1.2 billion people...& ONE gold!!!

My heart aches when i hear it...& especially from people who find it a logical analogy to quote for the dismal performance of India in the sports arena!!! Had this been a criteria, then Japan/Autralian would always have ben way far below in the medal tally!!!Well, much has been criticised & said on the despicable condition of sports here. But never has anyone made an attempt to dig deep & explore beyond the obvious...that why has India not been able to produce quality sportsmen, who could prove their talent in the world stage. The answer conspicuous to everyone is the effete efforts by govt. But NO...there is much more to it than wat meets the eye.
People find it an easy excuse always by pouring it all on the govt...that it has not made any attempts, neither invested time, nor money in sports etc etc. But delving into this we find something more...I ask you all, Is not the govt made by the people? Dont we chose our representatives from amongst us? Then wont the decisions made by them be affceted by OUR mentality?!!! YES, thats what I want to say. The fact that India has not been able to produce quality sportsmen is not solely due to govt's irresponsibility, but because of the negative attitude of the common public. The common man in india is a satisfied soul with its bread & butter. Indian public has either of two ambitions- 'Bijnas', 'Sarkari naukri'...& Aila!! the world is all under our feet...Taking it forward, we have a genetic disorder to push our sons into the profession that we are involved in...or to keep our daughters at home to get help in 'chauka chulha'. Bare those old souls but ask yourself, how many people, be it your colleague, friend, neighbour or own brother/sister have you motivated to continue playing the sport they excel in? We being an educated lot have not been able to motivate those capable sportsmen then how can we expect the govt to do so!!?? Sports in India have been taken more as entertainment than a profession. Children are mostly bared from playing more than 2 hrs a day, considering the amount of studies or fearing the injuries etc...The dreams of several young players have been strangled to death by this attitude of ours! We do not have a system where these the talent is explored & exploited. And this system arises from the ground root level! Back there in US/China, people pursue sports as a career, give more than 100% of time to it & are passionate about winning. They have a family support which is a neccessary ingredient for the sweet taste of success. We do have some rare examples like Sachin who actually gave up studies to feed their appetite for sports. But we should know that Sachin was a born prodigy and not a result of the govt's efforts.
Talking again about common public, i need to ask that in India, we talk about reservations & privileges in the name of castes & religions. Had there ever been a protest...or even a voice raised to ask for the benefit & rights of sportsmen?? In countries lik US, there are scholarships provided for sportsmen, which they take full opportunity of. While in India, it has never been thought of!
Second, Do we know how much of efforts are needed to win an Olympic medal? Its not jus the performance of an individual person on the D-Day, but a quasi-static process followed for years by a professional team of experienced people. The path to podium needs a consistent approach towards it by carefully honing the skills of sportsperson, maintaining their fitness, analysing the competitor's strengths and then rigorously vouching to overpower it. & let me tell u, this needs MONEY which finally is the greatest hinderance for us. Now when it comes to money, Not everyone is as lucky as Abhinav Bindra to be born with a silver rifle(oops, spoon). Looking at the medal tally since 1970s, we see that the top positions were occupied by first USSR, which fell down in its ranking after its disintegration, then US which ruled for almost two decades & now China in this olympix. These obviously the superpowers in terms of their economy had no issues spending profusely on sports. While considering India in that place, I'd like to quote an anecdote to you when Olympic Hockey Gold Champions- India, were denied of even entering the field to play, jus because they were unable to buy appropriate sport shoes for the match! Such despicable was condition of india before Independence. & after independence, the govt had more responsibility to augment the condition of Indian economy, rather than nurturing the sports.
You might counter it by quoting examples of countries smaller & poorer than us, like Ethiopia or Jamaica who consistently win gold in Athletic events...I agree, but analysing it we find that those winning gold were mostly already talented & gifted souls, who had just to get an impetus in the form of a better training session, and they availed it somehow. Also in India, skills need to be developed as the physique we have which really is incomparable to the athletes & players mostly from other parts of the world. This really takes us at backfoot in games such as soccer, Basketball or Track & Field events, where a good physique aids in the performance during the game.
We do have had some sports that have lost their sheen and shine like Hockey, Kabaddi, Wrestling etc. which i agree had been due to negligence from the govt's side, but i still have my notion in place...Why don't we give it a head start from our side, rather than waiting for the govt reforms? We have international level of schools, which provide a platform and give ample opportunity to excel in sports. We need to break the notion that career can only be made through studies. Its not compulsary to push students into studies if they'r not interested, or if they can't cope with them. I would quote a sincere example of the latest legend 'Michael Phelps', who himself suffered from ADHD, where he could not concentrate much on anythin, moreover studies.!! but he made it his forte, rather than faltering over it.
One last thing i need to say is that Indians would certainly prove their mettle on the field in recent future. If you take another logical analysis, I'd like to quote the growing Indian economy that has made a mark in a short span of time since the implementation of LPG in 1991. Similar reforms need to be executed for the upliftment of sports & soon India will be competing at a global level.
By the time I'm writing it, I can hear the cheers of some people around me celebrating the second medal, a bronze in wrestling after 1952!!! Probably we also get a medal in boxing!...Laughing??? I know we Indians never lose hope even if we know the reality, because we are attached more emotionallty than logically! But watever it is...I'm proud of it! From your view you see India's rise to 3 medals since 1947...From my view I see, India's start from 3 medals 2008 onwards.

