Pakistani connection to the healing touch

Yesterday, the Trident hotel re-opened after the 26/11 Mumbai attacks. It had made the point clear that they are also towing the Government line and won't entertain any pakistani guest in their hotel. Meanwhile, during the week BCCI canceled India's tour to Pakistan to play cricket tournament next month. The Government of India continued to build pressure on Pakistan to act tough against the terror.

In the back drop of all these important developments, watching the second test match between India and england was a breather. Kevin Pieterson was entertaining, as the english team continued to score runs at a quick pace. The cricket test series between the two teams turns out to be 'healing touch' kind of experience. We Indians are thankful to the English side that even after the tragic incidences in Mumbai, they have not only come back to play in india but also giving a good competition (as a test team they are performing better) to the home team.

However, if the sad memories Mumbai attacks had a Pakistani hand, so does the healing touch of cricket have a Pakistani hand in it. If you are watching the match carefully, then you will notice Umpire Asad Rauf who is also a Pakistani national,is helping in the proceedings of the match. His presence in the field is a reminder that while chasing the bad people,we should not forget the good ones.. Not all of Pakistan is an international migrane, its a just a few of them who are posing threat. And the world should seperate those weeds only.

Fair & Handsome

It is the women who are often criticized for putting on make-up or relying too much on cosmetic products. The usual charges that one comes to hear of, is that they don't understand the need of the hour or undermine the value of time by wasting time on looking fair.

This will be Breaking-news for those critics. Guess who would care more for looking fair when they are on a serious mission (though the mission was mass murder)? It's the bunch of terrorists who attacked Mumbai on November 26, 2008.

It could not be more surprising to discover that the terrorists along with carrying the other essential commodities to survive on the trawler Kuber on high sea, were also carrying tubes of fairness cream. The security agencies have found along with tooth brushes, tooth paste, dairy whiteners, clothes, soap detergent, namaz caps, instructions to operate arms in urdu and satchets of fairness cream shipped from Dubai.

Cold cream would have made more sense than fairness cream given the dry season that has already set-in, in the region.Though the guys were going to launch a killing spree in a city at the end of their voyage, they could not care less to look fair. And the cream certainly have worked wonders, as the eyewitness who saw these men getting off a dingy in Macchimar colony described them as "gore-chikne ladke" ( fair and handsome men).

Living with terror

It was not long that I experienced a terrorist attack at the heart of the capital Delhi-- the Connaught Place--popularly called C.P. Was recuperating from the terror that the blasts caused. Everyday passing by the Regal Cinema (from where a live bomb was recovered) and Barakhamba road bus stop (a bomb went off there in the September blasts), I have this Goosebumpy feeling. Yes, I was not there, nor any of my friends. Though, most of us have to pass by those places everyday.

Most of the time, I tell myself that a criminal does not strike a place that has already been struck. But such logic stands defied when I watch the city of Mumbai attacked once again by terrorists. Well this time the terrorists were roaming around the city shooting people in cafes, train terminal, hospital, innocent bystanders on road and then taking hostages in the luxurious, prestigious and landmark hotels in the city. Our security forces did a great job in record time. Their bravery installs the faith that somebody is there who can protect us from these anti-humanity elements.

But the other scary fact remains that now you cannot live without the thought that you can die any moment. The larger fact remains that the terrorists have been striking at their own will. Whether our policy makers are at fault or the intelligence sources or both, I refrain from commenting on that but the larger fact remains. As it was said in the movie, ‘Sleepless in Seattle’ that “its easier to get killed by a militant than getting married/a decent husband” (not sure of the part said after ‘than’, but the first part about being getting killed by terrorist I remember pretty well) is indeed becoming true.

TINY LONG LOST PRIMATE REDISCOVERED

Photo courtsey: Reuters

For the first time in more than eight decades, scientists have observed a living pygmy tarsier, which is one of the planet's smallest and rarest primates. It was discovered on a misty mountaintop on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi.

The scientists were successful in trapping three furry, mouse-sized pygmy tarsiers -- two males and one female -- on Mt. Rore Katimbo in Lore Lindu National Park in central Sulawesi, the researchers said on Tuesday. They spotted a fourth one which was successful in getting away.

Some scientists believed the tarsiers to have become extinct. They may not have been overly thrilled by this redicovery.

The tarsirer is a nocturnal primate found in an area with lower vegetative species diversity. Its found in central Sulawesi, Indonesia.The Pygmy Tarsiers were believed by some to be extinct until 2000, when Indonesian scientists accidentally killed one while trapping rats. Tarsiers, in general, are insectivorous. They are the only primates that are completely carnivorous as well.

