tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-80532780393260360572024-03-16T12:50:12.862+05:30Sparshएक बूँद सहसा उछल जाती है, और रुके हुए पानी में गतिमान तरंग बनती हैं.. एक ऐसा ही प्रयास है यह....Rural Managerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13989493748592571548noreply@blogger.comBlogger609125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8053278039326036057.post-178050145409213052023-08-17T20:18:00.012+05:302023-09-01T13:21:35.492+05:30New face of Indian Cricket - 5<div style="text-align: justify;">This blog doesn't often dabble in technical cricket analysis, because my credentials in the field of technical cricket analysis are somewhat lacking. And, I am writing this blog post in a series of posts 7 years after the <a href="https://yayaver.blogspot.com/2016/11/new-face-of-indian-cricket-4.html" target="_blank">New face of Indian Cricket - 4</a>. The Indian cricket team is on the verge of playing the ODI World Cup, the Test series with England, and then the T20 World Cup,</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">What lies ahead for India as their Test /ODI/T20 side enters a transitional phase? Indian team under Rohit and Dravid has been into a spiral loop of learning in every series and every game. Winning is a habit, as England discovered on their march to the summit, and confidence begets confidence along the way. Losing for the sake of learning, on the other hand, tends to become known simply as losing as the team gets too used to the feeling.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Test Team:</b> Retirement is a natural conclusion to a sportsman’s career, even if occasionally the inevitable is delayed. Rohit, Virat, Che Pujara, and Ajinkya Rahane are perhaps at the fag end of his career in the batting. Shreyas Iyer will be VVS for the future test team, playing at 5 & competing with Sarfaraz Khan for the spot. Poor XI selection in the test matches and Dust Bowl pitches in India have also expedited the process of the bad patch of batters. Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli both averaged 29.69 in Test cricket since the start of 2020. Yet, while the former has been dropped, the latter continues holding onto his spot. <span style="text-align: left;">This is the time to blood new talent Abhimanyu Easwaran, and Sarfaraz Khan and give prolonged chances to Shreyas Iyer, Shubman Gill, and Yashasvi Jaiswal. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div><span style="text-align: justify;">The real strength of the Indian bowling attack is the ability to take 20 wickets with fantastic spin all-rounders and genuine fast bowlers. Five-bowler theory has been working in abroad tours as there is a reliable batting line-up against good teams. Ashwin and Jadeja are allrounders in the legacy of Kapil Dev & Vinoo Mankad. New bowlers like Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, and Saurabh Kumar will be hopeful to carry on this legacy shortly. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div><br /></div><div>It's difficult enough to solve problems in Test-match cricket, but infinitely more challenging when the existence of those problems is never acknowledged. India is producing sub-standard cricket pitches for the test matches, and they are alien to our own cricketers as well. This is not because they never get a chance to play much domestic first-class cricket but because the standard of pitches in the Ranji trophy is much better than test match pitches in India. This legacy from Kohli-Shahstri & Rohit-Dravid has to be discarded as the substandard pitches also nullify the strength of the Indian spin attack. Lower order has bailed out in Indian conditions but SENA countries require batsmen to play out of their skin to win games. </div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>ODI Team:</b> Dhoni and Kirsten had a clear frame of mind and hardly experimented in the lead-up to the 2011 World Cup. Everything was built with core players forming a cohesive unit and sorting out their positions over time. The anti-thesis of 2011 is currently been practiced for the 2023 World Cup. Rahul Dravid and Rohit have kept on experimenting which has led to an unsettled squad leading lack of cohesion in the team much needed to win games under challenging situations. There has been too much rotation of the players from the ODI squad. With this strategy, mistakes spill over & have a domino effect. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">India has been a very very ordinary limited-overs side for some time now. The chances of winning the ODI World Cup seem bleak as of now. This is the time to rebuild the core batting and bowling group of 15-18 players by making tough decisions. Rahul Dravid has turned out to be a disappointment as a senior team coach and must be shown outside. Fitness, endurance, intensity, and skill are the four pillars of cricket. And, the fitness of Captain Rohit Sharma is fragile in nature. The pragmatism of the separate ODI captain must reflect the realities of the hectic schedule of world cricket. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Individuals facing injury and declining form are normal, but the shocking thing is there are no backups remotely ready for the batting positions 4 and 5. Even then, the main problem is not the team composition but the lack of match time together. Hoping to create a team worth talking about!</div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>T20 Team: </b>Top-order conservatism in T20s is a high-risk strategy. At its best, it reduces the game for your batting unit from a 20-over match to a 14-over one, ensuring that even if you don't win many games in the batting powerplay. The ability to design and implement a strategy was ranked as the top perceived risk. And, a reasonable strike rate from the beginning is the only way to counter the planning and tempo of opposition bowlers. Loss should neither be accepted with a phlegmatic shrug nor should low-risk low-reward cricket. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">When it comes to executing strategy, the old saying "the devil is in the details" holds true for many professional human resources setup that identifies performers through the risk-reward process. There should be a reward for good work and backup for the odd initiative gone awry. No player, not even Captain Hardik has to play the role of the grafter and stick to the part of the adventure cricket. Ravi Bishnoi and Kuldeep Yadav be playing faster T20 World Cup in 2024. India will need a fresh set of bowlers with X-factor and a lot of potential. Avesh Khan, Umar Malik, Arshdeep Singh, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Tilak Varma, Sai Sudharsan, and Jitesh Sharma are the future stars.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The new impact player substitution is a dangerous idea that has exacerbated the tendency to play with specialist bowlers/batsmen. And, further eroding the growth of the Indian allrounders in IPL. Too much IPL without exposure to international T20/T10 leagues will always come to hurt India. Young prospects in the wings can't be confined due to the exclusivity of IPL. Giving exposure to future superstars among these emerging talents is always an intriguing task.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div>Enduring great teams prosper not because of a single great leader, but because they can consistently produce great performances from within the team. Great teams become pioneers in producing match-winning performances. Let us hope for better cricket from Team India. </div></div></div>Rural Managerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13989493748592571548noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8053278039326036057.post-79895758381103644622022-07-15T10:24:00.005+05:302022-07-15T10:24:33.283+05:30On TyrannyNow is a good time to re-read Tim Snyder's observations and advice in <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0804190119/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0804190119&linkCode=as2&tag=danlithompag-20&linkId=0a32ae3342b22b7cc3e6c0a288c67a4f">On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century</a>. Here are observations from On Tyranny that seem especially pertinent.<br /><br />1. Do not obey in advance. Most of the power of authoritarianism is freely given. In times like these, individuals think ahead about what a more repressive government will want, and then offer themselves without being asked. A citizen who adapts in this way is teaching power what it can do. <br /><br />2. Defend institutions. It is institutions that help us to preserve decency. They need our help as well. Do not speak of “our institutions” unless you make them yours by acting on their behalf. Institutions do not protect themselves. They fall one after the other unless each is defended from the beginning. So choose an institution you care about—a court, a newspaper, a law, a labor union—and take its side. <br /><br />3. Beware the one-party state. The parties that remade states and suppressed rivals were not omnipotent from the start. They exploited a historic moment to make political life impossible for their opponents. So support the multi-party system and defend the rules of democratic elections. Vote in local and state elections while you can. Consider running for office. <br /> <div>4. Be wary of paramilitaries. When the men with guns who have always claimed to be against the system start wearing uniforms and marching with torches and pictures of a leader, the end is nigh. When the pro-leader paramilitary and the official police and military intermingle, the end has come. <br /><br /> 5. Be as courageous as you can. If none of us is prepared to die for freedom, then all of us will die under tyranny</div>Rural Managerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13989493748592571548noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8053278039326036057.post-53674448037296966222022-03-07T15:37:00.013+05:302022-03-07T15:48:10.096+05:30Decolonizing our minds<div style="text-align: justify;">What is an Idea of India? Ask a liberal, this will be a democratic republic where secularism trumps, multiple cultures, and identities coexist in harmony and dignity and embodied in the Constitution. Ask a conservative Hindu, this will be the victory of <i>Sanatan Dharma</i> and <i>Akhanda Bharat</i>.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Indian State was founded on values of equality, redistribution, fairness, and social welfare in 1947. India inherited a liberal Constitution structured over the colonial institutional and legal structures that weren’t exactly suited for liberal democracy. Also, the constitution was imposed upon a society that was feudal in the customs and entrenched prejudices relating to caste, religion, and social hierarchies. The irreducible character of violence in Indian society is best depicted in the idea of the caste system and religious purity. The spiritual legitimization of something as discriminatory as caste is at the very heart of the structural violence that ails us as a society.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">There were legacies of western colonialism and barbaric caste system & religious hate competing to occupy the headspace of the individuals and institutional structures. Indian State was slow in dismantling the colonial hangover but was instrumental in gradually grafting a layer of society aligned to the constitution. India emerged as a leader among the newly liberated nations through a “nonaligned movement” that resisted the pressure to be drawn into the Cold War & became the pawn of the colonial powers.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">A small section of liberals grew not because of the competence but due to political patronage. They don’t have to choose between higher moral standards (Secularism, unity in diversity, Inclusiveness, etc.) and quality of life. The era of 1950 - 90s was the era of dominance of the upper caste in the social domain and the corridors of power. Hence, Hence, the 'Idea of India' worked as a pretty screensaver, composed with isolated stories of secular and egalitarian leaders/reformers, to systematically conceal accounts of historical enslavement of the marginalized by the mainstream.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;">India was changing slowly from the mindset of self-loathing to new age confidence. The liberalization in the 1990s led to the creation of a large middle class that didn’t depend on the constitutional morality of the state for its livelihood. This freed the Hindu middle class from the secular incentives of the Indian state. The era of Saffronization started with the rise of market forces, mandal commission, and Babri Masjid demolition.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The right-wing majoritarian groups started the war on secularism on multiple fronts by depicting themselves as historical victims from Muslims, Communists, and Christians. The narrative of the religious identity became much more binding now to counter caste issues and integrated a large section of Right-wing Hindus. Robert Paxton defines fascism as "the belief that one's group is a victim, a sentiment that justifies any action, without legal or moral limits, against its enemies, both internal and external". Hindu right group was perpetuating the myth of perpetual victimhood to the believers.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Journey of Decolonization</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Decolonizing minds is the process of dismantling the legacies of colonialism and attempting to undermine them in institutional structures of higher learning. The focus in an academic circle is more on history, social sciences, and literature. Decolonization of the colonial legacy is much more complex than it appears for a nation and its citizen. </div></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">CLR James, Tagore, and Fanon have written about colonialism, race, and identity long before anyone. Progressive Writers' Movement in British India was anti-imperialistic and left-oriented and sought to inspire people through their writings advocating equality and attacking social injustices in society. There was a huge shadow of the left-leaning individuals in creating spaces for decolonization in academia even in the 1950-90s era. There was an attempt made in the field of humanities, as a form of intellectual resistance against the hegemony of the colonial empires.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Today, there is a huge uproar on the decolonization of Indian academia, especially history to discover new heroes of the past. The colonial ideals are pushed out to recognize indigenous leaders. The right-wing didn’t come up with diverse views but started peddling rehashed literature of the mythical Hindu past showcasing the golden age of India. Right-wing is spreading its agenda with a label of decolonization of Hindu minds and to create the prototype of a flawed utopia. Instead of purging <i>savarna</i> literature and breaking away from the past, the Indian literature ecosystem is promoting a historically unjust system. Hindu society is showcasing the narcissism of victimhood – that supplies a convenient exit on the difficult questions and looking for scapegoats to blame its own failure. The mythical idea of <i>vishwaguru</i> probably plays well with the core Hindu populace even India is a net importer of knowledge from the west.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Hindu supremacism in our society began with the intellectual triumph of the conservatives and a similar loss of credibility of liberals. Liberals are now threatened by people's power that appears to be taking effect due to technological thrust into society. They are unable to democratize space for the masses, to engage with them culturally. They are unwilling to engage with the wider public because the right-wing individual doesn't deserve to be spoken with and the elite can speak in English only. The risk of decolonizing minds is an immensely difficult and bleak future that lies ahead for Indians. How to promote the quest for social justice and decolonization in such a post-truth era? </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><b><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>The Road Ahead:</b></div></b><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The experiences within the colonial education system especially English have enabled the oppressed. The liberal education to the oppressed has turned them into challengers of colonialism and gave them the tools to oppose the feudal suppression and avoid any colonial hangover. Blue, Red, and Black (Bahujan, Left, and Dravidian groups) are three symbolic colors of the political resistance to overcome the huge unfurling of saffron over the social landscape. They are now creating social spaces to fight the new hegemony of the saffron. The women, Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Denotified Nomadic Tribes and all Pasmanda religious minorities must express themselves with a range of genres as novels, autobiographies, pamphlets, poetry, and short stories. