It is really beautiful

I happened to see the trailer of Saawariya. Though I don't know Hindi, I enjoyed it. The camera, lighting, costume, music seem to be good. Lets hope the film would be a good one. Ravi.K.Chandran has proved that why he is a leading cinematographer in this country.

There are thousands, other than orphans and old aged who need help in this country

One day, last week, I got down from my Office bus and was walking along the Valluvar Kottam High Road, to buy some stationaries. While I was walking along, a few feet in front of me, a cyclist fell down in the midst of road. The way he fell almost everybody, including myself, in that place easily figured that he was drunk. Though I hesitated a few seconds whether to help him or not, my inner sense told that he must be helped first, and luckily it prevailed.

I took his cycle from the road, parked it on the sidelines, and that guy silently followed me. Meanwhile my mind had made up that I should not talk to him as he was drunk. Hence, I just started walking without a look. He called back saying thanks, which promoted to advise him not to drink and drive. (I believe a majority of Indians enjoy giving advice and I am no exception).

On hearing me, he started blabbering some thing. I thought to myself, "If this kind of stuff had happened to some of my friends, I wouldhave sat down with them and heard their story. Poor guy, lets hear what he says for some time." (The reason is many Indians drink mainly because they are sad, though there is no logical reason behind that.) So, why not patiently hear what this man has to say.

He said many things, (I feel they are not necessary to be mentioned here) which I don't know are true or not. I listened to him for about four minutes, after that I remembered my routines, hence gave him some consoling words and left. (Had it been one of my dear friends, maybe I would have talked longer. I am selfish indeed).

His life would have been different had he got a friend who would have corrected him. Majority, almost 99% of the people in this world are what they are, because of the environment around them.

I am no exception, I am writing a blog titled "I Think Therefore I am" not just because I knew Rene Descarates right from my birth. It is because my bringing up, friends acquaintances made me to think about Western Philosophy a bit.

It is really sad that, these days youngsters don't know what Marx said? Or what Bertrand Russell said? Or what J.Krishanmurthy said? Or what our Periyar said?

You may ask the question, why I need to know these guys If I am getting my food and I am living happily without knowing them.

The reason you must know these things, or at least have social awareness is because you are reading this in a computer just because 1 USD = 40 INR. Other wise we would have been in some town or village toiling hard for getting at least single meal a day. And the irony is majority of Indians are still experiencing it. Just because we are reading this sittting somewhere in an expensive laptop or a cosy office chair or an internet cafe doesn't mean that we have developed a lot. And what is happening to millions of Indians, humans might happen even to you some day, if the Dollar crashes. Beware that anything is possible in this capitalistic and materialistic word.

If people like us who are educated don't do things, it will be difficult to change things in this country.

I am not asking to discuss the Communist Manifesto or Dravidian Principles with your friends. I am not asking you to donate some hefty amounts to a NGO. But you can do small small things by not drinking a coke and drink a fruit juice. It will make a difference to an agriculturalist living somewhere.

I am not asking you to not go to onsite remain in India and be a swadeshi, bla, bla, etc. But you can donate 1% (or a fixed amount of say Rs.1,000) of your annual income to some organization in India which does some social service. It will certainly make a difference in the life of many.

I must thank that guy whom I met that day, he reminded me that there are thousands of persons other than orphans, old age people who need attention in this country.

Arise, Awake and lets stop not till the goal is reached.

BJP, please act sensibily

The Ramar sethu issue has been the food on which Indian news channels are feasting upon in the past few days. The most comical thing about the issue is that the party which initiated the study regarding this project itself is vehemently opposing this project.

Do they think that every one in this country is foolish enough not to see this truth. BJP are making themselves a comedy act these days. First their blind opposition to 123 deal with US was really annoying. At no point they were prepared to discuss regarding the deal in Parliament nor they agreed to an all party meet, instead they just stalled the the entire proceedings of the Legislature.

They need to act as a more sensible opposition instead of just trying to make news.

Regarding the Sethu Project, a more detailed study needs to be done regarding the ecological damage. Otherwise the project can be executed.

They have just won a World Cup

The winning of the inaugural ICC World Twenty Twenty championships has sparked celeberations across the entire country. A victory like this not only invokes celebration, it lifts the entire spirit of the nation. You can see the spark in the stride of a milkman doing his work in the wee hours, the delight in the persons assorting the newspapers in the early hours, the eagerness of the kids to go to school for discussing the beautiful moments, every where around us we can feel it.

