Showing posts with label India. Show all posts
Showing posts with label India. Show all posts

Sachin- God in Man's skin

Posted by Prince Thursday, February 25, 2010 0 comments


Beneath the helmet, under that unruly curly hair, inside the cranium, there is something we don't know, something beyond scientific measure. Something that allows him to soar, to roam a territory of sport that, forget us, even those who are gifted enough to play alongside him cannot even fathom. When he goes out to bat, people switch on their television sets and switch off their lives.

- BBC Sports, on Sachin Tendulkar

When I first started following cricket, little did I know that it’ll become a way of life, for me, just like the millions of others like me in my nation. There is something very beautiful about this game, the sheer concentration that a batsman requires to make that illicit figure of a hundred runs, or the brilliance of tactics followed by a spinner, like a spider which spins a web around it’s prey, to hunt down the batsman, or even the toil of a work-horse, the pacer who runs down yards to generate that perfect delivery, quick-accurate with a hint of late deviation in the air or off the pitch. A dream for every cricket lover in the world, a sunny day of test match cricket at either the Mecca Lord’s, the ground that cheers a good shot, unbiased, weather from the bat of an English, an Indian or an Australian or even at the noisy Eden Gardens, where 60K people oooh and awww in unison to give that special reverb, the one that sends a chill down every players’ spine.

This game, my word, this game is nothing short of a phenom…

And a country of two billion fanatics who live, eat, and dream the sport know exactly what I am talking about. A country which stands still whenever their team is on the center-stage, a country that spends more money than any country on one sport and prays, not for their personal success, but for the success of their cricketing heroes.

There’s cricket, then there’s India and then there is the GOD of cricket Sachin Tendulkar.

A lot has been said and written about this genius, his technique, his concentration, his love for the game, his all an all gentlemanly ways. I am just too small to say anything when it comes to his batting. The enticement that he holds over the cricket-loving fanatics is nothing short of miraculous. Last evening I saw him in his devastating best, mutilating the South African bowling attack (one of the best in the world), to all parts of Gwalior’s Captain Roop Singh Stadium, reaching the pinnacle of ODI cricket, scoring a much talked about double century.

What I noticed the most was, at the end of the knock, Sachin had a different grin on his face. Now I, along with billions of others are accustomed to the century celebrations that we have been a witness to for over 20 years and more than 120+ instances, his bat, raised in the air in his right hand, and his helmet in the other, kissing the Indian flag resting proudly on the helmet and a thanking look towards the heavens. The historic image that has been immortalized by Madame Tussauds.

Along with all this, Sachin carries that formidable grin on his face, the mark of a confidant man, the conqueror who has beaten all odds, proved himself fit of all the adoration and love. The alpha-male who has made minced-meat of the best bowlers in the world, and I daresay, destroyed many careers. But what that grin also signifies is the respect, the tough morale, the humility and the grace of a near-perfect sportsman.

But last evening, the grin was different.

As soon as Sachin removed his helmet to that run off the second delivery of the final over, the whole world came to a pause (I had Goosebumps). The double whammy was lauded and again came the very similar response by the master, but there was something strangely acute about this time, the grin that Sachin posed for his historic innings was the grin of saying a thousand words. Some of those, which I am able to decipher, are:

  • There goes another one (read: record)
  • You tried your best didn’t you Jacq (Jacques Kallis)
  • Wait a second, lets get to 400 and then celebrate (team score)
  • This excitement won’t let me sleep all night! (What he doesn’t know is that it won’t let any Indian Cricket Fan sleep all night!)

Hah, basically, I am just too meager to think what the little master (little puhleeze!) could be thinking. Much was said before the Malaysian tri-series, the one that marked Sachin’s second coming after an excruciating injury, when the so called cricketing pundits predicted Sachin’s end, and Ponting’s rise as the next king of Bat! I would love to hear them now, eating a humble pie (along with their words of course).

And for the Marathi Maanoos (yes, here they come, my favorite punching bag!), Sachin still plays for the country, and if just once, the marathi manoos (the real marathi who loves being an Indian first) realizes what their idol preaches, these crazy nymphs will have nowhere to run!

I wonder how he would react to Sachin’s comment at the presentation ceremony!

Bal Thackrey- “No, this innings is not dedicated to the people of India, it is dedicated to the people of Maharashtra!” biatch!

For the world, Sachin is a sportsperson who has exceeded all norms of excellence and performed beyond par, but for us Indians, he is and will always remain GOD.

Congratulations Sachin, Congratulations India J

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Living on the Edge...

