CWG- possible glory goes awry

Arnab Goswami and the likes who are intoxicated with a heavy dose of megalomania have done more harm than good to the nation. An overzealous Arnab perhaps visualizes himself as the Angry Young Man of the Indian TV! And with that comes his poker faced jibes at one and all who was or is, associated with the CWG. Not to be left behind is the rapidly graying Rajdeep Sardesai who makes great efforts in shooting incisive questions! Those which are supposed to “Knock out” the already punched and battered office bearer of the CWG working committee! Coming to the Hindi channels. Less said the better.
I do not opine that Kalmadi and his Man Friday Bhanot are whiz kids who deserve any accolades. On the contrary, I also dub them as spineless and worthless organizers. But I stop here and ponder. By publicly( Internationally) castigating the likes of Kalmadi, am I really doing a favour to my motherland? The way we have blared our vocal chords ( accompanied by that devilish glee in the eyes) on almost all the TV channels, it seems that there is some kind of an award for the most aggressive, high pitched and self centered presenter. The expose by the TV should have been sent to the PMO and not to be aired all over the world. Those pictures of the Pan spitted walls, dirty loos going across the world have caused long term damage to our image. This should never have happened. Yes, the guilty should have been brought to justice. The inefficient should have been bunged out with little remorse. And at the right time. But all this with dignity and purpose. If there is a problem in your house, then you settle it tactfully and wisely even the nosy neighbours knowing nothing. Right? Why do we treat our nation differently?
We have washed our very dirty linen in public. We have shouted from the roof top that we Indians are excellent when pulling the legs of our fellow country men. We have shown the world that we do not understand the meaning of freedom of expression and speech. We have shown that all our TV channels are far from mature and in their quest for a higher TRP, they will embarrass the nation. I stand dejected and embarrassed. India has been belittled and dirty filthy muck thrown with little compassion and compunction. As I write this, I can see the headlines in all the TV channels castigating and demonizing India. One snake has been “seen” in one of the African delegates room, a bed has caved in and so on. Such issues deserve HEADLINES on TV which is seen the world over?
The West and some other prejudices nations are on the look out to find faults with this growing super power. Yes, India is a growing super power. The likes of pseudos like Suhail Seth etc would leave no opportunity to gun India down. Still, India will survive and emerge stronger. The Australians have the temerity to say that we did not even deserve to get the games. He did not say it for years! But he is emboldened due to the mud slinging by our own folks. They rake up the issue of security when it comes to India but sent their cricket team to England even when the IRA was at it’s peak, blasting bombs like crackers! As one gold medal winner said, “ The athletes normally stay in University hostels and all facilities are as per university level only. But none complains. Why? Because their media does not do what our media does! Blast not for the sake of improvement but for the sake of TRP!!! So much for media emancipation. Maybe we will have to wait for more time to see a more mature and a responsible media. Especially the powerful audio visual media. Most of the presenters have “cowboy approach of firing first and talking later’. They need to understand the power of their “ journalist gun”. They have single handedly brought the Progressive and Nuclear India to the level of the corrupt, inefficient, archaic, “third world” India
Kalmadi and co have lost a great chance. Rather than his name coming in the Hall of Fame, he shall be hung on the Wall of Shame. He should be suitably punished . Not because he went wrong but because he went woefully wrong . Kalmadi’s punishment should be such that it should become a deterrent for future administrators of sports in India. A massive shakeup of 10 points on the richter scale is needed to wake up the lazy, lethargic and laid back sports organizers in India. At least this is one good I can see emerging from these CWG.
But before I sign off, a small point worth pondering over…..who was responsible for organizing the games? I seem to understand that it was a team of two. One, the IOA, headed by the likes of Kalmadi and VK Malhotra and two, the likes of Janab Mike Fennel and Mike Cooper, the Commonwealth Games Federation big wigs. If Kalmadi gets the boot, then what about Fennel and co.?

Step up and offer!

