Con Artists: The Bane Of Travelers

I've been a regular international traveler since 2001, because my biggest passion in life is travel. Being a diplomat's son, I spent a large part of my childhood abroad (in Bulgaria, Bhutan, Yugoslavia and Austria), and that's probably what gave me the travel bug. Every year excepting 2002, I have traveled internationally and have covered close to 200 locations in over 40 countries and I have had amazing experiences exploring cities, cathedrals, palaces, castles, city streets, central squares, art museums and places of natural beauty. I have developed a keen interest in photography during my various travels, and I also enjoy collecting books on travel as well as souvenirs from the places I visit. In short, travel has been something that has really enriched my life and given me a purpose.

Though I have covered most continents, Europe has been a favourite travel destination, and over the years, I have managed to cover most countries in Europe. Despite Europe being very tourist friendly, traveling there isn't always without its share of risks. Travelers tend to be a little vulnerable, often not knowing the local language or where to go during times of trouble, and con artists can take full advantage of this. Though it hasn't dampened my enthusiasm for travel, I have had my share of unfortunate experiences which have shaken me up, but still not come in the way of my passion.

In 2004, I spent 5 days in Madrid, Spain. I absolutely loved the city. Highlights of my visit included the Prado Museum (with its amazing collection of paintings by El Greco, Rubens, Velazquez and Goya), the Reina Sofia Museum (which features Picasso's famous Guernica, depicting the horrors of the Spanish Civil War), Plaza Mayor (the city's main square), the Royal Palace and Almudena Cathedral. One evening, I came out of Almudena Cathedral, right in the heart of the city, and a man came and banged into me. He apologized, and I politely said it was no problem at all. Then another man came up to him, slapped him, and turned to me and said "I am a police officer. This man is a drug dealer. I saw him talking to you. You must be a customer. I must search you." For a moment, I got into a total panic. What if the man had slipped drugs into my pockets when he banged into me? I put my hands into my pockets and luckily, there was nothing. I breathed a sigh of relief and told him I had no drugs on me. He said maybe I had put the drugs into my wallet, so he would have to search my wallet. I opened my wallet and showed him there were no drugs. He told me to hand over my wallet so he could search it properly. I got suspicious and asked for his identification. He took out an ID card, which was another police officer's ID card. I said "You're not from the police. I am going to the police." In a moment, both men ran as fast as the wind and disappeared into the crowd. What a narrow escape that was! Their idea had been simple - I would hand over my wallet, and they would run!

In 2012, my wife and I spent 6 days in Lisbon, Portugal. It was a beautiful trip, and for me, the sites that really stood out were Jeronimos Monastery, Santa Engracia (the National Pantheon), the National Museum Of Ancient Art, the Tower Of Belem and the Monument To The Discoveries. On our last day in Lisbon, we had a nightmare of an experience. We went to the Santa Apolonia Railway Station to board an overnight train. We boarded the train half an hour before the scheduled departure time. We kept our big suitcases in the luggage rack at the back of the train. We were settling into our seats along with our small bags, when I saw a man removing one of our big suitcases from the luggage rack. I rushed towards him. He said in broken English that there seemed to be a hole in our suitcase and money was falling out. He then showed me a large number of 1 Euro coins lying on the floor. I was puzzled because that suitcase didn't have any of our money in it. He signaled to my wife and asked her to rush to us. Not knowing what the chaos was about, my wife started walking towards us. I realised she shouldn't be coming because all our small bags were on our seats. We both dashed back to our seats to make sure everything was OK. All of this took just about 5 seconds, and in those 5 seconds, my pouch disappeared, and with it went our passports, about 1,500 Euros in cash, my mobile phone, all my credit cards, our Eurail passes and my expensive camera lens!! The man vanished in a jiffy, and so did his accomplices. We went to the police station and filed a complaint, but nothing came of it. We had to cut short our trip after that incident. We went to the Indian Embassy and got Emergency Travel Certificates which allowed us to travel back to India. My wife's mobile phone and one credit card were not there in that pouch of mine, and those two things were life savers for us, because we had to spend a full day in Lisbon before we could get our act together and return to India. We came back to India, badly rattled! Of course, the following year, we were on our travels again!

