There was a time not so long ago when the world knew way too less about countries like Canada and Australia. It used to be a surprise moment if ever there used to be any news that would come out of these countries. I guess speaking of Australia, India as a nation knew only about picture perfect cricket grounds, Don Bradman, kangaroos and the likes.
As education became more and more expensive in the US and UK, and Canada being a small job market, Australia started to become a hot destination for young Indian students at the start of the 2000 decade. The mission of all young Indian students was off course to get the coveted Permanent Residency of Australia and eventually the Australian Passport.
The Australian government didn’t muck around and embraced young Indians with open arms. Australian immigration requirements were too easy for the Indian students to meet and both parties couldn’t have got a better deal. The Australian economy pocketed huge sums of money by full fee paying International students and the Australian job market got its much required taxi drivers, cooks, cleaners, etc. The young Indian students obviously loved the deal as hairdressing or a cookery course would have definitely not taken them anywhere back home.
The relaxed immigration laws also started bringing in some accounting and IT professionals into Australia and soon those Indian students were making their way into the professional job market. As compared to the scenario back in 2002-03, suddenly there were more and more Indians visible on the streets of Melbourne and Sydney. Although the immigration laws have toughened up a little bit but there are more and more Indians making their way to Australia.
The one thing that has certainly changed in the Australian job market is that the employers have a much wider choice these days when it comes to getting a better deal in an employer-employee scenario. They say the times are slowly going away when an employer used to find it hard to have his petrol station manned for the whole night or his taxi driven on a Easter weekend or Christmas eve. The migrant population is ever so hungry and they’ll take every opportunity available to earn that extra buck.
From the eyes of an average Australian, I see the whole scenario as a big problem. It is hard for them to believe that migrants turned Australians are changing the way of life in Australia and claiming their space in the mainstream. This all may sound naïve but the fact is that when Chinese New Year and Diwali celebrations start to be bigger than Christmas, it doesn’t sit well with an average Australian. The human nature is such that it is very possessive about its own turf and if there’s any threat to it, it leads the human mind on a dangerous path. To be fair to the Australians, no other nation likes it either. In India itself, forget international migration, we as a nation are intolerant of interstate migration.
Australia has a very recent history of immigrants and it will take time for the citizens of this nation to gain maturity on how to peacefully co-exist in this multicultural environment. In the meantime, there are more and more second generation kids of the migrant population who are gaining top positions at school, universities and at workplaces, and the Australians need to take the challenge head-on.
Wednesday, January 06, 2010
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Beijing Olympics mela - Phelps....you're a gun.
An incredible story hit Beijing Olympics mela in the form of Michael Phelps. An athlete who in his young age was diagnosed with Attention – Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) took up swimming to deal with his restless energy and got tremendous support from his sisters. Cut to 2008 – he has entered into the record books with a bang. He has won 8 medals at Beijing and smashed few world records of his own on the way. In total his tally is already at 14 gold medals discounting the two bronze medals he won at the Athens Olympics. Now, this is seriously incredible.
The above-mentioned incredible story is not just about an incredible athlete but also about an incredible sporting nation and that is USA. It is not surprising to note that the US of A leads the all time medals tally by bagging more than 2200 medals compared to the next best of Soviet Union trailing behind at 1000 odd medals.
I’ve been having numerous arguments over the last few weeks with my mates about why our nation (India) has won only a total of 18 medals in the history of Olympics and only 9 gold medals, here’s what they have in defence of our sportsmen:
1. India is a developing nation and doesn’t have too much money to spend on sports. Additionally, the average spend on sports spread across the population is miniscule.
2. Let’s face it that India doesn’t have the sporting talent and we should continually focus on what we do best, IT and the likes.
3. There is too much politics in the sports governing bodies.
4. Corporate houses like Cricket and no other support, which means more money for Tendulkar than say for Saina Nehwal (well you probably only know her because she came close to winning a medal in Badminton).
5. We can’t win medals unless we have foreign coaches.
My theory for all the arguments………….the above mentioned are nonsensical excuses. The following is my response to each one of them above:
1. China is a developing nation as well and leads this Olympic’s medals tally by already bagging 40 odd medals including 25 odd gold. It is not a matter of developing vs. developed but a matter of intent. China as a country wants to prove its prowess in every field and made its intent clear early that they will work every bit harder and put in any resource possible to take the top spot at the Olympic stage. To put few numbers in perspective, China spent approximately INR 84000 crores for organizing the Beijing Olympics in comparison to India which will approximately foot a bill of about INR 65000 crores to host the Commonwealth Games in 2010. So, clearly there is no lack of funds in the government coffers. Additionally, we as a nation are definitely in a better financial condition than some of the African, East European and South American countries who lead in front of us in the all time medals tally.
