tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-65525403079339435792024-03-05T14:21:06.976+05:30DubiousDistinctionsblah, blah....and some more blahSoubhikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06264084737105012509noreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6552540307933943579.post-37785082118292636472011-02-09T22:42:00.007+05:302011-02-09T23:14:36.427+05:30People come and go, talking about MichelangeloAfter reading a friend's status message, "While everyone is going crazy for <a href="http://ibnlive.in.com/news/from-suspects-aarushis-parents-turn-accused/142883-3.html">Talwars' reputation</a>, what about the dignity of those three servants who never got justice in the first place, and the last?" i was wondering does she actually care about Krishna, Rajkumar and Vijay Mandal or is it another self-righteous rant that we, the Indian middle class, are so good at. <br /><br />Was busy inflicting my haughty opinion in the comments section when i realised that it is getting too big to fit in, so re-routed the rant on my almost dead blog. So here you go:<br /><br />The fact is media has robbed "those three servants" of their identity, here also she mentions their generic occupation (servants), not names! Almost everyone who has followed the case knows about Aarushi, Nupur & Rajesh Talwar (heck, few people might even know names of extended Talwar family as well) but how many remember about these three who do not even have names! They are 'accused' inside the court, and 'servants' outside it.<br />Our fiercely "independent" media shouts the names aloud, people repeat after them.<br /><br /><a href="http://aduni.org/~heather/occs/honors/Poem.htm">TS Eliot</a> wrote a long time back,<br />"We are the hollow men <br />We are the stuffed men <br />Leaning together <br />Headpiece filled with straw. Alas!" -- that's what bharat ki <span style="font-style:italic;">janta</span> is, group of scarecrows standing in a queue, waiting for their respective turns in front of the telly as the Barkhas, Rajdeeps & Goswamis of the world tell them what it is to be an Indian, and a patriot at the same time.<br /><br />Rant over.Soubhikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06264084737105012509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6552540307933943579.post-9723680547613470272010-03-10T12:28:00.002+05:302010-03-10T12:47:59.679+05:30Mr Modi, don't take fans for granted!The way Mr Lalit Modi/BCCI decided to <a href="http://www.cricinfo.com/ipl2010/content/current/story/451224.html">call off the bidding process</a> for the buying new IPL franchises for 2011 season speaks volumes about the unprofessional and haughty mindset that Indian cricket administrators, without any exception, carry. <br />It's pretty pissing off that at the end of the day, this in-fighting ends up short changing all the stakeholders of the game, more often than not the passionate flag waving fans, and in this case the millionaire investors who would have pumped more money in a game already regarded as "filthy rich". <br />The BCCI as a body is an assortment of contradictions, held together by few charismatic players who keep on producing magic on the field. Sachin, Dravid, Laxman,Viru are seemingly last of this breed.<br />None of the batsmen from the "youngistan" brigade have excited me and people like Rohit Sharma keep sending my BP to stratosphere by losing their wicket to more and more supremely idiotic shots. Throughout the 1980s, the West Indies team dominated world cricket like anything and look at them now. They just lost to school boys from Zimbabwe (at home!) and got derided by their captain for <a href="http://www.cricinfo.com/wivzim2010/content/story/450842.html">"being crap".</a><br />This Indian team is nowhere close to what the WI team, led by Clive Lloyd and later Viv Richards, was. The law of averages will catch up with it pretty soon and as one cricket fan sums up at the cricinfo message board, <span style="font-style:italic;">tamashas </span> like IPL will be over: <br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">"Unprofessional and unethical behavior on display again and again. First, was Manohar asleep at the wheel all along and suddenly woke up so that he could throw his weight around? Or did they wake up when they realized that Sahara (from Dalmiya's backyard) was going to be a successful bidder? Having advised Fortune 100 companies in the US on business strategy, I am unsure who is better organized, the BCCI or monkeys in captivity in a zoo - the latter at least adapt to live with each other. And lest we forget, the IPL is an idea and concept borrowed from the ICL who was then hounded out. Indians can do better than throw more money on a sport that will soon turn into a yawn - the day SRT retires, each franchise will lose at least half its value. Modi's contempt for a local fan base is evident from the manner in which he airlifted the IPL to SA - in short, TV revenue is what gets this going not the fans, and that too will fall when SRT retires - we can then watch grown men cry."</span>Soubhikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06264084737105012509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6552540307933943579.post-50093613398477774252010-02-07T22:30:00.002+05:302010-02-07T22:36:07.464+05:30Where did this Pathan go?In the just concluded Duleep Trophy final, Yusuf Pathan <a href="http://www.cricinfo.com/ci/content/story/447198.html">kicked some serious butt</a> that helped West Zone trounce South! In the same match, Yusuf's half brother Irfan took a laborious five-wicket haul in the first innings and with that he claimed the 300th wicket of his first class career in front of empty stands in Hyderabad’s Rajiv Gandhi International stadium. <br />To me, it was rather sad to see the guy who was hailed as the next Kapil Dev not too long ago, toiling away on a dead wicket, far away from the gaze of national selectors and in this case spectators as well. After all, here is a guy who has been in the public eye for long, has performed when it <a href="http://www.cricinfo.com/ci/content/player/32685.html">mattered the most</a> (Man of the match awards in 2007 T20 World Cup final & the Perth Test in the aftermath of ‘Monkeygate’) and has the figures to show that he is better than his nearest competitors.