Will the real slim KPS Gill please step down?

Hockey died in India this day without any of us even shedding a tear for it. The day will come soon when we can only tell our future generations that there were greats such as Dhyan Chand and Balbir Singh who played for India. That there were great Indian players who would have made the best hockey teams in the world purely on the strength of their ability and their wizardry on the field and not as we saw yesterday through a sleight of hand. The shimmy and the feint on the field evoked magic when these players were on song. Sadly the reverse flicks and the dribbles too often have been happening off the field detracting from the performance on it. What else can you say about Jothikumaran who single handedly drag flicked Indian hockey into an abyss from which it is unlikely to see the light of the day? Alas what can we say about Mr.Gill's stint at the helm of Indian hockey other than to liken it to Nero fiddling while Rome burnt? It is time we showed all the office bearers of the IHF the red card for their incompetence

No qualms about reservations if...

I was truly surprised to see the wide gamut of views people expressed over this contentious issue in the past few weeks. The near hysterical reactions of people on either sides of the debate left thinking about whether we have actually evolved as a society that respects others opinions for what they are instead of branding them for their views. The whole range of reactions left me wondering if there ever could be a middle ground. I think there is!!

Firstly let me make it clear at the outset that I am not against reservations if they are truly the means to empowerment. In fact this was precisely the reason they were initiated at the time of the first constitution. I think it is our moral obligation to provide people who have suffered over the years a window of opportunity to catch up. People might argue about getting penalised for the mistakes of our forefathers but we have a duty to correct or atleast make amends for the past. However we need to get over the past and look forward to what we can do in the future if we have to overcome these resentments. Therefore I think reservations are one of the many ways in which we can overcome the entrenched mindsets of the past. I also think that there need to be caveats if reservations need to yield the desired results. Firstly without giving students a good primary education it would be a travesty if we focussed all our efforts on the university education system. I think France is a model for this where state run schools offer the same quality of education throughout the country.  Secondly reservations need to be given for a specific timeframe which should span one or two generations ideally. They should also be reviewed at the end of this timeframe by a diverse group of technocrats and not politicians who have parochial interests. Thirdly foolproof ways of ensuring that caste and income criteria are not manipulated because we can buy these certificates on the fly will ensure that there is credibility in the system. And finally what about educating the older generation about why they are being given instead of leaving them out of this debate?

The Olympic torch and foreign policy

Reactions have been varied to Bhaichung's courageous decision to not take part in the Olympic torch run in India. While the public at large have sided with Bhaichung's decision, sportsmen like Milkha Singh and actors like Aamir have tried to defend their participation on the grounds of fostering the Olympic spirit. If the Olympic torch run is a symbolic way to foster the Olympic spirit, then China by its actions has blatantly subverted the Olympic spirit in trying to use diplomatic pressure on a weak willed Indian government. People around the world recognize that the torch is a symbol of the Olympic movement and therefore it is not China's prerogative to decide whether the torch will be handed over to India. China has according to many press reports pressurized India to reduce the length of the Olympic relay and has even threatened to deny India the opportunity to participate in the relay if its security is not guaranteed. The question that needs to be asked is if China can take a decision at all in denying India a role in the worldwide relay. The answer clearly is that China doesn't own the torch and cannot deny a democratic country its rightful role in this worldwide relay. The silence of the intelligentsia in India and people participating in the relay such as Aamir on why India should listen to China on a global issue is shocking and unacceptable. The Olympic Spirit requires mutual understanding in a peaceful manner with the games played in a spirit of friendship and solidarity-values that China has rarely if ever demonstrated in the past. China has been given the games purely for political reasons and it is therefore unreasonable for them to expect a apolitical Olympics without any link to its gory past.

Abhinaya-our site to promote Indian art forms

Abhinaya- literally translated to mean 'expression' is a key element of many Indian art forms and it is only apt that our site dedicated to promoting these art forms goes by this evocative name. Founded by a group of eclectic individuals driven by a passion to promote the arts in India, our site allows users to download high quality videos of the various art forms in India. A part of the proceeds from the sale of these videos will go towards sustaining these art forms and artists who have dedicated their lives towards keeping these glorious artforms alive. Begin your journey of the Indian cultural landscape by visiting Abhinaya today...

