Wings Of Fire - An Autobiography

THE moment you think of missile, and if you are an Indian, chances are that almost always the figure of Abdul Kalam conjures up in the mind. Such is the impact of Dr Kalam on the development of missile technology in India.

Perhaps the same impact led me into buying his autobiography on my trip to India recently. Actually it was long on my list of ‘to read’ books. I’m glad now that I’ve it. Kalam’s autobiography is as inspiring as his life to the millions of Indians around the globe.

Tears for Mumbai!

I saw the news of the Mumbai firing and thought it was one of those stray attacks. Being a working day we switched off the TV set a little early. As we were planning to go to bed, I got a call from a friend. It's only when I listened to him that I understood the sheer scale of the attack. I came downstairs immediately to swtich on the TV once again.

Sad but the images were true. My country was in flames again. But this time it was different. Terrorists came in boats carrying explosives and ammunition that they used at will. No timer bombs in this attack were used, just rifles and grenades. And what places to choose - Taj and Oberoi Trident hotels, Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, Santa Cruz airport, Cafe Leopold, Metro Adlabs multiplex, police headquarters, couple of hospitals and a dockyard. All centres of late night activity. The sheer audacity of the attack makes it all the more terrifying. The agenda seems to be to target the foreigners and the elite class. 'Deccan Mujahideen' is more like a coverup, the bigger picture could be entirely different.

Whatever the case maybe, the people of India and our foreign guests lost their lives!

It has now become imperative as citizens of India to report any suspected activity to the police immediately. Just yesterday I was hearing a caller on a Dubai radio station mentioning some people who carried some food stuff a day before the attack to the Taj hotel, and how his manager doubted them. I fail to understand why is he mentioning it now, why didn't he report it to the police then? As long as our own home is safe we think everything is allright. My anger is directed to such people also.

Let's not come up with any wild theories at this juncture. It's an attack on the people of India, plain and simple! As for those who want to terrorise this peaceful land, like I always say, "May the curse of Allah be upon you." You have succeeded today but nothing lasts for ever. The sacrifice of our policemen won't go waste. Wait till we catch you!

The Indo-US Nuclear Deal and some Sane Voices

The Indo-US nuclear deal has generated a lot of media interest and political upheaval in India. As I surfed through web pages dedicated to the deal, there were some expert opinions worth sharing. But first a quick quick roundup of the deal-

1. India agrees to allow inspectors from IAEA to access its civilian nuclear program. India has promised to keep all future (and many exisiting) civilian thermal and breeder reactors under the IAEA safeguards.

2. India agrees to continue halting its nuclear weapon testing and commits to increased security of its nuclear arsenals.

3. US companies will be allowed to build nuclear reactors in India.

4. India works with US towards negotiating the Fissile Material CutOff Treaty, which calls for banning the production of fissile material for weapons purposes, with the US.

And now the comments-

"The bilateral agreement signed in August 2007, arising from the deal but yet to be approved by the US Congress, allows nuclear trade between the two parties and "also, where appropriate, trade between third countries and either party of items obligated to the other party." The trade is envisaged in nuclear material or fuel, related technology and equipment. The trade in fuel, which is uranium, can only tie India and its energy program to an international cartel, notorious for its price manipulation practices. Representatives of the uranium producers of Canada, Australia, France, South Africa and the UK formed a secret cartel after confabulations in Paris in 1972. This led to the great uranium scam soon in the US, with Westinghouse House Electric becoming a victim of the cartel. The company, the largest US manufacturer of reactors, signed contracts to supply cheap uranium to utilities which bought its reactors and failed because of that cartel's price-fixing practices, standing to lose billions in the bargain. The cartel got away with the connivance of the governments of the five countries as well as the US."

"The cartel's exposure did not change its conduct. The price of this precious metal, better known in the market in the powdered product called yellowcake, has always remained viciously volatile. Over the past five years, the international spot price of uranium has spiraled faster than that of crude oil, with its price now hovering six times above its long-term average of $10 a pound."

"In January 2005, seven months before the deal was struck, a sharp rise in uranium prices was predicted. The uranium market, experts agreed, had become a classic "seller's market."

"The prediction proved right. Between 2004 and 2007, the spot price of uranium more than quadrupled. According to an assessment made in June 2008, the nuclear construction program in India and China is likely to result in a 58 percent uranium price rebound. Such price fluctuations are not what exactly the doctor would order for a developing economy."
---J. Sri Raman, freelance journalist and a peace activist

"Rather than integrating India into the nonproliferation mainstream, the proposed deal would set a risky double standard that would shatter the delicate bargain upon which the global nonproliferation regime is based."

"In addition, by increasing India's capability to produce nuclear weapons, the deal will exacerbate an already perilous nuclear arms race in South Asia, because Pakistan is likely to respond by expanding its own nuclear capability."