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Ashis Nandy pointed out many years ago, the triumph of secularism in India is more about the ability to live with contradiction, ambiguity, and messy accommodation than the triumph of first principles. The elite liberals must take the moral discourse centered on diversity, secularism, pluralism, and communal peace, to the more basic ideas of freedom, equality, individual dignity. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Crony Capitalism, phantom democracy, and unapologetic Hindu nationalism are here to stay. The public mood will be manipulated with consumerism, media, domestic security, and disdain for intellectuals. But all Nations went through such struggles and to think of radical reforms without the presence of a violent right-wing is impossible in history.</div></div>Rural Managerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13989493748592571548noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8053278039326036057.post-31936854163786939932021-02-07T14:31:00.005+05:302021-12-15T12:46:20.478+05:30Poetry of Protest -4<div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: red;">Every beautiful poem is an act of resistance. —Mahmoud Darwish</span></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Literature is about recording what is forgotten, but also about living and recreating the life that surrounds us. Continuing from the series of the <a href="https://yayaver.blogspot.com/2011/02/poetry-of-protest-1.html">Poetry of Protest - 1</a>, <a href="https://yayaver.blogspot.com/2011/02/poetry-of-protest-2.html">Poetry of Protest - 2</a>, and <a href="https://yayaver.blogspot.com/2012/10/poetry-of-protest-3.html">Poetry of Protest - 3</a>, we will read a compilation of the resistance poems. Why? We are living in a consumerism and post-truth era without a memory, which accepts, without much resistance, ideological interpretations of the history, as dictated by the regime and enforced by its media. The solidarity of the protest can only be built by a form of literature that is emotionally compelling, contributes to the combating of loneliness, and makes the reader less terrified of themselves and the political powers which surround them. Here is the curated list of poems with spirit of the protest:</div><ol style="text-align: left;"><li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://abhibhut.blogspot.com/2009/05/first-they-came.html">First they came</a><a href="https://abhibhut.blogspot.com/2009/05/first-they-came.html">..--- Martin Niemöller</a><span> </span></span></li><li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://abhibhut.blogspot.com/2011/02/unadikum-i-call-on-you.html">Unadikum ( I Call on You )</a><span> </span><span>---</span><a href="http://">Tawfiq Zayyad</a></span></li><li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://abhibhut.blogspot.com/2011/02/will-of-life.html">The Will of Life</a><span> </span><span>---</span><span> </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aboul-Qacem_Echebbi">Abu al-Qasim al-Shabi</a><span>.</span></span></li><li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://abhibhut.blogspot.com/2014/01/grass.html">Grass</a><span> </span><span>---</span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Sandburg">Carl Sandberg</a></span></li><li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://abhibhut.blogspot.com/2011/02/i-am-people.html">I am the People</a><span> </span><span>---</span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmed_Fouad_Negm">Ahmed Fouad Nigm</a></span></li><li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://abhibhut.blogspot.com/2010/04/times-they-are-changin.html">The Times They Are a-Changin'</a><span> </span><span>---</span><span> </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Dylan">Bob Dylan</a></span></li><li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://abhibhut.blogspot.com/2020/12/let-them-not-say.html">Let them not say</a><span> </span><span>---</span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Hirshfield">Jane Hirshfield</a></span></li><li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://abhibhut.blogspot.com/2020/03/pity-nation.html">Pity the nation</a><span> </span><span>---</span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawrence_Ferlinghetti">Lawrence Ferlinghetti</a></span></li><li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://abhibhut.blogspot.com/2019/12/write-me-down-i-am-indian.html">Write me down I am an Indian</a><span> </span><span>Ajmal Khan</span></span></li><li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://abhibhut.blogspot.com/2009/09/pity-nation.html">Pity the nation</a><span> </span><span>--Khalil Gibran</span></span></li><li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://abhibhut.blogspot.com/2011/02/write-down-i-am-arab.html">Write down! I am an Arab</a><span> </span><span>---</span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahmoud_Darwish">Mahmoud Darwish</a></span></li><li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://abhibhut.blogspot.com/2013/06/dreams.html">Dreams</a><span> </span><span>---</span><span> </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Langston_Hughes">Langston Hughes</a></span></li><li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://abhibhut.blogspot.com/2011/02/still-i-rise.html">Still, I Rise</a><span> </span><span>---</span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maya_Angelou">Maya Angelou</a></span></li><li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://abhibhut.blogspot.com/2011/06/two-poems-of-resistance.html">Two Poems of Resistance</a><span> </span><span>---</span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayat_Al-Qurmezi">Ayat al-Qormezi</a></span></li><li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://abhibhut.blogspot.com/2021/02/strange-fruits.html">Strange Fruits</a><span>---</span><span> </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abel_Meeropol">Abel Meeropol</a></span></li><li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="color: #0000ee;"><a href="https://abhibhut.blogspot.com/2010/05/khwaab-martay-naheen.html">ख़्वाब मरते नहीं</a></span><span> ---</span><span> </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmed_Faraz">अहमद फ़राज़</a></span></li><li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="color: #0000ee;"><a href="https://abhibhut.blogspot.com/2009/09/ekla-chalo-re.html">एकला चलो रे।</a></span><span> ---</span><span> </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabindranath_Tagore">रबिन्द्रनाथ टैगोर</a><span>,</span></span></li><li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="color: #0000ee;"><a href="https://abhibhut.blogspot.com/2010/06/aaj-bazaar-main-pa-ba-jolan-chalo.html">आज बाज़ार में पा-ब-जौला चलो</a></span><span> </span><span>---</span><span> </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faiz_Ahmed_Faiz">फ़ैज़ अहमद फ़ैज़</a></span></li><li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://abhibhut.blogspot.com/2014/01/blog-post.html">खेत में दबाये गये दाने की तरह</a><span> --- </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhawani_Prasad_Mishra">भवानीप्रसाद मिश्र</a></span></li><li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> <a href="https://abhibhut.blogspot.com/2020/02/blog-post_13.html">होने लगी है जिस्म में जुंबिश तो देखिये</a> <span>--- </span><a href="https://hi.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%A4%A6%E0%A5%81%E0%A4%B7%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%AF%E0%A4%82%E0%A4%A4_%E0%A4%95%E0%A5%81%E0%A4%AE%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%B0">दुष्यंत कुमार</a></span></li><li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://abhibhut.blogspot.com/2019/09/blog-post_18.html">कोसल में विचारों की कमी है!</a><span> --- </span><a href="https://hi.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%A4%B6%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%B0%E0%A5%80%E0%A4%95%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%82%E0%A4%A4_%E0%A4%B5%E0%A4%B0%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%AE%E0%A4%BE">श्रीकांत वर्मा</a></span></li><li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://abhibhut.blogspot.com/2020/01/blog-post_29.html">उनका डर</a><span> --- </span><a href="https://abhibhut.blogspot.com/2020/%E0%A4%97%E0%A5%8B%E0%A4%B0%E0%A4%96%20%E0%A4%AA%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%82%E0%A4%A1%E0%A5%87%E0%A4%AF">गोरख पांडेय</a></span></li><li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://abhibhut.blogspot.com/2019/09/blog-post_5.html">दस्तूर</a><span> --- </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habib_Jalib">हबीब जालिब</a></span></li><li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://abhibhut.blogspot.com/2011/06/blog-post.html">कविता पर रोक</a><span> --- शहरोज़</span></span></li><li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span><a href="https://abhibhut.blogspot.com/2011/04/blog-post_11.html">बोल कि लब आज़ाद हैं तेरे</a> --- </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faiz_Ahmed_Faiz">फ़ैज़ अहमद फ़ैज़</a></span></li><li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://abhibhut.blogspot.com/2010/04/blog-post_21.html">ये दाग-दाग उजाला</a> <span>--- </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faiz_Ahmed_Faiz">फ़ैज़ अहमद फ़ैज़</a></span></li><li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://abhibhut.blogspot.com/2010/04/blog-post_7193.html">हम देखेंगे</a><span> </span><span>--- </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faiz_Ahmed_Faiz">फ़ैज़ अहमद फ़ैज़</a></span></li><li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://abhibhut.blogspot.com/2012/01/blog-post.html">हम लड़ेंगे</a><span> --- </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pash">पाश</a></span></li><li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://abhibhut.blogspot.com/2012/11/blog-post.html">भूख के एहसास को शेरो-सुख़न तक ले चलो</a><span> --- अदम गोंडवी</span></span></li><li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://abhibhut.blogspot.com/2013/11/blog-post_9.html">वेद में जिनका हवाला हाशिये पर भी नहीं</a> </span>--- अदम गोंडवी</li><li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://abhibhut.blogspot.com/2013/10/blog-post_15.html">जो अपराधी नहीं होंगे, मारे जाएंगे...</a><span>---</span><a href="http://kavitakosh.org/kk/%E0%A4%B0%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%9C%E0%A5%87%E0%A4%B6_%E0%A4%9C%E0%A5%8B%E0%A4%B6%E0%A5%80_/_%E0%A4%AA%E0%A4%B0%E0%A4%BF%E0%A4%9A%E0%A4%AF"> राजेश जोशी</a></span></li><li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://abhibhut.blogspot.com/2013/07/blog-post_13.html">बच्चों का दूध</a><span> --- </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramdhari_Singh_Dinkar">रामधारी सिंह "दिनकर"</a></span></li><li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://abhibhut.blogspot.com/2009/12/blog-post_05.html">आग जलनी चाहिए</a><span> --- दुष्यन्त कुमार</span></span></li><li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://abhibhut.blogspot.com/2014/12/blog-post.html">अब क़लम से इज़ारबंद ही डाल</a><span> </span><span>--- </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habib_Jalib">हबीब जालिब</a></span></li><li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://abhibhut.blogspot.com/2020/02/blog-post_40.html">हम कागज़ नहीं दिखाएंगे</a><span> --- </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Varun_Grover_(writer)">वरुण ग्रोवर</a></span></li><li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span> </span><a href="https://abhibhut.blogspot.com/2020/05/blog-post_15.html">मैं भी काफ़िर, तू भी क़ाफ़िर</a><span> </span><span>--- </span><a href="https://twitter.com/salmanhydr">सलमान हैदर</a></span></li></ol></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div>Yayaverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10567482260999422784noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8053278039326036057.post-28898457691864195232020-01-28T18:40:00.000+05:302020-01-29T10:40:56.120+05:30Why I am infrequent here ?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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I have been working as a social impact consultant from last 8 years and before that was a student of rural management. This parallel journey kept me occupied and took negative toll on 'Sparsh' blog. Due to nature of the work, I started reading blogs related to development studies, social sciences, economics, agriculture, public policy, rural management, and related field. Yet, I found lot of factual blog but very few personal blogs on topics above. So, I created a blog: <u>Diary of Rural Manager!</u> where I have a space to write exclusively on social impact sector, sustainability and rural management. Maybe it was time to admit that I was the writer I was waiting for.<br />
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It was cathartic to speak to the community and to feel that I was standing in dialogue with them fully as myself. In the process my ideas started to develop. I could finally articulate what I had only felt vaguely all along the journey. I had even written on the idea behind <a href="https://rmstudent.blogspot.com/p/about-this-blog.html" target="_blank">incubation of Diary of Rural Journey</a> in 2013.<br />
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I traveled, lived, worked and enjoyed life as a rural manager in rural India (often referred in popular vocab: the field). I made an effort not to refer rural India with any connotations of exotic otherness. Rural India suggests hardship, bad roads and yet a rough terrain inside mine comfort zone, into the unknown. A journey on muddy road has always showed me to re-examine managerial education, renouncing the elite hook and turn into pragmatist. Actual or feared, exploration is my fuel for the writing.<br />
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Why <a href="https://rmstudent.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Diary of Rural Manager!</a> blog is important? The writing process of blog helps me to establish today’s insights and record them for posterity. Often, we find that truths established today are thoroughly debunked for at some future time, while some neglected truths are later uncovered and brought to the fore. Blogs, at their heart, have a lot of characteristics that are going away in changing times. Blog had stable URL and can be accessed without any app on any web browser. Blog is not particularly tied to any platform like Facebook, Instagram or Google.<br />
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The difficulty of good blog is not to write, but to convey what one mean and want. Blogging is a game of rhythm but the process of writing usually goes into two distinct modes. In the first mode, its all about endurance and discipline. In the second mode, long periods of inactivity are mixed with brief bursts of power and inspiration. Deadlines for writinf, just don’t work out for me, due to inherent laziness. Blogging like <a href="http://marginalrevolution.com/">Marginal Revolution </a>, <a href="http://jaiarjun.blogspot.com/">JabberWock</a>, and <a href="http://cliched-monologues.blogspot.com/">Cinemascope</a> is a work of a master craftsman who understands that talent and skill has to be paired with tactics and strategy to being success.<br />
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Like a startup, blog requires a lot of interaction with potential readers to reach and validate the early stages of the content quality and ease of reading posts and outreach. Otherwise just forcing a way into an idea lead towards a gossip ditch. Idea behind this blog now is to share insights so that more students can avail the benefits of professional counselling and choose the right career at the right time. An information asymmetry acts as an important early career lubricant, allowing the privileged to manoeuvre into more promising career tracks, resist exploitative employment and take risky opportunities – all of which increase their chances of long-term success.<br />
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Those who make a commitment to an idea ironically find a sense of freedom. People care about people — and a blog is not a newspaper that has to be published regularly. The neglect of Sparsh has given way to lethargic numbness on personal space. It’s important to nourish yourself; to keep emptying yourself out through words and then filling yourself again with observations and experiences. Easier to say in hindsight today but nothing starts as easy in beginning. Hopefully I shall resume blogging on <a href="https://yayaver.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Sparsh</a> and keep on repeating the process.</div>
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Yayaverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10567482260999422784noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8053278039326036057.post-39676169092165081352018-05-26T21:00:00.001+05:302018-05-26T21:00:26.364+05:30Thoughtful Present<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: justify;" trbidi="on">In the name of "They got what they deserve", a great deal of injustice gets explained away and perpetuated in each society! We self-deceive to make us feel better about ourselves and naturally think in ways that come to conclusions that favor us. Strength of the country is not just in its GDP but in the confidence of its citizens on the fairness and equality of justice there. <br />
