The Curious Case of Miss Mirza!

I have been a very big fan of Sania Mirza, for as long as I can remember, but this fan following has always been due to her off the court attics and never been due to her on field brilliance. She has this excellent knack of being in the news every now and then, though most of the reasons are not so celebratory ones. As when ever we see a news item on Sania Mirza its either about her 1st or 2nd round exit from a tennis tournament or about her another 15-20 places drop in the world rankings or about her new found injury. Apart from her first few months in the international circuit I have never seen or come across a news item on her talking about her accomplishments or technical brilliance in the field of tennis. But luckily for her and not so luckily for few other deserving sporting stars she has received much more than what she deserves, both from the media and from our nation in terms of support and accolades.Because if talk of some other non-cricketing sporting prospects like Saina Nehwal, Vijender Singh or Abhinav Bindra, they have given us many more instances of national pride and glory, but unfortunately they haven't recieved their due from us in terms of encouragement and support. If we leave apart all of them and just consider Saina Nehwal, the young lass has done marvelously well for herself and for our nation in whatever little time she has spent on the badminton court at this tender age. She stands tall at a world ranking of no. 5 and still raring to climb the last few steps of the international ladder but when it comes to the backing and support from the media and the nation she lags behind by miles in comparison to Miss Mirza whose world ranking is 92 at this point in time, but yes, such is the irony and misery in the world of sports and entertainment.

So what I don't understand is a fact that, what is all the hoopla surrounding Ms Mirza's marriage with ex Pakistani cricket player and captain Shoaib Malik, all about? Ex player, because this not so gentle man is currently serving a one year ban on the grounds of indiscipline and poor performance, imposed by Pakistan Cricket board. As usual Ms Mirza has successfully grabbed all the headlines in last 2-3 days and will continue to do so for next fortnight or so, till her post wedding reception at Lahore or Dubai gets over in the most royal and media frenzy fashion. But the funny thing is that ,a section of our country is utterly furious about this wedding, and the likes of Bajrang Dal and some other extremist groups have even taken this marriage as an insult of our nation and gone on record to say things like, we won't let this marriage take place on this holy hindu land, as if this is the first time a cross border marital phenomena is taking place in history of mankind and these outfits are the legal adjudicators of all the marriages taking place in our country or their self proclaimed hindu land.Adding to the funnier side, few of my friends who have themselves been huge fan of Sania Madam, have turned into her biggest critics overnight, venting out their anger vociferously citing that can't she find a good lad in this country of 130 crores people that she had to select one from our not so favorite neighbor, now these guys are behaving as if Miss Mirza has dated all of them full time and all of a sudden decided to dump them all without giving any genuine reason, for marrying Mr Malik:). Now much to media's pleasure Mr Malik's credentials haven't been so good either, he has already married and dumped a Hyderabadi girl, Ayesha in 2002-2005, for alleged reasons of that girl having put on lot of weight (hahahahhaha). Goodness me, I don't know from which corners do these media guys get these stories, but this is what they want, infact I believe they would have been even happier if Mr Malik had a child or two with her ex wife or ex- bollywood flame Sayali Bhagat, too. That would have given them the luxury to twist and turn the story with a much larger ferocity.

But the mood in Pakistan is not so numb as it is in our side, infact as per the daily Jung newspaper of Pakistan, people out there are quiet happy with this story and they have even started celebrating this partnership already, rejoicing as if they have finally snatched Kashmir from India:). Infact with the volatile mood swings and behavior of our neighbors we shouldn't be surprised if the Pakistan Cricket Board lifts away the one year ban from Malik for having done their nation so proud by hooking up, Miss India fame Sania Mirza, as a symbol of a psychological victory over there arch rivals.And we shouldn't be surprised if Malik takes this opportunity of coming to India as a double gain scheme where he not only gets married to Sania over his week long visit but also manages to play a few games in the cash rich IPL-3, I guess after the Sania feather on their cap the Pakistan Government won't stop him from taking part in IPL-3, forgetting the embarrassing snub which Pakistani players received few months back in the IPL auction:). But the problem he might face will be that which franchisee will rope him in? In the present form I am sure only Kings X1 Punjab will take him in gleefully, hoping that he helps them break there losing streak:).

But what infuriated me the most is the manner in which Sania Mirza addressed the media to testify the rumors about her marriage, literally bashing them up saying 'this is not a India Pakistan joint political statement that you guys are so edgy about and don't worry I will keep on playing tennis for India till atleast 2012 olympics'. GOD! I just want to ask who the heck is really worried about you not playing for India now on because nobody cares about a 92 ranked player playing for his/her country or not and on the contrary never so for a person who is in the limelight more so for the losing reasons rather than the winning ones. With all due respect to your personal life, added with all the good wishes for a bright and a joyous married life, I as a common man and your big fan would just like to reinforce a fact that you are fortunate enough to garner so many eye balls and unprecedented attention from this super sporting nation because you are not the one who actually deserves all this, there are scores of others who are the real contender of this attention and support, so if you can't live up to our support and expectation, kindly don't mar them with your arrogance. Agreed that you are 100% correct that people should respect your privacy and not poke there noses in your personal life, as everybody has the right to live his or her life on his or her own terms. But if there are still doubts about the fact that why people admire her so much, let me clarify its certainly not her tennis skills that they admire rather it's her out of the box nose rings, super trendy spectacle glass frames, ultra mini skirts and those well toned thighs which have made them her big fans. Wish she can win a handful fans by virtue of her on field excellence too much like the likes of Paes' and Bhupathis, who have been doing this consistently for last 15 years or so.