"The Bush administration's desire to complete the deal before it leaves office cannot be allowed to come to fruition at the expense of key U.S. nonproliferation objectives. The deal should be left to the next administration and the next Congress, where, we hope, its numerous shortcomings will be remedied."
---Leonor Tomero, Director of Nonproliferation, Centre for Arms Control and Nonproliferation, Washington

“I do not share his (Manmohan Singh) view that this deal is so important to India that it is worth sacrificing everything for. But I do not dispute that his view stems from his conception of national interest."

"And I think he is playing this all wrong."

"He is coming off as a man who is prepared to martyr his party at the altar of his own beliefs while he heads off to some high-minded retirement.” ---Vir Sanghvi, editorial director, Hindustan Times

"On balance, the India-US nuclear deal as proposed is the much-needed recipe to regenerate our nuclear establishment that is stifling under present international regulations. If the status quo is allowed to prevail, our ambitious plan for nuclear power will not only remain a pipedream but even the status quo will become unsustainable as Indian nuclear fuel sources are limited and of inferior quality that make it more costly."
---Indrajeet Rai, Zee News

"For Singh, who like many Indians sees China as much a rival and potential danger as an opportunity, a strengthened relationship with Washington is the natural route to security."

"Bush's offer is extraordinarily generous. India will be quietly recognized as a nuclear weapons power, its past sins of defiance of the international non-proliferation regimes will be consigned to diplomatic amnesia."

"India is only being asked to put its civilian nuclear reactors -- not its weapons program -- under international regulation. In return, Washington says it will back India in negotiating a special deal with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the Nuclear Suppliers Group."
---Jonathan Manthorphe, Vancouver Sun

"We need a supply of uranium till our thorium reactors are ready. The pact will help us."
---Abdul Kalam, Financial Express

"The nuclear power generation (NPG) is currently about 3% of total power generation in the country and with this agreement which will involve transfer of technology, as well as continuity of fuel(Uranium) the share of NPG will go to about 6 -7% by 2020 by importing 12 Reactors probably from the West with a total capacity of 12,000 MW."

"It will be a turn key operation about which India has always had bad experience. Turn key operations in the power sector have historically never generated in-house expertise..."

"There is no need to put such a great emphasis on nuclear energy as if the country's future depended on it. We need to build good expertise in all aspects of power by focusing on modern technological aspects as well as investing in alternative energy sources. The nuclear aspect of the deal can wait but the greater technological cooperation between the countries must be given priority."
---M A Pai, Professor Emeritus, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Univ of Illinois

The Last Mughal

The Last Mughal by William Dalrymple has to be one of the most engaging and engrossing historical account of the great Indian mutiny of 1857. The book sensitively handles the issue with a balance approach in terms of the references.

Keeping in mind the local sensibilities Dalrymple relied on an impressive list of sources, including people from Zafar's court and other royals. So you have manuscript sources in European languages, unpublished manuscripts and dissertations, Persian and Urdu sources, contemporary works and articles in European languages, and secondary works and periodical articles being referred to every now and then by the author.

To make life easy for a history student, throughout the book Dalrymple gives the source name and the page number to authenticate his claim.

There are several things that saddens one after reading the book. The one that glares out from the rest is the way the great Mughal capital was treated. Delhi once a city of art, beauty, culture, and a symbol of Hindu-Muslim unity was robbed of everything it stood for. The Indian rebels were as much to blame for the city's loss as were the British.

You could share the grief of the Bahadur Shah Zafar as the helpless soul who saw his sons and empire going down in front of his eyes. The once a peaceful and poetic city was turned into a mass graveyard with bodies rotting in the open, and destruction all around. Many great poets of the era lost their lives and rare poetic work lost. Worse was the treatment of the emperor Zafar. He was exiled to Rangoon, confined to a small house with a handful of loyal followers, his death a hush-hush affair, and his place of burial kept a secret for 129 years till it was accidentally discovered.

And you won't miss the fact that we lost a great cause and the war due to a complete lack of discipline and unity.

Dalrymple work gives you a beautiful glimpse into the life and times of the great Mughal during his last few years. The fight for succession, influence of a eunuch, poet as court members, celebration of Hindu festivals with equal fervour, a royal wedding of monumental scale, old world charm of a flourishing city, Dalrymple's has woven it all seamlessly. History has rarely been this fascinating!

Dalrymple introduces the main characters in a separate section before the actual book, and that makes his narrative easy to follow. When it comes to Bahadur Shah Zafar, Dalrymple gives a very poignant account bordering on pity at times. But it is his love for the city of Delhi that you won't miss throught the novel. Maybe that's why his family divide their time between Delhi, London, and Scotland.

This one para more or less summarises the whole book-

"He (Zafar) is blamed by some nationalist historians for corresponding with the British during the fighting, and by others for failing to lead the rebels to victory. Yet it is difficult to see what more Zafar could have done, at least at the age of eighty-two. He was physically infirm, partially senile and had no money to pay the troops who flocked to his standard. Octogenerians can hardly lead a cavalry charge. Try as he might, he was powerless even to stop the looting of Delhi by an insurgent army that proved almost as much a threat to Zafar's subjects as it did to his enemies. Yet the Mutiny Papers bear eloquent witness to the energy he expended trying to protect his people and his city."