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I was guided by several articles on issues of Justice, Liberalism, Secular State, Decent Work and Economic Growth, Reduced Inequalities, Need of strong Institutions. I was inspired by persons like Christopher Hitchens, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Nadeem Parcha, Pratap Bhanu Mehta etc. Also, I interacted with a progressive, and liberal individual whose essays have impacted me in a positive manner. The person is <a href="http://www.shunya.net/Text/publications.html">Mr. Namit Arora</a> whose blog was a insight into heart of a humanist. <br />
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It was his great gesture to share a copy of <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34824341-the-lottery-of-birth">The Lottery of Birth: On Inherited Social Inequalities</a> with a young reader for a social network friendship. Thanks Sir for the gift. </div>Yayaverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10567482260999422784noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8053278039326036057.post-33558920571717441912016-12-31T23:11:00.000+05:302016-12-31T23:11:01.942+05:30Books read in 2016<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="color: blue;">“When you read a great book, you don’t escape from life, you plunge deeper into it. There may be a superficial escape – into different countries, mores, speech patterns – but what you are essentially doing is furthering your understanding of life’s subtleties, paradoxes, joys, pains and truths. Reading and life are not separate but symbiotic.” ― Julian Barnes, A Life with Books</span><br />
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Beliefs acquired by reading fictional narratives are integrated into real-world knowledge. I am addicted to surfing news articles and watching movies.But the internet has this addictive quality, and it’s one thing I am unable to control. I had less time to read, but I still enjoy a good book now and again. I discerned my love for spiritual reading from early age as our problems are on the enigma of life. The joy of reading comes from entertainment, enjoyment, education, enrichment, escape, and the way it eases life in a stressful world. But a deep reading always increase the insight in tragic world and the escape route looks more difficult. Deep reading does demand a lot of focus. I can't possibly comprehend the book without paying attention to it completely. Hence, I had surrendered myself to self-chosen ignorance and proving difficult to change inertia.<br />
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To cut a long story short, I have seen better days in reading. No self pity, but one see through the present crisis of confidence, fitness and concentration. I was more cynical, asshole in complete sense, bad judge of person and minor burnout due to work. To say that I let the momentum slip away is an understatement. Longevity in any field is a achieved only through endurance, endurance is a product of persistence amid ups and downs of the path. I have to extract 'fight' or 'flight' response. There are no half measures. I am trying to read more in tranquillity, to revive mind and body. Hope springs eternal. Repository of hope in a broken system is all that I need to set a target free 2017.<br />
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This year was cruel one as my favourite writer Martin Crowe passed away with a lasting legacy. The grand plan of reading 2 book a month for perfection was an abysmal failure. I realised the stupidity of it all, and instead would settle for a long, slow reading. I have completely updated <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/47369468-himanshu-rai">goodreads profile</a> and this sort of classification comes naturally to me.<br />
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<b> Books Read in 2016:</b><br />
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<b>Playing It My Way -</b> Sachin Tendulkar - English - 7/10 -autobiography of former Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar with popular anecdotes.<br />
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<b>Durbar</b> - Tavleen Singh - English - 7.5/10 - Comprehensive chronicle of the events from the Emergency to the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi with a few well written sections. <br />
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<b>India's Broken Tryst</b> - Tavleen Singh - English - 6.5/10 - A lot of potential is wasted on documenting history and insights are more personal in nature.<br />
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<b>Battle of the Ten Kings </b>- Ashok K. Banker- English - 5/10 - Historical fiction and expanding a story into novella.<br />
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<b>A History of the Sikhs, Volume 1 : 1469-1839</b> - English - 8/10 - A comprehensive history of Sikhism, spanning the social, political and religious factors accessible to a general audience.<br />
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<b>A History of the Sikhs - Volume 2: 1839-2004</b> - English - 8/10 - An essential reading into the history of the sikh community and it ends with a beautiful epilogue on the challenges ahead.<br />
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<b>The Great Partition: The Making of India and Pakistan</b> - Yasmin Khan - English - 6/10 - Densely written academic South Asian history during partition era with deep focus on communal line in political parties</div>
Yayaverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10567482260999422784noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8053278039326036057.post-74282100403958367752016-11-08T23:55:00.002+05:302023-08-17T20:22:26.032+05:30New face of Indian Cricket - 4<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="text-align: justify;">The Indian cricket team is on the verge of playing England in the middle of a grueling home season. To go back to the famous Ashis Nandy line, "<span style="color: blue;">Cricket is an Indian game accidentally discovered by the English.</span>" England has won their last three Test series against India, but this time they are branding themselves as “massive underdogs”. Despite of many pundits writing England off, one must look for Captain Cook leading from the front for a tough duel. Grit, Aggression, and looking for results will be the highlights of the series.</div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">The coaching<a href="http://www.espncricinfo.com/india/content/story/1028683.html"> job went into the hands of Anil Kumble</a> mid of this year. It's unreasonable to expect extraordinary work from someone who isn't trusted to create it. Indian camp has the highest regard for Ravi Shastri as a professional cricketer and wanted to be the transition to be smooth as possible. It is argued that the game comes easier to the greats, making the coach's job of solving problems of average or even good players much more difficult. There is a counterargument in the case of bowlers because they have more understanding of cricket to survive in the batsman-friendly era. Indians hope that the Kumble Kohli partnership can go for establishing India in good records in abroad too. Both of them has forged relationship, mentored the team sensibly, and taken decisions under pressure in the right manner in all the tours.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">There is an ongoing state of conflict between the philosophy of aggressive dominant style and playing the match scenario. The parameter for the judgment was fixated on the strike rate of batsmen. With Kumble in the coach position, the debate of batsmen around grafter and entertainer in test matches is quite settled and limited to a positive approach only. Any team in the subcontinent did not need to score at a rate deemed attractive to the public, but in their understated way can decide the outcome of the series. Batting seems counterintuitive in nature on days 4-5 in India. With the turning tracks in the picture, the batting unit needs to use their feet and maneuver the ball and get more singles and twos before going for boundaries.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Test cricket is not a finishing school for the players but a first-time series in the subcontinent for English cricketers will be baptism by spin and reverse swing. As a debutant, every player wants to feel belonged on their first days at work. <a href="http://www.espncricinfo.com/england/content/player/521637.html" target="_blank">Ben Duckett</a>, <a href="http://www.espncricinfo.com/england/content/player/632172.html" target="_blank">Haseeb Hameed</a>, <a href="http://www.espncricinfo.com/india/content/player/625371.html" target="_blank">Hardik Pandya</a> & <a href="http://www.espncricinfo.com/india/content/player/398439.html" target="_blank">Karun Nair </a>will catch the eyes of the public with their intent and performance in this series. The selection woes continue with the search for and fast-bowling all-rounder. We waited for the system to produce, rather than for us to actively promote. Sometimes, selectors pick players depending on what future tours are in mind. Amid great negative reaction to the selection of Hardik Pandya, let us recall a quote by John Wright - “<span style="color: blue;">The key is to identify the right players to back. They must have reasonable ability and technique, but you must understand that certain players might not be as talented as others, but boy, they have big hearts and a huge desire to succeed. Those guys, and teams with that attitude, will always surprise you.</span>” In the dynamic of the selection, selectors must explain why certain players have been taken based on potential and why few else have been subjected to limited chance. All players possess basic levels of natural talent to reach the highest level and then it becomes a question of temperament and self-belief. The self-belief to turn it on when it really mattered was the trademark of Kevin Pietersen.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Let us applaud Indians for using the Decision Review System (DRS) in the test series. Stars are born in tough situations & qualities like character, holding up under pressure, and putting your hand up to do the tough task will be scrutinized in this tour. For too long, however, India has been a story mostly of potential. Turning possibility into reality will demand a greater focus on winning test matches ruthlessly. India should be ready enough in international cricket to start dominating Test matches and win those crucial situations and sessions. That’s how India can become a better team.</div></div>
Yayaverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10567482260999422784noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8053278039326036057.post-20743586097769973432015-12-31T23:59:00.000+05:302016-09-14T21:06:53.798+05:30Books Read in 2015<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Annus mirabilis is a Latin phrase that means wonderful year or "year of miracles". This year was wonderful in more nihilistic sense. I was able to complete only three books despite of ample time. I remain connected to Facebook and whats-app. That is clear symptom of distraction by technology. I need to create tech free zone around me in the era of techno-utopianism. Personal reform is always an active choice. It involves to do something that isn't default and must be applied with rigor in disciplined way. <br />
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I might have been victim of the slow kind of destruction due to many days & nights of loneliness. It just erodes enthusiasm and put reading habit in demise. The anxiety due to monotonous life became irrepressible leading to mental frailness. Even if I was doing everything right to read books but not able to progress beyond few pages. When I don’t read books or watch movies– always having stock of them – and then I “surf” them. <br />
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I have wasted a lot of time in surfing news articles on the internet. This addictive habit is going out of control for me. In this random news readings, I enjoyed words of Sanjay Manjrekar and Akash Chopra. There is strong element of lethargy in this reader's block. The lack of concentration, anxiety and work related exhaustion are minor elements of the whole story. Even the longest rope will fall short if I don't take a more strict and passionate approach towards reading. Excessive self-pity has its own psychological quirks. Hence, I would buck up for the challenge of reading 26 books in the new year. As Mark Twain wrote on New Year’s Day in 1863,<span style="color: blue;"> “Now is the accepted time to make your regular annual good resolutions. Next week you can begin paving hell with them as usual.”</span><br />
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<b>Books Read in 2015:</b><br />
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<b>1. Inferno</b> - Dan Brown -English - 8/10 - An interesting and stylish read but lacking content level of previous novels.<br />
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<b>2. Hind Swaraj</b> - Mahatma Gandhi - Hindi - 7/10 - Honest opinion to be read for understanding conditions of India through personal lens.<br />
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<b>3. Poor Economics</b> - Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo - English - 9/10 - Refreshing book with clear evidences to work at micro level to alleviate global poverty.<br />
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<b>4. Wisdom of Ants </b>- Shankar Jaganathan -English - 7/10- A good book for the beginners on the history of economics</div>
Yayaverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10567482260999422784noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8053278039326036057.post-83366446702158890892015-10-26T18:22:00.001+05:302015-10-26T18:32:15.711+05:30Something like an autobiography - 600<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: blue;">“Writing a book is a horrible, exhausting struggle, like a long bout with some painful illness. One would never undertake such a thing if one were not driven on by some demon whom one can neither resist nor understand.” - George Orwell</span><br />
