Religious Gullibility

This is the age of 3G technologies, and age of higher per-capita income plus the age of Economic reforms, Satellite phones etc etc, Also this is the age of a rogue Sadhu sitting with his knees on top of the body of a 10 day old infant, trying to bless him in front of 1000 odd people. This is India where people have have made rapid technological strides but still far behind in religious beliefs.

The Scene I am talking about is of a place called Raebareli, more popular because of our former prime minister Indira Gandhi's constituency. Much to the regret I also stayed there for about 6 years while I was a kid. The above mentioned scene was aired on India TV yesterday under the banner of BREAKING NEWS. This jolted me out of my morning stupor. This is one of the many incidents that often reminds me how gullible we are when it comes to religion. I have been scratching my head ever since trying to figure out as to why in this earth would any one let this happen to his / her kid and then why 1000 odd people will sit and clap when all this absurdity was happening. I do not think that one needs to be educated to understand that if someone weighing around about 90-100kgs puts his knees on a kid of about 3-4 kgs it will only harm the kid. Is this what we call "Improvement in Quality of life"???? Are these incidents happening because of blindness in religion or because of poverty????

Religions may extol the virtues of poverty and convince the poor that they are the blessed ones to to tread this earth. Looking at the ground realities and the pitiless plight of the poor, one cant help coming to the conclusion that poverty is a curse and the poor are the most vulnerable creatures of this world. Man with his intelligence, ingenuity and intuition has conquered space and put his foot on the Mars; but the powers at his command have miserably failed to obliterate the taunting and teasing traces of poverty that continue to afflict vast areas of the Globe. Gifted with copious capabilities, Man has failed to to deliver the goods so far as the scourge of poverty is concerned. His scintillating successes in varied walks of life pale into significance when he finds himself confronting poverty on a massive scale. His role to improve the lot of poor across the length and breadth of this planet is a palpable proof of his failure as an earnest agent of poverty alleviation. The existence of pounding poverty mocks at man's intentions and actions.

With this writting I want to convey the message to the Indian people that we have a lot of ground to cover to call oursleves an advanced Nation and if we continue to be a mere spectator then something is going to get lost very soon.

Sambhal jaa Hosh mein aao, aai Hindustaan waalon;
Na Jaage to daastaan bhi na hogi tumhari daastanon mein........

Sachin Sourav & Success......

The belief in religion is back amongst the Indians. Yes, Cricket is like a religion in India and it is back with a bang. Two of the Gods have started to bless the billions with their sword and the smiles in the street of India has started to glitter like a 24 carrat gold.

Just 2 months back we were annihilated, dusted and looking down the barrel. Eyebrows and questions were raised in every street. The decibel level reached unprecedented height and it rocked our parliament. Greg Chappel became the topic of National interest. I am dead sure he would not have got this name and fame even at that time when he asked his brother Trevor to deliver an underarm ball to stop the kiwis from winning a one day international.

Things have changed upside down in a span of 2 months. Sachin has re discovered his midas touch, Bengal tiger has started roaring, The Wall looks firm and the barbarain is cutting everything into pieces with his majestic sword. WELCOME to Indian Cricket.

While everything was going on I was having a sense of dejavu of some earlier important cricket events. We were riding on the crest of success wave and then came back falling when adversity struck.

I am also hoping like others that we do well and bring back the cup of glory to India. For that, more than anything I think we should play like a team who enjoys each others success, like a team who just fails to understand what loosing means. I am also hoping that Irfaan gets his inswinger back and Viru starts understanding that the bolwers too have talent and they are also trying to get him out.

I have always agreed with Geoffery Bycott that cricket is also played in the area between the two ears. That is the place where most of the battles are won or lost. Sourav has proved that it is impossible to achieve anything for a man possessed. His body language clearly suggest how much he has missed not being a part of the family where he was a king. I think he has changed the whole attitude of this Indian team. He is mentally so strong that he just lifts the whole team. The famous Kolkata win against the Aussies does not entirely belong to the effort of Laxman and Dravid, its because of Dada's attitude also that we stopped the Aussie Juggernaut.I will not be surprised if he carries this Indian team to the world Cup glory. Lets wish and pray for that.

Sachin's tale is a bit intriguing to me. For me he is trying to make people understand that he has played the Actor role and now its his turn to play a character role like Big B. I am not convinced though, cuz Big B started playing character role after he reached an age of 45-50. Moreover, his idol Sir Vivian Richards never played a character role in his life, he was always an actor and he finished his career as an actor at the age of 37-38. I am an ardent fan of Sachin and absolutely adore him for what he has done to Indian cricket. I am just not convinced about his attitude towards the game off late. I have no inhibitions in saying that he had some contribution in our loss of the last test in South Africa. He made Paul Harris look like a Bishan Bedi or for that matter a Derek Underwood. I was praying that someone goes and reminds him that it was not very long back he was hitting Shane Warne over Mid-wicket for six after six on a equally docile pitch if not more. Is Harris greater than Warne....Seems I am also ageing. And by the way, When was the last time anyone saw Sachin dancing down the track and hitting a Spinner over long on/off for a six...???