Waiting to Die...

The sheer laziness of our politicians has again created another unnecessary problem. The whole debate on whether to hang the killers of Rajiv Gandhi has risen only because the government and the judiciary alike have dragged their feet on the issue for so long now. The three people on death row have been in jail now for 20 years. The President of India has taken a little over 11 years to decide on the clemency petition filed by the convicted assassins. It is absolutely shameful that we treat matters of life and death with such disdain and lack of compassion. Our governments and judiciary are notoriously slow. They take forever to decide on issues of grave importance.

The three convicted men were sentenced to be hanged on September 9th, 2011. They filed a petition in the Madras High Court and the decision to hang them has been postponed by another 8 weeks. Now these three men wait for another two months not knowing whether they are to live or not. We should be ashamed of ourselves as a country; treating human life so cheaply. It does not matter what their crime is, this is absolutely shameful on our part, to make these people and their families go through such agony for so long. Somebody tweeted a question yesterday, asking whether we would consider not hanging Kasab (26/11 terrorist) in case such delays were to be repeated during his hearing. The answer should be unequivocally YES. If the government and judiciary fail in their duties, we have no right to impose our inhuman medieval justice system on anybody. To further answer the query with another question, what if an ordinary citizen on death row was to be hanged after 20 years, would we not sympathize with him/her?

While we are faced with moral dilemmas, our politicians in true fashion have gone ahead trying to maximize their self-serving goals. People like Mr. Vaiko and Karunanidhi (once a suspect in the assassination of Mr. Gandhi) have sided with the convicts driven purely by their narrow animal like regionalistic view. Some of these people have gone to the extent of calling the investigation a sham and claiming innocence on behalf of the convicted people. They need to be reminded that these people have been convicted by various courts, they have had their mercy petitions rejected by the President of the country. Indulging in such anti-national activities and in a clear case of contempt of the courts' orders is downright criminal. If they are truly concerned about the well being of these three men, they need to show more sympathy and not create a tamasha of the whole situation.

Once the law and the punishment have been decided the process should be the same for every convict. However, in light of the breakdown of our judicial system, as is in the case Rajiv Gandhi's killers, the convicts need to be sympathized with. If the Kasab case takes 20 years or any amount of time on account of delays because of our rotten systems, the punishment awarded should take that delay into account.

Such is the rot in our system that we potentially face convicted terrorists, rapists, murderers walk free on account of the delays in established processes.We need to earnestly & urgently fix our judicial processes. It is equally important not to value human life with such disrespect. Especially in cases where there are lives at stake. We need to show more compassion as a country, as a people, for convicts on death row, for convicts who have out-served their sentences while still waiting for a hearing.

We should commute the sentences of the three convicted men. They have been waiting to die for the last 20 years. We should save them any more agony. And apologise to them.

42 years v/s 300 hours....the lethargy of democracy!

What 42 years of parliamentary democracy could not do; 300 hours of fasting did. And yet politicians rise together to point out that parliament is supreme. One they are not. The people are. We elect them to be there. Two, even if granted by the constitution the parliament might be the highest authority, the level of lethargy displayed by it has rendered it ineffective. If the parliament is serious about establishing its supremacy, it has to seem to be wanting to do something about it.

There might be a million excuses for not passing the legislation. The irrefutable fact is that they did not. Until now. A lot of people are calling yesterday's parliament session a victory for the campaign; and there are some who are restrained, even circumspect of the happenings. We need perspective before we begin analyzing yesterday's session.

After a long time, we witnessed a proper debate in parliament. The last 10 years or more all we have see on a daily basis are walkouts and both the houses being adjourned. There have been numerous reports in the media on the number of hours wasted, the amount of tax payers' money which goes down the drain every time the house is adjourned. Attendance of our MPs in Parliament has been abysmally low, important issues sidelined, laws not passed, generally the MPs not doing the job they have been elected and paid to do. It is the same as any one of us showing up at our offices, giving a big 'fuck you' to our bosses, collect our paychecks and going home. If the parliament is really supreme, should they not adhere to the most supreme standards of efficiency?

