GARY UPADESH & MS DHONI’s DILEMMA

The Indians  could not retain the world T20 title in 2009 not  because they were destined to lose the matches but  because of excessive cricket, thanks to the Money Spinning IPL Tournaments which they played before the commencement of World Cup T-20. The Indian players were exhausted. When other International teams were working hard to improve their skills, the Indian players were busy making money. Did the BCCI know that their contracted , but exhausted ,players may not farewell in the prestigious World Cup Tournament or were they naïve in thinking that the Indian players will show their mettle despite exhaustion. Adding fuel to the fire, the IPL Commissioner made the preposterous suggestion that he would recommend for conducting IPL Tournaments twice in a year. I don’t think, he had the country’s interest in heart but the quest for doing business using Cricket. Had this idea been implemented, I dread to imagine what will happen to the favourite game, with twice exhausted players.

The IPL 2 has spoiled the chances of India  winning or remaining  in the race till finals. In such a circumstance Mody was rediculousely suggesting that IPL should be held twiced year. If it is  going to be so, India can  certainly come” first” in all National games only  and kiss good bye to International event. When I started to analyse the psychological reasons for the loss of cup/face by the Indian team, I could remember the situation faced by M.S.Dhoni was akin to that  faced   Arjun in the Kurushetra War in the Mahabharat. World cup T2o was  like the Great Kurushektra war.  MS(Mahabharat Story ) Dhoni  played the role of Arjun. In  all the matches in the  tournament he saw in   front  of him, all his( relatives) friends who played with him on his side . Some of the team members  who were opposing him tooth and nail were with him and he could  not depend on them entirely. The bruises were too strong to just disappear.  MSD faced the dilemma. The Coach   Gary Christen   plays the role of Lord Krishna.( See the similarity in name Kristen and Krishan). Like it happened in Bhagawat Gita,  the coach  may have repeated the verses  “If you will not fight this righteous war, then you will fail in your duty, lose your reputation, and incur sin.People will talk about your disgrace forever,” Thus the Coach  advised Dhoni  to  forget the feelings for his friends in the opponent teams  and to play  for his country ( do his duty without expecting any reward) MS Dhoni did exactly that and there was no REWARD (cup).

WAS FEAR THE KEY TO THE ATTACKS ON INDIAN STUDENTS IN AUSTRALIA

The  attack by few Australians on the Indian student community  appears to be based on their  inherent fear that one day the Indians, the so called  economy builders,may devour their opportunities of employment and leave them in the lurch . This is the fear which has surfaced in the minds of the young aussies which made them react like this. They have sensed  what happened in USA. The Aussies have vast stretches of land but not enough  people to settle there. If one has to turn the pages of history, the fact will emerge that  the continent was  once home  for  deported convicts from England and their overseers. No body expects  any publicity  on this bit of fact.

The aussies are surprised at the hue and cry the Indian public made, when they heard about the assault on the Indian students because they  might have read about some of the Indian organizations  which  agitate for the sons of their soils and  which  are not prepared to live in harmony with their own brethren in the area/region ,  who do not speak their language and who, generations before, have moved form from another part of their dear motherland and settled in the respective “controversial areas” and admittedly contributed to the economy and development  of the region. Look at the irony. Do we have any right to blame the entire aussie population for the wrongs committed by the  misguided few.  We  tend to comment about the piece of dirt in other’s shirt, when  there is a load of shit on our back. Notwithstanding this, do you think that the aussies are going to scare away the India community.The answer is a clear NO.   Many  old Indian students who pursued their higher education in Australia are  not ready to accept the  alleged racial attitude of the Australian youth. No one can blame these people  for their  view because, in those days  they did not face the situation like the present one in which the Australian youth, by their  behaviour  are openly expressing  their inherent  fear that the Indian students  may  snatch  their  chances of employment.

No incident  of assault is going to act as deterrent for the aspiring Indian student community who are proving to be threateningly intelligent  from proceeding to Australia  for their higher studies. Hence the aussies  may better watch out and learn to live in harmony with Indian students community without showing signs of such intolerance and  latent fear. However, in the aftermath of the negative publicity, they got after the escalation of assault on the Indian student community, the Educational Institutions and the Government leaders are finding ways to woo the  aspiring  Indian students by offering concessions in fees and increasing the quantum of freebies like student scholarship and assistanceships. This will be certainly taken advantage of by the ever aspiring Indian students. Good hunting guys.

