On 26th January 2010

Today is 26th of January 2010. On this day, since m0rning, a strange feeling is there in my mind. All around, in my hostel, patriotic songs are being played and I get pushed back to my school days. This day would mean a lot then. It still does, but the vent to express that is missing.

India became free in real sense when we got our constitution. This has been said again and again. But I feel, efforts to make people realise it have gone in vain or the efforts have been halfheartedly made. On republic day people should be made to understand why we needed our constitution, what the philosophy is that pillars our constitution. Their rights as well as their duties towards the nation should be made clear to them so that they are neither duped nor cross their limits while exercising their rights. Everyone should be clear about the concepts of unity, equality, brotherhood and sovereignty of the nation. They should be infused with courage to stand for the nation, to work for the nation.

The history that is being shaped nowadays compels me to say that the very concepts which we chose to govern ourselves have been kept aside. Disparities have been widened by our politicians themselves for electoral gains. One region prospers and the other suffers. 60 years wasn't a short time to achieve what we still haven't. Many countries had worse beginning than ours. Take the examples of Germany or Japan. They came out of their rubble to make their nation a great nation. South Africa came out of its apartheid problem very late if we compare it with the date we got our constitution. But now their is no division based on colour in the country. We still need to address this inequality issue in our country and this implies that the solution to the problem wasn't efficient enough.

I am not a cynic but, our country deserves more. It's also true that given the population and the diversity of our country the distance that we have covered is commendable. But if the social fabric were woven more intelligently, the history would have been different. Appeasement addresses the problem for a short time but it's not a permanent solution.

This country deserves more and let us toil to give it what was thought for at the beginning of the journey.

Rmembering B.R. Chopra's Mahabharat !

No, nothing special has happened in the last days that makes me to recall what that serial was all about. I'm such a big fan of this serial that it almost everytime with me.
I have seen this serial for at least seven times. And assuming a memoryless process, I can watch it three times more.Such was this epic serial.
For the first three times at least it was all for arrows and maces to me. The sound that arrows made when they penetrated the air was what kept me glued to this serial. Now it's not them. Every time I watch Mahabharat I get surprised. It has politics, it has ethics, it has economics, it has diplomacy, it has patriotism and I can still count many things that that package offers. Dr. Rahi Masum Raza's script, Harish Bhimani's narration, Rajkamal's music are the things that I'll always remember. That is simply a masterpiece.
Dialogues, though, at first may seem to be hyperbole, are bound to arrest you if you consider that the whole thing is in a different realm. We are, here, talking about men who were adored even by Gods. Remember when Bhishma says to Acharya Drona, "aap jaise log bhagana kya jaane, acharya!!." Acharya Drona's compulsion to fight an unjust war could not have been expressed in more beautiful words. Or remember when Arjuna confesses before Nakul, "main gangaputra se bhaybhit nahin tha, main acharya drona se bhi bhaybhit nahin tha, per main angaraj se bhaybhit hoon !" With so much of power it is hardly seen that one remembers his limits as well, but they did. Likewise their are innumerable dialogues which can make you wedge your fingers between your teeth. To tell the number of corpses, Samay tells us that he has to walk on forefeet only so that he can find a space to walk. Oh my God !! How do you imagine that the passing of time is similar to a man walking, and that when it's hard to see any ray of hope through those corpses, express the idea with the difficulty faced in walking ? Such metaphors are bound to spellbound you.
As for the music, you can get immersed in spirituality, only to find that you don't want to come out of it, when you hear "sab se unchi preet sada hi, duryodhan ke meva tyage, saag vidur ghar khaaye."
Never again will such serials be made. That Mahabharat remains a benchmark for those who want to make Mahabharat again. It still is unsurpassable. With the advent of so many technologies you can make the war more and more fearsome. But I'm sorry Mahabharat is not only about those 18 days of war. How will you show the values for which the war was fought ? That's why my friend we had B.R.Chopra amidst us.

So Near Yet So Far !!

After a long time I watched a match though, only 20 overs of it. India lost to Australia by 3 runs. Sachin stood tall amongst the ruins ! As a matter of fact, I planned to see the match only because of Sachin. It's not the first time that India lost to Australia nor it is going to be the last time. Also it's not that I don't know that we too have made them face defeats many times. But why I am bound to write a blog about this match is because of the way we lost.
More than for the struggle of our team to win, this match would be remembered for the way we lost to Australia. We struggled as hard as we could, and we lost as easily as we could. The same old thing that has been said so many times about our team-"tu chal main aaya"- was applicable this time as well. Today I remember a match that I saw in September 2004 between West Indies and England. West Indies needed 71 runs when their 8th wicket was down, and the 9th wicket partnership between CO Browne and IDR Bradshaw did it. As far as I remember there were not too much of fours forget about any sixes. They collected those runs through singles and doubles mainly. However, more than the way they did that, the end result is what makes me say that we still lack that fighting to the last breath attitude. Yes, I have just checked records at cricinfo and I have also seen that the highest wicket partnership record for the 9th wicket goes to Indians (Kapil Dev and Kirmani) only but that is not my point. Neither I want to stick to this 9th wicket partnership only. What I saw in that 71 runs partnership was the attitude to hold the rope tightly. We literally succumbed to the pressure in the end. A boiled-for-30 minutes milk was lemoned in no time.
May be that I'm writing this blog only because of the fact that I watched the match and India lost it. But, it remains a fact that seldom does a team lose a match when it needs 5 runs in 3 balls. I just wish that Sachin could have stayed for 20 runs more. I just wish........!!