What happened yesterday was that our legislators were pushed into doing their jobs. IT has been either the Supreme Court or various other agencies (CAG, CVC) in the last few years who have gone about goading parliament to function. But there is only so much these agencies can do. Left alone, our MPs are happy bunking sessions and not going about their jobs. Arun Jaitley pointed out yesterday that the bill was originally tabled in 1968, passed by the Lok Sabha in 1969 and ever since they have just sat on it. The parliament was dissolved in 1969 and nothing happened since.

The fact that a man had to fast for more than 12 days is a sad statement of how things have been in this country. The fact that lakhs of people turned up to support him is reflective of the immense anger and disappointment the public feels towards the sheer apathy of our elected representatives. Who, may I point out, have acted ONLY because of the fast and the support it gained. There was no intention of the government to table the bill until AH fasted for the first time in April. They have been in power for seven years and have not introduced the bill even once. This monsoon session would have undoubtedly been about the various scams unearthed in the past few years, with the opposition walking out.

That we, the people managed to make them stay put and discuss the bill is nothing short of a victory. The means employed might  not be correct in the view of some people, but there was nothing else that could have made this happen. Where were Aruna Roy, Arundhati, Vinod Mehta, NDTV all the people now opposing the 'blackmail"? They could not have been bothered less about the bill. They might not have even known about it until now. Our politicians have been forced to take action not because of such people's articles, discussions or activism. It has never been enough to get things done. They needed a rude awakening, which in my opinion has come too late even now. Why are these naysayers content with the govt. sitting on a bill for 42 years, but have a problem if they are forced to discuss it now? Only because it was not their issue to begin with, in fact not an issue at all.

Protests in the past have been about staging dharnas and employing other means to achieve goals not less important but logistically easier for the agencies to implement. To get our parliament to come together as one, to discuss a long delayed legislation, to indulge in an earnest discourse, nothing short of the last few days' events would have worked. One hopes that this won't have to be repeated. One hopes that the government will at least show more earnestness in engaging the people of this country and solving their problems. Because what a lot of people overlook is that if the govt. does not, the next protest will be nothing short of a revolution. 

Dictators on the Run!

Muammar Gaddafi might soon be dethroned from his more than 40 years' rule of Libya. With the rebel forces storming Tripoli it is just a matter of time that country will be freed completely of decades of misrule and tyranny. Close enough, in Syria we are witnessing another struggle which may see the same path as the one in Libya.

These are interesting times we are living in. Since December last year we have seen large uprisings and protests across the Middle East North Africa (MENA) region. It is almost as if there has been a simultaneous collective awakening of people across that part of the world. The public has had enough and is rising to claim their rightful; much delayed place as participants in their and their country's destinies. Activism of this scale and nature has never been witnessed in these parts of the world. It is an extremely significant trend that leaders and politicians across the world need to acknowledge and understand. This coupled with what is happening in our country is signal that people want things to improve.

There might be a hierarchical difference in  terms of maturing of a country and its systems, and in what the people are striving for across the two regions, but it is driven by a shared angst against how things have been for the last few decades. The rulers in these nations are outdated and out of touch with their subjects' aspirations. While, the Middle East is one of the few regions to have embraced democracy, we have a deeply flawed model in place. Though we might be better off, the desperation and despair that we feel is the same as that of people in the MENA region.

In my mind there is barely any difference between dictators and incompetent elected leaders. Some might argue that we might be better off, because we can vote and change governments, but the political class as a collective category behaves exactly like the tyrants who rule nations for years on end. Our politicians treat their positions as a right and the country as their fiefdom. The Gandhi Family, the Marans, the Pawars, Mayawati, Laloo Prasad, the list goes on. All of these people collectively are the same as a Gaddafi or an Assad or a Mubarak. There is nothing to distinguish these two sets of people. They are all driven by greed for power and money. Of creating wealth for their own and a complete, absolute lack of concern or duty towards the people they think they lead. Dictators claim that right by force, our politicians by way of elections. The elected people might change every 5 years in some cases, but the rape and plunder of this country goes on unaffected.