THE ILLUSORY EFFECTS OF AXE EFFECT

Recently the trees in Lalbagh Bangalore were shivering  under the fear that they were going to be axed for giving way to  the Metro Rail Project coming up in Bangalore. Neither the Forest Department nor the Pollution control Departments cared a dime.The tree lovers did not give up and approached the Honourable High court ,which came to the rescue of the trees,which would have otherwise ended up as  firewood or  furniture. Now the trees are breathing a sigh of relief and the very same people who wanted to cut the trees are now inhaling   the oxygen ex haled by the trees. The media called it the Axe effect. This news item  made me write about the ill effects of the Axe effect advertisement which was produced to promote the Axe brand Body spray..This is an ADULTS ONLY ADEVERTISEMENT  viewing of which should be  restricted to adults. But what happens really is totally  contrary. The advertisement by the manufacturers of the body spray  has been repeatedly telecast by the TV Channels with scant regard to the effect it has on the children and the adolescent. In an advertisement a  man  who  is supposed to have used the spray turns into a chocolate man and  it is shown  that he becomes  much sought after by women  who forget their age, attire, position and run after him. In another advertisement  a man in a bath room is shown  wearing a bath towel and two legs  of a lady  are  shown wrapped  around his  waist . In another advertisement  a sexy looking Pitza girl writes her cell number on the pitza  indicating to the young customer to call her at the number. Similarly one girl who is driving a sedan ,being unable to control herself  after ‘sniffing ’ the body odour of another young man (who used Axe) writes  the same “cell number” (used by the Pitza girl) on her car window inviting him to call that girl(pitza girl ?). In the same advertisement , a score of nude women painted white are shown as if they are running after the guy who  applied Axe spray and a subtitle   is shown  “enjoy them all”.Hopefully the ad means here, the various products. Lord Parashuram  who always wielded  his axe to vent out his anger ,would have thrown his axe at the ad producers  if  he had come to know about the effect of this spray. The Axe effect would have really seen the reverse axe effect after all. Incidentally “parashu” means Axe. Again it is a MAYA and you cannot stop people from falling for it. The gullible young folks  fall a prey to this evil effect.  The ad film makers have demonstrated their boldness and the official  inadequacy of our Censor authorities.   These seductive advertisements show women  in bad light and creates bad impression that  the such women will shed their morality to the winds at the sight of a person sprayed with AXE .Hence after much hue and cry the  Government  Information and Broadcasting ministry  found the advertisement, too vulgar and bordering on obscenity and indecent and banned it for some time. Surprisingly however the advertisements managed to stage a come back and continue to be aired.  I feel that  there was not enough  strength in the blow  instigated by the axe of the Government.

During the French revolution the persons who  faced  execution  under a guillotine would have felt what is  an  “axe effect” but their severed heads  could not reveal the experience to any body. for obvious reasons. In the  fable  of a poor  wood cutter ,whose axe with a wooden handle  accidently  falls into a river and who was helped by the  river God  would have known what is an ‘axe effect’ because he would have lost his livelihood in the absence of his axe. This  AXE EFFECT IS AN ILLUSION. In this story, the River God created an illusion but the wood cutter did not fall for it. He was honest and got awarded the  axes with golden and silver handles along with his original  axe with wooden handle. In this context I remember a comedy story in which  a person is  offered help a similar way  by  a river God. In this story, one person is  crying near the bank of a river. The River God appears before him and asks him why he is crying.,He reveals that his wife fell in to the river. Immediately the kind  River God takes a  plunge and comes out with a famous Hollywood actress and asks him whether she is his wife. The man immediately nodded ‘yes’. The surprised  River God asks him  why he lied.In reply, the man explains,’Oh God.if I say ‘no’ you will again come out with another Bollywood actress and ask me. I may say ‘ No’. Finally you will come up with my wife and I will have to say YES and you will give me all the three women to me as a reward..How  can I  manage them. That is why I said YES.”  The River God  appreciated his honesty and restored his wife back to him and relieved him from impending  troubles. Is it a reward or punishment ? Each man will leave it to his judgement according to his  experience.

The  axe effect is felt most , by  techies in software industry affected by  financial meltdown, and they  come to know that they are no longer  in employment  when their swipe- card refuses entry and advises them  to contact  Accounts  Branch to get their terminal settlement. The management chooses to  sack them without giving them the statutory  notice. They justify their action by giving  compensation  with   full  salary for the notice period.  They do not give time to the employee to look  elsewhere for alternate employment . The  Management axe  detaches the employee.

Coming to Axe effect , I wonder  how the advertisements escaped the censors who are supposed to be the watch dogs to prevent the society from viewing obscene substances that will affect the morale of the society at large.  The Ad producers may claim that little obscenity cannot be avoided if you want to drive home the point.  It is hard to convince them that even ‘little Obscenity’ in advertisements is like getting  “little pregnant.” when chastity is the order of the day.(quoted by  Irving  Wallace when referring to press  censorship in his Novel The Seven Minutes).

One wonders ‘Should the advertisements be allowed to pollute the minds of young generations’  Is there any limit ?  The axe effect affects the society. If people are  wise enough  to see through  this  illusion they will steer clear of such ill effects. The body spray axes the common sense and sense of understanding and makes the user believe that there is some magic in it. The advertisement appeals  only to animal sense in the BODY.  Those who have the weakness to ‘stray’ gladly  falls for this advertisement and product.

