The IPL Team of 2009 : The ZooZooZ

One of the major cricketing highlights of this year was the Indian Premier League going international. Some of us were left wondering what and where was the “Indian element” in the IPL. I have a hunch that may be in times to come IPL will come to mean International Premier League. ( How about Injured Players League? Or Ignored Premier League? Or Idiots’ Premier League ?). Meanwhile IPL has decided to increase the number of teams from next year ( or may be next to next year), and I have decided to encash this opportunity. I have formed a team selecting the best of best Indian talent available. For this selection performances of players in 2009 only have been taken into account. I introduce my team as below:

1) Raj Thackeray: As an opening Batsman, there couldn’t be any better Indian, oh sorry, “Marathi Manoos” than this flamboyant and aggressive player. He redefined the meaning of Marathi Manoos, Mumbaikars and made sure that those daring to use “Bombay” in their movies are taught a lesson. He fears no politician, no media, no courts and obviously no bowler !! Really the year belonged to him and we ( including me) look forward to see and hear from him next year.

Road to Nowhere

For any growth to happen the most important thing is Infrarstruture. Roads are one of the most important component of Infrastructure. A lot of obvious and not so obvious things depend on the availability( or the lack of it) of roads. In our country the best of roads are generally some or the other Highways, National Highways to be more precise. One such NH is the NH 33, considered the lifeline of Jharkhand. In June this year a strange incident occurred on this NH 33.
The NH caved at a location, 60 KMs from Ranchi.

small states : BIG ISSUES

It started with Telangana, or was it Gorkhaland? One can’t be really sure the demand for which new state was the propellant but there can’t be diversity of views that the issue of smaller states has come with full force onto the national picture and will remain there for some time.
Due credit for it must be given to the three parties involved, viz KC Rao, the media, and the Central Government. It took the “historical” step of KC Rao to go on fast unto death, the prominence given to it by the media and the perfect example of ineptness exhibited by the Central Government to make big the issue of small states. So much so that fasting unto death has become the latest technique to hog the limelight.

Does Sid really needs to wake up??

This Sunday I had decided to give a try at waking up Sid and went to the nearest Movie hall(cineplex for some). Whether it was a result of Sunday rush, or the limited capacity of the hall or some other reason I am not sure, but I had to try waking up Sid for around 2 hours ( 4:30 PM- 6: 25 PM) from the most uncomfortable place in the hall: in the centre of the frontmost row.
For the 2 odd hours I was trying to wake up Sid I kept on switching between one posture to the other posture to get in somewhat comfortable position. But blame it on the distance between the frontmost row and the screen or the fact that I had gone at the wrong time to book a ticket for waking up Sid, I was not successful in my endeavour to get comfortable.
In some ways the movie depicted everything which was missing in my life.
A life in a metro.
College in a Honda CR-V.
Wardrobe with as many clothes as one would find in a small shop.
No worries about what lies ahead, coupled with the chance to own a Porsche by working for 30 days.
Heir of a super rich Business Czar
and much more obvious things...
I am not sure if Sids like these really need to be waken up !!
They will continue to get their bread and butter(and much more than that) without much of an effort, especially when many more non-Sids toil out day in day out.
For them life is indeed a bed of roses, made possible by the hard work of their previous generation.
They don't need to think about their studies, particularly in a country like ours where even 95 % in some exams are not sufficient to get a seat in a college of your choice.
They don't need to get a job because something is already reserved for them.
This is something which we often encounter in Politics. Son of ex- MLA, ex- MP getting election tickets and then getting elected because of not what they are, but because of what their someone else is!!
Son/ Daughter of a mega star getting the perfect launching pad, and then the stories that " acting is in my blood"," I had always wanted to be an actor/actress".
Oligarchy vs meritocracy??
Overall the film was a smooth cruise, not many songs, not many emotional dramas, somehing which was easy to watch, may be not so easy to digest.
This oversimplification of life on the celluloid often shrouds reality, the brutal truth.
I liked the movie because it showed a mother fighting against her shortcoming/handicap to win over her son.
I liked the movie because it gave a glimpse of the confusion in the minds of youth today.
I like the movie because it showed relationship between a boy/man and a girl/woman from a somewhat new/refreshing angle.
But I can't stop wondering if Sid really needs to be waken up...............

