Thoughts

Here are a few of my thoughts on the terrorist attack which rattled Mumbai....

You cant fight AK-56 rifles with lathi’s. Empower the police.

Terrorists are trained to kill, so they kill.
Politicians are there to protect us, but they don’t. So, who is the bigger enemy?

Just 10 terrorists killed 183 people and injured 294. Should we say more?

350 commandos protect Mayawati. 150 commandos protect Sonia Gandhi. Who protects us?????

We love our soldiers, but we want to see them alive.

Take my salary but PLEASE buy bullet-proof jackets for our police and save them.

We know who they are, where they came from, who financed them…..what are we waiting for? A nuclear attack??

We saved the parliament, we saved the Taj. Enough of saving, lets talk about prevention not cure.

Strength: Soldiers
Weakness: Politicians
Opportunity: Ourselves
Threat: Terrorism, everywhere!

There are many thougts, many emotions, but just not enough words to express my gratitude to all those bravehearts who risked their lives to save the lives of people they didnt even know. Brave Commandos, I dont think my words can do any justice to your courage. But to do my own small thing, I SALUTE YOU!!

The Dark Knight

The number of blasts and attacks in India over the last few moths make me bleieve that we are living in some under-developed South-African country where bomb-blasts and mass-murders are a daily reality. I just cant resist myself from comparing the current situation in our country to the one that was shown in the batman movie, The Dark Knight.

In the movie as the mafia mounts a war against the city, everyone expects someone to answer the mafia in its own language-violence. But, there is one man, who tries to hit the mafia through making tougher laws. He is the fair knight, the one who tries to fight violence through laws. That is fine, I think the Indian law book might be one of the biggest books in the world. But today, we need someone like the Batman, a dark knight who kills the killers. One who answers to them in their own language, who gives an eye for an eye, one who does tit for tat and does boom boom even before the mafia can start its work.

May be we need a dedicated hit squad to tackle this menace. A dedicated group of officers, whose only job is to track such elements and kill them at the first possible oppurtunity. Give them the best weapons, the best training and a license to kill ala James Bond. Today, I so wish that superheroes were for real then I guess our beloved Taj Mahal Hotel woudnt have to be raped left, right and centre by these terrorist. We could have saved the Oberoi and Nariman House and all its residents from the ordeal that they went through. I wish a man would come in his batmobile, blast through the window like superman, thrash the terrorists with the power of He-Man and then finish the them with the ferocity of Joker. I know, the human rights guys wouldnt like this, but what would you do with human rights when the most basic right of innocent humans, the right to live is being snatched away by mindless terrorists. have a look at this......

Jaipur Blast: 80 dead. 100 plus injured.
Guwahati Blast: 67 dead. 50 plus injured.
New Delhi Blast: 30 dead. 100 plus injured

It's been more than 25 hours, my beloved city is still in fear, we have lost many bravehearts, more than 127 are dead and more than 300 are injured, hundreds of families have been orphaned. I am waiting for Mumbai's Dark Knight or rather Dark Knight's!!!!!!

Helplessness!

Watching the terrorist operation last night on my TV screen, there were only 2 emotions I could feel. One being so strong that I just wish that I could begin this blog with the choiciest of expletives begining with m, b,c and everything else. When the terrorists continued to hold the whole city to ransom, all I could think of was helplessness. The sheer thought that even 38, 000 policemen could not make you feel secure was nerve-wrecking.

I was watching the TV till 2 o clock in the night, there was a lot to see in the middle of the screen, but there was a small column to the right of the screen, from which I just couldnt take my eyes. The column showed the number of people who had died in the attacks and every few seconds, like it happens in a typical Hollywood movie, the figure kept mounting......57, 63, 70, 100, 120 as i write this and who knows how much by the time it gets over. We have seen numerous blasts in the last few years but just one scene where policemen were walking on the road with pistols in their hand is something which no one would ever dreamt of even in their worst nightmare.