CAN IPL-2 MAKE INDIA FEEL UNITED

The IPL organizers have started intensifying their Advertisement compaigns to promote the viewership for IPL through electronic media especially after the Media watchers reported that the TRP which was 8.21% on the first day of IPL season-1, dipped to 5.55% in the inaugural day of IPL season 2 , The Advt was trying to ‘unite India’ with the saying “THIS IS THE FIRST TIME WHEN 100 CRORE PEOPLE ARE GOING TO THINK LIKE ONE COUNTRY”

I could not make out , to which people the Advt. was trying to refer to.Obviousely it must be referring to the cricket loving Indian people. The IPL-2 is betting on the viewership of about 2 million Indians in South Africa and the few thousands(?) who could afford to burn their money(Between Rs 60 thousand to Rs 1 lakh for about 4 days for travel,hotel accommodation and other incidentals) to proceed to South Africa to watch the matches alive. The aim of this propaganda is to popularize the watching of IPL season 2 among the Indian cricket loving public, who lost the chance of viewing the Twenty –twenty matches live in various cities of India,(thanks to the politics in Sports) and settled to watch the matches in their television sets. If one tries to understand as to whether the advertisement really means what it was intended to mean, one may not agree with the message.There is no chance that the spectators or listeners will think like one country. Let me explain.

In IPL-2 totally 191 players are participating from various countries in 8 teams. Out of the above 111 players are Indians and 80 players are foreigners. All the teams owned by Indian companies. Irrespective of the fact , who wins, – the winning team will and can be Indian only.It is not correct to say that the players will play for their country and the audience will support them like one country. The teams which are EIGHT in numbers , are divided region wise. Like Chennai, Bangalore, Hederabad, Delhi, Punjab, Kolkata, Mumbai, Rajasthan. The Indian audience will try to identify themselves with the respective team on regional and State basis. There is no question of any one supporting a team on National basis. In each Match the players on both sides are not expected to play for their country but for their respective team. So unlike ODIs and Test matches and 20-20 International competitions, the IPL is not uniting India but making the people support their own state/region. It is natural for a Rajasthani to support the Rajasthan Royals irrespective of the combination of the players.The Chennai people will support Chennai Superkings not withstanding the fact that Captain of the team MSDhoni hails from Jharkhand. They also will support other foreign players complementing this team. Hence there is no doubt that IPL does not promote national feelings but rather narrow regional feelings. How about Foreign players. They play for MONEY like mercenaries. When they register a win they get more money.If they lose, what the heck,they donot bother. This is the outcome. They will say that they are playing the game for gamesake and not for namesake.

What about the audience in South Africa. Do you think they will support any team. No team will get the local support.The audience will be spectators and may cheer when the ball is hit for a boundary or sixer.That is all. At the most they may support the team in which players from South Africa are playing. The audience in Capetown had interesting moments when a stray dog wandered on to the Cape Town pitch shortly after the fall of Jayasuriya’s wicket, (Mumbai-Srilankan Indian)and the helpless fielders, including Flintoff of the Chennai Super Kings side was watching the chase of the dog as it evaded capture for about ten minutes. The dog finally gave in ,when one of the staff members, lured the dog with some food stuff and the dog after holding the attention of the audience and the players for about ten minutes,and the game was interrupted and later resumed. The dog seemed to have a purpose.It has boldly demonstrated the helplessness of the organizers. They took about 10 minutes to bring under control and remove a the dog from the ground. Substitute an unruly and armed person in place of the dog. What colossal damage he could have caused in the ten minutes.This thought would have crossed the mind of at least one of the IPL organizers,who would have sighed with relief. The next thing is the climatic conditions in South Africa. Nobody expected that the rains will play spoil sport. Did the organizers deliberately turn a blind eye to the weather conditions in their zeal to conduct the tournaments at any cost at the scheduled dates ,which resulted in this.

Without the tacit support from the local crowd in the audience , we could watch the players in the TV channel every now and then looking at the sky. I wondered whether they were trying to catch a glimpse of the satellites which beam the television signals to the entire world including their home country, hoping that the support will rain down from the satellites /from the people who were before their Television sets in India as reverse osmosis. The Indian players appeared to be missing the Indian audience,who hail from all walks of life and who were prepared to postpone or forget the jobs they do for the sake of watching the match . The only silver lining for the audience was the “liberal exposure“of the cheer leaders who would have otherwise had a tough time facing the so called Moral police in India had the matches been held in Indian venues. Now that the IPL -2 has started getting the attention, let us watch and enjoy the matches , via the TV channels.

CAN TREES HAVE DREAMS ?

 Recently I read in DNA Newspaper (Bangalore Edition 15/4/09) about how the surgeons in Russia found a Fir tree measuring 5 cm in height. It was reported that a young Russian(27 years) complained of severe chest pain and was coughing blood. This news item aroused my interest and I thought I should post this in my blog. The mystery as to how a Fir tree got inside the lung of a person was somewhat solved by the surmise of the doctors that the patient might have inhaled a small bud, which then started to grow inside his body. I was surprised to know that fir trees can grow up to a height of 30 to 260 feet and any way it is good that it has been removed when it reached a height of 5 cm.