Long brewing desperation and seething anger in the people have forced them to take desperate measures. While people have taken to arms in the MENA region, people here have taken to the streets. A lot of commentators have reacted with skepticism; saying that such protests where the consequences are not clear do not make much sense. Political commentators are quick to point out that in absence of credible alternatives to government formation in countries like Egypt, Libya, Syria, Yemen, etc. might lead to further turmoil and uncertainty. What they ignore is the people's will to affect change, any change. Things have stayed the same for way too long now without any indication of the smallest change happening. The people's frustration with stagnating systems has crossed all limits. They do not care about the consequences at this stage. All they need is to change the way things have been for decades. For people who have suffered, consequences can follow. While it may not appeal to the intelligentsia and vested interests in respective countries (including ours), real people do not care. That is the thing about the public anger. When it comes to the surface, it is because the people have had enough. It might not manifest in a correct or an ideal way but it is serious enough for the leaders to take notice and start doing something about it. Intelligentsia be damned, they just sit on the sidelines and feel compelled to comment on events in an 'objective' manner. What they need to do is be a part of change, contribute constructively to the movements. The snobbery coupled with the need to appear detached serves no purpose. Take the plunge dammit!

Naysayers can keep commenting and making observations, the undeniable truth of the matter is that the people are affecting change on their own will. They are the ones making dictators run for their lives. Whatever happens next will happen only because they chose to stand up and be counted.

Bored of Cricket Control in India (BCCI)

Amid the whole cacophony currently engulfing the country concerning the Jan Lokpal Bill, the Indian cricket team has achieved new depths in the sport's history, prompting some to joke that the team will not win until the bill is passed. From being world no. 1 in April to losing in a such a convincing manner; that fans have begun doubting whether we were ever good enough to be the best team in the sport.

The way this sport is run is not very different from the way our governments function. We had a good thing and we milked it as much as we could for commercial gains. The result of this greed driven madness is for everybody to see. Indeed, the very people who are responsible for the mis-management in our political systems are the same people who run and influence the BCCI. It is not a coincidence that the country much like the sport has achieved, whatever it has, because of the efforts of very determined individuals, in spite of the system in place. The moment politicians step in, things begin to go awry. Maybe we should have a cricket specific Jan Lok-ball Bill!

In line with the sickness that plagues our politicians that renders them blind to realities of life, the reasons behind our cricket team's dismal performance are being overlooked too. The BCCI through its selectors and paid commentators has been trying to paint a picture very different from what journos and fans see and acknowledge. The current team IS an overworked lot. They have been playing way too much cricket without any significant rest period between international tours. Ravi Shastri in his article yesterday has said that anyone with foresight will be able to see that the amount of cricket played is only going to increase (seriously, how can he expect us to believe he is not a stooge?).  But that is the exact opposite of what needs to be done.

Such defensive reactions are nothing but an excuse to mask their failure as administrators and a dangerous lack of concern for the sport. It is time we root out such elements from the BCCI; which would include 99% of all of them. What business do people like Sharad Pawar, Rajiv Shukla, N. Srinavasan, Mr. Amin, Arun Jaitley have in running the sport? They do not have Rahul Dravid or Sachin on the boards of their political parties advising them on election strategies or governance. Why the double standards? Why cannot we have MBAs from IIMs or the many able retired cricketers manage the sport, as common sense points to such a setup? Our politicians have an insatiable hunger for power and influence and it is time that they are cut to size and shunted out of all sports' administrations.

A sport like cricket, where we have a team capable of performing well at the international level, has been run to the ground. How are we ever going to ever improve our skills across other not-so-rich sports? It is time. The BCCI needs to be dissolved. We need a fresh start. Otherwise this country's favorite sport will become a source of its biggest disappointment.

