Dear Sachin, please retire… to preserve your sanctity…!

Oh Sachin, We all love you, respect you and admire you beyond limits. We know that when you bat, the occupants of heaven and earth get entertained. A Sachin Tendulkar is brought to earth only once in a century… and we are happy to be alive to see you play all these years.

However, only the pleasant memories of past cannot be a viable substitute to the realistic present. This is the rule of the world… seasons keep changing… new flowers continue to bloom on the horizon.

There comes a time when one needs to pause and think…whether it the time to call it a day…?  

You are a God… we want to remember you as a God. Please do not dilute your godliness by becoming more human…!

Ever since you slammed your 100^th international century, the fierce debate started raging in all circles whether it is now the right time for you to retire. However, for all the passionate cricket lovers, any talk about your retirement was almost amounting to blasphemy.

But the point really missed by many people is that those who are asking now for your retirement are in no way his less ardent fans of yours than those who want you to continue playing.  However, there is a kind of competition among your fans that disregarding any talk of your retirement is equivalent to showing their greatest respect for their cricketing hero.

There is not an iota of doubt that you are the greatest batsman of all times. The batting records on your name are simply too many and it is humanly impossible for any player to reach anywhere near even half of those records. We are all blessed to be born in an era when we saw a genius like you play cricket and throw millions into frenzy with your skillful strokes all over the ground.

However, the fact cannot be denied that you have to retire one day. It would be too ostrich-like to assume that you would continue to play well into your forties and fifties. Anyone believing in this is actually avoiding the truth and seeking comfort of thought by ignoring the ground realities.

With age comes certain limitations and the body does not support every intended action of the mind. The agility on ground does not match with that of the young blood anymore. The strain of playing for a full day becomes too taxing and it starts showing on performance.

Expecting you to continue playing good is almost like expecting Amitabh Bachchan to now play angry young man roles or like expecting Lata Mangeshkar to now sing a seductive song for a young actress. It won’t happen. Agreed, that they ruled over their respective careers during their heydays.  However, they had to wind up their show and accept the reality on ground.

What appeared even more surprising was your strong defense on continuing to play, in all the interviews which you gave to almost all the known news channels within 2 days of hitting the most awaited century. You have opined that to retire now was almost a selfish act. We could make out that you new hair style was kind of an affirmation to yourselves that you are still young and can play on for few more years to come.

Sorry Sachin, but please look at your records and you will realize that you are but a diminished shadow of your own self. The records of last series, last year, last two years… all show your average performance on ground. India and BCCI have no problems in making you play more. They would be too happy to do that. But is it right for you to do so, when your performance is not really matching with the superstar image of yours, which you have so diligently created over the years?

The more you play, the more your average gets diluted. The more you play the more detractors you will create. The more you play, the more your image suffers. The more you play the more your sanctity as god gets a beating…

Let the decision of your retirement be only your personal topic and not that of half the population of India. It does not suit a charismatic sportsman like you, who is born only once in a century, to let himself be criticized and ridiculed by growing number of population.

That is why, Sachin… please retire … to preserve your sanctity as God of Cricket.

Facebook - A blessing or a Curse to the mankind...?

Is the virtual world taking over the real world? Well, it almost looks like. Recently a court in Cincinnati, while pronouncing its verdict in a case, directed a person to tender apology on Facebook daily for a month, or else face jail. Does this not mean that the court has considered the apology on Facebook as a comparative punishment for jail term? And extending the logic further, does it not imply that people have these days started valuing and respecting their Facebook personality almost equal to or more than their real personality?

We have been hearing the news that Facebook has been increasingly playing a major role in divorce cases in western countries. This is because ironically the people have begun reflecting their ‘true’ personality on the virtual space. They live a dual personality life. In fact, it is very much likely that a person who is very active on Facebook is in reality a very shy and introvert person.

