Musings

The Asian games is going on in Guangzhou, China now. As usual, our Indian atheletes are struggling hard to get medals. You can't blame them. They are trying as much and to the best of their abilities. So, Kudos to all the winners. My rant is not about that, but more about the Indian media's coverage of the games. You can't get it more partial than this. Can you? While every Indian's bronze medals are touted to the maximum extent, there is no mention about the utter dominance of China in this games. I think, they have completely overwhelmed every other participating nation. In a way, it is like saying, "you guys are no match to us!". Yes, they did prove their mettle in the Beijing Olympics and they were far superior to even the mighty USA. There was not a single mention about such an utter dominance of China in the media. They were happy to report only the 'highs-and-lows' of the Indian contingents. I'd like the media to get over this and present a ...

I'm trying to comprehend the necessary for this tri-series at the first place. I used to follow Cricket matches more closely and of late, lost a lot of interest and I'm not even reading the newspaper updates on the Cricket scores (am I ageing??). I'm getting more skeptical about the tri-series that is going on in Zimbabwe (or is it already over?). The teams include India, SriLanka and Zimbabwe. One cannot get more tired than watching an India-SriLanka cricket match. It has been happening so regularly of late that nobody wants to watch them play anymore. I think, to have an even match, the selectors of India and SriLanka have sent their B team (or C or Z team) for this series. As otherwise, the contest would be too one-sided for the public (I mean the Zimbabwe public) to get interested. So, one could understand the grouse of this person in CricInfo. http://www.cricinfo.com/zim-tri2010/content/story/462208.html Yes, the team sent is not the first choice XI. But, that is not r...

The NDTV flashed the news about a cobbler's son, who cracked the IIT JEE exams and got admitted into the prestigious IIT. Now, the next problem starts, he can't pay the college fees. http://www.ndtv.com/news/cities/iit-cracked-but-no-money-for-fees-28788.php?u=1047 What an irony here! He has struggled hard to pass through the examinations but now finds himself at the cross roads again. His parents, who are already struggling to make their ends meet are now put in under more duress to realize their son's dream. I really pity that kid's situation. Now, the NDTV is splashing this news and is looking for magnanimous donors to sponsor this kid's education. On one hand, I'm glad that media is playing its part in highlighting this precarious situation and hopefully help that kid to achieve his dream. On the other hand, I'm just questioning the need for the same. I'm just thinking why can't the IITs (and other prestigious universities here) sponsor such kid...

That is the HOT news for today. The IPL 3 player bidding happened today. There were a pool of 66 players across different cricket playing nations and only 12 were eligible for selected (read as available vacancies in the IPL teams). I, for one, am not surprised that the IPL team owners decided to shun away from selecting, rather bidding, for Pakistan players. IPL is after all a business and the owners are hard-core business men and women. They definitely know what they are doing. They have invested so much money on this and would like to reap benefits, aka profits. The ignoring Pakistan player part looks quite obvious to me. I'd have been surprised if one were selected. See, there is a rift between the two governments and the Pakistan player's participation in the IPL-3 is under doubt as there will be VISA processing issues. Why would anyone bid against a player, whom they know may not get to play in the matches? I don't think it is worth the risk to put money on the player...

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...