India: A story of one man’s obsession

At last I found a sensible article on the Indian national media. This is that sort of article which makes the difference between a good journalist and a crap one...Here is goes:

India: A story of one man’s obsession - India in Pakistan 2006: HTCricket.com

by Pradeep Magazine

"Hindsight is the best friend of an armchair critic. In a world where interpretations abound and the final verdict depends on the results achieved, India's embarrassing defeat against Pakistan must have left all those who believe in Greg Chappell's "futuristic vision" somewhat uneasy in heart and mind.

It is not his fault that India lost. Even before the team left for Pakistan, it was understood that Pakistan was a better team and in their home conditions, it wouldn't be easy to beat them.

Yet, the past few months have seen so many innovative ideas being introduced into the static world of Indian cricket that somehow, they created a grandiose illusion that this team was invincible. And the media played a significant role in creating this illusion.

Though most experiments were done in the one-day format, the feeling that India was heading for a new dawn and habits of old were being eradicated with an iron hand by a man who knew every nuance of cricketing grammar, changed even inveterate cynics into believers.

After he gave "marching orders" to Sourav Ganguly and made the world believe that the former Indian captain was the source of all the ills affecting the team, India fell in love with him. They loved a man who had come to India to challenge its "star system" and after the team's one-day wins, that too in great style against Sri Lanka, Chappell acquired god-like status. No one questioned his complete obsession with Ganguly and his one point agenda to keep the man out of the team.

Politics and intrigue

Politics and intrigue became the buzzword in this fight to the finish. A nation fed on soap operas lapped up this new serial and no one cared what effect it would have on the team. And it was bound to have an effect.

After all, the players are not "commodities", as some would like us to believe but men with emotions and feelings. And once in Pakistan, the drama began all over again. Right from first Test to last, all we did here was to report on whether Ganguly was playing or not and how the team management was being "forced" to include him in the playing XI.

So much so that the specialist openers became redundant and Rahul Dravid, against the wishes of everyone including Chappell, decided to open in the interest of the team. Simply, he did not want the world to accuse him of making Ganguly a sacrificial lamb.

It came to such a pass that it seemed that India's whole strategy revolved around Ganguly --- for some to keep him out somehow and for others to somehow include him. As one team official put it, "this is something we could have well avoided. Whatever any one might say, it did have an effect on the morale of the team and on an important tour like this, where was the need to make this into an issue once he was in the team?"

The team might believe it was neither coach nor captain who made this into an issue but the media --- which stoked the fires of controversy by getting obsessed with the whole Ganguly-Chappell equation.

Ganguly’s image

In Pakistan, Ganguly is a larger than life figure. They respect him as a player and more than that, as a captain. Younis Khan summed up what Pakistan feels about the whole issue in his press conference by saying, "I am a great Ganguly fan and he batted well here. India should back him."

What is very strange about the whole drama is that now, even Rajsingh Dungarpur, who was seen almost violently opposing Ganguly's inclusion, says "Ganguly's behaviour on the tour has been impeccable." According to an official, "He has been one of the best behaved boys in the team and the players respect him and are not hostile towards him. Yet, an impression is being created that he is a hate figure and no one wants him."

No one for sure knows what views Dravid holds on the whole issue. He has studiously avoided getting into any controversy and weighs his words carefully whenever any question on Ganguly is put to him. From his perspective, as he has repeatedly emphasised in his press conferences, "We are here to pick the best XI that helps the team to win."

Ego clash

To an outsider, it may appear that he does not want to annoy Chappell or may even agree with him, but one thing is sure --- Dravid would not want to be seen as a party to any plan to humiliate or insult his former captain. Whatever the pros and cons of the whole issue and whatever the cricketing merits of the debate, there is no question that this Test series got hijacked by this unnecessary "ego" clash.

It was unnecessary, as in the end, when Ganguly finally got a chance to play on the most difficult wicket of them all, he batted extremely well and despite not going on to make a big score, showed that he still can bat.

This makes everyone here wonder --- what was all this fuss about?

There are a lot of important questions India needs to answer if it has to become a strong team. Its medium pace bowling is mediocre, the spinners can't deliver outside of India and not just Ganguly, there are other seniors in the team too who are probably at the end of their career.

That is all the more reason that India should not allow one man's obsession to destroy a team, which, not so long ago, was one solid unit. And it should also learn to treat victory and defeat with equanimity and not let passion dictate reasoning."

