It's all in the mind....

Not withstanding its distinctive name, the food at La Marvela, Bangalore's latest upmarket hotel is pretty good.Sipping a Zinfandel, I watched Germany maul England, 4-1, at football, on a giant TV screen.
The loss was tragic & rather sad to see, because, the difference between, the two is not that great. When I started on my wine,England were down, 2-1 and fighting.Frank Lampards glorious shot at the goal was disallowed & I knew it was curtains for the Brits.The Germans counter attacked furiously and England were staring down the proverbial barrel.
I've spent enough of time with Germans to have learnt one thing. You allow the chaps to get on a roll and there is little to stop them. You get the better of Germans by guile, tactics and wearing them down.The Brits were tactless and allowed the Germans to dictate the game.You never allow the Germans order......if you want to beat them.
The battle for Stalingrad was a brilliant example.What the Germans hate is being bogged down and attrition. In this context had the Lampard goal been rightfully allowed and England gone 2-2, my gut feeling is that the match might well have ended differently.
But then as they say, that is how the cookie crumbled and the Germans went through, to the round of eight and England home.For me, it was a skewed match. The Germans played true to form but not the Brits. Traditionally they are a tough lot & I would have expected them to hang in there.But then it's all in the mind.As I finished my red wine, the taste was a trifle awry.
I'm going to miss seeing, the Brits on the field and Beckham with his tattoo's and fine clothes, cheering his mates on!

Championship Play!

Yesterday Rafael Nadal the Spanish tennis star, cocked a snook at royalty, when he said that practice for a forthcoming match at Wimbledon was more important and he just could not match the Queen of England’s schedule and meet her.
This story takes me back many years to Gandhi and deals with Gandhi and British Monarchy.

Gandhi went to London during the Round Table Conference in 1931. He was in his usual 'dhoti', and was described by Churchill as 'Half-naked Fakir' of India. He went to meet King George V at the Buckingham Palace. One journalist asked him: "Don't you feel embarrassed to see the King George V in this scanty dress?"
Gandhi said: "Why should I feel ashamed?", and added tongue in cheek: "The King has enough on for both of us." What he did not mention was that, much of poor India, dressed the way he did, in a loin cloth.
Referring to the boycott of the Prince of Wales during his visit to India, the King George V asked him: "Why did you boycott my son?" And Gandhi replied: "Not your son, you’re Majesty, but official representative of the Crown and we are against the Crown." Gandhi’s reply was not arrogant. It was plain speak at its very best.
Nadal, a five-time French Open champion, was adamant he meant no disrespect to the Queen, but had no intention of apologising as he doesn't want to do anything to damage his bid to regain the Wimbledon title he won in 2008.
Nadal later said:
"I am playing in Wimbledon. It is not a joke. I love this tournament," he added.
"I have a lot of respect for the Queen. I have a lot of respect for this tournament.
"It was always my dream to play here. It is a match-day for me so I have my things to do and I try to do what I think is best to win the match."

If Gandhi and Nadal share something in common, it should be humility. If that is the case then why do they appear arrogant? I think there is a very important lesson here for all of us.

Nadal, is in England to win a Tennis Title at Wimbledon. Likewise Gandhi was in England to negotiate India’s freedom. Priorities are extremely important and it is fundamental not to lose focus of our primary goal.

Do Gandhi and Nadal share anything else? Both were champions and you can see why!

Have You Ever Danced?

An old prospector shuffled into town leading an old tired mule.
The old man headed straight for the only saloon to clear his parched throat.
He walked up and tied his old mule to the hitch rail. As he stood there, brushing some of the dust from his face and clothes, a young dandy gunslinger stepped out of the saloon with a gun in one hand and a bottle of whiskey in the other.
The young gunslinger looked at the old man and laughed, saying, "Hey old man, have you ever danced?"
The old man looked up at the gunslinger and said, "No, I never did dance.. never really wanted to."
A crowd had gathered as the gunslinger grinned and said, "Well, you old fool, you're gonna dance now," and started shooting at the old man's feet.
The old prospector – not wanting to get a toe blown off – started hopping around like a flea on a hot skillet. Everybody was laughing and rolling in the aisles.
When his last bullet had been fired, the young gunslinger, still laughing, holstered his gun and turned around to go back into the saloon, for a fresh bout of drinking.
The old man turned to his pack mule, pulled out a double-barreled shotgun, and cocked both hammers.
The loud clicks carried clearly through the desert air.
The crowd stopped laughing immediately.
The young gunslinger heard the sounds too, and he turned around very slowly. The silence was almost deafening.
The crowd watched as the young gunman stared at the old-timer and the large gaping holes of those twin barrels.
The barrels of the shotgun never wavered in the old man's hands, as he quietly said, "Son, have you ever kissed a mule's butt?"
The gunslinger swallowed hard and said, "No sir... but... I've always wanted to."