<br />Irfan Pathan’s batting average (31.57) isn’t too far from that of England’s talismanic all-rounder <a href="http://www.cricinfo.com/ci/content/player/12856.html">Andrew Flintoff</a> (31.77), while his bowling average (32.26) is a shade better than Freddie’s average of 32.78. Irfan has claimed seven 5-wicket hauls in 22 Tests to Flintoff’s three fivers in 79 Tests. When the British media speaks about Andrew Flintoff it almost borders on reverence but Irfan, somehow, has gone off the radar from India’s cricket crazy fans’ collective consciousness. India has desperately looked for an all-rounder and when on song, Irfan has seemed like an answer to the prayers of a billion strong nation. Yes, he has lost his pace but on ‘helpful’ tracks he can trouble the best in business through his movement whereas when compared to the likes of Munaf Patel, Sreesanth, Sudip Tyagi among others, his batting ability is light years ahead.<br />Irfan needs to be persisted with, especially in longer form of the game where perseverance is as important as ability and pace and bar Zaheer Khan, all of India’s quick bowlers fail the test of patience. Son of a poor Muzzein from Vadodara, Irfan came up till the U-19 circuit the hard way and from then onwards he took the highway before making this unscheduled halt. Irfan last played for India in February 2009, while his last Test appearance was in April 2008 (vs South Africa); he is just 25 and has time on the hand, all he needs is an opportunity. It’s time we look beyond the usual suspects.Soubhikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06264084737105012509noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6552540307933943579.post-75567771163476293972009-11-13T12:51:00.001+05:302009-11-13T12:51:35.796+05:30The Sachin I know<a href=http://www.cricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/434224.html?cmp=viral>The Sachin I know</a><br /><br />Posted using <a href="http://sharethis.com">ShareThis</a>Soubhikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06264084737105012509noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6552540307933943579.post-4942606672468376842009-07-25T21:17:00.004+05:302009-07-25T21:25:26.883+05:30India Unbound: A review<em>This blog hasn’t been updated for ages and I was really feeling guilty for not being able to update as frequently as I’d like to. To me, it almost felt as if I’m hoarding precious web space! So this post is more of an outcome of guilt pangs than anything else.<br />Recently read Gurucharan Das’ ‘<a href="http://www.flipkart.com/india-unbound-gurcharan-das/0143063014-xow3f4px3b">India Unbound’ </a>to help a friend in distress with his presentation.<br />After I was finished I told myself, I really don’t agree with the dude’s out and out capitalistic ideas but as a story teller, that too of a non-fiction tale, this guy is just brilliant. <br />So here is the review (sort of!)</em><br />In ‘<a href="http://www.flipkart.com/salman-rushdie-midnight-children-ed/812690688x-ou23faobee">Midnight’s Children’</a>, Rushdie wove the story of his main character Salim Sinai with the fortune of the Indian sub-continent and presented a fascinating picture of the region with the help of ‘magical’ characters. Gurcharan Das scales down his canvas and sticks to India but by weaving his biography with the ‘growth story’ of India, Das makes ‘India Unbound’ a great tale of personal memoirs coupled with economic analysis and political scrutiny of a nation.<br />It’s an honest guide for those who don’t know India and for those who do, Das’s analysis tries to answer the countless dinner table/coffee house debates and arguments they might have had with their peers or family. Why the phenomenon called India never took off? Why we were rich then (before the Europeans came calling), but poor now? Das provides an insight into India’s many successes and its innumerable failures. This is the tale of a self confessed capitalist, a crusader for free markets and anyone who tends to veer towards the left might find this to be ‘pro-America’.<br />Gurcharan dismisses the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jawaharlal_Nehru#Economic_policies">economic policies of Government of India </a>before the liberalization of 1991 as some sort of ‘Nehruvian socialism’ which slowed down the ‘Indian elephant’ and helped practices such as licence raj and militant trade unionism thrive. He might be sympathetic to Nehru for sticking on to socialism just after independence but is scathingly critical of Indira, firstly for undoing the farmer reforms brought on by Lal Bahadur Shastri and later for her ‘nationalisation’ drive that covered mines, banks etc.<br />But he stops shot of being over critical. Das points out that despite being badly governed, India has done well to reach where it is today and for that a host of factors have clicked in India’s favour and that’s where he celebrates India. Political leaders like Lalu Prasad Yadav and Mulayam Singh Yadav are subject of ridicule of most of the Indian bourgeoisie, but Gurcharan points out that it was their ‘caste based polity’ that gave confidence to the ‘backward castes’ to move ahead in the 21st century with the rest of India. He also points out their secular credentials, as to how Lalu never allowed the post-Babri riots, which burned down rest of the country, to spread into Bihar. This however does not vindicate the leaders from the charges of mis-governance, corruption and fallible industrial policies. (Since this book came before Lalu turned around the Railways, it pretty much damns him, and rightly so, for what he has done to Bihar.)<br />For Gurcharan Das, the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economic_liberalization_in_India">opening up of Indian markets in 1991 </a>by the then Finance Minister, now PM, Dr Manmohan Singh is nothing short of an epiphanic moment. The new policies included opening for international trade and investment, deregulation, initiation of privatization, tax reforms, and inflation-controlling measures. The sporadic cases of rags to riches story were expected to become the norm. Stories of Zee Telefilms, Jet Airways, Dr Reddy’s Lab, Ranbaxy are of incredible success, but every success story there is a boom-to-bust story of R Subramanium of Maxforth Orchards infamy, whose entrepreneurial spirit ‘thrilled’ Das when the former’s salesman asked him to invest in the venture (which Das did not!) but whose over-ambitious plans couldn’t withstand the liquidity crunch of the late nineties.