The Facebook addiction

However, at one stage people have to draw a line and decide whether they want to get sucked into this black hole at all…because Facebook has turned into an addiction for some people. We see many comments such as ‘Good morning friends’ and ‘Good night friends’. Surprisingly there are handful of comments and likes to such status updates also. That means all these people have ample time at their disposal to update their status / post a comment on something as insignificant as a good morning or a good night. It can be easily made out that every time these people log out from Facebook, they do so with a heavy heart and whenever they log in, they experience a kind of thrill and happiness. And if the numbers in red at the top of screen indicating new messages, friend’s requests and new ‘likes and comments’ on earlier status updates is high, they get almost a kick. Few pleasures would match that feeling for them.

The situation becomes so vulnerable that their moods now a day depend on the type of response they get on the Facebook. If their comment does not get the desired response, they suddenly feel humiliated, unwanted and sad. Their moods for the rest of the day are deeply affected due to the poor response from their ‘friends’.

There is a limit to which a person should share his personal life on the virtual world. Another news which made headlines recently was that of a man firing 6 rounds at the laptop of his daughter, who complained on the social networking site that she was not being looked after very well by her parents. The father, enraged by his daughter’s such outbursts on Facebook shot at the laptop and posted it on the YouTube. Surely, this act by both of them was a direct result of attaching too much importance to their image and assumed importance of their entity in the virtual world.

We also see lot of photos being posted on Facebook. These photos attract lot of comments from various people who praise the style, the background etc. How many of these people would have picked up a phone to share their feelings with the person who posted those photos? Why has it become enough that we just post a comment and forget about it? Is this trend not drawing people away and away in the real world, while pretending to bring them closer in the virtual world? There is a kind of cocoon built up by every individual that allows him to react only at his will and apparently that gives a mysterious satisfaction.

One more study done in UK suggested that people who are logged on to Facebook excessively become more childlike in the sense, they expect the people to react to their every single post. This, the research says, is very much like children drawing / painting something and showing it to the elders in the house and waiting for their appreciation. And just like children, these people also get hurt when others do not appreciate their works.

Health tips in Facebook era

These people are logged on to Facebook on a 24 X 7 basis and can’t stay without it even for a while. It would be highly desirable for such people addicted to Facebook, to stay away from it for few hours a day or few days a week, just to ensure that they are able to live without it. During these hours they should express and share their thoughts and ideas in person in real world.

If this trend continues, soon there would be separate wards in all the hospitals to treat the patients for diseases caused due to excessive indulgence in Facebook. There would be many patients visiting the doctors with symptoms like high anxiety, low self esteem, hypertension, childlike behavior etc due to Facebook addiction.

And we might also hear in future, the doctors prescribing something like this:

Please do not post more than 2-3 contents on Facebook in a day.

Please do not be logged on to Facebook for more than 1 hour in a day.

Please take a vacation and do not access Facebook for 7 days every year etc.

Facebook – The new business opportunity

Considering the growing fondness for Facebook, there could be a new business opportunity.  There are a large number of people who keep staring at their computers and mobiles almost every single minute to check new updates or any new likes / comments on their earlier status updates. Cashing in on the anxiety and the insatiable craving for such likes and comments, the new business opportunity may sound something like this:

Facebook Management Services: Please outsource your Facebook Management and we shall provide you excellent services in managing your account. Some of our standard services are listed below:

We provide you new friends on Facebook at a cost of Rs. 100/- per friend. You suggest the profile of the friend and we shall create it.

We shall arrange to get likes and comments on your statuses at a cost of Rs. 5/- per like and Rs. 10/- per comment.

We have priority services wherein the likes / comments can be posted within 5 minutes of you posting the status update. These will be at double the standard rates.

The real brainy status updates, which encourage debates and discussions, shall be charged at a premium cost of Rs. 200/- per update.

We can supply debates / discussions on your comments also. The price depends on number of likes and comments, and varies from Rs. 200/- to Rs. 500/-.

We can supply very good matter for status updates on a variety of subjects like Politics, Sports, Current Affairs, and Bollywood etc at special rates.

There is a discount for bulk purchases and contracts extending to a month or a year.

The status updates related to current affairs shall be available at a premium, as there is a special team working on this.

Etc.

And the person who starts this business could be richer than Mark Zuckerberg in 2 years time.

Finally, the fact remains that the Facebook is only an entertainment media for social interaction limited to virtual world. It should not be allowed to ruin the personal relations with the near and dear ones living in real world.

