MURPHY LAW broadly states "If there is a worse time for something to go wrong, it will happen then." And when i correlate it with my present situation, i find it to be so true. On my very first blog i maintained that even after 9-10 months i was not burdened with much work in SISO. But guess what, i am right now in Office!!! No, it's not because i am entrusted with a huge responsibility which made me come to office on Saturday. I still spend a lot of idle time in my office during weekdays with not much to do and this week was no different. Then what the hell am i doing in office???? Vindicating "MURPHY LAW", huh!!!
I was supposed to go to some "Hogenakkal" fall today with a small group (small in terms of numbers but some of them are small in stature also). It's in Tamil Nadu -150 Km from here. I had (or is it have) not been out of 'Bengaluru' for quite some and saw this a perfect opportunity to have some real fun. But as luck would have it, my manager (In fact my Manager's manager) shot a mail on Friday evening asking all my team mates to waste their weekend in office for some code copying and building....Bull****. Why the heck did he not provide us with the necessary details on Friday itself or any other day for that matter?? For past 6 weeks I had not been coming to office on Saturday but we did not plan to go anywhere. And finally when the plan was materialized i was left in the lurch!!!
Without even thinking twice i may put the whole blame on my manager. After all, he could easily have arranged for the code on Friday. That would have definitely solved my problem!!! Aha, but "MURPHY LAW" says that "Every solution breeds new problems." That implies no matter what, i was destined to spend my weekend in office. So, it's better to left the things to themselves, right?. But that reminds me of yet another "MURPHY LAW" -Left to themselves, things tend to go from bad to worse. So the real culprit seems to be "Murphy Law".
The fact is, however hard we try, this law will always haunt us. In case, we have a competition to decide which person has come up with a law that is most universally acceptable, Edward Aloysius Murphy- the mastermind behind Murphy Law- will give others (such as Albert Einstein or Sir Issac Newton) a run for their money. So, instead of letting the things to themselves we would be better off letting the things to the mercy of "Murphy Law".
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Monday, June 15, 2009
Anti-Dhonism!!!
Dejecting, Disgusting, Depressing...these three D's sums up the whole performance of India in the 2nd edition of World Cup T20. Who would have foreseen such a debacle for 'men in Blue'. Blame it on IPL or the arrogance of the players but defending champion is no more.
If asked to single out one person responsible for the ouster of India from T20 WC, the finger will definitely point to DhoniThe first edition of T20 world cup saw the rise of 'Dhoni'....the second edition will see the fall of 'Dhoni'. His juggling with batting order remains a puzzle-sending 'Ravindra Jadeja' ahead of in-form Yuvraj and murderous 'Yusuf' . His persistence with 'Ishant Sharma' -whose reputation exceeds his performance- ahead of Irfan Pathan-who bowled well in the match against west Indies and adds some flexibility to the batting with his power-hitting-has cost India dearly. His under usage of economical bowler-Irfan Pathan in the game against West Indies and R P Singh in them last game-more than often now clearly indicates that he is no more impartial now with some dirty politics creeping in the team.
Dhoni burst into the international scene as an attacking wicket-keeper batsman who can take aprrt any bowler at any day. His big sixes wer talk of the town. Then, came the transition in his stints in the middle, as he changed his natural game to adjust to the needs of the hour so much so that he finds it difficult to loft the ball beyond that '30-yard circle' let alone hitting sixes. His strike rate of 103. which is no better than Bhajji speaks enormously of our captain's "TALENT".
People (especially his DIE-HARD fans) would argue that he has rare batting average in ODIs and topped the chart in ICC ODI ranking for some period. But its not about the number of runs scored that matters but the situation and manner in which you scored those runs. Most of those runs came when India was either in full-control of the match or when India did not seem to win at any cost.