The great Indian commitment!!

Wat a Mad Mad show it was...a fun filled fortnight. Suddenly the supporters turned rebels & vice versa! From nowhere some came out & turned heroes, denying a paltry sum of 25 crores for a mere vote! Yes i'm talking about a scene from the Indian Political theatre.
This last week has shown me a bright & poisitive side of our indian politicians. I never thought them as role models, but they proved me wrong!! & believe me m feeling more than happy on it. Had you ever thought that the MPs of india would ever gather at one place at one time even in the worst situations!! & this was just a petty confidence vote situation that has reflected the unity amongst all our representatives. Who knew that for good purpose, even BJP & Left would work together! Or that our honorable & small sevak Mr Amar Singh also can keep aside his ego & bond again with her highness Sonia Gandhi for a noble cause of saving the government. Who else can show such dignity?
The one news that took me by surprise was the dedication & commitment by our dutiful MPs. I was almost to tears on watching that MPs who were in a CRITICAL state after having met a accident also appeared in the galleries of parliament in order to seal their Valuable vote! Jus think that if a simple vote can be a reason for them to appear in parliament, then y not they'd b present when the government wud discuss issues like N-Deal, or the Vidarbha farmer suicides or the flood relief victims? M sure they can spend their nights reading the complex charters of N-deal in order to have their say.
If they keep displaying this kind of patriotism then m sure that India would become a superpower well before 2020!!!

Big B - A Role Model

Wenever I visit Big B's blog, I get elated coz of the positive vibes that i can feel over there, even though its jus a web page! Yeah, m speakin true!!!...I can sense it..the site atracts me, n eludes me to write once on it!! But i jus overcome that temptation(...its other reason y?).
Wat I wanna highlight here are da reasons behind it...Big B has rilly been like a role model to me coz of many reasons. Lukin back from his history, till the recent times, he's a character who has lived life on my mantra-"Change is Inevitable". I can never recall him as the same person everytime. With every muvi, every show, every luk n every attire, he brings somethin novel. It is really tuf to experiment with oneself in an industry where one movie decides the fate of actors, n he completely immserses himself in the characters!
His occasions of resurgence, wen he was first rejected as an actor, to now being an icon!! or from a bankrupt businessman to a highest tax paying filmstar!! Be it an "Angry Young Man" image, or an old aged Father/Lover, a mentor, saviour, fighter, policeman/rogue, host/ghost!!!
Wat I also like bout him is the ability to even relish the failures, be it even as crap as "RGV ki Aag", where he faced upmost criticism for his choice, or acting opposite to the sensuous Jiya in "Nishabd". He has maintained that fine balance between personal & professional relations.
He knows wen & wat to speak. It's rilly tuf for a person of such stature to speak, where each word needs to be spoken with utmost precaution, as can be totally "misunderstood" by mistake or by Purpose! He has an absolute command over both Hindi/English. Be it reciting the sweet lines of Madhushala, or challenging the villain in his baritone voice.
He had always treated his colleagues, irrespectibe of age bar, with same respect. Watever he does, he does is with complete passion, determination, planning & utter finesse! Who else can think to go on a world tour at the age of over 65, dancing & singing in front of a humungous crowd that is cheering you at breathtaking levels! Having a packed schedule more than of any contemporary or current actors and being fit, healthy & communicating with his fans amongst all this is really appreciating!
Being such a multifaceted person, yet he's so modest & sober that you might wonder what actually is he upto?
I rilly get to learn so much from him, which is less. The aura he carries around himself is totally motivating. I have no hopes of meeting him personally or even watching him from as close as wat even my eyesight permits, but in my heart i truly have due adulation & respect for him. I'd try to imbibe the qualities he exudes, & hope that we- the young generation, get to learn more & more out of him!