Here are a few lessons we can learn from this story:

Never be arrogant.
Don't waste ammunition.
Whiskey makes you think you're smarter than you are.
Always, always make sure you know who has the power.
Don't mess with old men, they didn't get old by being stupid.

Just could not resist putting this story on blog......source..unknown!

Its all about team dynamics!

Overall, team cohesion is developed through coaches and athletes working to achieve common goals and living up to the team philosophy both on and off the field. Building a unified team environment requires constant feedback, direct communication, identifiable leaders and developing a team culture within the parameters of the organizational mission.

This was probably not very evident with the 'Les Bleus' or so as the French National Football Team is called. The French saw an early disgraceful exit from the FIFA World Cup and have been blasted by all and sundry, so much so that, the captain Thierry Henry, has requested a meeting with the French President, Sarkozy.

That the team, played poor football, is evident and that team cohesion was poor is pretty clear.In the run up to the world cup, three of their stars were caught sleeping with an under aged prostitute and were severely castigated. This was followed by an unseemly spat, over the team staying in very expensive hotels in what is a recession hit France and to cap it all, the team saw a mutiny over one of the members being sent home by the coach for indiscipline.

On being beaten by rookies South Africa, the coach of the Bleus stormed off the pitch with out shaking hands with the SA coach. Peevish & poor behavior.Would you expect a team with this ethic, to win anything? I would be surprised if they did!

I wonder what Henry is going to say, to the President? Probably he is going to tell him, how he scored a crucial, goal against Ireland, with his hand, which an unsighted referee, did not penalize.

Its all about team dynamics!

Football & Burgers!

When I teach Organization Behavior, I always dwell at some length over the Pygmalion Effect. I know I’ve talked about it earlier, but, the theory so fascinates me because it can make such a difference to a person and their lives.

When ‘Big’ Mike, in the Blind Side, asks if he can decide whether he can either choose to flip burgers or play college football, his mother (adopted) reluctantly says, yes he can. However Michael knows that she would be disappointed if he chooses to flip burgers! The theory tells us, what every one of us can be, only if……………………………only if the bar was set high enough for us. High enough to interest us to go for the goal.

Many years ago, as a young navigator, I had a deck hand, who had joined us after quitting the warships. The sailor was well informed, well read & smart. He was very good at his work and was fun to talk to. Sadly he was designated to assist the cook and ended up peeling potatoes & cleaning fish on a routine basis. As the years went by, I would see the sailor on and off and the deterioration was tragic. He had turned cynical and unfit and worse become a full blown alcoholic, beyond redemption. What if, he had had a superior officer, who could have helped him grow? An officer who would have set him peaks to scale and shown him the right path. An officer who would have asked him to stretch himself.

When youngsters leave college and get to industry, it is very important, that they get good and decent bosses. I think it is fundamentally more important than brand names and pay packages. People perform better when they are expected to perform better. It is important for mangers to understand that and realize that prophecies play themselves out, sooner than later.

An experiment was carried out at a British school into the performance of a new intake of pupils. At the start of the year, the pupils were each given a rating, ranging from “excellent prospect” to “unlikely to do well”. These were totally arbitrary ratings and did not reflect how well the pupils had previously performed. Nevertheless, these ratings were given to the teachers. At the end of the year, the experimenters compared the pupils’ performance with the ratings. Despite their real abilities, there was an astonishingly high correlation between performance and ratings. It seems that people perform as well as we expect them to.

The implication of the Pygmalion effect for leaders and managers is massive. It means that the performance of your team depends less on them than it does on you. The performance you get from people is no more or less than what you expect: which means you must always expect the best. As Goethe said, “Treat a man as he is and he will remain as he is. Treat a man as he can and should be and he will become as he can and should be.”

Food for thought & Big Mike did not flip burgers because his mama expected him to do better! She expected better!

A story of Schnapps!

A few days ago, I noticed a bottle of Schnapps, in a liquor store. For the uninitiated Schnapps, is a fruit brandy and one that requires an acquired taste. As a liquor it is popular in Germany & the immediate vicinity. While I did not buy the bottle, this story centres around the spirit!

