~To be or not to be: that is the question~

After the match fixing fiasco, it is now about cheating for CRICKET. While one side of the debate being Mr.Hair’s bad track record of treating Asian teams, other facet is about Inzamam’s decision not to return on time to the pitch. Who ever wins the argument it’s the game that loses.

David Lloyd may say ‘For God’s sake, it’s only cricket’. Or is it?

Cricket is more like a religion in South Asia. This is the game that units the nations and it is this very game that helps the confrontation between the nuclear neighbours to vent their grudge in a more civilized manner. Throwing a ball with all the vigour is better than going in for nuke detonation. The muscle, teamwork, game plan, conditions and even love and hatred, all that you see in a battle field is manifested in the pitch too, and best part being, no team can out number the other. This elevates the game to a much higher importance that just being David Lloyd’s ‘it’s only cricket’. Fair refereeing is important for cricket itself, and much more for the people of the subcontinent to lay their trust on the game rather than confrontation in the battle field.

The overall outcome will eventually decide on whether the game would stay in the hearts of the millions of fans in the subcontinent or would be history forgotten in the last pages of the dailies.

Cheers

~Democracy rules~

Democracy is one of the most successful long running political systems in human history. Although, sometimes it may leave you in a demi-crazy kind ‘o situation; but it still works.


I was talking about world politics couple of days ago with my supervisor on coffee and what he said stuck to my mind. He pointed out that in democracy, even if people of Afghanistan vote for Taliban, eventually after the set term people would throw them away. Banning and bombing wouldn’t work as good as the vote of the plebeian. The mills of democracy may grind slowly, but surely.


Being a Christian born in predominantly Hindu India, keeps me wondering how good a melting pot India is. But when in 1996 BJP emerged as the single largest party in the parliament I was left with shock and disbelief. One thing I never agree with BJP is their anti-conversion policy, when it claims to reinstate India’s old heritage. Ironically, India had always been a land of many religions. The land where Buddhism was born and so did Jainism and Sikhism. All these religions have influenced the culture of this land. People have always been switching religions. Every icon of India denotes this basic truth to us. The Ashoka’s pillar (erected by a King converted from Jainism to Buddhism), Taj Mahal, Gomateshwara statue (tallest statue in India) etc,. Fascistic fundamentalist laws are antidemocratic, but still, they made it to the parliament, eventually seated in power in a couple of years. But what happened after the end of the term is a good example of democracy. BJP was voted out. The nation moved from far right to a left oriented mandate. I’m not pro-left either, but I’m sure by the next election India will lead to a more moderate government.

Democracy makes revolutions possible without a rebellion: democracy rules.

Cheers

~PUSH THE BUTTON~

Everyday my inbox gets pounded by junkmails, just like most of you out there. In spite of knowing that 90% of them are real junk, I go through each one of them to the word, looking for sense in them. The ones I find most disconcerting are those which hail themselves as ‘PRIDE OF INDIA’. But on a closer look have an hidden agenda to shake the very edifice of the integrity of this diverse but unified nation.

Here I would like to present one of the recent junkmails I received. It’s about the man who changed the education system in India. I do have my complaints about the current education system, which aims at spoon feeding and getting a clerical job rather than being innovative. But that is another topic altogether. But this man, Lord Macaulay, introduced an education system that is for every Indian, when compared to the then system of education for the upper class. Yes, if not for him, the subcontinent would be a bunch of educated upperclass ruling over the illiterate low caste pariahs (surprisingly enough the English word pariah itself was borrowed from Tamil, an Indian language).

This is the picture I received as an attachment with the junk mail I’m talking about.

The link here will explain the reality behind the above.

People seem to love the lies, for some reason. Pride of this artificial aura: unreal, but still spreading its dark lies.

The selfish fundamentalist is gaining and making strides already in the age of the internet. Will the tide change for the good? Or is he going to win? Will the light of truth be ever lit in the hearts and minds of those who forward these emails, without caring a damn to check the authenticity of the content?

The enlightened pushes ; if you are not then push the button.

Cheers