Harbhajan-fostering a victim mentality

Over the past few days, salvos have been fired from both the Indian and the Australian teams most notably from the two main protagonists-Hayden and Harbhajan. While the Australian Cricket board has reprimanded Hayden for his "obnoxious" outburst, Harbhajan has had the last laugh in this verbal duel. The Indian media and the cricket board were only too ready to pile on to Hayden's letoff by the ACB and potrayed Harbhajan again as the victim of Aussie ire. Isn't it time we Indians grew up as cricketers and play the game hard on the field rather than succumb to temptations of fostering a victim mentality?

While Hayden deserves to be punished even more than he has, isnt it time we asked if Harbhajan has been a great role model for Indian cricket? Its one thing to show solidarity with a compatriot but a totally different thing to gloss over his weaknesses and foibles. Harbhajan has never been a great one day bowler as we might make him up to be. He concedes nearly 34 runs for every wicket he picks up and so it is time we stop deluding ourselves that he is a match winner in ODIs. Instead we must ask ourselves whether Harbhajan is too much of a distraction for a team that could do well to concentrate on its cricket? Before we start criticising the ACB for its inaction, lets introspect and ask ourselves how many times the BCCI has taken action on Indian players who have stepped over the line? The BCCI has never had the guts to take action against Ganguly, Sreesanth or Harbhajan even if they have crossed the line far too often. The might of the BCCI is directed towards hapless young cricketers who have decided to earn themselves money by playing in the ICL or towards older cricketers who have served the country well in the past. Its time we stopped potraying ourselves as victims of Aussie aggression and start winning consistently on the field.

Indian Premier League-Silly point et al..

Too much has been written and said about what the Indian Premier League has done to players who havent been paid very well for decades by the BCCI. There were a lot of people who argued passionately though unconvincingly that for too long players havent had their fair share of the revenues controlled by the satraps of the BCCI. There were others who argued that the BCCI was making the game a tamasha by auctioning players in a modern style Mandi. I feel both these groups of people have tried to make their own silly points by comparing the premier league to the soccer leagues worldwide.

In order to take a more dispassionate view about the entire happenings of the past week, it is necessary to step back and analyse what the objective is for the IPL. If the objective for the IPL is to generate money for cricket, I think the auction does this very well. But if BCCI's stated aim is to encourage fresh cricketers and give them a chance to play against stalwarts of international cricket, this league falls very short of what it intends to achieve. To compare the situation with the soccer leagues, though millions of dollars are spent in transferring players across clubs-every premier league has its owns rules governing the number of domestic players that need to be part of the playing eleven. IPL without such a rule cannot claim to develop domestic cricket. There are many ways in which this can be mandated as a rule. For instance, the BCCI can mandate that there can be only a maximum of 6-7 players in each IPL team both foreign and Indian who are currently donning the national colours for their respective countries with the rest of the players coming from the state or region where the team is based. The other way of giving a fillip to domestic cricket is to mandate that owners take a share of one Ranji team in the region that their IPL team is based. Without these clauses IPL is just going to be another entertaining exercise that does nothing to improve cricket at the grassroots level.

The second point that many people have been making is about cricketers getting their fair due bcos of the bidding process. While this may be true for established players, spare a thought for all the people who have represented India in the past. Are they going to get a better deal as a result of the revenues that BCCI is going to earn from this auction? If not, what will be the fate of players who are not as charismatic as Dhoni or Yuvraj once they retire? If the BCCI can hound Kapil by not paying him his pension, think of others who dont even have a voice. While I dont envy the current lot who are getting such huge sums, it is BCCI's responsibilty to ensure players who have represented the national team to get a fair deal even after they have retired. I think these are substantive points that have been missed by critics and proponents of the IPL.