What does religion has to do with everything?

Bollywood actor Aamir Khan had made some statement about leaving India, which kicked a shit storm in all forms of media in general and social media in particular. For those who would say I came to the party tad bit late, the timing of my post is deliberate. I didn’t want to render a knee jerk reaction like others.

No matter how patriotic I want to be, no matter how many great claims I want to make about my country, I can’t win over statistics. Statistics has its way of busting false claims and laying the cold truth bare. I would want to go on one limb and claim India is a very safe country but alas that claim wouldn’t stand the test of statistics!

Global Peace Index is one way of measuring how peaceful a country is. Go google and find out more for yourselves. Every country is ranked on the index,the most peaceful country has lowest value on index and the most restless country has highest value on the index. India ranks 143 on the index, there are 142 more peaceful countries than mine.

Mr. Khan said he felt insecure in India and if the above statistics mean anything, he is not wrong in having his concerns. He voiced his opinion through media which is perfectly alright considering we have a right to free speech and right to criticize our own country as we will. There was a huge public backlash on his statements, many criticized Mr. Khan on his views via social media. This is again free speech, you don’t like someone’s views you are welcome to voice your opposition.

But what I really don’t understand is why does everything have to be tied up to religion? I don’t know and don’t care what Mr. Khan had said, but what I do know and do care is that the debate is taking a religious flavour. Whoever offered an opinion ended up bashing one community or the other, only a few brought very rationale views to the table. Not just in this case, in many earlier cases as well I observed that most online debates had turned religious at one point or the other, even when there was no reason to.

India is clearly not the safest country in the world, we rank very bad in Global Peace Index, there is a lot where we can improve. Why can’t everyone sit and speak about what we can do about that? Why can’t people give rational ideas to make our country safe and secure? Why can’t we just do what we can do to keep our fellow humans safe instead of fighting who is more unsafe, muslim or hindu? Why can’t we speak something useful than spitting venom on each other?

Let’s start discussing without hurting or belittling any community. None can judge an entire community by the crimes performed by minority or even the majority of that community. Lets start loving or hating our fellow humans by the virtue of their traits but not by the virtue of their religion, region, caste or creed. Only then meaningful discussions will take place between the citizens of the country, else all we will have are noise and havoc.

Pic Credit: http://www.dmu.ac.uk/

The soul of India!

I have been working in Scotland for two months now. Scots are lovely people, helpful and friendly! I only spoke to a handful of them but they were all warm and kind. Another point I noticed was that most of them had respect towards my country – India.

At first I thought they were just practicing the etiquette of showing respect towards the guest’s country. Most of them did just that! However there are few, who traveled to India regularly on vacations, that held genuine respect towards the country. So I asked them this question, ‘What did you like the most in my country?’

The answers were different but the essence was similar. One of the best replies I got was, ‘India is a world in itself. I am amazed at the diversity your country has to offer. The traditions are different, food is different, languages are different, religions are different! What amazes me even more is that India manages to stand united even with all these diversities. India is a shining example of mutual understanding and harmony, a lesson that the entire world needs to learn.’

I was in fact amazed by the answer he had given me. Cultural diversity has always been the stand point of India. I have never realized how wonderful it is that India has stood united with all these diversities for centuries. Take our food for example, we have so many cuisines within India that it will take us a lifetime to get the taste of entire India! There are 24 official languages and 122 major languages in India! Want to know how many minor languages we have? As per 2001 census, 1599! How many lifetimes will it take to learn just 5 words from each language?

Although we are a Hindu majority country, we have the world’s 3rd largest Muslim population in our country. We have Sikhs, Christians, Buddhists, Jains and people practicing other religions; everyone as much as an Indian as another! Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism took birth in our country! Such is the rich heritage that we have inherited.

All of these and much more! Such a great cultural diversity, mutual respect and tolerance is what makes the soul of India! Unity in diversity isn’t just our motto, it is our way of life!!

