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Monday, September 27, 2010

The problem with Indians

My professor tells that “China doesn’t fear India but Indians are afraid of China”.  This is true to a certain extent given the kind of attention people give to the issues related to China. China has certainly is way ahead of us in almost all the fields be it research, agriculture, information technology or manufacturing. They have invested a lot in defense, infrastructure and research where as India’s investment is very less when compared to China. All of us certainly agree that India and China are similar. Both have rich and varied cultural history, huge landmass, and big population. India got its independence in 1947 and the Chinese civil war started in 1949. If Gandhi and Nehru shaped today’s
India, Mao Zedong is responsible for today’s China. Strategically both India and China had close ties with the Soviet Union and there was this famous ‘Hindi-Chini Bhai Bhai’ slogan all over the world portraying the closeness of India and China. Post 1947, the race to the top in Asia was certainly between India and China because of the sheer amount of their population and land mass.
Economics is all about production and consumption and with majority of world’s population is in these two countries, whoever wins the race certainly ll be the next super power in the world. With everything in common between these two countries, 63yrs later China is well ahead of India in the race and the way it is going it certainly touted to replace the United States as the next super
power in the world.
India believes in Gandhian principles which are ahimsa and freedom for all. This is certainly one of the greatest thought as I do not want to live with my hands tied in my own country.  I need my freedom to express whatever I wish, I need freedom to do whatever I want within the framework of law and I certainly need freedom to follow the culture which is the most comfortable for me. India is the only place as far as I know where I have the full freedom to express myself. I can even raise my flag against India if I feel I am discriminated in my own land. I can agitate against any thing if I feel it hurts my sentiments and beliefs and I have the power of choosing my representative and what he must do for my improvement. As a citizen of India I have all the powers a normal human being can have and I am sure not all the countries give this freedom. I wonder if I have all the powers then why India is still lagging behind many countries, still 37% of the population is below poverty line and still lots of mal nourished children in my streets. The reason behind this is know I have all the powers but I do not know that these powers come with a discipline and responsibility. I should know the rules to follow while I am driving a vehicle, I should know where to throw the garbage, I should know what I should do when someone is asking for bribe and also I should know to choose the right person as my representative. I should not vote based on the popularity but based on the profile of the candidate and his manifesto. I should first respect the law and last but not the least I should love my country and support it in whatever situation it is in.
On the other hand, China imposed these qualities on its people and hence the growth is phenomenon. I am not sure whether India should impose it or not on me, as long as I love my country and ready to die for it I am sure India ll surpass China soon.
“Be the change if you want to see the change” – Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi
So I take pledge today that I ll not let my country down and available to serve her whenever it needs me.
*Note: I refers to the wonderful citizens of India and not me

Saturday, September 04, 2010

Cricket and its problems

For the past few days we have seen news loaded about corruption in the world,especially the spot fixing charges against the Pakistan cricket team. It really pains me a lot to see the game I love the most, the game which I grew up watching, the game which have produced some of the greatest sportsmen, is surrounded by controversies. This is not the first time this has happend in cricket, but what worries more is that the administrators have failed to learn from the past experience. Any form of corruption in any field should be dealt with iron hand but I guess the administrators have really not done enough to stop this. The moment Hansie Cronje admitted about the match fixing, it should have taken a tough stand against the offenders and should have really amended the law with tougher punishments. Well, I am not aware of the cricketing laws to comment about it but I certainly feel that administrators could have done more to save the game. Cricket's pinnacle, the test cricket is already in danger of losing viewerships and the match fixing scandal is no more than a jolt. When ICL was launched in India, BCCI went all out against it and even banned players from representing their state and national teams. Fearing the loss of revenue to its competitor, it went all out against it and have certainly made it a non existing entity. When they can do so much to maintain their revenue, why ICC is not doing enough to stop fixing. Moreover, their strategy in reviving test cricket is disappointing. The players are burdened with matches, FTP is poorly planned and marketing is equally poor. The pitches around the world have become as slow as Tortoise. Look at WACA and Barbados. These two grounds were supposed to be fastest pitch in the world, but it has certainly have become slow over the time. This certainly had an effect on the quality of bowlers who are currently playing. Apart from 1 or 2 bowlers no one can be compared to even a decent bowlers of 80's and 90's. Cricket is certainly surrounded by lots of problems and ICC have little time in restoring the pride of the Gentlemen's game, but I am confident that game will rise again like a phoenix.