Nice and sensible article. Although, I personally do not agree with his view about Dravid - who, in my view, is trying to pose neutral, but in all probability (and possibly all certainity) he has a clear hand behind the mess - who can sit so long as the captain in the waiting?

Newcastle United sack Graeme Souness

It isn't a surprise.

Souness took over after Boby Robson was sacked in a terrible manner, although he took Newcastle United from the ruins after Gullit departed to finish second, third and fifth in the English Premier League for three consecutive seasons. Newcastle finished 14th last season under Souness, and currently at the 15th position, just six points clear of the relegation zone, with Souness admitting that they are in the relegation battle. Newcastle collected only one point out of a possible 18 since their last win on December 17th 2005 against West Ham United...since then it was all downhill. Yes, Souness had lot of injuries in the team - Owen, Parker, Dyer, Emre, Solano, Taylor, Carr - all have been injured. But that's the job of a good manager - you improvise with the available players, inspire them, and go forward - or atleast try. Under Souness, Newcastle missed the passion, the urge to compete...with £50 million spent within 18 months, Newcastle only went backwards.

I do feel sorry for the man - he has been honest, but he hasn't been able to motivate. BBC paints a clear picture of his time at the helm of NUFC.

Sacking Sir Bobby was a blatant mistake, I just hope this isn't so - especially at this stage of the season.

And call it luck or just coincidence, both my favourite teams are undergoing the same problems...Mohun Bagan and NUFC...although in two different leagues...in two different parts of the world...

Seventeen seconds, and Dravid makes another volte-face...

This man is a disgrace - Rahul Dravid.

May be he is one of the best cricketers in the world, surely the current best player in the Indian cricket team (sorry, the BCCI-XI), but as a captain? Or as a leader? Or as a human being? Each day, he is proving that what I wrote in a previous post, is infact the truth, the only truth and nothing but the truth. He is a human, an ordinary human being - not a good human, with all the human instincts - the most basic of them being selfishness and greed. He wanted to be the captain, and he would sink to any depth for that.

India lost to Pakistan in Karachi, one of their heaviest defeats, and Dravid is not ready to accept his mistakes. Once he says - "It's against my nature to speak about any individual's performance" (read Ganguly's performance) - within seventeen seconds, he makes a volte-face, and starts talking about Yuvraj Singh. Okay, Yuvraj played well, scored a hundred (fighting? I doubt it. His hundred came when all hopes were gone, and there was no pressure what so ever at all) - but this man, Ganguly, playing under immense pressure, was the second highest scorer in the team. He atleast tried to fight - which our so called "world-beater" batting line-up couldn't do...all the big names caved in showing a spineless display of batting.

The same question comes back over and over...why isn't there an uniform criteria for every individual? With his current form, does even Sachin merit a place in the team? I guess not. But, does Dravid have the courage to drop him? I know he doesn't. It's easy to drop Ganguly, to humiliate him, because he will get the backing from Kiran More, Greg Chappel, and a large section of the media...almost all of whom have some personal vendetta here.

A month on, Engalnd is to visit India, and I'm sure Ganguly will be excluded from the team on some grounds (how much does it take to create a reason anyway). But the rest, even with their spineless display, and despite the ratings provided by TOI and BBC which won't count in the minds of Dravid, Chappel and More, will stay. Sachin is a so-called giant, so he has to stay. Laxman is in the good books of Dravid, yeah a friend I guess - so he will stay. Rahul Dravid will stay as the captain, even though he allowed Paksitan a free ride from 39/6, till another Dravid is created to kick him out - and I hope he gets the taste of his own medicine.

Another fact which will remain intact as well is - with the same group of bowlers and batsmen, Ganguly was able to steer India to a famous 2-1 victory, the only Indian captain in the past fifty odd years. And Geoff Boycott will still say that he is the best Indian captain...

Marxism is not about blind faith – Part II

Continuing from my previous post...

ABP: You have called the current Pakistani political system a "Khaki Democracy". Will Gen. Musharraf be able to carry on with it?

TA: There is no reason whatsoever why he can't carry on with it. General Musharraf is one of the closest allies of Washington. Just a few days back, the American Secretary of State, Condoleeza Rice, announced in Pakistan, that all Islamic countries should learn from Pakistan. Why on earth would Musharraf have a problem when he gets such a generous certificate?

ABP: But the religious leaders (mullahs) are infuriated.