<br />But in India’s context we can claim that more things change, more they remain the same. Despite Gurcharan Das’s optimism that ‘economic liberalisation’ is the solution that will sort out everything that is pulling us back may not be entirely correct. Take for example our literacy levels. Even if we go by the absurd definition followed by the government (ability to sign your name), India’s literacy rate is hovering around the 65% mark [UNICEF data updated till 2007] and which, effectively means that more than three fourths of the country’s male population and above half of the female population is literate. Rest can’t even sign their names. <br />It’s been 18 years since India ‘opened’ up its markets, and as Das mentions in the updated afterword, between 2002 and 2006 India’s economy grew at an astonishing 8% and he projects that by the year 2025, India’s world product will rise from 6% to 13%making India world’s third largest economy.<br />But despite so much promise and Das’ lofty projections can we be sure that the growth will be ‘inclusive’. Can we say in that by the year 2025 there will be no more starvation deaths in Orissa’s Kalahandi or anywhere else in India. Das desists from saying so. He says poverty will be reduced to ‘manageable proportions’ and concedes that our weak ‘middle step’ of ‘industrialisation’ while jumping from agrarian economy to a services based one might be a cause of concern.<br />But despite all that the book is a about celebration of what India was, what is became during era of ‘socialist policies and licence raj regime’ and how it has changed since the liberalisation kicked in. Das informs us [the Generation X/Y, whatever!] that annual revenue of Aurangzeb was “more than ten times” that of his contemporary in France, Louis XIV. He quotes economic historian Angus Maddison to say that, riding on the might of its handloom textile and handicrafts market, India had 22.6% share in World’s GDP and 25% share in global trade in textiles.<br />In the near future, Das predicts that the ‘Indian elephant’ and the Chinese dragon will dominate global economic in a manner quite similar to how it was before the imperial age. But for that India’s first concern should be to concentrate on basic infrastructure like building highways and setting up local health centre and schools at the grassroots. India cannot fulfil its potential and promise if these basic necessities are neglected. For history to repeat itself a collective effort is required. We cannot break into a sprint with a weak ‘middle step’.Soubhikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06264084737105012509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6552540307933943579.post-68330661323603106372009-05-17T13:56:00.004+05:302009-05-17T14:00:31.526+05:30Jai Ho DemocracyAs predicted the <a href="http://dubiousdistinctions.blogspot.com/2009/03/nobody-can-stop-varun-gandhi-from.html">prat</a> has won (after being exonerated by the SC from the NSA charge) with a whopping margin of more than 2 lakh votes! But then his party, BJP, has failed to get a majority which means that India will have a PM for two consecuative terms of 5 yrs for the first time since Pt Nehru.<br />And wait, despite being a Cong-man the guy ain't from the Nehru-Gandhi family! Am I the only one surprised? But anyway the people of India have givene a mandate and I think like everytime they have got it right. Jai ho democracy!<br /><br />PS: Can anyone guess what portfolio will Rahul Gandhi get? I'm betting on Rural Development!Soubhikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06264084737105012509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6552540307933943579.post-61780534809690652212009-03-29T16:51:00.006+05:302009-04-06T20:40:04.324+05:30Nobody can stop Varun Gandhi from winning in Pilibhit<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://static.indianexpress.com/m-images/M_Id_68856_varun_gandhi.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 250px;" src="http://static.indianexpress.com/m-images/M_Id_68856_varun_gandhi.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />The fact is if somehow Varun is able to creep out of the jail, he will win the Pilibhit seat hands down and that's where saddest part of out democratic system gets highlighted.<br />Voting right is a powerful tool for the poor and marginalised but what happens when the voter is not educated enough to actually figure out what's right and what's wrong! They make choices that are implicitly forced on them or just done on the basis of instant gratification they receive after ‘Netaji’ trudge down to their house for a quick bite.<br />The malaise of poverty coupled with illiteracy has made our political set up impotent and has allowed insidious politicians like Lalu, Mulayam, Mayawati and Paswan to create their 'votebanks', a political situation that is milked in India more that anywhere else in the world.<br />Yes black people voted for Obama because he was from their community and they related to him…but that wasn’t the ONLY reason! Here Lalu is cocky about his MY [Muslim-Yadav] combination while Paswan says if you want a Dalit PM <a href="http://www.indianexpress.com/news/if-it-is-a-question-of-the-first-dalit-pm-then-why-not-ram-vilas-paswan/434775/">then why not me</a>! I ask, ass look at yourself…you are the only fucker in India who has been a minister with the United Front Govt, the NDA and now the UPA. God forbid but if the Third Front comes to power this time around, you can jot down at least one name who will be in that cabinet.<br />In this era of coalitions people like Paswan, PMK and Lalu will continue to call the shots with 10-20 odd seats, while people with 30 seats (SP or BSP whoseoever gets lucky in UP) will continue to wield enough power to threaten the Govt at the centre. In the meanwhile rabble rousers like Varun Gandhi, Abu Azmi and Raj Thackeray will continue to win elections by invoking and stoking the hatred for ‘other’ that resides in the hearts of those who haven’t been able to exorcise the ghosts of partition, Babri and Godhra.Soubhikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06264084737105012509noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6552540307933943579.post-88336624820062317332009-02-19T16:56:00.001+05:302009-02-19T16:56:26.966+05:30Check out Should Greenpeace keep talking to the Tatas? Or should we stop the port?<p>I want you to take a look at: <a href="http://tellafriend.socialtwist.com:80/web/redirect.jsp?223549279048243433111">Should Greenpeace keep talking to the Tatas? Or should we stop the port?</a> </p>Soubhikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06264084737105012509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6552540307933943579.post-36976654542077954752009-02-01T18:06:00.003+05:302009-02-01T18:22:19.287+05:30...