Certainly these kind of triumphs lift the entire nation, but the question is whether BCCI & politicians are giving it too much of a hype. The bounties being announced for the players bemuses me.

Does Yuvraj deserve two crores and a porsche car when the domestic cricketers have not got their salaries and the coaches have earned only pennies when compared to the players.

If the Indian team needs to do consistently then, the domestic cricket must be strengthened. New pitches must be laid, academies must be created in every state, stadiums and ground staff must be properly maintained. It is not just the players alone who must reap the benefiets, the entire cricketing fratenirty must live.

If a player plays (just in squad, no need to play) an entire season, he will earn a minimum of 50 lakhs as match fee alone. Apart from that sponsorship deals, prize money for tournaments, etc. So, there is no need to worry about these players, instead attention must be shown on the relentless coaches and passionate grounds men who toil hard to create players.

Maybe BCCI can announce prize money for players, since it is making huge profit in the recent years, but I can't understand the logic in which the state governments are announcing prize money when a lot of more things require immediate attention in this country.

We need to realize that we have just won a world cup, lot of people in this country are still struggling for a single meal a day.

Manmohan, atleast reprimand Anbumani

At last Anbumani Ramadoss has agreed to sign the degree certificates for AIIMS students after Delhi High court stepped in.

I still cannot understand the logic behind which Anbumani had threatened the suspending the doctors if they fail to come back to work. Years and years of handwork of the doctors were stopped just because of the prestige problem for Anbumani.

I think the correct way of showing that everybody si equal before law is by removing him from the Union Cabinet. This will not be done by this boneless government. Hence, at least give a public reprimand to him.

Sen , should he be recalled?

Some fuel was added to the already flaming nuclear deal fire by Ronen Sen's interview to Rediff Abroad. Sen was quoted in Rediff Abroad as "It has been approved here (in Washington, DC) by the President, and there (in New Delhi) it's been approved by the Indian cabinet. So why do you have all this running around like headless chicken, looking for a comment here or comment there, and these little storms in a tea-cup?"

Though he has given out a statement today that he was quoted Out of Context, the remarks by Rediif Abroad's editor Afiz Haniffa seem to contradict his statement. Haniffa has categorically stated that these comments were given by Sen when he was contacted.

The Remarks undermine the legislature, most important part part of any democracy.
Sen must be called for an inquiry before a parliamentary committee. If the Sen's comments are true, then he must be recalled immediately.

It is really amazing to find that the protest against Sen have ebbed out slowly. In India just like the media, the politicians also keep on shifting their focus daily?

If you have 10 lakhs, you can rape a girl

Seems ridiculous isn't it?

But this what High Court has decided on a case.

A man committed a rape and he was sentenced to seven years of imprisonment by a trial court . He was acquitted by the High court after he proposed to pay Rupees 7 lakh as compensation.

It is absurd t0 see this judgment.

The person is Mansoor Ali Khan, a Tamil actor.

For more details read this article.

Don't where this country is heading towards. A rapist must be punished at any cost.

This case seems like bribing the judiciary straight away.

The judge should have secured that 7 lakhs for the girl and sentenced him to prison also.

I am back..........

I had dreamed of blogging on a daily basis when i wrote my last blog, but now it has been almost 13 months (to be exact 478 days) since i wrote my last post.

It is quite easy to visualize things, but thats not how things are actually are.

One of the main reasons is the work i have been doing. It has been really hectic out there at office, for some time i even forgot that i have a family and many friends.

Sometime back only, i realized "work is just a part of life, not life".

Then didn't have a proper net connection back at home. If you ask, when did you move into this house? The answer is 3 months, i have become bloody lazy over the past one year because of working in this damned IT industry. Maybe we can talk about IT some time latter.

Signing off now, hoping to put posts more frequently from now on.

Should I be really proud of this government?

When dawn arrives on the 22nd of this month, it would mark the end of two years in power for this Manmohan Singh led government. So, I thought let's sit back and see what has happened in this two years of his tenure.

I will never call this government, a congress government. Congress may be the the political party with the maximum number of MPs (145, 15 more than BJP) but I really don't understand how the Congress at times brags that Sonia has been given the people's mandate. It has got a representaion of just above one fourth in Lok Sabha.

