Footnotes

Indian Cricket's Unsung Hero

2011-08-08T16:22:00.000-04:00

My take on the drama that unfolded leading to Rahul Dravid announcing his retirement from the limited overs format of the game. One of my personal favorites. Read On!

If there would ever be a literature, art or entertainment piece by this title, rest assured, Rahul Dravid for once will unanimously be India’s No.1. Mark this date on your calendar, probably for the first time there existed this day in Indian cricket when nothing could overshadow the subsequent developments surrounding the news of Rahul Dravid’s surprise inclusion in the ODI team for England series. For once, Dravid became a ‘trending’ topic on Twitter. For once the Facebook status updates were giving the man his due respect without expressing their disappointment at Sachin not getting his 100th international ton! Regrettably, it all happened on one of the saddest days for Indian cricket. The day Rahul Dravid, almost a synonym to the word commitment, just announced his retirement plans.

If you disapprove of me calling it as ‘one of the saddest days’, quickly check with the BCCI and the selectors who would agree that this news is indeed depressing, for they just got to know that their ‘punching bag’ has just punched back where it’d hit them the most. And befittingly so! For how long can a man take all the responsibility and the embarrassment of being snubbed by the administrators at the same time?

This has been Dravid’s day by far and quite a dramatic one, despite the fact that the man-in-form was out of action, on purpose and suitably so, as the rest of the team picked up some important match practice in Northampton. Back home in Chennai, the selection committee that sat to choose the Indian team for the one-off T20 match and the subsequent ODI series against England, sprang quite a surprise by naming the veteran right hander in the 16-man squad. For Indian cricket, its Déjà vu 2009!

Well, Rahul Dravid and surprises don’t fit in a single sentence, for if you know the man, you’d also know how he brings the sense of déjà vu with his ever-dependable batting display every time his team is in trouble. After his surprise makeshift inclusion today, as the speculations were rife in media about whether it’s ‘The End’ for the former skipper, the 38 year old Bangalorean himself put an end to the saga. What’s being touted as Dravid’s cold-shoulder to the BCCI, he expressed his surprise at the inclusion and his desire to retire for the limited overs format at the end of the England series in September.

Flashback to the September morning in 2007 when the Indian cricket fans woke up to the news of Rahul Dravid stepping down as the skipper of the national side to concentrate better on his batting which was calling for serious attention. With this came, the clarion call of building a youth based bench strength for the 2011 World Cup under the able leadership of the then youth icon MS Dhoni came. A couple of bad series, and in a manner similar to that of Sourav Ganguly’s, the Indian cricket’s Mr. Dependable was subsequently axed. And as they say, there was no looking back from there, for the selectors that is.

For sure, a man like Rahul Dravid would have been through a sea of emotions on being dropped in a rather unceremonious fashion. But for this humble man, actions speak louder than the words and appropriately so, with the prestigious World Cup spot in the hindsight, he got back to the basics of domestic cricket to reclaim the spot he so deserved. All the hard work and toil went unnoticed as the cricket administrators in the country went on to built the acclaimed ‘youth brigade’ for this format and continued to neglect the man with an experience of over 300 ODI appearances and more than ten thousand runs under his belt.

The ‘jugaad’ (English translation: stop-gap arrangement) policy that the team selection committee has followed right since the later part of 2007 saw Dravid coming back into the ODI side a couple of years later in 2009 for the Champions Trophy as the youth brigade was having a tough time dealing with the testing conditions in South Africa. This surprising move, although criticized, sparked the hopes of the coveted position in the World Cup 2011 squad, not only in Dravid’s mind but also for those who valued his experience, the flexibility and the dependability factor he offered.

India’s early exit from the tournament called for a deep introspection and as in the following series ODI cricket returned to the flat tracks of the subcontinent, Dravid was conveniently dropped without any clear explanations, to accommodate ‘young blood’.

Almost two years have passed again since his last ODI appearance in the India vs West Indies encounter at Johannesburg on Sep 30 2009. Dravid’s name did not feature in the list of 30 probables for Team India’s World Cup campaign. Knowing Dravid, he would have best tried to rubbish any thoughts of self-doubts before the inner voices compelled him to elude the pain, to move on and focus on the task at hand, Test cricket. Four months after a successful World Cup campaign, with the World Champion side failing to leave a mark outside the subcontinent, its back to The Wall, literally!

It is not really tough to understand why the selection committee came up with a ‘Back to Future’ plan for the ODI series. The 38 year old Rahul Dravid, with three centuries in the last five Test matches, has been India’s lone savior in tough and testing English and Caribbean pitches. While the youth brigade fails to counter short balls, the finest technician of modern era has consistently brought respectability to India’s overseas performance in the last couple of months which doesn’t recommend their World No. 1 status.

Rahul Dravid is the third Indian after Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly and stands at no. 7 position in the list of top run getters in the limited overs format of the game with 10765 runs from 313 innings of 339 matches at an average nearly touching the 40 mark. Add to it his recently claimed second spot in the all time list of highest run-scorers in the history of Test cricket now withstanding, the selection committee chairperson Krishnamchari Srikkanth claims to have selected the team on merit basis. For obvious reasons, amidst the countless injured and non–performing players, the selectors are back to their favorite scapegoat as Dravid best suits their myopic interests.

The news of Dravid’s recall was welcomed with mixed emotions as evident from the buzz at various social media platforms. While on one hand hardcore fans hailed the move as a comeback for their hero, others expressed their concern over the bankruptcy of the talent pool that the cricket administrators have claimed to nurtured over these years. However, the unanimous emotion all over has been critical of the disrespect shown to a man of Dravid’s stature.

A sense of disappointment prevailed as the followers of the game questioned that if Dravid is considered fit for ODI cricket now and if this selection has indeed been ‘merit based’ as Cheeka said, how do they justify not selecting this man for WC 2011? The so called youth brigade has so far failed to last a five day game or play the testing conditions in England and the Caribbean. We sure have built a pool of players, 30 best injury-prone non-performers in the name of bench-strength. It is high time that the BCCI and its selection committee realizes who they are insulting. Don’t be surprised if next the selection committee forces Ganguly and Anil Kumble out of retirement to save pride in England. It’s not ‘horses for courses’, it rather panic attack.

As cricketer Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) rightly summed it up on Twitter,

“While I think that Dravid’s absence from ODI was premature, going back to him as a stop-gap arrangement is adding insult to injury!”

Hours later, in another surprise development, Rahul Dravid announced his retirement from the shorter formats of the game at the end the series he’s just been selected for. Subtly letting out the frustration and openly expressing shock at learning about his inclusion in the ODI and T20 team after two years, Rahul Dravid read out the following note to the press:

“I’m honoured and privileged to be picked for the ODI side. Since I had not been picked for one-day cricket for the last two years, I was obviously a little surprised. And to be honest, because I had not been picked, I had not informed the selectors or the board of my desire to solely focus on Test cricket.

At the end of this one-day series, I would like to announce my retirement from one-day and Twenty20 cricket and concentrate only on Test cricket. I am committed, as always to give my best to India in this one-day series and obviously the Test series that follows. In the short term I am committed because now I have been picked for the series, but in the long term I think it is best for me and Indian cricket that I focus on Test cricket”

Inevitable as you’d like to suggest, I would term Dravid’s retirement as a loss for Team India, for he never got his due. The man carried the burden of Team India, played a phenomenal role in the 1999 and 2003 World Cups, gave the team the much required balance by donning the wicket keeping gloves, offered flexibility in the batting order by filling is as an opener at times and as a middle order mainstay on other, and yet without any tantrums, carried on under the shadow of the likes of the flamboyant Tendulkar, Ganguly and Sehwag trio. What’s even more depressing is that fact even as the things settle down eventually, he’ll only be listed as a ‘forgotten hero’ of Indian cricket!