Going to his captaincy, it would be too early to comment on this with so many success attributed to Dhoni. But Most of the mathches which Dhoni have won for India was because of a sheer destiny. In the last SriLankan tour India thrashed SriLanka 4-1 but very noticed that in all the four matches which India won, it was because India batted first with toss playing a big factor. And in the last match when had to bat second with ball darting around in the night they seemed to be lost. The recent series against NewZealand only strengthened this facts with India ending up a loser in both their T20 matches with the spin of coin not going their way.
Agreed that India put up an inspirational show in the recent past under Dhoni's captaincy but "A team is as good as its players". When the players perform the team is bound to perform well. A captain's role is to motivate the players to do their best, bind them together as a cohesive unit, and lead from the front which of late Dhoni has failed miserably, be it on the or off the field. Even the "Sehwag fiasco" was not handled tactfully. Our 'Captain Cool' (cool as a cucumber, or is it???) instead of answering media questions paraded the whole team to the podium before the match conference only to add fuel to the fire. It would have been much better if instead of creating such a drama he had spend some more time on the nets to enhance his batting skills (Or should i say learn some basic skills for technically he is the worst player in this Indian team).
India still have one more game to play — against South Africa — but by all means, the battle on the pitch is over. The narrow three run loss against England will rankle in the heart for a long time. What went wrong? Was the decision to ask England to bat first correct or was it the lack of intensity that cost India the match. All these off the pitch issues need introspection and Mr. Dhoni needs to lead from the front and make sure that politics which has plagued Indian cricket for long does not find its place.
PS:- Please leave your comments even if you are a big fan of Dhoni so that i can gauge how deep you are into "DHONISM".
If asked to single out one person responsible for the ouster of India from T20 WC, the finger will definitely point to DhoniThe first edition of T20 world cup saw the rise of 'Dhoni'....the second edition will see the fall of 'Dhoni'. His juggling with batting order remains a puzzle-sending 'Ravindra Jadeja' ahead of in-form Yuvraj and murderous 'Yusuf' . His persistence with 'Ishant Sharma' -whose reputation exceeds his performance- ahead of Irfan Pathan-who bowled well in the match against west Indies and adds some flexibility to the batting with his power-hitting-has cost India dearly. His under usage of economical bowler-Irfan Pathan in the game against West Indies and R P Singh in them last game-more than often now clearly indicates that he is no more impartial now with some dirty politics creeping in the team.
Dhoni burst into the international scene as an attacking wicket-keeper batsman who can take aprrt any bowler at any day. His big sixes wer talk of the town. Then, came the transition in his stints in the middle, as he changed his natural game to adjust to the needs of the hour so much so that he finds it difficult to loft the ball beyond that '30-yard circle' let alone hitting sixes. His strike rate of 103. which is no better than Bhajji speaks enormously of our captain's "TALENT".
People (especially his DIE-HARD fans) would argue that he has rare batting average in ODIs and topped the chart in ICC ODI ranking for some period. But its not about the number of runs scored that matters but the situation and manner in which you scored those runs. Most of those runs came when India was either in full-control of the match or when India did not seem to win at any cost.
Going to his captaincy, it would be too early to comment on this with so many success attributed to Dhoni. But Most of the mathches which Dhoni have won for India was because of a sheer destiny. In the last SriLankan tour India thrashed SriLanka 4-1 but very noticed that in all the four matches which India won, it was because India batted first with toss playing a big factor. And in the last match when had to bat second with ball darting around in the night they seemed to be lost. The recent series against NewZealand only strengthened this facts with India ending up a loser in both their T20 matches with the spin of coin not going their way.
Agreed that India put up an inspirational show in the recent past under Dhoni's captaincy but "A team is as good as its players". When the players perform the team is bound to perform well. A captain's role is to motivate the players to do their best, bind them together as a cohesive unit, and lead from the front which of late Dhoni has failed miserably, be it on the or off the field. Even the "Sehwag fiasco" was not handled tactfully. Our 'Captain Cool' (cool as a cucumber, or is it???) instead of answering media questions paraded the whole team to the podium before the match conference only to add fuel to the fire. It would have been much better if instead of creating such a drama he had spend some more time on the nets to enhance his batting skills (Or should i say learn some basic skills for technically he is the worst player in this Indian team).
