A letter to Mr. Rahul Gandhi

Dear Mr. Gandhi

First of all many congratulations on becoming the general secretary of AICC. I am sure you will do great as the GS of a direction less party like Congress. The party needs youth representation and you are capable of providing that. Though I must say apart from youth, you have nothing much to offer to the party. But I appreciate your efforts.

We came to know, through media reports that you are focusing your energy to revive the flagging Congress party in Gujarat. For that you have taken great effort and pain to learn our language! You are taking crash courses in Gujarati language. We would like to extend our vote of thanks to you for being so generous as to learn our language to speak with us. But Mr. Gandhi, we would like to remind you that speaking someone's language does not make you understand that society or culture.

Can you actually spot Gujarat on the map of India? Can you name 5 biggest cities of Gujarat? Also, do you remember what was the last time you had visited villages of Gujarat? Other than your election rallies which have been flop all over India anyway.

Dear Mr. Gandhi, we do not need your interference in Gujarat. Your party is doing virtually nothing in the state and does not deserve to be in power ever in future. We are all satisfied with the governance that the current government is doing.

Also, just a friendly hint for you. Before you start your campaign and start alleging and maligning Mr. Modi's government, update your facts and knowledge about the progress of Gujarat in last few years. Look at the connectivity of road networks. Read some figures about Gujarat's revenue, export and import. Look at the improvement in situation of water and electricity in villages and towns.

Wishing you Good luck for your campaign. You really need it.

Yours Sincerely
A Proud Indian and a Gujarati

Cricket swallowing other games in India

I am ashamed of all those who treat non-cricket sports like peanuts. Very touchy article on ibnlive.com

Do read even if you are an ardent fan of cricket and cricket only. It will open your eyes.

source: http://www.ibnlive.com

Bangalore: Hockey always seems to be relegated to second best in the tussle for headline space with cricket. But on Indian cricket's big day it was hockey which scored.

Upset with the lack of recognition for his Asia Cup winning team, Indian coach Joaquim Carvalho hit out at what he called 'step-motherly treatment'.

A four-year wait came to an end for Indian hockey earlier this month in Chennai. Reigning Asian Games champions South Korea were thashed 7-2 as India won the Asia Cup; their first win since the Afro-Asian Games in 2003.

But there was no Chak de effect here. The players weren't felicitated as champions, like their counterparts in cricket were.

"Why was the same recognition not given to the hockey players when they won the Asia Cup? Where were the same state governments? The monetary benefit is not the issue, the issue is about the recognition," says India's head coach.

That's not all. The coach said that four of the Karnataka players in the team would go on a hunger strike outside the Karnataka CM's residence to protest the step motherly treatment.

"In future in the World Cup, if the Indian hockey team performs very well, then at that time I will consider their demands," says Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy.

Eight Olympic golds, a World Cup win in 1975; Indian hockey has a proud and rich heritage. But when it comes to endorsements or prize money then Indian hockey has always lagged behind cricket, and by a fair margin.

The BCCI announced a reward of $2 million for the Twenty20 win. The Indian Hockey Federation announced Rs 1,000 per goal at the Asia Cup. Also, Rs 2,000 would be deducted if they conceded a goal.

"We should look at the quality of goals given away and then decide on the matter. I think the goals that were given away were very hard goals, so there will be no deductions, and Rs 50,000 even today is a good amount of money," says Indian Hockey Federation President KPS Gill says.

Coach Joaquim Carvalho's intentions are not in doubt. He is not anti-cricket but has raised an issue that definitely needs to be addressed.

This isn't only about hockey. It's about Indian sports and cricket.

(With inputs from Digvijay Singh Deo in New Delhi) CNN IBN

Why?

"Ram is as big a lie as big as the truth of the existence of the Ganges and the Himalayas"

"Even Valmiki has said that Ram was a drunkard. I urge Advani to get into a debate with me after reading Valmiki's Ramayana"

"Is there any proof of Ram having built the bridge, or that he had the engineering expertise… There was no person in the name of Ram. The story of Ram is authored by Valmiki in Ramayana. There are so many things that Valmiki has said about Ram"

"they showed the culture of Ram Bhaktas (worshippers). I treat these things like a speck of dust. I welcome such opposition"

After hearing all such filthy statements from a politician of national stature, only words that come to my mind after a few verbal abuses are 'Why?'