TA: Certainly. They are not able to digest Musharraf's volte-face. And the economy of the country is literally sold out...

ABP: Then Musharraf must be under immense pressure?

TA: He is under pressure. And he is trying to perform a tight rope trick - a balancing act. But there is no imminent danger. Because, today the army is influential over the entire economy and society. Business, industry and even the agricultural sector is taken over by the ex-army officials. Because of this, the control of army over the country is deep-rooted. And this is where the crisis for democracy lies. And again, it doesn't necessarily mean that all the problems will be solved if Musharraf goes. The comparatively secular political parties are in no better state for reviving democracy. Even the Muslim League is a "Khaki Muslim League" now. The militarization is too wide-spread.

ABP: What is the reason behind this militarization?

TA: America had a big role to play even there. The "mujahids" were the creation of the CIA and ISI. A large section of the youth were trained and sent to Afghanistan to fight against the Soviet Union. When many of them started returning to Pakistan after the Soviet troops were withdrawn in 1989, they were utilized in the Kashmir Valley, to fight India. The elected government turned a blind eye, indirectly encouraging the military officials, and the ISI. At that time, the military didn't have direct control over the administration, and the elected leaders could have put a stop over this craziness. No one did. Leaders like Nawaj Sharif or Benazir Bhutto embraced corruption quite shamelessly. And the result was inevitable. No one except few blind followers of Nawaj Sharif came out in protest against the military coup in 1999. Musharraf gladly used these circumstances, and the society turned more and more "khaki".

ABP: The civilian society was growing stronger after the return of democracy following Zia's death...

TA: It was, but it never fulfilled the goal. The civilian society in Pakistan is still too weak. The media rather enjoys much more freedom in Musharraf's reign. Even the Nawaj Sharif administration didn't give so much freedom to press. And this didn't even exist during Zia or Ayub's reign. The civilian society had very little impact on the Pakistani system. Yes, a lot of NGO's have cropped up - but I would prefer calling them "WGO - Western Governmental Organization". Because they do not receive any funds from the national government, they do not have to act on orders of the Pakistani administration, but being funded by the western governments, about ninety percent of them are eager to implement the policies of the western countries.

ABP: Do you think there is an alternative in this global socio-political situation?

TA: There is. The political changes in some Latin American countries raise high hopes. The Venezuelan President, Hugo Chávez, is being able to assemble his countrymen against the American dominance. Thousands have joined protests answering his call, and I have seen it myself. Despite American sanctions, and a post-Soviet world, Fidel Castro's Cuba has been able to maintain its revolutionary image, has attempted to walk on an alternative development path. Such large scale improvements in education and health sector as in Cuba is quite uncommon even in the industrially-developed capitalist countries. I have seen in Pakistan, after the earthquake, about eleven hundred Cuban doctors in areas like Mujaffarabad, even though Cuba does not have a direct diplomatic relationship. And about half of them are women. They have been extremely helpful in the rough terrains. No other country has sent so many doctors.

ABP: You are visiting Kolkata after a long time. A Left Front Government is in power here for almost three decades. A section of observers maintain that despite criticising the economic policy of the Indian Government, the Left Front under Buddhadev Bhattacharya is practically following the same path, this Left Front is more like Tony Blair's "New Labour". What is your view on this?

TA: To tell you the truth, I am severely shocked and frustrated this time. There are so many shopping malls, was it really necessary? Is this really development? It seems like a copy of the American style. Rather, have a look at the European countries, like France - have you seen anything like this there? They have shopping centres, cafeterias - but in their own way, their own style - not as replica of other countries. Yes, I am pleased that a Left Front has been able to govern West Bengal for such a long period. Because of this, communal forces have not been able to poison the society here, as they have done in Gujarat. It is also true that the Left Front Government has to work within the constraints of a federal system. Even then, I don't think that it should be impossible to search for alternative paths. The leftists in this state should learn from the Latin American countries, who have stood up in retaliation despite tremendous pressure from America. Kolkata has always been the place for alternative thoughts, Kolkata has shown the way to the rest of the nation. I wonder why the situation has changed so much...This is the place where Ritwik Ghatak, Mrinal Sen, Satyajit Ray created their masterpieces, but, today, even in films, all I can see is an attempt to copy from the Hollywood...

ABP: Do you still believe in the Marxist philosophy, even at this stage of capitalistic globalisation?