When I googled about Fir trees , and human lungs I got the following result which I reproduce below:

“Fir tree has no insect or decay resistance qualities after logging, it is generally recommended for construction purposes as indoor use only. This wood left outside can not be expected to last more than 12-18 months depending on the type of climate it is exposed to”. “Human lungs help in breathing.There are two lungs on the right and left side with the left being divided into two lobes and the right into three lobes. Together, the lungs contain approximately 1500 miles (2,400 km) of airways and 300 to 500 million alveoli. having a total surface area of about 70 m2 in adults — roughly the same area as a singles badminton court. The surface area is roughly the same area as a tennis court . Furthermore, if all of the capillaries that surround the alveoli were unwound and laid end to end, they would extend for about 620 miles.” Humans (active person) breathes about 20,000 liters of air every day.Even though sufficient safeguards to prevent particles or dust to entering our syetem, it is not known how he allowed the tree to grow inside him.Had he been in India he would have had the chance of seeing the Government Advertisement “Grow one tree per family”,which wanted the people to grow trees outside. Fortunately the doctor were able to remove the young tree,Otherwise it would have grown out of the patient..It would have been difficult to bend it ,like the Tamil Idiom says “Aindhil Valayadhathu,Aiymbathil Valayuma”(When you cannot bend it at 5, how you are going to bend it at 50). I recollect having read an interesting story about the wishes made by three trees.I dug it from the web and reproduce the same below:

“Once there were three trees on a hill in the woods. They were discussing their hopes and dreams when the first tree said, “Someday I hope to be a treasure chest. I could be filled with gold, silver and precious gems. could be decorated with intricate carving and everyone would see the beauty.” Then the second tree said, “Someday I will be a mighty ship. I will take kings and queens across the waters and sail to the corners of the world. Everyone will feel safe in me because of the strength of my hull.” Finally the third tree said, “I want to grow to be the tallest and straightest tree in the forest. People will see me on top of the hill and look up to my branches, and think of the heavens and God and how close to them I am reaching. I will be the greatest tree of all time and people will always remember me.”

After a few years of praying that their dreams would come true, a group of woodsmen came upon the trees. When one came to the first tree he said, “This looks like a strong tree, I think I should be able to sell the wood to a carpenter” … and he began cutting it down. The tree was happy, because he knew that the carpenter would make him into a treasure chest. At the second tree a woodsman said, “This looks like a strong tree, I should be able to sell it to the shipyard.” The second tree was happy because he knew he was on his way to becoming a mighty ship. When the woodsmen came upon the third tree, the tree was frightened because he knew that if they cut him down his dreams would not come true. One of the woodsmen said, “I don’t need anything special from my tree so I’ll take this one”, and he cut it down.

When the first tree arrived at the carpenters, he was made into a feed box for animals. He was then placed in a barn and filled with hay. This was not at all what he had prayed for. The second tree was cut and made into a small fishing boat. His dreams of being a mighty ship and carrying kings had come to an end. The third tree was cut into large pieces and left alone in the dark.

The years went by, and the trees forgot about their dreams. Then one day, a man and woman came to the barn. She gave birth and they placed the baby in the hay in the feed box that was made from the first tree. The man wished that he could have made a crib for the baby, but this manger would have to do. The tree could feel the importance of this event and knew that it had held the greatest treasure of all time.

Years later, a group of men got in the fishing boat made from the second tree. One of them was tired and went to sleep. While they were out on the water, a great storm arose and the tree didn’t think it was strong enough to keep the men safe. The men woke the sleeping Man, and he stood and said “Peace” and the storm stopped. At this time, the tree knew that it had carried the King of Kings in its boat.

Finally, someone came and got the third tree. It was carried through the streets as the people mocked the Man who was carrying it. When they came to a stop, the man was nailed to the tree at the top of a hill and raised in the air to die. When Sunday came, the tree came to realize that it was strong enough to stand at the top of the hill and be as close to God as was possible, because Jesus had been crucified on it.”

The moral of this biblical story is that when things don’t seem to be going your way, always know that God has a plan for you. If you place your trust in Him, He will give you great gifts. In this story each of the trees got what it wanted, just not in the way it had dreamt. “We don’t always know what God’s plans are for us. We just know that His ways are not our ways, but His ways are always best.”

The Fir tree also might have had a dream to come out of the lungs where he got inadvertently trapped and the surgery must have been a dream come true for the Fir tree.

THE WEB OF MAYA IN OUR LIVES

In our lives we encounter Maya and carried away by it. We base our decisions and steer the course of our lives believing the existence of the Maya. To understand Maya, I referred to the following story in  Hindu mythology which may kindle some interest.