2. India has great sporting talent and as much as we should focus on our core competencies like IT, Engineering grads, etc, we shouldn’t ignore the formation of a sporting culture in our society. Sports are a career and as a parent one should see or explore the sporting talent in their kids and back them. Sports bring as much or more glory than being a high profile corporate at any organization. And mums…….let your kids play in the sun or in the rain, it makes them tough. And schools…..please provide some basic infrastructure for sports and not the likes of barren sand filled football fields (seriously, they were preparing us for some futuristic sport in our school).
3. Yes, there is too much politics in the sports governing bodies. I fail to understand that if BCCI, being a trust, and not being governed by any government body, can represent India as a nation, why does the Indian Olympic Committee or the Indian Hockey Federation need to be under government control. I am not suggesting BCCI as a perfect model as it is plagued by politics but it has certainly worked well for the players.
4. Corporate houses like to associate with success and it is as basic as that. They will associate with the T20 Indian cricket team who won the world cup but won’t associate with hockey or hockey players who didn’t qualify for the Olympics. Abhinav Bindra will get the sponsorship deals but not Samresh Jung.
5. We can win medals without foreign coaches and we have in the past. Only if our coaches were trained and equipped with modern techniques we would have more success than what we currently have. Indian coaches, majority of them get the job of a coach based on their experience and past accomplishments. Abhinav Bindra is already being asked for becoming a coach, now how stupid is that, he did won a gold but has a long way to go before he can “coach” people or rather I would assume so.
Monday, June 16, 2008
State Loyalties
Raj Thackeray recently vowed to kick North Indians out of Mumai/Maharashtra, HD Devegowda is supporting the thought of 30% reservation for the native Kannadigas in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu already has reservation for local Tamil population. The main reason behind all this madness……well no one is happy about the influx of people from various other Indian states into the more prosperous, urbane, opportunity struck cities like Bangalore, Mumbai, Chennai etc.
I’ve been reading about this and the most sad fact about the whole saga is that the youth of the nation has some very insane/childish thoughts on this topic. A bloke in Bangalore is just angry because North Indian people don’t want to learn Kannada but will insist on speaking in Hindi, and in another case, a person in Kolkatta is angry because it seems local customs and traditions are not valued by the non-bengali inter state immigrants.
I believe there are come contrasting points to look at the above mentioned situation:
a) The politicians are playing low-grade regional politics. The idea is to incite the frustration stored in the not so successful youth and use their pent up anger and frustration to stall the growth that is currently undertaking in urban India. The politicians have just one agenda and that is to sustain or regain power. Nonsensical politicians who are starved of ideas to keep their party alive plague Indian politics and igniting regional/communal politics is their last resort.
b) The unplanned growth in India has started to show its own problems. The state/central government are offenders of equal level as they have failed to provide basic infrastructure in smaller cities to enable industrial growth to happen there. Population moves where jobs move. A great example is Gurgaon which has turned into a haven for the service industry and now a big residential and commercial centre. It’s no more a case of a state being rich in natural resources or having favourable climatic conditions that will lead itself to prosperity. It’s about providing enough incentives and good infrastructure to lure global corporate to move next door. And, that is one of the more favourable solution for a equitable growth across the nation.
c) Infrastructure is shocking in some of the big Indian cities. Taking an example of Bangalore, it is a massacre on road during peak hours as the traffic barely moves and the public transport system is in shambles. It’s a fact that the big cities in India are facing a big influx but rather than creating a fuss about it, the government should be prepared to sustain this influx by all means. Remember, more the people: more collection for the state in taxes, more disposable income: more spending by people.
d) The last time I checked we in India were living in a democratic environment. We as Indians are proud of the Taj Mahal as much as we are proud of the Charminar or for that matter of the Khajuraho temples. Where does this thing about not respecting each others culture came about? India is known for its diversity and it seems it is at a larger risk than it ever was. So what if a North Indian doesn’t want to speak Kannada or doesn’t show up for the Durga Puja? Is your celebration going to be any smaller or is your life going to be altered in any sense? The culture carries on when it is imbibed by the young kids in the house, so go ahead and teach the kids the best of the religion and culture, and all the insecurities of the culture fading away will be gone.It is understandable that with the influx of people in certain cities, the cost of living including real estate prices have become astronomical. This again comes to the point of the unplanned growth that we as a nation are moving towards. A city like Hyderabad never loses power on any given day but the farmers in regional AP are committing suicide because of less power and water for their farms. Ask a young kid and he’ll have to thing twice to come up with the second largest city in Tamil Nadu or Karnataka. The government needs to work towards a sustainable growth across India with a focus on improving infrastructure and general living conditions.
I’ve been reading about this and the most sad fact about the whole saga is that the youth of the nation has some very insane/childish thoughts on this topic. A bloke in Bangalore is just angry because North Indian people don’t want to learn Kannada but will insist on speaking in Hindi, and in another case, a person in Kolkatta is angry because it seems local customs and traditions are not valued by the non-bengali inter state immigrants.