TA: Certainly. It is possible to find an answer in the Marxist philosophy. But you have to be cautious - if Marxism becomes a religious belief, or a blind faith, if it turns into a secular religion, there will be no differences between that and a non-secular religion. Secular or non-secular religion - both can be dangerous. And Marxist politics should not rest upon blind faith. The Marxist politics should constantly search for new directions, do experimentations, should encourage new thoughts. Why did the Soviet Union fall apart, or why did China opt for a capitalist economy - these are important questions, and the Marxist politics of today should seek answers to these.

ABP: During the sixties, the protests over Vietnam War, the Prague Spring, the revolutionary ideology were able to create a different backdrop. The voices of the likes of Edward Said, Noam Chomsky or yourself were inspiration for thousands. Who would inspire the new generation in this changed world after you?

TA: Revolutionary intellectuals have always been rare. It's easy to be a conformist. And that is why many people choose the traditional way of life. But, the human race has started facing the new problems with a new outlook. We are seeing different forms of protests, new ways of movement in different parts of the world. I am still enthusiastic about interacting with our young generation - these are the ones who will find the answer. It's the revolutionary voice which helps the world progress. Modernism is not synonymous with the American way of life, rather it is a way of justifying the reality with logical reasoning.

The interview ends here. I hope to post some of my thoughts on these issues very soon.

Marxism is not about blind faith – Part I

Anandabazar, one of the most popular Bengali Daily, published an interview with Tariq Ali on January 26th, 2006. A typical Tariq Ali makes us think about the issues around us. I am trying to reproduce this interview for people who will miss it because it was published in bengali.

ABP: You are saying that Iraq has become a colony again, although America has been saying that the situation in Iraq will improve after the elections. What's your view on this?

TA: The situation is Iraq hasn't changed even a bit. Even if America withdraws its troops in near future, there is a possibility that the nation will break into three parts. The northern area is a stronghold of the Kurds, and the southern part is influenced by Iran. In this situation, if the America-backed administration grows stronger in the central region, it will guarantee more American control over the oil fields of West Asia. What's more to being back in the colonial period?

ABP: Is it Iran’s turn now?

TA: It will not be possible to do similar things like Iraq in Iran – like overthrowing the government by sending armed forces. America may be able to destroy the nuclear sites of Iran by selective bombardments, but that will increase the adversity between these two nations to a dangerous level. Further, a section of Iran’s religious leaders indirectly supported the aggression over Iraq and Afghanistan. America will heavily risk its security if it attempts to attack Iran.

ABP: Is there no way to stop America from attempting to establish its own control over nation after nations, and thereby the entire world?

TA: The situation might change only if the influential countries in different regions of the world stand up against this together. In Latin America, this tendency is present in countries like Venezuela, Bolivia – apart from Cuba. If Brazil works together with them, America may find themselves in a tight situation in Latin America.

ABP: What do you think about Africa?

TA: Unfortunate. There was high hope that South Africa would be able to take leadership in Africa after the end of apartheid. But sadly, Johannesburg has converted into a big supporter of the “Washington-pact”.

ABP: In Asia?

TA: There is not a single country in Asia who can stand up to this. India was once a leader of the Non-Aligned Movement, but unfortunately, the elite Indians have bowed down in front of the “Washington Consensus”. The less you say about Pakistan, the better. China doesn’t have a stable foreign policy, or, may be they are trying to view the international political situation with a long term approach. A few leaders like Mahathir have raised their voices against Washington, but that was too little to help. A South Asian Union would enable unrestricted business, travel, and exchanges between the countries in this region. That would allow them to stand up against the American imperialism together.

ABP: Would you include Afghanistan and Myanmar too in this South Asian Union?

TA: Why should I mind? But, in order to form this union, you will primarily need India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal. Because China’s economy is complimentary to the South Asian economy, it’s necessary that China gets closely attached to this union. Only then we will be able to find an answer to America’s dominance. Otherwise there is no way out of the mess created by this “Washington Pact” for the past one and half decades.

ABP: This would require advances in the Indo-Pak peace process. What do you think about the current improvement in the relations?