Why did 'Venerable' M Karunanidhi have to utter such words? Why could he not be a bit restrained and moderate instead of blatantly hurting the sentiments of millions of Hindus all over the world? Why on earth did he have to be so vocal about his 'atheistic' thoughts?

There is nothing wrong in being an atheist. But it does not mean that you do not show respect to people who believe in a religion. And especially this case has nothing to do with atheism also. These statements are purely motivated by political agenda.

Mr. Karunanidhi, you have shown us your real worth by publicly stating such trash things. Thank you for sharing with the whole nation your excellent knowledge about Hindu literature. But you know what? We actually do not need your expertise. We are not as powerful as you. And may be we are not as learned as you. But our parents have at least taught us to respect other people's feelings and sentiments. I wish you also had learned something like that.

Peace be with you, Tupac. You will be remembered

Today is Tupac Shakur's death anniversary. The fans call him Pac, 2pac or Makaveli. He is undoubtedly the greatest rapper ever on earth. He was murdered on this day of the year 1996. The world lost a rapper, a fighter who spoke for the minority, a great human being. His murder is still a mystery unsolved.

Rest In Peace, Tupac.

Here's one of my favorite songs from him. Enjoy!



Lyrics:

"Ghetto Gospel"
(feat. Elton John)

Uhh,
Hit them with a lil' ghetto gospel

[Chorus - Elton John:]
Those who wish to follow me (My ghetto gospel)
I welcome with my hands
And the red sun sinks at last into the hills of gold
And peace to this young warrior without the sound of guns

[2Pac]
If I could recollect before my hood days
I'd sit and reminisce, nigga and bliss on the good days
I stop and stare at the younger, my heart goes to'em
They tested, it was stressed that they under
In our days, things changed
Everyone's ashamed to the youth cause the truth looks strange
And for me it's reversed, we left them a world that's cursed, and it hurts
cause any day they'll push the button
and yall condemned like Malcolm x and Bobby Hunton, died for nothing
Don't them let me get teary, the world looks dreary
but when you wipe your eyes, see it clearly
there's no need for you to fear me
if you take your time to hear me, maybe you can learn to cheer me
it ain't about black or white, cause we're human
I hope we see the light before its ruined
my ghetto gospel

[Chorus - Elton John]

[2Pac]
Tell me do you see that old lady ain't it sad
Living out a bag, but she's glad for the little things she has
And over there there's a lady, crack got her crazy
Guess she's given birth to a baby
I don't trip and let it fade me, from outta the frying pan
We jump into another form of slavery
Even now I get discouraged
Wonder if they take it all back while I still keep the courage
I refuse to be a role model
I set goals, take control, drink out my own bottles
I make mistakes, I learn from everyone
And when its said and done
I bet this Brotha be a better one
If I'm upset, you don't stress
Never forget, that God hasn't finished with me yet
I feel his hand on my brain
When I write rhymes, I go blind, and let the lord do his thang
But am I less holy
Cause I choose to puff a blunt and drink a beer with my homies
Before we find world peace
We gotta find peace and end the war on the streets
My ghetto gospel

[Chorus - Elton John]

[2Pac]
Lord can you hear me speak!!
To pay the price of being hell bound...

Hindi Language - National Language?

By the constitution, India does not have a 'National Language'. Hindi is adopted as 'Official Language' of the Union. Here is the excerpt from the constitution text which clearly indicates this fact. Is all the fuss created in the name of language in India really meaningful?

source: http://www.constitution.org/cons/india/p17343.html

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PART XVII OFFICIAL LANGUAGE CHAPTER I.- LANGUAGE OF THE UNION 343. Official language of the Union. (1) The official language of the Union shall be Hindi in Devanagari script. The form of numerals to be used for the official purposes of the Union shall be the international form of Indian numerals. (2)Notwithstanding anything in clause (1), for a period of fifteen years from the commencement of this Constitution, the English language shall continue to be used for all the official purposes of the Union for which it was being used immediately before such commencement: Provided that the President may, during the said period, by order_306 authorise the use of the Hindi language in addition to the English language and of the Devanagari form of numerals in addition to the international form of Indian numerals for any of the official purposes of the Union. (3) Notwithstanding anything in this article, Parliament may by law provide for the use, after the said period of fifteen years, of- (a) the English language, or (b) the Devanagari form of numerals, for such purposes as may be specified in the law.