Step up and offer!
It has been close to two decades when we witnessed a mad frenzy of convoluted and perverted thinking. We saw an orientation that was completely alien to the normal Indian psyche. The politicians and other disoriented vandals attempted to hijack the true Indian ethos when they mauled the spirit of the Indian constitution and in a brazen display of arrogance and malevolence they raised the Babri Masjid to dust. They had trampled the rich heritage of India when they sought to sow seeds of hatred within fellow Indians only on the basis of religion. There were cracks within the nation. Or at least it appeared so. Muslims were vary and apprehensive of the intentions of the Hindus. There was a feeling of suspicion that there would be attempts to attack and capture more mosques across the nation. This feeling got strengthened as militant and rambunctious saffronites took to the streets airing their plans of taking over mosques in Varanasi, Mathura etc. Muslims were petrified, mortified and a pall of gloom shrouded the community. And then they prepared to fight back, come what may. People lost faith in government and governance. They were prepared for the worst.
Today, in 2010, we stand with our heads high. Indians have proved once again that brotherhood among fellow citizens is strong and vibrant. Hindus and Muslims have not blown the battle bugle. They have, on the contrary seen through the façade of the bigoted , overzealous politician. They are seized of his hidden agenda. No more blind faith or following as each one realizes that the significance of the destiny of his community is linked with the fate of the nation. A strong and resilient nation ushers well for a dynamic and bubbling community.
Since Dec 1992, there have been no more attempts to capture any more mosques. Muslims were no longer facing a bellicose opposition. Better sense prevailed upon all concerned. The nation prospered. We prospered.
We as Muslims have shown our courage and resilience in ensuring that no places of worship can be bullied into acquisition. We can wait for the court to decide and then abide. Today when the decision of the court creates a huge suspense and anxiety, let me float a small thought, albeit with trepidation. Hindus and Muslims have shown remarkable maturity in dealing with the changing scenario. I felt that we Muslims can step up and hug our Hindu brother and say, “ Irrespective of the court order, we gift you this land. We will cooperate with you in building the Ram temple”. If we do this, do we Muslims loose anything? Is there any loss to the community? I really do not see any. On the contrary, we build a huge reservoir of goodwill and camaraderie. This goes a long way in bettering the future for all concerned. Some diehard extremists and opportunists may take affront to this suggestion, but when mulled over in tranquility, they will also see merit in this idea. Islam is all about forgive and forget and then move ahead. They should remember the treaty of Hudaibiyah and the conquest of Makkah. Islamic history is replete with instances of sacrifices for the sake of the community.
The Government, on its part, can also show benevolence by appreciating this gesture in the form of a reciprocal gift. They can do it in many ways, but what comes straight to my mind is that it can offer the Muslims a special reservation for a period of time. Reservation in Education and in Jobs, say for five-ten years. The Ranganathan or the Sacchar commissions have already shown the pitiable and pathetic condition of the average Muslim. This will benefit the community and make it stronger and more mainstream. Also it will seal the lips of the opportunists and myopic leaders. It takes two to Tango?
History can be made. A beautiful chapter can be written. This shining chapter will be the one which the future generations will refer to with pride and joy. Let us put our hands together and pen the glorious event of a marvelous gift , one which ensures a Gabrial Oak
smile across the nation, cutting through religious and community lines. Mera Bharat Mahaan.

Long Live the Flotillas!

Long Live the Flotillas!