Living In The Past, Wasting Today

I dread reading the newspaper every 20th August. Every August I uncomfortably watch as the day gets closer. 20th August happens to be our late PM, Mr. Rajiv Gandhi's birthday. It might seem petty and quirky but this day always triggers anger and despair in me. Let me give a little background here.

Every year on this date, depending on whether the Congress party is in power or alternatively the various ministries of the Government of India unleash a disgustingly disproportionate onslaught of print ads commemorating Mr. Gandhi. Today's edition of Times of India has no less than 18 ads! These take more than 9 full pages, from a total of 32 pages in today's edition. That is more than 25% of the space in the 'news'paper. This has been the trend for the last few years. If my estimates from 5 years back are right, at 12 lakhs a page, the total spend is more than a crore. And that is one newspaper in one state.

Now why do ministries need to spend that kind of money, money collected from our taxes, on remembering a departed leader is beyond explanation, That figure in today's time would be much higher by conservative estimates. Lets also not forget that Mr. Gandhi is not the only leader to be remembered so profusely by our forever-stuck-in-the-past government. A poor country (we contribute maximum to the world's poor population and have close to half our population below the poverty line) like ours is already low on resources. Such mindless waste of national resources is criminal.

Our political respresentatives live in a self-congratulating, self-sufficient world. The need to keep invoking memories of leaders, ignoring their shortcomings and the blind idol worship points towards their absolute disconnect with the electorate of this country. Such misguided loyalty benefits no one else but the people who prostrate in front of powerful politicians.This distasteful trend extends itself to doomed government schemes, road names, sarkari buildings and so on.

When our system has so many leaks as it is, such mindless sycophancy should be outlawed if not discouraged.

Now, To Get It Right

Now that all media and the India Against Corruption (IAC) campaign have claimed victory we should look at more important things ahead and not rest on achievements of the last two days. But before we do, an observation. It is a sad statement on the state of our democracy when gaining the right to protest is hailed as a victory. We are not China for Mao's sake!

Today, the fast will continue from Ramlila Maidan. The fast to ensure implementation of key clauses in the proposed Jan Lokpal Bill (JLB). However, the IAC should tread very carefully and with responsibility. The agitation of the past few days should not be assumed to be a logical support for all their recommendations. It is not a mandate to try to force the government to agree to all their demands. There has to be genuine debate over the issue they are fighting for. Not that they already haven't, but since they are making a renewed effort, it is important to keep their emotions in check. We also need to remember that the government has not agreed to discuss the draft bill yet, they have only given permission to protest. It is however safe to assume that at some point they will give in.

It is also important, more now than ever, when IAC has the attention of the nation and the government, to be magnanimous and flexible. A lot of people are concerned about the seemingly blackmail-ish methods being adopted by the movement. The IAC also has a responsibility to allay such concerns. Though some might understand the desperation, they still do not agree with methods adopted. Since the IAC has assumed representation on behalf of the people of the country, it is important they be whatever they say the government is not. While it is commendable that they have prepared a draft bill on their own, it is inevitable that anybody with some knowledge of it will not have their two cents to put in. The movement has become bigger than the IAC campaign and they will need to be receptive to many more new ideas than before.

This movement has a lot going for it. The people have pledged their almost blind support to the collective wisdom of the IAC leaders. Now is the time for them to differentiate themselves from the leaders we elect. The burden of responsibility is huge. People's expectations have gone beyond the JLB. They sense, want real sustainable change. Having started a good thing, the IAC campaign will  need to play an important role in the coming months, JLB or no JLB. The IAC leaders need to look at the bigger picture here. Even if some of their demands are not met (and that will be the case eventually), they have been provided with an unprecedented opportunity to effect real change. The JLB is just an instrument to implement the bigger, far reaching goals. Though it is a good start, it should definitely not be the end.

As Uncle Ben said it, "with great power comes great responsibility".