<meta equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 10"><meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 10"><link style="font-family: verdana;" rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5Csoubhik%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtml1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml"><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:EN-GB;} a:link, span.MsoHyperlink {color:blue; text-decoration:underline; text-underline:single;} a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed {color:purple; text-decoration:underline; text-underline:single;} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";} </style> <![endif]--> <p style="font-family: verdana;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span lang="EN-GB">My last blog post was sometime in August last year (and that was more of a necessity than free will)...since then I've done nothing of note and still been busy. The irony of the whole thing is I'm not sure as to what I've been busy with; Office? Naah, my work profile is too darn mundane for me to plead 'busy'! So what else?
<br />Visits to campus? Well… I must confess I’m going down those hallowed corridors more often than i used to go during my college days but that isn't something that's been keeping me "busy". But am i busy? Well i haven't posted anything on my blog for almost 6 months so there must be something that must be keeping me busy...but what?
<br />May be I'm just a lazy bum who punches the keyboard for almost 8-10 hrs at a stretch in office and doesn't fancies touching the QWERTY thing once he's back at home.
<br />Ok that seems plausible.
<br />Maybe I will get over my laziness and will start competing with <a href="http://rid-flections.blogspot.com/">Riddhi</a> vis-à-vis number of blogs posted every month. Ah, that will be good...competing with the pro. But till then I shall go back to my hibernating state. It is more fun than this :)<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> Soubhikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06264084737105012509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6552540307933943579.post-53853743821553798432008-08-14T11:36:00.002+05:302008-08-14T11:51:25.121+05:30Beijing has wooed the worldDeadly riots and a crackdown on protests in Tibet in March this year not withstanding, all the World leaders will squat in the 'Bird's Nest' to watch the spectacle of the Opening Ceremony of 2008 Beijing bOlympics. The ethnic unrest in Western China, brutal clampdown on resenting voices will not perturb Mr Bush and Monsieur Sarkozy as both of them have warmed up considerably to Comrade Hu.<br /><br />During the torrid times of the torch relay, through a volatile Paris and San Francisco (followed by a farcical “run” in New Delhi), all and sundry cried foul over almost everything, starting from Tibet to Darfur. Nicolas Sarkozy almost threatened to boycott but later climbed down from his high horse. Maybe selling Airbus planes and nuclear equipment to Chinese customers ranks higher on the agenda of the French President. President Bush is travelling down to Beijing because he doesn't want to displease Chinese people. Maybe he doesn't count Tibetans amongst the “Chinese people”. Well there's at least one similarity between Comrade Hu and President Bush!<br /><br />At the end of the day all the leaders have their reasons for not 'displeasing the Chinese people' and 'glitterati' of world leaders will be in Beijing on the 8th of August.<br /><br />Sitting inside the 'Bird's Nest' watching the spectacle orchestrated by Zhang Yimou (of <i> House of Flying Daggers</i> fame), the 100 odd world leaders who are touted to attend the gala will hardly be bothered about what goes on in the rough terrain of Tibet.<br /><br />China's regime has seized on the Olympics to boast about its development and portray itself as a 21st century global power. The Opening Ceremony will be enough to prove, as the fleeting glimpse that has been systematically leaked shows that all the artists, technicians and producers who have been working on the ceremony for years, encapsulating 100 year old Chinese history and tradition in a hour long show, that the Chinese have done a creditable job.<br /><br />By attending the Opening Ceremony, will the world leaders give a sort of legitimacy to all the actions taken by the ruling regime of China? Only time will tell whether they will end up becoming some sort of props in the hands of the Chinese Communist Party.<br /><br />This blog first appeared on the <a href="http://blogs.expressindia.com/">Expressblogs</a>.Soubhikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06264084737105012509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6552540307933943579.post-3726267488630557872008-05-27T16:25:00.004+05:302008-08-14T11:52:36.425+05:30Why do we need a window?This blog first appeared on <a href="http://blogs.expressindia.com/showblogdetails.php?contentid=301947">expressblogs</a>, my source of mutton, chicken & shahi panner!<br /><br />All this talk of ICC creating a window in the ‘Future’s Tour Programme’ (FTP) for tournaments like IPL to flourish doesn’t make any sense to me. The basic premise of the Indian Premier League is taken from the highly successful soccer club competitions across Europe where international players play in various clubs but whenever they are required to join their international squads, the clubs have to let them go. There are no two ways about it. FIFA rules make it very clear that international fixtures hold priority over club clashes. But they make sure that when important matches are held, like knock-out matches of tournaments like Champions League in Europe or the tournaments in Latin America, soccer bodies don’t fix any game during that particular time.So it is a fine balancing act that keeps the multi-million dollar/pound/euro club soccer system going without harming the importance and relevance of international FIFA matches. Here the International cricket body, ICC, is mulling about stalling international fixtures to allow the ‘big players’ to earn more by playing in tournaments like IPL. To me personally it sounds preposterous to say the least. Whatever maybe at stake financially in tournaments like IPL, nothing can match the edge in clashes like India-Pakistan or Australia-England and that is what a true cricket fan wants.