Once Sarvalok Sanchari Naradha asked Lord Krishna to let him know what Maya is. Krishna did not give any reply. After some days Lord Krishna took Naradha through a dry forest.They walked for several miles. During this travel Krishna became thirsty and requested Naradha to fetch some water for him to drink. Naradha agreed and went in search of water. He reached a a small village at some distance. There he knocked at the door of a hut. A beautiful young woman opened the door. On looking at her Naradha totally forgot the purpose of his visit to the village.He started speaking with her and later fell in love with that young woman.Naradha requested that girl’s father to get the girl married to him and with his consent he married the young woman and the marriage consummated with the birth of three children. Thus twelve years passed. Naradha became the heir to the properties of his father in law and Naradha was under the impression that he was living happily with his family and properties.

One day there was a great flood in the river adjoining the village, which severed the banks and entered the village and washed away the houses,huts and cattles. Naradha tried to cross the shallow waters of the flooded river along with his family , by holding his wife with one hand and holding the two children with the other hand and keeping the third child in his shoulder . Suddenly the intensity of the flood increased and the child on his shoulder was washed away.He lost the other two children also in his attempt to save the third child. Later his wife was also washed away when the water current intensified. With great difficulty Naradha swam to safety and reached the bank of the river and started crying for having lost his wife and children. Suddenly he heard a voice calling from behind .” Hi, Son where is the water ? Atleast 1 ½ hours have passed since I asked you to fetch water.” The bewildered Naradha turned and Lord Krishna was standing there. He told Krishna.”Oh Lord, I totally forgot about my errand to get some water.Did it take just 1 ½ hours since the time I left to fetch water ?“ and Krishna replied “YES”. All memories of his life as a Family man for 12 years flashed in the mind of Naradha. Then Krishna said “This is Maya”.

Like the legendary Mandrake the Magician, who saves the citizens from mobsters and fight crime with his mass hypnotism and creates illusions, Lord Krishna also created the illusion to teach Naradha about Maya.Of course the momentary illusion of Mandrake is no match for the Maya created by Lord Krishna.

A comparison of this Maya with the Maya in election scenario reminded me of the elections to the 15^th Lok Sabha which is is drawing closer. The Indian politics continue to be under the political ‘maya’ and promise to take care of the needs of the people. Behind the veil of Maya, violence and damage to person and property through the length and breadth of the country,goes unabated with indirect support from the so called politicians, whose aim is to come to or come back to power at any cost. Even though Election Commission appointed observers to monitor the expenditure some section of the press have reported about the novel method adopted by the political parties. It has reported that the major Political parties field a number of dummy candidates in each constituency so that they can split the votes,or confuse the voters with candidates with names sounding similar to the popular candidate, and they can also circumvent the expenditure limit of Rs 25 lakhs per candidate prescribed by the Election commission and also get more election agents to be present in the election booth, who take advantage of the situation in canvassing .

I am also reminded of the Song in the Tamil Movie “BABA”,in which Super Star Rajnikanth plays the role of Baba and describes “what is Maya” in his song “Maya Maya Ellam Maya, Chaya Chaya Ellam Chaya”. Which means “Everything is an illusion,Everything is a shadow, Lead a life like a droplet of water on the surface of a Lotus leaf.” One should not give much importance to the wordly pleasures and material comforts in his life time and gets attached and lay bound by them. There should be detachment in attachments. Every body should realize that happiness is in our hands. Therefore try to derive the best from the present, forgetting the past which had already gone and the future which is yet to come. We should not forget that today’s events were yesterday’s future and today’s events are tomorrow’s past.

WELCOME EXIT BY INDIAN PREMIER LEAGUE

Amidst controversy , the organizers of IPL season 2 decided to shift the IPL 2 Tournaments from India to South Africa. India’s loss is South Africa’s gain. The decision to shift was not welcomed by majority,but by the team owners and advertisers and event managers. The IPL management was intent on conducting the matches some how in their pursuit of making fast bucks. They were not bothered about the timings of the schedules. All the matches were supposed to, have been played in India during the prime time of Annual Examinations. The students whose exams were in the offing, constituted a thumbing majority of the cricket loving public. Watching the matches,when they must be actually preparing for their exams would have had telling effect on their academic scores. Further the organizers were not prepared to believe the “clear and present danger”. They went to the extent of telling the players and their troupes that the IPL management will provide security to them. But they had totally forgotten about the security of the gullible public and the danger they will be exposed to, in case of materialization of any threat to their secutity. How can IPL protect the fifty thousand strong audience without the help of the Government security agencies. Their quest for fast bucks, has made them totally forget the reality and they behaved like horses with Blinkers and interested in going ahead with the matches.Greed knows no bounds.

Finally when the Government finally put their foot down, and made their firm decision and demonstrated that security of the public is also important.The decision was viewed as a silver lining in the dark clouds. When the IPL management decided to shift the matches out of India, it was a great relief to the students and to the politicians. Of course one should not forget the loss of revenue to the Hospitality and tourism industry. If one assumes it is a political decision, it was a welcome and wise decision .The IPL organisers got the message and chose to move out instead of postponing. They did not mind the revenue loss to the Government or about depriving the voters among the organizers/event managers/players/thousands of Indian audience from exercising their franchise in the elections but were interested in continuing their business in Sports Industry. Since they could not wait a little longer to conduct the Indian Premier League in the stadia of India they may as well think of re-christening IPL as International Premier League.