Irrespective of what the man has achieved in his glorious career spanning over 15 years, and how he has done that, I look up to him as a role model. A man who stood up for his team whenever the odds were against it and did whatever he was asked to do, be it batting, wicket-keeping, captaincy, opening or even being humble enough to stay back for the series he’s been surprisingly selected for, only a day after claiming to a leading English national daily that he doesn’t like spending much of time away from his young family. Every word from Dravid’s brief press statement today makes me numb. Bear with me, my heart is in the coffin there with Dravid. And I must pause till it comes back to me.

Originally posted at Sportskeeda.com by me!

Internship at Sportskeeda.com

2011-06-22T18:07:00.000-04:00

Here's the first one- Rahul Dravid: When the going gets Tough, the Tough gets going! http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif

Hope you enjoy reading it! :)

Celebrating 15 Years of The Wall

2011-06-20T04:14:00.000-04:00

It's been 15 years of classy batting, flawless technique, rock solid defense, pure discipline, commitment, hardwork and selflessness, and today, this Player no. 207 is known as 'The Wall' of Indian Cricket team.

A career which began at the Mecca of cricket, Lord's, this day back in 1996, has traveled across the globe, achieving milestones and scaling new peaks. Batting, bowling, extraordinary fielding, wicketkeeping, opening, captaincy, he's done it all for his Team.

Countless outstanding innings, countless matches saved, countless records shattered.. A salute to a glorious career completing 15 years today! No matter what people say, no matter what the statistics reflect, he'll remain a legend forever. Commitment, Consistency and Class well personified!

Today, as India take on West Indies in the first of the three Test match series, this man steps into Sabina Park representing his country for a mammoth 150th time. This certainly is his last tour to the Caribbean and most certainly the first of the last few series of an outstanding career. And for Once I'd love to be proven wrong by this man.. till then, Happy 15th! :)

Celebrating 14 years of The WALL

2010-06-20T16:57:00.000-04:00

Yes, it's anniversary celebrations for Dravidians!

For a Dravid fanatic like me, the new year begins on June 20th, the day when Rahul Dravid made his debut for India in test cricket, only to be renamed as the Mr. Dependable and Mr. Consistent, by far the most consistent batsmen India has ever produced.

The last year, on field, was not that happening, though his appearance for his state team Karnataka was one proud moment! the IPL too wasn't that exciting although there were some outstanding knocks towards the end of it.

Off field, the last year has been by far the best in my 10 years of fanaticism and Dravidism. The DDCA-Karntaka Ranji match at Roshanara Club, Delhi being 'The Most Memorable' time in the last one year. 10-13 Nov 2009, the first meeting, the first conversation, the first autograph, the first photograph and yes, as per my 10 yr old promise, my first interview too! :D

Despite the disappointment of not making it to the Asia Cup team, and being out of the ODI flavour for second consecutive yr, there's still hope, for a man with 21 thousand international runs under his belt, it's just a bad phase. And like the previous many hurdles, he shall overcome this too! :)

It's Celebration time again!
Happy 14th! :)
♥ ♥

Exam fever!

2010-04-25T17:15:00.000-04:00

Wow! I have an exam in less than next 6 hours and I'm blogging! Needless to say, this time, I'm so so so NOT prepared to give exams!

Somebody please kill me for the up-coming week and thrown me back post that! Or don't.

Sigh! More than one reasons for not studying. Can't detail all but definitely quite pissed with one major factor: NOTES!!! Or rather, our AWESOME professors! Hmph!!!

The four subjects this semester are Advanced Reporting, Advanced Editing, Advertising & PR and Media Industry & Management. Easy, Oh yes! But then, a reminder! My course is theoretical. VERY THEORETICAL. And to pass such a papers (or such 4 papers!) you need NOTES! This is the present scenario.

Advanced Reporting: Thank you for not giving us ANY class notes! Or rather, NO notes at all. One photocopy, thats it!
Thank you Google-ji! And you also, Wikipedia-ji. You guys are a savior! I shall now onwards idolize Larry Page and Sergey Brin for this masterpiece! See, I'm a Google-Gen-Kid, I had to Google this as well! Sigh!

Advanced Editing: First ten classes = half the notes. But then, they make absolutely no sense at all. General information, all of it. What is news? Editorial, article, lead and stuff. We can faff better. Anyday! Seriously! I mean that's all we do in papers. Give us more so that we can faff around that. However, the situation is better that Advanced Reporting. I'm glad. Thank you!

Advertising & PR was taught by two different teachers. Hence
Advertising: Write, write some more, and write a bit more. Thats all what we have done in advertising classes, half of which I did not even attend. And when you open the notes, Whoa! they again don't make sense! The syllabus and the notes don't sync. It's all general stuff. So much so that we get bored and star repelling our notebooks. Needless to mention, same teacher as Editing. However, the situation is better than PR. Needless to say same teacher as Reporting.

PR: Huh! Never mind! [Read, Ctrl+C & Ctrl+V Advanced Reporting]
But wait, we have some photostats. Although they don't make any sense till the penultimate page of each copy! Ahaan, well, thats a separate issue, isn't it. We HAVE photocopies at the end of the day. Humongous pile, how can you forget that Vidhu? Remember, thats where you've spent half your pocket money this semester!!!

Media Industry & Management: A. Sir! Our very humble and down-to-earth A. Sir! Our polite A. Sir. Sir is so sweet and so down-to earth man, I tell you! He treats us like his own kids. He treats each one of us like his own grandchildren. and he's very fair and honest with his marking too! He has no favorite student. He marks everybody on her performance, no favoritism at all. For example: Once I missed my internal exam of his subject because I wasn't keeping well because of a damn headache. He didn't give me any grace marks even though I topped university. Instead he asked me to sit for a re-test. However, later he had to cancel the re-test because of his tight schedule. He then gave me passing marks on the basis of my class attendance record so that I don't flunk. This clearly shows how fair minded A. Sir is as a person. This also reflects how caring sir is as he did not let a 'bright' student fail.

Did someone mention MIM notes? Well, this is how he makes us write notes. Yes, the same way for our university exams. At least somewhere I have notes. And I'm preparing to write stories in a similar fashion. Let me concentrate.

Don't you have an exam? Concentrate on your own!

So, where were I?

Bleh!

2010-03-21T12:53:00.000-04:00

Exams are less than a month away and I don't feel like studying.

Agrrrrr!! Have to ikatha karo the notes as well abhi!!

And the assignments! The product is finally done, pheww!! God, I must say Anubha Ma'am ka presentations/assignments/tests are always a learning experience! Two weeks back I learnt, I'm zero abhi tak in MIM. And this time, I think I can make creative greeting cards!

Back to 'to-do list', Sigh! Jyoti and Christy's presentations, with three tests and more assignments and more photocopies! Huh, studying is hectic.

Time kahan hai padhne ko, will anyone please explain!!

Sigh!

Sexism and sport

2010-03-21T10:10:00.000-04:00

Sexism and sport, by Ritu Lalit.

P.S.: Thanks Aunty :)

JLT

2010-03-14T16:26:00.000-04:00

Just wanted to scribble something. Anything. Randomly!

It's been long, isn't it?

And plus, now I have all the time in the world for vellapanti! Literally so. Because with this huge pile of assignments and assignments and more assignments, I don't feel like writing anything! So yes, I have time :D

Kintu parantu, kya likhun?!