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I had a background of literate and disciplined family, but there was slow development of character in the life who doesn't have any rigid sense of social morality. I tried hard to develop my own sense of just and liberal values. If I say that is easy, that will be gross lie. Putting that in the words of John Maynard Keynes’ belief that the difficulty lies not so much in developing new ideas as in escaping old ones. But solitude always gave me an opportunity to re-define myself as a person and unlearn whatever I have learnt all these years as a bachelor. This was achieved only through lot of writings on the blog.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-XhH_Y8Slevc/Vi4iEdzX1UI/AAAAAAAADH8/NteHbCvpscI/s1600/399203-2T558e1444287288.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="286" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-XhH_Y8Slevc/Vi4iEdzX1UI/AAAAAAAADH8/NteHbCvpscI/s320/399203-2T558e1444287288.png" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I have survived engineering and wandered into strange paths to tell the tale of traveler. These records of 600 Posts are record of this illusion, confidence and chaos of innermost me. Reading <span style="color: red;">Sparsh</span>, readers will find out what it means to excitement in learning new, failing in projects and start from scratch in the youth of one's life. I would say about initial posts has to do with unresolved anger and that brought catharsis to me.<br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">I use my personal blog like a memory bank, to drop in my idle thoughts and reflections about development so I can find them later. This blog has acted as a powerful catalyst to develop ideas. My blog is at its most useful when it reaches beyond few and starts to create an alternative view. This blog provide a special kind of sanctuary to me, to the rest of the world. Yet, I don't want to be exhausted only with civic duties by tweeting and blogging. The best part is to have never written for prize, fame and money.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I had slowed down writing on this blog for a while and shifted attention to my new blog. In the history of any art,game & science, no-one has ever saw a player get better by doing less work. 600 Post is a long journey for an isolated and boring individual. I may become perhaps more infamous, for an incisive critique of XIMB,IT-BHU, religion and mostly society. But I have learnt an unwelcome art of living alone or with few friends (both admirers and critics included). In the business startup or literary world, you're either a genius or an idiot. One can never became just an ordinary guy trying to get through the day. When this world of words is inhabited by you voluntarily and habitually, then a sense of carefree inhibit in you. A sense of indifference slowly creeps in the mind and work of author. I don’t quite know why I write it today. I assume I write it because it fascinates me.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The way I approach each write-up is, <span style="color: red;">“let’s not keep any great ideas in reserve – let’s use them all"</span>. There should not be holding back and each words must be an expression of something rather than cliche. The content is neglected in favor of the wrapping for showcase. I read somewhere that to write is human, to edit divine. First draft by heart and then editing comes with head. Never modify writing even to sound more, ahem, erudite. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">A writer who waits for ideal conditions under which to work will die without putting a word on paper. Good writers always pay attention to craft and read to steal tricks and moves from authors they admire. I had written by by thinking, feeling, referencing, cheating, borrowing and even stealing works of the eminent people. This was supplemented with the facts and always leaving possibility of open discourse. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Today, I thanks BLOGGER.COM with the free service of publishing leading to a great way to spark a conversation. Most of the stuff I write appears as garbage with the passage of time. But, it is necessary for me to convey my thoughts in the words. For those of us writing in blog, it is a privilege. This freedom comes with the responsibility of having to know what one is talking about.</div></div>Yayaverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10567482260999422784noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8053278039326036057.post-90430405114483188122015-05-19T15:05:00.000+05:302019-12-18T23:25:46.610+05:30New face of Indian Cricket - 3<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I pinned a lot of hope on Indian test cricket team in <a href="http://yayaver.blogspot.in/2013/12/new-face-of-indian-cricket-2.html">an old article</a>. India played 13 test matches (2 in SA, 2 in NZ, 5 in ENG & 4 in AUS) in previous years. India lost 0-1 in SA, 0-1 in NZ, 1-3 in ENG and 0-2 in AUS. The records paint bleak picture of future Indian test cricket and wrong selection policy became one of the reason in losses. However, the last thing we need now is finger-pointing. What we need is instead careful analysis and a new strategy. I will take solace in the words of Barack Obama when he faced the difficulties he faces as a second-term president struggling to make progress on his priorities and to work constructively with Congress- <span style="color: blue;">"Cynicism is a choice — hope is a better choice." </span><br />
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Frank A. Clark once said that <span style="color: red;">Criticism, like rain, should be gentle enough to nourish a man's growth without destroying his roots.</span> Indian team performed better in utter alien condition of New Zealand and South Africa. But, they lost nerve to capture moments and series was gone. India have done to England at Lord's what England did to them in Mumbai: beat them on a pitch designed for the home team. England won the toss on the greenest pitch in Lords but India bullied and bounced them out. And then suddenly there was downhill path with three consecutive test loss. Rarely does nemesis follow hubris so quickly & brilliance followed by devastation. Indians forced their way to Australian bowling attack in Adelaide even if they couldn't take 20 wickets. Australia backed off in further test matches, wary of India's batting from the Adelaide chase. The attitude of new captain was refreshing for a change. Johann Wolfgang once said that <span style="color: red;">daring ideas are like chessmen moved forward; they may be beaten but may start a winning game</span>. Even when India lost to Australia the fighting spirit was lauded by Indian fans.<br />
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Steve Waugh wrote in his masterpiece, Out of My Comfort Zone, <span style="color: blue;">"Captaincy is about empowerment, about making the players responsible for their actions and, in turn, accountable. It is about treating every one equally but differently by recognising that there are varied characters who need to express their flair and inside the ultimate team vision."</span> Saurav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid and Anil Kumble showed Indians the way forward with attacking mindset in foreign conditions. This was also phase of rise of fabulous four with an attacking opening pair of Gautam Gambhir and Virendra Sehwag. M S Dhoni carried a team in transition where the old order were on the last legs. Next order of senior players failed to raise their level and were found to be sitting out of test team in their prime of early 30's. MSD was found waiting either with old order or new inexperienced lineup. MSD had remain glued with the same failures in regards to the team composition & not enough opportunities were given to other squad players. A big bias or defensive tactics of containing runs like ODI naturally passed into Test team. However, MSD stayed real through a detachment, taking neither success nor failure too seriously. Baton of captaincy was transferred from M S Dhoni to Virat Kohli in between and our young players are hardened by foreign tours in difficult conditions. Indian team is still caught in time wrap of learning phase that must be abolished by Virat Kohli to make a leap for the next level.<br />
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From 1993 till 2000, India did not win a single Test away from home. It was inability of Indian team to win test matches abroad due to lack of application of batsman and poor bowling firepower unable to take 20 wickets. The traumatic 90's when Indian team's fortune used to rise and fall with Sachin Tendulkar is over. Kohli, Rahane and Vijay showed judicious stroke-play and mental courage that they belong at the top of world in last 2 years. <br />
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Fast bolwers are a rare breed in Indian cricket and need to be handled properly so that they transform into wicket taking bowlers which India lacks at the moment. Each cricket playing nation possess a lethal ast bowling pair for a winning streak. Boult-Southee, Johnson-Harris, Steyn-Philander & Anderson-Broad are prime example of the theory. There is a failure in developing our next tier of bowlers to stake a claim in Indian team. It is shame that we have self proclaimed bowling spearhead of the country in Ishant Sharma. Pace bowling pair of Shami - Yadav with the support of Bhuvaneshwar is our new hope. Both spin and fast bowlers must clear their mind of some cobwebs and have to perform if India are to stay competitive.<br />
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The big question in the minds of fans - Who will be our fast bowling all-rounder ? We need fast bowling all-rounder for overseas . India is looking for fast bowling all-rounder but we must be more focused to search for batsman with caliber of spinner. One finds it difficult to understand the policy of the selectors in going for such vain search by looking at the pool of all-rounders in India. India should aim to discover someone like a Shakib/Moin Ali/Hafeez. The search of allrounder has been abandoned with the failure of Ashwin, Jadeja and Bhuvi in a dual role. After all, an admission of mistakes is only the start of the repair process.<br />
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Test cricket is played mostly between the ears. That is the truth in Test cricket: it can be a lonely place when things are not going your way. It is easy to blame a team when it is down. It's not so easy to identify the causes and engineer a remedy. There is certainly a strong correlation between a settled side and a winning team, but as mathematicians learn in their first statistics class, correlation does not prove causation. But, as the old cricket cliché says, you don't judge a pitch until both teams have batted. Turns out you shouldn't judge a team until they have played at home and away, either. India will not be playing in Asia next one year. Sub continent pitches will be valid assessment of India's performance as a departure of safety-first cricket to a team that doesn't play the averages for respectability. There is a dogged determination in team and Virat has leadership skills to pull the team on winning path again. The bigger question we must ask - Are other nations looking forward to facing a Indian side in ascendancy ?</div>
Yayaverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10567482260999422784noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8053278039326036057.post-57512098207489769472015-05-11T19:41:00.003+05:302015-05-11T19:48:48.586+05:30Building Uttam Pradesh !<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">The importance of Uttar Pradesh in India's socio-political firmament is never overstated. The long perception of UP as badlands as well as cow belt region hasn't done any justice towards building its image. Even the movies located in the geography of UP shows a culture of revenge rather than the rule of law.<br />
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Uttar Pradesh is laggard in implementation to social scheme like MNRGES, NRLM, PDS and food security. Even the states like Tamilnadu had introduced mid day meal scheme in 1985 while the Government of Uttar Pradesh started the mid-day-meal scheme in 16 districts, including Allahabad district, from September 2003. Mulayam Singh and Mayawati are out of the depth with the good governance, and in the UP the depth reality of law situation does really go murky and deep. Also, there is definite culture of servitude in the bureaucracy, education, politics. The impact of casteism, class hierarchy, poverty and sexual exploitation on women is present in our society. Looking through negative talks defy the spirit within.<br />
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<span style="color: red;">'Bad things happen when good people do nothing.</span>' That made me think on the perception of the state. Yes, its so damn right. And, I am active on social network and in a position to gather a public voice on Uttar Pradesh. Hence, I had started Facebook Page : <a href="https://www.facebook.com/BuildingUttamPradeshhttps://www.facebook.com/BuildingUttamPradesh" target="_blank">Uttar Pradesh</a> (aka <a href="https://twitter.com/BuildUtamPrades">BuildingUttamPrades</a> on Twitter) with my friend <a href="https://twitter.com/deo_rishabh" target="_blank">Rishab Deo.</a> There is a huge social, religious and financial turmoil going in the state with the new era of citizen empowerment and old feudal mentality. In a democratic society, we put a high value on the right of citizens to have access to a wide range of opinions and beliefs. Only socially well-connected citizens with diverse opinions can even start the debate or affect the discourse of the ongoing conditions. Let us netizens go ahead and make ourselves better informed !<br />
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<b>Please Like and Subscribe to <a href="https://www.facebook.com/BuildingUttamPradeshhttps://www.facebook.com/BuildingUttamPradesh" target="_blank">Uttar Pradesh</a> !</b></div>Yayaverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10567482260999422784noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8053278039326036057.post-63441253323274525192015-05-01T14:54:00.000+05:302015-10-24T15:03:57.551+05:30My First Theater Show<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Before speaking about my impressions of a theater performance Id like to say a few words about art in general. <a href="http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/1949/faulkner-speech.html">Noble Laureate Faulkner said</a> that the only thing worth writing about is the human heart in conflict with itself, and I agree with that. Art gives a meaning to the life and help in carving a identity of a person amid monolithic routine daily life. Sometimes search for an identity takes a man back to controversial and uncomfortable part of life. The turmoil touches the person on a level far deeper than where modern lifestyle like Facebook, iPhones and tweets can possibly reach. And the person is not the same forever !<br />
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It was during November of year 2014, I attended my first show of professional theater. My friend Vaibhav Pandey suggested that we should visit a theatrical performance during my visit to Delhi.. We landed upon NSD campus and got tickets of Uff Teri Ada. This play is adapted <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lysistrata" target="_blank">Lysistrata</a> created Aristophanes. It is a comedy based on sexual tension, nationalism, pacifism and feminism. The performance, lighting, songs, script and direction was a moderate success indeed and it left an not much impression on me.<br />
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The medium of theater left far more deeper impact than play on a cinephile like me. To share common experience and memory is the spirituality that cinema offer to human society. The theater seems to have more canvas, scope and imagination in comparison to the technical beast named cinema. I watched lots of movies. But each time I left a cinema-hall, the high that movies gave me evaporated. Hence, theater can be a perfect gateway for me if I learn more to appreciate subtle and imaginative nature of the art. I see theater as an informal education. It is the quality of experience not the quality of techniques in cinema and theater that matter to me eventually.<br />
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I am hoping for more encounters to theater drama which are intelligent, subtle and honest than their counter parts. I want to listen the stories of endeavor that will be called pearls of wisdom. Certain things of art catch our eye, but I pursue only those that capture the heart. Everybody loves usual technical mastery, but only emotions capture more heart.</div>
Yayaverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10567482260999422784noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8053278039326036057.post-39481486023135707972014-12-31T00:21:00.000+05:302015-01-01T14:20:30.205+05:30Books Read in 2014<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span style="color: blue;">“Why is America so rich and we are so poor?”</span> I posed the question to my father in the summers of 1998. My father answered me as best he could: <span style="color: blue;">“India is a young democratic country of 50 years with huge population while America is almost 200 years old."</span> I nodded in agreement, satisfied with the explanation. One answer unearthed a dangerous way to more questions. I was a nationalist, theist and a more enthusiastic supporter of RSS version of India at that phase of life. I had complete trust in their claim of ancient knowledge and glory of Hindu India. So, why we failed to defend our country from foreign culture and invaders ? Why Hindus were treated like slave for thousand of years in their own country ? How to solve Islamic and Christian problem?<br />
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That started an active engagement with history books. Yet, I haven't touched NCERT books. I studied history books to have an idea of India. My grip on history was weak because, half-truths and myths are intermingled as historical fact. I wanted to know an accepted version of history - validated by both losers and winners. It was the reading habit that gave me the chance to think more deeply. Nothing was considered as averse and accepted with open heart in heated debates with friends. It's often hard to separate myth from reality. Reading diverse set of books helped me to find rational view in the haze of morality and deliberate ignorance. I was able to see that every perceived external interference doesn't involve a sinister plot. I was able to challenge infallibility of books and beliefs. There was not always misinterpretation by the reader. The travesty of the modern world history is to find a 'factual' narrative in the versions of religious 'right' and Red 'Left'. I concluded with a solid reality of our lives - <span style="color: red;">Social Reality in past or present does not come, like topaz crystals, already made. It is well hidden in camouflage of culture, taboo and class in the maze of daily life.</span> I had started not to view at history as a place of debate and multiple opinions, rather than reductive nature of evidences. Our history is a hybrid of facts and fiction, it is a tale nonetheless, which represents a sore reality, and I have tried my utmost to learn it in a sympathetic and sensitive manner. <br />