India still have one more game to play — against South Africa — but by all means, the battle on the pitch is over. The narrow three run loss against England will rankle in the heart for a long time. What went wrong? Was the decision to ask England to bat first correct or was it the lack of intensity that cost India the match. All these off the pitch issues need introspection and Mr. Dhoni needs to lead from the front and make sure that politics which has plagued Indian cricket for long does not find its place.
PS:- Please leave your comments even if you are a big fan of Dhoni so that i can gauge how deep you are into "DHONISM".
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Task cut out!!!
Being a huge cricket fan, my writing on this subject was always there waiting. Ironically, it came in the wake of India drubbing at the hands of not much fancied West Indies. Disappointed as other fans who follow cricket like a religion, i found it an opportunity to expose few chinks in the Indian armoury.
With the exit of Sehwag (whose sheer presence send shivers down opponents' spine) India suddenly looks not so formidable. Many would argue that with Rohit Sharma in such a sublime touch India's opening woes are rather solved but then Sehwag not only scores at breathtaking speed (strike rate 144.80) but also induces a fear factor among every bowler. And with other players not playing to their potential (Dhoni needs a special mention here) ,the failure of the openers will always test the star-studded batting line-up as was evident in the match against West Indies. Barring Yuvraj Singh (67 off 43) and Yusuf Pathan (31 off 23), Indian batting looked to be jiffy. Had these two not hit some lusty blows towards the end of the innings India would have ended below par score. If asked to rate the players based on their performance in the last match the man who stood last will be none other than our 'Captain Cool' (11 off 23-strike rate below 50) for he ensured that run rate stays below 6.00. Agreed that with heir chips down India needed someone to stay at the crease and resurrect the innings, but that does not vindicate his scoring with such a dismal strike rate. In such a format where one big over can turn the tide in one's favor, he seems to have lost the art of acceleration. His captaincy in the last game was also below par. With Irfan Pathan still left with two more overs after such a tight opening spell, he handed over the bowl to 'Ishant Sharma' in the 17th over (That over made all the difference with 16 runs being scored). Full marks though for not turning up at No 3.
The other player who was a big disappointment was 'Gautam Gambhir'. He has regained a bit of his form in this tourney after that horrible stint in IPL but he is not even half of what he used to be the last year or the last edition of T20 world cup for that matter. Now that he has been part of this Indian team for last two years he need to be a bit more responsible in his approach.
The bowling department looked to be shambolic especially when it comes to death overs. Ishant Sharma after that successful Australian tour where he troubled every batsman, is out of touch. The pace which used to be the talk of the town has dropped considerably. One get the feeling that he is now an over-rated bowler. Its high time that Indian think-tank look for other options with R P Singh-one of the main architect of India win in the last edition- also in the fray. The other bowlers were also off the mark. A score of 153 meant that every bowler had to be keep it tight but they failed to deliver.
Talking about fielding, apart from 'Raina' the other seemed to be playing a gully cricket. The dropped catches of Gayle and the missed run out chance of Bravo (the man who took Indian bowling to apart after his stupendous bowling performance-the culprit was again our 'Captain Cool') turned the game. And not to mention about some of the ground fielding which were too sloppy. With such a horrible fielding they don't look to defend the title even when their batsman come to party.
Many would argue that off-the-field issue (the rift between Dhoni and Sehwag) is taking its toll in this Indian team. But these are just lame excuses. Instead of acting on emotions they should play professionally and let their bat/bowl do more talking. There is still lot of cricket to be played and it would be silly to write them off. Placed at the bottom of the group, the Men in Blue must beat both England and South Africa while hoping for a better run-rate than its rivals. Unless the bowlers raise their game and fielders stop treating it a gully cricket India can only pray. Moreover it will be interesting to watch how 'Dhoni' take this team further with both the on and off the field issues not going India's way. For the time being we can simply keep our fingers crossed and wait for some inspirational performance from 'Men in Blue'. They have done it in the past and with a bunch of talents they have,they can do it again.....
