Congrats Sachin.. Well Done India..

sachin

    Sachin has crossed 17K runs in ODI. That’s a remarkable achievement. And the way he played in today’s match against Australia is simply amazing. Hitting 175 off 141 balls was unbelievable! His today’s game reminded me of the Master Blaster I used to watch in my school days. I was a fan of Sachin and loved watch him play in every game. Fours, Sixes, sending balls to every corner of the ground.. It was Sachin’s era then. But wait. He still rules. His era is not over. Remember he scored his 45th hundred today. He is truly a legend! One of the legends of cricket whom the world bestows upon, the legend whom the upcoming cricketers would take ideal as.

    And what do I say about today’s game. Australia set a target of 350. And India lost by 3 runs. Now that’s reaaaaaaaaly close. This is the second match in the series India is losing so closely. India deserved to win today. Aus would have won, but in the whole series India is emerging as a stronger team and dominating team. There are no easy let-offs. Ind – Aus series are fun to watch, especially when finishes are the ones like todays.

Moral ? Immoral ?

     While media and consortium of pub-going, loose and forward women are belting Sri Rama Sene left, right and centre, I try to present a slightly different picture. Honestly I feel the issue is blown out of proportion by the media. There was absolutely no necessity to make it a national issue. Even Sri Ram Sene wouldn’t have imagined in their wildest dreams that they would become household names overnight! Thanks to Indian media where any event is presented as breaking news, and when there is breaking news I don’t need to tell how it is reported. I have written about the disgusting media culture before.

     Lets forget media for the time being and shift the focus back on Sri Rama Sene. Instantly it reminds me of the mangalore pub attacks. And remark of Pramod Mutalik as custodian of Indian culture. Though the whole episode is not taken down well by the media, there is a brighter side to it. And now Mutaliks eye is on Valentine’s Day celebration. Its no wonder that every year on pretext of valentine’s day, several young women get cheated. More often the ones who are regular to pubs, bars, discos etc the so called places of entertainment for the forward women. By imposing constraints on the women entering pubs, Sri Rama Sene is/has tried to save future of several women, saved several women from falling into trap by cheap men who look at them as mere entertainment commodities. When your parents object you to visit some place keeping your safety in mind, do you protest against it saying it violates your fundamental rights ? Do you send them pink chaddis ? Duh!

     Nowadays TOI is carrying an article everyday opposing the moral police. They are hell bent on lifting the curbs on nightlife. There were days when TOI initiated campaigns like Lead India, Teach India etc. I felt really proud and had hoped there was someone who can bring change in the society. But now after more than a year of Lead India Campaign what has changed? Where is the Lead India winner R.K. Mishra ? Recently I read in one corner of TOI that he will be starting a project for community development and will get 30 lakhs aid from TOI. But is 30 lakhs enough ? That too after he has worked on the project preparation for a year. And why there is no noice about Teach India ? Did TOI do all these just for its publicity ?

     At the end of it, I see no point in cribbing about moral police. We have bigger problems on our hands. There are rumours of terrorist plots everyday. The country is suffering due to economic slowdown. Lets stop fighting among ourselves. Lets focus on solving the real problems!

P.S. : I am not a member of Sri Rama Sene or associated to it in anyway. This was an attempt to provide a different perspective of the incident, a totally different one than the one which we read in newspaper everyday. Ofcourse i do condemn the attack on girls.

Indian woman.. Changes and Challenges!

 

Disclaimer : This article is written by one of my friends, who wishes to remain anonymous.

 

The  word  ‘prayer’  is what  sums  up  a  life  lead  well  and  truthfully,  is  what  I  feel.  Just  let  it  be  one  of  silent  and  humble  devotion. The  only true  way  that my  religion  requires  for   salvation,  freedom,  nirvana  or  mukti  or  whatever  you  may  call  it, is  to  free   oneself  of  desires  and  possessions.

 

  When  you  pray  and  you  truly  pray,  not  the  usual  standing  before  god  and  begging  for  all   material  things  instead  of  worshipping,  will  you  find  that  freedom.