While many of us waffle about great teams & team dynamics, it is rarely that we come across great teams, particularly great teams that remain great under intense pressure. More often than not we see teams that fracture and crack under strain.

The army of the Austrian empire in the 18th century had seen, days of of glory and was a lumbering, sizable force of soldiers who had a deep mistrust for each other and their abilities. The situation came to a comic pass at the battle of Karansebes in present day Romania.

The Austrian Emperor, Joseph II,( Holy Roman Emperor ) decided that his mission in life was to rid the world of barbarians ( Read Muslim Ottoman Turks ). He started by attacking the Turks in Transylvania. After camping in some marshland, 172,000 of his troops caught malaria, of which 33,000 died. When he heard that the Turkish Grand Vizier was on his way, Joseph took half his army to meet him near the town of Karansebes, in the September of 1788.

Of the many mercenaries, that populated the Austrian army, the flamboyant Hussars were a few. The Hussars, out on a scouting patrol, restless and bored, in waiting for battle, bought what is thought to be Schnapps from local folk & were in little time tipsy and raucous. Their behaviour drew sharp censure from Austrian Officers.
The men took offence, and, in order to frighten the officers away, started shouting out that the Turks were upon them. The officers fell for it, and raised the false alarm too. In the confusion, some body heard the word 'Allah', panic spread throughout the army and a stampede ensued. In the dark, Austrians started fighting Austrians and many men were also drowned in the river or crushed. By daybreak, it became apparent that the Austrians had killed 10,000 of their own number. The Turks had still not even arrived. The battle was over before it had begun & the Austrians limped back home with their tail between their legs. Joseph II suffered the ignominy of being pushed into a stream in the melee! Two days later the Turk army did arrive only to find ten thousand dead Austrian soldiers!

Great teams are built on implicit trust, great communication and sound leadership, not on numbers or grand plans. I'm also sure that the Austrians would have steered clear of Schnapps for quite a while...................

Social Veneer!

The other day I noticed, an email, in my in-box from a ‘Jules’. Since I was unaware of an acquaintance, by that name I was curious. On delving into my in-box, I learnt, accompanied with a certain amount of amusement and surprise that ‘Somayajulu’ had been rechristened as ‘Jules’.

Around the same time a friend invited me to an evening of Jazz……..at an up market place. There was a tossup between playing Table tennis & the Jazz. The Jazz won so I trotted off, smelling like roses, with my best perfume in place & an integrating grin pasted to my face, for most part of what was a terribly boring evening. I don’t like Jazz, so why did I go? Why did I spend good time amidst folk sucking on dead cigar’s and chica’s in short short skirts, sipping margaritas? Why was I there nodding my head at strategic intervals, rather than knocking a table tennis ball in my club? Many of us know the answer to that one, but refuse, to look at facts, in the eye. It is more important to be seen with the right crowd at the right place, wearing the right stuff, listening to the right music rather than doing what is good for us and what is required of us. In theory this is called as carrying an 'Emotional Load' and Psychologists say is the reason why many people are stressed and confused.

While I do not subscribe to the view that we must be inward looking and exclude all other influences or cultures, I’m also of the view that we must reflect before we begin to ape the West & its practices without a thought.

Digressing a little, I would like to take you back to the Second World War. Both England & Germany were abounding with spies. Englishman in Germany who spoke fluent German & vice versa was let loose. The spy when caught would not break, so the method used to identify, who was not a natural German or Englishman was as follows: ‘A smart punch would elicit a cry of pain & unwittingly this would be in the person’s mother tongue. However well trained the spy was, at heart, they continued to be what they always were at a more intrinsic level, and to my immense dismay I have found that we humans are just like that. With whatever veneer we cloak ourselves, (accented English/perfumed/branded clothing) I find the selfish soul baring itself at the drop of a hat. I always thought, that, education was a panacea, where we became better human beings, where values had a better foundation, but that too is not true. Poor upbringing sticks better than pseudo sophistication, in lives today, that are on the fast track to nowhere!

What did I get, from the evening of Jazz? A sore throat from inhaling second hand cigar smoke and a sprained neck, from having to nod my nut! I’m going to stick to TT in the future, which incidentally is a British game!

How arrogant can we get?

A couple of days ago, a group of people I know were talking about, how certain airlines allow, the use of mobile phones, in flight and others are not so kind. These were well educated folk ( technical ) & I was tad taken aback at the flippancy of the discussion.