With the exit of Sehwag (whose sheer presence send shivers down opponents' spine) India suddenly looks not so formidable. Many would argue that with Rohit Sharma in such a sublime touch India's opening woes are rather solved but then Sehwag not only scores at breathtaking speed (strike rate 144.80) but also induces a fear factor among every bowler. And with other players not playing to their potential (Dhoni needs a special mention here) ,the failure of the openers will always test the star-studded batting line-up as was evident in the match against West Indies. Barring Yuvraj Singh (67 off 43) and Yusuf Pathan (31 off 23), Indian batting looked to be jiffy. Had these two not hit some lusty blows towards the end of the innings India would have ended below par score. If asked to rate the players based on their performance in the last match the man who stood last will be none other than our 'Captain Cool' (11 off 23-strike rate below 50) for he ensured that run rate stays below 6.00. Agreed that with heir chips down India needed someone to stay at the crease and resurrect the innings, but that does not vindicate his scoring with such a dismal strike rate. In such a format where one big over can turn the tide in one's favor, he seems to have lost the art of acceleration. His captaincy in the last game was also below par. With Irfan Pathan still left with two more overs after such a tight opening spell, he handed over the bowl to 'Ishant Sharma' in the 17th over (That over made all the difference with 16 runs being scored). Full marks though for not turning up at No 3.
The other player who was a big disappointment was 'Gautam Gambhir'. He has regained a bit of his form in this tourney after that horrible stint in IPL but he is not even half of what he used to be the last year or the last edition of T20 world cup for that matter. Now that he has been part of this Indian team for last two years he need to be a bit more responsible in his approach.
The bowling department looked to be shambolic especially when it comes to death overs. Ishant Sharma after that successful Australian tour where he troubled every batsman, is out of touch. The pace which used to be the talk of the town has dropped considerably. One get the feeling that he is now an over-rated bowler. Its high time that Indian think-tank look for other options with R P Singh-one of the main architect of India win in the last edition- also in the fray. The other bowlers were also off the mark. A score of 153 meant that every bowler had to be keep it tight but they failed to deliver.
Talking about fielding, apart from 'Raina' the other seemed to be playing a gully cricket. The dropped catches of Gayle and the missed run out chance of Bravo (the man who took Indian bowling to apart after his stupendous bowling performance-the culprit was again our 'Captain Cool') turned the game. And not to mention about some of the ground fielding which were too sloppy. With such a horrible fielding they don't look to defend the title even when their batsman come to party.
Many would argue that off-the-field issue (the rift between Dhoni and Sehwag) is taking its toll in this Indian team. But these are just lame excuses. Instead of acting on emotions they should play professionally and let their bat/bowl do more talking. There is still lot of cricket to be played and it would be silly to write them off. Placed at the bottom of the group, the Men in Blue must beat both England and South Africa while hoping for a better run-rate than its rivals. Unless the bowlers raise their game and fielders stop treating it a gully cricket India can only pray. Moreover it will be interesting to watch how 'Dhoni' take this team further with both the on and off the field issues not going India's way. For the time being we can simply keep our fingers crossed and wait for some inspirational performance from 'Men in Blue'. They have done it in the past and with a bunch of talents they have,they can do it again.....
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Curry-Bashing
Few people complained of me not giving a space for the much hyped "Curry-Bashing" on my last blog. I left it out purposely because this news in itself is so big that it would have been injustice to fit it into such a small space. And moreover i have my opinion on this subject which i wanted to share with everybody.