One of the note worthy achievements of this Manmohan led government is our relationship with US. What an achievement it has been, though we had to pay a little for it like our ties with Russia, our prestige, etc. These things doesn't matter when we compare it with the cordial friendship of the Super power. Great job Manmohan ji.

Many may have forgotten the efficient way in which our honurable home minister Sivaraj patil handled the killing of Thangjam Manorama in Manipur by 17 Assam rifles. It was an event which must have made any Indian proud, if you had forgotten it, just read this.

The best of it has been voting against Iran at IAEA. It was the first time in our history, we were voting against a fellow Non-aligned Movement (NAM) country. I believe Nehru would have savored the occassion.

And now the the reservation issue and the way medical students have been handled in the most efficeint way by the delhi police.

And lets not forget the ever increasing petrol prices since they have come into power.

Manmohan Singh's government is worser than a puppet government, because for a puppet there will be only one person controlling it, but here quite a lot. Manmohan may be highly educated or qualified but he is worse when comes to leadership qualities.

Shivraj V. Patil, Pranab Mukherjee, Arjun Singh, Sharad Pawar, Lalu Prasad, P. Chidambaram, S. Jaipal Reddy in this list, if you find a single person who has got good leadership qualities, please do tell me, I will be the most happiest man on this earth.

In the end of two years of UPA rule, please don't forward the mail "Do you know whose resume is this? " which was doing rounds some time back.

Just ask yourself, Should I be really proud of this government?

Sit back and think a moment about it

"But you see," said Roark quietly. 'I have, let's say sixty years to live. Most of that time will be spent working. I have chosen the work I want to do. If I find no joy in it, then I'm only condemning myself to sixty years of torture. And I can find the joy only if I do my work in the best way possible to me. But the best is a matter of standards – and I set my own standards. I inherit nothing. I stand at the end of no tradition. I may, perhaps, stand at the beginning of one." - The Fountainhead, Ayn Rand, 1943

You will realise the meaning of this quote by the end of this blog, I believe, If not mail me.

Tonight at around 9 o Clock, I was surfing through the TV channels to idle away some time. When I was surfing, I happened to see Nasser's (For those who don't know Nasser, he is a Tamil artist, acts, writes and directs films, tele-films, drams, a superb creator) face in Vijay TV. Being a fan of Nasser, I decided to watch the drama believing that it will not be yet another idiotic sentimental Tamil drama which is a common site these days. My belief was not dashed, what I saw in the next forty of minutes of the drama, made me not only to take a walk through my Adayar neighborhood and but revisit the days right from my childhood.

The story of the drama titled Manam (Mind in English, hope I got it correct, I am not a great translator) was this,

"There is a boy, aged around 12, from an upper middle class family. He is quite passionate about football (like me, but I never fancied a career in it), he enjoys playing and watching the sport and hopes to make a career out of it. He is taking tuitions from one of his school teacher, whose husband turns out to be Nasser. He tells Nasser about his passion. Nasser encourages that boy, makes him believe that he will go on to become a great player and would don India team colors some day.

The boy's inclination towards football impacts his studies a bit. He his exam scores take a dip. His father and mother, just like any other South Indian parents don't like this. They ask him to abandon football and look into studies which alone they say will give him a good future. The boy argues, begs but of no avail. He withdraws from his school team due to his father's wishes, but clandestinely plays football then and there.

On the eve of an important match for his school, a player in the team gets injured and the coach asks whether he will able to play that match. The boy pleads with his father to allow him play that match alone, but his father doesn't budge. He is confused, he would love to play for his team but his father won't allow it. Finally he decides to play without his parents knowledge, but his parents somehow sniff something is wrong. On the day of the match, they lock him in the house and go out. He desperately tries to come out.

Finding no alternative to come out of the house, the poor kid jumps out from his apartment in the first floor (I believe, not sure) into a lawn. As they say, fate has its own piece of irony, he fractures his spine and his lower part of the body becomes immobile."

After that how Nasser inspires him to lead his life is a different story.

When I saw this drama, I just traveled back to my school days. I have seen a Volleyball player, a Violinist, a football player, a dancer who all would have gone to build a great career, now working or studying unrelated to what they would have loved to do.

I also wondering, how many of us are doing the job we were doing without love?

Studying well, doing a B.E. or M.B.A and getting salary in thousands don't mean that a person will be happy, why people don't realise this?

I have seen many who are earning thousands, but still leading a restless life.