I believe there are come contrasting points to look at the above mentioned situation:
a) The politicians are playing low-grade regional politics. The idea is to incite the frustration stored in the not so successful youth and use their pent up anger and frustration to stall the growth that is currently undertaking in urban India. The politicians have just one agenda and that is to sustain or regain power. Nonsensical politicians who are starved of ideas to keep their party alive plague Indian politics and igniting regional/communal politics is their last resort.
b) The unplanned growth in India has started to show its own problems. The state/central government are offenders of equal level as they have failed to provide basic infrastructure in smaller cities to enable industrial growth to happen there. Population moves where jobs move. A great example is Gurgaon which has turned into a haven for the service industry and now a big residential and commercial centre. It’s no more a case of a state being rich in natural resources or having favourable climatic conditions that will lead itself to prosperity. It’s about providing enough incentives and good infrastructure to lure global corporate to move next door. And, that is one of the more favourable solution for a equitable growth across the nation.
c) Infrastructure is shocking in some of the big Indian cities. Taking an example of Bangalore, it is a massacre on road during peak hours as the traffic barely moves and the public transport system is in shambles. It’s a fact that the big cities in India are facing a big influx but rather than creating a fuss about it, the government should be prepared to sustain this influx by all means. Remember, more the people: more collection for the state in taxes, more disposable income: more spending by people.
d) The last time I checked we in India were living in a democratic environment. We as Indians are proud of the Taj Mahal as much as we are proud of the Charminar or for that matter of the Khajuraho temples. Where does this thing about not respecting each others culture came about? India is known for its diversity and it seems it is at a larger risk than it ever was. So what if a North Indian doesn’t want to speak Kannada or doesn’t show up for the Durga Puja? Is your celebration going to be any smaller or is your life going to be altered in any sense? The culture carries on when it is imbibed by the young kids in the house, so go ahead and teach the kids the best of the religion and culture, and all the insecurities of the culture fading away will be gone.It is understandable that with the influx of people in certain cities, the cost of living including real estate prices have become astronomical. This again comes to the point of the unplanned growth that we as a nation are moving towards. A city like Hyderabad never loses power on any given day but the farmers in regional AP are committing suicide because of less power and water for their farms. Ask a young kid and he’ll have to thing twice to come up with the second largest city in Tamil Nadu or Karnataka. The government needs to work towards a sustainable growth across India with a focus on improving infrastructure and general living conditions.
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Watch out for the Indian traveller
It has almost become a norm but I can’t help it. Every time I travel, be it domestically or internationally, I have my eyes open to look out for what people are upto. As much as I dislike getting on the plane, airports are the place I love to be at. I just love the hustle and bustle, love people rushing off to catch a flight, people getting pissed coz the flight is delayed, people going on vacation, kids going away from family, it is a place where you have all the emotions in world at display.
The close observations during my travel are also on the peculiar nature and characteristics of travellers from different nationalities. I’ve tried long and hard to pick up common characteristics among nationalities but I guess Indians are the only one’s which have a fair deal in common. Here are a few details:
1. The final goodbyes or the homecoming: Indian airports are by far the busiest airports I’ve seen not just filled with passengers but with people who come to drop-off or pick-up a near and dear one. Thank goodness non-passengers are charged an airport ticket if they want to get inside the airport.
2. Check-in at the airline counter: Yes, there are more airline people manning these lines than the actual passengers. You never know when the lines are broken. Believe me there are still people who walk straight to the counter ignoring the line.
3. Security check: Now, this has happened to me so many times. Even at Indian airports, clearly marked lines on the floor suggest people to wait for their turn before they go through the metal detector. You would not believe but if you wait there for the signal from the security guard to come through, there will be couple of people who’ll definitely slip past you and go through.
4. Immigration counter: Please fill out the form correctly and completely and if not then move aside and fill it. The blame goes to the Immigration officials as well on Indian airports as they just love to talk, even though the lines are getting bigger.
5. Flight boarding: What is the rush? If you’ve got a boarding pass and you are in the departure area, believe me, the flight is not leaving without taking you. Then why crush so many people on the way to try and get on the plane quickly. I can understand if it is a public compartment in train and you’re trying to get the best seat but on a plane……keeps me guessing. Maybe the fixed seat concept is a bit new. I remember being told by an Indian passenger on a near empty flight from Delhi to Jaipur to go look for other vacant seat at the back of the plane as he was not too interested to put his bag away from the seat originally allocated to me :)
6. Landing and Take-off: We love our cell phone, don’t we? I guess we love it more than anybody else in the world does and on top of that we love to call the whole world before the plane take-offs or as soon as it lands. On a flight from Hong Kong recently, an Indian lady was giving a step-by-step detail to a relative back home about her movement from the departure area following into her seat on the plane. How about a CCTV camera, I guess that would be better. And offcourse, we won’t switch off our phones unless the airhostess stands on our head and we will switch it on as soon as the plane lands on the tarmac. In addition, we just love to hit the washroom as soon as the seat belts signs come on, don’t we :)
7. In mid-air: We as Indians love to drink and we’ll go to any extent to grab a free drink. On a recent flight to Sydney, I was immersed in my sleep when I woke up listening to a tiff between an Indian passenger and the flight steward. Yes, it was about the alcohol. If you’re going to skull each time a drink is served to you and expect the steward to keep serving you, well excuse me but there are few hundred other passengers in the flight waiting to be served. Yes, you paid for the ticket and the service on board but you didn’t buy other people’s peace. Also, please have the balls to swear in English if you are that pissed with the service and not bitch about the whole thing with your mates in Hindi. I guess who wants to go to jail.