On the first note, i deeply regret the incident considering that many Australian citizens of Indian origin lost their lives allegedly with no fault of theirs. But saying that, i also believe that Indian media has blown this news out of proportion. Agreed that some of the attacks were "racially motivated" as also admitted by Simon Overland, he police chief of Australia's Victoria state but this does not vindicate tagging the country as racist. In fact, according to Victoria police officials, in 2007-08, there were 36,765 victims of crimes such as robberies and assaults in the state, of which 24,260 were Caucasian victims and 1,447 victims were people of Indian origin. Many people have formed such opinion based on the souring cricketing ties India shares with Australia. But India's relationship with Oz extends far beyond that with India and china accounting for more than 40% of foreign students- the country's third biggest export earner, worth more than $12 billion.
Indian people (or any foreign student for that matter-recently China also reported a case of a Chinese student being mauled by a "thug") are more vulnerable to attack because they represent weaker sections of the society (in terms of their numbers) with many students working up late at night to financially support their education. The media, i think need to stop portraying this whole issue as one of Indians vs Australians. Because of the actions of a few thugs stereotyping the whole Oz which celebrates a multiracial society is not done.
Moreover the debates whether such attacks were of racist nature or opportunistic ones won't help in resolving the issues. It can at most lead to communal disturbances between the two nations.. Indian students led "vigilante" patrols on Wednesday after a second night of protests which did not go down well with the Australian embassy. Moreover,the Indian government scrapped a series of roadshows in the country which was slated to take place in various cities of Australia to promote tourism in India leading to a first diplomatic fallout. The more of such instances will lead to severing of all ties including military cooperation which is at an unprecedented level with the Australian counterpart and will adversely impact not only "Kangaroos" but India as well.
The Indian government instead should engage Canberra in high-level dialogue on the issue to take stock of the situation and provide adequate security for the Indian students. The Australian government needs to act. The appointment of Peter Varghese as high commissioner to India sends a positive signal, but it is, at best, a symbolic gesture. They should back it with some stern actions against the miscreants who are behind this grave situation.
On the first note, i deeply regret the incident considering that many Australian citizens of Indian origin lost their lives allegedly with no fault of theirs. But saying that, i also believe that Indian media has blown this news out of proportion. Agreed that some of the attacks were "racially motivated" as also admitted by Simon Overland, he police chief of Australia's Victoria state but this does not vindicate tagging the country as racist. In fact, according to Victoria police officials, in 2007-08, there were 36,765 victims of crimes such as robberies and assaults in the state, of which 24,260 were Caucasian victims and 1,447 victims were people of Indian origin. Many people have formed such opinion based on the souring cricketing ties India shares with Australia. But India's relationship with Oz extends far beyond that with India and china accounting for more than 40% of foreign students- the country's third biggest export earner, worth more than $12 billion.
Indian people (or any foreign student for that matter-recently China also reported a case of a Chinese student being mauled by a "thug") are more vulnerable to attack because they represent weaker sections of the society (in terms of their numbers) with many students working up late at night to financially support their education. The media, i think need to stop portraying this whole issue as one of Indians vs Australians. Because of the actions of a few thugs stereotyping the whole Oz which celebrates a multiracial society is not done.
Moreover the debates whether such attacks were of racist nature or opportunistic ones won't help in resolving the issues. It can at most lead to communal disturbances between the two nations.. Indian students led "vigilante" patrols on Wednesday after a second night of protests which did not go down well with the Australian embassy. Moreover,the Indian government scrapped a series of roadshows in the country which was slated to take place in various cities of Australia to promote tourism in India leading to a first diplomatic fallout. The more of such instances will lead to severing of all ties including military cooperation which is at an unprecedented level with the Australian counterpart and will adversely impact not only "Kangaroos" but India as well.