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If one doesn't contradict oneself on a regular basis, then one is not thinking. We all start popular readings for a start, then make own way. Everyone’s reading list is unique, but each is remarkable in its own way.I don't read today in order to master the craft of writing; I read because I like to read but surely it helps in putting words together. Imitation, it turns out, is a great engine for personal growth to some extent. I always travel through books, but never get lost in them. A lot of books are in the pending list for reading. Life is short for reading all I wish. There’s a more likelihood of me doing what is necessary but mot sufficient.<br />
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<b>Books Read in 2014:</b><br />
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<b>Our Moon has Blood Clots - The Exodus of the Kashmiri Pandits</b> :- Rahul Pandita - English - 9/10 - Compelling Memoir of person giving us a brief account of ethnic cleansing.<br />
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<b>In the Land of Invisible Women</b> :- Qanta A. Ahmed - English - 7.5/10 - It gives a vivid description of religion, racism, culture and society of Saudi regime from the perspective of a Western trained Muslim doctor woman.<br />
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<b>Hello Bastar: The Untold Story Of India's Maoist Movement</b> :- Rahul Pandita - English - 7/10 - A poignant book that explains story of Maoist movement through the eyes of reporter.<br />
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<b>Acts of Faith</b> :- Erich Segal - English - 7/10 - A boring romantic story caught in the web of Jewish Christian relationship.<br />
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<b>I am Malala</b> :- Malala Yousafzai & Christina Lamb - English - 6/10 - A brave account of girl but written for people having not having clue on Afghan situation<br />
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<b>And the Mountains Echoed</b> :- Khaled Hosseini - English - 7/10 -<br />
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<b>A Game of Thrones</b> :- George R. R. Martin - English - 8.5/10 - A must read thriller in realm of epic fantasy novels.<br />
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<b>A Clash of Kings</b> :- George R. R. Martin - English - 8.5/10 - A must read thriller in realm of epic fantasy novels.<br />
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<b>A Storm of Swords</b> :- George R. R. Martin - English - 8.5/10 - A must read thriller in realm of epic fantasy novels.<br />
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<b>A Feast for Crows</b> :- George R. R. Martin - English - 8/10 - A must read thriller in realm of epic fantasy novels.<br />
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<b>A Dance with Dragons </b>:- George R. R. Martin - English - 8/10 - A must read thriller in realm of epic fantasy novels.<br />
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<b>The Devotion of Suspect X</b> :- Keigo Higashino - English - 7/10 - A detective novel that starts beautifully but was disappointed with sudden and swift end.</div>Yayaverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10567482260999422784noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8053278039326036057.post-90303012730238643602014-12-11T21:41:00.003+05:302014-12-15T12:31:22.586+05:30Why I am infrequent here ?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="color: blue;">"Sometimes one has to be a fool in the beginning, to become wise in the end." - Irving Stone, Lust for Life</span><br />
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It is human nature to underrate the present and grossly overrate the past. Life is full of these strange vignettes. So it’s easy to see why what others would call strange is simply pure normality to a person. I had gone through many small experiences that has changed me in a way that I could never go back to the carefree person I once was. I feel neither responsible, nor easy-going towards anything. A habit of seriousness coiled the soul. Amid this habit of pessimistic outlook towards life, I kept blog as a a diary in order to express inner feelings. Writing is one of my favorite hobby that I pursued with passion to understand life in little details. I was in an eternal search for an emotional anchor from long time. Slowly an inner frustration bloomed as mental blockage that can't be put in the word. I stopped writing and became infrequent here.<br />
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When we are in relations for the sake of it, they only serve to crush our life. Even when we try hard to live a life to that didn't naturally suited often gave a quick route to unhappiness. The big question arrived on the scene - Am I wasting entire life looking for what looks like a mirage? Frustrating jobs, private life in doldrums, and no financial base were always on the margin. I was lost in the dark side of the personal quest of happiness. It becomes mental stress to cope up with self expectation to fulfill potential and combating peer pressure. I was in dire need of huge detox for getting out of this negative frame of mind. Some miracle happened on Friday the 13th.<br />
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I met someone. It was the the moment of time in life when one person changes the journey of life. It’s in these moments of discovery and acceptance that the life finally comes into its own shadow. We talked few times and met once. We are getting married in upcoming January. 'Nidhi' is the name of my better half. She is a lovely, mature and confident person. I have found calmness and peace of the mind in my life partner lately. I am finding time and energy to do things I used to enjoy, like reading books, and finding happiness in small things in life. But with rediscovered inner tranquility, I will prefer to do meditation, jogging, explore nature, or do the many other things on my life to-do list. Writing is like an aesthetic part of my life. That is inseparable from me, and I will rediscover my grove.<br />
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There are pain and tough times in life to ensure a balance is sought. It can't all be roses and bloom. There has to be a bit of dark days to remind us to not be complacent and to not take anything for granted. Often failure of dreams often rock our sleep. And, when you hit rock bottom the only way is up. As we get older, we come to appreciate the tough times; Just as bruises heal quicker on the young, so do mental scars. <span style="color: red;">Life's bitterest tears are shed in the graveyards for the words that were left unspoken and for the deeds that were left undone... </span><br />
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<span style="color: red;">Gaining wisdom is hugely healthy for mind and body</span>. It keeps us fresh. I re-framed personal and professional goals. I have been a work in progress for several years, and is a long way from realizing the full potential.Things doesn't changed in a day or two, I am finding today love gradually over time. We are on a journey into the unknown; their heads are clear. For me this is new beginning and success of relation is event horizon ; a story in which the journey itself is as important as the arrival. It is the importance of the present and the need to recover waste time. In the life marked by more ifs and buts than certainties, to dream of better future with a loved one is daring act. To express unspoken and write from heart is nice gesture. There are small comedies and romance of the everyday life that occur, that I love them in my own search for life and place. I try to join in my own good memories through all kinds of experience, through thick and thin, and finding myself when self-acceptance kicked in. I I think, is to bear the bad days with a smile. If you can do that, the good days become more and more frequent.</div>
Yayaverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10567482260999422784noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8053278039326036057.post-76344223567547788662014-06-03T11:39:00.000+05:302014-06-03T12:48:11.039+05:30Role Models<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
India is passing through the transformative period when we are shifting slowly from being a culture <u>"based on a largely diverse but shared core of faith, tradition and authority"</u> to one in which <u>"everything under sun, no matter how fundamental or deeply rooted in values, is under the scanner of reason"</u>. We need role models more than ever in this changing phase of economy and society. We have either western educated elites, who always remain resentful for anything traditional or nationalists who see every change as an act of corruption to pious way of Indian tradition. We need examples of person who are not involved in corruption, conspicuous consumption and oppression of their unlettered citizens. They must be good role models in the eyes of their less educated and younger compatriots. What I ask may sound unrealistic perfection of the characters, but we can lookfor.<br />
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Role modelling is important for a person. I was once destined for bigger and better things through IIT JEE. In the eyes of society, I was qualified for a glamorous life in a metropolitan, a job with the prestigious MNC and the pleasures of such lifestyle. Yet, I never arrived on the scene. DNA of my values were completely different. This is because, I chose different role models in my life. I am always a person looking for 'Balance' rather than 'Success' in life.<br />
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My brain not physique has always been my asset. While growing up, my role models were different from others. I use to prefer Robin Singh, Andy Flower, Heath Streak, Lance Klusener and Rahul Dravid for their grit and hard work. They were athletes playing for a weak team and often end up with the losing side despite brave efforts. That was the core reason for me becoming a supporter of underdogs. The noble knights of mythical stories, animated series of superheroes and Bollywood movies also contributed in building a character. I came to respect values like personal liberty, freedom and justice above identity issues. I have strong opinion in the favour of Edward Snowden, Aaron Swartz, Bradley Manning, and Julian Assange who are people who have the balls to do what they think is right. The journalist like Arun Shourie, Christopher Hitchens and P Sainath are a source of inspiration to me. I took persons like Deep Joshi as perfect role model due to brilliant brain, compassion and integrity. I am a person who will any day prefer Dennis Ritchie to Steve Jobs. I prefer a role model who can be remarkable for their "intellectual complexity, compassion, and resourcefulness";<br />
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<span style="color: blue;">Moderates are made not born. - Robert M.Calhoon</span><br />
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Act 3, scene ii of Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare (Mark Antony:<span style="color: blue;"> "The evil that men do lives after them; The good is oft interred with their bones"</span>. History makes people unidimensional and lives are summed up by a single incident. Hansie Cronje was my hero who can't do anything wrong. The Cronje <a href="http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/story/654219.html" target="_blank">Match fixing</a> scandal was the most shocking incident with which the worship era of teenage years came to a disruptive end. It showed me that our heroes are fallible and the justice is important rather than following personality cult. Even liking for a person must be built on hard facts. That was only half of the lesson.<br />
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The historical injustice are often mixed with our identities. There's a strong silence, sometimes people even don't want to listen leave apart understand it. Injustice is often inherent one in the system, it cannot exist without it. I can be an idealist and can be against everything—that won't change me. Can I look for some feasible solution ? I learn importance of practical and inclusive decision making from NDA government. I gradually came to respect Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Jawaharlal Nehru and Bhimrao Ambedkar for their role in political space. The other half of the lesson was delivered. I didn't turn into self righteous, cynical and vague critic due to a simple interest in politics.<br />
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I look for truth but am happy with less than perfect solution. That is why, I didn't turn a NaMo fan boy despite supporting BJP. Today, I am too radical for the conservatives and too social-democrat for the neo-liberals. I am committed to the higher values like justice, love, peace and freedom. I value excellence but pay heed to voices for equality. A person who shows me knowledge gets my attention but those who show wisdom always gets my respect. I am as reckless and foolish as only young men can be - and that is why ideological differences with family, friends and community appear in no quick time. I have a dry sense of the absurd mixed with humanistic, passionate and rational approach towards life.<br />
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It was one of the best moments of my life when I met Prof. <a href="http://www.mssriram.in/">M S Sriram</a> at XIMB. He has an unsurpassed blend of the sublime and the precise knowledge combined with wit. I was much impressed with his gyaan but resisted taking his autograph for a particular reason. Autographs are taken by people who wants to collect soverigners and are struggling to find an identity for themselves. I am also struggling to build an identity. I want to explore it instead of handing useless bits of paper even to my role model. </div>
Yayaverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10567482260999422784noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8053278039326036057.post-21106509472831147532014-04-03T21:49:00.001+05:302014-04-05T00:06:25.347+05:30LokSabha Elections 2014<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Leadership and ideas can change the working of institutions and affect policies in long term. Atal Bihari Bajpai is a name whose transformative leadership changed landscape of Indian politics. Mild nature of his personality led to partial reconciliation and negotiations of different ideology leading to the formation of NDA. Nehru's Unity in Diversity was the old idea that shaped India. Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi is creating big change in the thinking of new generation.<br />
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Eric Hoffer once stated that <span style="color: blue;">Every great cause begins as a movement, becomes a business, and eventually degenerates into a racket</span>. That is the life cycle each political party. Indian politics scenario is always revamped in the period of nearly 20 years. Be it 1970's J P Narayan or 1989 Mandal commission has brought of youth into the politics. In 1977 elections, which ended the emergency and ousted congress from national power for the first time, three quarters of the electorate were either born or reached voting age after 1947. Indian Youths with age of 18-31will decide the fate of election if we look into <a href="http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/india-is-1931-years-old/article5113294.ece">census data</a>. Most of the political parties lack leaders in their late thirties from whom one can expect disruptive thinking.<br />
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We are seeing decline of social engineering of caste and religion, twenty first century voting pattern gave the word Development a new importance. While Congress was giving illusion to voters with secular and inclusive image, BJP was projecting itself as development oriented and nationalist part. Regional parties were still caught in their own trap of caste based politics. India against corruption is the new talk of the town. Recent research by Toke Aidt, Miriam Golden and Devesh Tiwari (“Incumbents and Criminals in the Indian National Legislature”) shows there are other very problematic aspects of the Indian democratic system: a quarter of the members of the Lok Sabha, the Indian legislature, have faced criminal charges. Corruption, Transparency in election funding and Decriminalization of politics are big three pointers projected by AAP. AAP has transformed a social movement to political party. With the absence of a thriving leftist scene, AAP is gradually filling the political vacuum. Despite of their all backing of Jan-Lokpal Bill, we all know that no law is strong enough to fight corrupt minds and methods. But they have given direction to the agenda of future elections.<br />
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<b><u>Poverty, Secularism and Economic Growth</u></b><br />