Trigonometric curves

U surely wud have seen students in ur life who dread mathematics! On the mere mention of problem solving they tend to tremble wid fear, or make ugly faces wen told to study maths, or who sweat in Math classes. I was one such student, not to be shameful, who always had an inequation wen it came to equating with maths. This might be because I am not a kind of person who deals mathematically in life. Like making the deals ‘EVEN’ with people or being at ‘ODDs’ to someone. Struggling with algebra was a nightmare for me, when the variable XYZs filled my dreams with strange complex equations that I couldn’t imagine of! My numerators & denominators (My head & belly) used to get into convulsions which didn’t get over easily. But it was not until I faced trigonometry. I don’t know y it eluded me so much but it was fun solving the Tans & Sines of q.

Later I realized that it was not just fun in solving trigonometry but also I could relate it to much more than maths. As I grew matured (u doubtful!! Huh?), I used to observe things that I could relate to trigonometry. And now I believe that the life of an individual is nothing but a trigonometric curve! On a simple note lets just consider the basic Sin or Cos curves. As the value of sin/cos varies while u move ahead on the axis, similarly consider age of an individual as on x axis, while his/her progress on y axis. Don’t you think it follows a similar curve? Wondering how? Well, its not just about individuals, but for any entity we are attached to, be it even organizations, countries or relationships. This is as universal as Charles Darwin’s theories of evolutions!

I can clarify this with examples of organizations like IBM & Microsoft or personalities like Steve Jobs/BigB, or countries like USA & Japan! The reason for me preferring these examples on others is just that the horizon of time frame would be a bit wide. Similar to a Sin curve, Microsoft started from zilch. It came out of nowhere & gradually dominated the market! It was a pioneer in the industry for a long time until it started facing competition from Google. Almost everyone & everything starts from zilch. Except a few who are born with silver spoons in their mouth, but then they have their own course to follow. Those follow the Cos curves, starting from the top, but gradually slowing down, waning to the bottom& then rising again! Consider the case of countries like USA or Japan. Once the superpowers of the world, even USA & Japan are now facing a crunch. The recession in their economy is widening not just because of their follies but also because it has to be so. While once claimed as the ‘golden bird’, India was left barren by the British after their rule. Slowly & steadily the world is now again realizing the potential in it! The country is rising again, to take over its once lost position again! Its true-No one can forever remain on the top. Coz ,the width at the top is so narrow that one has surely to descend for others to mount. & similarly one cannot always remain at bottom because the rise is destined. Its just that the moment may come little early or late depending on other factors.

We can also learn from the tan curves that though there’s scope of infinity, but its jus not possible to touch those heights. U might also fall to abyss, but not to an extent that you are left with no scope to rise again. Its just not possible to remain in one territory & follow the course of life. One needs to cross the negative & positive frames. Criticisms & appraisals form these territories, which you can consider as the y axis.

We do become habitual to the consistent rise & fall. But what ultimately matters is that at what point of y axis do you leave- the Crest or the Trough? & How effectively did your course of actions made effect on others! So remember frenz- its not always about rising, but rising again after falling. Life goes on…& shud we!