<br />Not a war minus bullets and <a href="http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/Bhajji-slaps-Sreesanth-both-downplay-the-incident/301921/">slaps</a> but a hard fought game in which cricket comes out as the winner. I am all for IPL and other tournaments like it and personally I love the Twenty20 format but frankly stalling international cricket matches for a period of time to facilitate cash-driven tournaments is just not doneSoubhikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06264084737105012509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6552540307933943579.post-31566907251972929262008-05-27T16:22:00.004+05:302008-08-14T11:53:04.948+05:30Will sworn enemies kiss and make-up?This blog first appeared on <a href="http://blogs.expressindia.com/showblogdetails.php?contentid=298617">expressblogs</a>, my source of mutton, chicken & shahi panner!<br /><br />All of us have heard about great cricketing rivalries of the past, Gavaskar vs Lille, More vs Miandad but none of them had to face the dilemma of sharing a dressing room. Now Graeme Smith and Shane Warne aren’t exactly great mates but it will be rather interesting to see them put their head together to scheme an opposition batsman’s downfall. Similarly any opposition captain to have played against Sourav Ganguly will not wax eloquent about him and if it is a certain Mr Ricardo Ponting then the camaraderie shared between the two individuals is well, not exactly great to say the least. After sharing such a tense relationship on the field for so long its hard to fathom how these two players will gel inside a common dressing room or how Ponting is going to take orders from Ganguly on field! Your guess is as good as mine, but it will ensure that the paying public gets value for its money.Soubhikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06264084737105012509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6552540307933943579.post-87313307758827478622007-11-25T00:09:00.000+05:302007-11-25T00:12:57.674+05:30Can we bridge the “Digital Divide”?<span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana;" lang="EN-GB">In the poverty stricken Nangla Maachi slum in <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">New Delhi</st1:place></st1:City>, Sarai-Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS) along with Ankur, an NGO, provided the teenagers with computers way back in 1991. They started jotting down their daily dairies and basically articulated bits and pieces of their daily life on the computer. Sometime later the <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Delhi</st1:place></st1:City> state government realized it has the responsibility of ‘developing’ the area so it began by demolishing the slum to lay foundation for a flyover. This “media lab” (as it was called) had to be shifted and since then, many from the slum continue to write regularly about their experiences of homelessness on a Hindi blog, which are translated into English by volunteers from the aforementioned organisations.<o:p><br /></o:p></span></span> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana;" lang="EN-GB">Yes, this is <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">India</st1:place></st1:country-region>, the land of stark contrasts and bitter irony. It is the country which flaunts 200 million cell phone connections but finds it difficult to hide its 250 million people who continue to languish below the internationally defined poverty line of earning one US dollar a day. The global scenario is changing rapidly with the advent of technology and <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">India</st1:place></st1:country-region> is evolving with it, but isn’t it a bit insensitive, if not obscene, for us to celebrate the boon that technology (specifically internet, means of telecommunication) has been? Our problem is that we have stopped looking outside the comforts of our urban cocooned existence. <span style=""> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana;" lang="EN-GB"><o:p></o:p>Just one statistic will make it clear. In 2006 there were 40 phones for every 100 residents of cities like <st1:city st="on">Delhi</st1:City> and Mumbai but at the same time teledensity in states like Bihar, Jharkhand, <st1:place st="on"><st1:city st="on">Chhattisgarh</st1:City>, <st1:country-region st="on">Assam</st1:country-region></st1:place> and Orissa was a pathetic two. Bridging this ‘digital divide’ between Bharat & India will not be an easy task as the socio-economic reality of rural India doesn’t makes the idea of adopting technology alluring.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana;" lang="EN-GB"><o:p></o:p>There is always a kind of scepticism and mistrust that shrouds the ‘T’ word in <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">India</st1:place></st1:country-region> and for the masses to feel comfortable with the whole concept of imbibing technology in their daily lives spreading awareness about the ‘positive’ side to it is imperative. This ‘awareness’ again cannot be brought about by sustained PR campaigns (that’s effective only for family planning) on which the government spends a bomb each year without much success. It all boils down to basic primary education, which unfortunately the authorities have failed to provide. Most people will be shocked to know that in Asia, <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">India</st1:place></st1:country-region> has one of the highest drop-out rates for students in primary school. We as a society have to change this scenario upside down. Turning one Gurgaon into some sort of cyber city won’t absolve us our guilt.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana;" lang="EN-GB"><o:p></o:p>We need to look at the bigger picture where Information technology & ‘IT enabled services’ will have a prominent role to play in the socio-economic development of the entire country. Technology, especially computers and the assortment of gizmos that accompany it can work wonders for our farmers. From helping them to keep an eye on the ‘market prices’ to educating them about the advanced farming techniques used in developed nations. It can open up a whole new world of opportunities for them. Realising this dream won’t be easy as we will have to start from scratch but hope for a better tomorrow might just be the inspiration that will drive us to success.