Yeh 'India' Ka Cricket Hai !

Indians hardly love any other thing with such fascination, desperation and aggrssion than Cricket. Whether we love cricket stars or the sport itself has remained the topic of debate always. For me, the thing to mention is that these cricketing stars reflect the changing mode of our society, change in attitudes of our people and in general changing India.
Indian Cricket got real world recognition only after Sunil Gavaskar. Before him, our Cricket was under big impression of Britishers as our country was in that period. Mind you, Gavaskar came in 1971 and Amitabh Bacchan did his entry in same '70s. Indians had started to come out of any sort of obligation and binding of others in that period and hence his 'Angry Young Man' image was so much accepted. During same years, Gavaskar came on the circuit and since then he took Indian cricket to a newer height earning respect from cricketing world. Kapil Dev was also the product of this decade. The first Pokharan was also done in same decade. Is it a coincidence?
Cut to 90's. India was striving to sustain and earning greater credibility in the world. Some aggression based on old basics was coming both in cricket and in society before 90's. After the globalisation, scenario change. This is the decade, when the ever great batting trio of India, Sachin, Saurav and Dravid came and rocked the world. It was the next step, when aggression was increased, confidence was on much higher levels. Throwing all shackles, the regenerated India, in Cricket, was ready to set a big challenge in front of other cricketing countries. Was not this the same story for India as a country in world affairs? Sachin, Saurav and Rahul were the icons of that generation who had seen old values and want to go ahead without going away from those values. Politeness, patience, down to earth attitude of the trio was the peculiar characteristic of Indian society then. How can I forget Anil Kumble in this list? In 1997,Kumble took 10 wickets. 1998 was the most successful year of Sachin and he was acclaimed as best betsman by the world after this. Second Pokharan was also done in 1998. Was it a coincidence?
Cut to 2005, India was emerging as a power in world and in Cricket also. There comes the entire new generation. Yuvraj, Dhoni, Harbhajan,Gambhir. More aggression, more confidence, totally different attitudes, values, beliefs and styles. Sometimes, loosing ground due to over confidence and over aggression. Isn't it a story of Indian youths after 2005. Mind you fiends, college going students have changed tremendously after 2005. Same is the Cricket. They want to do new things, hardly ready to listen others and believe much in themselves. IPL came after this? Breed of young politicians in India also came after this. Is this too a coincidence?
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Refreshed and Silent!

Jungles fascinate me and for me those are like schools. Every visit to forest carve out some different lesson hidden in the treasure of the nature and makes me wealthier than last visit. The recent visit to Tadoba gave me similar experience which can only be termed as 'spiritual' and i became literally 'speechless'.
Tadoba tiger project is in Chandrapur district. Taru Ba is the god for Madiya and Gondi tribals in this area and hence the jungle is known Tadoba. Gond king use to organise Pooja and fare in this jungle earlier. For Tadoba, we started at 6 a.m. in an open gypsy and with a young enthusiastic guide. As like our family, people go to Tadoba, with the one and only desire, that is to see the Tiger. It is not totally wrong with that, but the danger is that we may miss to spot on the other beauty of the forest. There is one board at the entrance of Tadoba forest. It says, no one can assure you that tiger will be spotted, but the real fun lies in this unpredictability. Apart from Tiger, there are Cheetal, Chuasingha, barking deer, wild dogs, bison, crocodile, beer, wild cats, any number of beautiful birds and of course amazing forest. There is tree called 'Karai', it turns white in summer, green in winter and red in rainy season. When it turns white, with its peculiar branches, it looks like a ghost and hence also called as 'ghost tree'.
Tadoba as like many other forests really have many fantastic stories about forest and animal. along with us, there was a foreigner researcher on the tour and it was his ninth round to forest. Inspite of that he had not seen the tiger and was determined to do the 'task'. Now, when I am writing this, I am sure he will be on the Safari doing same mary-go-round activity. As our guide told, once he was as usual surfing through forests along with his troup of tourists which also had one professional photographer. On the way, they found four wild dogs, trying to hunt a mother deer and her two baby deers. For any nature photographer the seen was rare and an exciting opportunity to capture. Two wild dogs, seperated mother from her babies and two others were killing those babies. When dogs were trying to leave the mother, she was attacking them and babies were running away. The fight continued for 15 to 20 minutes and at last wild dogs got the success. These dogs eat the prey when it is alive. Dogs were eating small deers when they were alive and their mother was just seeing it helplessely. A minute later, teers fell on the earth, from the eyes of mother deer and also of the tourists who were watching that struggle for life. The photographer, just shut down his camera, even though it might be a supreme snap for him and sat down in shocked, speechless condition, the scene was such a horrible. Neither deer nor wild dogs were wrong. There are many things in life which might be wrong from our eyes, but can be the reason of sustaining for others. As deers were important for dogs for their living. Many times our fate, lies in the control of others. Ah!
We also saw the dead beer killed by the tiger just a couple of days back, a Chuasingha falling fruits with its awsome horns, the idle looking crocodile on the bank of the lake, birds flying over water in style, the blue- green parrot and the beautiful lake in forest. The beauty of Tadoba or of any jungle lies in, just seeing what comes ahead of you. What I like personally, is the silence in the jungle, which is a thing to experience personally. The refrshing experience!
So, it was my another tour which ended on positive note and an invitation from the guide to come again in Tadoba in summer, just to see the king of Jungle, The Tiger. Who knows I may go again there, as the first eye contact with that beauty, has already created eagerness and excitement in me.
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Happy New Year of Hope!