Pic Credit: http://thumbs.dreamstime.com

King Kallis – A royal farewell!

King Kallis retires from Test cricket!

Number 1 All Rounder of his era, Jacques Kallis has decided to retire from Test cricket. Ongoing Durban Test against India will be his 166th and his last. As with every farewell match, emotions are running high on this one and hence the retiring player’s performance can take the back seat. However, Kallis is not the one to let emotions get better of him. He scored a hallmark test century to make the opposition struggle for a draw!

Kallis has better batting average than Sachin Tendulkar, widely considered the best batsman of Modern era and bowling average at par with Jimmy and Zak, both world-class quick bowlers. It is no exaggeration when it is said that with Kallis in its side, Proteas played with 12 man team! Although I don’t want to compare the legends, I can’t help but say that Kallis was important to SA side than Sachin Tendulkar was to India and Ricky Ponting was to Australia. He never had the fervent following that likes of Tendulkar, Dravid, Ponting or Lara had but his performances and contributions to team were always on par with them.

Kallis can be compared to All Time Great Sir Sobers statistically as both were hugely successful all-rounders. Sir Sobers had batting average of 58 and bowling average of 34 while Kallis averaged 55 with bat and 33 with ball. Statistics apart, their style of play are polar opposites. With 13,289 test runs and 293 test scalps, Kallis has been instrumental in Proteas being one of the better Test teams. His retirement will affect SA bitter than Tendulkar’s/Dravid’s retirement has effected India.

Compared to Great Tendulkar’s retirement, Kallis retirement has been relatively silent. Also in deep contrast to BCCI which has distrubuted match passes to VIPs and left out the fans, CSA has given free entry to fans into Kingsmead for fifth day and welcomed fans to give King Kallis a royal farewell. The fans will oblige!!

After Lara, Dravid, Ponting and Tendulkar, Test cricket is set to lose another jewel in its crown. Let’s hope that it won’t cost Test cricket dearly.

Tribute or just a BCCI gimmick??

Sachin to decide his 200th Test venue

Looking at how much he has contributed to World Cricket in general and to Indian Cricket in specific, Sachin Tendulkar deserves any tribute one pays to him. And as Cricket’s regulator in India, BCCI decision to pay a never heard before tribute to this great man shouldn’t raise many eyebrows. So why is there a storm of controversy around BCCI’s latest decision?

Sachin Tendulkar is just two match away from the milestone 200th Test match. Although Tendulkar owns almost every known batting record, playing 200 test matches is no ordinary feat and has almost no practical possibility of being achieved again. Hence it would be of great pride for India to host its champion’s landmark test match. So why is the noise all around it?

India is scheduled to tour South Africa this December and Tendulkar is all set to play his 200th Test match there. Don’t know what has happened but West Indies tour of India has come on cards all of a sudden. The Caribbeans will be playing 3 ODI and 2 Test Matches in India from 31 October to 27 November. Now Tendulkar is expected to complete his 200 tests landmark in this series.

Sachin didn’t play his 100th Test Match in India and hence it will be a great opportunity for India to host the 200th Match for the sport’s true champion. After arranging a tournament in haste for him, BCCI further decided to leave the 200th match venue to Sachin Tendulkar himself. Wankhade is competing with iconic Eden Gardens to host the landmark test match. Both Eden and Wankhade are not eligible to host this series as per BCCI rotation policy. But Wankhade, on grounds of being the master’s home pitch, is fighting for the opportunity to host the match while Eden, on grounds of being India’s iconic stadium and master’s favorite hunting ground, is pitching equally strong for the oppurtunity. Leaving venue fixture choice to a player is never heard of before in world cricket.

Although there is no doubt that Tendulkar deserves more than anyone can offer, BCCI’s latest decisions are infuriating the cricket sport lovers. No player can be put above the sport irrespective of him being one of the sport’s greats. By arranging a tournament just to allow him complete his 200th test on home soil, BCCI has put him ahead of cricket itself. And now by offering the choice of venue to him, BCCI is denying to give the sport its due. But the question here is that has BCCI crossed limits just to honor this man or for its selfish propaganda?

