Sydney Sickness after the Melbourne Massacre!

Every Indian cricket fan knows how tough an Australian tour is! Every time you hope the Indian team performs better than last time. But in reality, you are actually bracing yourself for an inevitable super storm. The worst of fears were confirmed in Melbourne. India always has this starting problem on away tours, practice or no practice. It was no different in the first test. A well oiled Australian juggernaut (though less intimidating than the Steve Waugh band of soldiers), ran over the Indian side. Our inexperienced bowling attack was not expected to bother the aussies anyway. But the famed batting lineup folded meekly. The thumping defeat raised fears of a lopsided tour ! But then i remembered...the next venue was Sydney! A favorite hunting ground for Indians, especially Sachin and Laxman. As Dravid continued to bury his head in the ground, Jaffer & Yuvraj were 'guest appearances' at the pitch. But Laxman and Sachin, the SCG darlings, led the Indian resurgence and fought with gumption. Saurav didnt make a ton, but made fighting contributions. But alas, a victory was not to be. Apparently Bucknor and benson, the 2 umpires, flipped a coin and decided to side with the aussies. The circus began:

1. Symonds given not out after a huge nick.
2. Ponting given after not out after another huge one.
3. Ponting given LBW after a huge inside edge.
4. Symonds given not out by the third umpire!@#$%, after a perfect stumping.
5. Symonds stumping not referred to 3rd umpire.
6. Jaffer bowled off a no ball.
7. Symonds given not out again twice.
8. Hussey given not out twice.
9. Dravid given out when bat was no where near ball.
10. laxman given not out when he was plumb in front.
11. Ganguly given out for a grassed catch.

Hmmmmm.....! Umpires are humans and they err sometimes. But these were morons who sometimes get it right. Add to this the 'tough but fair' aussies claim dubious catches and appeal for everything. Wasn't this the very team which cautioned India's excessive appealing once? Harbhajan was reported for calling Symonds a 'monkey'! India countered by reporting Brad Hogg for terming Indians 'bastards'! The shameless aussies say what Hogg said was harmless sledging banter in good humor, while what bhajji said was an extremely personal and demeaning racist slur. Well, if 'bastard' is not personal then i don't know what is. For heaven's sake, against england some time ago, they commented on atherton's wife while he was batting. Thats not abusing. Thats that famous aussie humor! Yeah right! Bhajji got banned for 3 tests despite of no video/audio evidence and umpires having heard anything (but i personally think they were deaf anyway, it didnt matter to them - nicks or abuses!!). How is it that the aussie abuses are always harmless sledging & their excessive appealing is playing tough? They still are the best cricketing side currently. But they definitely are not the 'Angels' of the game, as they perceive themselves to be. India was robbed of atleast a draw, with atleast 300 runs gifted and maybe about 150 runs snatched thanks to umpiring guffaws. Almost all the Australian players claimed it was a great victory despite the 'minor controversies'! 11 horrible decisions - minor? The umpire referring to Ricky Ponting for giving Ganguly out caught - A stroke of genius I must say! How would out justice system be if the scenario was such?

JUDGE: Did u commit the crime?
CRIMINAL: absolutely no.
JUDGE: Taking into consideration the accused's testimony, i declare him to be free! 'JUSTICE IS A GENTLEMAN'S GAME'!

And i almost burst out laughing amidst my furious disappointment, when Ponting said after the game 'I never thought about the 16 in a row record until you mentioned it'! ROTFL!

Being an Indian 2

From wrongfully venting anger by some to peeing in the pants by others! The Taslima Nasreen issue is truly an embarrassment for the UPA government. "A secular state is a state or country that is officially neutral in matters of religion, neither supporting nor opposing any particular religious beliefs or practices. A secular state also treats all its citizens equally regardless of religion, and does not give preferential treatment for a citizen from a particular religion over other religions." But this government seems to bend to every whimper that a particular organization , claiming to represent a minority, produces. I would have expected the government to stand up to the insane protests by certain biased groups, and assert it's initial move to keep and protect Taslima in Calcutta. But it is evident from recent developments that this is just another spineless bunch of politicians! She is not a terrorist! She is not a criminal! She wrote some anti-islamic stuff( which i think is mere personal opinion - applaud it or condemn it - don't run around hunting for her blood!)! She has also retracted some portions of her book after incessant protests over the years! And she can't lead a normal life in a free democratic country like India? What utter nonsense. Are we really the great democratic nation where everybody's rights (not their outrageous wishes) are respected and protected? Add to this the violent protests and innumerable court cases against actresses expressing their personal opinion about pre-marital sex! it is like we have the freedom of speech as long as we say what some people want to hear! condemning a statement is perfectly fine! But all this effigy burning, violent rallies, lawsuits, 'fatwas' etc? Maybe Saddam's regime was fairer?