Santa Engacia,
one of my favourite sites in Lisbon

In 2019, my wife, my five year old son and I spent 3 days in Sofia, Bulgaria. I had lived there for 2 years as a small child, so it was an emotional trip for me as I was there after more than 4 decades. Sofia exceeded our expectations in every way, and I really enjoyed visiting Alexandur Nevski Memorial Church, Church Of Sveta Nedelya, Church Of Sveti Sofia, the Archaeological Museum and the National Art Gallery, to name just a few of the attractions. After visiting the Central Market Hall, we walked to Sofia Synagogue. There, our bags were frisked by a security officer. A moment later, when I opened my bag to buy our entrance tickets, I found that my wallet was missing. We searched everywhere, and returned to the Central Market Hall, where we went to the security office and even managed to see the CCTV recording, but my wallet was never found. We never discovered whether someone stole my wallet at the crowded Central Market Hall, or if my wallet fell out during one of the many occasions when I took my camera out of my bag, or if the security officer at Sofia Synagogue stole it. Having learned from past experience, I didn't have too much money in my wallet, bu I still lost about 200 Euros, a credit card and a debit card.

So yes, one has to be particularly careful while traveling. After all these incidents, if I am in a foreign land and I am accosted by a stranger who tries to strike up a conversation, I sometimes answer in Hindi and pretend I can't speak in English, because one never knows who may be a con artist. It's a pity that one has to be guarded like that, but it's better to be safe than sorry, especially when one has had one's share of travel misfortunes in the past! But like I said, the passion for travel remains, and once the Corona Virus scare is behind us, we hope to be on the move again, having had to cancel our Scandinavia summer plans because of this unforeseen pandemic!

Tennis: The Greatest Of All Time Debate

The sport of tennis has seen several great players over the past few decades. In men's tennis, this illustrious list includes icons of the sport like Rod Laver, Jimmy Connors, Bjorn Borg, John McEnroe, Ivan Lendl, Mats Wilander, Stefan Edberg, Boris Becker, Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi. However, just three players can lay a particularly strong claim to be contenders for the Greatest Of All Time (GOAT), and as it happens, all three players have been active during the same era and continue to be active players today - Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic. All three have achieved many records that have surpassed what their accomplished predecessors achieved. It's tough to say which one of these three can be called the GOAT, especially because all three are still active - it may be easier to pass this judgement once all three of these remarkable players hang up their boots and retire. It's a good time to sit back and look at some of the most significant achievements in the world of tennis (since the advent of the Open Era in 1968), as the ATP Tour takes an indefinite pause while the world reels from the Corona Virus.

The domination by Federer, Nadal and Djokovic has been so overwhelming that in the last 15 years, since the 2005 French Open, one of these three has gone on to win no fewer than 52 of the 60 Grand Slam tournaments that have taken place. The exceptions have been Andy Murray (3 titles), Stan Wawrinka (3 titles), Juan Martin Del Potro (1 title) and Marin Cilic (1 title). This level of domination for such an extended period has never been seen before. All three have kept up their winning ways well into their thirties. In the past, most players announced their retirement in their early thirties because they weren't able to deal with the extreme physical demands of the sport.

Federer, Djokovic and Nadal
Image Courtesy: Google Images

Number Of Grand Slam Titles:
Roger Federer - 20, Rafael Nadal - 19, Novak Djokovic - 17, Pete Sampras - 14, Bjorn Borg - 11, Jimmy Connors - 8, Ivan Lendl - 8, Andre Agassi - 8, John McEnroe - 7, Mats Wilander - 7

Number Of Grand Slam Finals:
Roger Federer - 31, Rafael Nadal - 27, Novak Djokovic - 26, Ivan Lendl - 19, Pete Sampras - 18, Bjorn Borg - 16, Jimmy Connors - 15, Andre Agassi 15, John McEnroe - 11, Mats Wilander - 11, Stefan Edberg - 11, Andy Murray - 11