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Public dissatisfaction continues to grow due to unprecedented rise in corruption under UPA-2. Deja vu is never so good the third time around. Congress always plans to buy loyalty of voters with an unprecedented expansion of what is an already generous welfare state. The "Congress is bad" defence does not exonerate the BJP; being equally bad is not good enough for our times. BJP has its own problem as it is not able to create a new cadre of leaders at national level. In the chaos like environment created by indecisive policies of UPA, there is fair chance of rise of Narendra Modi.<br />
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Each party irks at the mere mention of secularism because they really confuse its meaning with minority appeasement. If young people think that they can assess someone's viewpoint from social media branding, they're being naive. But a large number of Hindus to continue to believe in the developmental yet non communal image of BJP. Muslims and Christians still vote for congress despite of poor track record in the safety of minorities. 1992, 2002 and 2013 riots affected Muslims but they are crimes on par with the 1984 genocide of the Sikhs. 1989 exodus and near genocide of Kashmiri Pandits must be described in the same line. There can't be double standards in a secular governance as shown by Congress.<br />
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There is a persuasive power in numbers, particularly the use of statistics to bolster weak arguments. National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) data shows that the percentage of population below the poverty line has come down from 37 per cent in 2004-05 to 22 per cent in 2011-12. Planning Commission has last year (in Mar 2012) announced that poverty percentage has come down by 7.3 per cent, which means from 37.2 per cent in 2004-05 to 29.8 per cent in 2009-2010. This shows numbers related to poverty are manipulated for political benefits of ruling Congress Party rather simply becoming a statistical exercise. <br />
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Economic progress brings social and political change, eroding the political power of elites, who in response often prefer to sacrifice economic development for political status quo with a bit of welfare policies. Inflation has devastated financial growth of India. Let me quote Pai Panikkar for <a href="http://blogs.reuters.com/india-expertzone/2014/03/22/how-much-inflation-is-good-for-growth/">explaining this point</a> - <span style="color: red;">"India’s present concerns are of a different kind. Inflation is too high and instead of providing stimulus to the economy, it has actually weakened growth. The jump in inflation from 4 percent to 9 percent dragged growth down from 9 percent to 4.7 percent. Inflation beyond a point can be as detrimental to growth as inflation below a level is. It is generally accepted that 3 percent inflation is just enough to stimulate growth and prevent the economy from sliding into recession. At that level, repo will be about 5 percent and interest on bank credit 7 percent. This combination will be ideal for growth with relative stability, provided other components of growth are in place.What about political susceptibility of inflation? The government has expressed concern only when inflation exceeds 5 percent. It would appear that inflation below 3 percent may hurt growth and above 5 percent may not be politically acceptable. The inflation target for the RBI should be in the range of 3 to 5 percent to balance growth and consumer concerns."</span><br />
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Discontent is simmering under the surface but I had given above three reasons to ouster UPA-2. India is growing because of the institutions that we have built and sustained over the years. They are often under stress beyond their capacities but have never given right of way to leaders who thought they could subvert them. As per Prof Cornel West, Democracy always raises the fundamental question: <span style="color: red;">What is the role of the most disadvantaged in relation to the public interest?</span> But no political party is seriously working on this answer. The results of this election will have long term effect on the history of India. Embrace yourself Indian citizens, 2014 election is coming !</div>
Yayaverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10567482260999422784noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8053278039326036057.post-20309046531716973412013-12-31T09:00:00.000+05:302017-01-24T13:38:59.289+05:30Books Read in 2013<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span style="color: blue;">Literature demands something, not just from the reader but from society at large. It demands not just that we watch or cheer together, play or dance together, but that we take the time to understand one another. It demands that we create the institutions and the time to make this possible. It demands that we put in the effort. And it demands, most of all, that we agree that it is worthwhile to do so. - Hasan Altaf</span><br />
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History has showed us that leisured aristocracies tend to become bored, hedonistic and eventually decadent. This proves that power is not enough. One must set goals to excel in them, even if done slowly. I had set such goal and polish mental agility through the habit of reading. Reading books is an exercise in self knowledge and carries risk. These thought provoking books estranges our familiar landscape of settled beliefs into strange wonderland (may be dystopia) through new viewpoints. Good books open windows through mysterious ways. I had already listed down books by different authors of various regions, languages and backgrounds in a <a href="http://www.flipkart.com/wishlist/yayaver">wish list</a>.<br />
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There are two articles worth mentioning here. I read about "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Let_them_eat_cake">Let them eat cake</a>" phrase at the age of eight in a history book. It was the supposedly spoken by "a great princess" upon learning that the peasants had no bread and further events lead to the french revolution. That phrase always remained in back of the mind since that day. <a href="http://www.infidels.org/library/historical/percy_shelley/necessity_of_atheism.html">The Necessity of Atheism</a> was an astounding article that I read as a young engineering student. It blow my world apart with the power of the words. The religion and society never remained same for me .<br />
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While the reading journey has been going on, it has been quite fulfilling till now. I grew old and wise with each book that I read. I enjoy rich earthy humor, satire and cultural essays. I even felt nostalgic with the death of Christopher Hitchens and Peter Roebuck. I miss their strong words, remarkable anecdotes and deep analysis. And. I found new gems like Ian Chappel, Martin Crowe and Pratap Bhanu Mehta.<br />
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Many giants of Hindi literature are still untouched by me. I am living in the world created by Munsi Premchand in his short stories. I have no clue of the progress made in literature on last 30 years of <i>Mandal, Kamandal & Dalit </i>movements. I don't even know the names of Urdu books and their transliterated versions are out of my reach. I want to start reading more of fiction genre and real life stories more in upcoming months. '26 Books in 52 Weeks' is a goal for next year. I'm a super slow reader, but I usually get through ten to twelve books a year, mostly non fiction. I had accelerated pace of reading to utilize the time. And, the result shows in the reading list. I mostly try good reads and rarely best sellers. As well said by Frank Zappa :<span style="color: blue;"> “So many books, so little time.”</span><br />
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<b><u>Books Read in 2013:</u></b><br />
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<b>One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich</b> :- Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn - (Russian) English - 9/10 - A brilliant and mind blowing description of just one day of prisoner in Gulag at Siberia<br />
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<b>The End of Iraq: How American Incompetence Created a War Without End</b> :- Peter W. Galbraith - English - 8.5/10 - The name is sufficient to describe good work of journalism.<br />
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<b>Tuesday With Morrie</b> :- Mitch Albom - English - 8/10 - A beautiful memoir or discussion of teacher student on life, love and death.<br />
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<b>Burden of Democracy</b> :- Pratap Bhanu Mehta - English - 7.5/10 - : A very well written essay which discuss the reasons for which spirit of democracy is failing in India.<br />
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<b>Lord of the Flies</b> :- William Golding - English - 7/10 - A study of human behaviour through backdrop of group of British boys stuck on an uninhabited island.<br />
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<b>Patriots and Partisans: From Nehru to Hindutva and Beyond</b> :- Ramachandra Guha - English - 7.5/10 - A honest attempt on showing builders of country across all ideologies in Independent India.<br />
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<b>Bharat ka Bhavisya</b> :- Osho - Hindi - 4/10 - A below average book even with Osho standard having collection of speeches.<br />
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<b>Karmath Mahilayein</b> :- Reethu Menon - Hindi - 7.5/10 - A book on the path-breaking Indian women who defined their fields through their works.<br />
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<b>Ek Gadhe ki Aatmkatha</b> :- Krishna Chander - Hindi - 7/10 - Satire written during Nehru era still holding true to its core.<br />
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<b>Uncle Tom's Cabin</b> :- Harriet Beecher Stowe - English - 8/10 - An anti-slavery novel to be read for emotional reasons only.<br />
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<b>On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft</b> :- Stephen King - English - 8/10 - A simple story of life with great tips on writing coming in patches.<br />
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<b>Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty</b> :- Daron Acemoglu & James Robinson - English - 8.5/10 - man-made political and economic institutions that underlie economic success.<br />
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<b>Joothan</b>:- Omprakash Valmiki - Hindi - 10/10 - A personal account of a stalwart of Hindi literature describing caste system in Hindu society.<br />
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<b>The Immortals of Meluha</b> :- Amish - English - 6/10 - A below par average first part of triology with Hindu mythology background.<br />
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<b>The Secret of the Nagas</b> :- Amish - English - 6.5/10 - Second part of the book series with little improvement.<br />
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<b>The Oath of the Vayuputras</b> :- Amish - English - 7.5/10 - Third and Last part series is more mature and enjoyable.<br />
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<b>And Quiet flows the Dons</b> :- Michail Sholokhov - (Russian) Hindi - 7.5/10 - It depicts the lives and struggles of Don Cossacks during era of Soviet revolution.<br />
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<b>Bitter chocolate: child sexual abuse in India</b> :- Pinki Virani - English - 9.5/10 - Felt broken and depressed on reading about child abuse stories and awareness among our own Indian society.<br />
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<b>Yuganta: The End Of An Epoch</b> :- Irawati Karve - English - 9.5/10 - This study of the main characters of the Mahabharata treats them as historical figures and uses their attitudes and behavior to gain an understanding of the times in which they lived.<br />
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<b>O Jerusalem !</b> :- Dominique Lapierre and Larry Collins - English - 8.5/10 - A great book capturing the events and struggles surrounding the creation of the state of Israel.<br />
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<b>My Days in Prison</b> -: Iftikhar Gilani - English - 8/10 - A shocking story of trial and triumph under the framework of exploitative power of state.<br />
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<b>The Idea of India</b> :- Sunil Khilnani - English - 7/10 - Comprehensive account of India's economic and political journey from the independence to the liberalization.<br />
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<b>I Too Had a Dream</b> :- Verghese Kurien - English - 8.5/10 - Dr. Kurien's life story is chronicled in his memoir and must be read by teenagers and youths.<br />
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<b>The Reluctant Fundamentalist</b>:- Mohsin Hamid - English - 8/10 - A political thriller set in Pakistan but will appeal to the globe with sharp focus on fundamentalist mentality.<br />
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<b>Never Give a Sucker an Even Break</b> :- R Fields - English - 6.5/10 - A simple book on managing daily business through example from movies of WC Fields.<br />
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<b>What I Did Not Learn At IIT: Transitioning from Campus to Workplace</b> :- Rajeev Agarwal - English - 6/10 - A simple book but useful for fresh graduate on managing fresh career ahead.<br />
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<b>Quotes for the Year 2013 -:</b> <br />
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<span style="color: red;">“One glance at a book and you hear the voice of another person, perhaps someone dead for 1,000 years. To read is to voyage through time.”</span> - Carl Sagan<br />
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<span style="color: red;">Great stories agree with our world view. The best stories don’t teach people anything new. Instead, the best stories agree with what the audience already believes and makes the members of the audience feel smart and secure when reminded how right they were in the first place.</span> — Seth Godin (Author, Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us)<br />
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<span style="color: red;">You have to understand, my dears, that the shortest distance between truth and a human being is a story.</span> — Anthony de Mello, from One Minute Wisdom</div>Yayaverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10567482260999422784noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8053278039326036057.post-14969546639869070642013-12-19T13:06:00.002+05:302013-12-20T21:51:41.175+05:30New face of Indian Cricket - 2<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<i>I read a lot on cricket still publish rarely an article on the cricket. <a href="http://www.yayaver.blogspot.in/2008/12/new-face-of-indian-cricket.html">New face of Indian Cricket</a>was written 5 years ago. This is the second part dedicated to our young team for having luck on the road ahead. </i><br />
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Any game is often about not doing what your opponents want you to do. Test Cricket is no exception. I always consider One Day and T20 Matches as an exhibition while Test cricket is an examination. There will be 13 test matches(2 in SA, 2 in NZ, 5 IN ENG & 4 in AUS) in upcoming year. Great players will emerge in upcoming foreign tours through baptism by fire of fast bowling. Our young crop of batsman play aggressive brand of cricket what was termed as 'Australian Way'. <span style="color: red;">Prudence is never the virtue of the new generation</span>. Scoring at high run rate is essential for winning is good but not necessary applicable for all conditions. It is best to attack and play pretty when it suits; claw and fight like hell when it doesn't. Our batting and bowling line up has to display grit, temperament and determination . Test cricket have all sorts of ups and downs, collapses and fightbacks and some gritty and skilful performances.<br />
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The Gavaskar phenomena preceded the Tendulkar phenomena. Tendulkar has given same bantle to Sehwag as a spiritual successor. I am sure that baton has been passed from Dravid to Pujara and Sachin to Virat. And, Virat is proving to be new Richards as I am writing this on the close of <a href="http://www.espncricinfo.com/south-africa-v-india-2013-14/engine/match/648665.html">1st day of India South Africa test</a> series. As batting collapses are not unknown in Indian cricket, still I am hoping for consistent performance. Our batting lineup seems strong with the rise of Dhawan, Rahane and Rohit. Natural talent is abundant here, but performance overseas depend on application and discipline.<br />