8. Indian immigration officials: As much as I didn’t want to write about this but I guess it is important for everyone to know. By the way being an Indian, I am pretty ashamed of this. On a recent visit to India, I presented my passport at the immigration counter and after looking at my passport curiously, the officer told me that the lamination on the main page is coming off slightly. I said fair enough, I’ll have that fixed from the passport office. Well, he wouldn’t let me go just that easily, he popped the question atleast 5-6 times, “toh kya karma hai iska aap batao? Problem ho jaayegi aapko jab aap waapis jaaoge” (short and sweet, he was asking me to come aside and give him some money and he’ll ignore the passport issue). This wasn’t my first brush with corrupt officials but I am deeply saddened to see the rampant spread of it.
The close observations during my travel are also on the peculiar nature and characteristics of travellers from different nationalities. I’ve tried long and hard to pick up common characteristics among nationalities but I guess Indians are the only one’s which have a fair deal in common. Here are a few details:
1. The final goodbyes or the homecoming: Indian airports are by far the busiest airports I’ve seen not just filled with passengers but with people who come to drop-off or pick-up a near and dear one. Thank goodness non-passengers are charged an airport ticket if they want to get inside the airport.
2. Check-in at the airline counter: Yes, there are more airline people manning these lines than the actual passengers. You never know when the lines are broken. Believe me there are still people who walk straight to the counter ignoring the line.
3. Security check: Now, this has happened to me so many times. Even at Indian airports, clearly marked lines on the floor suggest people to wait for their turn before they go through the metal detector. You would not believe but if you wait there for the signal from the security guard to come through, there will be couple of people who’ll definitely slip past you and go through.
4. Immigration counter: Please fill out the form correctly and completely and if not then move aside and fill it. The blame goes to the Immigration officials as well on Indian airports as they just love to talk, even though the lines are getting bigger.
5. Flight boarding: What is the rush? If you’ve got a boarding pass and you are in the departure area, believe me, the flight is not leaving without taking you. Then why crush so many people on the way to try and get on the plane quickly. I can understand if it is a public compartment in train and you’re trying to get the best seat but on a plane……keeps me guessing. Maybe the fixed seat concept is a bit new. I remember being told by an Indian passenger on a near empty flight from Delhi to Jaipur to go look for other vacant seat at the back of the plane as he was not too interested to put his bag away from the seat originally allocated to me :)
6. Landing and Take-off: We love our cell phone, don’t we? I guess we love it more than anybody else in the world does and on top of that we love to call the whole world before the plane take-offs or as soon as it lands. On a flight from Hong Kong recently, an Indian lady was giving a step-by-step detail to a relative back home about her movement from the departure area following into her seat on the plane. How about a CCTV camera, I guess that would be better. And offcourse, we won’t switch off our phones unless the airhostess stands on our head and we will switch it on as soon as the plane lands on the tarmac. In addition, we just love to hit the washroom as soon as the seat belts signs come on, don’t we :)
7. In mid-air: We as Indians love to drink and we’ll go to any extent to grab a free drink. On a recent flight to Sydney, I was immersed in my sleep when I woke up listening to a tiff between an Indian passenger and the flight steward. Yes, it was about the alcohol. If you’re going to skull each time a drink is served to you and expect the steward to keep serving you, well excuse me but there are few hundred other passengers in the flight waiting to be served. Yes, you paid for the ticket and the service on board but you didn’t buy other people’s peace. Also, please have the balls to swear in English if you are that pissed with the service and not bitch about the whole thing with your mates in Hindi. I guess who wants to go to jail.
8. Indian immigration officials: As much as I didn’t want to write about this but I guess it is important for everyone to know. By the way being an Indian, I am pretty ashamed of this. On a recent visit to India, I presented my passport at the immigration counter and after looking at my passport curiously, the officer told me that the lamination on the main page is coming off slightly. I said fair enough, I’ll have that fixed from the passport office. Well, he wouldn’t let me go just that easily, he popped the question atleast 5-6 times, “toh kya karma hai iska aap batao? Problem ho jaayegi aapko jab aap waapis jaaoge” (short and sweet, he was asking me to come aside and give him some money and he’ll ignore the passport issue). This wasn’t my first brush with corrupt officials but I am deeply saddened to see the rampant spread of it.