--

kin...

Temptation Thrills but often Kills!

The Oxford Dictionary defines the word 'Temptation' as 'the desire to have or do something that you should avoid' but I believe and define 'Temptation' as the most tempting thing in life. It seems a weird statement but it holds very true in the real life. I have succumbed to it umpteen number of times, rather it is so god damn hard to resist that I succumb to it every single day somehow or the other. In-fact I believe every individual who wants to live his life even to the slightest bit succumbs to this addictive element and repents to some extent or the other. But who the heck cares for those punishing repayments or even gives them a distant thought, its all about enjoying those sumptuous temptations with a belief that what ever be the aftermaths, I will some how and any how manage it dude, so why to let these finger licking alluring opportunities pass by;).And thence starts a fun filled roller coaster ride in this materialistic world full of illusionary temptations.

That temptation of using the credit card to avail the end of season sale against a strong promise to oneself about not using the credit card by any means to curb on the splurging and consolidate my savings every month. But the greedy mind overpowers such ambitious thoughts with justifications like what difference will it make if I spend just 10% of my salary on my luxuries? Am I not worth even such elementary things? Am I working so damn hard just to deposit all my money in the bank? Will I carry all the amount I am saving by living so miserably to heaven, once I die? Obviously NOT, so let me use it one last time. The satisfaction of these preposterous shopping is immense, but it lasts only till the time the credit card bill arrives, because there after you spend the entire time scratching your head trying to figure out the ways through which you can manage the sum to be paid back. Wish I would have never enrolled for a credit card and had some brains to act sensiblyL.

That temptation to wipe off that heavy chocolate bar at midnight just moments before sleeping, inspite of a stern warning from the dentist and mom about the high risk of tooth decay, which are already in a bad state and surviving by means of root canals and cosmetic fillings. But all these preachings are overcome by an inner voice which says ‘ o come on boy, eating it just once can not result in a bacterial attack all of a sudden and thereby eventually decaying my all so innocent teeth’. And the mind succumbs to this temptation and the far fetched consequences are very much on the lines of those preachings which seemed so irritating and hilariously foolish earlier. Wish I would have let go that monstrous chocolate bar and adhered to those golden preachingsL.

That temptation to sleep for just 10 minutes, hours before a scaring college exam, and the argument behind this short nap being that ‘it will refresh me to new levels and I would be able to concentrate better and anyways what difference a 10 minute nap will make when I am smart enough to make up for this time’. But what eventually happens is that you wake up just minutes before the start of the exam and you are on the mercy of either your neighbor or entirely on your luck, praying that only those stuff comes in the exam paper that I have read. But the outcome invariably happens to be other way round, and either the entire exam paper seems to be an out of course stuff or you are caught red handed trying to cheat from your neighbor. Wish I wouldn’t have slept last night and crammed something usefulL.

That temptation to adore, glance and literally scan an X-Ray of every passing irresistible girl, while you are on a date with your girl friend. At such times the harder one tries not to get distracted, the more these beautiful bombs hover around you. And every single time your girl friend catches you red handed, stealing a glance of those beautiful innocent angels. As an aftermath you have to do the damage control by gifting the hitler in your life with the most expensive gifts and lying at length about their goodness and beauty. Wish I could have resisted myself for those few momentsL.

That temptation to eat few spoonfuls of rice at dinner when you are already fighting to reduce that apparently visible tummy. But the rationale which one puts behind this is that 4 or 5 spoonfuls of rice won’t inflate my tummy even by a millimeter and hence why to let this delicious curry get wasted when these few grains of rice can solve the dual purpose of finishing both the curry and the rice at the same time, and anyways one should not waste food in these times of high inflation. But what eventually happens is, in an attempt to not waste that rice for the sake of mankind, one puts on double MRF tyres around his waist as an apparent symbol of obesity. Wish I could have just thought of myself and not about the entire mankind before feeding myself with those oodles of riceL.

That temptation to join a 5 star gym after seeing a Salman Khan movie, which tempts you to flaunt a physique much like the superstar himself. Forcing you to splurge quite a lot of money on enrolment in the gym, buying an expensive track suit and a branded sports shoe costing not less than 3000 bucks. But one month down the line the enthusiasm and the desire to flaunt a Salman Khan physique dies down and you find yourself either sleeping around or feeding yourself with high calorie stuff at your gym hours, the expensive track suits becomes an item of your storage closet and the 3000 bucks sports shoe makes you feel guilty every Friday when you put them on for the casual dressing day in office. Wish I shouldn’t have watched that movie or I should have applied my brains before getting carried away and making fool of myselfL.