Posted by Prince Friday, February 13, 2009 1 comments


Since November 26, 2008 many Indians, along with others around the world, have been preoccupied with the why of what happened. We wonder how Islamists could kill themselves and innocent people, believing they are doing this in the name of God. But terrorism is not new and exists everywhere. The radicalism of the late 1960s spawned its own terrorist movement, the Weather Underground. More recently the Unabomber-a lone individual with a history of mental illness-carried out successful terrorist operations and eluded capture over a period of many years. We saw another example in Hyderabad in 2007. Terrorists have come from religious fundamentalist organizations, social protest groups, and radical political movements, both of the left and the right. Although many of the terrorists have been poor and uneducated, others have come from affluent, privileged circumstances. The fact that nearly all are late adolescents or young adults (or started their terrorist careers during this phase of their lives) raises the question as to whether there is something about youth that makes the lure of an ideology that promises a perfect society, together with the prospect of the violent overthrow of the existing world order, irresistible. If there is, can anything be done about it? This chapter is an attempt to explore this question and its implications.

 

“TERRORISM” What Constitutes Terrorism?

The simplest definition of terrorism is: "the unlawful use of force or violence against persons or property to intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives". However, the differentiation between terrorism and legitimate political struggle is not easy. The saying, "One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter" illustrates the difficulty in knowing where to draw the line.

Terrorism is not a new phenomenon. The origin of the word terrorism comes from the period in France after its revolution, which became known as "the Terror." Terrorist groups have existed in the United States in many forms; examples include ecoterrorists, rightist militias, the Ku Klux Klan, Black Panthers, Weather Underground, and militant antiabortion groups. Worldwide examples include the Red Brigades, Islamic Jihad, Basque separatists, and the Irish Republican Army. We also speak of nonpolitical groups as terrorist, such as narcoterrorists, organized crime, and gangs. Although these groups resemble political terrorists in the methods they use and in many cases have similar dynamics, however they are usually thought of simply as criminals rather than terrorists. Basically, terrorists are extremist groups with political agendas; their goal is to impose their views on others. The goal of theocracy is puritanism, that of Marxism is socialism, and that of groups such as the Aryan Nation is racial purity. All have a dream of what they consider to be an ideal society, and all believe that this ideal is achievable in reality, if only they can establish control. The goal of terrorism is to intimidate those whom they seek to influence. They do this by striking unexpectedly, creating a climate of fear and uncertainty-waiting for the other shoe to drop (Post, 2002). They choose targets that are symbolic, magnifying the perception of their destructive power. Thus, the influence of terrorist groups is often out of proportion to their numbers; a small group or even a single person can have a very large impact. The term asymmetrical warfare is an apt description. The prospect of violent change has its own appeal. Destroying entire buildings, disrupting social institutions, and striking terror into whole populations provide an unparallel sense of power, beside which the slow and incremental process of political change pales. My question to the young citizens of tomorrow is.

 

Q. The most horrible part of a terrorist attack is

A. The death toll

B. The retaliation (In terms of wars and cancelling of sports and social ties with a country)

C. National grievances

D. Kee farkh Painda hai???

At the time when the whole world is crying foul over the sickeningly aggravating rates of international terrorism, when the aftermath of Ahmadabad, Madrid, Hyderabad, London, Delhi, Kenya, Malegaon and Mumbai still haunt an average human being. More so, the agony and the pain of the victims which, I daresay (still alive) resides in the chasm of their eyes. But my question, (if you are reading this or not) is, What is it to you? Does it affect your life?

Are you getting a job\million dollars\recognition of some sort by worrying over petty things such as a ‘terrorist attack’? The inability of the participation of today’s youth in the effort to curb terror activities is breathtakingly scarce.

“Youth is the first victim of war; the first fruit of peace. It takes 20 years or more of peace to make a man; it takes only 20 seconds of war to destroy him.”

Fundamentalist ideologies offer ready-made answers to make sense of the world and one's role in it. As pure, theoretical frameworks, they do not necessarily have to work in practice. They are beautiful in their perfection as only ideas can be. One need not bother to figure out how people will actually live on a day-to-day basis in a theocracy. An Islamic state, led by an imam, with strict enforcement of the rules of the Koran as expostulated by the Sharia, will result in a perfect society. If people lead virtuous lives, everything else will take care of itself. Late adolescents, with their newly developed powers of abstract thinking that enable them to imagine a perfect world, are suckers for ideologies. The price they pay, a willing suspension of disbelief, seems small to them in comparison with the emotional and social rewards they gain. “The surest way to corrupt a youth is to instruct him to hold in higher esteem those who think alike than those who think differently”, that is the exact scenario of Indian youth at the present time, The onus is on you, it’s up to us to decide either to build a nation where “The head is held high”, or where it’s unsafe, even to shop for bead at the nearest supermarket.

 

 

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