Right to Education Act

The recently validated Right to Education Act is certainly a long overdue measure that would go a long way in ensuring that the children of the underprivileged and deprived sections of society will at long last have access to quality education that was being denied to them ever since India gained independence and will end their years of dependence on municipal and government schools if the act is strictly implemented according to the letter and spirit of the law as envisaged by both the honourable Supreme Court of India and the Human Resource Development Ministry. But as usual, there is already a flip side to this well intentioned and well thought out constitutionally valid act with the managements of a significant majority of private schools already rising up in arms against the act and expressing their dismay at their holier than thou institutions being desecrated by the presence of children belonging to the deprived sections of society. I only wonder why these imbeciles don't realise the fact that the right to education is an universally recognised right the world over and that they are in contempt of the law by denying children this basic right. I have no doubt whatsoever in my mind that this right or more specifically the unbiased application and implementation of this right would go a long way towards ushering in a social revolution in this country and ending centuries of exploitation and ostracism and we owe it to ourselves and our future generations to see that education is a right enjoyed by everybody irrespective of caste, creed, religion, economic or social status and nobody whatsoever has the right to deprive a child of this intrinsic right and this long overdue measure if implemented without fear or favour,affection or ill will could also serve to rid us of the scourge of reservations for minorities and scheduled castes and tribes by ensuring an equal and level playing field for all sections of society; so do set aside your time warped thinking and age old prejudices and do come out in strong support of this well intentioned and meaning act after all we owe it to both ourselves and our future generations........

IPL - more insights on the recent match..

Games like the one that recently concluded at Kolkata's mammoth Eden Gardens stadium certainly intrigue and interest me far more than the slug fest that was played out between RCB and the Chennai Super Kings yesterday. Today's game between the Rajasthan Royals and Kolkata Knight Riders was more of a battle of attrition and the team that held it's nerve till the very end kept a cooler head throughout deservedly came up trumps; the game that unfolded today certainly had it all; some classic spin bowling that made the opposition batsmen look like a bunch of nincompoops who did not have the faintest clue about which way the ball was turning, some scintillating cricket shots though far and in few between, acts of desperation on the field where fielders flung themselves around the boundary lines risking life and limb and last but not the least a slog swept six of the first ball of the 20th over of the KKR innings that drew the curtains on this highly intriguing and fascinating game of cricket, give me more such humdingers seven days of the week........

Come on Mr Dravid ... You can do a lot better!!

One surely expected better from the redoubtable Rahul Dravid; visuals of Rahul Dravid using sweetened saliva to polish the ball surely left me flabbergasted and had my jaw dropping in consternation. Well though the jury is still out on the efficacy of the measure, most experts are of the informed opinion that sweetened saliva, especially saliva that is sweetened with either a lozenge or mint does certainly aid in making one side of the cricket ball that much heavier and also accelerates the process of initiating reverse swing (wherein the ball swings towards the shinier side as opposed to conventional swing where the ball swings away from the shinier side). Intentional or not, whatever Mr.Dravid did earlier tonight was definitely not in the letter and spirit of this glorious game of cricket and has certainly resulted in the respect,awe and admiration that I had for this cricketing icon dropping by more than a notch or two; come on Rahul, you can certainly do a lot better......

Friends on Facebook ???

The number of friends notched up on my facebook profile seems to vacillate like the sensex every time I check it out. I had 261 friends a couple of days back and the number has surprisingly dropped to 259 at the present moment. This yo yo like fluctuations often leave me scratching my noggin and wondering why my so called friends are so damn fickle minded and keep changing their loyalties and friendships like the weather and the hairstyles of many a Hindi film heroine. Pardon me for sounding like a relic from the past, but I am one of those sentimental fools who still subscribes to the now defunct theory of a friend being a friend for life or then eternity as friendship is the most sacred of relationships in my book of life; and have always believed that the feeling is something sacred and lasts till you're dead and gone. Well if my so called friends think otherwise ans shift their loyalties and friends at the drop of a hat, all I can say is that I am better off without the presence of such people in my stereo typed and rather boring life.....

One of the best knocks of IPL season 5 !!