Match, oh yes! Apna RCB ka match. Pitt gaye lakin, forget it.

Rahul Dravid played well though. Nothing new na? Kya awesome timing tha yaar!

Fir se Rahul Dravid! Obsessed!

Short and not-so-sweet Bangalore trip, revisited!

2010-03-10T18:12:00.000-05:00

There is more than one reason to hate the Bangalore trip!

And though I haven't spoken much about the first, here's the second.

Now somebody at KSCA please tell me if this is a parking lot or what?!?!?

Beep Beep

2010-03-04T05:21:00.000-05:00

Majorly majorly upset and irritated to the core.

Amazed by the totally random and least organised conduct of the whole thing. One major event and very haphazard. Very poor.

More than anything else, amused by the types of 'co-incidences' that can happen despite having a professional back-up IT team!

Beep!!

Off to the Garden City!

2010-03-03T04:14:00.000-05:00

Leaving for Bangalore in a while...couple of hours precisely.

Hope I do well there. Hope it is as exciting as I'm expecting it to be!
Looking forward to meeting Anil Kumble. Ray Jennings, he's so humble! And of course, THE editor, Sambit Bal!

For a change, hope there's no Rahul Dravid becasue him being there means I don't/can't open my mouth, stare all the while and call myself Dravid instead!

More on this when I return or maybe, LIVE updates!

Cheers!

Life's hectic!

2010-02-28T09:52:00.000-05:00

And for a change, I'm loving it!

Well my to-do list is really long at this time!

1. I have work to be finished by midnight.
2. I have Commonwealth internship assignment to be submitted before morning. This shall be followed by three interviews tomorrow morning. But that should be fun. Talking to young achievers is always fun!
3. Ah, reminds me, Christy Ma'am ka Feb 26th assignment too! But that's now due Tuesday na! Wait, you'll be mentioned in the next post then!
4. Okay, next I have a bit of preparation to be done for Bangalore too. FFC-2 Auditions hain yaar, need to gear up!
5. Oh wow! Bangalore reminds, I also have a couple of assignments from RCB. Deadline, midnight. Or wait, can't we include Monday too, extended weekend it is. I really hope so! Lets see how much can I finish today.
6. Dinner. Well, lunch also for that matter.
7. Sleep.

But then, as I just mentioned earlier, all this hectic schedule is much fun this time around!
Reasons? Next post. Busy abhi. Please.

Bangalore Calling!

2010-02-26T14:13:00.000-05:00

Royal challengers Bangalore announced the finalists of the Fanatic Fans Challenge 2 for the LIVE auditions in Bangalore. And yes, I've made it to the top 9!

So yes, I'm off to Bangalore next week for this! Rahul Dravid's hometown!

Much to my relief, the auditions have been postponed to Wednesday. Well, I'm eager to go and experience this but then I also need to chalk out certain issues, mostly with my mind, before I make the final call.

Or wait, haven't I already decided that I have to have to go, howsoever my mind tries to screw things! Once in a lifetime opportunity yaar!

So, here I cancel all my appointments for the 3rd March for a date with M. Chinnaswammy!

Or wait...ummmm..err, bleh!

Also, many thanks to all those who voted for me and encouraged me for this. Thanks a lot for your support!

Aila, 200!!

2010-02-24T13:28:00.000-05:00

Sachin made a double ton in ODI. Many congrats to the li’l master and his million followers! It is indeed a moment of pride for a cricket-crazy nation like ours.

It was an awesomely brilliant innings from the Master Blaster. Or probably that would be an understatement!

Everybody expected Sachin to get the first double ton in ODIs, more so because he's the only one who could have ever achieved this feat!

No wonder both the other batsmen attempting a double ton couldn’t go beyond 194!

P.S.: Sheesh! I can still figure out a Rahul Dravid connection here with the figures! But this is cricket history’s first double ton by the Sachin, so let this be my first post on Sachin on my blog without any Dravid connection or mention!

P.P.S.: I still have Rahul Dravid in this post, talk about fanaticism!

Shit happens

2010-02-24T09:00:00.000-05:00

Not certainly in the best of moods as I write this, a day later and it still feels terrible. Probably I now understand what a ‘mixed bag ‘of emotions actually is! Probably now I understand life’s patented rule, ‘Shit happens’.

Less than three days ago, I was impatiently waiting for Feb 23rd. The reason being, well I guess, you might have already figured out a certain Rahul Dravid connection by now.

Well yes, Dravid, making a comeback to the shorter version of the game, was leading Karnataka in the Vijay Hazare Trophy QF today. He was back into ODI module after a gap two years (baring the 5 odd matches that he played a couple of months ago) and so were I! Wasn’t that enough a reason to get impatient and follow the age old superstitions? Happy, obviously.

However, the day was a mixed bag. Or rather, not the one I was looking forward to!
Well for those of you again looking for a Dravid connection, he did not disappoint with the bat and led Karnataka into the semis pretty comfortably.

I started this day with a flashback and not really a happy one. So, we shall not really talk about it any more. Raat gayi baat gayi, chuck it!

Slept at about four in the morning to get up all set to cheer for Karnataka and Dravid once again. Trying to cheer up you see. Happy mood.

But the day had a lot more to offer. Left for college early in the morning to reach on time for 9 a.m. class. College till 4 p.m. everyday means it takes us, at least me, two periods to settle down and mentally prepare myself for this long a day dedicated to studies, err, theoretical studies.

Mishika got a text and wasn’t too happy about the Virgin Tree being cut right opposite college, Lakshaya being too attached to the tree. She wanted permission to go out and protest which Jyoti ma’am refused. Not caring much about it, Anda, Eww, Chunnu, Apeksha and Ishani left with Mishika the very next moment. Tensed. I wanted to leave but I stayed back, I’m a fool you see!

Mish then called up five minutes later to inform that its not one tree but at least 15 being cut today on the Siri Fort road and she needed support. I just managed to get the class canceled this time around and we joined her. Bad mood.

Two hours of standing there, protesting, following the people, chasing the higher officers getting in touch with knowledgeable and influential people, cops, court orders, UTIPEC orders and stuff, we still were not sure if we’ll manage to save the trees and the pedestrian space. Bad mood, again. Speculations. Tensed. Planning to get illogical yet logical if they have all the papers and permissions in place.

However, we did manage to get a one day stay order since they did not have the UTTIPEC permission to widen roads for which they need to cut trees. Happy again!

All this done, we had to think beyond the 24 hr hold and devise a plan of action. We were happy and all geared up and preparing for a protest. Too happy, notice.

One experience it was and I wanted to share this. Picked up the phone, dialed the no. I dial the most in any year and got the worst news possible. THE WORST mood ever! It took me more than half an hour to accept it.

Too disappointed, numb and halfheartedly I congratulated everyone for the little success we had managed while protesting and got, rather tired to get involved in the further discussions on the plan of action. My mind was certainly not there anymore.

I wanted to cry. I did, I think. I wanted to ask everyone to shut-up. I wanted to someone to slap me and say how could you even think of it? I wanted to leave college ASAP, damn the protest and everything! Much more than that, I wanted a Ctrl+Alt+Delete option.

Ibn-e-Batuta

2010-02-18T13:47:00.000-05:00

I loved the movie. Gripping story and awesome acting by all the three and the songs were more of an icing on the cake!

Ibn-e-Batuta! For past don’t-know-how-many days, I’ve been singing this song! Couldn’t figure out the word till I heard it loud in the theatre. Didn’t know the meaning till today.

