Life as I find it

So folks, as we see, india won, and won very nicely yesterday. Now what? What happens of those burnt effigies? What happens to the vandalism in Dhoni’s new home? What happens of this pedestal we put our players on? What happens if they win tomorrow’s match against Sri Lanka? What happens if they lose?

Somehow, the fun of the game turning into this mad fervour is not something that appeals to me as a cricket follower. Its a sport. Both sides come there to do their best, and one wins and the other loses most of the time. It is ridiculous if this cannot be understood and the lives and safety of loved ones is on stake when players go out into the field to bat.

India is a country of passions. The stars are indeed loved. We have the shocking case of a teenager dying of a heart attack following the defeat of India at the hands of Bangladesh. Its the nation’s pride at stake and a mighty team like India losing to a comparitively new team like Bangladesh hurts. It hurts real bad.

But we also need to recognise, that when players walk into the field to represent their country for the World Cup, they are not trying to sabotage the game. They are doing their best in any case. What they want is runs, and wickets and records and glory for their country and themselves as its representatives. It is easy to say that our stars have become complacent about the game and content on advertising revenues, but how true is it? We still have a very strong team. Also, is months of a lack of conditioning going to be changed in a miracle, even if it is true? If people really believe that their teams are good for nothing, then the time to express it is in requesting that the team doesn’t play the World Cup at all and risk bringing “shame” on the country - not as a reflex after one loss and certainly not in a way that attacks the well-being of the players.

I think India has terrible fans. Fair weather fans I’d call them. Really sad for our country. We have fans that disrupt the peace of the mind after the very first match of such a big event. What is a player to think of in terms of support from his country, if there are bodyguards required to guard wives and children after one loss? Shame! Shame on the so called fans of India, who can’t even wait to see actual results before jumping to violence.

I feel sad for my team India right now. I hope that all their experience will allow them to wlk into the field and give their full focus on the game, inspite of all the happenings back home.

Yes that match with Bangladesh was terrible. Yes, there were many mistakes made. We seem to have covered some of the damage yesterday and got some World Cup records as well, and if our team continues to play like this, we will be blazing our way into the Super 8 regardless fo that initial hiccup.

Sehwag has taken off finally, and Rahul’s trust in him seems to have paid off with a bang. Yuvraj is going strong, as is Sachin. Dravid is playing well too. Ganguly, our anchor is as reliable as always. Dhoni was not so good, but that is understandable with the pressure on him on his home scenario. But Sehwag! WOW!

The upcoming match is going to be a tense one. We need to beat Sri Lanka, and beat them by a really good margin. We need our players focussed completely on the task at hand, and able to give it their best shot. I think they will be able to do it. The loss shook them hard, and they are now into that all-out mode, which seems to be doing wonders for our score board.

I’d like our team to know that I am rooting for them no matter what, and I am keeping fingers crossed and eyes glued to the screen, waiting for a glorious victory.

Good luck guys, go get them!

Good luck fans of Inida, may our actions support the efforts of our teams through difficult times!

Lots beyond cricket seems to be happening on the cricket scenario. Really, cricket has become so much more than a game, that people need to take a good hard look at what they perceive it to be.

Pakistan is out of the game. This is of course awful news for a nation charged on cricket like India, which might be on a similar path, if they don’t watch out. But that’s just the game. Angry mobs in India as well as Pakistan have spared no hard words in expressing themselves, burning effigies and generally expressing their contempt. I can understand the anger. We all have a lot of expectations from our national teams.

The sad news is that Bob Woolmer died. Probably stress - they say, but nothing concrete is out yet. Inzamam has retired from ODIs (many say that was overdue).

Not much better happening on the Indian front. Angry fans are burning effigies, and a mob actually vandalized Dhoni’s home in Ranchi. This is really terrible. Strange how people forget the performances these guys have made in the name of the country, and attack homes like this. Why would a player want to live up to their ambitions? Which of those fans thinks that this kind of behaviour will let him go out on the pitch and blaze away to glory without worrying about what’s happening back home?

If in the rare scenario that Dhoni plays outstandingly today and continues to do so, will those fans come back and help reconstruct his home and pay for damages? What if India wins the cup because of him? Will they then come up and say they were sorry and repair damages?

We Indians really need to take a good hard look at how we treat our heroes. We put them on pedestals, we bring them down, we rip them to bits when they fail to live up to our expectations…… but do we really see them as humans and capable of having the occasional bad day?

Please guys, let’s remember that its team India. They are out there, trying to make our dreams come true. Let us not sabotage their efforts like that, by adding to the worries that will distract them from their game.

I found this on a PR-Inside news release

The model-and-actress jetted off to India for a week of traditional Hindu ceremonies, but angry locals insist she has broken the law.
Vishnu Khandewal, from Jodhpur, claims under 295a of the Indian Penal Code - which deals with “deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings” – it is against the law to marry in a Hindu ceremony if you are not a Hindu. Khandewal said: “She has hurt the religious sentiments of the community by marrying in Hindu style, which is a criminal offence.” His allegations will reportedly be heard in a Jodhpur court on March 21. Liz’s representatives have not commented on the matter.
Liz – who is currently honeymooning with new husband Arun Nayar in the Maldives – was left red-faced when Indian locals dubbed her the “oldest bride they had ever seen”. Hindu girls usually marry in their late teens or early twenties, almost half the age of 41-year-old Liz.

Hmmm…. the wedding seems to have an unusual share of publicity even for a celebrity wedding. I don’t know the exact word of the law, but if a non-Hindu wants to marry in a traditional Hindu ceremony, to me it seems like a mark of respect for our culture. Why would religious sentiments be hurt by this?

We often see people marrying in different kinds of ceremonies, including people who will have ceremonies according to different religions to show their respect and belief in them. Inter-religious marriages are often done according to both religions and even a third time in court.

I see this as unnecessary and totally uncalled for to comment on someone else’s wedding, particularly when her husband is a Hindu.

Strange how people react to public figures doing anything other than what is “acceptable”

On the other hand, Liz seems to have triggered quite a lot of dislike from locals. I wonder if there is more to this story.

This is the very first post on this site. I am proud to have finally created this place as a platform for interaction for all sorts of Indians on the subject of their motherland. I’d been thinking about this for a very long time, but somehow always found the project to be too daunting, too huge to take up on my own.

India is a vast place. The sheer diversity of India is perhaps beyond comprehension of a single individual, yet, we are all Indians. Our interests vary, our habits, beliefs, concerns……. they are all different. Yet, we are all Indians and what happens in our motherland happens to us as well, in varying degrees.

Today, India is going good. Our economy is booming, we’re the country with the most number of billionaires in Asia after overtaking Japan. All sorts of industries are flourishing. There is improved satisfaction with life and better hopes for futures.

Yet, the diversity of the Indian society is not only cultural. We have the richest, and we also have the embarrassingly poor. Our educated professionals are respected worldwide for their knowledge, and we are also struggling with illiteracy. We even have the film industry that churns out a phenomenal number of films a year and our population is largely rural.

As we zip into progress, I think a need of the time is to reach out. To reach out to people of all sorts. I don’t only mean the lesser previledged or anything, just to reach out and understand the different people who are with us in this journey, to broaden our own horizons through the diversity of India.

At the moment, I am not very clear on where this initiative will go in the future. I guess, it is like India in this way too. The potential is tremendous, what remains to be seen is how much effort is taken.

I wish myself and all the people here the very best and hope that this site will be able to bring in new thoughts, initiatives and hopes.