The reality will bite you at times but didn't they say, "everything is fair in war." A must read book for all the history lovers.

A Hero Returns to a Pension of Rs 5000

September 2007

Team India, the 20-20 winners given a heroes welcome. Fans lined the 30km route from the international airport in Sahar to the Wankhede Stadium, in pouring rain.

BCCI announces a $2 million (Rs. 12 crore) reward to the team members. Not to mention other endorsements that followed. Yuvraj Singh gets an additional Rs 1 crore (and a sports car) for his six sixes in an over. Others too get handsome rewards.

October 2007

Castrol honours and felicitate outstanding Indian cricketers of the last 75 years.

March 2008

BCCI president Sharad Pawar announces a cash reward of Rs 10 crore for the Indian cricket team that won the ODI tri-series in Australia. The usual media frenzy follows.

4 Mar 2008

After having languished in a Pakistani jail for about 35 years, 67-year old Kashmir Singh crosses over to India to an emotional reunion with his wife at the border post at Wagah. Singh had been arrested in 1973 in Pakistan on charges of espionage and was on the death row in a jail in Lahore.

7 Mar 2008

Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal announces a pension of Rs 5000 per month each to Kashmir Singh and wife Parmajit Kaur in recognition of his "outstanding services" towards the nation.

The Chief Minister also announces to bear the entire expenditure for the construction of a house for Kashmir Singh and his family over a plot donated by his media advisor in Mahilpur.

The series of events has left me wondering, who's the real hero! Those who win matches for the national team or those who risk their lives for their country. Even if they have made their country equally proud, why the difference in treatment?

I feel proud of Mr Kashmir Singh and salute the spirit of his family. At the same time it saddens me to learn that the wife of a national hero had to work as a maid to make both ends meet. And the duo will now receive only Rs 10,000 as monthly pension.

This is what they get after 35 years! Small mercies that he returned alive to make life a little less difficult for his poor wife. Is the government of India sleeping or what? No wonder cricket remains a better option than a career in the defence.

Mr Singh you are the real Hero to me. We are all indebted to you and proud of your work! Unfortunately the media has reserved most of its flashlights for cricket, whether we win or loose.

Mohd Azharuddin – The Rise And Fall Of An Indian Idol!

The commentrator on the telly said, “Ye naujawan kaafi dinon se bhartiye cricket team ke darwaaze pe dastak de raha tha. Aaj aakhirkaar inko mauqa mil hi gaya.” [Trans: This young man has been knocking on the Indian team door for quite some time. Finally he has got the opportunity!] It was December 31, 1984. The English side was touring India.

The young man was a tall, lanky, and a shy 21 years old who worked as a clerk at SBI in Hyderabad. The Englishmen had never heard of him and so did I. The young batsman showed tremendous concentration and batting skills. The experts were reminded of the wristy Gundappa Viswanath! He went on to score a hundred in his very first match, which was a remarkable achievement by any standards. More was to follow.

By the time the second test started the Englishmen knew he was the danger man. So much that Mike Gatting later quoted as saying, “Whenever that black thing (referring to his taweez) hung out we knew we were in trouble.” Even the gods favoured the wristy genius on the ground. He scored a hundred again! And this time the whole of India and the cricketing world noticed. Mohd Azharuddin had arrived!

When Azhar scored the third consecutive test hundred in his debut series, India had found a new hero! For a nation still recovering from the assassination of its much loved PM Mrs Gandhi, it was time to rejoice. For Azhar it was a mixed feeling, his grandpa Mr. Vajehuddin, who raised him died days before he could score his first century for India.

"Those who saw this supreme batting artist at his peak will never forget him - sinewy wrists transforming a slender piece of willow into a magician's wand. Azhar's leg-side play was reminiscent of Zaheer Abbas and Greg Chappell - a Michelangelo in the midst of housepainters. In later years, he expanded his off-side repertoire, and conjured some of the finest innings played in the modern era - his 121 at Lord's in 1990 was one for the gods. His technique was suspect against the short stuff, a deficiency he sought to overcome through instinctive strokeplay, sometimes with cavalier disregard for the team situation. As captain, Azhar enjoyed tremendous success on made-to-order home pitches, while right to the end of his career he was peerless in the field, whether prowling the covers or pouching catches at slip. He announced his arrival, against England in 1984-85, with three hundreds in his first three Tests, a feat that has never been matched, while his last Test innings also bore him a hundred. But then allegations of match-fixing provided an emphatic full stop. That he finished his career with 99 Tests is perhaps appropriate for one who came within a whisker of batting immortality - only to throw it all away at close of play."

---Azhar's profile by Dileep Premachandran at Cricinfo

Gradually Azhar became a darling of the media. His life was all out there. A practicing Muslim who never misses his prayers (used to carry his prayer mat wherever he go), sharing sayings of the holy Qurán with his fellow players, humble to the core, a person you would love to have as a friend, Azharuddin had everything you couldMohd Azharuddin ask for. The icing on the cake was his promotion to the post of Branch Manager by the bank as a reward for his tremendous achievement.