I have indeed been privileged and honoured to see two innings of sheer magnificence and rare beauty that left me hankering for more and sent my heart and soul into raptures of unbridled delight. What on earth am I talking about? well I am talking about the two centuries registered by Messrs Ajinkya Rahane and Kevin Pietersen on behalf of their respective IPL franchises, and these centuries which were a study in contrast were incidentally the 19th and 20th centuries registered during the five seasons of the Indian Premier League and could not have come at a more opportune moment as far as their teams were concerned. While Rahane's monumental effort was all about finesse, silken touch, batsmanship of the highest order and in strict conformity with the coaching manual, Pietersen's innings was an exquisite gem studded with moments of raw savagery, a few ungainly hoikes across the line and bludgeoned sixes that left the opponents shaking their heads in consternation; what was common between the two breath taking efforts was the fact that these two epochal knocks facilitated their team's victory against equally worthy opponents. Though Pietersen's century certainly stole a march over the other with it's sheer magnificence and raw savagery, the very fact that he ended up scoring almost 87% of his team's ultimate total and salvaged a noteworthy victory from a near hopeless situation makes the mighty Englishman's effort that much more special; kudos Messrs Rahane and Pietersen, the two of you have one hand each on the steering of the Volkswagen Passat especially reserved for the impact player or then should I say knock of the entire IPL season, keep up the good work and keep us coming back for more.......

Saurav 'dada' ganguly - evergreen hero of 22 yards

Kudos to the evergreen Dada for having turned back the clock and coming back with a vintage performance that warmed the cockles of the hearts of his legion of supporters. Make no mistake but Dada and his merry bunch of followers outdid themselves a few minutes ago by notching up a creditable twenty run victory against the almighty Delhi Dare Devils and Dada as is his wont was at the forefront of things by registering his highest knock of the IPL season thus far; a highly creditable 41 and capping this vintage performance with the bat by bowling an inspired four over spell that yielded a niggardly 27 runs and ensnared two wickets including the most prized one of them all namely that of the centurion Kevin Petersen. To top it all, Dada was seen throwing himself around on the field with gay abandon and comfortably positioning himself beneath a spiralling ball while taking a creditable catch. Congrats once again Dada do keep the good work going and here's more power to your elbow; I ardently wish to see you and your team in the playoffs as this will be the best tribute that you can give to your erstwhile captain and living embodiment of courage Yuvraj Singh, so do try and annex the IPL title for his sake....

Facebook - observation !

Facebook is certainly getting quirkier, kinkier and crazier by the minute,hour and with each passing day; poor old moi off late has been privy to many an instance of the person who has posted something on his/her facebook profile being the first to like the same post and to top it all came across an instance where more than a 150 people had liked the rather sad episode of somebody's father having passed away into the great beyond that we better know as heaven, and the very fact that more than a 150 people had liked or then in a convoluted way celebrated a dear one's demise left me wondering whether these 'enlightened' gentlemen and ladies were in complete control of their physical and mental faculties and even aware of what they were doing in the first place? the very fact that somebody can like a dear parent's demise continues to bemuse, befuddle and amaze me. Our forebears always maintained that we are living in the age of Kalyug and that the end of the world is not too far away. Well, I don't know too much about the impending end of the world, but such mindless antics have certainly reinforced my long held beliefs about the human species getting loonier with every material advancement or enhancement, or then to put it simply we seem to be going round the bend as our economic status shows signs of improvement........This is my observation,argument and thesis, what's yours?????

Welcome Home ... Yuvraj !!

Welcome home O! Pied Piper of Punjab, hope to see you back in the Indian team in a jiffy, Yuvraj Singh's life and times are certainly a profile in how not to give up even in the most adverse of circumstances, how to keep your chin up come what may, how to remain resolute in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds and most importantly how an unflinching sense of self belief and resolute faith in the almighty and one's Guru are the foundation stones on which the edifice of a rewarding and successful life are based. The unstinted support of millions of his countrymen and their countless prayers did also play a significant part in bringing Yuvi back from the precipice or brink of life and death; this experience is sure to have toughened up Yuvi immensely and must have taught him how fleeting life is, it also must have made him that much more humble and thankful for the small mercies rendered to him by his legion of fawning fans, good to see you back on Indian soil Yuvraj Singh, your life and times are certainly a chronicle in courage and undying self belief and a source of inspiration to many like me who had almost given up dreaming,living and hoping......

Musings on Life ....

