Proud to be an Indian??

My friend once asked me, are you proud to be an Indian. I promptly replied "yes!! Why do you ask such a question". And then he asked what are the things which make me proud to be an Indian, (name any five and I was rendered speechless. To be more specific he asked me "what is there presently in the country which makes you proud of it?". I could hardly find two such things. The things I mentioned were hardly convincing but I said it for the sake of argument. "Sachin tendulkar ,lata mangeskar, AR rehman, Amitabh Bacchan…" I couldn’t think of anything else.
And if one notices these are individuals in which one is a sportsperson and others are entertainers. Of course they are world class performers but they are not extraordinary or one of their kind. They have many competitors and some are even better than them.
So what’s the point??
India is a country of 1.2 billion population in which 30 lakhs children (read future of India) sleep on footpath. The infant mortality rate in India is 55 for deaths/1,000 live births and Under-five mortality rate is (deaths/1,000 live births) 78.6 according to UN.
India ranks 143, well below poor countries like Namibia,guana,Bhutan and even Bangladesh. And according to CIA data India ranks 152 in 224 countries. This data is shameful but still we boast to be the 2nd fastest growing nation in this recession. What and for whom the growth is when we cannot ensure a bright future for the children of India.The number of urban slum-dwellers rose from 27.9 million in 1981 to 46.2 million in 1991 and 61.8 million in 2001, according to estimates by the Town and Country Planning Organization.
The number of people living in slums in India, Asia's fourth largest economy and the world's second fastest growing one, has more than doubled in the past two decades, according to official figures. About a quarter of the country's billion-plus population now live in towns and cities.
According to the a 2005 World Bank estimate, 42% of India's population(almost 50%) falls below the international poverty line of $1.25 a day which is definitely not a thing to be proud of!! The figures definitely don’t make even a bigot one proud
In a vast population of 1.2 billion we struggle for 1 gold medal in Olympics. We don’t qualify for FIFA WC and in hockey-our national sports; we perform like dilettantes, just to mention a few. We do have individual heroes, but considering that when we constitute 20% of the world population (1.2 of 6.7 billion) the 5 or 10 national heroes whom we adulate is nothing.
So what are we proud of?? Our culture, ethos, history? Well, to mention every country has different culture, ethos and their own history of which they are proud of. What’s so special about us??
The thing is actually we are too adamant to accept that there is nothing in our country to be proud of. This is because we love our country (of course those who don’t love wont feel proud of it even if there are things to be proud of). We don’t live in this country but we constitute it. WE ARE THE COUNTRY. I still remember the day when in the movie "kabhi khusi kabhi gam" national song was sung and the whole audience stood up as a mark of respect!! These are things which mark our country distinct. I bet we can’t find such things in any other country. All these are things which are abstract and surreal and when we look into the practicality of the situation we ought to be ashamed. But pride is also an abstract feeling. We can express it but cannot put it in form of data.
I didn’t put such figures to show my hatred towards the nation but only to mark regions of improvement. We all want an improved and a better India .the least we can do to attain this is do our part /job with full dedication. If everyone does their job with full dedication then things as bribery, nepotism, autocracy and other malaise will automatically be removed form the system.
So if you really want to be proud to be an Indian do what you are meant to do. Else there is always the option to sit and criticize the system, curse the politicians and the government and boast that I am proud to be an Indian!!

Who is responsible for India T20 WC debacle??

Who you think was responsible for India's poor performance in T20 wc 2009??

Is'nt is Dhoni or better BCCI ... aah !! i forgot Lalit Modi. All are responsible . Isn't it??

And its not your fault if you think so. It happens only in India. But I don't blame India. Its the media

who enacts this role. When India won inaugral T20 WC it was because the charismatic captain cool.

And ya , to mention Yuvi,sehwag,etc made some contribution but wasn't it the captain who led from

front!! Didn't we win because of him?? So why should he not be responsible for the shameful defeat

in 2009.

Halt!! Take a break!! Did Dhoni ever said that he was the main factor for our successful 2007 WC

campaign. He always maintained that it was a underdog team, with new faces brimming with energy

and enthusiasm. "They" played without pressure and won impossible matches. He always said it was

a team effort. But wasn't he being too modest!! Ya.. he was the one responsible for the victory.