There Is Hope For Us Still

This is not a political post. This is not about the movement or about Anna Hazare (AH). This is about the people. The mass of people who turned up yesterday at India Gate and scores of other cities across India, UK and the US. In a brilliant display of spontaneous civil awakening, some 20,000 people turned up at India Gate yesterday afternoon through the night. It is about people who are fed up with the going ons, the way we have to live our lives everyday.

For once, everybody seems united by a common concern. A concern that for so long has affected all sections of society for so long. Yesterday it became a cause. It was amazing to see people from all walks of life, men & women, the elderly, people with their families. Yet there was a commonality which transcended every distinction which we learn to live with in this country.

Anna Hazare may be the face and voice of this movement, but the people supporting it are its body. These are people who have made an effort to be seen, to be heard, to stand up and be counted. The urgency to set things right is contagious and much needed. People have had enough of living their lives facing corruption every day. It is this frustration that has spurred these people into action. To say it loud and clear, we will not take this lying down. What many people, intellectuals, analysts, politicians, the media (NDTV especially) do not get is that this is not about the Jan Lokpal Bill. People are piggybacking on that one issue to be vent their anger about corruption at large. The anger and frustration is not going to subside even if the bill is amended to incorporate changes suggested by the team led by AH. The people feel there is a real chance for change now. A change in how we deal with the administration every day.

The other notable thing yesterday was how the march from India Gate to Jantar Mantar and back was conducted. Unlike what some congressmen (Mr. Rashid Alvi) have suggested it was not organized by the US govt. It was a deluge of people, people who got up from their homes & offices just to be there. Yet there was this overriding sense of responsibility, that no confrontation takes place. It was incredible to see how a group of thousands of people were so well behaved. Volunteers were managing traffic, passing out food and water, cleaning the roads off leftovers. It is rare to see such a display of collective civil behaviour in India. Even cricket matches where the whole crowd is backing the same team are witness to incidents which shame us. Here it was something else.

The marchers were told to stick to one side of the road, and unbelievably not one person crossed the yellow median. People waited at regular intervals to let traffic through. The reaction from the people waiting in traffic was also incredibly encouraging. People got out of their cars to cheer the marchers on, heads sticking out of bus windows joined in the various slogans being raised, bikers giving thumbs up to marchers passing them by, boy was it wonderful! Compare all of this to how political rallies are held in Delhi. All traffic is blocked, public property is damaged, commuters heckled, the police usually has to resort to using water cannons and mild lathi charge. Here there was not a single incident reported, no scuffles, no eyeball to eyeball confrontations. Both the marchers and the commuters shared a genuine concern for each other's problems. There was no us v/s them. I romanticize, but it is hard not to.

It is also commendable if we start comparing yesterday's events with what has been happening around the world. It is easy to whip up mass frenzy when a cause is shared by numbers as large as yesterday. Yet the restraint we displayed shows us that we are maturing as a people. Sensibilities have changed, public anger is no more about beating up people on the road, tearing apart barricades, damaging buses, burning effigies. It is about being heard. Loud and fucking clear.

I sincerely hope it stays like this in the days to come. We should build on the momentum of this movement. We should stay civil, be the change we wish to see. Yesterday, we saw a glimpse of what we can be. It is time we start being that, everyday.

Ek dhakka aur! (one more push)

Tomorrow morning Anna Hazare (AH) will most probably court arrest for defying the Delhi Police's order denying his movement permission for organizing a protest in Delhi. We will again be subjected to 24/7 coverage of the issue for the next few days and hear a lot of talk from both the sides. The way things have unraveled in the build up are indicative that the next few days will be no different.

With the Congress assuming a ridiculous stand, that AH is also corrupt (over a 2 lakh rupee birthday party!) and the AH camp assuming a stubborn stand that the fast is the only way to go ahead, there is not much hope for any meaningful dialogue taking place. The congress may be right (we do not know yet) about the birthday party misappropriation of funds, but does it not reek of petty desperation that a party which is widely accepted to be corrupt, indeed has many leaders accused of large scale corruption, is hoping that a badly organized birthday party is the answer to stopping the impending protest. It is the tool of the weak and scared to resort to mudslinging of the kind we have seen in the last few days.