Life is certainly full of vagaries, vicissitudes, ennui, joys and sorrows and a forlorn sense of dissatisfaction more often than not; I boast of a kaleidoscope of 258 friends on my facebook profile, but have nobody to turn to when I need the presence of friend in my life the most, I live in a compound that comprises of more than 150 flats; but the only person I ever converse with is my better half, I have been a resident of the city of Hyderabad for well over eight and a half years now but yet have not found anybody whom I can well and truly call my own; and no it's not for lack of trying, my so called friends and well wishers in Hyderabad have been unstinting in their efforts towards misusing my sense of generosity and overwhelming spirit of giving and have grabbed articles like brand new jackets, windcheaters, shirts, wallets and many other such articles by the dozen without as much as a thank you and by your leave, but don't have the time to meet up and exchange notes because I do not figure in their scheme of things any longer. I selflessly took up cudgels on the behalf of co-workers who were being exploited silly by a system that was forcing them to work for as much as twelve hours a day for wages well below the minimum wages prescribed by the state government and expressely applicable in the case of unskilled and semi-skilled labourers and what was the end result; I was villified, victimised and made to feel like a pariah dog by the managements of these two companies whose owners owned lavish bungalows, spent lakhs of rupees on their personal entertainment and well being while paying their hapless workers who led a hand to mouth existence in a significant majority of cases on the twelveth day of every month, I advanced their payment date to the third day of every month, but soon found myself jobless as I was perceived to be too much of a loose cannon and threat by the management and no one could summon up the courage to speak on my behalf despite my having lost my job for my unstinting efforts in improving their work conditions and quality of life. I have no intention whatsoever of either pitying myself or making myself out to be some kind of martyr, I did what came inherently to me and always followed the path that I perceived to be true and honest and if losing my job was the price I had to pay for doing what was right and just so be it. My best friends during my formative years were Ramesh (Kannan) Sambandam, Ganesh and Arjun Rajagopalan, Dilip Nadig, Junaid and Naveed Pasha, Orville Dooland, Rajesh Diwan and Vijay and Vinod Ramasundaram and yet today I am perceived to be an outsider in my own country just because I am not a Telugu and do not speak the regional language, I can fluently speak Hindi, Punjabi, Sindhi, Kannada and Tamil and a smattering of Marathi and Bengali, pray tell me how many languages can you so called insiders and self styled sons of the soil speak. I am dismayed, anguished and deeply pained at the callousness, indifference, lack of empathy, selfishness and self obsessiveness of my fellow human beings and hence express my sorrow and dismay at this rather sorry state of affairs through these rather lengthy monologues..........


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IPL - Indian Premier League

Well, that time of the year is here again that pits friend against friend, brother against brother, city against city, team mate against team mate, divides families right down the middle and last but not the least tears the country asunder with proud Indians rooting for their city franchises rather than for their country as a whole; what am I talking about? it's the IPL (Indian Premier League) Season 5 that got under way with a glittering opening ceremony at Chennai's hallowed M.A.Chidambaram (Chepauk) stadium a little over two hours ago, with the actor extraordinaire of the millennium Shri Amitabh Bachchan towering head and shoulders over everybody else with a soulful rendition of a poem specially written by the talented word smith Prasoon Joshi for this edition of the IPL, as for my favourite picks, I am certainly not looking beyond Kolkata Knight Riders and Delhi Daredevils with the Pune team being my dark horses of the tournament purely on the basis of the irresistible Dada factor, so much for me and my picks what about you and your picks???

LOVE - A SHORT STORY ... by Anonymous

Here's something for all of us to learn,imbibe, reflect and pontificate on as we're all so busy making money and being part of the rat race that we seem to have forgotten the existence and importance of this most sublime feeling called love....so from one person to the next...LIVE,LOVE and LAUGH till you drop.......


LOVE - A SHORT STORY ... by Anonymous



Once upon a time, there was an island where all the feelings lived: Happiness, Sadness, Knowledge, and all of the others, including Love. One day it was announced to the feelings that the island would sink, so all constructed boats and left. Except for Love.



Love was the only one who stayed. Love wanted to hold out until the last possible moment.



When the island had almost sunk, Love decided to ask for help.



Richness was passing by Love in a grand boat. Love said,

"Richness, can you take me with you?"

Richness answered, "No, I can't. There is a lot of gold and silver in my boat. There is no place here for you."



Love decided to ask Vanity who was also passing by in a beautiful vessel. "Vanity, please help me!"

"I can't help you, Love. You are all wet and might damage my boat," Vanity answered.



Sadness was close by so Love asked, "Sadness, let me go with you."

"Oh . . . Love, I am so sad that I need to be by myself!"



Happiness passed by Love, too, but she was so happy that she did not even hear when Love called her.



Suddenly, there was a voice, "Come, Love, I will take you." It was an elder. So blessed and overjoyed, Love even forgot to ask the elder where they were going. When they arrived at dry land, the elder went her own way. Realizing how much was owed the elder,



Love asked Knowledge, another elder, "Who Helped me?"

"It was Time," Knowledge answered.

"Time?" asked Love. "But why did Time help me?"