Wednesday, January 02, 2008
Boxing Day Test Match…………Aussies pack a punch
I know it’s a bit late and there’s no point taking skeletons out of the closet but can’t help writing this. It was a déjà vu feeling going into the MCG on Boxing Day (26th December) this year and no surprises as I witnessed the Boxing Day test match between India and Australia at the same venue back in 2003. Things did change drastically over these four years with the MCG getting a facelift and the Australian cricket team not having the likes of Gillespie, Warne, Langer in the playing eleven this summer.
Instead of the all five days of the test match I restricted myself to only the first day of cricket, almost sensing a shoddy performance from the Indian team. The first day started well with a terrific battle between bat and ball. Zaheer Khan swung the ball either ways and had the opening pair of Jaques and Hayden in all sorts of trouble but the Aussies did what they know best, attack. If it hadn’t been the experience of Kumble Australia were looking to post a total of 500 plus but the day ended with the Aussies nine wickets down for 340 odd runs. Taking back the train home that evening all I could think was, “what a fight back by India”, with the Aussies scoring 111 runs for no wickets till lunch, Indians came back and claimed nine wickets in the last two sessions. What happened in the next four days is a shame and a pain to write about.
It is not funny when they say, history repeats itself. Back in 2003 the Indian team started day one of the Boxing day test flying high with Sehwag scoring a blazing 195 runs. What happened in the next four days was no different than in 2007. Enough has been written in the press about technique, under preparation, strategy, etc of the Indian team going into the test match which eventually led to their failure. What about the millions of dollars earned by BCCI, salaries to BCCI officials and coaches, contract money to players??? If we expect the team to perform, is that a crime? Where is the bloody accountability? “Every time we go out there, we try to perform at our best”…..this bullshit shouldn’t be accepted anymore.
I got a bit lucky this time or call it my intuitive best that I bought (for AUD $35) tickets to watch only the first day of cricket unlike in 2003 wherein I bought for all five days. The point I am making here is that we as Indian cricket team supporters are spending all this money and time to watch a bunch of players who lack not only intent but skills to compete at this level. How can you justify presence of a player like Dravid who hasn’t played a noticeable innings in past 1 year or for that matter Wasim Jaffer who is best at scoring runs on placid pitches.
Don’t fool the common people by winning a stupid competition like a Twenty20 world cup and declaring yourself as world champion. Play consistent and entertaining cricket and then no matter if the team loses or wins, fans will surely support them across the world. For the moment, I’ve taken a vow not to spend money to go see a cricket match involving Indian cricket team. And what to say about the Aussie team…..you guys deserve to be the world champions.
Instead of the all five days of the test match I restricted myself to only the first day of cricket, almost sensing a shoddy performance from the Indian team. The first day started well with a terrific battle between bat and ball. Zaheer Khan swung the ball either ways and had the opening pair of Jaques and Hayden in all sorts of trouble but the Aussies did what they know best, attack. If it hadn’t been the experience of Kumble Australia were looking to post a total of 500 plus but the day ended with the Aussies nine wickets down for 340 odd runs. Taking back the train home that evening all I could think was, “what a fight back by India”, with the Aussies scoring 111 runs for no wickets till lunch, Indians came back and claimed nine wickets in the last two sessions. What happened in the next four days is a shame and a pain to write about.
It is not funny when they say, history repeats itself. Back in 2003 the Indian team started day one of the Boxing day test flying high with Sehwag scoring a blazing 195 runs. What happened in the next four days was no different than in 2007. Enough has been written in the press about technique, under preparation, strategy, etc of the Indian team going into the test match which eventually led to their failure. What about the millions of dollars earned by BCCI, salaries to BCCI officials and coaches, contract money to players??? If we expect the team to perform, is that a crime? Where is the bloody accountability? “Every time we go out there, we try to perform at our best”…..this bullshit shouldn’t be accepted anymore.
I got a bit lucky this time or call it my intuitive best that I bought (for AUD $35) tickets to watch only the first day of cricket unlike in 2003 wherein I bought for all five days. The point I am making here is that we as Indian cricket team supporters are spending all this money and time to watch a bunch of players who lack not only intent but skills to compete at this level. How can you justify presence of a player like Dravid who hasn’t played a noticeable innings in past 1 year or for that matter Wasim Jaffer who is best at scoring runs on placid pitches.
Don’t fool the common people by winning a stupid competition like a Twenty20 world cup and declaring yourself as world champion. Play consistent and entertaining cricket and then no matter if the team loses or wins, fans will surely support them across the world. For the moment, I’ve taken a vow not to spend money to go see a cricket match involving Indian cricket team. And what to say about the Aussie team…..you guys deserve to be the world champions.