WORSENING DRIVING SKILL, BLAME IT ON VIDEO GAMES

According to Australian experts, Video games which allow teenagers to indulge in driving stunts are actually encouraging bad road habits.

Acting Superintendent of New South Wales, Dave Evans said that videogames make adolescents think of themselves as invincible.

It's been revealed that 104 P-platers are losing their licences each day.Over 2000 P-platers lost their licences for drink driving, speeding over 45km/h over the limit and other serious offences, while 1674 were caught breaking the speed limit by more than 30km/hr. While German researchers pointed out that it is the men who tend to take more risks on the road than women after racing in video games.

This study sounded very interesting to me, as few days back a fellow blogger, Human Observer, had notified in his blog, about how a nine year old kid in Japan actually learnt driving by playing video games and used his driving skills to steal the family car to visit his grandma.

Chandrayaan was necessary

India's maiden Moon mission blasted off on October 22, 2008. It is going to map the moon(which is considered as the book that contains all the records about the emergence of the Solar system) for the next two years to help the scientific community to understand the Moon and our Universe better.
Critics of the mission find it as waste of money. Some comics are going to the extent of poking fun by saying, Chandrayaan is only going to probe estabhlished facts. This was not what the Indian scientists were expecting from a nation (even though the number of the cricts are few) which has gained freedom barely more than over 60 years ago. One of the crucial reasons why we lost the battle agianst the British and became a victim of imperialism was that we chose to ignore a scientific attitude, an attidude to look forward. Are we going to repeat the same mistakes, just because of some critics?
Probably not. The community of scientists and our leadership won't let that happen. They will probably be able to make the critics understand the significance of the mission. For that, some clear talking needs to be done .
All geo-political significances needs to be made clear--India cann't ignore the fact that most of the powerful nations in Asia are making their move into space technology. Why should our scientists remain dependent on the researches of other nations, they too should get the opportunity to do it on their own which will attract more young minds towards this field and may curb the brain drain.
The critics need to understand that if as a nation we are dreaming of becoming a superpower, we will have to make suitable efforts to become one and keep up with the times. It will require money, but it is for the development of the country. Somebody definitely made the payments for Copernicus to let his discovery of route to India possible.

"Yeh tera ghar,yeh mera ghar"

(photo courtsey: AFP)

A couple in rural Cambodia terminated their 18-year marriage with a divorce settlement that entailed sawing in two the wooden house they once shared.

"Yeh tera ghar(your half) ye mera ghar (my half)"

IMPOSING BAN ON BAJRANG DAL

India National Congress today said that there are enough evidences to impose ban on Bajrang Dal which has been disturbing public peace and communal harmony in the country by attacking religious minority communities. The Congress spokesperson Manish Tiwari today addressing a press confrence in the capital gave details of the unlawful activities that Bajrang Dal had been involved in since 1984 till date. He also asked all parties to think above the communal lines.

It is amazing that the party took it so long to come out with idea in public( which i wanted to ask but as an intern i can't afford to ask such a question). Various other parties like RJD which are part of the UPA coalition had already called for the banning the Bajrang Dal. The Congress called for an outright ban on organizations like the Bajrang Dal and SIMI which the spokesperson called " two sides of the same coin". Hope that the sentiments of the party also reaches the mind of the government, which has to finally bring about the ban and save lives of people.

BIDDING ADIEU TO NANO AND DADA THIS DURGA PUJA

This year's durga puja has not been very good for the state of West Bengal. First the news is confirmed that the Tatas are taking their one lakh car-the nano project out of Singur because of the demand and agitation put up by the Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee to return the "unwilling farmers' land" which was 300 acres, otherwise they won't allow any work at the plant. The Tatas came to this decision after all negotiation process fell apart and Mamata not moving an inch from her demand. Within days of anouncing the moveout, Tatas have located the land for the new Nano plant in Gujarat's Sanand and they announcement came on the sameday as Kolkata's Prince Sourav Ganguly announced his retirement from cricket that is on 7th october when the state was celebrating Mahastami. many farmers had still not believed the " mamata has pulled trigger" confirmation of moveout statement made by Ratan Tata on 3rd October. but the news of moving to Gujarat would shatter the false ray of hope that they have built, again during the Durga Puja.

Though people will take the retirement news more calmly as there will be no room for protest during the times of puja, but the confirmation of Tatas moving out would certainly bring gloom to the houses of those farmers in Singur who had willingly gave away their land and those employed at the plant.

It is to see if Kolkata, especially the politicians, learn the important lesson about professionalism out of this two announcements. if you want the industrialist to invest in the state, you can call strikes over every miniscule of trouble with the management. If the business does not meet the target, the business would move out. Professional attitude is what the entire Bengal needs to adapt, which is still painted in too much red.