We all know we're supposed to turn off our phones before boarding . The concern is that the phone's emission could interfere with the aircraft's vital systems, which is a safety hazard and can render the planes navigational aids, non ops.

Studies in the US, whereby equipment capable of detecting phone emissions has been hidden in overhead lockers, have revealed that a disturbing number of passengers leave their phones on throughout the flight. Most of us have probably heard the characteristic jingle of a mobile being switched on during the eerie silence just before the plane touches down. Presumably the plane is low enough by that time that it would just bounce if anything serious went wrong.

The risk is real. Mobile phones have the potential to interfere with the operation of sensitive electronic equipment. That much is known. Modern aircraft are jammed full of sensitive electronic equipment, much of which is 'safety-critical' including navigation, aircraft control and communications equipment. In fact, most commercial airliners are now flown almost exclusively by computer. There is an extensive list of laboratory studies showing that mobile phones can and do interfere with the operation of this equipment.

Now consider the crash, a few days ago in Mangalore!

• The commander of the craft had flown in & out of Mangalore at least nineteen times.
• The co-pilot had made sixty six trips to Mangalore.
• Capt.Glusica, the pilot, had over ten thousand hours of flying time.
• The aircraft was relatively new.
• Visibility was adequate.
• The Captain did not indicate a malfunction to the ATC.

Why did the plane crash? Could it possibly have been, many mobile phones, being switched on at the same time?

All electrical and electronic devices emit electromagnetic radiation to a degree. This radiation is capable of being picked up by any other device within range.( GPS/Radar/Communication Equipment/Navigation Aids/Compass) Whether the radiation is capable of actually interfering with the operation of the second device is dependant on the frequency and amplitude (strength) of the signal.

So, is putting the lives of hundreds of people at risk for the sake of a phone call the absolute pinnacle of human arrogance? Are some passengers capable of predicting the complex interplay of electromagnetic interference in real time and mitigating against it? Or do they have a point; is the risk really a chimera?

The Shrink!

A while ago, while reading an article, on possible careers for the future, I was rather surprised to see that , a 'shrink' was not on the laundry list. Psychiatrists or 'shrinks' in India, are a rarity and in a niche profession, because, the normal middle class Indian, would not like to found dead, in Psychiatrists office! That's the way we are..........Indian's.

I was surprised, looking ahead at the following scenario:

• Our society is turning increasingly competitive & need driven.
• As more women enter the workforce ( rightly so), there is bound to be pressure on homes, in the time that they would devote to children. In India, women, have traditionally, kept families together & homes intact.
• With increased access to data, Indian's have swiftly moved from a 'Victorian Era' syndrome, where even looking at the opposite sex was anathema to one where we are bombarded with pictures & information, that would only serve to titillate. In extension, I assume this would serve to put pressure on relationships.
• The family as a unit, is collapsing.
• The clincher:

The cabinet Thursday approved an amendment to the Hindu Marriage Act to make irretrievable breakdown of marriage an additional ground for divorce.
"This would provide safeguards to parties who file petitions for grant of divorce by mutual consent but who wilfully avoid coming to court thus causing harassment to the other party," Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni told reporters after a cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. She said the amendment would be effected through the Marriage Laws.

To me this looks like broken homes, neglected children, unstable relationships, all of which lead to the shrink...................who would be in great demand in the days to come. A career in the field looks promising and lucrative.

I need your take on this......'am I being simplistic?

Universal Leadership?

When I talk 'Leadership' in class, it's like a walk in the park, because, I have a host of leaders to choose from. Leaders from industry, military and politics as well. However it recently struck me as to how appropriate is this? Can leadership be juxtaposed and expected to work?

Can a country be run in a similar way to running a business? Does corporate leadership equate to political leadership? The point is debatable but the contextual difference is important to note when considering leadership in general.

A crucial difference in the two sectors is that the CEO must operate to the satisfaction of the shareholders, regardless of the humanistic and social agenda that he professes. A politician must serve for the benefit of the people, regardless of the political views held as this social obligation originates with the public office. Politicians have room to manoeuvre not given to CEO because not all the citizens subscribe to the same values. The more diverse a country, the better it is for a politician. In the corporate world there is a clearly visible commitment to the bottom line and at the end of the day, that is what matters the most. It is possibly the reason why, politicians in India can get away with almost anything, a luxury barely afforded to folks in industry.