Monday, April 16, 2007
In the Line of Humor
One person will be mourning the death of Sidney Sheldon, who died this year, more than anyone else in the world and that is none other than the Pakistani Military ruler General Pervez Musharraff. I mean come on where will he get any more ideas and inspiration to come close to his first literary venture, “In the Line of Honor”.
I read the whole book sitting uncomfortably in one of the bookstore on my two consecutive weekend trips. The book read was more out of curiosity per se’ than my endorsement to the literary talents or thoughts of Mr. Musharraff. Now before you think that I am going to slam the facts and thought presented in the book all through this write-up, I really have no intention of doing that. I loved reading the book but for different reasons and have mixed reactions towards it, the following are some:
General Musharraff (– the person) – The first few sections of the book talks about the childhood of Musharraff and revolves around his education in Turkey and in Pakistan. There are few sections which also talks about his entry in the Pakistan Military Academy and his rise within the military ranks. Although you get a high dose of self indulgence by the author, one has to give credit to the man for what he has achieved. Pakistan have had its share of devious politicians, corruption embedded in its government machinery (including military), religious extremism etc but to grow up from humble backgrounds to the stature of being the President of the country, you got to give some credit to the man, i.e. Musharraff.
Musharraff – the reformer – Pakistan does look like a different country today than it was ever before and there is no denying to that fact. Musharraff has been spot on in marketing his country on the world stage. A country which was on the verge of being declared as a rogue state has been able to bounce back and on the recovery. He has managed well to keep religious extremism at bay and had gone the moderate way on empowering women, initiating infrastructure development projects, reforming madrassas etc. The book has details about many other reforms which he has promoted, which more looks like items right from his resume, the ground reality of many is definitely in question.
Facts of wars – So here’s how it goes…….1965, 1971, Kargil conflict……the reason for the wars…..India’s aggressive attitude and its attack on Pakistani soil. Offcourse this is the Pakistani version of things as narrated by Musharraff and I am pretty sure we as Indians have an altogether different story to tell. Do you and I know the truth??…..I don’t think so. The military buildup around the Indo-Pak border is always heavy and the intensity of the situation, who gets on the offensive first, who got maximum casualty, this all will always have a different version dependent on whether you are Pakistani or Indian. It is for sure that we don’t and won’t ever get the full story.
Story of assassination attempts – I am just guessing who will be first, Vikram Bhatt or Sanjay Gupta, to read the book and utilize the assassination plots from the book into their movies. I bet they don’t even have to twist dialogues around. The events as narrated in the book are exhilarating and edgy. Take for instance a situation, a plane carrying Musharraff and his wife which has fuel worth only a few flying minutes left is refused to land in Pakistan and how the Pakistani military gains control on ground and stage a coup d'état and save their future President by getting the plane land just in time. He is definitely in the line of fire.
Lashing out on India – I think being the President of Pakistan this is part of his job role. He didn’t leave any opportunity in the book to talk ill about India. One of the things I do remember from the book and he mentions that post the failure of the Agra Summit, he was not allowed to speak to the press and he claims what sort of a free country is this where people’s questions are remained answered. Well whatever may be the reasons for not letting Musharraff speak to the media, the Indian government definitely didn’t wanted him to gain any ground by presenting his side of the story…..I guess fair enough. Just on the question of freedom of press and the people’s freedom of choice, we certainly know that very recently a Pakistani media company people were physically abused by the govt. for capturing the police brutality during the protests against firing of Pakistani Chief Justice.
Pakistan and US – Pakistan is a fragile country and no one knows this better than the US. All culprits of the 9/11 event had some or the other links to Pakistan. The US is stuffing money into Pakistan to keep their footing there and monitor things on their own. In a sense the US is making things easy for Musharraff as well by keeping a check on religious extremists and pro-Taliban groups who are definitely a big threat for Musharraff.
His future role and future of Pakistan – He talks about a lot of stuff he wants to do but who knows what is in store for Pakistan. Musharraff has no guarantee that he will stay on the job. There have been many assassination attempts and who knows his luck may run out sooner than he thinks. Pakistan has a troubled history when it comes to politics and the agenda of the whole nation seems to change as soon as a new group comes to power. It would be really foolish to predict where Pakistan is headed....let's just wait and watch.
I read the whole book sitting uncomfortably in one of the bookstore on my two consecutive weekend trips. The book read was more out of curiosity per se’ than my endorsement to the literary talents or thoughts of Mr. Musharraff. Now before you think that I am going to slam the facts and thought presented in the book all through this write-up, I really have no intention of doing that. I loved reading the book but for different reasons and have mixed reactions towards it, the following are some:
General Musharraff (– the person) – The first few sections of the book talks about the childhood of Musharraff and revolves around his education in Turkey and in Pakistan. There are few sections which also talks about his entry in the Pakistan Military Academy and his rise within the military ranks. Although you get a high dose of self indulgence by the author, one has to give credit to the man for what he has achieved. Pakistan have had its share of devious politicians, corruption embedded in its government machinery (including military), religious extremism etc but to grow up from humble backgrounds to the stature of being the President of the country, you got to give some credit to the man, i.e. Musharraff.