Nobel for "noble" intentions ??

The Nobel Peace prize 2009 have been in news for some days now. There are many reasons one can think of for it. First the awardee- Barrack Hussein Obama. Second- His actions (or the lack of it) which might have been a deciding factor for the jurists to give him this honour. Third and the most important one- it again raise that fundamental question " Is nobel prize given for actions or for intentions"?

खूबियाँ और खामियां

खूबियाँ और खामियां तो वैसे सब में होती हैं
पर जो नज़र इन्हें पहचाने , वो नज़र बहुत कम में होती हैं ;
सब जीते हैं यहाँ ख्वाबों ख्यालों की दुनिया में
जो झेले समय की तपिश , वो कूवत बहुत कम में होती है II

जो हो न सच वो तो बहुत सुहाना सा लगता है हमें
और जो है सच वो जाने क्यूँ बेगाना सा लगता है हमें;
दूसरों की कमियाँ गिनते गिनते उम्र बीत जाती है
पर दूसरों की क़द्र करने की हिम्मत बहुत कम में होती है II

Amazing Mumbai

Trip to Mumbai
I don’t believe that Mumbai is a city.
I don’t believe that the word “city” captures the pulse of the phenomenon that is Mumbai.
I have not been to Mumbai many times, nor have I stayed there long enough to pass a judgment, but whatever I have seen of Mumbai makes me believe that one cannot describe Mumbai just as a “city” or for that matter a metropolitan .

Bandh in Bengal, impact on me, gain for Railways !!

Recently I had to go to Mumbai for an official training along with 3 other friends of Eastern Region. It’s a long journey by train to Mumbai, so we thought to book our tickets from a place which would be convenient for the four of us. Therefore we decided to book our tickets from Patna, the date of departure was 18th.

UID- and its Uniqueness

UID or unique identity number for each Indian is one of the very few logical proposals to have been proposed by an Indian Government in the recent past. This is a project about assigning an unique number, to every Indian. Whether it will be a supplement or complement to the existing PAN, Voter ID, Ration Card etc., one is not very sure but the idea is definitely a step in the right direction.

There is a urgent need to instill the feeling of “Indian-ness” in the presently rampant “Indian-less” mindset of the Indians. One hears of a “ Marathi- Maanus”, a “Bengali Babu Moshay”, a Bihari , a Tamilian, or a Punjabi, but hardly does one get to hear about an Indian. We tend to identify ourselves more with the state/ region/ religion to which we belong rather than the nation which is our identity. It is the need of hour to identify this identity and associate ourselves with this identity.
Today we live in a time where it is difficult to distinguish between a illegal Bangladeshis infiltrator/migrant and a Bengali Hindu/Muslim or a Assomese. These illegal immigrants are not only restricted to these two states but have slowly found their way into Bihar, Jharkhand, Delhi and even the western state of Rajasthan. This has also been the cause of many troubles in Assom in the recent past.
Another angle to be considered is the spread of terrorism. Gone are the days when one used to hear about terrorist activities mainly in Kashmir valley. Today one is not sure about his/her life in Mumbai, Bangalore, Jaipur, Kolkata or Delhi for that matter. Getting access to India is very easy for the unwanted/ nuisance lot and it has been a challenge for the authorities to nab them and then prosecute them. Often due to lack of evidence or turning hostile by the witnesses the suspects are let off.
Unique ID is going to be very handy tool to deal with all these and much more. All the information about an individual will be recorded in a database, access to which will be through the UID. It is expected that in future it can be used in lieu of PAN, Voter ID card, and Passport. Only thing which now remains to be seen is how it is implemented. Only time will tell whether this proposal will get itself added to the list of several pending proposals in the files somewhere in Delhi, or will find itself as one of the glorious achievements of the Indian Democracy.