In a different England, it seems that the newly elected coalition government is starting to prepare for a social capitalism – capitalism with a human edge. The path to economic restabilisation will be difficult and, according to the newspapers on 8 June 2010, the government is set to call on the services of the former CEO of BP, Lord John Browne.

Now it may be recalled, that Lord Browne, has been severely criticized in the past, for his policies in BP, to which are linked, many of the disasters, including the imbroglio in the Gulf of Mexico, which has the United States in a tizzy & President Obama peevishly asking ' Whose ass should I kick?'. I'm fairly certain, the American's will get their man, but it is unlikely to be Lord Browne's.

I think leadership is situational and it is being simplistic if we assume, that any leader would be a good fit in any position! In India too, there has been a trend to move industrialists, into Government. The move has been received with enormous media hype & joy, but I would advocate a little caution, before we uncork the champagne!

The Indian Connection!

The excitement in the air is palpable, as we wait with bated breath for the Football World Cup to kick off in South Africa! I wonder why? What stake does India have in the world cup? Our national football team, has never been within sniffing distance, of the event & India has at best done something of interest only in SAARC tournaments with Bangladesh, being their biggest threats......

While not holding anything against the Indian football fan, I'm still unable to get to reason as to what connection does India have to the World Cup, till I cam accross the following interesting story!

The Jules Rimet Trophy or so the FIFA WC was called back then, was stolen on 20 March 1966, from the Methodist Central Hall in Westminster where it was being exhibited in a glass cabinet. Five guards were detailed to keep constant watch. On the Sunday, though, the guard stationed next to the trophy had the day off. With the others enjoying a cup of coffee or a call of nature, it was only when George Franklin finally inspected the case just after midday that he discovered the theft. The thieves had broken in through the back doors.

For the Football Association and Sir Stanley Rous, the English president of Fifa, this was the nightmare scenario. Three months before hosting the 1966 World Cup, there was no trophy. England was in frenzy & the police clueless, as to the thief or the cup.

The story continues......

On a Sunday evening in March 40 years ago, David Corbett left his ground-floor flat in Norwood, south London, to make a telephone call from the kiosk across the road. With the Thames lighterman was Pickles, the four-year-old mongrel he had taken off his brother John's hands, when he was a puppy, because he chewed furniture.

'I put the lead on Pickles and he went over to the neighbour's car,' recalls Corbett, now 66. 'Pickles drew my attention to a package, tightly bound in newspaper, lying by the front wheel. I picked it up and tore some paper and saw a woman holding a dish over her head, and disks with the words Germany, Uruguay, Brazil. I rushed inside to my wife. She was one of those anti-sport wives. But I said, "I've found the World Cup! I've found the World Cup!"'

Pickles was a overnight hero & went as far as being felicitated, by the Prime Minister of England & a grateful nation. The dish 'Pickle' is very Indian & is recognized with curry, as being Indian. I'm afraid that is as far as we are going to get with the FIFA World Cup, for the moment!

As for Pickles.....

Now Pickles began the life of a celebrity. He starred in a feature film, The Spy with the Cold Nose, and appeared on Magpie, Blue Peter and many other TV shows. He was made Dog of the Year, awarded a year's free supply of food from Spillers and there were offers to visit Chile, Czechoslovakia and Germany.

The end was swift & sad.The poor dog hung itself with its lead, from the branch of a tree, a few years hence, but "pickles' is remembered with a great deal of affection, by football fans world wide!

The new class!

A few days ago, an acquaintance, asked me if it was true that, cadet's on ships were made to do manual work.He was quite amused & surprised when I replied in the affirmative.I said, not only were cadets made to do manual work, possibly, it was the only learning that they had on board, during the initial phase of training.
My first brush with manual work was on a very old ship with wood decks & we had to 'holy stone' the deck, which was boring, tedious & painful to a young fellow like me.

Holystone is a soft and brittle sandstone that was formerly used for scouring and whitening the wooden decks of ships. It was used in the British and American Navy for scrubbing the decks of sailing ships.
More importantly it seemed unnecessary!However it had to be done & it was done very very well.So much so, that at the end of a month, my baby fat had all but disappeared....
My acquaintance walked away, with a look of distaste, as if to say, you are a lesser man because you had to work with your hands.I wondered why? There is this interesting story:
The ambassador, from Great Britain wan shown in to an early morning meeting with the American President Lincoln. The ambassador was aghast to see, Lincoln polishing his shoes & could not stop himself and blurted out: ' Your excellency, you polish your own shoes'. Lincoln paused, and said ' Yes, Mr.Ambassador, I do, whose shoes do you polish?'