INDIAN VOTERS , LET YOUR VOTES SPEAK FOR YOU

India is going to the polls. The Poll bugle has sounded and the political parties have started blowing their own trumpets. All the contending parties are getting ready to flood the voting public with promises,(often repeated in their manifestos) and allegations and counter allegations against each other. The common man is not confused but a silent listener. He knows very well which side of his bread is buttered. He would have already made up his mind. He will attend all the political meetings giving (false)hope and impression to the aspiring candidate that all the attendees are with him and gives the candidate a taste of mobocracy.

The common man will receive all the gifts clandestinely passed on by the candidates and at the time of pressing the button in the EVM, he will take the final decision and that is it. No one can predict the outcome correctly, save the exit polls,which does to some extent.

In the Indian scenario the battle for the 15^th Lok Sabha has begun. The battle is not between two sides. There are so many sides. So many opponents. Each candidate will have to remember carefully the identity of the opponent,with whom he is fighting or for whom he is fighting. The poll – fighters will have to fight differently with their enemies in different States. A party which is a friend in one State may be a foe in another,thanks to the so called political compulsions. Fair weather friends leave or join the alliances for obvious reasons and Coalition politics will be here to stay. The small parties will have a bigger say in the formation of the Government and they presently use their standing to bargain for more seats.The beauty is, every party thinks it is indispensable and invincible. They join forces and forge alliances and fronts which keep on increasing.”There are no permanent friends or enemies in politics.”(This is an usual and infamous quote by the opportunist – politicians who frequently jump sides to justify their latest alignments. There may be friends who may be with the party but would not vote with the party but they may have their own private agenda and candidates. The present trend is some how to get a seat,fight the election and regroup at a later stage,according to the political winds which offer bright future for five years.

To understand “What is Politics “ let me quote the following verses which depict what is politics with an example.

Socialism You have two cows. You give one cow to your neighbour

Communism You have two cows.The Government takes them and gives you

milk

Fascism You have two cows. The government takes both and shoots

you

Capitalism You have two cows. They sell one cow and buy a bull

Trade Unionism You have two cows.They take both. Shoot one cow.Milk the

other and throw the milk away

In India the aspirants to the Lok sabha include socialists,communists,capitalists and Trade Unionists.(what about fascists ? I donot know because no one can fathom the mind of the politicians)

You know what will happen if you have two cows. You should learn to protect your cows and have the milk too.What you should do. How about electing the breed with the mix of a socialist and capitalist.The socialist in him will make you give the other cow to your neighbour.The capitalist in him will sell the neighbour’s cow to buy a bull. Then you and your cow will have to depend on the neighbour for all practical purposes and the neighbor will have to follow suit. At least by this way one who possess the cow will get milk and have calves at a later stage. These calves may turn into cows or bulls so that more such examples can be cited to describe politics. You can have the cow as well as drink the milk. Hence it is better to vote to one’s advantage.

The Politicians may woo the voters with caste tags,religious tags,ethnic tags etc,But do not fall for it.Know your Politician KYP like the bankers adopt the policy of Know your customer. One way the politician is also a customer with whom you are going to do social business for five years.( I am not referring to those winning candidates who visit their constituency once in 5 years). Recession does not seem to have affected many a cash rich party, who are intent on spending billions of rupees as “investment”.To confuse the voters,and to make fast bucks on the last dates of withdrawal of nominations , so many ‘namesake ’candidates file their nominations and invest small amounts as deposits. Politics means a ‘lot’ to those who want to make a ‘lot’.

Any way it is not the voter’s problem.

Your votes will speak for you. You send the message to the politicians by selecting the appropriate candidate and they will get the message. But you should use the democratic weapon,which you are allowed to use it once in 5 years for few seconds and you will not get another chance to use it again till next elections for which you will have to wait for another five years. You can compare yourself with the legendary Karan in the great epic “Maha Bharat “ when he was made to promise to use Bramhastra only once on Arjun. However thanks to the advice of Lord Krishna through Kunthi Devi ( to ensure the victory of good over the evil) he could not take second chance. Anyway Karan was knowing what he was doing . It is better to make use of the chance once decisively when it is available and for all. Every one who was not caring till now should realize that “ It is out duty to vote”. As a citizen of India, the constitution defines Voting as your Right as well as your Duty. However ,with too many precedents of bogus voting and rigging, we may also have to pray before exercising our franchise

WORLD SLEEP DAY – GET SUFFICIENT SLEEP AND BE HEALTHY

I have recently read in a newspaper about a scientific study presented at American Heart Association’s Annual conference on cardio vascular diseases, on the effect of short sleep on the diabetics.According to the study people who slept less than 6 hours a day are likely to develop Type –II Diabetes Mellitus over a six year period.

We all know the sleeper will be sleeping normally lying down,with closed eyes,and blissfully unaware of the surroundings,and breathing in rhythmic pattern and relaxed.