</span></span></p>Soubhikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06264084737105012509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6552540307933943579.post-7305358693049642642007-10-11T23:23:00.002+05:302008-08-14T11:53:58.895+05:30Of Momentous Heroes & An Uncertain NationIn Delhi the best place to look for ‘affordable’ continental food are the small restaurants in Paharganj. I happen to visit Paharganj recently and went out to have lunch (picture of Lasagne floating in my head) with a friend at one such restaurant. The place was not very crowded but what struck me was the fact that in the 20 odd people sitting there we were the only Desis and rest ‘white’ Videshi. In minutes I saw a few more blonde heads trickle in and a dreadlocked head move out of the door. While I was chatting with my friend arguing about what to order the waiter kept on hanging around our table to get our order, the food on other tables was conspicuous by its absence.<br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 255); font-weight: bold;">भारत</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 255); font-weight: bold;"> </span><br /><br />The fact that the waiter (a 15-16 yr old lad) never bothered to ask the man with white skin about his order, while he kept on hounding us for full 20 minutes that we took for ordering the pre-ordained Lasagne opened my eyes to a bitter reality. I saw a society that still believes that they are the “White Man’s Burden”. If one starts introspecting after 60 years of independence the failure to exorcise the colonial ghost and an inherent inferiority complex when compared to ‘them’ has been the biggest failure of India as a society. The silver lining in this otherwise gloomy cloud of hopelessness have been individuals who have shone through their abilities and intellect and have shown them what we are all about.<br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><strong style="color: rgb(51, 102, 255);">The Heroes</strong><br /></span><br />Not counting the Nehru’s, Patel’s and the man called Gandhi, there was one man called V K Krishna Menon. After being appointed India’s first high commissioner to the UK in 1947 he had a huge responsibility on his shoulders to represent our nation in the country which had ruled us for almost two centuries. He performed his duty with utmost dignity and established himself as a distinguished ambassador. He never cared about the overtly patronising nature of the British society in general towards India and on occasion he let them know that they are dealing with one of the finest brains in the Indian politics.<br /><br />One such incident is of a lady from British aristocracy who asked the London School of Economics educated Menon, how he can speak such articulately in English. Menon retorted, “Ma’am I happen to have studied this language, which you merely have picked!” Also on 23rd January 1957 Krishna Menon, then the head of Indian delegation to the UN, delivered an unprecedented 8-hour speech defending India’s stand on Kashmir and vociferously criticizing the United States. To date, Krishna Menon’s speech is the longest ever delivered in the United Nations Security Council.<br /><br />Cricket despite being a relic of the British era had become a religion of sorts in post-independent India. In 1951 when India defeated their past masters at their own game in Madras (now Chennai) by an innings and 8 runs, the skipper Vijay Hazare was put on a heavenly pedestal. But still it was a team comprising of gentlemen who just played the game and when confronted by barrage of expletives (and bouncers) from their English counter-parts they preferred to sway away from the line. In 1971 Pakistan wasn’t the only nation cowering from the onslaught launched by India. We beat them in their own backyard for the first time and the reason we were able to do that was the team’s self belief and its ability to stand up to their erstwhile colonial masters as equals. The white cricketer was shown his place by players like Dilip Sardesai, Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev and later Sachin Tendulkar amongst others. But nobody did it as emphatically as Saurav Ganguly. After rubbing (snooty??) stalwart of the game Steve Waugh the wrong way during the home series in 2001 (which by the way India won!), Ganguly went to England and did a ‘semi-nude victory jig’ in the hallowed Lord’s balcony.<br /><br />It made Ganguly an icon for this star-starved nation for next few years and ensured that this incident will be firmly etched on the memory of anyone who saw ‘Dada’ swirling his t-shirt and telling the Englishmen what exactly to do next! It also became the face of the new aggressive India that was dynamic and wasn’t ready to be cowed down by the colour of the skin of his opposing number. From that day onwards we have finally learnt to play our game differently and have ceased to be the docile ‘good boys’ of the game. But have the people, who deify these very players, being able to make that attitude shift that apparently the Indian cricketer has made? The simple answer of this difficult question is no.<br /><strong style="color: rgb(51, 102, 255);"></strong><br /><br />We still feel blessed if a European tourist enquires about the way to the lavatory from us while the African students are called names while they travel using the public transport. It’s as if that we have accepted the supremacy of the white skinned and the English speaking over us. By imposing a cultural hegemony of sorts on us through language and various other Medias, the ‘West’ has been successful in its endeavour to turn us into a nation of ‘Brown Sahebs’. As the father of Western Education in India Thomas Babington Macaulay visualised we are turning into a nation of “…Indian in blood and colour, but English (read Western) in taste, in opinions, in morals, and in intellect.”<br /><br />Language is the most important vehicle to assert identity and by loosing it or corrupting it we are loosing ourselves. Studying English language isn’t bad but learning it at the cost of your own mother tongue leaves a kind of void in one’s personality and similarly appreciating western culture is fine till the time you are at least aware of your own roots. When the later condition is not fulfilled then we get a generation of disjointed individuals floating in nothingness in a dazed condition searching for their own space, their own identity.<br /><br />Our trepidation for the white skin manifests from this colonised mind which forces us to automatically cow down in front of an otherwise a normal white person. We are looking for fair skinned people even amongst our own community, so you see those horribly absurd and rather bemusing matrimonial adverts looking for a ‘fair groom’. It throws the conventional ‘tall, DARK, handsome’ norm for a man’s attractiveness out of the window. The only party not complaining here are the ‘fairness cream’ manufacturers who have sold more millions of tonnes of cream, both to men & women.