If Kapil Dev brought me to the exciting world of Cricket, Azhar made me passionate about it. It would be wrong not to admit that there was an element of 'religious' favour with Azhar. He was the Muslim I wanted to emulate. And so did many others I knew.

His early marriage to the lovely Naureen, and the start of a happy married life, once again highlighted his commitment to whatever he did. Azhar was never involved in any controversy be it cricket or his personal life. No link ups, nothing! On the cricket pitch, if he thought he was out he used to walk off the field even before the umpire raised his finger. Even a bad umpiring decision never resulted in any sign of disappointment from him. He never had anything bad to say about others. In a TV programme some time back one of his friend talked about his acts of charity. Every time he came to the ground in Hyderabad for practice with the team he would tell the most promising cricketer to pick any equipment from his kit. Azharuddin personified the ‘gentlemen’ of cricket.

"Scoring runs is not in my hands. If He desires me to do well, nothing can prevent me from doing so. And if He has decided it is not my time, there is nothing I can do about it. All I have to do is try my best."

---Azhar, a biography by Harsha Bhogle

The crowning glory came in 1990 when he was appointed the captain of the Indian Cricket Team. The selectors thought he had the right image and the ability to lead the team during a difficult period. In the early nineties when Azhar topped the India Today poll of the popular Indians you look up to as idols, leaving people like Rajiv Gandhi to a distant second spot, it was the pinnacle of his popularity.

Azharuddin Sangeeta BijlaniSadly, this was also the time when the earthly Azharuddin shifted his focus beyond the cricketing field. The man who earned a paltry Rs 800 in 1981 was reaping millions through his exploits on the ground. He did an ad shoot with Sangeeta Bijlani and things changed! From reading only cricket and health related magazines, he showed a new interest in film glossies. Azhar started frequenting Bombay. For somebody who went to bed early, he was spotted at parties which went late into the night. The last nail in the coffin was his divorcing Naureen to marry Sangeeta Bijlani. The same Azharuddin who could play the English even half asleep faltered against them in the subsequent England tour amidst all these personal upheavals.

His faith too was shaken – the man who was so particular about his prayers started missing even his Friday prayers. He became arrogant towards the press and greedy, things which were never associated with him. The attitude was reflected in his approach towards the game. His displeasure at given out in a one day game at Bombay (I think it was the Hero Cup) created a mini riot in the stadium. His weird ways of getting out shook even die-hard fans like me. The 74 balls hundred at his favourite Eden Gardens was full of anger, Azhar didn’t even acknowledge the standing ovation the crowd gave him. Surely this was not the Azhar people knew.

"It's no use asking an Englishman to bat like Mohammad Azharuddin. For, it would be like expecting a greyhound to win the London Derby!"

---John Woodcock, cricket writer

So when the matchfixing scandal broke out, the volcano finally erupted. BCCI banned him for life, media massacred his image, Income Tax guys went after him, his fans got disillusioned, and his close friends parted ways. Azhar said once, "Trials and tribulations are God's way of testing our faith." But, this was a far difficult test. HeAzharuddin Match Fixing started living the life of a recluse. The clock turned back to 1981 - he became a nobody.

Can Azhar bounce back for one last time as he always did during his playing days? Can he prove his innocence? Perhaps it’s too late! The damage has been done. The magical figure of a 100 tests will always elude him.

For me, the end of Azhar’s era was the end of my passion for cricket. I was shattered and appalled like million others who prayed for his return every time he was dropped. Whatever maybe the circumstances, his name figured in the controversy. He was perhaps singled out, but not because he was a Muslim as he claimed.

The life of Mohd Azharuddin is nothing short of a Greek tragedy. It would be fair to remember him as a genius with the bat and a fielder par excellence.

The Smell of India

I took a direct flight to Lucknow from Dubai this time. But, wherever you land in the home country, the attitude and people mostly remain the same. An official at the airport was asking all sorts of stupid questions, maybe to extract money. That was my official welcome!

Lucknow has changed as a city and it's heartening to see your place come this far. It has managed to hold a balance between tradition and modernity. More than anything else its the warmth of the people that brings you back to your city. And boy, how much I enjoy the driving in India. There is complete harmony between man and animals and traffic signals act more as decorative pieces. I, too, am a part of this puzzle called India, and I love it!

Leaving India was a difficult proposition but some choices are forced upon you. It wasn't money for me. The heart still beats for India and the soul is always yearning to come back.

Had'diyaN apne buzurgoN ki teri khaakh me haiN
Tujhse hum rooth ke jayenge to jayenge kaha...

Why Celebrate only ‘The Mahatma?’

Few days back on the occassion of Gandhi Jayanti a friend of mine wrote this on a forum:

I wonder, was this the only guy who got us free from the british rule ? why not we celebrate the birthday of BAHADUR SHASHTRI ,on same scale & with same happiness, whose date of birth was also the same as of MR GHANDHI ?

