Opinions of a young Indian

I have been writing on quite a few issues of late. I mostly have a very clear point of view on the happenings of the country and find blogging as a good source to express and share my opinions. But sometimes the course of events is so disturbing and there is so much agony that it perhaps gets difficult to write it all in one article. Today, I feel exactly the same. There are so many emotions that I do not understand where to start from. We are a country that has traditionally given women the status of Goddess. But what we are seeing happening in different parts of the country has literally shocked me as an Indian citizen. I often feel sad, upset and angry on a lot of things about India, but today, more than all of this I am scared. I am scared for my sisters, in fact scared for all the sisters of India. I don’t know where we are heading towards and whether we could ever give them a safe society to live in. These heinous crimes have indeed got various perturbing interpretations.

In spite of all its loopholes and ambiguities, we Indians by and large have a strong belief in our judicial system. Often in times of distress, controversies or administrative inefficiency, it is the judiciary that provides us respite and comes up with a solution in the interest of the nation, thereby monitoring the other organs of the democracy and truly justifying the faith which the citizens of this country show in the law. One of the most talked about and anticipated verdict coming from our courts in the recent times has been that on superstar Salman Khan. So Salman ‘Bhai’- as his fans call him, after a long long trial of 20 years has finally been convicted in the Black Buck hunting case of 1998 and has been sentenced to a five year imprisonment. As has been the case with our country, in a case that took a couple of decades for the verdict, the convict ironically took hardly 48 hours to get a bail. Anyways, these are legal procedures and although they often surprise me, honest

So our Under 19 Cricket team has made us all proud by lifting the World Cup and we as cricket fans just cannot get the enough of it. It goes on to show the robustness of our cricket infrastructure and has reinforced a strong belief that Indian cricket has a very bright future ahead with a large pool of immensely talented players eager on making a strong impression on the world cricket. Days after the triumph, the BCCI announced cash rewards for the team and the support staff as a token of appreciation and for further motivation. The head coach Rahul Dravid was given 50 lakh rupees while the team members got 30 lakhs each and the other support staff walked away with 20 lakhs each. Interestingly, Rahul Dravid was unhappy with the reward allocation. As humble as he has always been, he felt that there should be no disparity between cash prizes for the team and its support staff as everybody had worked hard equally. And this is not the first such instance. From the time Dravid has st

Few days back, I was just going through news headlines when I came across a report that mentioned heavy snowfall in parts of USA resulting in a huge damage to life and property. I started wondering how America has become a superpower in spite of all the adversities- unfavorable climate and lack of certain natural resources. And why is India, despite such abundance of resources and propitious geographic conditions, still lagging behind? Well, I perhaps got the answer the very next day when I came to know of the Koregaon Bhima violence in Maharashtra. To be frank, we all know this answer, don’t we? We know very well where do we lag and what has hurt the development prospects of our great country all these years. Incidents like Maharashtra violence are just strong and embarrassing reiterations of the unfortunate state of our country. On going deeper, I came to know of the history of the Battle of Koregaon Bhima, the significance of the date and the prominence which the place and th

The speculations are over, the chaos and noise has finally ended and the all important verdict is out. The Gujarat Vidhan Sabha Results are finally in our hands and the ruling party BJP has won a consecutive sixth time, thus retaining its bastion in the state and reiterating the strength of saffron in the present political scenario. However, there is much more to this mandate than is visible on the face of it. This win in Gujarat, a state which has traditionally been a BJP stronghold, was not a cakewalk for them this time around. Unlike most of the recent elections, the Congress looked like posing some serious challenge to the incumbent BJP thus making Gujarat elections one of the most hard fought and exciting electoral contests in the recent times. So what were the factors that were playing on the minds of 6 crore Gujaratis when they went out to vote? Firstly, as is quite visible from the result, there was a significant level of resentment against the ruling state government,