The Indian government instead should engage Canberra in high-level dialogue on the issue to take stock of the situation and provide adequate security for the Indian students. The Australian government needs to act. The appointment of Peter Varghese as high commissioner to India sends a positive signal, but it is, at best, a symbolic gesture. They should back it with some stern actions against the miscreants who are behind this grave situation.
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Last Week Ke Mukhya Samachar....
It had been a very happening last week for India in particular and the whole world in general. And the the real beauty was the unfolding of the events in every field-whether it be in politics,education,entertainment or sports. A lot has been said and written with people from different spheres giving their inputs. Without countering anyone's opinions i will sipmply summarize the events in this piece.
There is no hiding of the fact that our political system is marred with corruption which not only has become a pervasive aspect of Indian politics but also has become an increasingly important factor in Indian elections. While every fourth member of the Lok Sabha has a criminal record, virtually every member is a crorepati. The crime has so deeply entrencehed in the indian politics can be inferred from the fact that Padamsinh Patil, MP of Nationalist Congress Party,was arresred for his alleged involvement in the murder of his cousin and Congress leader Pawanraje Nimbalkar. This is not the first case of a political honcho involved with such a heinous crime. Earlier in the year, controversial RJD Lok Sabha member Rajeev Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav and MLA Rajan Tiwari were found guilty in the alleged murder of CPI-M MLA Ajit Sarkar.
That the education system in the country is shambolic is no secret. The Chennai-based Sri Ramachandra University (SRU) and Shree Balaji Medical College and Hospital demanding Rs 20 lakh to Rs 40 lakh for an MBBS seat in a capitation fee racket unearthed by TOI-Times Now is par for the course. The difference being that the accused were DMK MP and Union minister of state for information and broadcasting S Jagathrakshakan who happened to be the chairman of Shree Balaji Medical College and Hospital and Dr Ketan Desai, the MCI chairman, who was on the boards of Sri Ramachandra University. Six years ago, the Supreme Court ordered an unambiguous ban on capitation fees. But the system is still thriving making a mockery of the exams.
Taking a break from such perpetrators there is a good news for movie buffs doing the rounds that the two month long standoff between multiplex owners and producers has come to an end after an entire day of discussions, on Thursday night(4th June), with both parties calling it a truce and producers having the last laugh. Coming Friday will see the multiplexes with the first big release after two months with producer Vashu Bhagnani's Kal Kisne Dekha featuring his son Jacky Bhagnani. In the last two months the industry has suffered around Rs 60 crore losses as no new films released in the theatres, this loss is irreversible.
Going to the sports,the once invincible Aussies crashed out of 2nd edition of ICC World Cup T20. They were simply outplayed by both West Indies and SriLanks in their the tournament which lasted four days for the Oz. This loss will mark an end of Oz aura of late were playing nowhere near to what they used to play. The last week also saw Roger Federer clinching his first French open and tying with Pete Sampras for the all-time record of most Grand Slam titles (14). By doing so Federer became the sixth man to win all four Grand Slam championships- the feat which even Sampras could not achieve. That led to a series of debates with some hailing him as the all-time great while others pointing out Federer's last two Grand Slams titles came only after someone else obligingly beat Nadal and ensured Federer wouldn't have to play him in the final. Whatever be the reason Federer has proved that he is capable wining even when he is not in his prime.
Last but not the least,former Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf finally conceded that ISI has links with militants which came as no surprise given that over the years ISI has used militants to carry out many terrorist activities in india. but the question which is still to be answered is what is our government going to do about it?
There is no hiding of the fact that our political system is marred with corruption which not only has become a pervasive aspect of Indian politics but also has become an increasingly important factor in Indian elections. While every fourth member of the Lok Sabha has a criminal record, virtually every member is a crorepati. The crime has so deeply entrencehed in the indian politics can be inferred from the fact that Padamsinh Patil, MP of Nationalist Congress Party,was arresred for his alleged involvement in the murder of his cousin and Congress leader Pawanraje Nimbalkar. This is not the first case of a political honcho involved with such a heinous crime. Earlier in the year, controversial RJD Lok Sabha member Rajeev Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav and MLA Rajan Tiwari were found guilty in the alleged murder of CPI-M MLA Ajit Sarkar.
