India-Australia Cricket Test Series: The Case of Pointing Fingers!

Article first published as India vs Australia: The Case of Pointing Fingers on Technorati.

Indian batsman Virat Kohli showed a finger at the crowds during the second cricket test between India and Australia in Sydney recently. Since he showed his middle finger it was taken as obscene and accordingly he was penalized.

Indian pacer Ishant Sharma followed the gesture and also showed a finger. But there was a huge controversy regarding which finger he showed. Officially it was not the middle finger and so he was not penalized.

Both players alleged that the abuses thrown at them by the crowds were gross and at times indescribable. They seemed to have only retaliated in ways they thought to be tit for tat. The incidents led to a big debate in Australia on good manners and particularly the Indian traditional ones. But the peculiar case of pointing fingers has a deeper significance and typical ramifications.

The team that prided in having the best batting side of the world failed miserably so far in the Australian tour and fell in heaps in the first two cricket tests in Melbourne and Sydney that they lost by huge margins. So, basically they invited wrath from Indian fans and naughtily gleeful satisfaction from the Australian media.
Apart from the mind-games that Australia played so often the Australian media consciously focused its attention on the hapless team and attacked it from all sides. Essentially, therefore, they were the first to point fingers at Team India. India’s session of go-carting instead of doing practice was covered lavishly and since some of them including batsman Sehwag did not follow captain Dhoni for the session preferring net practice a rift within the team was suspected. Allegations and denials were still continuing till the reports last came in.

The point finally is that when you play badly and horribly you are bound to have all the fingers pointed at you. It’s up to you to decide which fingers they were—the middle or index and definitely not the thumb! Skipper Dhoni further accentuated the finger-pointing episode by indicating that he might retire from Test Cricket in 2013 if he is to play the World Cup-2015.

With the Perth test starting tomorrow where the pitch will be the bounciest Team India would need to concentrate all their fingers combined round the cricket bat handle or the seams of the cricket ball. If they lose it again they will be out of the series with 3-0 deficit and more fingers will be pointing at them. When they come back to India the finger-game will continue with more gravity.

For Indian traditional greeting of ‘Namaskar’ all fingers of both hands fold up and combine. Not any particular finger! One should understand essentially.

 

Political Comics!

Article first published as India's Comical Political Antics on Technorati.

The struggle for votes becomes acute at the time of elections. Pursuing this severe urge for amassing maximum possible votes political parties are pushed to the extremes of antics. The common onlooker gets maximum entertainment in the bargain.

India’s Election Commission recently ordered covering up of the statues of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati in light of the forthcoming assembly elections in this most politically strategic state of India. There were around ten statues of Mayawati and more than hundred statues of her party symbol—the elephant--in the state capital of Lucknow apart from numerous ones in other parts of the state. The logic for this order was fully justified since the statues might indeed impact the voters who could either be motivated or irritated to vote or not to vote for her. With a set deadline the work began in great haste and the statues began to be draped in tarpaulin sheets of the pink color. Pink was said to be Mayawati’s favorite, but it was okay since it did not represent any other political party. One regional party from the state reportedly demanded the cost of covering up be borne by the ruling party only. It was tantamount to saying;’ If you are spendthrift megalomaniacs you must bear the cost of undoing your aspirations too!’ To give a more jocular twist to the episode someone filed a public interest litigation contesting the Election Commission’s decision since the elephant represented one Indian deity Lord Ganesha!

The main national opposition party, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), that had been reeling under tremendous pressure from both within and outside due to its recent decision to induct a tainted and expelled ex-minister of the Uttar Pradesh government finally decided to put the decision on hold. Why and how? Because in the first place, it never wanted to reverse its decision maybe due to the unavoidable interplay of big egos or maybe fearing a possible loss of votes. The tainted member himself turned magnanimous! He wrote a letter to the party high command requesting to put his membership on hold till he was cleared of all charges and allegations. In a classic case of clutching for a straw in time of emergency the BJP accepted his request!

And, at the time of too much preoccupied politicking the time could have been just right to push in some economics. So, the government of India, on January 10, 2012, notified rules to allow 100% Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the Indian single-brand retail sector paving the way for big international brands like IKEA to enter Asia’s third largest market and also allowing tie-up players like Adidas, Louis Vuitton and Gucci to have full ownership. To give a boost to Indian industry a condition was kept for the players to source 30% of the goods from Indian small and village industry.

This FDI move was said to be less controversial and maybe due to this the preoccupied opposition parties were yet to give their reactions. This was interesting in light of the tremendous political opposition to the Government’s earlier decision to allow 51% FDI in Indian multi-brand or supermarket sector. The opposition forced the Government to put the put the decision on hold. Though there were genuine concerns regarding the roles of supermarket giants like Wal-Mart farmers’ communities from different parts of India had in fact welcomed the policy.

Political comics are set to entertain you more till the counting takes place on March 6, 2012. Meanwhile the cover-up was completed by 5pm today--the deadline set by the Election Commission. The public interest litigation was also dismissed as 'withdrawn' due to technical faults. 

Mumbai Winter—Chilly Monday!

Mumbai shivered on Monday yesterday and its genuine winter after 2008 is continuing. The mercury had reached 11 degree Celsius yesterday—at least 4-5 degrees below normal—and the met office forecasts further decline in temperatures. In the coldest city of Maharashtra, Nashik, the mercury went down below five degrees. With the sun coming out strong cold breeze at daytime gets neutralized and you feel comfortable with your normal attire. But if you go out late in the night you feel the biting cold and you wake up to chilly mornings. For a change Mumbai nights are being decorated with bonfires with the most vulnerable people like watchmen, guards and night-duty staff enjoying the warmth.

 Mumbai gets such an occasional winter thanks to severe cold wave conditions in North India. From mid-December, 2011 till now acute cold wave conditions have been gripping and sweeping across the region. For the past five days it has been snowing in Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh—the northernmost states. There is no respite expected al least for the next few days. 

Most Mumbaikars (inhabitants of Mumbai) are not used to winters and woollens. So they are in a sort of a dilemma the moment a rare winter hits them. They feel the pinch while going out in the mornings or returning at night, but as the day progresses things get back to near normal. So, if you decide to wear warm cloths you start sweating at noon and if you don’t then you shiver in the odd hours. You face the dilemma at home too. Going to bed with the thick blanket is fraught with grave dangers though you crave for its warmth, because very soon you feel like throwing it off. Wise people keep the ceiling fans on and balance it out cozily under the blanket. In this uncertain process of adjusting to winter many catch a sore throat or a fever or an infection keeping the doctors busy.

But some others are excitedly digging out their sweaters, jackets, overcoats, mufflers and so on from their closets and are having a great time. There is no reason why you should not enjoy. You get it only once in a while. It’s set to dip below 10! You are set to have the most biting winter in decades! Enjoy!