The Unused, much misused human resource

About 50 percent of the sanctioned posts lie vacant at various community health centres in the country revealed an Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry (ASSOCHAM) study. An investigation done by a leading national daily by acquiring facts from the concerned departments through RTI shows that there are more than 1.3 lakh vacancies in the police dept. in the country.

These are two of the many examples where numerous posts in the country are lying vacant. Educational institutions lack staffs, libraries don’t have the staff. We do not need any study or research papers to show that vacancies at various places need to be filled. But how many job opening advertisements do we find in the papers. Not many.

Whenever we have to count one of the biggest strengths available in India that makes it conducive for investments (especially foreign investments) it is, here one can get a good lot of educated human resource.

Few years back Hillary Clinton while speaking in the sidelines of a summit said that the good thing about India is, more people could afford a college education.

But what is coming out of it? Are there enough dependable jobs available for the college educated? Outsourcing surely has generated jobs, but is it secure enough? The answer would be no for at least a large number of those who are working in that industry.
Privatization has been advocated by successive governments in the country, thus trying to do away with the socialist strand in our economy. Leaving a large number of people to an insecure job market and future, where you can be hired and fired anytime. The issue for termination not all the time remains, ‘not been able to meet targets’.

So many posts in the govt. offices remain vacant, yet no hiring is done. It is also trying to delve into the contract basis job system.

Are you living in Delhi, wondering why the domestic breeding checkers have not been to your locality yet? Because, they are on a strike, demanding for permanent jobs. They are also hired for the season only.

It’s a pity that the Union Labour Minister Oscar Fernandez chose to speak on such an important topic on death of the CEO of the Italian firm Graziano, who was attacked by a lynch mob of striking factory workers. ‘Hire and fire’ policy of the India Inc. and foreign Incs. present in India needs to be questioned but the timing was not right. It was after all a law and order issue (lack of security presence; even the Italian ambassador had earlier requested for more security cover be given to the company, until the labour issue is resolved) which catapulted into this sad tragedy.

The result of the wrong timing is that hire and fire policy which happens to be a grave issue, as correctly pointed out by the minister, who asked the companies to be “compassionate” towards its employees is not going to be raised again. After all the Prime Minister had to intervene to make the minister apologize for his remarks (which made India Inc. angry).

Track changes

Many of our serials have relied on this trusted plot- our dear character’s rival screwing up the office presentation just before the all important meeting, which could make or mar the hardworking character’s career. But gone are the days when such a thing could happen. Technology has taken that popular plot away from our serial makers. Reason for that is the computer.

Everyone now in the family now knows how to work on the computer, which has now become as indispensable as a refrigerator or TV. Not just the kids but the housewives are also learning to run this device. And while learning the MS OFFICE WORD, every learner comes across the special program (I hope that’s the technical word to describe ‘track changes’) in the tools menu, ‘protect document’. If you mark your document so, no one can mess with your document. Not just this, the maker of the document can also see what kind of changes has been made by the other user, in his/her absence, if the document has been marked 'protected'. one can also give a password to the file while saving, but that won't be fun at all.

Someone must in appreciation of the Microsoft show this plot happening in some serial. Imagine the villain opens the document to destroy the toil of our 'honest fellow' and instead of that sees the computer showing the changes made, though changes are also simultaneously being made. The evil fellow is busted on the spot. What a situation it would be:
A dramatic plot with loud background scores and zooming-in & out camera turned into a comic plot.

The Paradox of our Age

We have bigger houses, but smaller families
more conveyances, but less time;
We have more degrees, but less sense
more knowledge. but less judgment
more experts, but more problems
more medicines but less healthiness.

We've been all the way to the moon and back.
but have trouble crossing the street
to meet the new neighbour.
We have built more computers
to hold more information,
to produce more copies than ever,
but have less communication.
We have become long on quantity,
bit short on quality.
These are times of fast food,
but slow digestion;
tall man, but short character;
steep profits, but shallow relationship.
It is a time when there is much in the window but nothing in the rooms.

- by Rudyard Kipling

I dont feel like commenting much on these lines. but trying to put these lines in the context of the Delhi blasts, only thing that comes up in my head is, why afterall, some people will go for killing inocent people for some ideology of sorts. Are they misunderstood? Is there some communication gap or something? Why churches are being attacked?What ever it may be , any protest or misunderstanding should not grow to an extent that it starts taking the life of innocent people.