Being an Indian

I was always proud to be an Indian. It always fascinated how such a heterogeneous society survives as a nation despite all differences in language, religion and views! But of late, i've got my doubts if India is the happy 'Unity in Diversity' nation that has always been projected in our textbooks. We have so much hatred in our country! North vs South, Hindu vs Muslim, Tamil vs Kannada, Upper Caste vs Lower Caste and many others! Every nation has it's differences.But the differences in India seem to always cross the words sphere and spill out onto the streets and affect the common man. Politics is not an easy job. Governing a group of people,be it of any size, is a momentous task. But many politicians seem to play petty mud slinging games to garner votes. They don't understand the horrific implications of their words and actions. The Godhra incident is one such example. A train full of innocent people was burnt. It was full of hindus! Till today nobody has effectively proved who did it. But since the victims were Hindus, it was assumed the perpetrators were muslims. Then all hell broke loose. The handful of miscreants , muslim or any other, might still be roaming the earth. But hundreds of innocents had no idea what was going to hit them when an politician brain washed army of saffron came and slaughtered them. Many politicians and educated youth, till date, shamelessly support this action as a fitting reply to the Godhra incident. They think this will silence the islamic militants once for all! What they don't understand is that while the actual terrorists have not been punished , they have successfully turned hordes of innocent people into extremists. They have just played another bloody episode of the vicious circle of violence! We might have to witness many more of these insane retaliations and counter retaliations which will result in huge human casualties. I don't know how the hindutva feel they are any different from blood mongering terrorists like Al Qaeda! The biggest shame is that the people who participated in this crime, are considered to be true guardian angels of Hinduism! Is this what they learnt from the Bhagvad Gita? I think a murderer in any guise is still a criminal! Let him be Hindu or Muslim! I salute all the doctors who save lives regardless of caste, creed, race or religion! Taking lives is very easy. Saving a life is extremely difficult. When you lose respect for a fellow human being's life your religious beliefs & education come to a naught and you cease to exist as a human. Today in our country, we're so busy defending our religion, caste, race, language, community, that we have lost any sense of Indianess! God, whom we don't see, is able evoke such emotions in us which are not stirred a bit looking at our fellow human beings who are very much visible! Why? Like in the movie , 'Apocalypto', THE END OF A CIVILIZATION DOES NOT COME FROM OUTSIDE BUT FROM WITHIN! We have supposedly the most learned civilization on earth! But witnessing these horrors, I'm afraid our golden ages are over!

Sights & Sounds of Deepavali

Well, it is my 7th straight deepavali in the US! And yes it has never matched the kind of fervor we experience back in India. Every year i crib having missed the New York south seaport fireworks. This year was no exception. Stuffing myself with sweets, i tried to celebrate the festival as much as possible. And of all the things to do, i had to choose Vijay's ATM to watch on the big screen. Unlike in the movie's plot, i did not need the gift of ESP to predict a terrible movie experience. I took the risk anyway and my fears were confirmed. In a way it was funny with all those outrageous stunts and stuff. At the end of the movie, it was like a 10000 wala had just finished bursting inside my head! So there you go, fireworks sans pollution but seriously harmful to your mental health. After this debacle, I slept most of the weekend with the satisfaction of having contributed very little towards global warming by not getting out.

Misbah misses, Dhoni kisses

So, finally a world championship for India! I really don't care what form of cricket now! Tired of seeing the Aussies grab it all. And what an epic final between the Indus rivals!! The Twenty20 world cup was like a perfectly executed blockbuster script. Great action (BIFF!POW!BANG! with sixes), energetic item dances (cheerleader gyrations), sensational twists in plot (Australia lost 3 games) and a riveting climax (India/Pakistan final) where the hero ultimately won (at least for us Indians!!)! India won both the encounters with Pakistan. In both the games , only one man threatened to take the game away from us - a previously unknown warrior named Misbah. In both the games, he brought the pakis into the game but failed to finish. On the second occasion, it was purely due to a quixotic shot he attempted. At that point, thanks to some very ordinary bowling from Joginder, he already had one hand on the cup and the Indians were getting ready to resign to their fate. This moment reminds me of the last ball six of Javed Miandad. Yes, the results were different. But in both the cases, they depended solely on the batsman and the 21 others were mere spectators! Maybe that is the difference between being brilliant and being almost brilliant. But apart from that moment, India was totally in control throughout the tournament. We were never fancied to become the slam bang champions of cricket. Australia, Sri Lanka and maybe even Pakistan were considered. But definitely not the land of Gavaskar and Dravid. Twenty20 is an amazing concept for marketing the game. 3 hours of this is far more exciting than 3 hours of Baseball! And i think the spate of changes effected upon the One Day game could have been introduced here instead. This form of the game definitely provides the minnows with a glimmer of hope. This doesn't require the patience, temperament, elegance or classical textbook skills that Test matches and to some extent ODIs require. Overall, it was exciting and fun. Mission accomplished - for Indians and the organizers!