And here the new year starts! One more time, lets pray for everything better! The year of new hope, new inspirations, new zeal, new freshness, new feel, new romanticism and new facts. The year of new dawn of better life has started. Keeping a step on the stone we turned last year, lets go on more height. Lets cross some more distance in the direction of everything that is good and noble.
This year's morning has peeped into my life with a great freshness. It has brought the message from somewhere that the new year will be better than last year. Today's morning came giving birth to some beautiful words in my mind. Consequently, those words spread on the paper in the form of a poem. Obviously, the poem reflects the happiness, which has come today to reside in me.
On this first day, let me demand something from The Almighty. I hope that I will come across good persons more than last year and give me some more friends. Hey God, give me huge number of and variety of experiences to enrich my life, give me the vision to see everything that is beautiful in the life and give me the power to make this world beautiful. The year has started beautifully and I hope that this beauty will continue to reach to lives of all of us.
The only thing I felt sorry about! Remember, in the last week or fortnight, entire world was expressing the big concern over climate change. The farce of Copenhegan was on mount and global warming had become the buzzword. For media people like us, the conference was as like festival and everybody was talking or writing on it. Yesterday night everything against that concern about climate occured and the fact came ahead crying that our concerns were so temporary and false. The fire works on the eve of arrival of new year at the midnight, might have done such a huge pollution about which we talk making a big mouth. But, media does not care about it nor does many others. Sound pollution and the garbage we would have done at various places, that is different. Developed and developing countries, both were jubiliating and polluting the world on yesterday night. Who should blame on whom? Hope we will become serious about this climate change issue and do something beyond conducting conferences in AC rooms, the most dangerous polluter!
Sorry for bringing this unpleasant topic amidst festive mood and ending here it immediately as I know that we all are happy and fresh today. I wish all of you a happy new year
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I condemn this democracy!