And finding out the meaning was another amusing story! Ah! Let me not narrate this one here. Google ‘Ibn-e-Batuta’ and you’re bound to get amused by the results!

Ibn-e-Batuta has a new identity now! A definition there says Ibn-e-Batuta is a song from a 2010 Hindi movie titled Ishqiya!

I must say, poor guy! Traveled all over, narrated stories, became famous, history books added him, reached Indian film industry, used in a latest chart topper by our very own Gulzar and there, he got lost! Even Google doesn’t recognize him before the fifth page of results! Talk about films and music being an altogether different religion in India!

Blogging FOR Royal Challenegrs Bangalore!

2010-01-18T08:06:00.000-05:00

Now this is like another dream come true!

4a.m. in the morning, unable to find sleep, I switched on the PC to complete a pending college assignment. I wasn’t really in the mood to finish it. It was, no doubt, boring but I had no choice. Bored in less than ten minutes I return to my beloved Farmville on Facebook. My crops were crying for help!

Just then I returned to check the status of my assignment, which I was expecting, would signal finished by itself! Half-hearted Google searches and then, I began compiling the data, again. Little had I realized that it would still end up in my ‘TO-DO’ list!

Reason? My mailbox! 15 mails in a space of 3 hrs!

Random SMS jokes, stupid forward mails, three had a job to offer, another two were willing to pay Rs 10,000 for filling a survey, the last two congratulating for a grand prize! The grand prize being a mutli-million dollar lottery with the popular software company!

I selected all of them in one go and pressed the Delete button with frustration!
But hey! I didn’t read the subject of the last one. It said congrats, but I guess they ain’t asking to claim any damn prize!

I got back to the Trash folder and this is what I found!

From: Nidhi@RCB
Subject: Congrats! You can now blog for RCB

I can blog FOR Royal Challengers Bangalore! I'm a blogger with my favourite IPL team! I'm now a blogger for Dravid's team! Delighted, overjoyed, tears of joy, would all be an understatement. Though I was expecting this sometime early in January, got delayed, but I'm glad I made it!

For those who know my craze for Rahul Dravid and my loyalty for Royal Challengers Bangalore for the same reason, would easily understand how BIGGGGGG this is for me!
It’s Huge, exciting and quite big a platform for an amateur like me!

I’m glad to be a part of same and hereby, thank RCB, Nidhi and everyone in the RCB wagon for their warm welcome!

Royal Challengers…Game for More!

Gautam's confident ahead of title clash

2010-01-08T11:53:00.001-05:00

And here is the second one, before I get permanent with RCB!

Shortly after the semi-final match between Karnataka and UP, I Interviewed Muralidharen Gautam who scored his second ton this season.

And for those expecting Rahul Dravid's interview here, well, wait for the book!

Blogging with RCB!

2010-01-08T11:26:00.000-05:00

Bored to hell in the holidays, I just wrote an article and mailed it to Royal Challengers Bangalore website.

Here's the link to it.

Well, not only it got published, I'll also get blogging space on their website, on Rahul Dravid's birthday, all thanks to Nidhi!

Looking forward to it!

THE Moment!!

2009-11-25T10:48:00.001-05:00

This definitely was a dream come true for me. After 10 years of patience, I finally met Dravid! And as per my 10 yr old promise, my first interview was indeed that of Dravid's!! :)

The meeting with the legend!

2009-08-30T01:59:00.000-04:00

The Wall for The Wall

Sameer's autographed bat!

Sameer getting his bat signed.

Dravid signing the official letter.

Sandeep showing the official letter.

Sameer with Dravid.

A Step Closer

2009-08-20T12:13:00.000-04:00

Probably one of those happiest days of my life. Our efforts to compile the book, Behind The Wall got a new boost today. Our chief guest, the man himself, Rahul Dravid, today gave not only an official go ahead (see pic) for it, but also ensure that he’ll be present for the launch, no matter what!

Our book started about a year ago, Thanks to AB. However, to be really honest, there wasn’t much dedication. This boost I’m sure will now enable us to unite everyone as a team and work for it. Another 6 months and we plan for a grand launch.

Where is a big big question. The participating members are from all over India. Ah, abroad as well. Deciding a venue will be one pain but I guess this is a DREAM project and everyone will care the least about the place and more about how to fit this into the schedule and not miss the grand opportunity to meet the legend face to face. But we’ll make sure Prosper and Mekhala are here in India for the launch.

What a day!

Friends!

2009-08-18T15:26:00.001-04:00

I thought it would be a long day considering we planned to start with Communiqué. But then, one reason or the other and everybody were busy.

Yet I stayed till 3:45 in college, doing what?!
Oh, the print outs of the first drafts. And then framing a time-line for the Communiqué process.
The style sheet too! Though I haven’t added a word to it. Nor have I downloaded the required fonts. Ah! I am LAZY!

I met Ekta after a long while. Well though she is in Gargi, she rarely comes. And the other days, our time table doesn’t allow. This meeting happened after a week almost. Hence, after a long while.

And then, I met another friend after a long time. Three weeks this time, almost. Spent nice two hours chit-chatting with Aru bhua, without realizing it was getting late.
The conversation ranged from the daaru party to trying daaru, to their recent Leh trip and then to our probable trip. Discussing feasible venues for a short trip with college friends. The weather. Goa. The do’s and the don’ts. The points to be remembered. The newspaper, the Journo junction shirt (no, T-shirt, it is) and its color.
Apart from that, a little (actually, more than that) cribbing about the weirdest person on this planet. @##$%!!#@$$@!##@.
Oh! I forgot my hair-cut too. Eventually, I have started liking it. A little. Waiting for someone else’s comments on the same. And I return for those, tomorrow!

Oh yes, I cancelled a meeting with another couple of friends today. The gap, if you are wondering, is four days this time. Have to meet them, and more than that surprise them with the new hair-cut!

Okay now, the Style sheet is the first thing I do tomorrow. Err, I mean, I hope so!
We finally start with the editing. FINALLY!!! Well. I hope so, again! Days will now get longer, for sure!

Back to Office!

2009-08-18T13:53:00.000-04:00

Well, I was told and ordered (and I thought) I must be a little regular with my blog.
Nothing much to update matching the genre of my blog, which is by the way, taking a sporty turn!

Anyhow, let me begin with something sporty.
A visit back to my beloved sports desk at The Asian Age was memorable in more than one ways.

Autowalas going on strike gives you an opportunity to learn more about things and places around. A fortcut to Green Park, a chhota fortcut and the ganda-nala running parallel to my college, I added a lot to my limited knowledge about the vicinity — all thanks to Ishita. Thank you!

Ishita is not lazy, you know! Contrary to my belief, and popular belief as well, she’s active. Really active rather! She walks. On odd days, either with her iPod or a buddy on a phone call, she prefers to walk from college to home and not care about an auto! Kudos girl.

Back to office, Sunit and R. Bhardwaj now sport a new look. Suits them.
Harpreet was a little busy. I wish we had some time to catch up.

However, the most amazing part of the visit was the brief 15-minutes Dravid talk with my first Editor, Rahul Sir. I always knew he was a Dravid fan, his room or rather the posters and photographs said it all, our talk just confirmed it!

I think it was a little foolish to ask him about the photographs however I couldn’t resist the temptation I had for almost two months! And this gave the start to our Dravid talk.

It was nice to see another person and someone like Rahul sir, extremely happy and excited about Dravid’s comeback to the shorter version of the game.
The most amazing part of it was to learn from sir’s experiences in Pakistan’s during Indian ckt team’s historic tour way back in 2004. Most soothing to the ears was sir’s narrative of Dravid’s mammoth 270.