No denying the fact that Tendulkar has been the golden goose for BCCI. Tendulkar name itself ensures that stadiums are packed to capacity and TRPs are spiked to max. Tendulkar has played a crucial role in shaping current India’s influence on Cricket while BCCI has successfully converted the popularity he brought to sport into money. As the story goes, the farmer kills the goose in greed of more gold. Is the BCCI doing the same with Sachin?

Looking at BCCI’s never quenching thirst to fill its treasury, one suspects that the main motivation behind West Indies tour is that BCCI plans to commercialize the landmark moment. With the buzz around it, 200th test match for Sachin will open a lot of commercial opportunities for BCCI and BCCI can’t let the moment pass of with minimal money-making opportunity in SA. This also explains SA disappointment over WI tour of India; they have lost the opportunity to cash on Sachin 200th test. Some also say that BCCI desperately wants to push the limelight it has currently found itself under to someone who can handle it. BCCI is lately associated to all wrong reasons and is losing it credibility with every passing day. Analysts say this is the reason the WI tour was brought on cards; to allow the buzz of Tendulkar playing 200th test on home soil take over the news and buzz over corruption at BCCI.

Sachin Tendulkar is a man who plays his cricket with lot of devotion and reverence. He wouldn’t like himself to be put over the sport and he wouldn’t have any personal choices of where to play his cricket. Although I have no clue if BCCI truly feels it has been paying proper tribute to the legend, I sincerely feel that its more of  gimmick than a tribute.

Related articles:

• BCCI to let Sachin Tendulkar choose venue for his 200th Test (sports.ndtv.com)
• Exlusive: Sachin Tendulkar and the burden of expectation (cricketbadger.com)
• BCCI ‘using’ Sachin Tendulkar to mint money? (ibnlive.in.com)

Justice Denied!!

Justice denied to Nirbhaya.

The verdict on the crime that has taken everyone by shock has now taken everyone by disappointment. The Juvenile accused in the Delhi Gang rape case is set to walk free in 2 years 3 months. The Juvenile board has awarded him the maximum punishment allowed under Juvenile Justice act.

The decision has come out as disappointment not only to Nirbhaya’s family members but also to the thousands who protested for Justice in Nirbhaya’ s case and to the millions who prayed for her. The accused has been disposed to a ‘place of safety’ at a reformatory home for three years which include the nine months he has already spent there. The decision  can be reviewed by Juvenile Justice Board based on his behavior.

Although the court found him guilty of most charges, it has acquitted him of few charges too. With the most important acquitted charge being attempt to murder the victim’s male friend, he was also acquitted from other charges like section 396 and section 397 .

This incident highlights the need for judicial reforms in our country. Most reports indicate that this juvenile had encouraged other convicts to gang rape the girl and also used the iron rod to fatally injure the girl. The standoff began with this juvenile passing lewd comments against the girl, enraging the girl and her male friend. It is of no denying that this juvenile had major part in the heinous crime against 23 year old Nirbhaya. The cops too had a tough time catching him as he kept on fleeing from one place to another to escape from long arm of law. The cops were surprised by his ability to hide that long even after his co-accused were nabbed with relative ease. This shows that the juvenile has shown maturity and street smartness as a criminal. And this criminal is going to walk free in 27 months from now.

Neither I have any clue on what basis this Juvenile law is framed nor any expertise to comment on topics like Law but the convict of a rape & murder walking free in 3 years doesn’t sound correct for me. Some reports say that one of the accused in Mumbai Gang rape case claims to be a juvenile. Will the justice be denied to this lady too?

Many countries have lower age limits for juveniles who commit heinous crimes like rape and man slaughter. India also needs to introduce such reforms to its juvenile justice to allow justice to be done to the victims and award full punishment to the guilty.