Two political rivals, from same party, met once at a cross section. One is seating MLA as well as a minister while the another one is an aspiring candidate of assembly elections from the same constituency. Both are trying to overpower each other in getting assembly elections ticket. The minister says,” I built roads and flyovers, made the city beautiful, I am trying to bring industries in the SEZ sanctioned due to my efforts, brought the new airport, I am a close associate of former chief minister and have good connections with high command, what do you have”?. The another person replied “Mere Pass Maa Hai”!
This is the anecdote which is nowadays getting told in political and social spheres of Amravati. The minister is Dr.Sunil Deshmukh who has every right to demand a ticket for next assembly elections due to developmental works he has done while the aspiring candidate is Raosaheb Shekhawat, son of President of India, Pratibha Patil. Shekhawat has all of sudden emerged on political scene of Amravati since one year from nowhere, no need to mention due to backing of post of President of India. This is the story of entire political sphere of our country.
You must be remembering, Poonam Mahajan had made a cry on not getting Lok Sabha elections ticket. In these elections of Maharashtra, many political leaders of the state are trying to project their wards as their political heirs. Bhujbal, Pawar, Munde, Anand Adsul, Ranjit Deshmukh, Vilasrao Deshmukh, Sushilkumar Shinde, Datta Meghe, Ranjit Deshmukh, Madhukar Sarpotdar, hundreds of Shikshan and Sahakar Maharshees and many others political leaders are trying to make grounds for their children in coming elections. Are we living in democracy? I have stopped believing in it. If these people are natural choices for candidature, what should a common party activist do, who spend his valuable days and years for party work? How can a common person be given a chance to represent people.
Few years back, Shiv Sena and Bharatiya Janata Party used to give tickets to common party workers and made many leaders from those activists. But, this practice is stopped almost completely in all parties. Our shameless leaders ask, if a doctor’s son can become doctor, lawyer’s son can become lawyer why not a politician’s son become a politician? Hell with these shameless leaders. They are talking as if politics is a business and this country is their private property. Are we living in monarchy? Is this country is kingdom of these useless political leaders?
Government makes campaigns for increasing voting percentage. They appeal us to awake and vote for making our democracy stronger. But to whom should we vote when successors of well settled political leaders are only persons contesting elections just due to ability of spending more money earned by their fathers doing all malpractices. Then when will a common person get a real chance to participate in democracy, as mentioned by our constitution and which is buried in those large books only. I don’t believe that we are living in real democracy.
I condemn this political system and such ‘power-blinded’ leaders and their akas. If you think there is some sincerity in my feelings, please condemn this monarchial practice of India. Forward this to all your acquaintances, comment on it, discuss this at your meetings and gatherings, react on it. This will not only do things correct, but at least the subject will be discussed at many avenues. Many great things happen from some small starts only. Choice is yours!
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Please! Time is Precious

Is it so difficult to keep the time? Can't we reach at a particular place five minutes before the desired time? It must have been difficult, otherwise everyone would have reached at every place on time.

We meet once in a week for playing volleyball in the RSS shakha for college students. One of my friends reach there at least ten minutes late every time. He has hardly ever reached in any programme on time despite being in RSS, the organisation which boasts for discipline. This is not the case for RSS but for entire society.

During our college days, one of my friends was such an habitual latecomer. We used to decide one time for reaching at certain place, he used to start from his house on that time making others to wait for some more minutes. Once we were going for a camp and it was decided to meet on railway station on 7.30 p.m. at max. Departure time of train was 8 p.m. This 'delayer' friend of mine as usual came late and saw the face of railway station at 7.50 p.m.. Until he reached the station, we all remaining guys were calling him several times on mobile and getting frustrated only. His comment 'Gadi chooti Kya' was an addition in our anger.I always think, whether these habitual delayers ever think that they are wasting valuable time of other people. I am nowadays coming to conclusion that they hardly ever think about others.

The story of delays by 'politicos' is another topic of write up. More you delay, more your importance increases. Another facet is that people also do not reach in most of the programmes, political or cultural on time. Absence of listeners or viewers give excuses to delay by political leaders, orators and performers.

Latecomers irritate most n the cultural programme,cinema hall or in a lecture. They come late, then try to find their seat in dark, gives dashes to some people already seating in chair, they don't keep their mouth shut while searching for the seat and disturb few rows if not entire hall. Don't such people feel awkward by doing this?

Keeping the time, I feel, is the habit and definitely a good quality. Most people don't matter it, but the truth is that, if you are keeping the time, people for whom every second is important, also respect you, entertains you. Being in the field of journalism, I have experienced this during any number of meetings with so many important people. Most of them have lauded me for my habit of reaching on time, which is very uncommon in journalists at small place like Amravati.