Musharraff – the reformer – Pakistan does look like a different country today than it was ever before and there is no denying to that fact. Musharraff has been spot on in marketing his country on the world stage. A country which was on the verge of being declared as a rogue state has been able to bounce back and on the recovery. He has managed well to keep religious extremism at bay and had gone the moderate way on empowering women, initiating infrastructure development projects, reforming madrassas etc. The book has details about many other reforms which he has promoted, which more looks like items right from his resume, the ground reality of many is definitely in question.
Facts of wars – So here’s how it goes…….1965, 1971, Kargil conflict……the reason for the wars…..India’s aggressive attitude and its attack on Pakistani soil. Offcourse this is the Pakistani version of things as narrated by Musharraff and I am pretty sure we as Indians have an altogether different story to tell. Do you and I know the truth??…..I don’t think so. The military buildup around the Indo-Pak border is always heavy and the intensity of the situation, who gets on the offensive first, who got maximum casualty, this all will always have a different version dependent on whether you are Pakistani or Indian. It is for sure that we don’t and won’t ever get the full story.
Story of assassination attempts – I am just guessing who will be first, Vikram Bhatt or Sanjay Gupta, to read the book and utilize the assassination plots from the book into their movies. I bet they don’t even have to twist dialogues around. The events as narrated in the book are exhilarating and edgy. Take for instance a situation, a plane carrying Musharraff and his wife which has fuel worth only a few flying minutes left is refused to land in Pakistan and how the Pakistani military gains control on ground and stage a coup d'état and save their future President by getting the plane land just in time. He is definitely in the line of fire.
Lashing out on India – I think being the President of Pakistan this is part of his job role. He didn’t leave any opportunity in the book to talk ill about India. One of the things I do remember from the book and he mentions that post the failure of the Agra Summit, he was not allowed to speak to the press and he claims what sort of a free country is this where people’s questions are remained answered. Well whatever may be the reasons for not letting Musharraff speak to the media, the Indian government definitely didn’t wanted him to gain any ground by presenting his side of the story…..I guess fair enough. Just on the question of freedom of press and the people’s freedom of choice, we certainly know that very recently a Pakistani media company people were physically abused by the govt. for capturing the police brutality during the protests against firing of Pakistani Chief Justice.
Pakistan and US – Pakistan is a fragile country and no one knows this better than the US. All culprits of the 9/11 event had some or the other links to Pakistan. The US is stuffing money into Pakistan to keep their footing there and monitor things on their own. In a sense the US is making things easy for Musharraff as well by keeping a check on religious extremists and pro-Taliban groups who are definitely a big threat for Musharraff.
His future role and future of Pakistan – He talks about a lot of stuff he wants to do but who knows what is in store for Pakistan. Musharraff has no guarantee that he will stay on the job. There have been many assassination attempts and who knows his luck may run out sooner than he thinks. Pakistan has a troubled history when it comes to politics and the agenda of the whole nation seems to change as soon as a new group comes to power. It would be really foolish to predict where Pakistan is headed....let's just wait and watch.
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Australian Cricket marches on……..are u watching Mr. Gavaskar?
It has been a perfect start to the ICC cricket mela (World Cup’07) barring the death of Bob Woolmer; a glittering opening ceremony, a splendid run in the tournament for the host nation and a war of words between two of cricket’s many great avtaars. Here are the views of Sunil Gavaskar followed by the responses of Ricky Ponting:
Gavaskar: “There is not the slightest doubt that in the last decade or so the Aussies have been awesome in batting, bowling and fielding which has taken them to the top of the cricketing ladder in both Test and limited overs cricket.
But they have also been awful in the way they have sometimes behaved on the field much to the chagrin of the traditional fans of the game,"
Ponting: "For him to go on about behavior, not too many captains have dragged their teams off the field, either," Ponting said. "I don't mind if 'Mr. Perfect' comes out and goes on about our team; I know we are all not perfect. We are not going to keep everyone happy 100% of the time. But for some of these guys that have done it all themselves, it's pretty high and mighty for them to say that."
I have no reservations in admitting that I am a big admirer of Australian Cricket but I agree to Gavaskar’s comment to only a certain extent.
The Australian Cricket team has been a force for more than a decade now and no team has come close to put up a reasonable challenge to them. The fact is not that the other teams are not trying hard or playing better or maybe their cricket standards going down, it’s just that Australian team have had the fortune of fielding together some players like Warne, McGrath, Gilchrist, Ponting etc who are amongst the best the game has ever seen.
The Australians play aggressive cricket and play at a standard which does not differ irrespective of the opponent they are up against.