Number Of Grand Slam Semi Finals:
Roger Federer - 46, Novak Djokovic - 37, Rafael Nadal - 33, Jimmy Connors - 31, Ivan Lendl - 28, Andre Agassi - 26, Pete Sampras - 23, Andy Murray - 21, John McEnroe - 19, Stefan Edberg - 19

Number Of Grand Slam Quarter Finals:
Roger Federer - 57, Novak Djokovic - 46, Jimmy Connors - 41, Rafael Nadal - 41, Andre Agassi - 36, Ivan Lendl - 34, Andy Murray - 30, Pete Sampras - 29, John McEnroe - 26, Stefan Edberg - 26

Number Of Years As Year End No.1:
Pete Sampras - 6, Jimmy Connors - 5, Roger Federer - 5, Novak Djokovic - 5, Rafael Nadal - 5, John McEnroe - 4, Ivan Lendl - 4, Bjorn Borg - 2, Stefan Edberg - 2, Lleyton Hewitt - 2

Number Of Weeks At No.1:
Roger Federer - 310, Pete Sampras - 286, Novak Djokovic - 282, Ivan Lendl - 270, Jimmy Connors - 268, Rafael Nadal - 209, John McEnroe - 170, Bjorn Borg - 109, Andre Agassi - 101, Lleyton Hewitt - 80

Number Of Years In The Year End Top 10:
Roger Federer - 17, Jimmy Connors - 16, Andre Agassi - 16, Rafael Nadal - 15, Ivan Lendl - 13, Pete Sampras - 12, Novak Djokovic - 12, Boris Becker - 11, Guillermo Vilas - 10, John McEnroe - 10

Number Of Tournaments Won:
Jimmy Connors - 109, Roger Federer - 103, Ivan Lendl - 94, Rafael Nadal - 85, Novak Djokovic - 79, John McEnroe - 77, Bjorn Borg - 64, Pete Sampras - 64, Guillermo Vilas - 62, Ilie Nastase - 60, Andre Agassi - 60

Number Of Masters 1000 Tournaments Won (Since 1990):
Rafael Nadal - 35, Novak Djokovic - 34, Roger Federer - 28, Andre Agassi - 17, Andy Murray - 14, Pete Sampras - 11, Thomas Muster - 8, Michael Chang - 7, Boris Becker - 5, Jim Courier - 5, Marcelo Rios - 5, Gustavo Kuerten - 5, Marat Safin - 5, Andy Roddick - 5

Number Of Year End Championship Titles:
Roger Federer - 6, Ivan Lendl - 5, Pete Sampras - 5, Novak Djokovic - 5, Ilie Nastase - 4, John McEnroe - 3, Boris Becker - 3, Bjorn Borg - 2, Lleyton Hewitt - 2

Total Number Of Match Wins:
Jimmy Connors - 1274, Roger Federer - 1242, Ivan Lendl - 1068, Rafael Nadal - 990, Guillermo Vilas - 949, Novak Djokovic - 911, John McEnroe - 881, Andre Agassi - 870, Ilie Nastase - 862, Stefan Edberg - 801

Total Match Win Percentages:
Rafael Nadal - 83.2%, Novak Djokovic - 83%, Bjorn Borg - 82.7%, Roger Federer - 82.1%, Jimmy Connors - 81.8%, John McEnroe - 81.6%, Ivan Lendl - 81.5%, Andy Murray - 77.5%, Pete Sampras - 77.4%, Boris Becker - 76.9%

Career Grand Slams:
Rod Laver (achieved in 1969 US Open), Andre Agassi (achieved in 1999 French Open), Roger Federer (achieved in 2009 French Open), Rafael Nadal (achieved in 2010 US Open), Novak Djokovic (achieved in 2016 French Open)