I will not assure you that a person if he or she pursues the career will go on to become a legend in his domain, but he will enjoy his life. For those who love only money and lavishes, I don't have an answer.

I would like to tell a small story, my friend Kani told when I went to Bangalore last week.

Hope everyone knows the Fox and the sour grapes story, here it is retold,

"Once in a forest a young Fox saw a vine yard. Hanging high were bunches of grapes which would appeal to everyone, the Fox was no exception. On seeing those grapes hanging beautiful all over, its mouth watered. It tried to jump and have a taste of those grapes. After a number of repeated attempts, it still could not make it. It gave up and went off, saying that the grapes are sour.

On the way, it met an old Fox, the old Fox asked "Where are you coming from?"

The Fox answered, "I saw a vine yard with a lot of juicy grapes. I tried to eat some, and then I realized the grapes are sour and hence I started off".

The old Fox said, " You young fool, don't say that the grapes are sour, say that you are lazy, hopeless and you didn't try your best. The grapes are really tasty, go and try it if you want to see it for yourselves".

The young fox was pumped up, it wanted to prove it can but above that, it wanted to taste the grapes.

So, it went back, tried, tried, went on trying for days, months and years. Almost half its life span had gone, when it did it.

The news spread around the forest like fire. Everybody was amazed about how the fox jumped and plucked the grapes which were so high. Newspapers, media persons, photographers, animals thronged to catch a glimpse of the fox.

One media person asked, "Hi Mr. you have did it at last, congratulations. I have a small question for you, how were the grapes? "

The fox without expression said, "The Grapes were really sour".

The media person asked, "Then, why are you so happy?"

The fox smiled and said, "The grapes were sour indeed, that is a different issue. For all these years, I had just one notion to taste those grapes, I kept on trying and trying. I enjoyed each and every moment of the challenge, and I am satisfied over it. I don't care how the grapes taste. I am happy that I tried my best. I can't worry about an issue which I don't have control."

That is life, if a person does what he likes, he will enjoy the defeats and victories equally. To him, competing will bring pleasure than anything else.

The person cannot become a person like Sachin Tendulkar, Pete Sampras, Napolean and a Senna who all have natural talents. He can become a Rahul Dravid, Andre Agassi, Martin Luther King, Damon Hill who all become great through hard work, dedication, passion for their careers.

It may be too late for persons of our generation to restart our careers (I reckon, it still can be done), at least lets allow the future generation to have the career they like.

I love writing blogs, but there is no point in expecting my kid to write a blog when he doesn't even like to read one.

You might have wished to become a doctor or some other, but it doesn't mean your Kid also must like doing it. They will have their own liking, let them do that.

If I marry(Certainly don't know who she isas of now) and if I have a child, I will allow my kid to become a cricketer or a footballer or a pianist or a cartoonist or an actor or a model or a writer or an orator, anything my kid would wish to do. I don't care whether my kid will become a legend, I don't want it. I want my kid to be happy, thats it.

I and my wife will be happy if my kid is happy.

Every child loves to do something, remember even you did it.

At least allow your child to do what they love.

The day everyone in this country do what they love, I will call that day, India has become a developed nation.

Only you and I can do it, sit back and think a moment about it

Do you know, What God is thinking now?

He will be thinking about how M.Karunanidhi, D.M.K party president will fufill his electoral promises, if he comes to power.

Have you heard the recent electoral promises of M.Karunanidhi, President of D.M.K. for the upcoming assembly elections in Tamil Nadu.

For those who have not heard about that, here are they

We will provide

• Quality rice at two rupees per kilo

• FREE colour TV for all households that do not have one

• FREE gas stoves to poor women

• MATERNITY assistance of 1,000 rupees for three months before delivery and three months after delivery

• WAIVER of all co-operative loans to small and marginal farmers

• FREE power to weavers

• TWO acres of land for each poor farmer

• THREE hundred rupees per month to every unemployed person.

If DMK after coming to power tries to implement even 50 per cent of its promises the State will coffers be empty in a jiffy.

Giving rice at Rs. 2 alone will add a deficit of 3000 crores to the state budget. How are they going to manage it?

Then giving TV to all households without one is another absurd promises I believe. The manifesto states like this "Provision of colour TV sets to every family for women's recreation and general knowledge". How providing Television sets will improvknowledgege?

It is just a stunt to expand the penetration of the party's cable channel Sun TV.