A bridge that widens the gap!

The furore across the nation regarding the sethu samudram project is one instance highlighting the extremities of thought existing in our country today. The UPA claims that Lord Rama never existed and Ramayana is mere fiction. The traditionally atheist dravidian DMK supports this. The hindu fundamentalist BJP and it's allies believe Ramayana is not only a symbol of hindu faith but also a true story with abundant physical evidence. TV, websites and newspapers have been ripped apart with heated arguments and counter arguments! I personally would not side with any of these sides. I believe our perspectives are totally messed up. At one end, we are passionately defending physical evidences for religious beliefs. At the other end , we try to quash all matters of faith by proclaiming there is no god. The believers should try to channel their energies and thoughts towards following the spiritual morals of their religion and the atheists should work towards humanitarian ideals since they are aware of the human existence as opposed to that of god. There is more of questioning each other's beliefs rather than following one's own ideals. Most of our politicians (Islamic fundamentalists, pretentious & seemingly 'moderate' UPA, hindu nationalist BJP/VHP, all opposing communist and caste driven dravidian parties) are mere opportunists! It doesn't really matter what they believe in! It is the struggle for power which they are interested in. As for the Ram Sethu bridge, it's existence or non-existence , has not affected millions of people who have read the Ramayana and understood it's essence. Nor will it in future. How many of us have seen it? Has it ever affected our faith? Religious fundamentalism or atheism should not be reasons to oppose or support the project. My concern would be more from a scientific perspective. Would the destruction of this natural barrier have any ecological/geological effects? I think it would, and that is what has to ascertained. I'm opposed to destroying nature for mere human material gain!

Scintillating Soccer Sorcerers

India wins an international football tournament! This headline is so simple yet has been so elusive! The resurgence of indian football's blue boys, hopefully, is the beginning of a sporting renaissance in this cricket crazy nation. I was a fervent fan of indian football till I came to the US. After that, due to lack of opportunities for me to watch and enjoy Indian international and domestic games, there has been a steady decline in my interest. This probably was one single major reason for the lack of popular support for the game in our country. Zee Sports has done a commendable job in whipping up this passion once again by injecting a new zing! Far removed from the dull 'Dour'darshan telecasts, Zee has successfully marketed the sport to today's youth. Ofcourse there is more distance to be covered to even provide a semblance of competition to Cricket, but they are right on track. Coming to the Nehru Cup win itself, it was great! After eons, finally our team looked like a well oiled international side worthy of respect. Earlier , we would have minuscule sparks of brilliance but no cohesive plays and good finishes. But now it seems Bob Houghton has been able to train the team to accumulate all the lessons preached by the innumerable coaches who preceded him, and put them to practice. But I should admit, motivation for these players is not easy to get. They entered and survive in this sport, knowing it is regarded as a second class sport in this country. It can't even be compared to Hockey, since hockey is our national sport and we have 8 Olympic golds (though none of them won recently) to show on the international scene! The 'World's most popular sport' tag is the only one keeping it a rung above Volleyball, Basketball, Handball etc. This victory is a fitting tribute to Bhaichung Bhutia, the face of Indian football in the last decade! He achieved that rare endorsement worthy stardom that eluded players like IM Vijayan, Bruno Coutinho and Jo Paul Ancheri! Every sport needs a star to stir support amongst the masses. Dhanraj Pillay for hockey, Limba Ram for archery, Jaspal Rana for shooting, Leander paes & Sania Mirza for Tennis, Prakash Padukone & Gopichand for badminton, PT Usha for athletics, Malleshwari for weightlifting, Geet Sethi for billiards etc etc etc! Bhaichung filled that gap for football. The scores of cash incentives announced after this victory should continue as this will secure the financial futures of the players. Zee Sports' coverage of the National Football League (NFL) , has brought the game out of the traditional enclaves of Bengal, Kerala and Goa. Cue should be taken from the USA, where even little league baseball games are telecast on national networks. Watching sports in a stadium, bar or home should become a major pastime like going to the movies. Hope there are several more such revivals in sports such as Athletics, Boxing, Gymnastics & Swimming.