TA: The bilateral relationship is improving slowly, but not as expected. The defence expenditures of both the nations are still huge, which is practically unpardonable. Only a fraction of this could have caused a vast improvement of educational infrastructure or health and medicinal infrastructure, which would have had an effect on millions of peoples’ lives. Although the steps being taken for the improvement of rail and road links are likely to increase the goodwill amongst the people on both sides of the border. If the Kashmiris on both sides of the LOC had more means of exchange, it could have changed the nature of the relationship, and moreover, the families separated because of the adversity between the two nations would have had a chance to reunite. Neither Indian, nor the Pakistani government has been able to advance much in this respect. If we can’t leave the past (1947) behind, we will remain engulfed in the black hole we are in now.

Continued in Part II…

Virtual Truth Commission

VIRTUAL TRUTH COMMISSION

A site about America's actions over the rest of the world. Thanks to whoever created this. And thanks to my friend Indranil for pointing this out to me.

Evo Morales

Evo Morales, an Aymara Indian and a coca farmer is the new president of Bolivia. Here is an excerpt from a site on him.

“Thanks to Pachamama, Mother Earth, thanks for the Coca Plant.

We, Aymaras and Quechuas, original nations of the Andes, have survived the onslaught of the white man until today thanks to our coca leaf. From the moment the white man came to our land he has tried to control our leaf for his own enrichment. He has abused it here and now he is abusing it everywhere else. Since it has escaped his control he is intent on destroying it.

He has labelled our sacred plant a drug, to be prohibited and eliminated under universally binding drugs conventions. With these conventions the United Nations have offended and betrayed the Aymara and Quechua Nations. Under the cover of these conventions and after impoverishing our people with their neoliberal policies, the United States government, foremost enemy of the Indians, has used its dollars to bribe the officials of Bolivia, corrupt its institutions and pit white Bolivians against us. Recently the United States Embassy in La Paz has funded a mercenary force with orders to eliminate the coca plant and the Indians defending it. Coca is not a drug!

This lie has to be called. The moment has come for us to stop the menace of annihilation of the coca plant and our communal ways of living. The coca plant has sustained us through all adversities until today and we will strive, with all our might and with her help, to thwart the white man's wicked plans. Like other plants coca is a medicine, a holy plant. Thanks to coca we have withstood the untold sufferings brought upon us by the white man's unholy war on drugs.

Therefore, the United Nations should respect our coca leaf and take it off their prohibitive lists. Therefore, the United States should get all their drug war personnel and equipment out of Bolivia. They have abused their stay. Let them go home to fight their own drug war. Therefore, the white men should stop their war on drugs and accept that we live peacefully with the coca plant. They should consider reports from Harvard University, their most cherished academic institution, about the beneficial uses of our plant.

But this will not come about without our active intervention. We have to rise to the occasion. The moment has come for the original nations to take power in our own hands. The moment has come for us to redeem the coca plant.We have learned to treat the plant with respect and she has generously rewarded us. From now on we will no longer tolerate any foreign powers harming our plant. We will be her sovereign guardians. Those nations that accept this will be our friends. We will help them treat its abuse. Those that will continue to repress our plant will be our enemies and the predictions of sickness and misery proffered by our yaquiris, as recorded by legend, will certainly befall them.

As long as the American invader fights us, we, the original nations, won't forget our war cry, born from the pain of our people:

Causachun coca! Wañuchun yanquis!
Long live coca! Yankees go home!"

The BBC published some excerpts from his inaugural speech - no wonder the bankers in USA are terrified.

Special thanks to Indranil Ghosh Dastidar for directing me to this site.

History again...

Now, Indian history textbooks raise a storm in California- The Times of India

So here they are at it - again. After selectively editing the school syllabus and text books in India (refer to 1, 2 and 3), the hindutva maniacs are trying the same in the US.

Examples?

(1) "Aryan Invasion" - Hindu organisations claimed that Aryans were not a race, but a term for persons of noble intellect, and it was not an "invasion". Okay, so we have to prove that only the Muslims (Ghori, Babar etc) were the invaders, we hindus have always been peace-loving, and we are the direct descendants of aryans. So, change the "invasion" word to "migration". Thank goodness, they didn't claim (as they did in India in some text books taught in Vidyabharti) that aryans originated from India...

(2) They wanted the sentence "Men had many more rights than women," to be replaced by "Men had different duties (dharma), as well as rights, than women." Afraid of acknowledging the truth? Was it going to raise some embarrassing questions over our so-called ancient knowledge and culture? The truth is even the scriptures tell stories about this differentiation - Gargi was threatened by Uddaalak that her head will explode if she doesn't stop asking questions...and that's only one example. Scriptures reveal innumerable social exploitations in the name of religion...

