The Pursuit of Preparation

Old Trafford, June 3, 1993! it was the first test in the Ashes Cricket series of that year. Allan Border was 11 months away from his retirement, and Mark Taylor was just being busy between the wickets. But the June of 1993, would be long remembered for a mysterious drifting ball that bounced just right and whisked the off-stump bail for a little public celebration. The arm that rolled belonged to someone who was just 11 test matches old till then, but his feet were measured, the leap was under control, the arm just felt right and the ball somehow exactly knew how to pass that geometric test. It was Shane Warne – Johann Sebastian Bach, headlining a concert meant for Led Zeppelin that day. A classical artist underplayed in the assembly line of fast bowlers. No one writes about match practice in the nets. No one talks about the bus ride from the hotel to the ground. Drink breaks are sold for advertising spots. The last night before the big test always balances between the rush of the next day and the calm from the cutting noise. And in that balance, holds the true test of preparation.

Preparation is never time-bound

I recently chanced upon Broken Record, a podcast series hosted by Rick Rubin, Malcolm Gladwell, Bruce Headlam and Justin Richmond, where in one of the episodes, Patti Smith tells Malcolm Gladwell that she’s never missed a day writing till date. I think perfection could reflect in a handful of skills, but preparation is like a fishing net – you always cast it wide.

One cannot stop observing, sensing, and letting even the unintended fact or incident crawl up in one’s subconscious mind. In 1989, Patti was asked by her friend Robert Mapplethorpe to document their lives. Patti, till that time, had more than 3 decades of writings in general and about 2 decades of memories with Robert packed in. 2 decades there on, in 2010, it manifested into an award winning best seller, Just Kids. Patti, in the podcast chuckles while remembering the success of Just Kids, which trumped any of her success with her music and stage performances.

Now, let’s place this alongside the background of the Old Trafford glory of 1993. Shane Warne was coming off a forgettable series against India, a good outing against the West Indies, and a completely different environment in Sri Lanka. He got to England with 31 wickets in 11 test matches. His travel kit was light, if you keep his mind out of it. He’s played in different conditions in those 11 matches, and he’s ready to slow it down in England, where the weather, on and off the ground is scorching hot even on a rainy day. Just like Patti who would always turn up to write, Shane would always turn up to bowl, even if the conditions were tough.

Being “Fully Prepared” Is Not Real

Over the years, I’ve hosted a few events, formal and informal. My preparation schedule would usually include walking the stretch of the stage, knowing the boundaries, walking the length and breadth of the arena, getting the sound right. I would then run through the introductions, key lines transitions and closures, and just try to get to other pieces of work or get engaged in unrelated conversations to the event, to get my mind off it. In came March 2020,the COVID-19 pandemic cast a new environment, and just like that the stage turned virtual. It was one of the first event that I was hosting online and I just couldn’t balance the countdown on the screen, and the cues on the chat window. I didn’t prepare enough and it meant, someone had to tell me “you can go live” on a live stream. Not-so-fast forward to June 2020, when my father breathed his last, leaving me gasping for thoughts, feelings and words. I was just coming around to have the best way to express condolence and participate in others’ grief. The expression of feeling sorry or sharing sympathy never felt right. Now, there I was, having to be on the receiving end of it. Of course, there was the simple “thanks” as the most apt response, but just the very repetition of it wasn’t helping. So, I started deflecting sympathy with routine conversations. Was I prepared for it? Was it the right thing to do? The answer to the first is an easy yes. The answer to the 2nd, there’s no perfect way. So I prepare, I try, I test the best landing of the most satisfying response according to me, every single time.

Towards the end of March 2022, , I was hosting a conversation with the critically acclaimed actress and dancer Sudha Chandran. She spoke of many things that stayed on, but specifically this point around one’s belief in oneself would always be one’s strongest ally. Something that continues to be her strength, and has helped her see through the toughest years in her life. We touched upon always continuing to own one’s narrative as against playing to a hand-me-down script, which again is that intersection where one needs to separate the voices from the noise.

Preparation is a Journey

Relish the journey over the destination still continues to be the old axiom. However, being in that state is not the easiest. I was in a conversation with someone who’d prepared hard for what they say, is one of the 2 toughest examinations in the world – the UPSC. Despite clearing the examination in the first attempt, she was declined on account of her disability. She went on to file a law suit, won the case, and got to her posting. She topped the UPSC civil services examination in 2014. When we look at the journey of preparation, it’s often unscripted. There could be a couple of linear elements, but the variables that chug along the way only add to the fizz.

I’m often fascinated by individuals who train to get into the army- the rigour and zero-slack approach that they put in day after day. This takes me to another aspect of this journey, “preparing for what”. The goal, the objective, the destination, the milestones, the pit stops. This was around the late nineties and early two thousands. I was following Formula One racing and would watch every qualifying round, and the final race throughout the season. I would often be on the edge of my seat during 3 instances:

1.??????The qualifying lap – Every driver knows the journey, and the destination and often it lasts under 90 seconds

2.??????The start of the main race – One of the most crucial parts of any race, for any driver. What would be running into a driver’s mind? 80 laps to run? Will my car last the distance? At what lap should I refuel? I would think the best-case scenario is to just focus on the 5 lights going off and the first corner.

3.??????The pit stop to refuel and get back on track –What is the driver thinking? If he thinks of the remaining laps, there’s a high probability of making an error on the pit lane. He should be focused on how early he should break to make a smooth stop and how soon he should accelerate to get back out of the lane.

One has to prepare for every little moment, both on the track when one is flying at 160 miles per hour, and off the track, when one is racing at 160 thoughts per second.

Good Preparation or Well Prepared?

In my world, there’s nothing called ‘good preparation’. One feels either well prepared, or not prepared enough. Over the years, I’ve heard many artists not being happy with themselves post a positively acclaimed concert by the audience. Often, the dissatisfaction is towards getting a note wrong, missing a beat, falling short on the harmonies, and the likes. The audience seldom sees it, but the artists know.

Preparation is not only to deliver optimally every single time, but also know our own limitations. It’s not to be mistaken for not having a growth mindset. Being confident of one’s abilities and stretching oneself to do more are 2 different aspects all together. Growth mindset cannot be at the cost of one’s dishonesty to one’s abilities. Hence, how one prepares, how much one prepares, how one should keep up the momentum, are all roads that lead to how well prepared one feels they are. So the next time you’re planning to bowl that flipper, strike that complex chord, write the toughest essays, you will feel it inside. And as that happens, let this play in the background.

What are your preparation mantras? How do you keep up your pursuit of preparation?