Retiring Sourav Ganguly: no, not another GD

It seems like every time the name of this man will be dropped from the squad, every Tom, Dick and Harry would start speculating about his retirement. Recently I saw that one of the channels conducting poll on whether Sourav should call it a day now. This is preposterous. Conducting polls to make someone take retirement and putting a player of Sourav’s stature in a spot position.

We belong to a country where we boast of knowing ways of treating our seniors well. But Sourav Ganguly’s case tells me of something else. We must have known it in the past but TRP and Bytes have made us forget those mannerisms. Electronic media, especially the 24×7 news channels, are pushing the society to be judgmental about every issue. Whether it’s the Arushi-Hemraj murder case or Roger Federer slipping from no.1 spot hence starting to write his career off, until he defends his US Open title; the electronic media just wants to pass judgment on each and every issue and sometimes without doing proper research. Because of this kind of trend, the print media also have to fall into the line to cater to the needs of the audience or reader, to keep their paper going.

Newspaper and news channel, whose job is to give news and not to speculate, have suddenly changed its role. It’s now more into speculations and rumor mongering. In the times of crisis the govt. must take the news channels off- air. As speculation ends, things can function properly. It would avert a disaster for sure. Because for exclusive footage, god knows they can go to any extent, just as they stage manages sting operations.

If the media has run out of issues, why don’t they call it a day? Instead they should not discuss people, their life or career on primetime to fill the slot. What kind of new arguments can they come up with in defense and against the dropping of Sourav from the Irani trophy? The forums have not sounded any different from the last ones, since he was dropped at the behest of the then coach and selector, Greg Chapell and Kiran More respectively. He has been picked up and dropped quite a time and all those discussions haven't come up with any new suggestion. May be Navjot Singh Sidhu have quoted different proverb each time; that would be the only difference.

Don’t the anchor and the producer get tired of this business; certainly the audience does including me. Give the audience and Sourav a break. When he will have to retire he will, but this kind of pressure tactics can make his determination to play grow stronger and inspire him to better his form. So, media must stop speculating and start reporting, for a change.

Is journalism the best profession around?

In his rare public comments, Columbian writer Gabriel Garcia Marquez, on 2 September 2008 in Northern Mexico, hailed journalism as the best profession. Is it so?
Choosing to become a journalist, one is always hounded by one’s friends and relatives, even at interviews, why on earth are you choosing this profession? One needs to give a thought to this question, as it is unlike other profession and usually thought as low paying one involving ‘risks’. But that has not deterred people from selecting this as their career. What is the attraction that has been drawing people to this field, which also is growing at a tremendous rate; is it really the best profession?
Bob Woodward once being asked the same question, has suggested that it is the nature of work that makes this profession the best: “ Everyday is interesting……when things get uninteresting you don’t have to cover them…you get to cover the next interesting thing.”
As a journalist you are covering ‘news’; the term itself makes it clear. Like any other working person, a journalist will also be going to the office, but the nature and content of work is going to be different everyday for him. A reporter covers new things. He will be tracking an old story and will report it only when there is some new development. This close relation to newness is what attracts people to this profession. Probably this is one of the rarest of professions in the world, where you get to passionately follow newness. As Marquez has expressed: “we enjoy it when we find jewel (of a story)…”

Not only this, this profession also allows serving the society and nation to prosper towards a better present and future. A journalist is the ‘prime mover’ of his society. He educates and enlightens the citizens by bringing new information to them. And as Francis Bacon has said, ‘knowledge is power’, thus empowers them. As the fourth estate of a democracy it also keeps check on the functioning of the government, thus ensuring prevalence of democracy.
A journalist enjoys no privileges. His rights are same as that of any ordinary citizen of a country, but he is shouldered with lots of responsibilities which are challenging and exciting at the same time. After all who wouldn’t like to be part of a profession where one gets to serve society, educating it, and also where monotony or boredom or lull never sets in? Isn’t it the best profession to be part of?

Can Obama bring the promised ‘change’?

let's hope for the best.

Unlike any American citizen my concerns were entirely different while listening to Barack Obama at the Democratic Convention, this morning. Over the years, especially under President George Bush’s term in the White House, has convinced me that the United States of America democratically elects the biggest dictator in every four years to rule the world.

In a speech perfectly blended with prose and poetry, Obama scathingly analyzed the policies of the Bush administration in the two terms and also tried to realistically pin-point the agendas he have, which he is terming as ‘change’.

Certain points which he made, the American people are in strict need of, especially creating jobs in America for the people living there instead of allowing companies to outsource jobs and at the same time getting tax benefits. Democrats in this session of the run-up to the elections have raised concerns about gender equality and quality college education. Being a father of two daughters himself, Obama vowed to ensure equal wages for women, creating better opportunities for quality education, not allowing privatization of social security and tax cuts.

