The CBI court yesterday adjourned Kanimozhi's deemed bail plea to next week and the sensationalist media houses didn't miss the opportunity to flash the news in the flavor they prefer. Times Now screamed, "Breather for DMK - . Court post pone arrest order for Kani for a week".
It is left to the viewers to determine whether Times wants to see Kani in Jail or they do have insider information on the possible outcome next week.
So much about freedom of expression, huh!
The three unquestionable pillars of the depleted Indian democracy outsmart each other in killing the very principles of democracy more often than not.
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Saturday, November 24, 2007
Indian Cricket and the "O" word
"India has an unhealthy obsession with world cup", is what former skipper Rahul Dravid remarked ahead of heading to the West Indies to take part in the "must forget" world cup campaign. As expected it received sharp criticism from various quarters while some even agreed to what he said. And those who objected his comment also didn't bother to counter his argument to prove it isn't an obsession as seen by Dravid. Instead the chorus was asking "How dare you say that...?"
In a way, every one agrees that it is so. Reviews of the 2nd day's play of the first test between India & Pakistan at Delhi also suggest the same way. No one is really bothered about India failing to take advantage of the meager 1st innings score. Instead rain of appreciation for Laxman's innings which has just enabled a token lead of 45 runs (which was eventually wiped off by the Paki openers in the second innings).
We could see the unbelievable (comical looking) stare at the bowler after a very ordinary good delivery in between, standing clueless after a shot or standing at the other end whether to respond (no initiation whatsoever) to his partner's call and those ugly shots which never carry to the slip cordon - all were there in his innings. So what makes his innings so special ? With the trinity of the Indian batting falling prey to the lapse in concentration (how could all the 3 lose concentration while batting as stupid as it appeared - Damn it!) , Laxman did just the least of what was expected from him.
An unbeaten 72 against a not so challenging attack and in a juice less track - does this suffice to cement his place for ever, as being opined by those great columnists ?
Or is that the media guys decided that Indian cricket cannot survive without such "unhealthy" obsessions ?
In a way, every one agrees that it is so. Reviews of the 2nd day's play of the first test between India & Pakistan at Delhi also suggest the same way. No one is really bothered about India failing to take advantage of the meager 1st innings score. Instead rain of appreciation for Laxman's innings which has just enabled a token lead of 45 runs (which was eventually wiped off by the Paki openers in the second innings).
We could see the unbelievable (comical looking) stare at the bowler after a very ordinary good delivery in between, standing clueless after a shot or standing at the other end whether to respond (no initiation whatsoever) to his partner's call and those ugly shots which never carry to the slip cordon - all were there in his innings. So what makes his innings so special ? With the trinity of the Indian batting falling prey to the lapse in concentration (how could all the 3 lose concentration while batting as stupid as it appeared - Damn it!) , Laxman did just the least of what was expected from him.
An unbeaten 72 against a not so challenging attack and in a juice less track - does this suffice to cement his place for ever, as being opined by those great columnists ?
Or is that the media guys decided that Indian cricket cannot survive without such "unhealthy" obsessions ?
Tuesday, June 20, 2006
Day dreaming
"34-28-32" - I could hear my voice to myself before I could get some bang at the back of my head.
"What the heck?" - I stood up angrily from the bed - rubbing my head and asked my wife but only to see her turning red in her looks with a plastic water bottle in her hand.
It took a while for me to realize that it was just 7.00 am in the morning and time to get up from sleep - though it was a bit early for me today.
Only movable objects at that time in my room were myself and my wife - one still confused to decide on what to do next and the other object, with a red hot face, starring at the first object. I could easily guess who or what hit my head – but what for ?
After coming to the conclusion that it was my duty to make wife to speak out something, I started off clearing my throat:
"My dear respected Madam! If you are kind enough, can you please let me know what happened to me just some minutes back - which made my head paining".
I was glad that I held my sense in putting my words out which gained confidence in me. I continued -
"It seems to me that someone hit me at the back of my head and the object with which I was hit, I think it was a kind of plastic stuff which we can use to store water."
My wife still stood motion-less - whether she like the way I asked or not, I was sure she hasn't disapproved the tone.
What else I could wait for? I added-
“Did you find anyone hitting me or was it that I was banging on something myself”
(Huh! I knew exactly what happened – but who would tip me how to question a wife?)
Having said this, I turned my face and looked into a mirror. Oops! Even Charlie Chaplin would look less comical. But what is this? My better half and sweet lovable wife doesn’t seem interested in comedy this early in a day and continue to remain red faced.
But, Hooray! – her lips are moving!!!
“What were you telling when I hit you with the plastic bottle?”
Instead of felling happy that my wife has agreed that she hit me – I begin to think what was I telling…??!!!
“Oh! that one!!!” – with more decibal this time “I forgot to tell you honey. I bought a lottery ticket in Bangalore when I went there last week and I got a message yesterday on the winning sequence – it had the digits I was telling 34-28-32. I missed the bumper by a whisker. I was just day-dreaming on the incident and nothing otherwise dear”
Now, my wife looked slightly, just slightly, relaxed and asked “What were the number in your ticket?’