But when we lost this time if he says it was due to fatiuge and lackadiasical performance of the team

he is shying away from the responsibilites. Isn't it?? Think as a non-Indian, where did it go wrong

for India.Out of 7 top batsmen only Yuvi was the one who was in good form. Rest all, be it

Gambhir,Rohit Sharma,Raina, Dhoni ,Yusuf Pathan and Jadeja didn't click in any match. Their

performnace was never upto the mark against good bowlers (spare the practice matches).

And talk about the fielding!! ALL ,I repeat ALL , were pathetic in the field . Even a club team or for

that case Ireland or Bangladesh fielded better the champions. This didn't encouraged the bowlers

in any way. They losed confidence and their morale dropped. One could sense it from the body

language of the Indians. They were never so energetic and charged up as they were in previous WC.

They didn't enjoyed the victories and neither was defeat able to make their mouth bitter. They were

a bunch of eleven players, playing together. They never looked like a team ready to fight for a

cause. Last time they were a solid unit. They won matches from nowhere. Remember the victories against

Aussies or proteas or 2 times against Pakistanis. They won from where no one expected them to win.

But this team lacked that spirit.

Is that it?? Nah!! we being Indian have to put the blame on someone. Isn't it? So who??

Dhoni?(for his lacklusture captaincy)

BCCI?( for not scheduling the calender properly and not letting the palyers take rest)

Gary Kirsten?( for poor coaching ,do you have anything against him?? I doubt. still lets keep him)

or Lalit Modi??(Ahh.. good one. Didn't let the players rest. Made them play so sternoulsy)

LOL!! U can't blame any one except the team. What could Dhoni possibly do when a team performs so

pathetically in all the departments. He too loses confidence in players and that was one of the

possible reasons he made Harbhajan bowl in death when RP and Irfan had'nt finished their quota.

Agreed that he didnt bat well as he used to do, but a lean patch does comes in everyone's carrer.

Remember Gambhir, in what sublime touch he was last year but this time he looked as if he didn't

belong to this arena. Or for that case Sehwag. It seemed it was end of the road for him after 2007

ODI WC debacle. But he revived with a triple century , and didn't we miss him a lot in this WC??

Even Dhoni accepts he is not in form what we expect from him. Give him time to prove himself.

And if you are adamant that he didnt bat well ,then make it clear that no one else did except Yuvi.

BCCI- Ahh!! A scapegoat for whom everyone looks whenever India looses in a such way. But BCCI

also takes action as players wishes. If you feel that you will overburden yourself ,or you are having

too much of cricket then opt for rest as Dhoni did in the tour against SL. Aggreed that BCCI fixes

the iternary ,but its the players who paly. So its the responsibility of players to take judicious decisions.

Gary Kirsten- I dont have anything against him. He is a very experienced and wise person,who has

seen many ups and downs in his life. He is a pure professional. And to mention ,his statement which

came after India was knocked out was the most logical and unambiguous in recent times,nipping

all the doubts in the bud.

Lalit Modi- I don't know why people blame him or IPL for that case. He didn't force the players to

play. It was their own desicion. They could have pulled out as the aussies ,if they needed rest.

But no. They went for the money. I have always said IPL is nothing but pure business. It's not

cricket. Lalit Modi is a born businessman(a gujrati) and knows how to do business. It was evident

when IPL was shifted in 2 weeks to SA. Was it ever possible for WC,champions trophy or any

other Mega ICC event?? Businessmen cannot afford to think of losing. But its on players discertion

to decide where to play and where not.

So eventually it all boils down to the players, not an indivudual but the whole 11 players who were

responsible for the debacle. They lacked aggression and surrendered meekly because they

lacked confidence and their body language reflected it. Let's hope it doesnot repeats. India is going

to WI . Again a clash is on the threshold. We all will watch it again,ready to criticize them on their

slightest mistake. It doesn't hurts when we lose while fighting, but it pains a lot when we give

up without a fight( best ex. is austraila, even they lost to SL and WI they didnt give up till last without

a fight). Hope our team gets revitalized and be back to winning ways,if not that then atleast fighting

ways. Waiting for the action in anticipation.

"Men in Blue, Just do it for you!!"

Everybody wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to die!!