The last two points needs to be noted by our economic policy makers which need to be implemented in the Indian context as well. Better get it done before the Americans do it and set an example.

When he moved on to criticize the Republican policy about giving benefits to those who already have the surplus and hope that prosperity trickles down the social order, it simply brought the thought back that human misery, its causes, is similar and universal. Isn’t it the common belief in India as well that our government too functions in this manner? Obama didn’t stop there, he went on to explain it briefly that the policy basically means that ‘you are on your own’. Isn’t it was the situation in India as suggested by the news reports on 27th August 2008 or when the inflation figures rises northwards every Friday or when there is some terrorist attack?

But what struck me as most worthy of all, was his pledging to decrease America’s dependence on oil from the middle-east. Definitely Obama has hit the nail on the head. If he wins the election and gets this vision of his rolling then half the problems round the globe would be over. Another war like that of Iraq based on false premises could be avoided in future. There would be no silly diplomatic games played by big countries, especially the USA for oil’s sake.

However, so far Obama’s speeches and those made in support of his candidature has been more messiah like, though steeped in idealism, sounds convincing. He definitely has delivered some of the best speeches of the present times. And on the 45th anniversary of Martin Luther king jr.’s ‘I have a dream speech’, as the first African-American Democratic Presidential nominee, Obama has already made history and his speech though steeped in high prose, sounding idealistic wasn’t blind to the reality.

Come this November, the world would get to know whether his speeches have been able to convince America or not, that he is the best man for the White House. And good news is that so far he seems immune to the dictator bug.

27th August 2008 nine o’clock news: most shocking ever

Today’s nine O’ clock news was the saddest things that I have ever seen, except the post-9/11 days. It seemed as if a chaos like situation from pandemonium has suddenly hijacked our nation. Law and order, peace, natural harmony, suddenly has gone missing. And both god and the government have forgotten about its subjects.

So many unnatural stories were reported today, but the reaction, both verbal and physical was nowhere to be found from the people vested with the duty and power to protect us. Neither god nor the government was answering the prayers of the hostages in Jammu or flood affected people in Bihar or the people affected by communal violence in Orissa.

The violence in Jammu and Kashmir is refusing to die down. For more than two months now the state has been in news because of the protests because of the Amarnath land Transfer issue. And for few days the Kashmir valley is trying to cope up with the curfew imposed there. And midst of all these, one also gets to hear ceasefire violations and militants trying to cross the Line of Control. Political parties try to do nothing other than playing electoral politics as the elections are inching closer. When will the normalcy return in the ‘Paradise on earth’? One after another problem is gripping the state but the government and the respective agencies aren’t even able to figure out even produce a gimmick of peace.

It’s not been long, the state of Gujarat has not yet recovered, and another terror attack takes place. Three militants cross the line of control holds 7 people hostage including women and children in a home in Jammu. It took almost 17-hrs for the security forces to gun down the terrorists.

Bihar’s ‘river of sorrow’ Kosi has again changed its course flooding several districts. Over thousands are stranded in submerged houses without food or water, with hope of being rescued. The chief minister has announced for complete evacuation but with the resources available with the administration at the ground zero is telling that such a task is a Herculean one, as the officials are falling short of rescue boats.

Meanwhile a communal clash is in progress Orissa, where Christians are being targeted after a local Hindu leader was killed. Christians there are fleeing to the Phulbani Hills to take refuge.

Why are the concerned authorities not being able to take steps to curb the violence or the problems at stage? Why things are allowed to spiral out of control? Aren’t we alert enough? Probably the militants were right when they mockingly called our Intelligence Bureau, ‘Ignorance Bureau’. It seems like the people in the country are living on the mercy of the god, who is also not been kind these days. Probably the authorities are thinking people will get used to living to this as they have with bad roads, without regular water supplies, irritatingly irregular long power-cuts.

Few days back one editor mentioned in his column that whining is our national obsession. After the situation around us is not at all rosy or perfect. And if you stop making the authorities know that you are not satisfied with the present circumstances then even the ‘late reactions’ that one is getting in form of some compensations from the authorities will also vanish.

Bigg Boss: Curtain Raiser

In the season of reality shows on Indian television, another one of it –Bigg Boss season 2---kicked off on 17th August 2008. The inmates of the Bigg Boss house this time will not just include actors and models, but reality show winner, politicians and jailbird(s). Some of the biggest names involved in controversies have been roped in for this edition of the show.