Not only has the congress resorted to what they know best, petty and the dirtiest type of politics, it has actively engaged all their departments/ministers to deny the movement any chance of legally undertaking a protest. It will be illegal in any form tomorrow. With Section 144 being implemented, the AH camp has little choice but to either court arrest or back down. Given their stubbornness and resolve, one can expect a mini jail bharo abhiyaan.

Although I believe all this talk and tamasha serves some purpose, viz. we are at least talking about corruption, the media is engaged in real debate and not focusing on flimsy bollywood updates, there is concern that all this tamasha will distract us from the real topic.

But before even we get to the real topic a lot of people (other than Congress spokespersons) have heaped scorn on the leaders of the current movement against corruption. A majority of our educated, aware people in urban centers have distanced themselves from the movement, mostly on the account of it being headed by AH. Prominent anti-establishment journos like Tavlin Singh, Vinod Mehta and pro-govt. media channels like NDTV have openly taken a stand against AH, clubbing the movement and the notional head as one. This, in my opinion is the very reason why we as a country are unable to move in one direction together. We are far too often busy pulling each other down and finding mistakes in what other people do.

I do not agree with the methods adopted by the campaign, but think while it is important to undertake the campaign in an effective manner, it is also important to look at the bigger picture. The movement is bigger than an individual. AH is no Gandhi, he is not a saint, so what? The issue is bigger than him or Kiran Bedi or the Bhushans, definitely bigger than Dr. Singh or the Congress Party.

We also need to understand the desperation behind the ways being adopted by the campaign. In a country where the opposition is busy self-destructing, has no common voice, and is as corrupt as the party in power, what are social workers with no political background supposed to do? They have no experience in organizing campaigns of this scale. Does it mean they don't? The govt. after 40 odd years at least tabled the bill in parliament. Most people who today oppose the campaign would be lying if they claim they even knew about the Lokpal Bill or the fact that they thought the govt. would bring it to parliament on their own. Such desperate, albeit incorrect ways, have been legitimatized by the government itself. Because there is no will on the govt's behalf to do the right thing.  

The Lokpal Bill is not the be all and end all of the anti-corruption campaign. It is a start. If the government of India is not even willing to discuss a bill, do we really believe that they are willing to tackle corruption? They thrive on it, they will not ever want to deal with it. Until they are forced to. For the first time we have the government on the defensive. Let us give it all the push we can.

Sadly, we need to keep pushing people from all walks of life to do the right thing; it just does not come naturally to most of the people in this country. So let us push, ourselves, the govt, the campaign.

Just to quote Rage Against the Machine:

If we don't take action now
We settle for nothing later
Settle for nothing now
And we'll settle for nothing later
If we don't take action now
We settle for nothing later
We'll settle for nothing now
And we'll settle for nothing later

Throw down the Gauntlet....and leave it there

Let me add to the noise that is being generated on account of the great reversal of fortunes in Indian cricket. From being world champions to submitting to the British has rekindled memories of an era gone by; circa 1857 (well that time we at least put up a fight!). Hope this phase does not last that long though.

Watching Rahul Dravid's reaction yesterday after dropping yet another catch was more painful than watching Kambli crying at the Eden Gardens. When 'the wall' is frustrated you know something is terribly wrong. It is not that we have not lost before in an equally shameful fashion, it is the team's Poland-like surrender of 1939 which is concerning. We do not seem to be putting up a fight at all. As pointed out by a recent article one can't tell whether it is the English who are playing superbly or the Indians playing like Bermuda.

This series has thrown up a lot of concerns, which I am sure the BCCI has taken no notice of. The fact that our best bowler broke down within the first hour of play on a more than a month long tour, how we have NO replacement in place, how we had absolutely no preparation coming into this series, why does Sreesanth continue to play for the test team and so on. Another commentator pointed out yesterday that no team rightfully claiming the No. 1 spot can rely on any one person. That was the great thing about Indian cricket in the past few years. The emergence of good solid players from opening to the tail. The fact that we stopped relying on Sachin or Kumble was the most important contribution leading upto our victory in April 2011.

