Badami, Karnataka, a set by Mukul Banerjee
Monday, April 25, 2011
Monday, April 18, 2011
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Monday, April 11, 2011
Thought for the day
“As a lotus flower is born in water, grows in water and rises out of water to stand above it unsoiled, so should you be, born in the world, raised in the world having overcome the world, live unsoiled by the world”-Gautam Buddha
"So the IPL kicks of today", muttered my buddy, kabhi bhee,(KB for short) in barely audible tone. Slouched comfortably in the armchair,over his second cup of morning tea, the newspaper almost blanking him from view it was a statement made as if he had read a news article that had eluded most of us, a statement, meant to elicit a reply, 'oh really'?? 'wow' !! ' I didn't expert it to start so soon', but all he received from me was an affiramitive 'mmmh'.
To the uninitiated, not knowing about the IPL cricket matches starting in India is akin to a Scotsman not knowing what scotch whiskey is, as on the lips of every India are not just the teams playing, but all that need to be known about captain's and coaches, players and promoters, venues and locations..... et al !! Being Indian and not knowing about Cricket is sacrilege, and I choose my words carefully in the animated discussions on this national sport, hoping not to make an insensitive remark, or ruffle any feathers on team loyalties. The Indian audience and fan following of cricket has grown by leaps and bounds, and no other sport has come to engross the nation as much as this 11 man combination has. 11 men and 1.1 billion views, each one has a view on cricket, and each one claims it as if he's the last word in the sport !
This season's revitalized interest in the 20/20 format IPL has stemmed from the euphoric ICC world cup win just a few days ago, leaving a nation drunk with success, a reason to celebrate after a long time. Now the masochistic India has come to imagine they have a divine right to rule over cricket ( read win all tournaments/ matches).
And not without reason with 1.25 billion Indians and the extreme focus this sport receives, it should be possible to nurture a talent base best in the world. A kaptain Kool Dhoni and Koach Kirsten have demonstrated, clear focus of objectives, and relentless hard work to achieve the objectives gets positive results, and a revitalised team with no individual agendas an unswerving team spirit can win the day.
Can India learn a lesson from team India? Can IPL further the cause of cricket in India? Is India the new cricket hub of th world? The answer to all three questions is a resounding yes, and to debate the matter, please send in your comments to create a new conversation.
"Let's go stack up for the game" said KB "we're out of chips an the Cola's need replenishment" Here we go again, I thought silently to myself, another calorie filled evening, with a whole season to come. Long live cricket in its various avtars, what would TV viewing be without cricket ?
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
All in a day's work !!
Anna Hazare's fast unto death has evoked an emotional cord in the heart of Indians. Tired of corruption and an unresponsive government, people have joined him in his protest hoping to bring about a revolutionary change in the Indian system. I too, am most enthused and have been speculating on what the outcome of his " fast unto death" would be. Here are a few possibilities :
-Sonia G & MM Singh will visit Anna Bhai and throw themselves at his feet, accept his viewpoint on the changes required in the Lok pal bill, and he will suspend his agitation. Shortly after he suspends his agitation, they will do a volte face (as they did in Andhra Pradesh over the Telengana agitation) and claim Anna bhai misunderstood them / the press misquoted them.
- Satish Sharma and his sidekick Nachiketa Kapur will deliver the trunks of "crores" they keep under their mattresses for such emergencies, and magically, Anna bhai will repose faith in the government to introduce a fresh updated version of the Lokpal bill and suspend his agitation.
- Sushma Swaraj will threaten to strip on the floor of parliament if the Lokpal bill is not tabled, and when she does so, BJP MP's will open suitcases of Thousand Rupee notes and throw them in the well of parliament, ostensibly to show linkages between Congress and corruption money. Appalled by Sushma's threat of "voluntary disclosure of assets", the public at large will withdraw its agitation, keeping fingers crossed that Sushma does not live upto her threat.
-Hassan Ali Khan's expertise would be pressed into service, and whilst granting amnesty to all havala operators, the congress will legalise havala as a financial instrument, and transfer slush money hitherto kept for silencing the next scam disclosure, to Anna's Swiss bank account. (yes, he does have an account, the news article only said that he does not have a bank account in India !!), and finally,
- Pakistan's skipper Afridi will be called in to declare all Indians have small hearts, "what's a few billions to politicians??" Look at Pakistan, how giving they have been to their President and other politicians. Indians would be asked to embrace Islam to get 'large hearts' and not insist on trivial issues like corruption or Lokpal bills !!
Verily, we live in a real world, long live Anna Hazare, the lok pall bill can wait another 42 years!!!