Why do we consider, manual work beneath us, here in India? Hark back to ancient, India.The rich kids who attended, a Gurukul, were first initiated to manual labor, including carrying a begging bowl & trying to get their food. They collected firewood, tended to cattle & washed their Guru's clothes. Who were these students? Many times, future kings!

How did this help? I think the labor was a great equalizer & cast ego's aside. It also taught people to be self reliant and learn to use their hands. Gandhi spun his cloth, Churchill was an expert mason, Lincoln was very good at splitting logs........

Doing manual work taught me a thing or two:

1.Respect all work!
2.Do a job before you delegate. Understand the pain of a person doing a task!
3.Keep your ego in check. Jobs are situational & circumstantial, so there is little need to have your nose in the air, because one is in a particular profession today!
4.Manual work in groups produces some of the best bonding! Team work that is valued by a great many organizations.


I think in our homes and educational system we are creating a set of 'educated', elitist snobs as we discourage any kind of physical work.In short we are creating a new class of Indians! The greater tragedy is that, there is to be an immediate 'Return on Investment' on all work done today. If immediate results are not visible ( in term of school marks ), then the work is worth not doing.......the fun of doing something for the fun of doing it, is gone.

Isreal & Law of the Sea!

Israeli commandos rappelled down to an aid flotilla sailing to thwart a Gaza blockade on Monday, clashing with pro-Palestinian activists on the lead ship in a botched raid that left at least nine passengers dead.

Bloodied passengers sprawled on the deck and troops dived into the sea to save themselves during several hours of hand-to-hand fighting that injured dozens of activists and six soldiers. Hundreds of activists – many of whom were apparently Turkish – were towed from the international waters to Israeli detention centers and hospitals.

Worldwide condemnation has come swiftly from around the world, while the response from the US has remained understandably mute, considering that Isreal is a key ally.Activists aboard the ship flying a Turkish flag, were attempting to break an embargo on the Hamas controlled Gaza area, from where, Isreal faces regular rocket fire.

ISRAEL’S attack on humanitarian aid vessel Mavi Marmaris was probably legal under international law, though, brutal and deemed to be the use of 'excessive force', say experts in marine law.

Accusations of piracy are also unlikely to hold water, as navies by definition cannot commit this crime.

However this is debatable.

Media interviews have seen Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev cite what he called the San Marino Memorandum as justification for Monday’s incident, which left nine peace activists dead. This appears to be a reference to the San Remo Manual on International Law Applicable to Armed Conflicts at Sea.

The San Remo Manual, compiled in 1994, represents a contemporary restatement of international law applicable to armed conflicts at sea. It was written under the auspices of the International Institute of Humanitarian Law, which is a respected and long-established non-governmental organisation. But the document does not have the force of law itself.

Section 67 (a) provides that: “Merchant vessels flying the flag of neutral states may not be attacked unless they are believed on reasonable grounds to be carrying contraband or breaching a blockade, and after prior warning they intentionally and clearly refuse to stop, or intentionally and clearly resist visit, search or capture.”

That clause would appear to give Israel’s move prima facie legitimacy, as Israel has imposed a blockade on the Gaza strip, which in itself is open to question. However, alternative interpretations are possible. One maritime lawyer, who asked not to be named, pointed to S.42(a), which further states: ‘It is forbidden to employ methods or means of warfare which are of a nature to cause superfluous injury or unnecessary suffering.’ Clearly the Israeli action has done just that.

Piracy is defined by article 101 of part VII of the Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.( UNCLOS ) This states that piracy consists of “any illegal acts of violence or detention, or any act of depredation, committed for private ends by the crew or the passengers of a private ship or a private aircraft”.

Note the word private. The Israeli navy can hardly be deemed to be private.“This was clearly an action of a state, which regarded itself as having the legitimate right to do this. What would distinguish this from piracy would be the motive, which is not criminal.”

The shipping industry has gone hyperbolic in its condemnation, of the naval action and the excessive use of force.

“As a matter of principle, and as enshrined in the UN Convention of the Law of the Sea, merchant ships have a right to safe passage and freedom of navigation in international waters,and the high seas shall be reserved for peaceful purposes. These fundamental principles of international law must always be upheld by all of the world’s nations.”

The International Transport Workers’ Federation said that it was “shocked and appalled” at Israels brutal show of force.

Once again, the lacuna, in clarity, in International Law, has resulted in innocent deaths!