Calendar Year Grand Slam:
Rod Laver (in 1969, after achieving it in 1962 before the Open Era)

Number Of Tournaments Won In A Single Grand Slam:
Rafael Nadal: 12 (French Open), Roger Federer - 8 (Wimbledon), Novak Djokovic - 8 (Australian Open), Pete Sampras - 7 (Wimbledon), Bjorn Borg - 6 (French Open), Roger Federer - 6 (Australian Open), Bjorn Borg - 5 (Wimbledon), Jimmy Connors - 5 (US Open), Pete Sampras - 5 (US Open), Roger Federer - 5 (US Open), Novak Djokovic - 5 (Wimbledon)

Head To Head Records Between Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic:
Roger Federer vs Rafael Nadal 16:24, Roger Federer vs Novak Djokovic 23:27, Rafael Nadal vs Novak Djokovic 26:29

As things go now, going purely by the statistics, Federer is closest to being the GOAT, despite having a negative head to head record against both Nadal and Djokovic. There is no doubt about the fact that Nadal is the GOAT on clay. Djokovic has done remarkably well and staked his claim for being the GOAT, coming from the shadows of Federer and Nadal in 2011, and being the most dominant player in the world since then. Federer was born in 1981, Nadal in 1986 and Djokovic in 1987, so chances are that Nadal and Djokovic will be active for a few years after Federer retires. Hence there is a chance that Nadal and Djokovic could cross some of Federer's records. The most significant and prestigious record is perhaps the number of Grand Slam tournaments won, and that may very well eventually determine the GOAT. It will be interesting to do this analysis once these three greats retire, though fans around the world are in no hurry for that eventuality. We are fortunate to have lived through an era that has had three of the most accomplished players in the history of tennis! The decision on the GOAT will have to wait for now!!

My Relationship With Dogs

My relationship with dogs goes back a long time. Way back in 1977, when I was 4, I was very fond of animals and my dream was to grow up and become a zoo keeper. We were living in Bhutan back then. One day, we got a gift from Ashi Choki, the king's aunt. It was the most precious gift ever. We got 2 albino Lhasa Apso dogs, Karma and Karsang. They had long white hair, blue eyes and pink noses, and they were both very beautiful dogs. Karsang, the male dog, was the mischievous one, whereas Karma, the female dog, was the well behaved, calm one. They were small dogs, and I was very fond of them. They went on to have 10 pups, across three litters. Most of the pups didn't survive beyond a few days because they were tiny like white mice; the few that survived, were given away to family friends. The eldest one, Laika, was given away to my best friend, Akshay Mishra. Karsang would do stuff like running away from home and going to my sister's school! He would also love chasing any car that he saw. Whenever he was naughty, he knew it, and he would come and bury his face in my mother's sari, which was his way of saying sorry. Karsang lived for just three years, because his habit of chasing cars sadly resulted in his getting run over one day. It was a sad moment in our lives. Karma lived a long life and she went at the ripe old age of 16. She was a well traveled dog, and went with us from Thimpu to Delhi to Belgrade to Vienna to Delhi again. I was heartbroken when she went, because I had grown up with her. She lived a good life, but at the age of 12, she lost her eyesight to cataract; a couple of years later, her hearing went; and in the last few months of her life, she struggled to walk because her legs became weak.