A bellicose Israel indicates the impotency of the world at large. What they did to the flotilla should convince humanity of the insanity that shrouds the powers in Israel. It should also shake the sleeping world to wake up and realize that here lies the epicenter of the turmoil that engulfs the world today. The normally sensitive Americans are now totally sedated under a heavy dose of the Israeli intoxicants. The British have ceased to be a nation of alert and asserting statesmen. The French and the other Europeans are busy finding ways and means of banning anything that is even distantly related to Islam. Israel ravages with impunity and in sadistic ecstasy.
But the courage of Greta Berlin and others of the Free Gaza Movement is worth applauding. Undaunted by the killers, they are now ready with another boat to set sail into the bloody waters. They know that death is waiting but they are ready to face it . This should put the Europeans , Americans and the others to shame. Small groups have the courage whilst nations buckle. Ironic and depressing. The killing of the volunteers in the flotilla is appalling to the world. But not to Israel. They do it regularly with the newborns, infants and the weak! Occupied Palestine is a witness to such blatant atrocities. But the world is blind and deaf. The UN Security Council is as helpless as the dying man. It’s feeble condemnation cannot be heard even by Mr. Boon himself!
Following this brutal bloodbath, the same old story will be repeated. There will be protests in the Arab world. Flags will be burnt by slogan chanting youth. Some Europeans will organize a march. Some national heads will come up with a stifled condemnation. That’s it. It will pass. Netanyahu and his cohorts know the pattern. They snigger and smile. They shall continue their massacre unabated. And the world will be a passive spectator to the drama. More innocents will be put to the grave as the butcher of humanity knows that the so called elites of the civil society are deaf, blind and also dumb.
When will the International civil society take cognizance that Israel is a nation that can be tamed? Yes, they can be! If only the civil society rallies in right honest! We do not need the Sakozy’s and the Obama’s if they are unable to deliver. History will show that cowardice of International leaders was the sole cause for the marauding, stomping autocracy of Israel.
We need more of Greta Berlins, Mairead Corrigan Maguires, Denis Hallidays and the others who made this flotilla a reality. We need flotillas every week! I am convinced that this six ships flotilla which had members from various religions, regions and beliefs has set the first ball rolling!
Long live the courageous and the bold! Let the civil society rise and over throw the barabarics who are akin to a hydra headed Dracula who sucks the blood and life of the innocent and the weak.
I am reminded of Gandhi’s very successful Civil disobedience against the then powerful British. We need an International Civil disobedience to bring the Zionists to their knees.
The fountainhead of peace has been set afloat and none can stop it!

Lyins sans a conscience?

Lying as you go up the ladder?

When was it the last time that you lied? Indeed an embarrassing question as we all see ourselves as honest and one with overflowing integrity! Although we come across people who lie without even batting an eyelid, I do suppose that lying does make one uncomfortable even if one is a compulsive liar! A lie can be perceived differently depending upon the source of the lie. If there was a lie meter that could measure the degree of lie, it would show that every lie can have differing levels of acceptability. There are some who tell a lie sans any overt display of emotions. Seasoned Politicians come in this category. Some lie but show their discomfort by either a twitch of the facial muscles or an unsteady set of eyes! Green horns stepping into the big bad world are the prime examples! Some get caught as soon as they let off their lie! These are the first timers who have a huge conscience weighing on them! And then is the Gambler’s lie when he sits poker faced! He squirms if he tells a truth!
"People in power are able to lie better," said Dana Carney, a management professor at Columbia Business School and one of the co-authors of the study. "It just doesn't hurt them as much to do it."
The more one thinks about what Professor D Carney says, the more one realizes how true it is of us Indians! Right from our childhood we are fed with the idea that lying is an unwanted and unacceptable habit and should be abhorred and kept at an arms length. So, every time we were late to school, we bit our lips and closed our eyes and fought our conscience as we told some excuse which was something of a hybrid truth! Half lie and half truth! We would console ourself that we did not tell lies…only hid some truth! And on many an occasion we would face the corporal punishment as we had to tell the truth!
But looking at some of the Power clad persons of today, we do question ourself that perhaps it was indeed a silly thing to stick to the truth and faced the cain of our school teacher?

Lying has become an art, perhaps. And as the professor says, the higher up one is in the hierarchy, the easier it is to pull a fast one! Obviously, the listener has no option but to accept! When we hear Mayawati talking about the upliftment of the masses, we know the truth and the reality behind the statement! When we hear Mulayam and Laloo go gaga over the achievements of each other, we also clap like fools! This is not because we know not what the heart says but because we have no option to pretend to be a fool.


