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Keep it simple, stupid

Every now and then, we all need to tell ourselves to be Rahul Dravids. Don't gun for glory. Get down to the basics, and do the simple things well. I have always tried to keep it simple: Keep your head down, just score the singles, keep the scoreboard ticking. This philosophy makes things easy. It is only when I act against my true motto that things tend to go wrong. A Rahul Dravid innings, the way he has conducted himself in his professional life has many lessons in there for us. In fact, 'Keep the scoreboard ticking' brings back many happy memories because it was my first ever blog. Back when no one had even heard of what a blog was. It was when I was a struggling journalist that I started to watch Dravid carefully. This was way back in 2002/03. The way he planned an innings was the way I was beginning to plan my years in the newspaper I worked for, back then. Keep it simple, and the big runs will come later, I would tell myself as I slogged on the moffusil desk, doing night shifts and translating uninspiring copy. But it was also a happy time because I met my husband. (another story for another time). 

It is very easy to lose track of who we truly are, and lose sight of our original mottos and beliefs. It is easy to complicate things, and make a mess of them, far more difficult to keep things simple. It is time to go back to being who I used to be, to be in touch with my core identity of always keeping things simple. Just watch the ball carefully, take a single, or leave it alone. Keep the big heaves for later. Maybe the slog overs will never come, maybe I'll end up just taking singles, never mind. There's something called happiness and being true to yourself, more important than anything else in the world.

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