Gangster Abu Salem’s companion Monica Bedi is probably trying to re-launch her career through this medium. After spending years and months in Portuguese and Indian jail, spending 84 days in Bigg Boss house may be easier for her, as pointed out by last season’s winner Rahul Roy. The other news maker is BJP leader Late. Pramod Mahajan’s son Rahul Mahajan who has been in the news for all the wrong reasons—starting from his drug abuse to physically abusing his wife to his divorce. He played the perfect guide to every contestant, making them familiar with every corner of the house.

Barack Obama and other US presidential hopefuls have used new technological methods to reach audience far and wide. So can our politicians do. Opposition leader, L.K. Advani has also opened a website in the lines of Obama, to reach out to the youth. Congress, the ruling party has outdone BJP, by fielding one of its leaders as the Bigg Boss contestant. So, Sanjay Nirupam won’t have to walk that extra mile like any other leader, he has ensured a slot for himself during the primetime most of the living rooms in India. If you know Shilpa Shetty, then you are also aware of the Jade Goody, the tormentor of the former in the British reality show Big Brother. She is also present in the bigg boss house so that “people in India can know more of her personality”. Welcome Jade.

Besides this high voltage list there are other eleven contestants including TV actors Ketki Dave, Rakhee Vijayan, item girl Sambhavna Sambhavna Seth, actor Payal Rohatgi , non- celebrity-Elina, model-actor Zulfi Syed, music reality show winner Debojit Saha, MTV Roadies 5.0 winner Ashutosh Kaushik, TV actress Shweta Tiwari's estranged husband Raja Chaudhry and famous comedian Ehsaan Qureshi.
Ms. Shetty as presenter would have been okay if she had not tried much urdu. Hope that she catches her act up as make-up and gloss inside the house wears off.

Meanwhile, enjoy being a peeping tom, while being a couch potato, all at the sametime.

Michael Phelps

photo courtsey:GREG WOOD/AFP/Getty Images

I have decided not to come up with a heading for this blog. The name of the man, speaks for itself. I didn’t feel the need to add some adjective to highlight his merit, as the name itself will be synonymous with athletic brilliance. And why not, this young man from Baltimore, USA has conquered 8Olympic gold within a span of nine days, enroute making and breaking world records.

Beijing Olympics 2008 will be remembered for two things—Bird’s Nest stadium and Michael Phelps. This US swimmer has caught the attention of the entire world within a week. Every competition that he participated into has been a world record in this edition of summer Olympics. I won’t label him as the best Olympian ever, but he is in the league of the ‘Best Olympians’.

Nine days in the Beijing Olympics and his is the name that everyone round the globe has become familiar with. On Sunday, 17th August 2008, Phelps broke Mark Spitz’ record of winning of 7olympic gold in a single edition of the Summer Olympics. His 8th medal took the US gold medal tally to 17, still to catch up with China at 29.

Lots of buzz is around regarding how he is biologically perfectly built (the shape of his torso, his lungs hence can store maximum amount of oxygen, his ankle etc) which helps him in his game. But one thing I can see clearly, even though he may be biologically built to be good swimmer, he practiced real hard to make the most of those natural gifts.

The amount of practice he has put in, to be what he is today was revealed on Wednesday’s event when his glasses were filled with water; making him blind during the swim still he was able to complete the event first with a world record. Later it was revealed that Phelps exactly knew how many stroke it takes to reach the wall, so he did not panic. And he won two medals that day, within one hour--- first a 200-meter butterfly and one as part of the United States' winning 800-meter freestyle relay team. This proves that why he can gobble 12000 calories and also stay so fit.

V–J day in Times Square

Whenever i have a look at this picture, the only thought that pass through my mind is: how special and relieving was the news of end of Second World War. This famous photograph taken by Alfred Eisenstaedt captures the mood that was in the public, especially those who were serving in the armed forces--the sailor kissing the nurse-- on 15th August 1945 after the victory over Japan, marking the end of Second World War.

According to Eisenstaedt, when he came in the Times Square, he spotted a sailor on a kissing spree, "grabbing any and every girl in sight". But he waited for him to kiss someone wearing a light colored dress, which will create the perfect contrast. Eisenstaedt was running ahead of him, "Then suddenly, in a flash, I saw something white being grabbed. I turned around and clicked the moment the sailor kissed the nurse."

This is one of the best photograph published by Life Magazine. The magazine has accepted the claim of nurse Edith Cullen Shain of being the nurse in the photograph. She was identified on the basis of her legs by Eisenstaedt. But the sailor has not been identified yet.

I believe, it is one of those rare pictures which captures the immense amount of joy a common individual feels when something terrible is over.