Facebook should be used to wisely connect with others in VIRTUAL world… but not by disconnecting with others in REAL world…!

Rahul Gandhi...The Karna of Indian Politics...?

Karna was one of the most controversial characters in Mahabharata. There are several books written by eminent authors in various languages describing his greatness while there were some who criticized him as well. He is one of the central characters of Mahabharata whose contribution, (or the lack of it, at appropriate times), has altered the course of the epic Dharma Yudh.

Rahul Gandhi is the youth icon projected by Congress party and is all tipped to become the future Prime Minister, thanks to the blind faith displayed by the Congressmen in the Nehru – Gandhi parivar, even after several decades of independence. He has been in controversy mainly over his abilities to hold high posts in the government. Many outside Congress feel that he is just an ordinary person. However, by sheer virtue of the democratic principles, he can still become the Prime minister in 2014 if the Congress party comes to power at the centre for a third term in a row.

Let us compare these two characters, one from ancient Mahabharata and one from Bharat of contemporary times.

Birth and upbringing

Karna was born in a royal family, yet his upbringing was in a charioteer’s house. His mother, Kunti had left him in river stream immediately after his birth. He was spotted by a charioteer who brought him home. As such he was denied any of the privileges he should have obtained as a prince. He was denied a respectable status in his growing years, good education and the most importantly, respect in the society.

On the contrary, Rahul is born in a royal family. His family had given three prime ministers to India in the past. He has grown up amidst environment in which everyone around him looked at him with appreciation, praise and respect. He has been brought up in a royal manner and has been generously given all the privileges. He is widely respected (by all the congressmen) and honored everywhere he goes.  

Abilities and Recognition

Karna had all the abilities to challenge Arjuna as the best Dhanurdhar. He had his training from Parashuram and was equally skilled as Arjuna. Yet, he was never allowed to show case his talent on the grounds that he is from a lowly family. This hurt him the most. Throughout his life, he suffered the ignominy of being not given opportunities commensurate to his abilities.

The two most important occasions where he was not allowed to showcase his talents were during the Draupadi Swayamvar and the initial phases of Dharma Yudh.

During the Draupadi Swayamvar, even before Arjuna aimed his arrow at the revolving fish, Karna had risen from his seat to make an attempt. And had he attempted it, he would have succeeded also. However, He was not allowed to proceed by Draupadi on the pretext that he is a Soota putra, a charioteer’s son.

The second occasion was when the Dharma Yudh began; Bheeshma was the commander of Kaurava’s army. And he refused to allow Karna to fight under his leadership because of his origins. However, on Duryodhana’s insistence it was agreed that the day Bheeshma leaves his position as commander, Karna would join the battle. And that delayed Karna’s contribution to the battle by few days, which proved to be very crucial in the end.

Both these incidents have great importance and would have had a definite bearing on the end result if he was allowed to make his contribution.

Rahul Gandhi has been given ample of opportunities throughout his life. Irrespective of his abilities or the achievements on ground, the opportunities are pushed to him continuously in the fond hope that his magic will start working some day.

For last few years, he has been touring across India on the name of strengthening the party by inducting youth. He met several college students in various cities and lectured them. He campaigned for several state elections. He even joined a farmer’s agitation and organized a Kisan Mahapanchayat. However, in spite of his genuine efforts, the success has eluded him so far.

His biggest defeat so far has been the UP elections in 2012. He campaigned relentlessly for over three months, travelling extensively in remotest parts of UP, holding hundreds of meetings, road shows etc. It would remain a mystery, however, as to who was the strategist who advised him to roughen up his looks and act erratically to attract the voter’s fancy.   

Fate and Destiny

The fate is playing a very cruel game in both these cases.

In Karna’s case, he always asked the creator, for what crime is he being punished? Why is he being bestowed with such brilliant abilities, if he cannot make use of them? What was his mistake, for which he had to always suffer the ignominy of being born in a low status family?

And in Rahul’ case, even he must be asking the creator, for what crime is he being punished? Why is he being given so many opportunities without giving him the required abilities and more importantly Success? Beyond a point, it becomes humiliating that one has such opportunities, but is not able to capitalize them.

