrong with
commercial enterprises
and politics, but misusing
and exploiting somebody's
pride, honour and dignity
for such shallow purposes,
that is where I step in and
say, 'Sorry, not acceptable',"
Trivikrama said.
The filmmakers have
maintained there is no
dream romance sequence
shown between the Rajput
queen and invader Alauddin
Khilji, as had been alleged
by some. But a few political
leaders and Jaipur's former
princess Diya Kumari have
suggested Bhansali must
show the movie to some
historians prior to its release.
Trivikrama questions: "It
depends who the historians
are because history is also
coloured. It has to be a wellrepresented
congress of
historians. He (Bhansali)
should approach the most
authentic voice, which is the
family itself. That he hasn't
done."
Her mother, Maharani
Nirupama Kumari
commented: "He has already
made the film. What's
the point of showing it to
historians now?"
To many, the story of
Rani Padmini remains a
mystery. What is the story
Trivikrama has grown up
with?
"If you go as a tourist
to Chittorgarh Fort, you're
taken to Padmini's Palace,
and you're shown a couple
of mirrors. The tourist guide
tells you about it and he
points out a little pond and
says she stood over there and
Alauddin Khilji saw her face.
"But that is just
packaging culture to sell to
ignorant tourists," she said.
Trivikrama said Rani
Padmini finds mention in
"Veer Vinod", a record book
on Mewar's history.
"It's a historical record
that shows yes she was there,
she was the wife of Rawal
Ratan Singh and she was
only an excuse that Alauddin
Khilji used to invade Chittor.
The real reason was a very
calculated military decision
to invade," she said.
"Padmini was not in the
picture at all, except now
what has been made into a
tale, which is a figment of
imagination, I believe. It's
not there in history," she
said, pointing out that their
family is one of the oldest
families with an unbroken
succession.
She estimated that there
were over 30 generations
between now and the first
Jauhar -- self-immolation
led by Rani Padmini in 1303
during the seige of Chittor.
What about the epic
Awadhi poem "Padmavat"?
"Apparently, it's a selfconfessed
piece of fiction.
I'm ready to accept that you
(Bhansali) have made a piece
of fiction. But then don't drag
my family's name into it and
claim you're the custodian
of my family's history,"
asserted Trivikrama, a Ph.D
in English literature.
She said filmmakers
are doing a lot in the garb of
artistic license.
"Sure you have that,
but then along with artistic
license, there should be
artistic integrity and
sensitivity," she said,
pointing out how the
representation of Rani
Padmini is "wrong" even in
terms of dance and clothes.
"Instead of making it
clear that it is Bollywood
masala, you're saying it is
history and misleading and
'mis-educating' the future
generations."