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India has no place for fast bowlers. We never groom fast bowlers for long duration and thus Zaheer Khan became an exception, not regular product of the system. Our battery of fast bowlers (Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Mohammad Shami & Bhubaneswar Kumar) is slowly building. Lanky MP pacer Ishwar Pandey, Varun Aaron and old hand RP Singh are present in the scene. Even then, things always had looked bleak on the Indian yorker scene. Craig McDermott and Lillee are guiding Australians while Allan Donald is nurturing South African talent. India desperately need guidance of Zaheer and Venkatesh Prasad as Javagal Srinath is more involved in administrative work. Kapil's spiritual heirs are none. With Irfan Pathan a spent force, Stuart Binny and Rishi Dhawan can take his path in limited overs. Yes, we have good wicketkeepers in the domestic circuit but none of them touch bar set up by Caption Dhoni. Saha, Karthik and Parthiv are really good choices in case of back up.<br />
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The Tendulkar, Ganguly, Kumble, Dravid Laxman era is over now. Even Zaheer khan and Mahendra Singh Dhoni are only remaining faces of the next phase of cricketers. Yuvraj, Harbhajan, Irfan, Gambhir and Sehwag are good cricketers but out of form currently. That has not happened with the stalwarts once they were well established in the team. When players are out of form and low on confidence, they can rely on technique only. Hence, there is even chance of return of Gambhir and Harbhajan. We are having good players like Vijay Zol, Manpreet Juneja, Jiwanjot Singh, Sanju Samson, Baba aparjit and Unmukt Chand in domestic tournaments. Selectors are not in panic state with the exit of seniors. They are choosing suitable candidates and even players of high calibers like Saurabh Tewari, Pragyan Ojha and Manoj Tewari are in waiting line.<br />
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Any team with ambitions to rule the world must vanquish challengers on all continents. Youngsters doing well in short formats is a good sign for Indian cricket. And if they do the same in test, then India will become a champion side. In a great piece of <a href="http://www.espncricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/701127.html">refined writing</a>, Martin Crowe expressed a great advice for everyone.<span style="color: blue;"> "Wisdom is priceless. When you get on a learning path, it is the best time of your life. Every day means something, every lesson provides the clarity you clamour for. You move forward, evolve, grow, and become more fulfilled as the big picture, the dream even, emerges from the shadows and into the light."</span> Hoping Indian team transform into great team one day.</div>
Yayaverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10567482260999422784noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8053278039326036057.post-43782084109334024532013-11-22T00:02:00.000+05:302013-11-22T19:37:56.067+05:30Udaipur and Jodhpur Yatra<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">I had palnned Sikkim/Bhutan Trip in festival session of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuakhai">Nuakhai</a>. That trip was cancelled due to backing out of the friends. Hence, I was looking towards other options. I do view it as a now or never situation in planning travel schedule. I took quick decision with help of my friend at IIM Ahmadabad. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Udaipur">Udaipur</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jodhpur">Jodhpur </a>were prime destination of two days short trip of Rajasthan. I was lone traveler this time.<br />
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A balanced tourism is more about connecting with the local people and their culture, rather than site seeing like Maharajas of distant land. Talking for long session (1/2 -1 hour) with remarkable people like Shambhu (auto-rickshaw driver at Udaipur) and Yarden Gerest- Mar (Student of Computer Science at Hebrew University, Israel) were good experiences of the whole trip. Touring India is always mixed bag of praise, platitudes and panning. Foreign tourists are confronted with unfamiliar sights on a daily basis, such as open defecation that are no longer seen in the developed nation. India has both sides, some exciting and some negative.<br />
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Best moment was a small interaction with an unknown artist at Jaswant Thada. A great source of frustration creeps in people with a strong sense of entitlement face either unnecessary criticism or unmet expectations. Creative people like writers, actors, humanitarian aid worker or fashion designer have some similarity with such street artist as they work (initially) for peanuts in their respective professions. I was lost in bliss moments on listening to such beautiful music amid thirst and heat. Such non-material aspects of a life are truly divine.<br />
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</div><span style="color: blue;">“From the bastions of the Jodhpur fort one hears as the Gods must hear from Olympus,”</span> said author Aldous Huxley about the Mehrangarh Fort ramparts. I covered <i>Mehrangarh Fort</i> early in the morning. Flying fox tour was too expensive (Rs 1500 for traveling to the wire around fort) and adrenaline rush doesn't suit me. What I like is slow and steady romance with medieval history and an ancient culture. I was unable to find location where a prison scene of '<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1345836/">The Dark Knight Rises</a>' was shot. The exotic murals of the self-exiled Polish art Stefan Norblin in <i>Umaid Bhawan</i> are still fresh in my imagination. <br />
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Guided Trip in auto-rickshaw was plan for touring beautiful city of Udaipur. Most of the places shown were redundant for me. Folk Art Museum at <i><a href="http://www.kalamandal.org/">Bhartiya Lok Kala Mandir</a></i> was a surprise revelation for the day. I watched Daily puppetry show and gathered information about popular <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghoomar">Ghoomar dance</a></i>. Both Lake palace and City palace were full of scenic beauty. Camera charges at city palace was so high that appears more irrelevant in this era of high resolution mobile camera. I was unable to visit Sajjangarh fort due to time crunch.<br />
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Medieval painting, historical exhibits and cultural objects like arms, protective elephant howdahs, palanquins, armors, turbans, costumes and paintings at both places were preserved with great care. Impregnable defensive architecture have always been plus point of forts of Rajasthan. I took audio tour at Jodhpur and personal guide tour at Udaipur. I find audio tour better for those who are alone and have plenty of time and interest. I have always been in dilemma that vacation can't be a photo opportunity. Sometime it seems wrong to constantly capture the beauty as champion trophy, instead of savouring the moment. Sometimes the wrong path can take us to the right destination. But, having an smart app like Google Maps was useful. '<i>Baati Dal Choorma</i>' was the only local cuisine tasted by me.<br />
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<div style="text-align: left;">Tour of Jodhpur belonging to Marwar state and Udaipur belonging to Mewar was completed. It was very hard to grasp disparity in lifestyle of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhil">Bhil</a> culture as seenin folk museum compared to luxurious lives of aristocracy. Boredom tends to cause excessive pleasure-seeking since, lacking other goals, people often use pleasure as a goal. Thus was the era of Kingdoms and Feudal lords full of extremes in war, love and art. As Walter Benjamin famously wrote, <span style="color: red;">“There is no document of civilization which is not at the same time a document of barbarism.”</span></div></div>Yayaverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10567482260999422784noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8053278039326036057.post-70594725683700475782013-11-18T12:11:00.004+05:302013-12-16T16:42:00.425+05:30Farewell Tendulkar<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sachin_Tendulkar">Sachin Tendulkar</a> retired today from all formats of cricket matches today. Many has paid homage to this legend and much has been already said about his retirement and figures. I will add few words. I don't call him God but sure rank him as one of the best auteur of the game. I assume him as the last gentleman of the cricketing era giving place to aggressive new India. Sachin was raised in tradition of Mumbai batsmanship, aggressive in strokes yet solid and calm in defense. He took it to greatness with his action and achievements.<br />
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Rahul Dravid, Robin Singh, Hansie Cronje and Heath Streak are my favorite cricketers. I like Sachin but never loved him. Yet, he was always there as a symbol of hope. During 1990, if Tendulkar failed, TV sets were closed considering all was lost for India. In those days, Indians rarely have something that can be termed as world class. Sunil Gavaskar has given us inspiration that one can be second-to-none with sheer will and hard work. Gavaskar was combination of rock solid guts, the classic technique and full commitment to stand up to such hostile fast bowling of his era. Kapil Dev was similarly inspiring because fast bowlers were non existing species in Indian cricket history. Kapil was generating sufficient swing, bounce, accuracy and work horse like stamina on the dead pitches with athletic fielding capabilities. I always saw Sachin as a combination of both of these stalwarts : First Among Equals at world level amid figures like Brian Lara, Steve Waugh, Rahul Dravid, Ricky Ponting, and Jacques Kallis.<br />
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Qualities like Longevity, Dedication, Perseverance, Focus, Ambition and Humility are part of his status. He has even attracted admiration from the players of other country for his composure and behaviour on & off the field. But why I admire him, for his Integrity. All games is safeguarded by their popularity. Whole nation was in the state of shock due to match fixing scandals in 1999. Yet, Sachin's honesty and integrity healed fans and they gave moral support again to Indian cricket team. Indian media has bipolar disorder who either give people as god-like status in good times, while every weakness is dissected in loss. Hence, a career with traces of controversy is an extraordinary achievements. Even without evidence, minor allegation against him like <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ball_tampering#Sachin_Tendulkar_in_2001">ball tampering in SA 2001</a> and Monkey gate in Australia tour are insignificant. That career record makes one wonder about miracle named Sachin.<br />
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I was kid in early phase of his career and hence not seen great innings of Sachin against fast pitches against England, Australia and Pakistan. This one is hailed as mark of new era in world cricket.</div>
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I saw him first delivering match winning last over in Hero Cup semifinal. </div>
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I saw him destroying pace attack in foreign condition at South Africa.</div>
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I always remember his back to back explosive innings at Sharjah amid sand storms. </div>
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I was glued to radio commentary for Chennai Test of 1999 against Pakistan. I was heart broken when chasing 271, Sachin had made 136 with severe back pain & batting with grim resolve in losing cause. </div>
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Sachin's batting against Pakistan at Centurion in 2003 world cup match is unforgettable. </div>
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I rate heroic 175 against Australia in Hyderabad as an example of lone man fighting a battle.</div>
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That double century of Sachin against South Africa was so perfect example of building inning with speed and calculative risks. </div>
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Even ad featuring Sachin are now memories of past.</div>
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This was one my favorite.</div>
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A part of his success goes to the his family, friends , players and his coach. His cricketing records will be broken. Thanks Sachin for so many good memories. <a href="http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/player/35320.html">Profile of Sachin on Cricinfo</a>.</div>
Yayaverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10567482260999422784noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8053278039326036057.post-44986651785285567122013-10-30T18:27:00.002+05:302013-10-30T18:27:41.694+05:30101 Ways to Get Educated<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">There are more than one ways in which one can get educated. This is a list which I found on the <a href="http://www.yesmagazine.org/8Education/101.html">net</a>... pretty inspiring and insightful !<br />
<ol style="text-align: left;"><li>Grow enough grain for one loaf of bread -- and make and eat the loaf</li>
<li>Answer ALL the questions of a 3 year old for a week</li>
<li>Spend a day alone in a wild place</li>
<li>Follow your trash to its final resting place</li>
<li>Collect food and blankets and spend a day giving them to homeless people taking the time to stop and talk about life</li>
<li>Help in the birth of a lamb, cow, or horse</li>
<li>Visit a slaughter house (try to withhold judgment)</li>
<li>Organize a rite of passage ceremony for an adolescent, someone at mid-life, or yourself</li>
<li>Switch genders for the day</li>
<li>Build a house (your own, or for Habitat for Humanity)</li>
<li>Ask a low rider how the lifters on their car work</li>
<li>Apprentice yourself to someone you've always wanted to learn from</li>
<li>Take a picture of you and all your stuff in front of the place where you live. Compare it to the pictures in Peter Menzel's Material World</li>
<li>Read the sacred texts of another tradition</li>
<li>Imagine your most delicious relationship and then go first</li>
<li>Work for a week on an assembly line</li>
<li>Spend a week without stepping in a car. Pay attention to how your town looks from a bike, bus, or sidewalk</li>
<li>Exchange tutoring with a teenager - math or bicycle repair in exchange for Web browsing, skate boarding, dance, or ??</li>
<li>Go to someone else's church, synagogue, or place of worship</li>
<li>Go on a vision quest</li>
<li>Take a dance class from a different culture</li>
<li>Interview the oldest person you can find; record the conversation</li>
<li>Interview a child</li>
<li>Imagine a day in your life 15 years from now</li>
<li>Plant and care for a tree</li>
<li>Ask yourself, "What if everyone in the world behaved the way I am behaving?"</li>
<li>Get the names of the favorite books of your dentist, grocery store clerk, mother, co-worker, and your minister/rabbi/priest or spiritual guide. Read those books</li>
<li>Pretend to be someone else on the Internet</li>
<li>Trace your water supply back to its source - and follow it down the drainpipes to its destiny</li>
<li>Finger paint</li>
<li>Spend a day in a neighborhood where you've never been before - without carrying any money</li>
<li>Ask your friends, and your ex-friends, to anonymously send you a list of your five best and five worst character traits</li>
<li>Live for a day off your garden</li>
<li>Channel surf for an evening; ask yourself what about the programs is drawing people</li>
<li>Be quiet for 5 minutes per day; increase gradually to 20</li>
<li>Ask a young person what's on his or her mind and heart, and listen (don't try to 'fix it')</li>
<li>Figure out when and on what part of your dwelling the sun's rays fall at different times of year (for extra credit: calculate the photovoltaic potential of your roof)</li>
<li>Take a year off</li>
<li>Read a foreign newspaper</li>
<li>Meditate on the life of your unborn grandchild</li>
<li>Talk to the janitor</li>
<li>Assume that everything is your responsibility, if not your fault</li>
<li>Examine a handful of compost or rich soil under a microscope</li>
<li>Go without food for three days</li>
<li>Watch a child being born</li>
<li>Write a creation myth</li>
<li>Visit an observatory, and look at the stars through a big telescope</li>
<li>Map the creeks, streams, and rivers in your watershed</li>
<li>Choose six jobs that interest you; find someone to interview for each and spend a day working alongside them</li>
<li>Watch a snail</li>
<li>Find out what percentage of the world's financial wealth is owned by the top 50 corporations, and how much by the 50 wealthiest people</li>
<li>Visit the emergency ward of a major hospital</li>