Knowledge smiled with deep wisdom and answered, "Because only Time is capable of understanding how valuable Love is."

M S Dhoni !! Let's give him a Break !!

Let's accept the fact that Dhoni is looking more jaded by the day and an indefinite break from the travails of captaincy will do him a world of good and rekindle his interest in the game so dear to him; Dhoni looked as flat as a pancake during the first IPL match of the season, his field placements left a lot to be desired, his bowling changes defied logic and left one baffled to say the least and it almost seemed as if he was captaining by rote and all but glad to get the first match out of the way; Harbhajan Singh on the other hand was a study in contrast, he was exuberance personified on the field spot on with his bowling changes and field placements and led by personal example running out his bete noire Ravi Ashwin with much to spare; good top see good old Bhajji Paa at this very best, Indian cricket has been conspicuously missing his blithe spirit and effervescent presence on the field off late, the ardent fan wants to see Bhajji back where he belongs, on the field of play in Indian colours waving a web of intrigue and ensnaring the hapless opposition batsmen, Messrs Krish Srikkanth and company are you listening???

Gratuitous Smile!!!

We seem to have forgotten the simple pleasures of life and are obsessed with making money and accumulating material wealth that has and will never stand us in good stead, Shirdi Sai Baba says that a man only has three true friends, aged wife, faithful dog and money in hand; and money in hand certainly does not mean a burgeoning bank balance and more gold and other ornaments than can be worn on your person; the Bhagvad Gita which in my humble opinion is the greatest teacher of them all goes on to say: that man can neither create nor destroy, you have inherited whatever you have and will leave everything behind once you're buried six feet under, so what is this meaningless hankering after yours,mine and thine, when nothing ever belonged to you in the first place; life is simple but be have made it unduly complicated and stressful with our lasvicious wants and insatiable hunger for all things material, learn to be selfless and take pride in giving; not receiving as another name for life is giving, as the holy Bible says, the good lord recompenses those who give with fear and favour or any expectation of favours being returned ten fold, so spare a thought or two for your less fortunate brethren and try and do whatever little you can to make their lives that much more pleasant and bearable, after all a gratuitous smile from the heart is the biggest treasure of them all, isn't it???

ME and MY Thoughts !!

I remember going to the old age home besides the now defunct and derelict Elgin flour mills (near Bangalore Military School) and spending quality time with the then residents of this home with my classmates and fellow members of the Interact Club on at least three or four different occasions, A bar of soap, a few discarded medicines, infinite patience, a sense of empathy and a few kind words was all it took to bring a delighted smile on the lips of these oldies who had been battered by life's vagaries and deserted and discarded by their loved one's like any other household article that has outlived it's usefulness; today I am older and supposedly wiser, devote my undivided time and attention towards making contributions to CRY, Helpage India and other such organisations devoted to making this world a better place to live in by helping them through cash,kind, writing the odd article or piece for them and also contributing my mite through counselling and educating students and elders as the case may be, yet I am alone, have my better half for company at best, find myself dismayed and amazed at the sheer callousness, apathy and indifference displayed by a vast majority of us towards our less fortunate brethren, why do we grow more materialistic self centered, indifferent and apathetic as we grow older and supposedly wiser(?) aren't we supposed to acquire wisdom with advancing age if conventional held beliefs held in this regard are any yardstick to go by, if this is what being older and supposedly wiser means, then I guess I am better off being the butt of ridicule and jokes of more than a few of my neighbours and fellow residents who feel that I am an oddity and hence fool to be laughed at cause' I am not like them, obsessed with making money through means both fair and foul, have no material acquisitions like the latest gizmo, mobile phone, designer jewellery or the swanky car to flaunt in public, do not own a flat or home of my own or for that matter do not even own a two or four wheeler because I am of the humble opinion that I ma better off without one, my bank balance more often than not is zero or sometimes a little better and frankly does not bother me and cause me any sleepless nights, what bothers me is the fact that millions of Indians sleep hungry every night and die before their due date because of a system that is obsessed with lining the pockets of those who subscribe to greed and avarice rather than reaching out to those for whom the system is purportedly meant, if I am an oddity, maverick,eccentric, madman, oddball, psycho and paagal; so be it, I am more than happy being branded all this and more, I am at least trying to make a difference in my own humble way and lend a helping hand to people who need the same; can you cross your heart and say the same about yourself????????? NO, then put a stop to this reprehensible practice of sticking or affixing labels to the foreheads of those who dare to march to the beat of their own piper, they are the people who make this place worth living in, so do try and emulate them if you have shred of humanity left in you......