I go back on Wednesday for sir’s interview for my article, my contribution to Communiqué. And yes, I’ll catch up with him a little later as well, for a different interview though!

Oh yes, how can I forget to mention this! I have been asked to come back and design the main sports page again when Dravid scores heavily in the ICC Champions Trophy. More than one reason to look forward to CT.

P.S.: Thanks Ishita for the walk till Green Park. I just realized how close you are to the college!

P.P.S.: Your dog is too cute, I forgot his name though. I don’t normally like dogs, but your pet deserved a mention here.

Celebrating 13 years of THE WALL

2009-06-20T04:35:00.000-04:00

If I'll ever have to ask somebody to bat for my life then it’ll have to be Rahul Dravid — Brian Charles Lara

13 years ago, June 20, 1996, a young cricketer stepped at cricket’s Mecca, Lord’s, becoming the 207^th player to represent India in international Cricket.

Making his debut for India with an ambition to be one bracketed amongst his idols, Gavaskar and Vishwanath, this player no. 207 for India is now known as THE WALL of the Indian Cricket team, the most dependable and consistent batsman Indian cricket has ever produced.

13 years have passed ever since Dravid made his debut and with his flawless, classy technique, charismatic batting and rock solid defense, undoubtedly the man has not transformed himself into the most reliable Test player and most dependable bat in world but has also achieved his ultimate goal.

With over 10,000 runs in both Tests and ODIs, a record 184 Test catches, 5 double centuries and countless match winning efforts, the man silenced all his critics with his bat. Once labeled as unfit for ODI, the man today has an unmatched record not only in ODIs but also the shortest format of the game, T20.

His contribution to the Indian Cricket has been immense, and correctly summed up by Navjot Singh Sidhu, “Rahul is a player who’ll walk on broken glass if his team tells him to.”

To Dravid,

Started watching cricket the day you scored your first double ton in Delhi. Ever since then, I knew one thing, until Dravid is there, no harm done!

As a cricket fan I have grown up learning Dravid and defeat can’t be framed into one sentence. As far as I remember, the only time you’ve disappointed me was the day you got married!

Thank you for those amazing 13 years you’ve selflessly dedicated to Indian cricket.

Thanks for giving the confidence to tell the world that I am “Proud to be a Rahul Dravid Fan”

Thanks for being there whenever the team required.

Hats off to you!

With LOVE!

Purnima

Where is IPL heading to?

2009-06-18T06:04:00.000-04:00

(Originally written in May 2008)

A television commercial termed DLF Indian Premier League as ‘manoranjan ka baap’, another stated it to be ‘Cricket weds Entertainment’. And surely, BCCI’s new buzz, DLF Indian Premier League (IPL) has so far, by all means, lived up to the expectations of the cricket fanatics, if not that of the organizers.

Eight state based teams, big shots like Mukesh Ambani, Vijay Mallya, Shahrukh Khan and Preity Zinta et al paying handsome packages, buying the best men for their franchise, glittering promotional events and videos, enrolling superstars and the newly adopted concept of cheerleaders- this added tinge of glamour to India’s favorite game of cricket has proven to be a true entertainer with all the ingredients of a hit Indian entertainment recipe—movie stars, cricket demigods their blind hitting and of course the controversies.

By segregating one Team India into eight teams, the organizers aspired to provide a huge opportunity to the players, both seniors and juniors alike, to showcase their talent and also gain experience by including overseas players. The basic motive behind BCCI’s multi-crore endeavor was to generate a pool of players for the very competitive form of the game.

But alas! In the opening stages itself the sheer fun and joy was marred by a couple of controversies which have rocked the cricketing extravaganza— one due to the lack of adaptability of our political gurus and the other due to the lack of discipline amongst the players.

With just the inaugural edition of the action packed, adrenaline pumping contests on the field so far, and there have been numerous ‘issues’ related to it off the field. The cricketing action would start in the evening and the controversies it created help keep the media and the audience in its grip all day long. Unfortunately cricket took the back seat and controversies grabbed all the attention.

First the Maharashtra MLAs objected to the concept of cheerleaders. For them, those firangi, scantily clad girls, doing nothing more than their mere job, should be banned for obscenity. For those leaders, the cheerleaders are violating their cultural ethics. The leaders have been poking their nose into any thing and everything which is not even distantly related to their portfolios.

The basic idea behind the introduction of the cheerleaders was to motivate the players, to pep up things and create some buzz on the field. Rather than welcoming and adapting to the new concept, these leaders, are debating it’s compatibility to India’s culture. If somebody could ask them, please, that if a foreign concept of T-20 could be well adopted then why not that of the cheerleaders? Are the politicos genuinely concerned about the moral upliftment of the masses or just feeling left out of the IPL glamour?

And then the two poster boys of young and aggressive Team India landed the BCCI and themselves in an embarrassing situation. The Harbhajan Singh and Sreesanth spat made headlines after the former slapped the latter after losing the match between their teams. Another controversy was sparked off between Sourav Ganguly and Shane Warne in the later stages of the first round. Public displays of such emotions or rather aggression shows the psychology of the player. Such players misuse their celebrity status, their behavior clearly underlining the dangers of nurturing the star status system in the land of cricket fanatics. Such cases should be severely dealt with.

No doubt, IPL would help to enhance the competitive spirit amongst the players but would the players be able to shed their king size egos and gel together as Team India? The experience, exposure and pool of players generated would be of no use if the players carry forward their IPL bickering to Team India.

Again there were news of some of the franchisees firing the local players who had not been used in the tournament that far. The motive behind the launch of the event was to nurture the young, local talent and help them showcase their talent. Yet the owners of the franchise would not care enough for them and only banked upon the aged ‘stars’.

These controversies were of no good, and ended up hampering the motive, spirit and aspirations with which the mega event was launched. With the turn of events so far it would not be far from reality to state that this way, in the long run, IPL would only ruin the spirits of the Indian Cricket team.

Although quite early to say, yet with just a single edition into the cricket carnival and the way these controversies took the center stage, the question looms large that—where is the IPL taking the Indian cricket to? With all the added glitz and glamour, has cricket moved from being a game to an entertainment package?

Catch 182

2009-04-10T04:20:00.000-04:00

It has been a really long long wait. In the first test match against NZ, Rahul Dravid equaled Mark Waugh’s world record of 182 (most no. of) catches in test matches.

The wait, it seemed, was almost over!
Then came tough call, he dropped Daniel Vettori off Harbhajan Singh’s bowling and he missed the record! NZ’s innings came to an end and all the eyes were now set on the next match.

The man on the verge of a world record went without a catch in the second test match, much to the disappointment of his millions of fans. And Mr. Waugh said he is not a natural catcher…huh!?!

Focus shifts to the next match, if not now then not in nearly three months… NZ first innings too couldn’t get him there…India declared its second innings… piled up a huge target for the Kiwis and there was one last chance to achieve the rare milestone.

Innumerous prayers, to Allah, to Bhagwaan, to God and to Guruji… Fingers were crossed… “Edge one plz, just one. For once plz…”
I remember chanting it half asleep and almost completely dead. Despite the fever, despite feeling extremely weak, I made it a point to watch it LIVE. And I had to wait for a very brief period.

McIntosh finally edged this one to the third slip…Rahul Dravid was there… The catch wasn’t easy…but the man greeting it was tougher!

Reading the bowler’s intention and calculating the batsman’s movement, Dravid dived forward and low to take a really sharp catch. He caught it, slipped on the field, got back and in a rare display of emotion on the field; he planted a kiss on the cherry!