<li>Sleep outside under the stars</li>
<li>Discuss these questions with a friend : If the Universe is finite, what happens at its edge ? If it's infinite, how did it get there ? If the Universe started 15 billion years ago, what was there before it started? Does time go on forever ?</li>
<li>Visit a spiritual healer</li>
<li>Find out what the clerk at the grocery store is thinking about</li>
<li>Follow your electric wires to the source of the electricity</li>
<li>Learn to line dance</li>
<li>Spend two hours with a counsellor exploring your life</li>
<li>Pick three trees of different species and spend an hour meditating under each one</li>
<li>Go on a week-long solo journey by bus, bike, or foot to a place you've never been; listen to the people you meet</li>
<li>Learn how to build a wall</li>
<li>Fall in love</li>
<li>Take a bicycle to pieces and put it together again</li>
<li>Visit a Native American reservation and talk with the people you meet about their past and future</li>
<li>Learn how to give a good massage</li>
<li>Spend a day watching a state or provincial legislature at work</li>
<li>Calculate how much carbon dioxide your family is adding to the atmosphere each year</li>
<li>Ask a good friend to share the most important lessons he or she has learned about sex and how to make love</li>
<li>Perform menial or repetitive work at a job that lasts at least a week</li>
<li>Read primary sources on history, science, social science (that is, avoid the authors who are interpreting the work of others)</li>
<li>Carry all your trash around with you for a week. At the end of the week, weigh it all</li>
<li>Write an episode of one of the current top-rated sitcoms on commercial TV; explain the story line to a friend</li>
<li>Repair a damaged relationship</li>
<li>Start that band/garden/book/art movement you told yourself you'd always do</li>
<li>Throw the biggest party you can; try to get someone from every decade dancing</li>
<li>Ask your parents about their relationship</li>
<li>Refuse to do meaningless work for one week</li>
<li>Offer to help your child's teacher</li>
<li>Admit that you don't know and ask for help</li>
<li>Tell people how you are really doing</li>
<li>Go to a punk rock or hip-hop show</li>
<li>Sell your car and go to India</li>
<li>Seek out a friend of a different race & class</li>
<li>Ask people what they are planning to do about the year 2000 computer bug</li>
<li>Calculate the total miles traveled from the towns labeled on food cans in your pantry</li>
<li>Ask a kid about divorce</li>
<li>Teach yourself to play guitar</li>
<li>Go to the industrial section of town and see how much free stuff is available (go dumpster diving)</li>
<li>Make a movie about your neighborhood</li>
<li>Visit the nearest creek once a week for a month and notice changes along the banks, in the water flows, in the pools</li>
<li>Collect dumpling recipes from around the world; throw a dumpling party</li>
<li>Imagine yourself looking back on your life at 90 years of age: what are the highlights? Who has been most important? What do you wish you had done?</li>
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Now go out and do those things, thank those people and live those highlights.</div>Yayaverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10567482260999422784noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8053278039326036057.post-54867743332631886222013-09-05T07:30:00.000+05:302013-11-02T16:47:09.533+05:30Individual Moral Progress<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="color: red;">Unbiased Analysis always reveal that a ‘cherished tradition’ is neither cherished, nor a tradition; its a easy and popular myth propagated by powerful ones.</span> Once we create movements sought to challenge the power not just of social practices eventually they will challenge political order too. There is term used ‘<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heckler's_veto">Heckler’s Veto</a>” that has been seen more in democracy mode of governance. Essentially it means that the state refuses to allow freedom of expression out of fear of someone else’s reaction. That is the one lethal aspect that holds moral progress of the whole nation.<br />
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People judge individuals by whether they comfort you or unsettle mentally and emotionally. So, it is always easy to look for the coziness and intimacy that is inherited in the established tradition, even it is wrong one. As the total rejection of old will lead them into unknown emotional landscape with no peers around them. Only Diversity and open communication can challenge our morals based on culture. Yes, the truth hurts. But the damage caused by a twisted tradition has a deeper, more lasting impact.<br />
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Most of the people clings to moral arrogance in the name of honor and pride of family, caste, nation even at the cost of lives of others. And they are ready to sacrifice for that code of honor. A disturbing truth - When a man does something for himself his actions are performed within certain limits – limits set by the jealo<span style="color: red;">us scrutiny of others. But let a man set out to sacrifice himself and do good to others , and the normal limits vanish. He can become completely ruthless (the injustices done by idealists, patriots, saints and crusaders are far greater than those done by the worst tyrants).</span> Look in our sacred books : Its not the achievement but the sacrifice that made Ram worthy of worship. No religious book praise love between two humans, it gives value to valor, courage and sacrifice for a greater cause.<br />
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Or society consists of three class :<span style="color: red;"> 'Traditional Conservative'</span> as majority, <span style="color: red;">'Operational conservative yet theoretical liberal</span>' and '<span style="color: red;">Ultra- liberals'</span> as minority. What if even one is on the side of evil but believe in the righteousness of cause on the basis of faith ? That is the path of our traditional ones seeing things in more black and white. That makes a capable person dangerous is his/her conviction. However ultra liberals are immune to social pressure. Either due to wealth or grooming in open thoughts. However, Individual thinking is partially bounded by to the consequences of collective insanity. The buffer between conservatives and liberal provides an atmosphere for adaption of new idea.<br />
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As we know that the number of people willing to change their views in the face of evidence is much too small. Then, how is moral progress has been made in the past ? When we get used to something, it loses its shock value, it loses disgust value and now you are just much more open. That is the simple way of change. The fear of revolutionary change always led public to embrace tradition and theology. Hence, reformation is the way of gradual and painstaking process. It can only be built-up through dialogues and struggles even it is usually termed as heresy by traditional pundits.<br />
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In closest friends, only Shreyash and Chandan, with whom I can shared highly controversial social and non- aesthetic ideas. I have observed that living a normal life in itself is one of the biggest challenges. Because there is no such thing as normal for any time and place. While rejecting extremist right and left political views, and I try to take a flexible position, although having a rather pessimistic, view of the society. I have question relevant and validity of values what has been taught to me by school, family and even friends. It may be called day dreaming, but that is however unsettling, new ideas has came inside my head through curiosity to explore new terrain of values. It has involved painful process of ignoring epidemic of ignorance in friends, family and society willfully. I have taken part in a survey on morals [<a href="http://www.yourmorals.org/explore.php">Source</a>] whose result is published below.<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mt6YU0c0oMk/UibrmpQTvII/AAAAAAAACiY/zhZFELJTmLs/s1600/surveyresults_graph_libcon+(1).png" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mt6YU0c0oMk/UibrmpQTvII/AAAAAAAACiY/zhZFELJTmLs/s1600/surveyresults_graph_libcon+(1).png" /></a><br />
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Man learns a lot more while he is traveling or reading. A open mind can hold two opposite views in mind at same time and understand dichotomy of the situation. I am enlisting four simple ways that opens the path of liberal thinking to an individual. <br />
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1- Diverse set of material in reading is must. Otherwise, books become propaganda. Through words, sometimes books have disturb the comfortable & comfort the disturbed state of mind.<br />
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2- Self Imposed Solitude takes away peer pressure and the limelight. One critically look at his knowledge and world around again with patience in that period. That is a rare thing to do.<br />
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3- Exile away from home gives most insights about tolerance of others values. Hostel Life and Travel thus make people more mature and open to new ideas. <br />
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4- Last way to chart on the path of liberalism is sarcasm and comedy. Make fun of everything/everybody that is sacred, powerful, or stupid.</div>
Yayaverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10567482260999422784noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8053278039326036057.post-86802580015768492772013-08-21T00:00:00.000+05:302013-08-21T12:10:40.670+05:30August 21, 2013 is Blue Moon<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">August 21, 2013 is Blue Moon. The phrase 'Once in a blue moon' has come to mean something that incurs very infrequently. So is my birthday that happens only once in a year. Life is looking okay for now. Off the job, well, not quite smooth. I have seen now 28 years of life of details.<br />
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The perennial question from childhood in my mind is -<span style="color: red;"> Is it merely an accident of birth that led to one person having huge wealth and other condemned to poverty ? </span>The search for the answer of this question has made me an idealist in this practical world. To argue with one's own kin and friends for the ideal of fairness is difficult. One has to drop imposed morality and biased faith for one's own. I try to explore the issues of social hierarchy, religion, loyalty, corruption, sexuality, war, crime, and punishment by becoming morally ambiguous. I am ready to inherited cultural values if they are not respecting human rights. Even I have been rubbing with the comforts, the ragged edges of reality are forever pierced in my heart. <br />
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<span style="color: blue;">The things we admire in men; kindness and generosity, openness, honesty, understanding and feeling are the concomitants of failure in our system. And traits we detest; sharpness, greed, acquisitiveness, meanness, egotism and self-interest are the traits of success. And while men admire the quality of the first, they love the produce of the second. - John Steinbeck</span><br />
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<span style="color: red;">We are the choices that we made</span>. Sometimes good and other times bad. Mechanical engineering was out for me because of my inability to grasp technical concepts at engineering and lethargy. That left me with job in IT sector but I came to conclusion that negative choices are always the worst choices. I never feel to be such out of place and failure as in the engineering sector. The privilege of failure must not be taken away because to have continued success gives birth to mediocrity. It is the struggles and perseverance that has made me much strong today. Today, I am thankful to bad ones for widening my experiences.<br />
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<span style="color: red;">No one ever owns up youth or the women he loves.</span> But there is great mystery in love as it doesn't obey our expectations. Sometimes love is unrequited and unfulfilled. I may be a loner but definitely not a monk, voyeur or hermit. But this desire is like abyss. I am not even sure now what is true now in love. Let me not dwell into ancient evenings and distant music of past. Alas ! they are gone. I am ready for the new encounters, passions and sufferings in the love.<br />
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I have so many layers in memory, that I can peel away a few in the words. I had acted like another person so many times yet I was coming to the term of my real self slowly. Even self is dynamic notion but I was more of myself in recent years. Personal identity is an enigma, fragile & tenacious woven by threads of choices and inheritances. I assume that we all are held together by wisps of memory, few strong and mostly feeble. <br />
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The pace of life is unhurried nut not slow. While others plan, I dream. Yes, there is chaos in the dream but its worth it. I am happy to take the path of my heart without giving up for trend, instant relief and gratification. Notion about me by others is impossible to change. I do not sulk about missing out but get excited by what lies ahead. With growing age one owes responsibilities, more burdens, more obligations and also comes our ability to deal with the complexity. I don't know what lies ahead in the womb of future. Let us play between serendipity and causality. Life is strange. That is for sure. I am doing what I assume as right.</div>Yayaverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10567482260999422784noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8053278039326036057.post-4963944126992578722013-08-15T00:00:00.000+05:302013-08-15T00:00:01.391+05:3066 Years of Independence15th August comes again. With each passing days, India seemed to less shining and more as the great land of <i>Al-Absurdistan</i>. I am ranting on Independence day because we are not bothered about freedom, justice and fairness. The goal of development can't be achieved without securing these premises.<br />
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When are we putting aside petty political fights and begin focusing on the real problems that threaten our nation ? India is a capitalism encased feudal societies where people hide their prejudice behind a mask of newly coming material wealth. We are amnesic of the issues to be addressed with utmost importance for voices are hushed up or ignored in the media due to business interests or political pressure. We accumulate huge foreign reserve and emphasizing stock piles in food grains. An obsession with government jobs that give access to social and economic security without any accountability. <br />
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India possesses a range and quality of intellectuals that perhaps only few developing society in the world can match. They are considered both brilliant and scholar. But it is the lack of courage to call a spade a spade holds us back. People lack certain level of individuality to take a stand on serious matters of concern. There is no moral decline of the whole society. Our morals were always like this but it is now they are exposed in the public face.<br />
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There are lot of martyrs involved in our struggle for independence and rarely we remember them. There's no going back now. Our independence somehow was not the birth of an open mind in Indian context but only reformation through the western weapons of ideas. We as Indian rarely see ourselves as part of perpetrators and carriers of an unjust system. Sixty years of idealism, emergency, socialism, caste reservations and liberalization followed, has been bringing about the end of feudalism and the rise of equality and a new social order. Rising inequality disturbs me to a great extent. One look at human history is enough to prove that eventually it is always the freedom and inclusive institutions that has build up great nations.<br />
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It is very important to ask a simple question before making any decisions - Progress for Whom and on whose cost? Capital investment into infrastructure, Industry building or Subsidy demands sacrifices. But those who are making and those who progress are not the same set of people. I am not a communist but can 't accept an hedonistic version of America. I belong to a nation whose identity vividly unfurls in a maelstrom of violence, riots, discontent and poverty. In the end, we all want civilized, just and equitable India. I dream of India to be more humane rather than exotic and incredible. Yayaverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10567482260999422784noreply@blogger.com0