In cricket there have been numerous good innings, there have been certain great innings and then there have been rare acts of sheer single handed domination. What Rohit Sharma did at the PCA Stadium of Mohali on Wednesday was undoubtedly an act of domination and mercilessness on the Sri Lankan bowlers. In the process, he went on to become the only batsman to score 3 double centuries in ODI’s (in fact he was the only one to score 2 of them).   The fact that there have been only 7 double hundreds scored and one man having scored 3 of them shows what this man is made up of. Rohit’s career is a perfect example of focus and persistence. Like most other successful sportspersons, Rohit has been through difficult times in his career. As is the case in Indian cricket sometimes even highly talented players fail to solidify their place in the team. Same was the case with Rohit. In fact, having made his ODI debut in 2007 it took him about 5 years to cement his place in the Indian playing XI

Understanding India is extremely difficult. It has been thousands of years, and there has certainly been no fixed pattern identified which meticulously defines the Indian mindset and behavior. Such incredible is the diversity and heterogeneity of our country that you can hardly predict which way the things are going to turn. When Sanjay Leela Bhansali would have thought of making Padmavati, perhaps he would not have thought of the tremors that the movie is going to create prior to its release. Or even if he had given it a thought, he probably underestimated the extent of displeasure that the movie would face. This is indeed getting out of hands now. I do not get a very good feeling of all that has unfolded in the past couple of weeks regarding this controversy. And let me make it very clear why. Firstly, let me strongly emphasize upon the fact that I am strictly against any form of distortion with the historical facts and misrepresentation of the rich legacy that we have inher

The Supreme Court has revisited its much talked about decision taken last year which ordered playing National Anthem in all cinema halls across the country. The Court feels that standing for the National Anthem is not a measure of patriotism. It is now for the Central Government to take its stand on the issue. Whatever the course of events are, I feel it is time we talk about patriotism and nationalism and get a clear idea of what can actually be called as ‘Anti National’. I remember reading an anecdote long back about an incident in Japan. There was a thief who had entered a house. The owner of the house played the Japanese National Anthem and the thief stood in attention which gave the security guards enough time to catch him. Later on, the thief was praised for his patriotism while the owner was found guilty of insulting the National Anthem. Among many other interpretations, one thing which this interesting story prominently tells us is that Patriotism cannot be forced- it ha

We Indians are quite ambitious and optimistic people. A nice example of this was seen recently when we came to know of the commencement of the work for the much awaited Bullet Train from Ahmedabad to Mumbai. While some are questioning the feasibility of the project in a developing economy like India, the reception for the Bullet Train has been mostly positive, in fact celebratory. I don’t have any problems with Bullet Train. Actually, I feel good that the present government is working towards its commitment to enhance our country’s reputation at the global level, and the Bullet Train can be a milestone in this journey. However, today I came to know of an incident in Mumbai which has disturbed me deeply. A stampede during the rush hours at the busy railway station of Elphinstone Road in Mumbai has caused massive devastation, leaving 22 people dead and more than 35 injured. Heart wrenching pictures and videos of the incident could very well depict the havoc that was created, turni

Back in 2013, when we all came to know of Asaram and his involvement in the shocking cases for which he was booked, I was pretty sure that people would get a lesson out of these incidents. These so called ‘Godmen’ have long exploited our society’s naivety and ignorance and it is time that we understand their real face. But, fast forward four years. It is 2017 and I guess we have not progressed much from there. Characters have changed, the movie remains the same. That time it was Asaram and now it is Gurmeet Ram Rahim. Let us understand this entire drama from two different perspectives unfortunately both of which are disgraceful and sad. Firstly, it is quite sad (read disgusting) to see people like Asaram and Ram Rahim gain such a status and position in our society. It is because of our lack of knowledge, or say lack of common sense that leads people into befooling us so easily. We easily get done away with our logic and understanding in the name of religion and fallacious spirit

He has ruled the box office for two decades. He has made us fall in love with his grace, his charming screen presence and his charisma. He has achieved all that an individual in the film industry aspires for. But Shah Rukh Khan, as we have seen in some of his last movies, has not really been able to match the expectations of moviegoers and even the most devoted of his fans have been left disappointed with his choice of films. Shah Rukh has been an actor who has tremendously evolved as a performer over the years. From the dark shaded characters in Darr and Baazigar , to the very lovable Raj in DDLJ where he showed his class as a romantic heartthrob. Later, in Swades he moved us with his role of a contemplative scientist who loved his country while in Chak De India as a Hockey Coach who ignited a love for the nation and the game through his fantastic performance. We have all loved these performances and Shah Rukh has earned a great fan following and respect due to his hard work.