The reason i see is obivious ,MR GHANDHI was clever enough to make his image as MAHATMA! AND BE AWARE OF THESE SO CALLED MAHATMAS I SAY!My personal belief is that all the mahatmas of india envisage such lofty ideals that a commoner can not rise up to them. It can immensely impress but can not be practisedinto action & the net result of it has been that a very few person did rise but the country and people have become worse than the worst.”

Further….

“The reality is he was a perfect politician but for sure not THE MAHATMA as people used to think. To keep himself in good books he won the heart of the majority of india THE HINDUS…………..He was never in favour of hindu muslim bonding but as a being a good politician he definately showed it .if he was really interested in doing the bonding the hindu & muslims ………….there would be no Pakistan in today’s date . I would like to remind you the last hunger strike of him in calcutta before partition jahan unhone kaha ki ‘ jab tak yah maar kaat band nahin hogi mien yeh hartal nahin todonga ‘…………and like always nobody was in favour of killing this guy for anything and like always unki baatein maan li gayin aur paida hua PAKISTAN.

I am ready to accept him as a good politician but never a man of good marality possesing the great qualities of a mahatma.”

And that non-violence was the only solution for his as he was physically a weak man.

And so the article goes on…

I’ve several reservations against my friend Manoj and all those who share this view. Mahatma is the sanskrit for “Great Soul.” I’m sure, based on his humble life and principles, most will agree that Gandhiji was really a great soul.

The reason why I admire his views on non-violence is because of the background they stemmed from. When in South Africa Gandhiji faced the discrimination commonly directed at blacks and Indians. One day in court at Durban, the magistrate asked him to remove his turban. Gandhiji refused and stormed out of the courtroom. He was thrown off a train at Pietermaritzburg, after refusing to move from the first class to a third class coach while holding a valid first class ticket. Traveling further on by stagecoach, he was beaten by a driver for refusing to travel on the foot board to make room for a European passenger. He suffered other hardships on the journey as well, including being barred from many hotels. Now consider his slogan of “ahmisa” inspite of being the target of violence so many times, and that too at a young age (less than 30).

If being physically weak is the criteria for a violent or non-violent approach then, like so many others, Savarkar was no strong man — he chose the other path. It’s all in the will and not the body structure!

As far his stand on the partition is concerned, he was never in favour of it. So much that on the day of independence he was alone in Calcutta, mourning the partition and working to end the violence. After India’s independence, Gandhiji focused on Hindu–Muslim peace and unity. In fact it was his insistence which forced the Indian Government to pay Pakistan the Rs. 55 crores due as per agreements made by the Partition Council.

Few also highlight the fact that he never won a Nobel prize inspite of being nominated 5 times. This excerpt taken from an article on nobelprize.org explains to an extent why he never won.

“Why Was Gandhi Never Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize?

Up to 1960, the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded almost exclusively to Europeans and Americans. In retrospect, the horizon of the Norwegian Nobel Committee may seem too narrow. Gandhi was very different from earlier Laureates. He was no real politician or proponent of international law, not primarily a humanitarian relief worker and not an organiser of international peace congresses. He would have belonged to a new breed of Laureates.

There is no hint in the archives that the Norwegian Nobel Committee ever took into consideration the possibility of an adverse British reaction to an award to Gandhi. Thus it seems that the hypothesis that the Committee’s omission of Gandhi was due to its members’ not wanting to provoke British authorities, may be rejected.

In 1947 the conflict between India and Pakistan and Gandhi’s prayer-meeting statement, which made people wonder whether he was about to abandon his consistent pacifism, seem to have been the primary reasons why he was not selected by the committee’s majority. Unlike the situation today, there was no tradition for the Norwegian Nobel Committee to try to use the Peace Prize as a stimulus for peaceful settlement of regional conflicts.

During the last months of his life, Gandhi worked hard to end the violence between Hindus and Muslims which followed the partition of India. We know little about the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s discussions on Gandhi’s candidature in 1948 – other than the above quoted entry of November 18 in Gunnar Jahn’s diary – but it seems clear that they seriously considered a posthumous award. When the committee, for formal reasons, ended up not making such an award, they decided to reserve the prize, and then, one year later, not to spend the prize money for 1948 at all. What many thought should have been Mahatma Gandhi’s place on the list of Laureates was silently but respectfully left open.”

To sum it up, Gandhiji was as much a freedom fighter as Bhagat Singh or Rajguru or so many others were. It’s just he was all alone in his quest as a non-violence preacher, others took the opposite means. I respect them all! Maybe it’s gandhiji’s involvement, right from the freedom struggle till the eventual independence, which gives him a little more focus. Whatever be the reason, to me he’s every inch the ‘Father of the Nation.’ And so we celebrate “Gandhi Jayanti!”

At Last the Cricket World Cup is Ours Again

For me this world cup win is special for couple of reasons. One, it was a fairly young side - one player even making a debut in the final. Second, even before the first ball was bowled I knew India would win. Such was the confidence level of this team.

It was good to see that every player had a role to play in bringing the cup back home. I just hope the selectors continue to give chances to young players over the ones who have taken their places for granted.

The 20-20 tournament had me hooked on to the telly after a long time. I was lucky to witness some of the most spirited young men from India playing their heart out on the cricket field.