With the catch came the record! Rahul Dravid has now become the record holder of maximum number of catches in Tests, playing as non-wicketkeeper.

With 184 not out and still another couple of seasons left in him…the target is gonna be really tough for the successor!
What say, Mr Waugh??

Untitled...

2009-02-24T12:51:00.000-05:00

I flipped back a page and glanced through it. It wasn’t there. I flipped another page and then another. I had ‘read’ three pages since the thought provoking sentence but, involved in the process of skimming through the pages to find it again, I realized that I have merely read ahead and haven’t understood a word.

My absent mindedness while cramming the Indian Politics was about to scandalize me when I hit the target. I spotted the sentence I was looking for.

Yes, I had read it correctly. Yet I read it thrice again.
‘The Supreme Court slapped a fine of Rs. 10,000 on a petitioner for filling a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) who wanted Sindh to be replaced by Kashmir in the Indian national anthem.’

Sindh, Karachi’s capital…Sindh is in Pakistan not India.

“Dad, isn’t Sindh in Pakistan?” I questioned although assured of an affirmative answer to that.

“Since India’s independence in 1947”, he snapped back!

Neither understanding my emotions nor knowing how to react to it, I immediately Googled and studied the details.

The Union Home Ministry had to say that ‘tampering with the lyrics could destroy the National anthem and is not desirable’.

To quote Indian Express’ e-paper, The Centre’s affidavit averred: “The National Anthem is a highly emotive issue; any alteration/substitution in the Anthem will not only distort but also almost destroy the Anthem...Any tampering with a finely constructed poem or song, particularly of one of our greatest poets Gurudev Rabindranath, is not desirable.” The Sindhi Council of India also filed an affidavit supporting the Centre’s stand.

The fire that erupted half an hour ago, subdued. Not completely so. Discouraged and half convinced, I threw myself back into the book and continued what I am worst at, studying Indian politics!

But the focus had shifted.
“Was the partition of our nation desired? No! It happened because the existing circumstances in the country at that time made it inevitable. Isn’t it politically incorrect to include Sindh, or for that matter any part of the ancient India, when it is no more a part of the nation? Or is it because the national anthem is a composition of the legendary Rabindranath Tagore? But then again, why is the remixed version of a popular Bollywood number encouraged when these remixes by DJs are again a tampering of the lyrics and music of great composers?”

The questions continue to haunt…

Life after Death: Are we secure now?

2008-12-05T09:07:00.000-05:00

The Times of India (TOI) Student Edition carries a special feature, ‘Words Worth, d of d day’ and the December 4 word of the day was AK56! Rightly so, now that the politicians aren’t working in the direction of ensuring security for the individuals, the media has taken up the job.

With concern in every citizen’s mind over the issue of personal security, a man carried his (licensed) revolver in and outside the station. No, that attempt wasn’t to counter the possibility of another attack, but it was just another disclosure of the lack of effective checking methods at the station which had been attacked not a week ago. After his successful attempt to carry the gun, the man questioned the security men as to why wasn’t he caught when the metal detector rang an alarm. Surprisingly, they answered they couldn’t hear the alarm!

Exactly a week after the Mumbai aftermath, an eight Kg RDX bomb was found in a bag lying with the bags and luggage of the terror attack victims at Chatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST). CST was the first place where the terrorists opened indiscriminate firing on the fateful night of the 26 of the last month. People running for their lives, in an attempt to save themselves ran out of the station leaving there luggage/bags behind. The terrorists, who came with the sole purpose to cause maximum devastation, left the bomb amongst the bags before fleeing the station. After the attacks, the police sanitized the station and locked up the left behind bags in a room. Gradually usual crowd resumed and unexpectedly a week after the bomb, in an unclaimed bag, is discovered when the police officials were distributing the bags to the kin of the deceased.

Fortunately the bomb never exploded but this again puts a question mark over the work of the officials who sanitized the area and declared it safe. This has again uncovered the negligent way in which our police force works. Had the bomb exploded the causalities would have been much larger. What more that the bomb lay there for a complete week! Is that how the police sanitized the entire railway station, without checking the bags? Where were the sniffer dogs? Where were the metal detectors? How did the police declare the station safe without a meticulous check-up?
And now after the discovery of the bomb at CST, fresh grilling of the caught jihadi, Azam Amir Kasav, has sent a chill down the spine of the Mumbai police force. He claims that each of the ten terrorists carried a bomb which leaves one bomb un-accounted for…is he again fooling the police as he has been taught in his training by his bosses? Or is it the truth?
In a larger perspective: Are we safe now? Within a week of such unprecedented attacks, twice has been the negligence of Mumbai police uncovered. And this wouldn’t have been any different had it been any other part of India. When the police or the government officials will work towards the safety of the individuals? Every citizen’s blood is boiling, protests are raging in every part of the country, and fear of security has filled up everybody’s mind. Instead of sympathizing with the families of the deceased, the politicians too were busy, busy throwing dirt on the opposition leaders and producing a vote bank for themselves in the process. It was pity to see the politicos blaming the opponent and pleading votes in favor of their party! Can anyone please ask these political gurus to keep their mouth shut for a while? We don’t need their expert opinions on the failure of their opposition; instead what we need is an accountable, responsible government. What we need is security for every individual who runs a risk of being victimized, dying an untimely death.

Life after Death: A question unanswered…

2008-12-04T12:03:00.000-05:00

Mumbai, Nov. 29 : An official of the Mumbai Disaster Control Office on Saturday confirmed that the death toll in the terrorist strikes has risen to 195. He also said that the number of injured is presently pegged at 295.
Revealing the statistics, Shantaram Jadhav was quoted by an agency as saying:"The death toll is likely to rise because there are still bodies in our vans that are being brought into hospitals."
His comment came as commandos of the National Security Guard (NSG) were continuing with their mopping up and sanitising operations at the beseiged Taj Mahal Hotel after killing the four terrorists.

Exactly a week after the 60 hour terror strikes, Mumbai is back on track. Still on its way to recovery, “Mumbai never stops for this long”. Numerous protests are raging in every corner of the country, some against the politicians and some against the terrorism.

And amid all this, their looms a huge question mark over the body count at the Taj. A couple of hours after the aftermath ended there, the national media claimed that it has received the estimated body count but were not revealing till the official confirmation was done. This was keeping in mind the sentiments of the people who where still, hoping against all hopes, searching for their loved ones who have been victimized by unprecedented terror strikes.

The media kept speculating about the lapse of time as the official confirmation wasn’t coming. The media even speculated about the toll being as high as about the double of what the government officials had by then revealed.
Yet none did reveal the exact number of causalities there, nor came the official word on the same.

Non official sources claim the body count to be 99 alone inside Taj on the evening of 29th, when the sanitization process was still underway. NSG chief said the body count couldn’t be revealed because the hotel was yet to be searched room by room. Every other official echoed the same comment when questioned on it.
November 30th, the Taj handed over to the management by the NSG, yet no one reveals the total number of causalities. Now it has been closed down for a year. A year, they say, is the anticipated amount of time required to rebuild the Taj.

The question is if keeping the public updated on the status of the attacks and rescue operations via LIVE coverage was the so called duty of media then why isn’t the media fulfilling its duty by updating the people about the exact number of causalities? Why is media now only focusing on the dirty politics being played? Why is the public being kept unaware of the total devastation caused by the militants? When will the figures be confirmed? And by whom?

To do or NOT TO DO…

2008-12-03T03:50:00.000-05:00

How apt was it to telecast a LIVE coverage of the Mumbai rescue Operations inside Taj, Nariman House and Oberoi Hotels?

