No longer……. Sunday, Apr 3 2011 

What a performance by the Indian cricket team!

There are lot of positives to be taken from the world cup.. Here’s one- We are a “Team” now!

After waiting of five world cups, finally Sachin has a cohesive “team” which is more mature & bankable than any unit we have seen in last 20 years of watching Indian cricket..

They finally proved to the nation that they are no longer living in the shadows of the great master but individuals who have learned from the great one to rise to the occasion when the situation demands..

No longer will we switch off our televisions when Sachin gets out..

No longer hopes of a billion people die when Sachin falls..

No longer will oppositions place their strategies in and around Sachin alone..

No longer will Sachin’s master class innings be wasted by despicable batting by the rest..

No longer will the opposition take batsman numbers 5, 6 and 7 for granted..

No longer will critics write us off that India can not defend 260..

and no longer will the Indian team be notoriously disposed off as the One man team..

finally we have eleven player’s unit and not a one man team..

To sum it up, by modifying Virat Kohli’s words “Sachin has carried the burden of the nation for 21 years, its time they carry his burden and legacy forward and win more world cups!”

To me, I am reveling now, knowing Sachin will now play with all his heart and free his arms, cause there is a team now to share his burden.. I know it will be a herculean task for the lesser mortals, as no one can match the little master himself, but then there can be no other Sachin Tendulkar..

Jai Hind!

IPL lost to IPL Saturday, Mar 28 2009 

The Indian Premier League has been shifted to South Africa, clearly the cricket IPL lost to the other IPL- Indian Political League…

The government’s decision to shift the IPL has clearly broken Indian hearts but has curtailed fears of many multi–million dollar investors and International players who were concerned about their safety (b*****t!). But the biggest beneficiaries here are, not surprisingly, the opposition political parties. The BJP has already reacted venomously with their poster boy Narendra Modi calling it “national shame”, but Mr. P. Chidambaram reacted in an acerbic reply aptly reminding Mr. Modi about “Gujrat riots” the real national shame.

Average Indian however is unperturbed by the opportunistic politicos making IPL national shame issue, because ever since there have been issues which acquire public attention (read affection) the Indian politicos are first to pounce on the opportunities. May it be the BCCI president ship, the IPL franchises, the cheerleaders, the list is endless…
But then all the average Indian is worried about is future of cricket in India.

Cant India take care of a month long tournament?

Is India going to lose its image as a safe world cup venue too?

Really??

Darn No..

This is nothing more than a gossip topic on company canteen lunch or a CCD/ Barista conversation starter. The real fact is that India (because of the IPL alone) is attracting to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars worth of foreign investment, thats humongous especially in current global economic scenario, the players do not earn this much in their life times as much as they do in this one month of the year! India has become a cricket world magnet which is now attracting even its detractors, the ECB, which could never imagine such investments in their own country.

I think it was Saeed Anwar who said some time back that “India has had as many terrorist attacks; if not more than the Pakistan, still the cricket in India is not suffering because BCCI is paying lot of money, it’s unfair.”

In fact the IPL will be even more popular now once it gets the global exposure by spreading to a different continent, imagine South Aftrican businessmen wanting stakes in Mumbai Indians or the Microsofts or Apples wanting to put their logos on Chennai Super Kings or Vijay Mallya bidding for some Durban prodigies over KPs and Flintoffs… When children in Australia will say I want to grow up and play for Delhi Daredevils! It will be just like young Brazilian or Argentinean kids wanting to play football for Manchester United or Real Madrid when they grow up.

The global face of India as a cricketing nation is just getting brighter and we are getting exposed to unprecedented levels of fame and prosperity, our teams are no longer local, our games are discussed in West Indies bars and Australian cricket academies. I don’t think its national shame. In fact I dare say the cricket as a game is going to change forever.

Terror of Taliban must be tackled by muslim social reforms Saturday, Mar 21 2009 

This is not a new concept, nor has this happened for the first time, the resurgence of Taliban, the ultra orthodox lineage of Islam is quickly spreading social unrest in the world over. The Taliban was created for removing the Russians out of Afghanistan by both the USA and Pakistan, but now the dog is biting its own master. Neither Pakistan nor US has any control what so ever over Taliban and its giving them sleepless nights.

Well the Taliban thrives on a non-existing manifesto, its unnecessary hue and cry about death of Islam and Islams’ holding virtues, is as preposterous as saying the end of human race itself, as Islam is the most popular religion, practiced by more people around the globe then any other religion. Then the only purpose, it seems, for such a rhetoric is to terrorize the innocent non-Islamists punishing the “Islamic non radicals” on the pre-text of curbing un-Islamic activism.

The world is taking cognizance of such inhuman radicalism, but India has been witness of such hooliganism before (though not in this proportion), history shows us that all kinds of terrorism flows out of society itself due to unrest, the society gives birth and then nurtures the thought by providing shelter and by sacrificing some of its own, may it be Israel-Palestine or the Shia-Sunni conflict or the Talibani (Sunni) terrorists, but the real question is how to tackle it??

Well, in our own country, the sikh terrorism in the 80′s is not such a distant memory, it was propagated by community giving shelter to terrorists in their homes and saving them from the army. The riots created gory carnage, chaos in Delhi and India even lost its Prime minister to terrorist assassins, but the only way we overcame the radicalism was by creating social reforms, our army played an excellent community bonding among sikhs, by making sikh community realise how these terrorist activities destroyed millions of innocent lives, the terrorists could no longer hide in the houses and were easily captured by the army. bottom line- society must abate terrorists

In fact Indian social reforms have a long history, till 19th century, women were barred from education, widow marriages were banned and female infanticide, Dowri, Sati Pratha, child marriages, were common practice, very much smiliar to the Sharia laws practiced by Taliban. But educated Indians helped society fight them.

Raja Ram mohan Roy abolished the oppositions of Widow marriages and Sati Pratha and created Bramho samaj, he challenged the old believes and customs and showed the masses the resurgent Hinduism. Mahatma Jyotirao Phule pioneered in women education, women equality, abolished untouchability, the blots on Hindu culture, we ourselves still have long way to go in suppressing Dowri, girl child infanticide and child marriages (which frankly cannot be solved by Balika Vadhu aur Lado).

What Pakistan needs is its own Mahatma Phules and Ram Mohan Roys for their society to realize the futility of the unnecessary bloodshed and inhuman suppression of women, and not the government ignorance towards the state’s involvement, it is simply impossible for terrorists to control such large terrains of Swat and dare truce negotiate with the government. The war can only be won, if the people, themselves stand up against the Sharia laws and weaken the Taliban and eventually remove it from its roots.

Pakistan in doldrums, India must step up to help Saturday, Mar 21 2009 

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