The study has shown that short sleepers are prone to develop abnormal fasting blood sugar levels. which leads to Diabetes. Inadequate sleep results in adverse health issues.

Why people are supposed to short sleep. In a day of 24 hourss can’t they afford at least 6 to 7 hrs of sleep. What is the reason. Generally the infants sleep for a long time.They sleep thorough the day and become wide awake in the nights. Children who play very well sleep very well. Those who do hard labour get automatic and undisturbed sleep.

There are some persons who can catch up with some sleep irrespective of the surroundings they are in..There are some people who will not wink an eye even if they curl themselves on KURL ON beds.

Those who rise from bed early are forced by the body to go to sleep in the early hours of the night and they get up early. The biological clock in the body makes this possible.After the body gets the needed rest,it gets ready for the next day with fresh mind.

We all know that every waking up in the morning from sleep is GOD’s GIFT to mankind. The Asthmatics whose disease doesnot allow them to sleep ,keep awake throughout the night and they get very good sleep in the early mornings.

Some people want to become achievers by sacrificing their sleep.For example,they feel that sacrificing their sleep and doing work in that time will help them in achieving their goals. For some people twenty four hous in a day are not enough. There aresome people who require the 25^th Hour in a day to have their own ay of life.In the Hollywood movie,

the 25th Hour depicts the last day of freedom for the Hero who , before beginning to serving a seven-year jail term for drug dealin prowls through the city until dawn with his two close male friends and his girlfriend.The 25^th hour forces him to re-examine his life..

I remember having seen another hilarious Hollywood Movie “THE SLEEPER” acted, produced and directed by the famous Hollywood Director Woody Allen plays his role as Miles the hero. In this movie the hero was cryogenically frozen to sleep in the year 1973 and and awakes after two hundred years in the year 2173. When he wakes up like Rip Van Winkle he finds that the America of 2173 is a totalitarian state ruled by an oppressive dictator, and Miles has been reanimated by a group of rebels fighting to overthrow the government.The story line goes how he helps the rebsl to overthrow the oppressor.A nice movie to watch.

People on night shift are not supposed to sleep. They tend to sleep in the day to make up for the loss of sleep. In the busy cities like Chennai and Mumbai where the working folks reside at a minimum distance of atleast 50 KMs from their work place, have to start early to catch bus,train ,rickshaws to reach their offices/factories in time and they sacrifice their sleep. The call centre folks are often found sleeping in their transports when they commute to and fro office.

In the hospitals where patients are made to sleep with sleeping pills and doses so that rtheir body gets the much needed rest to recuperate. I remember an anectdote in which one patient complained to the night duty doctor that he was not getting sleep.The doctor advised him to start counting 1,2,…3 etc and that he will automatically fall sleep.and the patient implicitly obeyed. When the night shift doctor was on his rounds in small hours he heard some murmur and he went near the patients’s bed and guess what he heard. 12002,12003,12004…..The patient was wide awake and counting.. it seemed that the doctor’s ‘oral’ medicine(advice) did not work.

In our household, the youngsters (of Youngistaan’s) are lured by the Action Movie Channels to keep awake to watch the action movie they are going to telecast “Just after the 9 PM Movie.” This means the movie wil start at about 11 PM and will take atleast

2 hours to complete including the commercials they are forced to watch. You are deprived of the sleep till 1 AM Hope the youngsters see through this ploy and avoid falling for it and give priority to sleep.

Sleep is commons among reptiles, birds and mammals. Different animals sleep in different ways. The elephants and horses sleep in standing position. . Giraffes sleep less than two hours a day, while pythons snooze through three-fourths of the day.

If you lose your sleep you tend to lose enthusiasm and energy, memory and concentration.

To get better sleep,one should try practicing fixed hours of sleep,trey to do some exercises.and generally be active.Avoid sleep during the day and you will compensate in the night, Self – deprivation of sleep is among the people who lead high paced lifestyle. Such people should forget their goal at least for 6 hours a day to have healthy sleep everyday.

If you get sufficient sleep,say atleast 7 to 8 hours a day your mind gets sharper and you become efficient.

When we discuss the sleep, I am reminded of the waking up.For short sleepers who suffer from insufficient sleep, the alarm clocks is their first adversary of the day. You can wake up the person who is actually sleeping,but you cannot wake up the person who pretend to be asleep. I am reminded of the lyrics of famous Cine Poet Kannadasan which reads as follows :

Thookkam Un Kangalai Thazhuvattumae

Amaidhi Un Nenjinil Nilavattumae.

(Let Sleep embrace your eyes and Peace prevail, in your heart.) This clearly shows that sleeps bring peace. When the human beings are finally ‘at peace’,they look as if they are sleeping.