 

I  look  upon  a  true  Hindu  woman  and   her  life  as  a  personification  of  the  word  prayer  or   a  better ‘Aradhana’ ,  as  in  Sanskrit.  She  literally  gives  her  entire  life  in  all   of  hers, as  a  mother, sister,  daughter  and  beloved  wife  for  the  happiness  and  comforts  of  the  ones  she  loves.  not  a  single  demand  for  herself,  even  when  she  is  selfish,  it  is  for  someone  who  she  loves  and  not  for  her  own.  That  is  the  the  ideal  of  Hinduism  in  all its   hidden   glory,  giving  up  our  egos  and  comforts  for  others.  

 

And  yet  these  hundreds  of  years  of  selfless  sacrifice  have  brought  our  race  to  nothing  but  to  look   upon  women  as  something  of   a  commodity,  a  possession.  She  is  a  thing  and  not  a  sentient  being,  who  is  to  work  ceaselessly  for  the  comfort  of  man.  she  is  not to  have  a say  in  her  life,  all of  her  life.

 

Most  males  and  Indians  are  no  exception,  rather  more  aggressive  in  this  respect,  suffer  from  a  false  sense  of  mastership.  they  have  over  generations  come  to  believe  that  women  are  created  to  serve  and  please  them  only.  We  comfortably  forget  that  our  mothers, sister,  wives  and  daughters  do  not  obey  or  follow  us  only  because  of  our  ‘Manliness’  alone.  They  do  it  more  so  because  of  the  love  they  possess,  for  which  they  are  ready  to  vanquish  their  egos  and  themselves  too.  May be  it  is  selfless  or  selfish,  but  that  is  the   case  in  most  instances.

 

However  these   long  times   of  servile  love  has  imbued  both  men  and  women  with  decadence. Much  as  men  can’t  handle  strong  and  independent  women,  the  fairer  sex  has  also  learnt  to  forgo  correct  and  right  things  for  the  sake  of  ‘Family’ as  well  as  their  own  selfish  nature;  the  latter  being  a  by-product  of   sense  of  self  preservation.  And  each  successive  generation  of  parents  and  teachers  have  only  reinforced  these  beliefs  in  the  coming  ones  with  their  skewed  visions  and  teachings.

 

The result?  We  have  a  society  where  men  are  considered  inferior  to  each  other  and  women,  to all  men; for  ‘the  hand  that   rocks  the  cradle, rules  the  world’. And  when  those  hands  themselves  are  weak,  what  do  we  expect  them  to  raise  other  than  a  race  of  bigots  and  maniacs.  Those  who  are  never  given  a  choice  in  their  lives,  what  education  and  culture  will  they  give  to  their  offspring  save  fear  and  hidden  malice  and  distrust.

And  this  has  created  a  paradox  in  recent  times  and  more  so  with  our  generation.  the   older  ones,  our  mothers  and  all   are  still   rooted  to  the  old  and  orthodox  ideas  of their  inherent  inferior  position  in  family in  family  and  society.  The  newer  generations however  fare  no  better  and  are  caught  in  a  doldrums  as  if.  Most  of  them  coming  from  ’strict’  and  middle  class  families  when  living,  reading  and  working  in  the  home  towns  are  typically  the ‘Good  girls’.  And  these  same  women  when  away  from  families  are  easy  preys  to  a  hundred  temptations,  waiting   to  beguile  and   destroy  them.

 

  And  famished   as  they  are,  for  the  simple  wants  of  freedom  to  think  and  choose,  many  cross  over  the  lines  just  trying  to  experiment  or  have  fun.  the   simplest   evidence  to  illustrate  these   are  the  demographical  data  which  clearly  show  the  rise  of  smoking  and  drinking  among  women,  not  only  in  big  metros  but  all  over  the  nation.  These  two  vices  earlier  considered   the  supreme  taboo  are  now  termed  as  casual  and  cool.  And   these   are  eating  into  the  very  roots  of  our  culture  and  civilization  as  Hindus  and  Indians   as   well.  Various  social   magazines  proudly   carry   out    sex   surveys  that  celebrate  ‘the  coming  of  age   of  the  Indian  women’  .  Replete  with  lurid   articles   on  the  ever  increasing  promiscuity  in  our   country  and  new  ‘brave’  concepts  as ‘Live-in  relations’ ,  where  both  men  and  women  are  reduced  to  the  state  of  mere  concubines  or   as  in  Hindi  the  word ‘Rakhail’  I  do   not  know  what   they  are   trying  to  prove. The  popular  modes  of  entertainment  viz.  television  and  cinema  seem  to  harp  on  the  axes  premarital  and  post marital  relationships  and  other  such  misguided  openness. And  the  phenomenon  are  no  longer  confined  to  large  cities  and  metros,  but  also common in  the  smaller  towns.