Age old MS DOS advertise. Stupid and foolish but lovable!

India outplay South Korea to lift Asia Cup

The fever of the movie 'Chak De' seems to be gripping. It was a glorious day again for Indian Hockey. India lifting Asia cup for the second time consecutively. Hail Hockey!

News Source: CNN-IBN (www.ibnlive.com)

New Delhi: India beat South Korea 7-2 on Sunday to retain the men’s field Asia Cup. South Korea was completely outplayed as the in-form team led India to its second successive triumph in the Asia Cup.

Shivender Singh scored the first goal in the third minute by putting in a diagonal pass from Prabhjot Singh in the goal. South Korea came back through a penalty stroke conversion by Jang Jong-hyun in the ninth minute. But India soon was in the lead again through S.V. Sunil's goal.

Tushar Khandekar set up the third goal in the 31st minute when he took full advantage of a through ball and provided a square-pass to Prabhjot Singh, who made no mistake in flicking the ball inside the goal to give India a 3-1 halftime lead.

India's fourth goal came in a bizare manner when several South Korean players were busy contesting an umpiring decision and the ball was still in play and India launched a counterattack that set up the first of Rajpal Singh's two goals.

Ignace Tirkey made it 5-1 for India in the 53rd minute and Rajpal Singh put the game beyond China's reach by scoring India's sixth goal.

fter Prabhjot Singh put in India's seventh and last goal in the 65th minute, South Korea pulled one back two minutes from the end but it was a bit late in the day.

This was the biggest winning margin in the Asia Cup and India along with the trophy in the bag also achieved the feat of being undefeated through out the tournament.

Flashback. Zidane in Action!

I have watched this video several times and I still can't get enough of it. Zidane was a legend. I have not seen more elegant game in my time! Though he does not regret his act in the last minutes of FIFA world cup 06 final, I do think that if he had controlled his anger for that moment, France would have won the cup. They deserved it more than anyone else.

Shane Warne's 50 greatest cricketers of his time

Source www.timesonline.co.uk - Shane Warne's column

50 Jamie Siddons
49 Darren Berry
48 Brian McMillan
47 Chris Cairns
46 Dilip Vengsarkar
45 Waqar Younis
44 Alec Stewart
43 Michael Atherton
42 Ravi Shastri
41 Justin Langer
40 Kapil Dev
39 Stuart MacGill
38 Sanath Jayasuriya
37 Stephen Harmison
36 Andy Flower
35 Michael Vaughan
34 Bruce Reid
33 Allan Donald
32 Robin Smith
31 Tim May
30 Kevin Pietersen
29 Shoaib Akhtar / Craig McDermott
28 Saeed Anwar / Mohammad Yousuf
27 Jacques Kallis / Shaun Pollock
26 Steve Waugh
25 Darren Lehmann
24 Brett Lee
23 Stephen Fleming
22 Martin Crowe
21 David Boon
20 Adam Gilchrist
19 Aravinda de Silva
18 Merv Hughes
17 Matthew Hayden
16 Andrew Flintoff
15 Graham Gooch
14 Rahul Dravid
13 Anil Kumble
12 Mark Waugh
11 Courtney Walsh
10 Ian Healy
9 Mark Taylor
8 Ricky Ponting
7 Muttiah Muralitharan
6 Wasim Akram
5 Glenn McGrath
4 Allan Border
3 Curtly Ambrose
2 Brian Lara
1 Sachin Tendulka

My Comments:

1. Too many batsmen. Warne seems to be biased towards batsmen.

2. Sachin above Lara? No way. Lara is exceptionally talented player who survived in a team which hasn't been in limelight at all. Yet he excelled along with the responsibility to win matches single handedly.

3. Steve Waugh on 26th? Is he joking?

4. How on earth can you place Akram and Waqar so apart from each other? In my opinion Waqar was a much more lethal bowler than Akram.

5. What the hack are players like Harmison, Stuart MacGill, Lehmann doing in the list? With all due respect to them, they are not greatest 50 material.

6. Alan Donald on 33? Even behind players like Pieterson and Flintoff?

Camping at Mt. Lemon

Fire ball emerging from the shadows

I want to float between these clouds!

The enormous !

Grim Wise Forest

The campers

Bare mountains wearing a veil of clouds

The golden rays