Reality TVs: Encouraging ‘peeping toms’

Recently, Nicole Kidman and her husband requested Australian media and paparazzi not to hound them for photographs as they want to show their kid the places, they grew up in. In short they asked for privacy.

They didn’t want the ‘peeping toms’ around the world to have access to their private family moments. They deserve to keep things like that private. So does every star, whether in Hollywood or Bollywood or Sarkozy-Bruni, anyone deserves to have their privacy. But, what wonders me the most is that none of these stars protest against reality TV programs like Big Brother, Big Boss brought out by the entertainment industry, which does nothing but encourages our ‘peeping tom’ instincts.

In these programs celebrities live in a studio/house, without any contact with the outer world (huh!), where every activity of theirs is recorded and telecasted on TV as daily soap. So, you get to see what the celebs (though most of the time B-grade actors or some what extraordinary common people are roped in as contestants, who becomes celebrities, as the show begins) do when they are not in make-up, gloss and designer outfits.

This is what the paparazzi tries get for the audience, readers worldwide. They want to show the fans, what their stars and heroes do when they are doing acting. Does the pay check that the contestants of such reality TV shows get make all the difference? I won’t jot the universally accepted answer. Because these same contestants would object to paparazzi and media not allowing them live peacefully once they become ‘known’. After all, participating in shows like these can catapult one to a celebrity status that acting and singing in dozen of films and songs cannot do. Like Indian actress Shilpa Shetty, who got international fame after winning the UK ‘Big Brother’ show. Her tormentor in the show, Jade Goody, whom Shilpa accused of being racist will be participating in the Indian equivalent of ‘Big Brother’, Big Boss (season 2), which Ms. Shetty would be hosting.

One cannot ask for privacy, at the same time very well tolerate shows which actually show the stars when they are not wearing make-up. If some one believes that the media frenzy to get exclusives about the private life of stars and people is crossing all boundaries, then one must also voice against such reality shows like Big Brother , Big Boss which records the activities of its contestants all round the clock.

Are we treating our cricketing heroes properly?

Hero-worshipping is common phenomenon of human society. We always praise and shower gifts and respect on those who make extra-ordinary achievements in their respective fields they are performing in, which can range from sports to literature to art, even politics. But we also forget how to respect them when their glorious days are over, especially in the field of sports and entertainment. As soon as the performance of a player or an actor or artist drops, we all demand for their immediate retirement or removal from the team. Any one who follows Indian cricket can relate to what I am trying to say.

Cricket is probably the most popular sport and field in India presently, which most of the Indians passionately feel about. One good match- winning performance by a cricketer and he is our hero. Not so known Ishant Sharma was a hero after a great performance in Australia earlier this year. Nothing wrong about that, the lad deserved that. However, by chance, if his performance drops ( God forbid that) in two to three series, the same public, critic and yes the media people will not live in peace until and unless he is dropped from the team or like a miracle picks up his form again. And that one miracle will be enough to regain his status as hero. Like what happened with Virender Sehwag, whose praises one was not able to stop singing after his double century in the recent test series played between India and Sri Lanka. Why are we being so unfair to our heroes? Why do we forget the fact that they too are human beings who too can fail in their effort like us? Probably when we start considering them as hero we start thinking them as better than all of us. Yes, they are but you cannot deny the fact that they too are humans. They too can err or falter.

Next time before criticizing our team after a defeat, it would be more productive and helpful if we keep our criticism to technical errors done by the player or team, rather than criticizing the individual. This will help the team as well as boost the confidence of the player to give a better performance. In times of trouble, words of comfort and advice are the biggest help, not asking for severe punishment.

Beijing Olympics 2008: Will India be able to improve its medal tally count?

Atlanta Olympics’96: India wins a bronze in lawn tennis event; Sydney Olympics 2000: one bronze medal won in weight lifting; Athens’04: India graduates to a silver medal, won in double-trap shooting event; Abhinav Bindra wins gold in individual event for the first time in Beijing Olympics 2008. Will the Indian contingent in Beijing be able to clinch some more medals and at least end the medal drought that India has faced at the Olympics? Well, fans are praying, the athletes are sweating out to achieve that target.

India and China have been synonymous with the term ‘developing superpowers’ for a long time. Economically, the progress that both these countries have made definitely instills this confidence in terming them so. Both these countries have the human and natural resources, and the technologies to utilize it, which is enviable. But it seems China has outdone India in certain sectors and fields in which India’s progress is still like that of an underdeveloped nation. And the sport is such an area.

It’s a shame that a country of over a billion populations is not able to produce a better result in the Olympics. Well, the other ‘developing superpower’, China certainly is catching up with other ‘superpowers’ not just economically and technologically but in sports as well. In the Athens Olympics China was just behind the US in the medal tally, winning 32 gold medals. Onus will be on the US to remain ahead, as this time the Chinese contingent will be playing in their home ground, in front of their home crowd, which will certainly be shot in the arm to perform better than the last time.