 

A  question however  arises. Are women only to be blamed for this condition? To   a   large  extent  we  may  use  the  doctrine  of  self responsibility  and  other  such  things  but  everyone  knows  the  adage  “You  need  two  hands  to  clap.” So  the  society  must  accept  the  other  half  of  the  responsibility.  A  horse  if  kept  in  confinement   for  long,  will  naturally  hesitate  to  walk   into  a  open  space  even  if  left  free. Yet  after  a  few  half  hearted  canters, it  will  run  in  every  direction  without  knowing  where  to  go. Too  thirsty  a  man  drinks  water  in  large   gulps  not  caring  about  the  taste  and  quality. Therefore,  it  is  quite  natural that  our  womenfolk  the  modern, educated  and  self  reliant,  but  away  from  the  family  are  prone  to  practises  which  are  physically  and  emotionally  destructive.

 

All   of   this  raises  a  need   for  a  solution  if  there  is  one.  Is  it ?   I  think  there  is.  however  it  will  take  some  time.  When   a   river  breaks  a  dam,  the  first  rush  always  brings  the  filth  and  silt  which  has   been  collecting  against  the  wall  for  so  many  years.  Similarily,  this  ongoing  upheaval   and  change  in  the  women  around  us  is  but  normal  sign  of  the  process  in  motion.  This  eruption  of  so  called  ‘repressed   sexuality’  and  other  forms  of  femine  transformations,  both  good  and  bad.  However  as  the  flow  come  to  a  normal  level  in  due  course  of  time,  the  river  will  become  life   giving  once  more.

 

It  is  our  collective  responsibility  to  understand  and  assimilate  the  good  things  that  have  come  from  these transformation.  All  of  us  the  parents,  teachers,  friends, colleagues  and  most  of  all, each  individual  especially  the  modern  Indian  women  must  understand  their  rights  and  roles.  Theirs  is  a  delicate  and  very  important  role  in  our  culture.  they  must  learn  to  get  their  rights  as  responsible  adults  and  do  their  rightful  duties.

 

We  want  to  go  back  to  the  days   of  Savitri   the  ever  pure  and  ever  free,  who  chose  her  own  husband  fully  knowing  the  consequences. Let  the  daughter  of  Modern  India  be  once  more Rani ahalya bai, Jhansi Rani  Laxmibai  and  virago  chennama  of  Kittur.  The  age  old  gender  bias  and  the  religious  narrow-mindedness  are  sending  us  back  to  the  medival  ages.  We  need  to  turn  back  and  move  ahead.

 

the  only   thing  neede  is  to   provide  right  example  before  our  children  and  everyone  else  and  believing  in  the  choices  they  make.

 

We  need   to  be   their  guides  and  not  their  masters.And  then  only  once  more   the  pious  motherland  of  ours  reverberate  with  the  chants  of

 

"Yatra  naari  pujyante,  ramanti  tatra  deavata"

 

Verily  the  gods  reside,  where  the  women  are  worshipped..

 

Amen…

Thanks  for  your  time  and  patience           

Five Point Someone : Book Review

     What actually got me to this book was the hype around it. The book was released in 2004 and remained as the bestseller till 2007. That was enough for me to grab a copy and start reading. May be I m very late in reading the book. I should admit that, to quite an extent, the book lived up to my expectation. Chetan Bhagat (IIT+IIM), the author, has the ability to narrate the story in a very lucid manner. The book has around 270 pages and can be completed within half a day. And once you start reading this book, I m sure you will not stop until you finish – all at one go J

 

     The story is that of three friends who join for Mechanical Engineering at IIT, Delhi. Hari is the narrator of the story. He often finds Viva terrible and lands up in soup as he is not able to answer the questions in spite of knowing the correct answers. He falls in love with Neha, the daughter of HOD of Mechanical Dept. Ryan is a tall, handsome and smart guy who hates mugging. He is innovative in nature. He often comes up with new designs in class but is pushed to follow the conventional designs by the professors. He gradually starts hating professors and stops attending classes. Then there is Alok, who comes from a very poor financial background. He aspires to become an artist, but then decides to study hard and join IIT so that he can get a good job in future and support his family. His father is not well and is undergoing treatment for paralysis and his mother is the only earning member.