<br /><br />We need to realise that it is crippling us intellectually, morally, emotionally and spiritually. Embracing the so-called modern world at the cost of loosing one’s identity, culture and sense of individuality may not be such a sensible thing to do. The process of decolonising the Indian mind might take some time but we can make a start by putting a stop on giving out those absurd matrimonial adverts and trying to judge an individual on parameters other than his skin colour.Soubhikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06264084737105012509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6552540307933943579.post-32939521612565993652007-09-29T09:47:00.000+05:302007-10-06T23:08:18.061+05:30Regulation not ControlThe biggest problem with the present broadcasting bill is that it confuses regulation with control. Censorship of media is undesirable and unhealthy for a democratic country like India but an unregulated media can cause havoc, latest example being the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Uma</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Khurana</span> ‘sting’ that’s unfolding in Delhi. This incident has again highlighted the power of the broadcast media and has shown how ‘power without responsibility’ can end up adding fuel to a mob’s fury.<br /><br />In the 21st century television as a medium has cross-country reach and this fact alone makes it the presence of a system to regulate the television media a necessity. A body is required that can haul up erring news channels and if required has the necessary powers to punish them as well. But even the thought of an army of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Babus</span>’ running that ‘regulatory body’ is really unpleasant.<br /><br />Government’s bid to impose itself on media through legislation should be thwarted in strongest possible manner. But for the media to continuously croon that <em>“We don’t need no regulation, we don’t need no thought control”</em> is rather juvenile. The stakeholders in the media and the govt need to sit and brainstorm together to come up with a mutually acceptable plan. Initially it may look as complex as the Kashmir issue but at the end of the day all one need is honest intent and clarity in thought. And a nationwide debate involving all stakeholders like government and political parties, representatives from media, civil society organisations and the public might just help.<br /><br /><strong>PS: With great power comes great responsibility…but unaccountable power <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">corrupts.</span></strong>Soubhikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06264084737105012509noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6552540307933943579.post-60507430005479382142007-09-09T12:23:00.001+05:302009-03-29T17:27:00.885+05:30Demystifying CyberiaInternet has become our virtual world and social networking sites like Orkut, Facebook, MySpace among many others are acting as tools that bind people together. But if you think that these sites are just another way to reach out to friends and colleagues then think again! Social networking sites on the Internet not only serve as a meeting ground for like-minded people, but also defy the geographical boundaries between them. They enable you to interact with people who share similar tastes and interests.<br /><br />Online Networking has moved on from being just another fad to a social phenomenon and an influential one at that. Let’s just look at some bare facts- Google’s highly popular social networking platform Orkut was launched in January 2004. By the end of July 2004 it had crossed the 1 million member mark and the latest figures suggest that Orkut has more that 67,000,000 members (Wikipedia rocks!!). Similarly MySpace has about 70 million users spread all across the globe. The numbers definitely are mind boggling.<br /><br /><strong><span style="color:#ffff33;">Networking Blues</span></strong><br /><br />Any networking site is similar to each other in a way as during the initial sign up process members are asked to provide their basic information. This includes small bits of general information like favourite music, cinema genre, books, TV shows to some more personal details like contact number, address to even sexual orientation. Although all information supplied is optional for the user, according to rapidly evolving but basically amorphous ‘cyber ethics’ it’s uncool to appear coy in the virtual world. Instant gratification is the biggest incentive through virtual friends and concocted affections are one of the biggest USP of online camaraderie and by being prude the individual creates a barrier around him/her.<br /><br />Till this point everything is good but the moment any over-enthusiastic user makes sensitive information like personal contact details (like mobile number/e-mail id) or sexual proclivities public the situation gets a bit problematic. Caution is something we practice in our daily lives as any of natural tendency. Strangely the moment we ‘log-in’ to our online profile we let our guard down. People easily part with their telephone numbers and share pictures with a perfect stranger about whose identity/background we can never be sure of. The knowledge that the incognito of anonymity will aid their misdeeds has endeared the web to mischief makers but is that a fault of the medium?<br /><br /><strong><span style="color:#ffff66;">Don’t Shoot the Messenger</span></strong><br /><br />The recent spurt of cyber crimes (‘Orkut Crimes’ as the Indian media calls it) has resulted in calls from certain section of society that these sites be either regulated or shut-down. Now we don’t shoot the messenger who delivers a bad news! Similarly we need to understand that the web and the networking sites are just a medium and not the reason of the crimes. Orkut, which happens to be the most popular networking site in India, has recently been involved in various controversies. According to statistics available with the Delhi Police, a total of 17 cases related to hacking, obscenity, e-commerce fraud and Internet-related crimes were registered in 2006 from Delhi NCR region. Now this is a substantial number in a country where there are only 2 personal computers per 100 people! These figures don’t mean that the spurt in the popularity levels of social networking sites are the bane of the web world, especially in India. What they mean is that our Cyber laws are ambiguous and inadequate to curb modern day cyber crimes. What we really need is to be more aware and get a hang of these new technological forms. It is very easy to blame technology for everything but while doing so what we forget is that is just a reflection of what’s going on in the real world.