“Don’t you know? I always prefer 36-28-32!!!”
Well, well, I was not too sure how long I was lying down. But when I got up and looked at the mirror – it was not comical – there was a huge swelling near my left eye, partially disturbing the vision. I looked for my wife who was filling Sudoku.
Since I was concerned about my right eye, without opening my mouth, I moved from that place.
PS:- I only hope that my wife doesn’t get to know about this blog.
"What the heck?" - I stood up angrily from the bed - rubbing my head and asked my wife but only to see her turning red in her looks with a plastic water bottle in her hand.
It took a while for me to realize that it was just 7.00 am in the morning and time to get up from sleep - though it was a bit early for me today.
Only movable objects at that time in my room were myself and my wife - one still confused to decide on what to do next and the other object, with a red hot face, starring at the first object. I could easily guess who or what hit my head – but what for ?
After coming to the conclusion that it was my duty to make wife to speak out something, I started off clearing my throat:
"My dear respected Madam! If you are kind enough, can you please let me know what happened to me just some minutes back - which made my head paining".
I was glad that I held my sense in putting my words out which gained confidence in me. I continued -
"It seems to me that someone hit me at the back of my head and the object with which I was hit, I think it was a kind of plastic stuff which we can use to store water."
My wife still stood motion-less - whether she like the way I asked or not, I was sure she hasn't disapproved the tone.
What else I could wait for? I added-
“Did you find anyone hitting me or was it that I was banging on something myself”
(Huh! I knew exactly what happened – but who would tip me how to question a wife?)
Having said this, I turned my face and looked into a mirror. Oops! Even Charlie Chaplin would look less comical. But what is this? My better half and sweet lovable wife doesn’t seem interested in comedy this early in a day and continue to remain red faced.
But, Hooray! – her lips are moving!!!
“What were you telling when I hit you with the plastic bottle?”
Instead of felling happy that my wife has agreed that she hit me – I begin to think what was I telling…??!!!
“Oh! that one!!!” – with more decibal this time “I forgot to tell you honey. I bought a lottery ticket in Bangalore when I went there last week and I got a message yesterday on the winning sequence – it had the digits I was telling 34-28-32. I missed the bumper by a whisker. I was just day-dreaming on the incident and nothing otherwise dear”
Now, my wife looked slightly, just slightly, relaxed and asked “What were the number in your ticket?’
“Don’t you know? I always prefer 36-28-32!!!”
Well, well, I was not too sure how long I was lying down. But when I got up and looked at the mirror – it was not comical – there was a huge swelling near my left eye, partially disturbing the vision. I looked for my wife who was filling Sudoku.
Since I was concerned about my right eye, without opening my mouth, I moved from that place.
PS:- I only hope that my wife doesn’t get to know about this blog.
Tuesday, June 06, 2006
Sense of humor or tumor?
The Indian media, since switched over the Rahul Mahan mode (by now, even that is over) it would be interesting to know what would be running in the minds of those anti-reservation groups. Till very recently, for a short while, they were hailed as heros and saviours of "Future of India" blah...blah. Suddenly their hot seats were taken up by that drowsy chap.
There was an interesting article by one Siddharth Varadharajan in The Hindu dt. 3rd June on the media coverage on reservation, which is a realy eye-opener (only for those who intend to open their eyes and remain awake, atleast from now on. The article can be seen here:
I wish atleast those great "freedom" fighters get to know the real reasons behind their sudden popularity and realize that their thoughts on reservation is just a myth, while the truth lies somewhere else.
But in the process, it is really shocking to check out some of the intended humors (but real tumors in reality) on reservation. One such thing is Premji's onslaught calling for reservation in Indian Cricket. He, although, have some reasons for such outburst, since he thought his idelogical employment plans at Wipro would get a dent, in case the central government insist on reservation in Private sector. Nerverthless, we can only pity his anguish on the fact that the present Indian cricket team features relatively more from the backward community and already we have achieved this without much protests required.
Setting aside the above, look at the following cartoon:
Its shocking to realize that someone in our country still imagining this kind of a scenario in a public toilet. Totally in poor taste.
Saturday, June 03, 2006
New Comedian
Alignment and re-alginment in politics is nothing new in India or TN. Even for Mr Vaiko, he has already gone thro' the proces in the past already. But the funny aspect of his recent realignment during elections 2006 is he is improvising as a trained clown - day in and day out.
We all thought his comical sensations in his speech would get diluted once the results are thro - but these people of TN kept his alliance out of power and he has increased his tone. The recent "Jone of Arc" and "Jhansi Rani" stuff are nothing but funniest moments for our TN people.
He is so fond of these TV cameras, that he often loose his cool in front of them.
In that recent intereview, when the interviewer repeatedly probing him for his views on the Central/State Govt action of not banning the film Da Vinci Code (on that date) being screened, he kepT on finding fault with Dan Brown.
It would be really entertaining to watch him in action (a comical speech - esp in Jaya TV) with the audio muted and he would straight away challenge the caricatures of Walt Disney, leave alone his propagonda secy Sampath.
But his long time ambition of his face being aired in TVs (whether there are people to watch or not) is being fulfilled by Jaya TV these days - afterall even they wanted to provide their viewers some entertainment.