 

     Ryan, who finds IIT curriculum uninteresting, decides to break the whole system. He finds it useless to mug up five to six courses a semester. He comes up with new strategy – Co-operate to Dominate. Hari and Alok become followers of Ryan and soon they start spending most of their time boozing, fagging and watching movies. When things go out of control, they decide to steal the question paper from HOD’s room and end up getting caught. Their life is in a total mess now. How do they come out of that situation? That’s the climax of the story.

 

     The title ‘Five Point Someone’ indicates the relative grading system in IITs. Five pointers are the worst performers in the class and are generally ignored by all the professors. The incidents, the characters, the plot everything is described very well. The book explains ‘What not to do at IIT’. Ironically you will find those ‘not to do’ things interesting. Overall it was a nice read. I am looking forward to read ‘The 3 mistakes of my life’.

Indian Premier League – A Hit or a Miss?

The first thing which comes into my mind when I think about IPL is the money invested in it. IPL is a county cricket, a game played between teams of different regions at domestic level. Each team is owned by a franchise. Take a look at the amount invested by different franchises for their players. The figures are staggering.

Bangalore Royal Challengers   – Rs. 19.8 Crores

Chennai Super Kings                – Rs. 23.7 Crores

Delhi DareDevils                        – Rs. 22.5 Crores

Hyderabad Deccan Chargers  – Rs. 23.5 Crores

Rajasthan Royals                       – Rs. 12.8 Crores

Kolkata Knight Riders               – Rs. 24 Crores

IPL Mohali                                   – Rs. 22.9 Crores

Mumbai Indians                         – Rs. 20.5 Crores 

When India exited from the World Cup in the first round in 2007, imagine how the sentiment of public was. Everyone was running away from cricket. The Twenty 20 world cup victory changed the entire dynamics in less than six months. Some of the big names in Indian business such as Dr. Vijay Mallya, Mukesh Ambani, and movie stars such as Shah Rukh Khan, Priety Zinta, Juhi Chawla are already associated with IPL. That makes IPL a blend of commerce, entertainment and sport in that order.

With players of different countries playing for a team together, no doubt, it will be an entirely different experience. India’s traditional rivals, players from Pakistan and off late rivals, Aussies will be in the same team. That’s something people will seldom get to watch.

But the Ultimate question remains “will the IPL be accepted by the public with open arms?” Will it create a spark in the country? I am skeptical. Take the previous Tri Series for example. When India was playing against Australia, millions of Indian fans from across the country were supporting the team. But this wont be the case in domestic cricket. A Kolkata fan won’t be so much interested in the tournament once his team is out. People like to stand for the “country” as a whole than for regions. Indian Cricket League (ICL) which is going on currently didn’t generate much public interest. So whether IPL will be a success or not, only future can tell.

Aussie ki Taisi

Finally India has done it! A victory over the mighty Aussies! That too on their own land. Beating Australia in Australia is a dream for every cricketing nation. The Indians have done it in style by winning the CB series 2-0. The undisputed masters for decades, four time world champions have received threat to their throne.

The journey for India though hasn’t been smooth. A relatively inexperienced captain and absence of some senior players created concerns. But youngsters in the team gave more than what was expected of them. Rohit Sharma, Ishant Sharma, Piyush Chawla, Praveen Kumar, all under the age of 22, played superbly. On the other hand Australian team is ageing. Adam Gilchrist and Brad Hogg have already announced their retirement. The other key players Rickey Ponting, Matthew Hayden, Andrew Symonds, Brett Lee, Michael Hussey, and Nathan Bracken are all in their 30s. This is definitely a concern for the future of Australian cricket.

The one thing and perhaps the only thing that helped Indians was the team spirit. And thanks to the Aussies for creating so many controversies which brought the Indian players together. Harbhajan Singh was accused of racism throughout the tri series. Even the young Ishant Sharma was not spared. He was accused of directing Symonds to pavilion while in fact he was provoked to do so. No doubts Aussies are the champs in sledging. They provoke their opponents first and when one reacts he is accused. And as the saying goes “Action speaks a thousand words” Indians have exactly done that.

Indian Cricket is at its best. Victory in Twenty 20 world cup, Test win at Perth, Under 19 world cup victory and now victory in CB Tri Series proves that. So men in blue, keep the spirit going!