The sufferings will continue for Rahul, as they did for Karna…because whether one has Opportunity without Ability OR Ability without Opportunity, the suffering is similar…!

The Grand IPL Auction of 2015…!

After disastrous performances by the Indian team in England and Australia, the popularity of the sport has certainly taken a hit. The TRPs have gone down to very low levels causing deep concern in the sponsorship business. The Sahara group has shaken its long standing partnership with BCCI on various commercial issues. The IPL auction conducted on 4^th February has sold only 25 players out of available 144. The balance players are now put up for online auction, like bride and bridegroom’s profiles on shaadi.com.

If the same trend continues, here is a scenario of what would happen during the grand IPL auction in 2015.

New Corporate owners of teams

First of all, there are no big names like Mallyas and Ambanis participating in the auction. There are lots of new faces. They are from various businesses as follows:

Scrap dealer from Ludhiana

Garment retailer from Coimbatore

Flour mill owner from Aurangabad

Caterer from Bhopal, and

Beedi manufacturer from Yavatmal etc.

The players would be far too disappointed over the turnout at this auction. And the auction starts with Rs. 1000/-. The maximum price for an Indian player was Rs. 74,500/-. The costliest foreign player would cost Rs. 97,350/-.

New Bollywood owners of teams

There shall not be any big names from Bollywood like SRK, Shilpa Shetty and Preity Zinta vying to own a team. The people from Bollywood present there shall be Ravikishan, Himesh Reshamiya, Rakhi Sawant, Rajpal Yadav, Kay Kay Menon etc.

The team owners from Bollywood would put following conditions:

The advts shown during the overs break shall feature them or their movies.

The cheer girls shall dance on the songs from their films only.

The prizes shall be distributed by them whenever their team wins a match.

There would be a combined dance performance by all of them on the eve of inaugural function and the finals.

During the match in progress, the cameras would be focused on them at least 15 times.

Revised Conditions by the Sponsors

And finally the sponsors shall have the following conditions:

Their logos shall be displayed on bats in bold letters. So, expect to see some logos like ‘Ganesh Beedi’, ‘Zandu balm’, or ‘Itch Guard’, or ‘Vagh Bakri Chai’ on the bats.

Their product shall be made available at stalls within the stadium on discount.

Part of the fee shall be paid to the teams / players by way of their products. So, at the end of tournament, players can reach home with cartons of ointments, tea bags, soaps, Beedis and tooth paste.

TV telecast rights

With major channels backing out the telecasting due to TRP issues, the ones that will win the rights would be like Aastha channel, Sadhana channel, Shraddha channel etc. They would get panel experts comprising of Baba Ramdev, Asaram Bapu, Sudhanshu Majaraj, Murari Bapu etc on the match analysis.

So, we can expect some comments like ‘Bat ka ball se Milan hone jaroori hai…’; ‘Saans dheere se lekar shot maro.. .’; ‘man ko ekaagra karake catch pakado…’ etc.

Also, while the match is in progress, we will see a small window on top left corner of the TV screen in which Baba Ramdev will be seen vigorously doing Kapal Bhanti and Anulom Vilom Pranayam. During the innings break, there would be a special fancy dress show by Baba Ramdev in which he will also demonstrate his high jump skills and also give a brief lecture on Kaala Dhan. 

General Terms and Conditions

Considering that the players are not performing consistently every time, the new team owners shall put following terms and conditions for players:

Every batsman would get 25% of the contract amount for playing, 25% for scoring at least 20 runs and balance 50% for scoring 50 runs or more.

Every bowler would get 25% of the contract amount for playing, 25% for taking at least two wickets and balance 50% for taking 5 or more wickets.

Every catch miss would result in penalty of 5% of match fees.

Every misfield resulting in 4 would result in penalty of 5% of match fees.

The team uniform and the kit shall be issued only once for three tournaments.

The travel shall be strictly through second AC in trains. Meals included.

The taxi fare from stations to the hotels shall be reimbursed at actual.

And in faraway land Lalit Modi would be laughing and saying to himself… too much is too bad..!