Book Review- "Three Mistakes of My Life". By CHETAN BHAGAT

KAHANI PURI FILMI HAI!!! Dis was da first thing dat came to my mind after readin the book. M sure that if the first 2 books eluded the bollywood icons, then this surely is a masala content for them to work upon! Love, Lust, Thrill, Violence, Blood, Drama, Events & Politics are clubbed together, baked & then presented in this book. After his first two books we expected something better & different from Chetan Bhagat. This book seems to be running on the same lines as his series opener-'Five Point Someone'.
First I'd like to highlight the similarity & then go ahead. 3 lead characters, one beautiful heroine & a System! The lead character here too is a mediocre guy Govind (similar to Hari), who has only one amibition- to earn lots of money. The second guy is Ishaan-a dude, who is passionate, has capabilities but no Aim (Remember Ryan?), hence a worthless son for the family! He's smart, capable yet hopeless. The third is Omi- if the second was a dude, he's a Dud (like Alok?). No ambition, incapable, but can do anything for friendship. & Then the heroine is the most beautiful lady you can find around, here she is Vidya (Same as Neha there). Chetan has again kept a mediocre guy as the central person, whom any reader can quite easily relate to. The good thing about the book is that he has artistically weaved some series of contemporary events around the story to make it interesting. This time the plot is weaved in a small town around Ahmedabad(probably to pay a tribute to his Alma Mater IIM-A).
Anyways, the story goes quite smoothly, without much hiccups. A reader can probably guess while reading through the story, that what would the next set of events be. The three mistakes that the central character does are quite easily recognizable from his character-
The biggest Mistake a businessman can do is putting his money at the wrong place!
Second- though an apathetic person, he gets into an affair with his Best Friend's sister, to the extent of having the S** word with her!!! nothing can be worse!Third- Being a Maths prodigy, the habit of calculating risks on basis of logical abilities rather than situational sensibilities!! This let him commit his third Mistake which changed the course of his life.
The story initiates in an interesting manner, cruises in the middle & catches pace in the end. Readers would enjoy it overall as a drama, but nothing extraordinary comes out in the End. In fact, the author is unable to justify in the end as to why did Govind (the central character) mail him 3 yrs after all his mistakes & confided to him before commiting a fatal suicide?

OVERALL- I believe the story was weaved nicely but the plot could get better with some twists rather than letting it go straight. Also, Chetan should have worked more on the characters. Obviously its just a 3rd book from him so people would compare it with previous ones & thus feel it insufficient to appease their appetite. I have avoided my best not to reveal any story, so that though you get a brief here but you then too enjoy reading it!

Wats good?

It was midnite & completely dark in the room wen these 3 frenz were doin a "pre-sleep" chit chatting on der fav topic..."gals".
"I dunno wat she wants?...m after her since three days n she's not even givn a response! I wonder how much of attitude she has?" said one of those. He was trying to elude a beauty from her class...but she showed no interest in him. She was der to study n only minded her own business. Quite & an introvert she was.
"I tell u these gals r all *&^*. Wat do they think of themselves...r they Miss Worlds or have descended frm indralok!!"...he finished his sentence wid all slangs he could vent out in one go.
"n Hows ur gal doin?" other one asked.
"Ohh..she's fun!!i cant imagine how much space u get wen u r wid her...its all @ ease wid her!" replied the second guy.
"hmm...so planning ahead?"
"NO!!!Not @ all!!!"
"y?...if u have such a chemistry, then wats the issue?"
"Issue?? She herself is an issue. Do u think i'd gel wid someone of this sorts!! One who can get along wid me...i cant even rely on her for future!!!"
"hmm..." nodded the guy n tried to turn his sides, making an attempt to sleep! He was quite wondering wat kinda girls r good then?...coz the one's who dont respond r "b*%^hes" & ones who do...too r the same!!

Hero...