I think everyone present here wants to go to heaven. Isn't it true??But how many of us want to die?? The statement is the biggest paradox ever. It is like extracting a pound of flesh without spilling the blood!! Or phrased better wishing for the goal without even working for it. Funny isn't it, but true. Every body wants to go to a better place, to head towards the light, drift on to the pearly gates... but still with the fact that they walk the immortality walk and talk the immortality talk.
But how many of us have seen heaven? And is there any one who has seen it and is still among us??The part which i cant understand is why people are worried about heaven when they don't wish to die.Isn't it true that we are immortal and death is inevitable.It may come the very next moment when we least anticipate it.But still we wish that we live and see the next day dawn. And isn't it surprising that people plan for next 50 years where next 5 mins is uncertain. But that is the way we humans live.Confused, optimistic and dying in the present to live in a bright future!! and we call our self the ruler of the world, the most intelligent species born ever on the earth!! And still we cant accept our mortality!
True the wise Apache saying " the most confused animal walking the earth would be the one who walks on two legs!"Even monkeys and baboons make fun of us time to time again, clowning around imitating us on two legs.
But why do we live like this in an atmosphere of insecurity?Death releases us from all our sufferings but we still want to live?? Why??Thousand of years have passed and evolution is near to its full cycle, the ice age, iron age, bloody age, rock and roll?
The very basic necessity, foundation of life is the reason for all things is ....?the main thought or main reason for us to do things, to continue surviving, to live, to evolve, to be...to die, to give up... to offer up... to get up, to go to work, to tolerate, to continue, to laugh, to think to breathe...
to live and then to die... THE KEY WORD .... fear of death itself?and the reason to do all this is what??love? what love? why love?
Maybe there is no word before love, we don't think to love, we love.. I think I love you? (never works!)The only thing we don't do, but which occurs naturally is nothing but our feelings.Described by the very strong but small word- LOVE.
We want to live in tomorrow and we die in the present because we love.We love our family,our children,and our self. Isn't that true??Love is the feeling which separates and dignifies the human above all other species which ever kept foot on the earth.
We are immortal and there is no denying the fact but we wish to live more because we want to love and be loved.We want to live because we enjoy the sufferings we get on the way to immortality and we enjoy them. Don't we?? A heaven creates a picture of comfort and all the things we wish for in front of us. But it misses the vital thing, our lovable ones.You can imagine all sort of dishes,all kind of gems and riches,all beautiful dames etc whenever you picturise the heaven, but did it ever contain our lovable ones,our kids our siblings?? No. isn't it?? Ask our self isn't it true??
Isn't it true that the day when you feel you have no one to love,no one to care and no one there to love you and care for you,you wish to die and go to heaven.
So even if we are immortal what does it matters until we have love.There is no denying people cant live without love in their life.Its love which make life beautiful and heavenly and not the pro tem riches. So it all depends on us whether we wish for a heaven after death or we create our own heaven while we live!!

Shifting Of IPL to SA- A malign politics

Most of us might agree that shifting of IPL to SA was an intillegent step because of its date clashing with our 15th general elections,so inadequate security would be there and blah blah. But what most of us would have ignored is that the host country i.e. SA is also holding its 5th general election.

Now can there be any valid expalnations as to why the so called INDIAN PREMIERE LEAGUE has been shifted to SA?? Was the general election(GE) really an issue?? If the richest cricketing nation cannot host the mega event because of their GE then how and why a not so rich,disturbed by racism and hit by recession country can afford to host it and that too within a short notice of 3 weeks!!

Now there is no denying of the fact that IPL is strictly a business and money driven enterprise.Whatever the bosses might say like "we really feel bad that we can't hold IPL in India " and the players might say "we would have liked to play in India", but the only fact is that they are virtually rolling in money.Afterall they are reputed and strong businessmen who will continue the business even while facing the most difficult challenges.

So who is at loss?? Indian people? Nah! I don't think show. Just tell me what they have to lose?

4 hours of entertainment?Is it?Nope.They watch it on TV.Now some may argue that they could have watched the matches in stadium had it been in India.Tell me how many matches?? One,Two,Five thats it.U may say whole  tournamnet.If  u can watch the whole tounament then now you must be in SA watching the matches!!The shifitng can't affect you.Of course the rich and elite class may go to SA to see the matches live but the common man will watch it on TV only.After all he has nothing to lose.Last year he might have watched a match or two live in the stadium,but he will never regret of not watching it in stadium this time ,cause he knows he cant afford it in such troubled times. So Indian people don't lose anything.In fact they now watch it more comfortably in the warmth of their sofa and bed with a remote in hand to switch the channels whenever it gets boring.Neither did the organisers lose anything.Because the major contribution to the revenue in IPL1 was via media and TV rights which continues to be in IPL2. And why is it so? Because people continue to watch the matches on TV as they did in IPL1.Only the number of viewers has increased(add the people who watched last time in stadium).