What we are witnessing now is the result of complete absence of any planning on behalf of the powers that be. Our players have not stopped being great suddenly. They are worryingly overworked and denied basic preparation time. School teams spend more time practicing than the current lot. The time gap provided to the Indian team between the test matches in the Windies and the UK was fitting for a tourist not for a team of world class professional sportsmen.

There is also a lot of noise being made about the IPL being responsible for our current woes. Not entirely accurate or off the mark either. Cricket is one of the very few sports which is played across varying formats. There is an obvious ambiguity here. While we have benefited in the ODI format because of IPL, our test team is bearing the brunt of it. In today's scenario, cricketers need to be near schizophrenic to do well across all formats. It is all the more important to plan well and well in advance. A team playing ODIs, Tests and T20s all in one series is bound to get confused and complacent. The importance of other formats is going to go down the drain if the team does really well in another.

Cricket administrators in their unquenchable greed are trying to juggle all three formats at the same time. We have seen them bungle up with much less responsibilities. Expecting players to perform across formats is not only realistic but borders on cruelty. In times like these it is commendable that players like Michael Clarke come out publicly in support of one format over the other.

India's current woes are a direct result of the madness that runs through everybody in the BCCI. We have to stop milking the cricket team and the sport for more riches. It is time that we reevaluate our systems now, when the team is not doing well. Because we will be complacent once we start winning again. All of this will then be conveniently forgotten.

No More Singhing

The 65th Independence Day is round the corner. Dr. Singh will make yet another speech at the Red Fort in the capital. The point of which is almost always lost on me. Except when Rajiv Gandhi claimed that his government will 'nani yaad dila denge' (will remind the terrorists; their maternal grand mothers!) and when Vajpayee got out of the car with one shoe. Maybe somebody should have proclaimed 'joote yaad dila denge'!

It amazes me how our country, each year is almost always younger than people to stand behind that AIR mic every 15th August. We are a nation catching up with our obsolete politicians, when it should be the other way around. Like every year, this year too we will hear about the many children who will faint while listening to the PM speak. Fortunately for them, they pass out somewhere towards the start of the speech as they are made to wait many hours in the open; in not so comfortable Delhi weather. Which makes me think, why pick children as your audience on i-day? They are always from junior school, too young to vote, too naive to understand political hyperbole and always too smart to feign sickness at the start of the speech. Not only that why does the govt. choose to broadcast the speech on Doordarshan, when exactly five people watch the channel (you know who you are, might know each other as well).

I really do not see any point in this annual tamasha, especially when things not only not improve each passing year, they actually get worse. The last year has seen record scams being unearthed, almost as if politicans wanted to mark the 65th i-day in a special way. Well they succeeded! The scams along with other political happenings have made this truly a special year. Just to name a few of those, lest we forget,  

• 2G
• Adarsh Group Housing
• Aircel Scam
• Bellary Mining
• BMC Road Scam
• Commonwealth Games (the name has a new meaning now)
• Lavassa Scam
• The entire one year of Mayawati's rule
• IPL 3 & 4 (it was always politics!)
• Yeddyurappa & Family Scam
• Greater Noida
• Mamta winning in Bengal
• Jayalalitha winning

The list is endless.

The names change every year, but the promises remain the same. This year however I think, Dr. Singh can really shake things up a bit. I have a suggestion for him which I hope he accepts. He should keep it short, spare everybody the one and a half hour of bullcrap. In fact, here it is. He should get up to the podium, look straight into the camera, the Indian flag flying in the background, and say " I QUIT". Not only will it make it to guinness book for the shortest speech ever, it will also be the perfect thing to do. No promises, no schemes, no reminiscing.

About time we used that massive stage for something momentous.