There is a lesson that needs to be learnt from the Chinese. It has been reiterated by the Noble laureate economist, Amartya Sen for long time that a market married to the society will be called development of a nation. The development in market should percolate down to the society. It too must feel that progress. Progressing economically, increasing GDP, getting the Nuke deal with the US done and increasing number of Indians in Forbes’s list of richest people is not the right indicator of India becoming a superpower. Just like a body needs an all-round development to be called healthy, so does a nation needs to develop other than economically and technologically to be called a superpower. And the medals tally in the Olympics is an indicator of that.

All protests in India are heading to national highway

Highways have become a favorite stage for the protestors in the recent times, to stage demonstration. In just about three month’s time, the national highways in India have witnessed to agitation by protestors of diverse groups. The recent one is the blocking of NH1A off Jammu by the Shri Amarnath Sangharsh Samiti, which is protesting against the revocation of Amaranth land transfer order.

Holding the city at ransom by agitators by means of strikes, halting traffic is not new. But withholding the economy of a state by blocking the highways to register protest is something new, which the state administration in India is not equipped with to handle yet. The trend was started by the Gujjars while protesting for a Scheduled Tribe status. It caught the attention of the entire nation when they blocked two arterial highways connecting Rajasthan, for a week in May-June 2007, halting the supply of essential goods to the state. And this year too, they blocked the NH11 from 23 May to 27 June, thus, paralyzing the state’s economy. The protests destroyed public poverty worth crores and also affected the revenue earning that comes from the toll charges. At the end, they reached an agreement with the State Government of Rajasthan, which met their demand.

Taking a cue from the success of the agitation of the gujjars, other protestors also are leading their protests to the highways. Gorkha Janmukti Morcha too blocked the NH13 in June. Later in the month, Sikh- Dera Sacha Sauda row also resulted in blocking of NH10 and NH1A near Sirsa and Jammu respectively.
And the recent one is the blocking of NH1A by the Shri Amarnath Sangharsh Samiti from the beginning of August till date.

The recent one is proving to be very costly to the economy of the valley. This blockade has great political ramification as well. Immediate steps needs to be taken by the government, so that separatist and communal forces are not able to come to their true colors. But there seems to be a lack of political will to find a solution to the problem immediately as the government is loosing its night’s sleep over getting the Nuke deal with the US cleared than resolving this issue.

The Supreme Court bench recently made this remark regarding government’s response to the amendment of the law to prosecute those illegally occupying government accommodations: “Even God will not be able to save this country”. The bench headed by B N Agarwal added that “they (government) don’t have the guts to differ with opinion of the clerks.” This remark perfectly reflects the will of the political bosses in this country. They take decisions, make or undo amendments to please those who resort to hooliganism to get their demands sanctioned and thus, will be a vote bank for the future. Whether these decisions will be good for the country is not their concern, but creating vote banks surely is.

Ramadoss’s take on Article 377

Union Health Minister, Anbumani Ramadoss speaking at the 17th International AIDS Conference in the Mexico city, advocated for the scrapping of the article 377, which criminalizes homosexuality. He expressed that “Structural discrimination against those who are vulnerable to HIV such as sex workers and men having sex with men must be removed if our prevention, care and treatment programmes are to succeed”.

Though the health minister has said it keeping in mind the “stabilization of the HIV epidemic” that India is currently witnessing but this is something which is never imagined of being spoken by a minister. With changing times society needs to change its perception, but barely nine months before the general elections, when the UPA government is trying to be politically safe, such a comment indeed seems bravado. Because, this may upset a huge section of conservatives. The concern of the health minister was totally medical in asking for deleting Article 377, but it has social ramification as well.

Whatever may be the concern and ramification of this suggestion, it clearly indicates that some of the bravest and futuristic comments by Indian leaders can come on foreign soil. Like opposition leader, L.K.Adavni’s comments on Jinnah’s secularism, also came during his visit to Pakistan in 2005. Advani’s comments created unwanted controversy. Hope that Ramdoss’s does not meet the same fate.

SO WHEN IS INDIA GOING FOR GENERAL ELECTION?

Will the UPA be able to reach the magic figure of 271 in the Indian parliament or the country will see an early election? Are the measures taken by the Congress to save the government gonna tarnish its image? How come after years of rivalry, SP and Congress have become best buddies? So many questions seem to rise in the mind about this interesting political scenario in the country. Does any one has the specific answers to the questions?