The list doesn't end there, another most glaring fact is providing two acres of land to poor farmers. Where will Karunanidhi get lands for so many people?

At no point in the manifesto there is a mention of how the finances are going to be handled.

Does Karunanidhi think we are idiots?

I am not saying Jayalalitha is a one of the honest persons on this world. I am also not campaigning against D.M.K., just venting out my thoughts. Please do sit back and think about it.

A good comedy by the Central Government

The Indian government has RS. 40 crores on the Bollywood stars for an eleven-minute show at closing ceremony of recently concluded Commonwealth games in Melbourne.
My friend Subramoni, bought to my notice this blog.

It is a quite interesting piece.

Really a good joke to see the Indian Government spend for bollywood stars instead of sports persons for sports.

Sadly, no incentive or cash bonus has been announced for the medal winning sports persons in the commonwealth games. The 40 crores spent here could have been used as cash bonus for the athletes.

BCCI is doing something good

In yesterday's The Hindu , the following article regarding BCCI's plan to boost other sports appeared.

It was quite heartening to see BCCI trying to help sports persons from games other than cricket. With the money they are making, it is economically viable. What it needs for a thing like this to be done is a bigger heart and BCCI have shown they have one.

Let us see how far it reaches out.

Irrespective of how this is going to materialize, BCCI must be lauded for this gesture.

This doesn't happen often...

After the Australian received ICC trophy for the best Test team and ODI team of the year, barely any would have dreamt in the wildest of wildest dreams that the Aussies will be trying to avoid follow on against one of the minnows of Cricket in two days. But that's what has happened in Australia's 1st test against Bangladesh.

Call it a miracle or anything, the Bangladeshi's are giving Aussies a run for their money.

Electing to bat, Bangladesh made a mammoth 427 in their first innings. World's highest wicket taker, Shane Warne got clobbered around for 112 runs in 20 overs that too without a wicket.

The funnier part was that Australia went into the match with five bowlers Lee, Clark, Gillespie, Warne and Macgill. Still they were unable to prevent Bangladesh from posting a big total at an healthy run rate of 3.46.

When it was the Aussies turn to bat, everybody expected there might be a world record score since the pitch seemed to be a batting beauty. But what awaited was even worse, half the team was inside the dressing room with the score at 79. Shane Warne departed at 93, then Gilchrist and Brett Lee salvaged some pride with a stand of 52.

Aussies need another 83 runs to make Bangladesh bat again, let us see what happens today.

The fact that the man who has been instrumental for this turnaround is another Australian Dav Whatmore tells the tale about Australia's hold over cricket nowadays. He has made an impact with every team he goes, first he bought World Cup glory with Sri Lanka and now inspiring the Bangladeshi's. Hope the so called minnows turn into a reasonable figure in World Cricket and make the world of cricket more interesting.

The issue is more complicated than you think

I had a very good comment from Divya Achyutam regarding my piece about Medha Patkar.
And this was the comment.

" What exactly did you do to claim that you are with Medha??? Reading about her in the newspaper and and writing a blog is not being with her. What can you do today to help her stance? What can anyone do to help her stance? Is her stance on the Narmada issue right? After all, rising the dam height would only provide electricity to 3 states. Yes it would displace a lot of economically deprived people, but you are talking about three states on the other hand!!! "

Divya, at present I just can write and make many people aware about her. That was one of my intentions. I can't go all the way to Delhi and sit with her during the fast, I would like to do, but at present not able to do it.

Then raising the dam's height would provide electricity to three states, I agree. But at what cost?
At the cost of ruining the lives of thousands.

Instead the government can control the illegal electrical tapping that is happening all over India. Also lot of power is going wasted due to inefficient transmission and poor networks, do it first.

Power can also be produced from conventional resources like wind and sun from Rajasthan. Right now that source has not been tapped to full extent. Currently only private investors are investing more in Rajasthan wind mill projects.

What Medha and others are fighting for is proper land reallocation for the people. Where will the people go? They are poor helpless tribals. Had there been some Rajputs there, would the political heavyweights allowed it?

Supreme court itself has said only after proper rehabilitation, the level should be raised, not just providing money.

India has over 4,000 large dams. Three-quarters of India's dams are in the three states of Gujarat, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh and most are for irrigation.