Why do we need to prove that we are better than the rest? That too by rewriting history according to our needs? Ironically, this is true in almost all beliefs - hindus do it, christians do, muslims do the same...bragging about..."we are the good children of the God, the rest are hidens or kafirs or infidels or x or y or z"...

I'm rather content with Lennon...

"Imagine there's no heaven,
It's easy if you try,
No hell below us,
Above us only sky,
Imagine all the people
living for today...

Imagine there's no countries,
It isnt hard to do,
Nothing to kill or die for,
No religion too,
Imagine all the people
living life in peace...

Imagine no possesions,
I wonder if you can,
No need for greed or hunger,
A brotherhood of man,
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world...

You may say Im a dreamer,
but Im not the only one,
I hope some day you'll join us,
And the world will live as one."

Land of curries and snake charmers - who's responsible?

Since writing my last post, I have been thinking about this phrase Vinayak mentioned in his comments - "land of curries and snake charmers". It is true, at least partially, especially in the US. But then who is responsible?

A few years ago, just after my marriage, I was sent by TCS (where I worked at that time) to work onsite at Colorado Springs. My wife was staying alone at Delhi. The day before I was about to return, they arranged for a lunch. I was very happy then because I was about to return home. The Manager from the Client-side, Mimi, was puzzled to hear that I actually dated my wife since my college days before getting married, and she almost fell off the chair when she learnt that my wife held a post-graduate degree in Civil Engineering and used to work in a decent company!!! "Do you guys date?" "Do Indian women work?"

She knew about Roop Kanwar, but she didn't know about Capt. Durba Banerjee or Kiran Bedi or numerous other women who have formed the core of Indian society...

This is how we portrayed India infront of the world by letting a woman burn alive...

When Gujarat was burning, I was attending a conference at Edinburgh. During the conference dinner, I was sitting next to Ali from EPCC, a nice and friendly bloke, originally from Iran. The Fire Brigade Unions were on strike in the UK at that time, or some other national strike was going on, I don't exactly remember it. What I remember, and will always remember as long as I live was Ali's comment (on something I said about strikes in India) - "You guy's don't strike, you guys riot."

He knew about Gujarat - thanks to Narendra Modi. He also knew about December 6th, 1992 - thanks to LK Advani, Uma Bharti et. al.

This is how we portrayed India infront of the world by murdering thousands of innocents...

We always harp on our ancient culture - our ancient knowledge - all that knowledge and culture are drained down the gutters when a Roop Kanwar dies or a Best Bakery occurs...it's just two of the hundreds and thousands incidents happening every day...Each such incident sends down the "land of curries and snake charmers" phrase down another person's mind.

"Unity in diversity" was what we read in the history books...only if we really wanted to create a "pluralistic society" in a true sense for ourselves...we could have easily erased that phrase from the vocabulary of the world.

Update on "Of freedom and revolution"

Thank you for your comment Vinayak (on my last post).

I would still stick to my stand and belief, that the perception of majority of Indians about Indian Communists or Communism as a whole is totally and blatantly wrong. Rather, majority of the Indians have been fed this wrong idea by a certain section of religious and political leaders (read RSS here). I could have pointed to thousands of articles to prove my point - pieces of history lying in the National Archives...works like "Memoirs" by Major Jaipal Singh, or "Mole In The Crown" by Michael Carritt...but I refrain from doing so.

What you point out is a topic of interesting debate, and I don't mind in having a good and well-thought debate. The whole point in my blog is to counter the kinds of posts found in TOI and Rediff - which can be written only by people void of any thought, belief or committment.

And Ramdev? Every citizen of India possesses the right to pick up a sample of medicine (ayurvedic or anything else) from a pharmacy and get it tested in the laboratory. And if you read recent international developments, a lot of ayurvedic medicines from renowned Indian ayurvedic pharmacies have been banned in Canada (soon others will follow) because laboratory tests have detected potentially harmful heavy-metal content. In India, it is all about belief - people believe in Ramdev, so he gets the right to do whatever he wants to do. And because we do not have any regulatory laws (atleast not implemented), anybody can do whatever he or she wants to do - like Coke/Pepsi - in India they don't follow the standards followed elsewhere...Brinda Karat just publicized a laboratory report of medicines from Ramdev's laboratory - and Ramdev's followers maligned her (and other workers) as "cohorts of multinationals". Oh, I forgot to mention, the Indian Communists were maligned by the same "multinationals" when they spoke against Coke/Pepsi in recent past when harmful chemicals were detected in the soft drinks...To me, it seems like diverting peoples view from the issues. I should post the link to the statement released by the Communist Party of India (Marxist) which clarifies the stand.