Three cheers for team India!!!

On a rather different note, I wish hockey players too were bestowed with such lavish gifts on their win. Even their efforts need to be equally acknowledged. After all hockey is still our national sports.

60 Years and some Proud Moments!

As India celebrates its 60th independence day it's time to reflect on what all we've achieved so far.

For me these are some of the moments frozen in time, moments that made the Indian in all of us proud. I'm sure they will continue to encourage and inspire generations of Indians to come.

I took only the post partition events and personalities (Indian nationals) into consideration.

1 Milkha Singh breaks the 400m atheletics world record

The 'flying Sikh' left Faisalabad in Pakistan during the partition to settle in India. His exploits in the 1960 Athens Olympics, even though he finished 4th in the final race, made him a darling of the crowd and the pride of a nation.

2 Dr. Hargobind Khorana wins the Nobel Prize for Medicine and Physiology

Dr. Hargobind Khorana was responsible for producing the first man-made gene in his laboratory in the early seventies. This historic invention won him the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1968, sharing it with Marshall Nuremberg and Robert Holley for interpreting the genetic code and analyzing its function in protein synthesis.

3 India goes nuclear

The Atomic Energy Commission of India detonated its first underground nuclear weapon at Pokhran on May 18, 1974. The country comes of age!

4 India wins the Cricket World Cup

Easily the most covered event in India. The year 1983 saw 11 inspired underdogs snatch away the Cricket's most desired trophy from two times winner and the world's best team, the West Indies!

5 Rakesh Sharma goes into space

Rakesh Sharma, then squadron leader and pilot with the Indian Air Force embarked on the historic mission in 1984 as part of a joint space program between the ISRO and the Soviet Intercosmos space program and spent eight days in space aboard the Salyut 7 space station. In a famous conversation, he was asked by the then PM Indira Gandhi how India looked from the space and he replied, "Saare Jahan Se Achcha."

6 PT Usha steals the limelight in the 10th Asian Games

P.T.Usha won 4 gold and 1 silver medal in the track and field events at the 10th Asian Games held at Seoul in 1986. She created new Asian Games records in all the events she participated in.

7 Miss Universe and Miss World comes to India

The year 1994 belonged to two beauties going by the names of Sushmita Sen and Aishwarya Rai. Sush became the first Indian woman to win the Miss Universe title, Aish followed with a Miss World crown.

8 India's GPD growth hits double-digit

India's fourth-quarter GDP growth hit double-digits in 2003, thanks to some bumper crops and growth in IT and outsourcing. The 10.4% rate was the fastest among emerging nations.

9 India launches world's first educational satellite

The year 2004 saw India launching a satellite devoted exclusively to long distance learning. The $20 million, 2-tonne EDUSAT from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota, a tiny island in the Bay of Bengal, is world's first dedicated educational satellite, according to ISRO.

10 Taj Mahal makes it to the list of the new seven wonders

I've yet to come across an Indian who uses the Net and didn't vote for this online exercise to select the new seven wonders of the world. What more the proud moment was announced by an Indian herself (Bipasha Basu).

I know we still have a long way to go before we can truly say that India is great. The deep-rooted corruption in our society has to be eradicated, the hatred based on caste and religion has to go, poverty has to be dealt with, education standards have to improve, so on and so forth. It's a difficult task, but, not one that's impossible.

So let's pledge on this day, 15th August 2007, that we will all do our bit to take India forward. That's the least we could do to honour those, who laid their lives for the freedom we enjoy today.

Where are We Going - Think about it!

Just a few days back I was discussing society in general with a friend's dad. One line he said, stayed back with me long after. And that was, “Aajkal logon ka khoon safed ho gaya hai.” [TRANS: The love and bonding is missing in people today.]I kept pondering at the depth of his words. They were so very true in today's context.

When I was young there was a strange bond that we used to share with even the beggar or the 'Faqir' who came every week or so. He used to wait at our door specially, and if we gave him some money (which we always did when at home) he wouldn't go to the other houses in the neighbourhood. That used to surprise us. But, we had similar bonds with our postman, the newspaper guy (pandit ji we used to call him), the goldsmith - Ainul Haq, the general store guy - Vaali, the list just goes on. They were all so humble and simple, always ready to help in their own small ways.

It's been years since I saw the Faqir baba, pandit ji is no more, Aainul Haq is training his son these days (incidentally I taught the son years back), and Vaali's shop since his death is looked after by his son. A generation has gone and so have the good old times when a person was judged on the merit of his character alone.

The world has become very professional these days. Today, relationships are more of a buyer and seller kind. Shopping malls reflect the changing times, staff at the counters change by the day. You just go, shop around, pay in cash, and come back. Something seems to be missing. The staff at the counter is so mechanical. And rightly so, there are 10 others in the queue. There's no time for 'unprofessional' chit chats. And no matter how many times you visit that mall, you'll be a stranger to them.

