A record 5th straight US Open win for Roger Federer is not enough to define the prowess of this champion. I do not remember that any other Tennis professional in the recent past has had made such a huge impact as Roger did. Until 2007, the big question asked before the start of every Grand Slam was not who will win the tournament but who would play against Federer in the Finals. But after series of debacles in Grand Slams and the Beijing Olympics this year, things started to change and even critics began writing him off. But Roger Federer is no simple human. With his latest triumph he has come back with a bang and given his critics an apt answer. This is his first Grand Slam victory in 2008 but it is all the more important because it has an important lesson embedded in it.
It teaches us that no matter how much are we capable, there is always a time when things won't go our way and people will start to doubt our capabilities. All good things would start to appear bad, all happy moments will turn gloomy and this is the time when our determination and our mental ability will be put to the acid test. But if we keep our belief in ourselves intact, it will not be too long when we bounce back rejuvenated and energized and this is what, I believe, being a phoenix really means i.e. rebirth of the champ within us.
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Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Sorrow of India
Wrath of River Kosi in Bihar is something that is in news for the last few days.Hundrerds have been killed, thousands have been marooned and millions are displaced. But is it the River Kosi which is to be blamed?
News of Tata Nano thinking of pulling out of Singur, West Bengal is also making headlines these days. If Ratan Tata actually goes forward and shuts down the facility , that would be a black day in the history of West Bengal which not only deter future projects of India Incorporation in the state but also impede the current growth of industrialization. Who is the real face behind this agitation?
Indo-US civilian nuclear deal ,which will provide India with the much needed energy and also give fillip to India's nuclear commerce, has seen many a rough patches already. If India is to become the next superpower, this deal has to happen. Even the US has gone overboard in giving special status to India through this deal even though India is not a signatory of the NPT .But even after knowing all this and the criticality of the deal, opposition of left parties to the deal is crystal clear. Is deal the main reason for this opposition?
If we scrutinize all the 3 cases mentioned above, we will see that it is not the Kosi which is wreaking havoc in Bihar, it is not the 400 odd acres of land being taken from farmers for Tata Nano plant reason for confrontation in West Bengal and it is not the 123 agreement which contains any line creating security threat to the country. There is something else which works underneath all these bandhs, oppositions, agitations, violent protests...... (basically the list is endless) in the 3 cases mentioned above and many more occurring each day in our country.
The real reason is the corrupt and totally eroded political system of our country.
Every disaster, every project, every deal, every state, every situation and basically every individual is an opportunity for our netas to garner extra brownie points,to increase their vote bank and to strengthen their political standing. Gone are the days of Lal Bahadur Shastri and Pt. Jawahar Lal Nehru when the line "for the people and by the people" actually held value. Today we are living in a "for the politicians and by the politicians” framework which has shaken the very foundation of the values and principles on which the constitution of India rests.
It is high time politicians understand that to take India forward they need to rise above their political and personal gains. They have to start thinking about the people and future of this country. They have to incorporate transparency and legitimacy in whatever they do and if they have been given the opportunity to serve the country, they should do that with the highest moral and ethical standards.
Otherwise the day is not far when politicians of India will be known as "Sorrow of India"
News of Tata Nano thinking of pulling out of Singur, West Bengal is also making headlines these days. If Ratan Tata actually goes forward and shuts down the facility , that would be a black day in the history of West Bengal which not only deter future projects of India Incorporation in the state but also impede the current growth of industrialization. Who is the real face behind this agitation?
Indo-US civilian nuclear deal ,which will provide India with the much needed energy and also give fillip to India's nuclear commerce, has seen many a rough patches already. If India is to become the next superpower, this deal has to happen. Even the US has gone overboard in giving special status to India through this deal even though India is not a signatory of the NPT .But even after knowing all this and the criticality of the deal, opposition of left parties to the deal is crystal clear. Is deal the main reason for this opposition?
If we scrutinize all the 3 cases mentioned above, we will see that it is not the Kosi which is wreaking havoc in Bihar, it is not the 400 odd acres of land being taken from farmers for Tata Nano plant reason for confrontation in West Bengal and it is not the 123 agreement which contains any line creating security threat to the country. There is something else which works underneath all these bandhs, oppositions, agitations, violent protests...... (basically the list is endless) in the 3 cases mentioned above and many more occurring each day in our country.
The real reason is the corrupt and totally eroded political system of our country.
Every disaster, every project, every deal, every state, every situation and basically every individual is an opportunity for our netas to garner extra brownie points,to increase their vote bank and to strengthen their political standing. Gone are the days of Lal Bahadur Shastri and Pt. Jawahar Lal Nehru when the line "for the people and by the people" actually held value. Today we are living in a "for the politicians and by the politicians” framework which has shaken the very foundation of the values and principles on which the constitution of India rests.
It is high time politicians understand that to take India forward they need to rise above their political and personal gains. They have to start thinking about the people and future of this country. They have to incorporate transparency and legitimacy in whatever they do and if they have been given the opportunity to serve the country, they should do that with the highest moral and ethical standards.
Otherwise the day is not far when politicians of India will be known as "Sorrow of India"
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
China 51 , India 1
Beijing olympics 2008 is over but it holds a special significance for us Indians. It was the first time that an Indian bagged a gold medal in an individual category.It was the first time that India won a total of 3 medals in this version of the games and this was ,by far , the best Indian performance in Olympics. No wonder that our newly born heroes and icons are enjoying their ride so far and whole country is busy in celebrations. But in this hulabloo, we have forgotten to look or rather we deliberately did not look at other aspect of the story. CHINA. We are comapred with china in every field whatsoever : population , technology , permanent seat at the Secutity Council (we have not got one that is a different matter) blah blah blah. And indeed we do good in most of the fields but what about sports. Can we even think of competing with China in near future ,let alone beating it ? Well , to be frank , I don't think so.With the current level of training provided to our sportpersons ( leave Cricket , even that is not considered worth to be included in Olympics) and facilities given (even basic facilities such as healthy and nutritious food for wrestlers are missing) , it is a pipe dream to think of sports excellence in our country. 13 olympics medals in 108 years of Olympics history tells the entire story. All the hype created around Abhinav Bindra , Sushil Kumar and Vijender is short lived. 2 or 3 months down the line (even that is a way optimistic figure) entire country will sink in Cricket fever. Few bucks given to Olympics heroes will obviously change their lives but that won't change the sports scene in India in general.
India lacks basic infrastructure needed to brighten the future of sports. Corruption is deeply rooted in the hearts of almost all of the national and state government bodies regulating various sports.We all know what happened to our national sport , Hockey , in the reign of Mr Gill. It's time to change the mindset of the people in how they perceive non-Cricket sports .It's time politicians rise above petty politics and take some solid and revolutionary steps for the betterment of the sporting culture. It's time to privatise the sports in India. Only then we can hope of the day when Indian would be called a worldpower is sports .Only then we can see lot many of Abhinav Bindras and Vijenders and Sushil Kumars.
India lacks basic infrastructure needed to brighten the future of sports. Corruption is deeply rooted in the hearts of almost all of the national and state government bodies regulating various sports.We all know what happened to our national sport , Hockey , in the reign of Mr Gill. It's time to change the mindset of the people in how they perceive non-Cricket sports .It's time politicians rise above petty politics and take some solid and revolutionary steps for the betterment of the sporting culture. It's time to privatise the sports in India. Only then we can hope of the day when Indian would be called a worldpower is sports .Only then we can see lot many of Abhinav Bindras and Vijenders and Sushil Kumars.
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