I applaud Brinda for bringing this issue open into the eyes of the public.

BTW - are you a man or a machine? I mean it seems to me that you search blogs with certain phrases and post the same comment everywhere...I found exactly same comments posted by you here...

Of freedom and revolution

Of freedom and revolution

This is a review of "Memoirs: 25 Communist Freedom Fighters". The reviewer correctly points out - "Communist biography is among the most neglected fields in the historiography of the freedom struggle. The lives of communists have been ignored not only by the mainstream nationalist historians and the latter day historians of the `subaltern' and `post-colonial' variety, but also studiedly avoided by the major Left historians themselves. There must be some reason why major figures such as Muzaffar Ahmad, Hasrat Mohani and B.T. Ranadive never get written about. It is only the occasional, often amateur, attempts by people associated with them, which appear erratically as small write-ups in the magazines and newspapers of the communist parties, and hardly get noticed beyond the circle of their regular readers".

It's no surprise why a large section of Indians publish hysterical anti-communist posts and comments on the blog sites provided by the likes of Times Of India and Rediff.

I am dying to get hold of this book.

I feel pity on these people

The Times of India highlights several blogs each day. Sometimes some of them are really good, thought-provoking, but most of the time? I just bumped into this one - crap would be a too soft word for this. I really pity these people who post such thoughts and those who post such uneducated, ill-mannered comments...

And I really pity TOI - a renowned newspaper, highlighting such blogs...

Me and Rik

I wonder why people still have such absurd views

I just bumped into this blog posted on Times of India - about caste systems. I just wondered - is this a simple stunt, or do people really have such absurd views even now?

Dravid is a human afterall

He's almost thirty-three now, he has been the "deputy" for about five years, never been in charge of the whole team except a few matches where he was the stand-in captain...how long could he go on like this? He's a human too, with all the human instincts of selfishness, tendency to betray, making a volte-face...he just followed his instincts. Forget what he once said about Sourav ("On the off side there is God, then there is Sourav Ganguly"), forget how he was brought back into the one-day squad by Sourav even though everyone was skeptic about his slow-scoring...this is a new Dravid, who needed the hot-seat for himself.

So how did it unfold?

Sourav didn't call for the press conference to blame Chappel in Zimbabwe - rather he was quizzed over and over by the media, who certainly knew about the incident (where he was asked to step down). Who leaked it to the media? A certain individual within the team management – as per the media itself. Who had the motive and who was supposed to gain? Several such incidents were reported during the Zimbabwe tour where someone from the team management leaked internal matters to the media...

The infamous mail from Chappel to the board (none of the allegations he was able to prove though) was leaked to the media - who was supposed to gain the most from this spat and by turning the board against the most successful captain of the Indian Cricket Team?

Who made a volte-face within the selection meeting just after saying something completely different infront of the media?

Well, I can make 2+2=4, I hope everyone can.

And the oscar goes to Sharad Power

So Sharad Power (the current BCCI President) has proved his acting merits too. As per The Hindu, Power was shell-shocked over the expulsion of Sourav Ganguly.

How low can they be?

Indian Cricket - RIP

I'm starting to write my first blog today, a day that was long expected (at least by me) - a day when the vicious power-play in Indian Cricket came to the limelight (again), a day which tells the tale of a selfish betrayal...

Sourav Ganguly was unceremoniously expelled from the Indian Cricket Team. Oh, I should mention - this team does not represent the Indian Nation, officially this is the BCCI XI. Time and again, I have thought that I should stop following cricket - because it has created stars and not heros, it has emptied the pockets of millions of Indians, and have not given anything in return. But well, this is not cricket's fault. This is how cricket has been run in India - rather than being a sport, it has been treated as a business. And, we are all drawn into the whirlpool...not following cricket...well it's like quitting smoking, which I have done countless times...