Like Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, we can actually make a Hierarchy of lies!
This in terms of acceptance. Blatant Lies from the top has a great chance of being accepted with a smile whilst a small one coming from the bottom has a great chance of being scrutinized and looked at with suspicion! That is exactly why bosses get away with lies whilst the poor front office clerk is grilled till he turns black!

What happens if my boss reads this?
Who wrote this?
Search me!

Clean the cricket stables-Once and for all!

BCCI and their hydra headed shenanigans have brought more disrepute not only to the game of cricket but to the nation at large. I had written earlierin my previous posting that Modi and his cohorts should be dealt with appropriately and swiftly. The unraveling of new aspects that bring new twists and turns is appalling. The water could not get murkier, so I thought. But I was woefully off the mark! Probably we have still more to come! The water from deep down the coal mines would be clear and transparent by comparison!
The issue is no longer of individuals. The thugs who ran our cricket( read BCCI) are neck deep in corruption and immorality. Each one pretended to see the other way so that the other could go on with his own escapades whilst Indian cricket was ravaged and raped. Cricket bled. But the BCCI put Nero to shame.Now they have the audacity to offer a "holier than thou" attitude!Pinning everything on one man....and they knew nothing of the moumental corruption flourishing in their own back yards!!And they want us to swallow this! Are we THAT naive??
The government of India is caught on a sticky wicket. I doubt if they have the courage or the ability to go after the criminals. There is a demand for a Joint Parliamentary committee but I doubt if it will be formed. And even if it is, the JPC really does not have the necessary teeth to bite! At best, it may bark! But who cares? Have you seen any barking dog bite???? In the deep sea of cricket corruption, there are so many big fishes that one wonders at the consequences if they are all netted??!! But then, it will not happen. The big fishes will swim away leaving the small ones to pretend they are the big ones. And they will be nabbed and displayed as the BIG catches!The sharks, hidden in some remote island, will have a mighty laugh!
The PM should hold ALL the BCCI members accountable until proven innocent. Sounds unfair? Well, regrettably, the gravity of the situation demands that each one be thoroughly probed because ALL the members are bloody good actors also!
And for those who give monumental credit to Modi. T-20 started way back in 2003 and the idea of IPL may just about have been hijacked from the ICL!! And using the heavy clout of the BCCI, Modi and his gang eliminated Kapil paaji and others. The Indian cricket League should have been allowed to function under open competition. But this was not to be. In hindsight, it is obvious it was the total monopoly by the BCCI that lead to total corruption. Why was the ICL treated so shabbily and why the government did nothing to allow competition? Where was the MRTP commission?
Huge dirt will be rolled out and skeletons will fall from each and every cupboard that will be opened and Modi may well be ousted. But the buck does not stop there. He was just one of the master manipulators who knew how to share the loot with all! And this loot sealed the lips and clogged the conscience of all, including the franchise owners! Remember, it takes a team, not an individual, to execute the devils plan to perfection. Catch them all- the businessman, the politician, the criminal and all those who washed their dirty hands in the flowing river of IPL! Spare none. Book them all.It may tke time and patience. yes, courage and tenacity of purpose will also be needed. But, ManMohan Singh saheb, we need you to take the bull by the horns and deliver! Yes, you can.... if you want!!
Let us look to IPL 4 as a league of clean people who can offer us clean and genuine cricket. Remember, it is NOT the league but the format of the T20 which ushers excitement-England, Australia, West Indies, Pakistan all have T-20! Let us continue with the format and enjoy the thrills of the game!

If Tharoor sulks, then can Modi be far behind?

If Tharoor sulks, then can Modi be far behind?