Some facts about dams in India

Pros and cons

• Indian food production rose from 50 to 200 million tonnes 1950-1997; two-thirds of increase from irrigation.
• Data does not make clear what proportion of the increase was contributed by large dams: estimated 10%; Government claims 30%.
• Before 1978 all dams built without an environmental impact assessment (EIA). EIA became statutory only in 1994.
• Estimates of those displaced by large dams in India in the last 50 years vary from 21 to 56 million people.
• 40% of those displaced are adivasis (tribal people), Less than 50% of people displaced by large projects are rehabilitated.
• Construction occurs under the Official Secrets Act; access is denied, information is withheld, participation is non-existent.
• The costs of dams are systematically underestimated and their benefits are inflated.
• Accepted cost-benefit ratio for large dams is not met in 8 out of 10 cases.
• Heavy silting shortens the life of many dams.
• There have been 17 cases of earthquake tremor induced by large reservoirs in India.

Only the first point is a pro, but that too has been rendered useless by poor farming methods and careless storage of food grains by the government. The government can fine tune these things and then increase the height of the dam.

These are just political acts to include it in the list of achievments of the Governmnet.

I got these facts here.

I actually don't know who this Divya is, but a heartfelt thanks for her, since here comments made me to give some more facts and the depth of the issue.

I also feel happy that somebody who I don't know has commented about my blog. I have no qualms or anything against Divya. Divya if you are not satisfied with the details, do mail me. I am also eager to know who you are?

Sorry Viera, luck seems to desert you

Arsenal have knocked out Juventus from Champions league quaterfinal.

Had it be an year ago, Patrick Viera would have been the most happiest man on earth after that victory.
Now, the truth will be bitter for Viera. He left Arsenal in search of European glory, only to see his new club Juventus go down at the hands of his former club.

This year Champions league is all about Arsenal and Villarreal I believe. Just like Liverpool last year, Arsenal are having a poor run at English league but going great in Europe. They have defeated Real Madrid and Juventus to reach the semi-finals.Arsenal just like any other English club rely on a faster game with the likes of Ljungberg, Fabregas, Reyes, Pires and not to forget one of the best finishers in Henry.

I think they can clear the next hurdle against Villarreal but you can't discount the Argentine Juan Roman Riquelme, surely one of the most creative players around. Yellow Submarines own their fairy tale run to him.

Will they go on to win the championship just like Liverpool did last year?

It will be tough, certainly not unlikely considering their form and this is sport which throws a surprise when you least expect it. Arsenal will be facing the winner of AC-Milan - Barcelona encounter. I believe Wenger would love to face Milan instead of Barcelona, since Barca play more attacking football.

As a fan, I would like to see arsenal play Barca, for the 50th Champions League crown, on May 17th at State de France, Paris. Would love to see the Catalan attack test the Arsenal defense which has maintained eight straight clean sheets.

Before that happens, I have to get a Set up box in my chennai home to watch it.

Changing my blog name

I changed my blog's name to My Thoughts from My Views.
The reason is am not getting enough time to sit down and write my views in detail. Hence, thought of writing down then and there about what I think generally in a brief manner.
Hoping to write posts more frequently, lets us see. Only time will tell.

We are with you, Medha

It has been eight days since Medha Patkar began fasting demanding for immediate suspension of increasing Sardar Sarovar Dam's height by the Government.

On Tuesday, when Union Water Resources Minister Saifuddin Soz met Medha and told that he will visit the Dam's site and look into the issue, she didn't budge. Promises and assurances are not new to her, even we know it, won't she?

The project planning to increase the height of the dam from 110 to 121 meters, if completed will displace 320,000 villagers and submerge more than 37,000 hectares of forest and agricultural land.

With the kind of corruption in the country, hardly few of the displaced people will get proper reallocation and compensation.

Patkar has been fighting against this since the inception of the idea in 1985. The way Medha Patkar has carried on this struggle despite all odds is inspiring. Patkar's never ceasing efforts made World Bank rethink and review the support it was giving to the project. When World Bank found out that the project was not planned properly, the final installment of the $450 million was cancelled.

This is one of the many victories for Medha.

Through these years, she has never resorted to violent activities though she was at the receiving end many times. Irrespective of whether Medha is able to stop the government from constructing the dam or not,

She is the triumph of democracy.

Let's hope that she wins the battle and also recovers her health.

Doctors have said that the, next 48 hours are crucial to her health, lets pray that she will be well.
Along with Medha two others Jamsing Nargave and Bhagwatibai Jatpuria are also taking fast, lets pray for them also.