The same professional attitude is affecting society in general. I still remember the night when my wife was going through the labour pains in New Delhi. I had to drive her alone to the hospital, when my neighbour could have accompanied her. And this, after her occasional show of affection and care during my wife's pregnancy. She just said, "Should I come along?" She was still unsure. And I read somewhere, "Love thy neighbour as thy self."

Today, we get into relationships of convenience. Our friends from one company become history when we join the other company. And some relationships have a lesser mortal. So the gardener, the maid, the driver, and others are to be treated as such. But, the same
profile in an influential house is dealt differently.

Aren't we becoming materialistic by the day. One should not forget, though, that people do matter. It took two hands to bring us into this world and it'll need four shoulders to take us through our last journey. The love that you spread will eventually come back to you. I still believe that the world is surviving on the 'little love' that remains.

Cricket, Cup and the Crazy us!

So Indians are virtually (I'm not hoping) out of the world cup. I never had much hopes from our team. There is one thing that hold true in every field of work, "If your stomach is full you wan't make that extra effort." Perhaps the Indian cricket team gets a little too much attention from the media, people and companies alike. We lost interest in hockey because the team was not performing but the craze for cricket continues.

We last won the world cup trophy 24 years back. But nothing will change. Sanity will be restored in a month's time and the cricketers will continue to enjoy the bucks and media coverage for another 100 years. Perhaps emotions have taken the better of us Indians!

The Power of our Media Today

Aish-Abhi incident has shown us once again the new face of media. News that is fit enough for the cover of Stardust is now a television headline across the channels. The mushrooming of 24 hours news channel in India has made sure that nothing goes unnoticed. So much that even if you are remotely connected to a celebrity you matter. Analyse this, a boy is kidnapped in Bihar and Zee TV asks his friends which game he used to play with them. Star TV made sure that people know which doctor operated on Amitabh Bachchan. Aaj Tak leaves no stone unturned to make a hero of a two matche old cricket player. Just a few months back the whole nation was forced to view the long rescue of a boy who fell into a deep hole. Almost all his close relatives got enough television coverage.

Cricketers today are raking in millions and eating prime time of the news channels. Hockey which brought so much glory to the nation is a dying sport today and Indian cricket with just one world cup trophy is a national obsession. All thanks to our news channels!

In the fight for TRPs the one thing that we all are missing is 'real news.' Something that has made BBC what it is today.

Happy Birthday Azhar bhai!!!

Born Feb 8, 1963, Hyderabad, AP

The guy being greeted is undoubtedly the most stylish Indian batsman ever. Yes, I'm talking about the 'magician with a cricket bat' - our very own Mohd Azharuddin. He celebrates his 44th Birthday today. I read his Wisden Profile some time back and was so mesmerised by it. Not even the greatest Don Bradman can match him in one thing - Azhar scored a hundred in both his first and last innings!

Wisden overview
Those who saw this supreme batting artist at his peak will never forget him - sinewy wrists transforming a slender piece of willow into a magician's wand. Azhar's leg-side play was reminiscent of Zaheer Abbas and Greg Chappell - a Michelangelo in the midst of housepainters. In later years, he expanded his off-side repertoire, and conjured some of the finest innings played in the modern era - his 121 at Lord's in 1990 was one for the gods. His technique was suspect against the short stuff, a deficiency he sought to overcome through instinctive strokeplay, sometimes with cavalier disregard for the team situation. As captain, Azhar enjoyed tremendous success on made-to-order home pitches, while right to the end of his career he was peerless in the field, whether prowling the covers or pouching catches at slip. He announced his arrival, against England in 1984-85, with three hundreds in his first three Tests, a feat that has never been match, while his last Test innings also bore him a hundred. But then allegations of match-fixing provided an emphatic full stop. That he finished his career with 99 Tests is perhaps appropriate for one who came within a whisker of batting immortality - only to throw it all away at close of play.
Dileep Premachandran

Take a look at his test debut:

3rd Test Ind Vs England, Eden Gardens, Calcutta 31 December 1984, 1,3,4,5 January 1985 (5-day match)

1st Innings M Azharuddin c Gower b Cowans 110(Runs) 443(Mins) 322(Balls) 10(Fours)

2nd Innings Do Not Bat (DNB)

4th Test, MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, Madras, 13,14,15,17,18 January 1985 (5-day match)

1st Innings M Azharuddin b Cowdrey 48(R) 124(M) 90(B) 6(F)

2nd innings M Azharuddin c Gower b Pocock 105 279 218 18

5th Test, Green Park, Kanpur, 31 January, 1,3,4,5 February 1985 (5-day match)

1st Innings M Azharuddin c sub b Cowdrey 122(R) 375(M) 270(B) 16(F)

2nd Innings M Azharuddin not out 54 71 43 5

He could have scored another one had it not been Gavaskar's unnecessary declaration.

Unsung Heroes

The tricolour waving defiantly,
It is the rebirth of a nation,
A few suddenly become national heroes,
And fading memories of some,
Flowers and laurels who never chose,
They were the true martyrs,
And this was their dream,
No trumpets blew for them,
No flowers showered over them,
But their efforts were not forgone,
And gave us the freedom, the much needed,
They nourished it with their blood,
And spent their lives in its wake,
I bow my head to them,
For they are the unsung heroes.