<br /><br /><strong><span style="color:#ffff66;">Networking for a Cause</span></strong><br /><br />Innumerable political and civil strife have ensured that at any given time there are millions of refugees spread across the length and breadth of the globe. This pain is shared only by those who have suffered it or witnessed it first hand. In such circumstances internet becomes a really powerful and effective medium for these people to share their experience and sometimes to form a kind of public opinion for their cause. The example of Tibetan people living in India explains this phenomenon effectively.<br /><br />A sizeable numbers of Tibetans call India home for past two-three generations now but still their status here is that of refugees and also they are very particular about maintaining a separate identity for all these decades. The current net savvy generation is now taking the protest against Chinese occupation to their homeland inside the World Wide Web. Their community on Orkut and Hi5 is growing at an exponential rate and the depth of discussion that is being held on these communities is simply amazing.<br /><br />No doubt it is a two edged weapon as this very platform is also used for carrying hate campaigns and spreading communalism. On October 10, 2006 Mumbai High Court's Aurangabad bench served a notice on Google for allowing a hate campaign against India, refering to a community on Orkut called 'We Hate India'. Similarly politicians like Arjun Singh and Mayawati have been targeted by individuals for various reasons and despite legal notices nothing substantial have come out of it.<br /><br /><em><span style="color:#ffff66;"><strong>Now What?</strong></span></em><br /><br />The unfortunate death of the Mumbai lad Adnan Patrawala could very well have been avoided had he taken some other friend or family member to meet his Orkut friends. Social networking sites encourage people to make ‘virtual friends’ and allows them to do so in an uninhibited manner i.e. without the fear of them being judged on the basis of their appearance etc. But everyone has to draw a line when it comes to sharing personal information with a stranger, how so ever friendly he may seem. Finally to conclude on a bright note, a study commissioned in US by the National School Boards Association surveyed students between nine and 17 years as well as parents and teachers to find out the number of people who have faced a cyber stalker or has been victimised through any of the social networking sites. The report said over 96 per cent of students with online access used one of these social networking services but only 0.08% actually met a person they got acquainted with online. So the bottom-line of the whole issue is a guideline for parents<span style="color:#66cccc;"> (ya even the overbearing ones!)-</span>give your children space to grow but don’t leave them alone!Soubhikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06264084737105012509noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6552540307933943579.post-64752788286210019422007-08-08T21:15:00.000+05:302007-10-06T23:09:15.002+05:30Blissfully Ignorant MediaIndian society has always been regarded as a heady concoction of “cocktails of contradictions”. Our cities are abuzz with talk regarding our booming economy and the viability of an 8%-10% growth rate of our economy, but are our country cousins as fortunate as we are, perhaps not. Farmers are still committing suicide in the face of mounting debt and failing crops, the agrarian sector is still growing at a mere 2%.<br /><br />The national press, following the footsteps of our ‘revered’ politicians, seems to have turned its back towards the real India. At a time when the socio-economic equations are increasingly favouring the middle-class this attitude of apathy towards the poor and pandering to the needs of the bourgeoisie translates into good business, but not good journalism. It seems that somewhere down the line the media has forgotten about its responsibility of ‘nation building’, which is unfortunate.<br /><br />The profession of journalism is different from others as a huge social responsibility accompanies it. Journalists earlier were driven by a sense of duty and were always accountable for the content they published but in the era of globalization and free market it has become just another business driven occupation with profit being its sole mantra. In a scenario where information is the most powerful tool to succeed in this world, the newspapers and media organisations have a bigger responsibility to inform and empower the youth of India.<br /><br />To do this they need to get as sensitive towards the issues of the marginalised section of the society as it already is towards the “Shining India” living-it-up in the cities. It needs to understand that it is more important to highlight the plight of the farmer drinking pesticides in Vidharbha than the traffic woes of an average delhiite! Maintaining a state of equilibrium should be the key.<br /><br />All the eye ball grabbing headlines can also be used to sensitise the DU dude about the rampant illiteracy in the Indian heartland. It can help expose government’s populist measures by informing the quota fearing middle class about absence of even primary education for the kids unfortunate enough to be born to ‘lower caste’ parent in Bihar or Jharkhand.Soubhikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06264084737105012509noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6552540307933943579.post-52092223154125903662007-07-02T17:59:00.000+05:302007-07-02T18:06:04.665+05:30TP<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNUBeUoLwfOq0wM4cmtpqizAWM-03RtRKDLEPwdbBx5Ug-Ony_Cg0s3riIzyHf2sqXltKXqV5pjuwfX9h-hnGHXao9nupWXdjCQVzR52V_2YqPx_HWU37OB34j8_csfJWpammYTjJMA2mc/s1600-h/sbhk.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5082577039001837650" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNUBeUoLwfOq0wM4cmtpqizAWM-03RtRKDLEPwdbBx5Ug-Ony_Cg0s3riIzyHf2sqXltKXqV5pjuwfX9h-hnGHXao9nupWXdjCQVzR52V_2YqPx_HWU37OB34j8_csfJWpammYTjJMA2mc/s200/sbhk.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div>Well this is just a test posting but expect me to c0me up with something, something worth sharing, pretty soon but till then all i want to say that this blog will be as intriguing (and self indulgent) as the pix posted here.</div>Soubhikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06264084737105012509noreply@blogger.com2