We dont know how many fathers, mothers, daughters, sons and friends might have died in these attacks and may be even if we do come to know, we wouldnt be able to do much for their families. As one place after another was targeted, as a citizen of Mumbai, who loves to eat at Juhu beach, loves to hang-out at Bandra, admires the beauty of South Mumbai, all I could feel was helplessness!

Well done MATE!!!

Every human activity which involves a team needs a lot of team spirit to suceed. The Aussie over the years exhibited team spirit which made it into the best team into the world. they called it mateship. it simply was being happy for, helping, feeling for and standing up for your colleagues, in this case, their team-MATES. I clearly remember that whenever an Aussie player was shown aggression, at least 3-4 of their players would surround and intimidate the opposition player. An Aussie always knew that his team would back him to the fore, come what may. He always knew that his team would always stand by him, be it in good times or in bad. In fact even before anyone could raise a finger, his team members would rise and form a wall to protect him. In fact through this wall, they would hurl such volleys that the opposing team would definitely back-out.

Be it among friends, in the coprpoarte world, in sports or even in politics, mateship is of utmost importance. Mateship comes from a leader and thats what we see from Dhoni. When Dhoni gave Sourav the honour of captaining India for the last 5 overs, it showed the respect Saurav commanded among his team-mates, seniors as well as juniors. What it also showed that Dhoni is a great leader, who not only knows when to step ahead and take charge but also knows when to step back and let someone else enjoy the respect. His was and I think will remain one of the greatest gestures in world cricket for a long time. I always beleived that one thing missing in all the Indian teams of the past was the mateship-standing up for each other, enjoying each others sucesses and praising each other perfromances in public. But now , with what Dhoni has done and with the way his team is playing. I think we finally have the element which we always missed the most. We had a good team made up of fantastic players while the Aussies had a fantastic team made of good players. It was a great sight to see the respect given to Saurav and Anil by Dhoni, this can only augur well for the Indian team, all I can say to Dhoni is, '' Well done MATE''

Winning and losing....its in the head.

There was a time when a group of 11 athletes strode the earth like giants. When they touched their bats, they turned into swords with which they slayed bowlers around the world. When they hurled the ball on the pitch, midway it became a grenade which would blow the batsmen off their feet and when they fielded they pounced on the ball like hungry ( and wild) cats, who never missed their prey. They intimidated their opposition not only with their skills but also with their walk and their talk. They believed that they were invincible, in fact in competitive sports, where there is winning as well as losing, they just knew one word and that was ...........dont need to say it. Since they beleived they were invincible, the whole world beleived they were invincible.

Teams would give up against Australia even before the game had begun. I guess the Aussies would be getting up from their beds and straightaway be practising, not cricket but their man-of-the match award winning speeches. Then slowly, the aura began to fade after India affected a historic turn-around in the 2001 series. Still the Aussies beleived that they were invincible, then came the 2004 series in Australia where the believed that they would eat us raw. But India under the leadership of its charismatic leader, Dada drew the series and hurt the Aussie pride like never before. We spoilt the last series of one of Australia's greatest captains, Steve Waugh or Tugga as he was lovingly known. Now, the Aussies started bleiving that India was the team to beat. Suddenly from just visualising victories, they had started to visualise drawn matches. They had started to beleive deep down in their mind that India could defeat them and hence, India did. They had started beleiving their doubts and doubting their beleifs. With the defeat against India yesterday, life has come circle for the Aussies. Once, when they took to the cricket field, they knew they were going to win. Today, they play to make sure that they dont loose. India on the other hand beleive that, only they can win and since they beleive, only they will. The tide is turning or rather its turning in the mind. Hail the new champions ( at least for the present moment)- TEAM INDIA.

We are watching you Big Brother

If you hve been going through the newspapers during the last few days, you could be forgiven for beleiving that the very next moment either Mc Cain or Obama would turn up outside your house, yelling '' Roti, Kapda aur Makan'' or rather as they say in the US '' War, Economy and Osama''. The amount as well as the kind of coverage which the Indian media has given to the current US Elections, you cant be faulted if you beleived that both of them were competing for the Indian parliament. Everyone from an 18 year old to a 65 year old wants to know who is going to win the elections, nothwithstanding the fact that most just know 4 things about America: its spelling, Mc Cain, Obama and its best friend, Mr Osama. I wish our public had the same kind of enthusiasm for elections in India as well. I can confidently that 90% of these people dont even know who their local corporator is (assuming that they at least know hwo their building secretary is).