I have seen in one Movie titled Beautiful people,in which people from a particular tribal community in Africa donot rest their head on the floor while they are sleeping,Instead when they sleep .they have their heads raised atleast three quarter of a feet above ground level with palms supporting their heads. I think short sleepers may be following the advice Actor turned Chief Minister of Tamil nadu , Late MG Ramachandran affectionately called as MGR by his ardent fans, in the lyrics of Pattukkottai Kalyanasundaram in a Tamil Movie Naadodi Mannan,which goes like this:

Thoongathaey Thambi Thoongathaey Nee Soamberi Enra Peyar Vaangathaey (Don’t sleep younger brother, Don’t get the name as a Lazy fellow’)

I am updating this  post  on 20th March 2009  after coming to know that   this day is being observed as “WORLD SLEEP DAY”.

WORLD SLEEP DAY 2009  —  MARCH 20, 2009

World Sleep Day is an international annual event, intended to be a celebration of sleep and a call to action on important issues related to sleep, including medicine, education, social aspects and driving. It aims to lessen the burden of sleep problems on society through better prevention and management of sleep disorders. World Sleep Day 2009 is being held on March 20^th, under the slogan ‘Drive alert, arrive safe’. This year’s theme is transportation, focussing on safety, travel and driving alertness.

The first World Sleep Day was launched on March 14^th 2008. Events involving local groups took place in public settings around the world and online with the unveiling of a declaration, presentation of educational materials, and exhibition of videos.

The World Sleep Day declaration is as follows: Whereas, sleepiness and sleeplessness constitute a global epidemic that threatens health and quality of life, Whereas, much can be done to prevent and treat sleepiness and sleeplessness, Whereas, professional and public awareness are the firsts steps to action, We hereby DECLARE that the disorders of sleep are preventable and treatable medical conditions in every country of the world. The event is sponsored by the World Association of Sleep Medicine (WASM)

LET US GIVE OUR BODY ITS DUE SHARE OF REST BY ADOPTING TO HEALTHY SLEEP HABITS. LET US GET SUFFICIENT SLEEP AND BECOME  MORE EFFICIENT.

Honesty not only pays but also collects Taxes.

We all know ‘Honesty is the best policy’ and ‘Honesty pays’. We are taught about honesty in our school days and the students write essays in their curriculam and prepare speeches to win competitions. So far they learn it in theory.But when they try to put in practice,the young generations are confused and they ask themselves whether the honesty really pays. They come to realize with determination that honesty begets rewards sometimes and most of the times go un recognised.By being rich and being honest is comparatively easy.But the honesty among the prro and downtrodden is very common and deserve the praise ,recognition and reward. Honesty itself is a reward. No wealth can equal this. We have heard about the honesty of auto/taxi drivers, police constables in these days.

I have come across an incident which gave a new meaning to the dictum “Honesty also collects taxes”. The story behind this was published in newspapers sometime back. This news item showed how unscrupulous people take the Transport Department for a ride.

One reputed journalist in Chennai travelled in an Auto rickshaw in the morning hours carrying few luggages ,which included an expensive camera which he kept in the space behind the seat. Forgetting to take the camera with him he alighted from the auto and later reached home where he noticed that the camera was missing. As a shrewd journalist he remembered the Registration number of the auto in which he travelled. He personally met a Senior officer in the Traffic Police Department ,who was media- friendly and sought his help. The Police officer immediately flashed the Regn. Number of the Auto rickshaw to all police stations/traffic check points in the city for immediate apprehension/detention of the particular auto. In the meantime one driver who took over from his colleague in the after noon shift noticed the camera behind the rear seat of the Auto rickshaw. He guessed that when his colleague was on the morning shift , some passenger should have inadvertently left it behind. Being a honest person he immediately went to the commissioner’s office and handed over the camera to the Senior Police officer who congratulated the auto driver for his honesty. When all these things were happening, wireless messages started pouring in from six different police stations in the city that they have traced and detained the “auto rickshaw” with the particular Regn No. The Police officers immediately smelt the rat and all the autorickshaws were ordered to be seized and the owner was later arrested. It came to light on investigation that the owner paid permit charges and road Tax etc for only one auto and used copies of the same documents for other autos as well and thus was evading tax . Thus he honesty of single auto rickshaw driver brought the scam to light. Like Superstar Rajni Kanth depicted the role of auto rickshaw drivers in his Tamil Movie “Baadsha” with his song “Naan Autokaaran .. Autokaaran ..” The driver of the above auto rickshaw has proved himself to be a living example of the autokaaran referred to by Rajni Kanth.

I recall having read about another incident which happened in the in busy Majestic area of Bangalore city ,when two Omni buses came near the office of a “reputed” travel agency to pick up the passengers one late evening. Seeing the two omni buses juxta posed, with same Registration number ,the passengers got confused and in the melee ,some ticket brokers promptly alerted the police who arrived on the scene,registered a case and detained the buses.Later the RTO authorities demanded and collected the permit charges and tax per seat with back date. I think this is only tip of the ice burg.The reason for this , is the greediness of the owner of the auto rickshaws and omni buses who thought “who is going to check ?’. Anyway the honesty of an auto rickshaw driver really made the owner pay the taxes resulted in collection of taxes.