Aggressiveness is a trait quite handy for succeeding and Australian Cricket team is no exception. They play tough cricket and deserve all they have achieved. So if Mr. Gavaskar thinks that Ponting has a big mouth, well too bad Mr. Gavaskar but Ponting has every right to promote his team players and be aggressive. His team performs in difficult circumstances and in most cases he leads the charge.
Good humored banter is acceptable but sledging has no place in a sport like cricket. There is no denying that numerous cases have been witnessed where Australian Cricketers have been seen sledging on the field. Some of the famous incidents include the McGrath – Sarwan tiff in a match. But things have changed over the past few years as Cricket Australia (governing body) has come out with clear guidelines for its players and how their behavior should be on the playing field. There has been a drastic change seen in on field behavior since then.
The point here is that the on-field umpires are the best equipped people on the field to notice any sledging and report to the match officials and noticeably records don’t show too many Australian Cricketers being punished for sledging. Does that mean the umpires are not doing their job or the players’ talk is not considered as serious as sledging? I will go with the latter one placing full confidence in the abilities of the umpires.
Allan Border rightly points out “Cricket is a global sport in which different cultures lock horns out in the middle. Only the nuances of the game may vary from country to country”. What might be a light humored statement for people from a particular culture might turn out to be an offensive statement for the other. Each sportsman is gutting it out in the middle and emotionally charged and in the heat of the moment anything coming out of anyone’s mind is quite a possibility. In person it’s quite certain they are a different individual altogether.
I think Sunil Gavaskar should help fix things in team India (if he can work around his inflated ego) rather than engaging in mudslinging with Ponting so that we have something to talk about whenever encountering an Australian Cricket enthusiast. I mean for god sake look at the disgusting performance of the Indian cricket team. And yeah……I am rooting for the Australian Cricket team to take the Cricket World Cup.
Gavaskar: “There is not the slightest doubt that in the last decade or so the Aussies have been awesome in batting, bowling and fielding which has taken them to the top of the cricketing ladder in both Test and limited overs cricket.
But they have also been awful in the way they have sometimes behaved on the field much to the chagrin of the traditional fans of the game,"
Ponting: "For him to go on about behavior, not too many captains have dragged their teams off the field, either," Ponting said. "I don't mind if 'Mr. Perfect' comes out and goes on about our team; I know we are all not perfect. We are not going to keep everyone happy 100% of the time. But for some of these guys that have done it all themselves, it's pretty high and mighty for them to say that."
I have no reservations in admitting that I am a big admirer of Australian Cricket but I agree to Gavaskar’s comment to only a certain extent.
The Australian Cricket team has been a force for more than a decade now and no team has come close to put up a reasonable challenge to them. The fact is not that the other teams are not trying hard or playing better or maybe their cricket standards going down, it’s just that Australian team have had the fortune of fielding together some players like Warne, McGrath, Gilchrist, Ponting etc who are amongst the best the game has ever seen.
The Australians play aggressive cricket and play at a standard which does not differ irrespective of the opponent they are up against.
Aggressiveness is a trait quite handy for succeeding and Australian Cricket team is no exception. They play tough cricket and deserve all they have achieved. So if Mr. Gavaskar thinks that Ponting has a big mouth, well too bad Mr. Gavaskar but Ponting has every right to promote his team players and be aggressive. His team performs in difficult circumstances and in most cases he leads the charge.
Good humored banter is acceptable but sledging has no place in a sport like cricket. There is no denying that numerous cases have been witnessed where Australian Cricketers have been seen sledging on the field. Some of the famous incidents include the McGrath – Sarwan tiff in a match. But things have changed over the past few years as Cricket Australia (governing body) has come out with clear guidelines for its players and how their behavior should be on the playing field. There has been a drastic change seen in on field behavior since then.
The point here is that the on-field umpires are the best equipped people on the field to notice any sledging and report to the match officials and noticeably records don’t show too many Australian Cricketers being punished for sledging. Does that mean the umpires are not doing their job or the players’ talk is not considered as serious as sledging? I will go with the latter one placing full confidence in the abilities of the umpires.
Allan Border rightly points out “Cricket is a global sport in which different cultures lock horns out in the middle. Only the nuances of the game may vary from country to country”. What might be a light humored statement for people from a particular culture might turn out to be an offensive statement for the other. Each sportsman is gutting it out in the middle and emotionally charged and in the heat of the moment anything coming out of anyone’s mind is quite a possibility. In person it’s quite certain they are a different individual altogether.
I think Sunil Gavaskar should help fix things in team India (if he can work around his inflated ego) rather than engaging in mudslinging with Ponting so that we have something to talk about whenever encountering an Australian Cricket enthusiast. I mean for god sake look at the disgusting performance of the Indian cricket team. And yeah……I am rooting for the Australian Cricket team to take the Cricket World Cup.
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