On a Sticky Wicket

Surprise surprise! Even the hallowed sport of cricket has not been spared by our most enterprising sports administrators (read: politicians with too much time on their hands). As it turns out Gavaskar and Shastri are quite adept at delivering the verbal version of the doosra. Before relevant details were leaked to the media, one was wondering aloud about Shastri's freshly renewed pride. It always seemed a little misplaced; especially how he picked a fight with the very likeable Nasser Hussain. Who may I add, acted with such class and dignity, even though he does not have the world's most powerful sport administration backing him or without the promise of assured employment, privileges which messers Shastri/Gavaskar have.

A lot of fans, commentators have echoed Shastri's 'they are jealous' line (yours truly included), but it is also not very hard to see why we are hated with such passion abroad. We are the America of cricket. Interfering with functioning of cricket boards across the world, depending on the situation influencing or ignoring the UN equivalent of cricket; the ICC, driven by a supreme cause of commercial exploitation of players & fans alike, an extreme myopic selfserving view, the BCCI and the Indian cricketing fraternity has managed to alienate almost every other country which plays the sport. Much like the consumerist leaning Americans, we too have succumbed to the people's thirst for cricketing action. More is good! 

India today is a country grappling with its sustained above average growth. The prospects of earning more money has affected every aspect of our lives. As Maninder Singh pointed out, in a corrupt country like ours, it is difficult to imagine cricket (or any sport) to be untouched. Upholding the spirit of the game is the responsibility of 22 men in whites on the field alone. The men in whites off it, however are a different story altogether. Our netas control the sport as they do with everything else. It would be naive to expect our politicians (who have significant investments in our media sector) not wanting to influence opinion when it comes to cricket. For them, it is yet another poistion of power, another business unit churning money for the once in five years test that they have to face. On home soil that too.

Shastri and Gavaskar are mere pawns in the great game that is being played out in the shadows. The constant hunger for even more power and control is rotting every institution, every sector, every aspect of our lives. Whether it be politicians changing school syllabi, IIM admission norms, implementing reservations, owning media channels/newspapers, movie production houses, large corporations, religious trusts, chariatable organizations, PR firms, etc. The list is endless. It is the sad truth of our incredible growth story. The politicians now control EVERY aspect of our lives. Indeed they have benefited the maximum during these years of unprecedented growth. And they will go to any lengths to protect their positions.

Sadly, the last wicket has fallen.

The Thorn of the British Umpire

Yesterday's play during the third day of the second test match between India and England has thrown up an issue which has been simmering in the background for the last few years. Namely, the increasing discomfort with India's rise both as a competitive team and as the financial driver of the game. While it was amazing to see our erstwhile colonial masters and their kala panied descendants squirm during this period, the euphoria is beginning to wear off. India is no longer the upstart, the rebelious child of World Cricket. The Indian team is the best in the world today and that is a fact. With this new status a weight of expectations have been firmly planted on our not so strong cricketing shoulders. Unfairly so.

Why is the onus of playing the game within the so called undefined concept of 'spirit' with India alone? Why is it that India is still expected to behave in a manner which will appease the white colonial racist custodians of the game? Why do not we see an effort from the established cricket boards to adjust to the new realities of the changing pecking order in world cricket? It is annoying that we are still treated as outsiders, like the village bum in an exclusive gentleman's club.

While Dhoni's decision was commendable, it was absolutely unnecessary. Can one imagine such 'sportsmanship' during the Ashes series? Kevin Peitersen recently commented that the Ashes was much more intense than the Pataudi Series (India-England Series) because of the genuine shared hatred between the Poms and the Aussies. Would the spirit of the game be alive and kicking in such circumstances! The double standards adopted by the English players, commentators, the viewing public are manifestations of greater issues, which we shall not dwell on at this point.

It is time that the ECB (English Cricket Board) and CA (Cricket Australia) and the ICC establish a level playing field. It is of greater importance that they lose their white man's burden, of teaching us the gentleman's way of playing cricket. From Ranji to Sehwag they have always failed.

They need to realize that cricket is a sport and not a royal warrant or a diktat from the Archbishop of Canterbury.