When I was 31, my elder sister got a German Shepherd pup, Ashi. My sister moved from Bangalore to Delhi and started living with my parents and me. So we had a dog in the household again. Ashi was almost a couple of years old when she came to us, and my sister had done a great job of training her. So she was a well behaved dog. Ashi was just a few months younger than my middle sister's daughter, and the two of them were inseparable. Ashi would be very patient, tolerant and indulging with the little child as she pulled her tail, walked under her treating her like a bridge, and occasionally stuck her finger into Ashi's mouth and eyes! Yes, Ashi would do crazy things from time to time. She would lose her head whenever she saw cats, and would go chasing after them; on 2 occasions, the cats hid under parked cars while trying to escape from her; in an attempt to get to the cats, Ashi got stuck under the cars and we had to get car jacks to get her out! She once chased a kitten and cornered it; a moment later, we saw her coming with a bloody nose; we thought she had injured or even killed the kitten, but the gentle giant that she was, Ashi went and got her nose badly scratched by the tiny kitten, while the kitten pranced about merrily! On a couple of occasions, she ran out of the house when I came back from work late at night; it became a game for her to let me and my mother come close to her, and she would then run the moment we got too close; this went on for a while; my mother finally got the idea that to get Ashi back, we just had to start the car and open the door and she would jump in because she loved going for drives; sure enough, the strategy worked! Apart from these occasional acts of mischief, Ashi was a very well behaved, gentle and calm dog. Yes, she would get excitable when my wife, a crazy dog lover, was around. Ashi lived to be almost 15, and went in December 2018. She lived a healthy life till the last two years of her life, when her hind leg muscles atrophied and the poor thing had to drag herself to walk. Her going was another blow to the family.

Ashi in 2010

In between in 2013, my wife baby-sat a black Labrador called Bruno for 2 weeks. We were staying in a Gurgaon condominium. One day, my wife heard a dog barking incessantly on the floor above. She went up and saw this dog tied up in the corridor. She rang the bell. An elderly lady said the dog belonged to her daughter and the daughter had dropped him off for 2 weeks while she was out traveling, and the old lady didn't like dogs, and what's more, this dog was a handful! My wife's heart melted, and she offered to look after Bruno for 2 weeks. Now Bruno was 9 months old, but he hadn't been trained at all, so he was as wild as they came! Those 2 weeks were nothing short of an ordeal for me. Bruno would piddle all over the house, he would chew up slippers, he would rip apart books, he would jump on top of beds and sofas, he would give wet sloppy licks and get our clothes soaked in his saliva, and he would put his forelegs on the dining table and take food from bowls and plates! All these were not at all acceptable in my book. I found myself constantly being agitated and losing my cool, and if I had measured my blood pressure, I am sure it would have been sky-high! For my wife, Bruno could do no wrong, and everything was forgiven! When Bruno's owner came back, I was so relieved that I can't even begin to describe my sheer joy. My wife, however, was crest-fallen and walking around the house like a tragedy queen. For the next couple of months, once a week I would actually drive her 20 minutes away to Bruno's house, and wait patiently in the car while she spent half an hour playing with Bruno. I certainly wasn't going to enter the house, given how my blood pressure went up in Bruno's company. Eventually, Bruno's owner gave him away because she wasn't used to dogs, and Bruno certainly was a handful to manage.

Recently, in December 2019, my sister has got another German Shepherd pup, Zarina. She is a cute, playful little thing, but boy does she need training! So it has been piddle all over the house, constant biting of hands and leaving cut marks on hands because she is teething, holes in clothes made by her teeth, chewing up of slippers etc etc. My sister did a marvelous job of training Ashi, and she is working hard on Zarina, and results are coming, slowly but surely. We visit my sister regularly and my wife and 5 year old son don't mind all that the little dog does. Even though I am fond of Zarina (she is an integral part of the family!), for now I keep a bit of a distance from her and wait for her to turn into a mature, well behaved, 'propah' dog!

My son with little Zarina,
December 2019

I've realised that over time, I've moved from being a dog lover, to someone who likes well behaved, mature, calm dogs, but I just can't handle dogs who are wild. I find myself thinking twice before visiting people who have very boisterous dogs. I guess I've just got too many hygiene related OCDs to be OK with things like dog piddle around the house, or dog saliva on my hands and clothes, or chewed up objects around the house, or painful bite marks and torn clothes because the dog is teething, or dog fur on furniture. Oh well, that's just the way it is! I have nothing against dogs; it's just these things that set me off. As I tell my wife, I'd be equally upset if a human piddled in the house, or put saliva on my hands and clothes, or chewed up things in the house, or bit me playfully and tore my clothes, or left his or her hair all over my bed or on the furniture!!