We all thought his comical sensations in his speech would get diluted once the results are thro - but these people of TN kept his alliance out of power and he has increased his tone. The recent "Jone of Arc" and "Jhansi Rani" stuff are nothing but funniest moments for our TN people.
He is so fond of these TV cameras, that he often loose his cool in front of them.
In that recent intereview, when the interviewer repeatedly probing him for his views on the Central/State Govt action of not banning the film Da Vinci Code (on that date) being screened, he kepT on finding fault with Dan Brown.
It would be really entertaining to watch him in action (a comical speech - esp in Jaya TV) with the audio muted and he would straight away challenge the caricatures of Walt Disney, leave alone his propagonda secy Sampath.
But his long time ambition of his face being aired in TVs (whether there are people to watch or not) is being fulfilled by Jaya TV these days - afterall even they wanted to provide their viewers some entertainment.
Monday, May 29, 2006
Reservation
Reservation - this is the buzz word now in the Indian media. But the question is whether we are discussing the issue at right wave length ?! Everytime, when we see some news on the reservation - there comes a hue and cry from some portion of the country that it is a political gimmick and try to "color" the whole issue with their personal preferences.
There are, certainly, pros & cons in the reservation policy, overall - just like any other policy. But in the anxiety of forcing our opinion, we often tend to forget its implications - just as the case of implementation failure (or breadkdown) of the reservation policy in Independant India.
The main issues raised by those who agitate against reservation are:
- Vote bank politics
- Compromise in quality
- Creamy layer
But if you analyze in depth, we shall find ourselves that none of the above, for that matter any of the issue concerning with the reservation, is being discussed at right level.
"Vote bank politics" is the more reasonably a true weapon held against the reservation policy. No politician or political party in India at large has its intentions right when it comes to approaching the problem. But is it right to hold this weapon always when an attempt is made to uplift the under-previliged ? The very fact that it still remain as the base for vote bank politics itself stand testimonial to the truth that a substantial population is still starving as under-preliviged and there is absolutely no one to take care of them.
The concept or policy of reservation came into existence only based on the need for uplifting the under-previliged and not for creating vote banks. But things changed slowly and as we coninued to have general elections, the need had gone to the shadows and the vote bank villain surfaced.
But are the politicains are the only one to be blamed ? What about the bureaucrats? Why is that they are safely been kept out of all such accustations ?
A proper implementation of the reservation policy, had it been implemented, would have seen a lot of representation from the under-previliged section among top notch bureaucrats. Why it is not so now? If we take the case of the IITs/IIMs, well, we know pretty well whats the representation of the under-previliged section in the management.
In essence, the top crest bureucrats do not want to share their access much with of the section under discussion - but they don't get the beating for that- thanks to the Indian media who only require sensations and not senses as such.
The second intelligent argument is the "compromise in quality" in the event of implementation of reservation. There is nothing much to discuss this since the results from South India and especially TN - where the reservation is in place in educational institutions comfortably (even without any proper ordinance) for the past 3 decades. What quality has been lost ?
How it would be lost - unless there is compromise in quality of the teachers in such institution. Even this case doesn't speak well as the facts in the TN for the past 3 decades projects things otherwise. Did we fail to produce quality engineers/doctors. A suvey indicates that 79% of doctors in TN/South India belong to the backward community and we all know which is the health hub in India. Is there anyone to dispute this ?
The problem we may have is in the overall output from the institutions where reservations are being implemented - but then, it only shows the kind of lack of facilities/access for these under-previliged people in competing with those in the upper community.
Whose responsibility is to eradicate this ?
The most silliest argument is the argument on the Creamy layer. It is argued that many of the upper community people are still suffering economically whereas many of those who enjoyed the benefit of reservation are well placed - but still continue to enjoy such benefits for their further generations. The problem with this argument is that we are seeing the issue in isolation and not as the whole policy of reservation or the idea of improving the overall living style of all people. Recetnly, when there was an indication from the central government on the possible reduction in fee structure in the institutions of higher studies we saw the kind of agitation from these group.
Well, reservations were not there in place when this discussion came up and the seats were given only on merit, which means that, in view of those who argue against the reservation, only "quality" people can get a seat in IIT/IIM. But then they refused to cooperate with the reduction in fee structure which would have possilbly helped the "poor among eligible" and those reformers forgot to think about this creamy layer concept, then. They could have simply agreed to have some reservation based on economically backward category, when the proposed reservation was not in place originally - what stopped them ? And why is that they wanted raise it as an issue, now?
The simple fundemental ideological difficulty for those who vegemently oppose reservation is that they do not want to share the access to power to the other community and in their opinion that would dilute their representation in policy making or policy framing opportunities. The Indian media, in general, without applying thir mind - instead applying their bias - support their activities which is insane.
How many jobs reserved for backward people remain open and why is that we are unable to find people for those positions, even though reservation was in place already ?
It is we who are answerable for the above which was resulted in the failure of successful implementation of reservation policy. Let us self-examine and realize the truth to our conscious, even though we are not obliged to come out in open and even if we come out in open, the Indian media is not there interested in it.
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