But during all these years, I have wasted so many seconds, minutes, hours and days just because someone other delayed and we could not start the decided activity on decided time. Will I get those hours in my life back again? Why should I loose my life in such a way? But again, this entire frustration is of mine and those who are responsible for this, might not even have noticed this. They might have been delaying and wasting some others time. They are already delayed. How would they get time to listen this cry of mine?
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Why election fever is not there?

Money is finding its way and an array of election campaign rallies is seen all around, but nobody knows why, the enthusiasm in voters who are most important component of elections, is disappeared. All the aura created by media and politicians about elections has failed to capture the imagination of voters and the elections atmosphere is not yet created.
Elections are to be held from Apr 16 in the country. Since a week, all political parties and candidates have started full fledged campaigning and trying to reach every corner of the constituencies. Top brass of different parties have started addressing rallies, one after another in a day and appealing voters to vote for their candidates. But the problem is that using every 'funda' for campaigning and wooing voters, they are seeming most disinterested in the process and hardly showing any enthusaism in the proces. Discussions in small groups are occuring occasionally but the election fever in general is not visible anywhere. Candidates are organising
public meetings, corner meetings, Padyatras, scooter rallies, gatherings of different communitiesand are living no stone unturned to attract voters towards themselves but all is proving to be of little use.
Deputy Chief Minister Chhagan Bhujbal, former Lok Sabha President and SS leader Manohar Joshi, BJP state president Nitin Gadkari recently toured through Amravati district and held rallies. But, the attendance to these rallies was close to poor, comparing to the stature of leaders, and only showing extreme disinterest of people for going to such rallies. Candidates are taking out Padyatras and scooter railles but are not getting as many activists and enthusiasts to participate in it. Apart from paid activists and the mob brought by organisers, which is becoming a diffcult task for every party, the voluntary participation is very rare. In addition to this
lack of enthusiasm, the model code of conduct and fear of Election Commission have brought restrictions on candidates. The autorickshaws roaming through city, banners, posters, campaigning vehicles are disappeared from pictures which were used to be in ample number in earlier elections. Restrictions on spendings has brought constriants on free hand expenditure necessary for various aspects. So, it is only the media, activists with their 'interests' and politicians who are showing interests and involvement in election developments.
Many leaders of political parties have also agreed this in private that their events are not getting the response as expected. A state leader of a prominent party couple of days back attributed this disinterest to lack of faith in political parties including his own. According to him, due to unfaithful behaviour in parties and alliances, factions in parties, lack of character shown by political leaders, self centric attitude of people's representatives, their disassociation with common public and the rat-race for power have disillusioned voters in the country. Impression of the betrayal by political leaders is clearly visible in the lack of
enthusiasm among voters. Another leader of a state party said that barring a few leaders on national level, it is hard now to attract voters in the public meetings of political leaders. He also said that gone are the days, when people used to vote according to directions of a specific leader. Now, people think at themselves and vote to the candidate whom they want. These and some other reasons, but the fact is that, nobody knows exactly what is the their hidden in the minds of voters. It is yet to be seen whether this disinterest remains same in actual voting or anything otherwise would occur. It seems difficult that people will feel enthusistic in coming
eight days and will show enthusiasm using ballot machines.

Singh Is King

Politics In A TunnelManmohan Singh, GeorgeW. Bush, Aishwarya Rai and Sonia Gandhi were traveling in atrain. The train suddenly goes through a tunnel and it getscompletely dark. Suddenly there is a kissing sound and thena slap! The train comes out of the tunnel. Sonia and Manmohan are sitting there looking perplexed. Bush is bentover holding his face, which is red from an apparent slap.All of them remain diplomatic and nobody saysanything.Sonia is thinking:"This guy (Bush) is all crazy after Aishwarya. Bushmust have tried to kiss her in the tunnel. Very proper thatshe slapped him".Aishwarya is thinking:"Bush must have movedto kiss me, and kissed Soniainstead and got slapped."Bush is thinking:"Damn it! Manmohan must have tried to kiss Aishwarya,she thought it was me and slapped me."Manmohan Singh isthinking: "If this train goes through another tunnel, Icould make another kissing sound and slap Bushagain."Singh is King! Singh is King!!