With negligible empathy for the person, a journalist interviews a husband whose wife was trapped inside the Taj about how he feels and what was he telling his children about their missing mom. Following the military instructions (very ironically) she says the media have been requested not to divulge the details of the operations and then goes LIVE on air reveling the number and positioning of the commandos at each of the three places while the operations were still in the crucial stages. Precisely an hour after the world knew that the militants have been shot dead by the commandos, the same journalist does a ‘thumbs up interview’ with a commando and goes on top of her voice to ‘inform’ the world that there were ‘no more terrorists inside’.

The NSG chief himself condemned the media for divulging important details like the airdropping of commandos and their positioning in and around the complexes saying that “it took away the element of surprise for the militants and might have jeopardized the entire operation.”
Of course the calamity was of national importance and the citizens of the nation needed to be made well aware of the situation. But was the entire bullet by bullet, LIVE coverage of the epic necessary knowing that it might compromise with the safety of the hostages?
The media went on record mentioning the Maharashtra CM Vilasrao Deshmiukh’s visit to the Taj Hotel along with his actor son Ritesh Deshmukh and director friend, Ram Gopal Verma, labeling it as insensitive and ruthless act. But if this was insensitive and ruthless, so was the no coverage of Chatrapathi Shivaji Terminus (CST) railway station or any of the hospitals and of the situation of ordinary people, their travails and trauma. For media, the prime focus was to cover the journalist Sabina Saikia, actor Ashish Choudhary’s sister, Yes Bank chairman Ashok Kapur’s tragic and untimely death, and the miraculous and (ironically) lucky escape of Israeli and Italian two year old kids. The media by its callous conduct and attitude showed that its sensationalism that sells and gets you TRPs!
The media need to have some respect for the people, their sentiments, before doing what they are "best at" -sensationalize the issue. Not to blame the junior journalists who have to serve media organizations which, amongst themselves have a cut throat competition in terms of TRP ratings and sensationalism, but the heartless reporting of the whole issue by some of the eminent senior and reputed journalists left the entire nation awestruck. The media, it seemed was immune to the sensitivity of the situation, especially when the operations were still happening and no less when it got over.

I have followed the news coverage very closely, for 48 if not the horrendous 60 hours, I am a media student myself but I overtly condemn the media’s LIVE Video coverage of military operations as sensitive as these. After watching the LIVE coverage of the terror attacks I am petrified to step out of home, thanks to media and not the terrorists who have been brilliantly portrayed so. Watching it LIVE was my choice, but after all that I strongly feel that had the media been blacked-out during the span of the operations, the fear and panic instilled amongst the common mass would have been of much lesser degree. Talking in terms of the Mass Society theorists, however limited effect of the media have been empirically proven, media especially the new age media still have the ‘Magic Bullet’ effects amongst the youth at least.
In my opinion, the media has played a very immature role in the recent attacks whether it is covering the rescue operations LIVE or thrusting microphones at those who were in a state of shock just after being rescued. The protection and safe rescue of the hostages should have been the prime concern for both the commandos and the media and keeping that in mind the key information about their hideout should not have been aired publically. True, immediacy has been one of the major reasons for the roaring success and popularity of the electronic and new age media and the ever escalating dependency upon them, but so driven by the hunger of TRPs and sensationalism the media totally compromised with the lives of the hostages.

Co-incidence..?!!?

2008-09-14T12:24:00.000-04:00

It had been a long, boring and very monotonous week at college designing the department newspaper till about 8 or 9 in the night every alternate day. By Saturday I was exhausted yet was busy doing some fine tuning of the final design from my side before the scheduled class with our design teacher at 1:30 P.M.(the session with eventually began at 3 P.M.).

I knew I was not getting anything, I wasn’t able to concentrate and suddenly in the middle of the class decided to leave stating the reason that my system had crashed and dad was not able to repair it!

On my way back home I got a call from dad that he called up a hardware person and system is working again. I was in no mood to go back to college and work till late again!
Luckily as I cancelled dad’s call, I got a call from my friend asking my whereabouts. And then came the tempting offer to spend the evening at India Gate†. I got down from the bus at India Gate but could not trace my friends there. After an effort of 20 minutes of finding each other, we decided to reach Connought Place(CP).

I got down at PVR Plaza and walked to the metro station of B block asking my friends to meet me there. Standing outside the metro station I looked up for the busy Barakhamba Metro Station* stop and made a mental note of the way to be traced while going back to home(I get a direct to home bus from Barakhamba metro station). Next I got a call from my friends to reach Regal Cinema†, Connought Place. I refused to walk as I had already proceeded towards Barakhamba road and so could not see the Regal Cinema and hence was very much confused about the directions.

We finally met at 5:25 at Central Park* lawns near the B block CP and all of us were hungry much because of the Mc Donald’s right in front of us. Two of us went and brought our burgers and Coke. We roamed in the Central Park lawns, enjoying our coke, noticing the kids playing there and then Shruti suggested going to Greater Kailash M block market* near my college instead of staying in the park! Majority refused taking into consideration the distance to be covered. i refused going near to the college! Shoppers of our group suggested Palika Market and yet again majority refused. “Lets go and check the next show timings at Regal”. Just then, before we could even think upon the (not so bright!) suggestion, a little girl in pink dress and a pink balloon gathered the attention of all of us. She came to me and pointed at the balloon wala (from where she apparently bought it) standing above the underground Palika market, almost adjacent to the park I played with her for a few moments and then we decided to sit and enjoy the pleasant weather. Before that we threw our napkins and coke bottles in the dustbin* lying nearby.

And just when we were about to sit a friend of mine got a call about the Gaffar market blasts(the area just next to her door!) and was ordered to reach home ASAP! We left the park that very moment It was 6:24. We could not cross the road for another two minutes because of the traffic and meanwhile I thought of calling my grandmom who goes Karol Bagh area (some famous mandir there) every evening. Failing to recall her number, I called up dad and told him about the blasts! It was 6:30 and I just took the metro tokens. We proceeded to board the train and even before we could board it a dustbin in the Central Park blew up!

In the metro train we got another call about the blasts at Central Park near Palika market at CP! We all were shocked and all the more puzzled. Everybody else thanked god for being lucky enough to escape the deadly blast, everybody else…I could only see the face of the little girl. The blast had happened in a dustbin in Central Park near the Palika! OMG!

Next came the call of the blast outside the Barakhamba Metro station and for a moment I froze. I looked around and saw the underground CP metro complex...for I would have usually rushed to the same metro station to catch the earliest bus but I don’t know why I joined my friends for the CP metro station despite knowing this would not take me home directly and I will have to walk half a kilometer to reach home if I take the metro route.

“That was damn close you idiots, I suggested going to M block (Greater Kailash)” said Shruti. “Had you followed my suggestion we could have left considerably before the blasts…” she continued. It was 6:54 and we get the next call of the serial blasts at M block Greater Kailash! None of us spoke for next few minutes, Shruti stood frozen at her position. Then wishing each other safe journey ahead we got off the train at respective metro stations.

The third bomb blew in Delhi barely a few hundred meters away and the fourth one as well! Though I could not even hear the explosion yet I have this strange feeling of luck having left the place barely five minutes before the blast. For moments I was shaking but to be really honest, I felt frustrated as if I missed ‘something.’ And the frustration grows up as I write this…. Throughout the evening I have been to as many as four places which were the targets (two blasts happened and two were later diffused). I actually felt like going back to Central Park right that moment...
Why? I myself cannot answer this at the moment! All I know is that I have a trip pending to...