Lalgarh in the Lal-rajya

The present operation in the Lalgarh district of west Bengal has been in news for quite some time now. In fact there have been many events prior to the present military operation in Lalgarh to flush out the naxals. This article is about naxalism and events which caused Lalgarh to hog the limelight.

Happiness-absolute or relative?

In our day to day life we consider certain things as absolute while some other as relative. Things like a brick, a coin, a computer are absolute example of absolute quantities, while other things/virtues like relative velocity, relative growth are examples of relative terms. In fact velocity itself is a relative term, as by the principal of physics, it depends on the framework in which it is measured.
So how would be classify something like happiness? Is happiness an absolute term or a relative term?

We, the hypocrite Indians

The title would have appeared to be a bit weird at first, but once you get the essence of what I intend to tell I am sure you would agree with me.

Slumdog and Oscars-Saga continues

In the past few months, a lot has been said about the movie Slumdog Millionaire and the hullah over Oscars and the prominence we Indians attach to it. The debate on Oscars became a hot topic after Amitabh Bachchan expressed his views against it. This blog is about the above two topics.
The Book Q & A hit the stands around October 2007. I went through the book last year, January and found the book to be quite gripping, quite unpredictable, easy to comprehend and a book which accentuated the roles of effort/hard work and luck for the success or the lack of it for a person.
It was gripping because from the first sentence of the story( I am arrested for winning a game show) till the last chapter, never at any point of time does one wish to keep the book away.
It was unpredictable because one always wanted to know what the next question would be and under what circumstances the protagonist would have found a clue to the answer.
It was easy to understand because the author refrained from using too many jargons and kept it simple and lucid.
Finally it demonstrated the role luck and effort plays in the success of a person. No person can achieve anything in this world without the contribution ( though it may be very meagre one) of the other. Had Jalal not shown the zeal to rise up again and again he would not have been a "slumdog", a chaiwalla, a tourist guide, a call centre person etc.. all in the same life. He wanted to grow, change his life and luck favoured the brave!! He was also lucky at the same time or else how could the 15 questions all linked to some or the other instances of his life. Or for that matter how could have he run out of clutches of goons converting children into beggars. There were several moments in the book which highlighted these two aspects, only thing is one has to look for them.
Danny Boyle made a good film out of this book, something which Ron Howard was not able to do w.r.t The Da Vinci Code. The film had enough in it to hold even those who had read the book. It wasn’t a replica of the book and the picturization was the territory of the director, which He explored well. If one's aim is to look for loopholes, there would be enough in any creation of a artist.
We need to assess an art independently of the impact it would have on others. If it appeals to us, we must appreciate it. If it antagonizes us, we must condemn it. But to criticize a film solely with the thought that what others( westerners) would think about it, is not that praiseworthy an idea.
The film shows about poverty, can we deny its existence? The film shows about child beggars, are we free of it? The film depicts fake tourist guides, don't we have any? Its not a matter of embarrassment but a matter of introspection as to how we individual can make a change so that in future others don’t have a chance to depict these.
The point about Oscars is a valid one. We Indians have been quite obsessed about getting a recognition from the world( west). Amartya Sen was not recognized for his work while he was here, but after getting a Nobel Prize we were singing paeans about him. Jai Ho is not the best creation of A R Rahman/Gulzar, but after the Oscars for Rahman, we have been so much crazy about this song that even Rahman must be wondering about the impacts of Oscars!!! If a thing is good, it remains good whether it gets recognition from the Oscars or not. After all Oscars is nothing but American movie academy awards, meant for American Films. Our obsession with it defies logic.
We must get over this “inferiority” complex about considering our things as backward and instead always strive to be an iota better than what we are at the present moment.