"wooooo...howled the guyz sitting @ the corner of the road s they oggled a group of gurlz crossing by!""The one in red luks stunning man, jus hav a luk @ her...!", commented one of the guyz."hmm...n the blue one!! she lukd so hot in the low waist yesterday...i don understand y they wear traditional dresses in college?", said the other."watever buddy...but one thing's for sure...the real beauty is a gurl in traditional clothes!! these r jus the Appetizers" ;) blinked the first one n all started laughing.The laugh filled the atmo s if demons had descended 2 hunt the prey!
It was a usual activity for this group to sit on the tapri outside the medical col n lecherously stare @ gals crossing by!
It was a raining heavily wen these guys were discussing their DREAMATE at their regular hangout, sipping on cup of cutting tea and sharing fags (a gr8 combination anywayz, for connoisiers!)"i'd surely go for a traditional PIECE, who prefers saree on jeans...even an undergrad wud do, rather than one who'd hav been away frm home stayin in hostels...I know those gurlz...a bunch of b***h they r...nothin more!", said our hero puffing rings of smoke as if he's the one who'll fulfill all the homely responsibilities by himself,even though he cud'nt pass decently in his grads."wow...a purrfect customized ITEM"...!!" applauded the others while he walked down the corner 2recieve a call.
"She shud finish her studies come wat may!", he shouted.
"But...she'd face probs in city...n her age...", said her mother from the other side.
"...i don want any silly reasons. I don care bout the world. Send her here n i'l take care!"Our hero yelled on her mother. She was the only one @ home on whom he cud fume out."She'll study here, stay @ hostel, n i'l tak care of her. n i'l call u later, m busy wid sm work".Saying this he hung down the cell in rage n came back in the group to resume their discussion...while I stood their, in the corner, trying to njoy my cup of tea, n wondering y his sister shud study further, while his "wanna b life partner(?)" wud do without it!!

xprEssIOns...!!!

Riding down the road, s the rain drops fell on my face, on a cloudy evenin of weekend, i was sittin behind my roomate on his pulsar. The evenin had smthin special in it...yeah the first rain of the season! how special it felt after a long burnin summer of pune! n as i was ridin down the barren NDa road, which had only a few couples sittin by the roadside, either havin bhuttas or sittin hand in hand! i felt all alone. a gust of emotions passed thru my heart. the feeling of missin my frenz...i tried hard to stop feelin the feelin, i tried convincing myself dat how long it had been...one long yr passed widout u all! n suddenly y m i missin u in this rainy season? i don remmber s such dat v'd hav spent many such moments together in rain...xept a few lik goin yashwant sagar or celebratin smone's b'day. but yeah, the feelin remained...n increased...i can also remmber the muvies went wid sonal in the damn rainy season...the long drives in car to mandav, or the highways. the long drives wid...no need to mention whom!! n in this one yr m all alone...or rather all of us al alone!

ahh!!y do i feel so? i know v have responsibilities...v chose this path...v know this is bound to happen n v'r all acceptin it n njoin it...but the y do i feel so...i shud'nt feel so...it shud nt come in my mind. y do i feel nostalgic? y is it dat wenever i spend sm happy moment here i feel a void around me...lik absence of someone...or dat my smiles r fake...or dat my dance misses sm steps?...y m i feelin nostalgic? shud i feel so? i dunno...but there's somethin dat i rilly m missin...i cant control...but this is a fact dat i xperience daily. i can c the colors...the green of the trees dat has arose after the rain, the gray in the sky wid a orange lining of the peeping sun..n wat not...but i find some color missin!!! wts dat? ...y's dat? y's it happening to me? does it happen to me only? or dat other r too strong to hide it in their hearts? or dat m too weak to xpose it? watever it is...but i cant stop this feeling...wenever i sip a coffee in ccd..or a tea on the roadside...or a pattis on the nearest bakery...it jus lacks the taste!! y does the same coffee in ccd seems to be bland?!!! i don undrstnd y?? n i don undrstnd y do i feel so? is it dat even smone else feels it? or jus i'm actin s an emotional FOOL?...

n suddenly i feel my roomate screamin @ me n v c a couple busy in themselves even s v watch em lasciviously!! i tried to divert myself s i saw a pair of peacocks indulged n njoin the rain! ahh, wat a scene...come lets njoy it...these emotions r jus a passin by phase...but i tend to savour em s much s other feelings!!