By happy coincidence, this column will be published on the day that marks the birth centenary of J.R.D. Tata. A major shortcoming of contemporary Indian society, to my mind, is its singular dearth of icons and heroes. At any given point of time, we’re inundated with a veritable Babel of voices criticising leaders whether in government, politics, public life or business - which is all very well, given that we’re a free society. But the question I want to ask ourselves is: how come we scarcely hear words of praise for anybody?

Are we a nation without heroes, teeming only with rogues and rapscallions? In the field of business and industry in India, J.R.D. Tata strides the world like the proverbial Colossus. He was a visionary par excellence and a pioneer who led his team from the front. Importantly, he did so with ethics uppermost in his mind. As a result, he stood out as an industrialist with no skeletons in his cupboard. 

And when the forces of realpolitik hit him adversely - at Air India, for example - he did not try to hit back. Being the gentleman that he was, Tata faced up to opposition, however dubious, with a stiff upper lip. Fortunately, good sense ultimately prevailed on the Union government and JRD was fittingly, albeit belatedly, awarded the Bharat Ratna towards the end of his long life. Till today, he stands apart as the only one from industry to have received the nation’s highest honour. J.R.D. Tata is a national hero. I’m sure readers will join me in a centennial salute to memory of a great man.

Eclair and rubber stamps 
I landed bleary-eyed at Dubai in the wee hours of Sunday morning. To my pleasant surprise, the smart young officer at the immigration counter offered me an éclair along with my stamped passport and a word of welcome. (Never mind if the éclair wrapper emblazoned the unlikely brand name “Geisha” on it!) It was a small gesture of welcome but it did make a lot of difference to someone entering a foreign country. Why doesn’t our own immigration department try something like this? 

Curiously, the UAE immigration rubber stamps imprinted in one’s passport are nice and large and prominent, unlike the smarter ones used in many countries. It also has several things handwritten on it (in Arabic) by the officer. I guess human intervention, as contrasted to automated handling, offers a certain comfort value to a tired traveller. Well, at least I felt good about this old-fashioned way of doing things at Dubai airport!

Cricket in the UAE 
I called on Zahid Noorani at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium, of which he is chief executive, on Monday. UAE’s small but enthusiastic cricket fraternity is pretty pleased at this tiny country’s performance at the Asia Cup and everyone is hoping that the UAE will qualify for the next World Cup as indeed it did once in 1996. The credit for bringing cricket to the UAE goes to A.R. Bukhatir, one of the country’s top businessmen, who happens to be passionately fond of this game. The local environment, of course, is wholly alien to cricket. 

Right now, even as I write these lines sitting in air-conditioned comfort, the temperature outside is a blazing 112 degrees! Noorani told me the secret behind the lush greenness of the cricket ground under his charge. It has to be watered thrice every day: once before sunrise, once at midday and finally at midnight! If it isn’t, he says, the grass could turn brown in two hours flat! That’s the kind of dedication needed to keep cricket alive in these parts. Sharjah has hosted the largest number of One Day Internationals or ODIs in the world. 

Its current tally is 199, and this is over a hundred more than the 90-odd ODIs played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground or the MCG. The landmark 200th match will be played at Sharjah later this year when the weather is milder. It promises to be a glamorous event!