That the education system in the country is shambolic is no secret. The Chennai-based Sri Ramachandra University (SRU) and Shree Balaji Medical College and Hospital demanding Rs 20 lakh to Rs 40 lakh for an MBBS seat in a capitation fee racket unearthed by TOI-Times Now is par for the course. The difference being that the accused were DMK MP and Union minister of state for information and broadcasting S Jagathrakshakan who happened to be the chairman of Shree Balaji Medical College and Hospital and Dr Ketan Desai, the MCI chairman, who was on the boards of Sri Ramachandra University. Six years ago, the Supreme Court ordered an unambiguous ban on capitation fees. But the system is still thriving making a mockery of the exams.
Taking a break from such perpetrators there is a good news for movie buffs doing the rounds that the two month long standoff between multiplex owners and producers has come to an end after an entire day of discussions, on Thursday night(4th June), with both parties calling it a truce and producers having the last laugh. Coming Friday will see the multiplexes with the first big release after two months with producer Vashu Bhagnani's Kal Kisne Dekha featuring his son Jacky Bhagnani. In the last two months the industry has suffered around Rs 60 crore losses as no new films released in the theatres, this loss is irreversible.
Going to the sports,the once invincible Aussies crashed out of 2nd edition of ICC World Cup T20. They were simply outplayed by both West Indies and SriLanks in their the tournament which lasted four days for the Oz. This loss will mark an end of Oz aura of late were playing nowhere near to what they used to play. The last week also saw Roger Federer clinching his first French open and tying with Pete Sampras for the all-time record of most Grand Slam titles (14). By doing so Federer became the sixth man to win all four Grand Slam championships- the feat which even Sampras could not achieve. That led to a series of debates with some hailing him as the all-time great while others pointing out Federer's last two Grand Slams titles came only after someone else obligingly beat Nadal and ensured Federer wouldn't have to play him in the final. Whatever be the reason Federer has proved that he is capable wining even when he is not in his prime.
Last but not the least,former Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf finally conceded that ISI has links with militants which came as no surprise given that over the years ISI has used militants to carry out many terrorist activities in india. but the question which is still to be answered is what is our government going to do about it?
Monday, June 1, 2009
There is lot in a name!!!
"What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet." This famous line from Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, 1594 simply means What matters is what something is, not what it is called.Ah,before you even start thinking that this piece is related to Shakespeare or on any of his play (beacuse everyone is so smart), let me make it very clear this is not the case.
Disclaimer.:-Many of you might find my viewpoint undigestable and may tend to give some examples to justify yourself. But the idea behind my writing is not to offend anyone (not even Shakespeare for that matter) and their opinion but only to consolidate my stand against that famous line.
A name stores a significant value on your personality and the way people resemble you as. In Shakespeare's context, we have to remember that the inability to see the significance of the family names (in the context of a long standing feud) led them both to suicide. Even our so called Bollywood is so much obsessed with the name that many acclaimed actors had to change their change their names before they made it big in the industry. Take for example our 'Tragedy king of Hindi films',Dilip Kumar. When he made it into Bollywood very few people knew that his real name was 'Yusuf Khan'.But Mr.Amiya Chakravarty(one of the leading directors) gave him the screen name of Dilip Kumar because conservative indian audience of that era were not very much comfortable with the actor titled 'Khan' no matter how good his performance is.If that is not enough what about Rajiv Hari Om Bhatia aka 'Akshay Kumar'. Why the hell was he required to change his name? It is because of the tag 'Kumar' which came with screen name. Carrying the family tag undoubtedly helped many actors getting a break or two -Abhishek Bachhan had 17 big flops in a row before giving a hit to the industry- in Bollywood compared to some unknown 'Mac'.