All great sporting nations have their stories of success which are often built on the foundations of a historic moment of accomplishment. When Kapil Dev lifted the Cricket World Cup in 1983, the entire world stood in awe and respect, as Indians were the underdogs going into the tournament and hardly anyone would have placed their bets on them. However, we achieved the phenomenal and this wonder at The Lord’s paved the way for what was going to be a significant turnaround for the Indian Cricket. When Mithali Raj and girls walked out to the same historic Lord’s Cricket Ground for the Women’s World Cup final against England, the whole nation prayed for the same magic which Kapil and his boys had created at the Lord’s 34 years back. Unfortunately, we just missed out here and England lifted the Women’s World Cup for the fourth time beating India by 9 runs. In spite of the heartbreak in the final, we are very proud of what our team has achieved in this tournament. It was not long back

The suspense over the name of the new Head Coach for the Indian cricket team finally ended with the Cricket Advisory Committee announcing the name of Ravi Shastri for the coveted position. When a committee comprising of stalwarts like Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman decides something for Indian cricket, we as devoted cricket supporters naturally accept the decision with both hands. The process for selection was the submission of resumes followed by an interview of the six shortlisted applicants which included the likes of Virender Sehwag, Tom Moody, Richard Pybus, Lalchand Rajput and Phil Simmons, other than Shastri. Ravi Shastri always seemed to be the strongest contender, given his credentials and his past experience as the Director of the team. But there is much more to it than what we can see as outsiders. We are all well aware of the situations of uncertainty that prevailed before the key announcement. More importantly, we also need to take into account the tu

Since 1947, India has come a long way in its endeavor of maintaining friendly relations with nations. We have been a peace loving nation having earned global respect and praise for our unbiased approach and peaceful methods. However, when it comes to China, our foreign policy makers have indeed found it difficult on various occasions to deal with The Dragon. In the recent turn of events, India and China find themselves in another state of confrontation at the border, this time in the Dokolam Area at the India-China-Bhutan border tri-junction. The Chinese Army was constructing a motor able road in the area, which was prevented by the Indian Army, citing the reason that the area in contention belonged to Bhutan. India is a close ally of Bhutan and this series of actions is an attempt to reaffirm India-Bhutan friendship and uphold the commitment to safeguard Bhutan’s interests. Adding to the significance, the Dokolam area is very close to the road which connects certain parts of Nort

In September 2014 Narendra Modi was on his first visit to the USA. This visit was special and remarkable in the Indian context in more than one ways. While the prime objective was to address to the United Nations General Assembly, the high point of his visit was his speech at the Madison Square Garden in New York where he addressed a 15000 plus audience, most of whom were NRI’s eager to listen to their Prime Minister. These people, having left their nation for professions and families, were glad to see the leader of their native land and welcomed him with open arms. Modi surely must be having many sweet memories from each of his past USA trips etched in his mind.  As he sets his foot at the Washington Airport for his much talked about three day visit to the United States of America, several critical issues and agendas would certainly be playing in the PM’s mind. India has shared an interesting and vital strategic relationship with the US. This will be his 5 th  US V

On the evening before the mega finals against arch rivals Pakistan, the Indian skipper Virat Kohli was addressing a press conference where he was praising Pakistan team’s turnaround in the tournament and went on to assert that Pakistan could beat any team of the world on their day. While it was a statement to express the positive intent and agility of the Indian team ahead of the final, little did Kohli know that his words would come so true on the big day. Pakistan registered an emphatic win over India and dethroned them from the Champions Trophy title with style. So what went wrong for the Men in Blue? A team which was clinical throughout the tournament had to be the favorite to lift the trophy, particularly when the opposition was a relatively inexperienced Pakistan side. But courage and resilience as they say, often gets the better of experience and skill, and this is exactly what we saw at the Oval on Sunday. So, let us try to understand the shortcomings of our India