Good Luck, no sorry I will not say so, luck has never been her way. It's hard work, grit, determination which has bought her so far.

All the best, Medha. We are with you.

Axing of Ganguly, is it right?

The Men in blue have stuck excellent form in the One day format.

Just imagine if Ganguly walks out to open the innings with Sachin at this moment, Dravid coming at No.3 and Shewag coming at No.4 which he also prefers because the ball would have gone a bit old. Shewag will also have a nice time clobbering the spinners around the park. With Yuvaraj and Raina coming at 5 and 6, the batting looks quite impressive. Then we have the versatile Pathan and swashbuckling man from Jharkhand, both having the ability to bat at any position, the team will be unstoppable. When it comes to tests, Dada has not been a major force even at his prime and hence I would take Yuvaraj or Raina and groom them for future as the three musketeers Dravid, Sachin and Laxman will retire at almost the same time, 3 or 4 years from now. This is what my heart loves to do.

The question is does my brain also say Ganguly must be selected?

The answer is a clear no.

Ganguly is better than Sachin in offside, he is the most aggressive captain India had ever had. He changed the face of Indian cricket. I agree with all these.

I am not saying Ganguly must be out of the game because he is out of form. It is because he didn’t have fitness and didn’t care to improve it. He began to think as a captain, he is entitled for an automatic selection into the team irrespective of his form and fitness.

He thought that he is bigger than the game.

Be it be Sir Don Bradman, Vivan Richards, Courtney Walsh, Sachin Tendulkar, Imran Khan, anybody, anybody,

Nobody is ever greater than game.

Ganguly thought the otherwise, that’s why I want him out.

It might have been due to the rapport he had with Jagamohan Dalmiya which made him believe that he will be in the team at any cost or the adulation Indian media and public gave to him which may have gone to his head and bought him down.

I am also a die hard fan of Ganguly; I would love to watch Dada coming down the track to loft a spinner into the stands, play a cover drive which pierces a packed off-side field.
But, still he should not be there in the team; this must serve a lesson to him, a lesson to all, a lesson that nobody is greater than the game.

For those who pity that talent of Ganguly is being wasted, let me remind you of one thing. Ganguly may have backed many young players, but he backed some to a very large extent despite their poor form for a prolonged period. Few players also become over confident and complacent since their place in team was assured as long as Dada was at helm, that complacency in them led to the Indian cricket team’s downfall. Also many a talent like Hemang Badani, Wasim Jaffer was wasted because for a simple reason that Dada didn’t like them, so don’t feel sorry for the prince of Calcutta. He is reaping the fruits of his own labor.

The story of Ganguly reminds me of Julius Caesar.

Clemenceau recalled, not because it's toxic, but for prestige

The decommissioned French war ship Clemenceau has been recalled by the French president Jacques Chirac, four day prior to his visit to India.

If you think, it is because Chirac realized that the ship is laden with toxic asbestos, or it is because India's supreme court has ruled that the ship should not enter India as it is toxic or it is the fruit of the hard work carried out by Greenpeace and other human right, environmental and health NGOs against Clemenceau, it means you have been fooled.

The reason for the withdrawal of the ship is that, Jacques Chirac wants to avoid embarrassment when his visit to India starts today.

Don't joke that Chirac came to know about the toxic materials just now. The same French government only, which has recalled the ship now, had cleared the ship for dismantling in the ship breaking yards at Alang, India few months back.

How does it suddenly come to know that it's laden with toxic, that too just four days before the French president's visit to India?

The hasty decision clearly shows that this was done to avoid embarrassment for Chirac during his visit to India.

The irony is that nowadays the D-3 (Disgusting 3 - U.S.A, England and France, as I call it), never cares about other world countries. The D-3 doesn't seem to know that if a bullet pierces a man's heart he will die, regardless of whether he is a citizen or not of the D-3. They don't seem to know that usage of nuclear weapon by Israel or any other nation will cause damage beyond the wildest of the wild dreams of a normal man. They don't seem to know that wherever a ship having asbestos is dismantled, it might cause cancer. To them the World means U.S.A., England and France.

At this juncture, I want to make a mention about the hard work done by Greenpeace for bringing into notice about Clemenceau and it's campaign against Clemenceau dismantling at Gujarat. Without it, the ship would have been dismantled without a ruffle at the ship breaking yards of Gujarat.

Hats off Greenpeace, We are proud of you.