One can find a plethora of people changing their names(or modifying them a bit) with no race,caste,field acting as a boundary. Infact A.R. rahman went a step further and changed his religion altogether. M. F. Husain - one of India's best known artists and whose work over a career of over seven decades has been prolific - found himself in controversy in 1990s because of because of his portrayal of Hindu deities in the nude or in an allegedly sexual manner. The matters got so legally complicated that he had to leave the country and settle in Dubai/London.May be his works hurt the sentiments of people and he was not right but i doubt if the case would have been the same if he had not inherited the name 'Husain'.
We have a number of Gods with differnt names.Some people worship 'Krishna',others are true devotee of 'Hanuman' while others different religion and call their own god by different names.Every now and then we hear people fighting with each other in the name of the religion.If there is nothing in the name why do these people follow religion with different names to give themselves a chance to fight.
Last but not the least there are times when your own name go against you.One of my college friends(he is a boy and and let me make it very clear) have a girlish name.His behaviour and nature in no way justifies his name.He is purely a male.(For those dirty mind who is wondering how can i be so sure it is because he used to stay in the boys' hostel and in no way uesd to dress like a girl).But many people(sometimes even me) used to call him (yeah..him) 'Didi' and all sort of related names to his utmost irritation. Ask such people and they will tell you what is in a name!!!!
Disclaimer.:-Many of you might find my viewpoint undigestable and may tend to give some examples to justify yourself. But the idea behind my writing is not to offend anyone (not even Shakespeare for that matter) and their opinion but only to consolidate my stand against that famous line.
A name stores a significant value on your personality and the way people resemble you as. In Shakespeare's context, we have to remember that the inability to see the significance of the family names (in the context of a long standing feud) led them both to suicide. Even our so called Bollywood is so much obsessed with the name that many acclaimed actors had to change their change their names before they made it big in the industry. Take for example our 'Tragedy king of Hindi films',Dilip Kumar. When he made it into Bollywood very few people knew that his real name was 'Yusuf Khan'.But Mr.Amiya Chakravarty(one of the leading directors) gave him the screen name of Dilip Kumar because conservative indian audience of that era were not very much comfortable with the actor titled 'Khan' no matter how good his performance is.If that is not enough what about Rajiv Hari Om Bhatia aka 'Akshay Kumar'. Why the hell was he required to change his name? It is because of the tag 'Kumar' which came with screen name. Carrying the family tag undoubtedly helped many actors getting a break or two -Abhishek Bachhan had 17 big flops in a row before giving a hit to the industry- in Bollywood compared to some unknown 'Mac'.
One can find a plethora of people changing their names(or modifying them a bit) with no race,caste,field acting as a boundary. Infact A.R. rahman went a step further and changed his religion altogether. M. F. Husain - one of India's best known artists and whose work over a career of over seven decades has been prolific - found himself in controversy in 1990s because of because of his portrayal of Hindu deities in the nude or in an allegedly sexual manner. The matters got so legally complicated that he had to leave the country and settle in Dubai/London.May be his works hurt the sentiments of people and he was not right but i doubt if the case would have been the same if he had not inherited the name 'Husain'.
We have a number of Gods with differnt names.Some people worship 'Krishna',others are true devotee of 'Hanuman' while others different religion and call their own god by different names.Every now and then we hear people fighting with each other in the name of the religion.If there is nothing in the name why do these people follow religion with different names to give themselves a chance to fight.
Last but not the least there are times when your own name go against you.One of my college friends(he is a boy and and let me make it very clear) have a girlish name.His behaviour and nature in no way justifies his name.He is purely a male.(For those dirty mind who is wondering how can i be so sure it is because he used to stay in the boys' hostel and in no way uesd to dress like a girl).But many people(sometimes even me) used to call him (yeah..him) 'Didi' and all sort of related names to his utmost irritation. Ask such people and they will tell you what is in a name!!!!
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