* Places where the blasts happened in Delhi.
† The places where the bombs were later diffused!
Too much of co-incidence…wasn’t that??!!??
I would like to state here another strange fact.
In the afternoon I was asked (rather ordered) by some one to post another article at my “dead” blog! I was given the deadline of Sunday 7 P.M.(I know I am 3 hrs. late but at least I did!).
So I was wondering what to write in such a short span, matching to the genre of my blog (if I can call it so!!), that too when I was expecting a lot of changes to be suggested by the design teacher which means a lot of homework! At the same time I knew I will have to write something. But what? Nothing striking at that very moment, I went for the designing class not bothering much about it! (I am so very sorry!).
I could hardly concentrate in the class and thought of doing something more interesting and again the blog came to my mind. I thought hard but could not figure out anything. Left with no choice, I tried concentrating at the computer screen praying for something ‘strange’ to happen for me to write!

A Protest Against Insanity...!!

2008-08-03T09:12:00.000-04:00

In the course of a single day itself, hundreds of devotees visit Akshardham Mandir, thousands of workers land up at the construction site of Commonwealth Games Village and as many commuters traverse the Nizamuddin Bridge but literally a very few takes the notice of it. The traffic woes over the bridge forces them to spend about an hour crossing the 750m stretch, the time they spend appreciating the beauty of the Mandir or commenting at the plight of the deteriorating Yamuna river. The sight of the upcoming Commonwealth Games Village excites them all. But nearly all are either unaware or ignorant of the fact that between the two colossal structures and on the periphery of the bridge lays unrest! A movement that took birth over a year ago and, sadly enough, is still in its infancy.

I have been one of the commuters and had been noticing the banners since the past couple of days. To be honest, being a sports enthusiast, I never read the banners on the day I noticed them because the first thought that came to my mind was that the protest is against the Commonwealth Games! “How insane is this? These people don’t want games to happen, spoilsports!” The banners and the whole idea of the protest against kept repeating in my mind all through the day and I made it a point to remember reading their ‘words’ the next day. To my surprise...yes it was a protest, a protest against the Commonwealth Games Village, but…but for a humanitarian cause! I felt shocked and more than anything else, I was embarrassed by my thoughts…but the very next moment I resolved to bring to the notice of every person I can…

It was raining heavily ten minutes back and its shining brightly now. But these conditions don’t affect their spirits. Everyday they worship the huge framed portrait of Mahatma Gandhi-their mentor. The trunk and the branches of a huge tree supports their plastic shed beneath which they spend their entire day in protest…a protest for a noble cause…a plea to save the Yamuna and hence mankind…
“The Yamuna Satayagrah was launched on August 1, 2007 under the leadership of Rajendra Singh against the construction of Commonwealth Games Village on the riverbeds of Yamuna…mind you, its not against the games...” one of the members started briefing me about the history of the campaign(in hindi) and continued till we were joined by the vice president of the movement, Baljeet Singh.

“Sarkaar ko isse kya matlab hai, wo to iss sab se paise kama rahi hai…humare pet pe laat maarkar…hum kisaanon ko beghar kar ke…” (Government isn’t bothered about this issue; they are only earning money…leaving the farmers starved and homeless!) remarks Baljeet Singh, a retired teacher, PGT Economics and the vice president of the Satyagrah.

“Vote humara wohi lega, jo yamuna mein sanan karega” (We shall vote for the one who will take a dip in Yamuna) says a banner, “Kutab se Taj, ek hi awaaz, jiye Yamuna to jiye jan jan” cries another! But depressingly, their cries are confined to their shed only. They lament the progress of their cause due to ‘occasional media coverage’. “Haanji media ka kuch saath to mila hai lakin uske bavajood bhi ye abhi tak ek mass movement nahi ban paya hai…media aur logon ko isse kya lena hai…” says Mahavir Singh. He continues “Aap future ki soche, aage to pani ki kami sabko satayegi…tab pal bhar mein ka kar lenge ye log? Hum to aane wali peedhi ke bare mein soch rahen hain…” (You think about the future, in near future we all shall face water shortage…what will they be able to do then within seconds? We are thinking about the future generation…)
Baljeet Singh further elaborates on the same focusing on the reasons for people’s and media’s ignorant behavior. “More than eighty percent of the residents of Delhi are not migrants from other states who have settled here either for education or work/money. Why would they be concerned about the Yamuna and its deteriorating water quality when there are getting packaged water in the market? It is we, the poor people who depend upon natural water resource, who are being affected the most…. Media hasn’t been able to transform this into a mass movement because we don’t have a celebrity attached with our protest. Is this justice?” He then points to a white board with ‘368’ written on it with green, blue and red ink, signifying the 368 days of their protest against insanity…

I was wondering ever since we sat down for the chat that why these people were against the progress of the riverbed-DDA’s conscious effort…but already being too embarrassed by my thoughts I could not muster the courage to question them… “Here they are echoing about the usefulness of riverbed… Of course it would be a crazy question to ask” I restricted myself a ten times. But fortunately Mahavir Singh’s further criticism clarified the residual doubts. “Hum ye nahi chahte ke sarkaar is kshetra ka vikas na kare, kare, lakin riverbed ko riverbed he rehne de phr chahe ye jameen hum kisan ke paas ho ya phir reliance k paas…aur jahan tak khel ka sawaal hai, aur bhi kayi jagah hain jahan iska nirmaan kiya ja sakta hai…” (We don’t say that the government should not develop the region, it should, but the riverbed should remain a riverbed irrelevant of the fact that its ownership is with the farmers or with a private company! And as far as the games are concerned, the village can be built at many other alternative places…)
“The riverbed is now being converted into a concrete jungle! Moreover they are building multi storey flats, malls, hotels and other residential quarters inside the Games village. It shall even include the metro complex! Is this what I riverbed is used for? This will severely impact the survival of the river which is already under stress. Ask the government or us the farmers whether the sand here can withstand concrete?” complained Baljeet Singh, almost in tears by now… “Moreover mukhya mantri Sheila Dikshit ji kehti hain ke ye waste land hain…hum sirf isko beautify kar rahe hain…” (Moreover Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit says it’s just a wasteland and we are only beautifying it!)

By now I was convinced, and I am sure many of you would also be, that this site isn’t the best place to host foreigners for a twelve day event leaving behind our own farmers homeless, jobless and starved for their entire life!

“The protest isn’t just against the construction of the Games Village at this place, a similar protest, at a much larger scale, was launched in 2000 as well when the site got the approval for the construction of the Akshardham complex. But the government, using the police force, suppressed the voice of the protesting farmers and succeeded in vacating the area for the construction”, continues Baljeet Singh. “Hum kisaanon ko to pehle he beghar kar chuke hain…humari rozi roti ka saadhan cheen liya…ghar cheen liye…mandir hata diye, ye sab kuch sirf ek Akshardham banane k liye…” The moment I heard those words, I was shivering. It was pity and anger, anger against the government. His words were extremely provoking! And the beauty of the temple, that I too once appreciated, seemed to be of no relevance anymore!

Welcome!

2008-08-01T12:18:00.000-04:00

Hi
Well here's another beginner-this is my first ever blog(as well as my first homework as a journo student..!) so it might just not be very well updated(an excuse I can give just for the inital phase!).
However I have promises to keep and miles to go before I sleep...

Anything in the limelight becomes a point of discussion, sure you will find my opinions on them as well, but things that go unnoticed is something that interests me...covering them would be a perfect blend of fun and work...
I shall connect with you as and when I have something good, unobserved and interesting to share...

Cheers!
Purn!ma