Musings

Well, well, it can't be as ironic as this. The first ODI held at Rajkot was a run fest with the ball not doing anything but accept the batsman's hit, the last ODI at Delhi had a different dish though, where the ball had its revenge, it hit the batsman! Yes, it is not good to watch the batsmen getting hit quite regularly like that. It is bit tough to bat on that surface as the ball did few things off-the-pitch. The trick was the 'variable' bounce on offer. Now, suddenly the pitch becomes dangerous and in-conducive to batting and the play was called off. With all the gears that the batsman wears, I just can't understand how a pitch can be dangerous. There is a helmet, a arm guard, a chest guard, a thigh guard as protective gears. This almost covers the entire body of the batsman from getting hit by the red-cherry (the cricket ball!). With so much covering, still they get hit means there must be something terribly wrong somewhere. This pitch called for a superior t

Mahatma Gandhi once famously quipped... "India will attain her real independence only when her girl can walk alone in midnight without any fear" . I know, I didn't translate the exact message, but the crux is given here. I think, this is true with any independent nation. A nation that offers equal rights to all people, not only in words but in action too. A nation that treats ever citizen equally, be it the prime minister of the country or your low-lying beggar down the street, is the real independent country. But, I have always thought why did Gandhi chose to say 'girl' rather than 'anyone'. I believe, he thought, the women to be the weaker among the two sexes and so being more gullible to torture and offence. How true this statement is! You keep hearing the news about woman child molestation and sexual harassment each and every day now-a-days and there seems to be no stopping of this. There are only a few that catches the attention of the media (read sen

Gujarat government has announced that the citizens have to compulsorily cast their votes in the upcoming local body elections. Now, this is a serious stuff and a very hot topic for debate. Our media, not the one to shy away from such 'sensational' stuffs have all gone ga-ga over this proposal. At one end, they complain of poor voter turn outs in the elections and on the other hand, they call the compulsory voting as a 'force feeding' of democracy. Are there any better way to ensure proper voter turn outs? For one, I think, making voting compulsory, although sounds rigid, may be actually something good for the citizens. Even after 60 long years of democracy, the citizens are yet to realize the power of their votes. A single vote can change the government itself. I think, some times it is not a bad idea to be rigid. Much like the way mothers force-feed their babies, although much to their dislike. But, she knows, the feeding is essential for the kid's growth. Likewise

Lot of pundits and purists have questioned the pitch of the Rajkot ODI cricket match. There were more than 825 runs scored by both the teams put together. But, there were also 15 wickets that were taken. I'm no expert on the pitch analysis and I don't want to get into those vagaries. But, one thing I want to stress upon is the efficiency of the bowlers. Yes, the batsmen were going hammer and tongs at the bowlers and were scoring boundaries at will. One thing I noticed in the match is a literal resignation of the bowlers from both the teams. No pace bowler was bending his back to get that extra pace to unsettle the batsman. No spinner, barring Harbajan, was trying to bowl different lines and length to confuse the batsman. They were literally feeding the batsman the same deliveries and got the same result. I don't understand why no expert is questioning the dearth of intelligent and hard working bowlers from either side. After India amassed a total in excess of 400, it liter