Anyway, so where was I? Yes, Sourav Ganguly being axed from the BCCI XI. Yesterday, the news created quite some activity on the major blog sites, TOI had several blogs published on this issue, I'm sure other forums did too. What bothers me is the attitude of people on these forums. In most cases, the debate turned into un-civilized rants against a person and a community as a whole, and this is what bothers me most. Do we lack respect for each other? Certainly we do, or so it seems. Blogs being mostly open forums, the frequent use of four-lettered words actually tell about the user...it speaks about you, about your background, about your attitude. The venom spitted out by you tells me that even though you reside in the same landmass which you call India, for which you sing Vande Mataram, in reality you do not belong there...

This is what bothers me...this is why I started this blog today.

May be within a few minutes, this post will receive similar comments from others - I do not expect much more than that. But I will keep this blog on. Each such message will harden my thoughts and my beliefs. And perhaps one day, you will be able to see yourself in the mirror.

Now back to cricket once more. Was Sourav dropped only for cricketing reasons? This is a question you really need to ask yourself.

A few days ago, in another blog, I saw a nice bit of statistics...comparison between two individuals, X and Y (before the series with Sri Lanka and South Africa).

2, 2, 2, 39, 19, 11, 2, 67, 93, 9, 123, 6, 2, 4, 47, 19, 16, 74, 18, 78, 82, 11, 18, 37.
31, 2, 19, 20, 5, 26, 51, 18, 4, 9, 0, 22, 55, 22, 0, 48, 0, 90, 90, 7, 24, 25, 79, 39, 60.

The total of the first row is 673. The total of the second row is 746. The don't differ much, do they? Rather the second total is more that the first, but still Mr. Y is dropped from the team.

Another set, tests this time:

16, 41, 52, 52, 94, 36, 32, 20, 3, 55, 248, 5, 2, 8, 1, 8, 2, 194.
16, 101, 2, 1, 12, 12, 21, 88, 71, 40, 57, 9, 5, 45, 77, 73, 144.

The total of the Mr. X is 869 and that of Mr. Y is 774. Not a great deal of difference here either. And Mr. X scored his 248 against the "giants" Bangladesh, while Mr. Y scored his 144 against "novices" Zimbabwe. So, we drop those two - and it turns out that the total of Mr. X is 621 and that is Mr. Y is 673. And now if I can reveal the identities, Mr. X is the great Sachin Tendulkar, and Mr. Y is the worthless bong (as coined by numerous blog-readers) Sourav.

I'm not saying Sourav is better than Sachin - not even for a moment. What I just want to say is when you talk about performance being the criteria, you need to be consistent - otherwise, people like me would call it "double standards". So, Sourav, with similar figures like Sachin is dropped, asked to prove himself in domestic matches (when did Sachin last play domestic cricket?), brought back again, and then again dropped (I should not repeat the whole plot here - every news site, every blog site has vivid descriptions) - and this time the intentions were more obvious - Greg Chappel and Rahul Dravid played the good-boy role in front of the media (before the selection) and turned on their heads within the meeting!!! I am least concerned about the selectors' role here, because they were and still are what Mohinder Amarnath said more than two decades ago - a bunch of clowns. And, firing of all the three who voted for Sourav soon after the BCCI elections were over speaks volumes about the whole mess.

I am concerned about what Dravid and Chappel thought. Did either of them really think about cricket? Did the selectors think about cricket? Are we thinking about cricket?

A short intro

Hello, I am Arijit. Perhaps you will find this name familiar. Born in a loving Bengali family in Calcutta, I spent my childhood with my parents, my sister, my grandmother, and my friends. I did my schooling in St. Lawrence High School, Calcutta and aspired for engineering studies. If you can recall someone with this name, a graduate from Bengal Engineering College, Sibpur, in Computer Science and Technology in 1995, and a post graduate from Jadavpur University, Calcutta, in Computer Science and Engineering in 1997, then it's me !!! Can you remember me ?

I got married to my college-mate Sumana in 1998 and now we have a baby boy. He was born on February 14th, 2002 and his name is Ritobhash. At home he is called Rik. He is a little version of Denis the Menace, but we enjoy all the moments we spend with him.

After completing my post graduation, I joined Tata Consultancy Services, New Delhi, India in April 1997 and worked there for around four years, and then I moved to USA in December 2000, and was working in Verizon(formerly Bell Atlantic). In May 2002, I joined University of Newcastle, Newcastle Upon Tyne, United Kingdom, as a Research Associate in the ^myGrid and OGSA-DAI Distributed Query Processor Project. I am also doing my PhD in Grid Computing and Distributed Systems in the University of Newcastle under Prof. Paul Watson.