(Wrote in Lucknow, late 1996)

Why Cry Over a Silly Show

So finally Britain's Big Brother show has managed to draw the attention of people from outside Britain. I guess Shilpa being the lone non-brit added to the media attention and the storm that followed. I've seen a reality show where a white guy refused to say sorry to a black guy even when he was at fault. He preferred the fine. It's another matter that the community service he did made him realise his mistakes.

But, didn't Jade too say sorry after the show and that too publicly!

Perhaps that's the Indian way of approaching things. For the North Indians, the image of a guy from South is well established now - a man in lungi eating his food with his fingers, which are all soaked in the food. But that's ok if you are showing it on TV in a lighter mood. You are making fun and everybody is laughing. Recall the Sardar jokes and the way our Indian cinema treats the Sardars. And the Sardars too are taking it all in good spirits. It's all in good humour you could say. But isn't that rascist! Maybe for us Indians even rascism in good spirits is acceptable.

And that wasn't the case with the Big Brother show, so the controversy. But, what we tend to overlook are three things: a) Shilpa was told about the rules of the show well in advance, b) She was paid handsomely in return for taking all that crap, c) She could have left in the middle if she wanted. Agreed that all this doesn't justify Jade's and others' remarks but it was just a TV show with a set format, and things like these are expected.

We need to chill out now. It wasn't a world stage where an Indian was mocked - just a silly reality show.

Indian Cricket at Crossroads

Inspite of having probably the most talented bunch of players ever the way our cricket team is playing is sad. Never before we had such good pace bowlers but still we seem to be lacking something. Mr Chappel has experimented a lot but the result is the same. And with the world cup round the corner I don't have much hope.

One thing is clear though our cricket is dominated by personalities and players' past records. So a Sehwag or a Jaffer can continue because they score a century after every 15 tests or so. It's time we become more professionals (like the Australians) and go for players who are consistent. There has to be some accountability else how can we justify that these are the best cricketers India has at present.

Also, we need to regulate the amount of advertising that a player is involved in. When you've a full stomach you tend to relax. A place in the team today is a definite first step towards getting some good brands to flaunt.

Unfortunately that's the grim picture of our cricket today!

The Electronic Nikah!

Though this piece is a little old but it caught my attention only recently. It shows the need for Muslims too, to adopt to new technologies.

Although the news is all over I'm putting the one that came in 'Times of India' in July 2006.

“Enter, double click and get married ”

Manjari Mishra

LUCKNOW: Twenty-four-year- old Aliza Alim made a coy bride-to-be as she entered the Taj marriage hall in Mansoornagar on Thursday night. The place was smelling strongly of attar and choicest Awadhi cuisine.

The venue was duly partitioned into zanana (womens') and mardana (mens') wings and was packed with guests and relatives just like any other marriage. Everything seemed in place for the shaadi(wedding) but there was a vital difference — the groom was missing.

Alishan Zaidi — the lucky man — was sitting in Dubai facing his laptop waiting patiently for the rites to begin. So was everyone back home here, inching forward to catch a glimpse of the first marriage by video-conferencing at least in this side of the country.

"It did feel a little queer to visualise a 'nikaah'(muslim wedding ceremony) without the groom (dulha nadarat tha, after all –the bridegrrom was missing)" confessed Ali Hussain Abidi, Zaidi's first cousin and the matchmaker. "But later everyone, he claimed, got into the spirit of the occasion and it turned out to be quite an exciting event.

This included even for the two Maulavis — Maulana Hamidul Hasan (a prominent Muslim cleric and scholar) and Maulana Liyaqat Raza. Zaidi an MBA from Lucknow, currently working in a Dubai based multimedia company, had got engaged to Aliza last month during his trip to the hometown.

The marriage was initially fixed for December but both the families decided to advance the D-day as visa formalities for Aliza were taking too long for comfort.

Talking to the TOI on Friday Aliza (now a Zaidi) admitted that she had not imagined that hers would be the first high tech marriage in the state. The Loretto educated young woman, doing a course in fashion designing looked thrilled about her overnight celebrity status. "Why not, every marriage would not have a journalist talking about it", she giggled.

But last night, she confessed, she was scared. Specially when she anxiously looked at the laptop attached to a mobile phone placed in the centre of the room.

However the proceedings turned out to be fairly simple, informed her uncle Irfan Zaidi. The groom appeared on the screen and asked the Maulavi to carry on his behalf.

He also fixed the Mehar at Rs 14000 before saying the mandatory 'qubool hai'( I do). Aliza also gave her consent to Maulavi Hamidul Hasan before the 450 odd guests trooped out for the dawat.

"This is the second hi-tech marriage in our family", claimed Abidi. Alishan's aunt got married telephonically 15-years ago, he claimed.

Things have changed since then, says the prominent cleric Maulana Khalid Rashid, head of Firangimahal. Nikah rules have to be adapted to the changing time like everything else.


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