This over-enthusiasm cant wholly be blamed on the media. One should keep in mind that it is the format of the US Presidential elections that generates this kind of buzz around the world. Here candidates instead of just blaming each other, constructively debate various tricky issues from terrorism, global warming to recession and many more. Here in India, all we get to hear from our politicians is how the opposition party has ruined the country. In the US, the voters clearly come to know the mindset of their would-be president when both the candidates go one-on-one in the presidential debates. After thoroughly analysing both the candidates, you can pick your own president. It is this vibrancy and pro-activeness which is in-built in the American democracy which has made it so sucessful. The very fact that the whole world is watching the American elections is a tribute to America's greatness. Most beleive that Obama will win easily, but wait, this is America. If they can elect Mr Bush for the 2nd time inspite of all his blunders, then they sure can make Mc Cain the most powerful man in the world. Usually America is known as the Big Brother, who is always watching. But this time take a careful decision America, as the Big Brother is being watched by the entire world.

The time is now!!!!!!!

As a kid, we all dreamt of being someone or the other. But among that dreamy someone, one thing was common, the dream of being sucessful and also of being super-rich. Whenever we saw a aeroplane whizzing by, high in the sky, a few of us would always turn around and tell our friends, one day i will become a pilot and then fight amongst us as to who would be the pilot and who would not? Some of us would look at the television set and dream of being a superstar. Our parents would always tell us, Bete bade hojao, phir jo chahiye woh banke dikahana. We always told ourselves, I am still so small, will do it when the time comes. Today, we are all in our twenties. What do well tell ourselves? Arre I m just 22, will do it when my time comes.

Now we no more dream of being a pilot, all we dream of is getting a break from our job and spending a relaxed weekend. As kids we wanted to grow up to realise our dreams, but even as grown ups we still want some more time. i think we were bettr as kids because at least we had the ability to dream and then even visualise our success by playing with an aeroplane. Today we have forgotten to dream big. From a 4 year old to a 12 year old to a 22 year old, life has gone through very quickly and from 22 to 60 yrs wouldnt be any different.The question is, when will the time be right?? Even at 60, its never too late, but i guess having a jet of your own at 30 would be a lot better than having it at 60. I couldnt be a pilot, so what??? Now, I can at least own a jet and hire a pilot for myself. The TIME is always right, the TIME is NOW!!!!!!!!

'' If you dream to win. Dare to dream'' and dont stop there.........theoker.

End of an Era........ a perfect Cliche!!!

Anil Kumble announced his retirement yesterday from international cricket. No, but this aint about his cricketing life. This is about Anil Kumble, the humble giant. Rarely would you come across a man, who would step on the sporting field inspite of having a fractured jaw. Him coming out to bowl with a fractured jaw and even taking Brian Lara's wicket will forever remain one of the greatest scenes in the history of cricket. His body might have asked him to quit, yet the mind still hasnt. That became amply clear when he ran back yards to catch a skier from Mitchell Johnson inspite of having taken 11 stitches in his hand. This catch could easily have caused great injury to his already damaged hand. But he didnt worry or may be whenever he wore the India T-shirt, he just had one objective, one aim, one desire: to see India win, at every cost. This act once again reminds us that he was not only a man with great skills, but a man of great determination.

His value to the country is often under-rated, he was not only one of India's finest bowlers, but he was and will forever be one of India's greatest player ever. With more and more of youth mania everyday, we see great aggression, more abuses, more physical contact. This generation might bring us sucess with aggression, but in a way Anil represents true India. An India in which irrespective of our success, we always respected our opponents. An India in which irrespective of ones greatness, one always remained down-to-earth. An India, which even after defeating a hopeless enemy 4 times, forwards its hand of friendship and treats it with equal respect. Perhaps its not just the end of a career, its probably the end of an era.