Anyone who was at loss was no other than the country.As it happens the funds which could have come in the treasury of India is being siphoned to SA treasury.In IPL1 approx 91 crores was the amount which IT dept earned as TDS(tax deducted at source) from Indian as well as foreign players and coaches.But this time it is estimated that the earnings will be around 35 crores (only form Indian players and coaches). A direct loss of 56 crores or 60% of Ist season earning. Is this accpeptable and affordable?? I cannot comprehend the very fact that the economists and pundits of India would not have foreseen this. 

So who is at blame? IPL bosses,the system of this country or the boggy and dirty politcs of the country??A similar incident was witnessed when Ratan Tata was forced to shift the NANO project from Singru to sanand in gujrat? Who was at loss? Ok,Ratan Tata did lose some time, around 6 months (it was proposed to launch nano in september 2008 but it was launched only in march 2009).But major loss was incurred by the state of WB as the revenue which it could have earned was siphoned to Gujrat.

And as it is obvious all these is driven by politics.The country is lossing because of the irrational thinking and the egocentric atttitude of the political parties.It has become mandatory for the opposition party to always see the dark side of the picture whenever any political party is trying to do somthing good for the nation.Just remind me any incident(in case i have forgotten) in which the opposition has supported the decision of the other party, favourable for the country. Whether it be the pokharan test,or the Indo-US nuclear treaty, the opposite party has always tried to show the other (dark) picutre of the scenario. 

So, here we, the people of India who dream of a flourshing India and elect our leaders get screwed up.None of them ,barring a few ,fulfil their promises and work fot the nation.It becomes our duty to elect our leaders wisely and leave this attitude "Is baar isko chun lete hain,yeh kaam nai kiya to agli baar usko chun lenge"(means- let select this leader this time,if he doesnot work we will elect the other one) But in the meanwhile no one sees that one wrong decision pushes the nation 5 or maybe even 10 years behind. So WAKE UP.Think judiciously before you cast your vote.Help the nation rise it on its feet (so that we don't have to depend on nations as SA(no offence meant) for organising an Indian Cricket tournamnet).It is we who can and who have to shape the future of the nation.The IPL is just the beginning ,we ,the common people can't even comprehend what else will be at stake the next time.

Statement of tamil leaders on ltte-SL fiasco!!

What really baffles me is the audacity with which leaders (I don't want to mention their name) in Tamil nadu are supporting LTTE chief prabhakaran!!

One leader warns India of bloodbath and other claims himself to be his friend. What crap is this?Is it a political stunt to increase one's vote bank or is that what the leaders really feel?

How can any one claim the leader of a terror outfit to be his friend and condone him for breaving India of one of its best leader??

And what audacity!! "India Will never be the same if something happens to prabhakran" & "we will witness a blood bath".How can any one say this and still be moving freely??

Is the Indian public sleeping?? how can one select and reselect such a leader. Had their demands been reasonable (like aiding the Tamils out there etc..) then it would have been gullible.. but this is shocking!First they speak in favour of LTTE and then claim that their statement has not been aired and doctored or what they meant was something else. Cut the crap!! 

People of India can see through what you said and meant?We are not sheep whom u can tout by dangling the carrot.Everyone knows what we need and desire. If one's stomach is full then only one can try to satisfy others hunger. First help out the poor and needy here,then think of helping others. After all its our money being used. What is the use of giving donation when after the donation you yourself are in need of it.So please stop fishing in troubled water.

We need action and not words ;and please don't call strikes as your method of action. What strikes can do is provide the daily earners another hungry,sleepless night. So please,I implore you, the leaders.. stop this!!

People are waking now and they need answers. You are answerable to them. You have to answer them.Stop this Tamil-LTTE farce. Come to the point. Give us some solid reasons to elect you.And ah! as nicely said in Delhi-6 you are not the leaders , but public servants ,so ,do your duty ,else you will be kicked. There are others waiting to serve.Its high time,India is awakening to a new dawn which will be marked by Dusk of such leaders!!