He was nestled in a corner in a white lungi and a broad smile across his face. And he was chuckling in choicest of Malyalee to all and sundry! Just the coconut oil was missing from the hair! Yes, he was the suave and very urbane Shashi Tharoor courting the glamourous and charming lady with the sweat equity! Today, the same man languishes in a corner but sans the glamourous aide! That is what time and acts do to one. I am none to dismiss him as one who is guilty of impropriety. Nor am I a judge to comment on his ability to play the right “strokes” when in company of people who run the IPL. To borrow from Sunny Gavaskar, his “stroke selection was found wanting”!! But then it is sad to see the rather pathetic and dismal end to one who promised a lot. Yet another flower on the Indian political horizon has withered even before it bloomed!
If I am saddened by the turn of events involving Tharoor, then I am also relieved that the Indian masses may now be protected from the “Thugs” of Indian cricket. We Indians are gullible to the extent that we sacrifice our future at the altar of silly games like cricket( Oh! how my wife would be enjoying this! ) Cricket has long ceased to be just a game or rather a Gentleman’s Game. Today it is a game of rogues( apologies to all those “Genuine Gentlemen” who wielded the Willow in the yesteryears and some like Sachin even today!) be it those who flaunt the white( or coloured) flannels on the green field or those who wield the power in the corridors of the BCCI or those who decide the fate of the match even before it is played!
IPL may have taken the world by a storm as people are sitting glued to the idiot box from the time the coin spins in the air to decide who bats first till the last word of the presentation ceremony. Even those who had words of scorn and contempt for the game which stretched over five days, are seen scurrying home to enjoy a few hours of exciting cricket. But when the truth of match fixing and other dubious acts like the “IPL nights” dawns, then there is anger and frustration. Anger at being cheated and frustration at being incapable of doing anything to set the deviants right. Most cricket enthusiasts are raging at what is going on in the IPL today. Modi may have done wonders in marketing the new product-the T20. But that does not allow the man to perpetrate crime of fixing and arm twisting. Give him credit where he deserves and condemn him where his acts defame the game and the values of a civil society. We should be allowed to enjoy the game. And players should be allowed to play the game as a game where one tries his level best to win. Not to loose and fill the coffers of those who operate the players by remote control! The credit of the past should be carried over to cover the misdeeds of the current and the future.
There is a general feeling that Lalit Modi has grown too big for his boots. I am not inclined to give my personal opinion on the matter but I do feel that none should be greater than the game itself. A sport is an act that reflects a healthy mind and an equally healthy body. However, when a sport links a healthy mind but with an unhealthy mind, then caution needs to be exercised and exterminate the cause(s) that lead to this. If one man or a group of people indulge in melting the healthy values of the society and replace them with mouldable and flexible not so healthy values, then the society should act as a whole and ostracize the offenders promptly. Otherwise the rot sets in. Games that generate money that changes hue by the hour, can gnaw at the vitals of our society. Dishonest means generates dishonest money and this brings dishonesty to the society. We should not allow this.
If Tharoor sulks, then can Modi be far behind?

Shoaib Clinton

The Shoaib episode takes me back to Bill Clinton and Monica. I recall how Bill beat around the bush and was finally nailed due to the blue dress! Ayesha too has probably kept her original dress and when she flashed her card of a DNA, Shoaib shivered and lost all his chivalry and caved in ! He crumbled and groveled and sought the papers to ink his name on the dotted line! And then the towering Ayesha went a step further. She needed money for the rest of her life. She needed to buy another house on the prestigious Banjara Hills. How much should she demand? Nothing less than 5-6 million rupees? But then, the wily mind works further. The settlement will be in hard cash. No cheques…who wants the Income Tax sleuths sniffing all over when all is done is dusted!! Tell the silly and gullible media that all this was done only for honour, for happiness , for justice. For token sake, ask a petty amount of Rs 15,000 as Mehr. The media and the public will buy it since they see a happy ending for the Indian girl who was taken for a ride by the Paki guy!
Well, this is my way of writing the story of Shoaib Clinton. Ekta Kapoor may add a dose of Sohrab Mirza who may find Ayesha a motivating factor and then Sohrab revists his past!! After all, no harm in raking in the mullah when it comes as easy as this!!
Sohrab can extend the opera for a few more episodes!!
But my mind is still puzzled. For my satisfaction, will someone tell me “Whom did Shoaib marry and whom did he divorce?”
And by the way, will the PCB still wave the ban on Shoaib?