That temptation to procrastinate some vital work in office and push it off for tomorrow in lieu of going home early to watch those awe inspiring IPL matches has back fired hundred out of hundred times. Such fanciful thoughts are either butchered by the just in time email from the onsite manager delegating an urgent task minutes before my pack up time or they are eclipsed by those over stretched status calls from the business clients sitting in US. I wonder why the most critical issues crop up on the days of most critical cricket match of the season. Probably the business clients purposefully disrupt the processes on these days so that they can watch these matches at ease at our expense. Wish I could have studied and worked a little harder to be in the shoes of those autocratic managers L.

On one hand our life seems so deliciously attractive amidst such alluring temptations but on the other hand the very moment you fell into these traps, the misery begins. But I still believe the fun lies in prudently falling in these traps and enjoying these temptations to the fullest even if these moments of joy are short lived because when the saints of the stature of Swami Nityanand can't resist the temptations of life, we are even more mortals to resist them, but we should never succumb to these temptations at the expense our moralitiesJ!

--

kin...

From Dayawati to MALAWATI!

In the early days when people talked of this lady, they talked with a touch of sympathy for her. The very reason for those soft feelings being her rise from a low caste chamaar background woman to a well deserved, hard working graduate in the fields of law and education and thereon from being a low profile school teacher to a defiant political leader working and fighting for the rights and development of dalits. No wonder she has been chosen as the chief minister of the most populous state of the biggest democracy of this planet four times till date, in addition to being the 1^st dalit women chief minister of any Indian states. All these feats in this era of 33% women reservation, counts for a lot. She should also be applauded for giving the likes of Mulayam Singhs, Amar Singhs and Kalyan Singhs a good run for their money, who have been breathing on her neck for as long as we can remember. Infact it wont be farce to say Mulayam and her Highness are the Pontings and Sachins or Aamirs and SRKs of the UP politics, always up with the cat and mouse game. Hats off to the lady for her journey from ‘a struggling Dayawati to a defiant Mayawati’.

There was a time in the Indian politics when the political parties ruled the masses just by the virtue of Hindu Muslim sentiments and reaping on the differences arising from these emotionally sensitive issues. It was then, Mayawati under the guidance of her mentor Kanshiram started a campaign for the welfare, upbringing and social upliftment of the weaker sections of the society, the so called dalits and gujjars of UP, Bihar and Rajasthan. And it led to the formation of many such political parties in and around this era, though some were in existence before this mass campaign too, but they got that zing thing in their spines only after Maya’s dalit trailblazer trumpet show. And very soon it forced all the major national parties of the country to adopt the lower caste upliftment issue in their agendas too. Though most of the political parties have failed to cash on this new found success mantra but Maya the witch is still harvesting her cash crop, so much so that the political icon for the oppressed and marginalized has evolved into an autocrat beyond imagination.

Now some staggering facts about the lady herself which will make the likes of Obamas, Browns and Sarkozys who are taking their countries from strengths to strengths in terms of development, blush beyond limits. Under Maya Memsaab’s tenure over 9000 farmers were robbed of their lands, on the name of Yamuna Expressway, I believe all of them must be high net worth farmers and certainly not the oppressed and the dalit ones. Madam’s past birthday’s have all been big hits with the media, where madam appeared laden with diamonds, accepting gifts in front of live media and in the background party goons were all busy in their extortion spree from the common man forcing them to contribute in cash on the occasion of Madam’s birthday. When questioned on this, madam roared back, ‘it’s the aam aadmi’s way of showering there love on me’, wish even I had some friends who atleast remembered wishing me on my birthday leave apart giving me such exorbitant aam aadmi giftsL. Another feather on Maya Memsaab’s distinguished cap is that she is been accused of ordering her MPs to contribute their discretion funds to party fund illegally (read the next sentence twice guys) and subsequently ‘Madam paid more income tax than industrialist and forbes listed Mukesh Ambani in the assessment year 2007-08’, now someone please tell me the procedure to get recruited in the Bahujan Samaaj Party, I can go kill for such a job profile, it is also recession proof in true senseJ. If all this wasn’t enough the 73 kilo heavy weight still has the outrageous courage to erect 100s of elephant statues and 1000s of her own statues in various memorial parks across the state costing over a whooping Rs. 2000 crores to the state. Over that she has the guts to deploy special police force to protect these statues fearing that the opposition might demolish them, thereby further stretching that Rs 2000 crore figure. Following all this I really feel pity on myself, because my fiancé won’t even allow me to get a Rs. 150 pencil sketch done for myself leave apart dedicating even 1 statue for me, at times I really love Maya more than my fiancéL. One might face real constipation digesting this heavy duty shameful stuff, but this lady is never done, she always has something more up her sleeves. On the occasion of the 25^th anniversary celebrations of her political party, she was felicitated with a massive Rs. 10 crore currency garland made up of 1000 rupee note, instantly turning into a ‘MALAWATI’. In addition to this garland show, a Rs 200 crore mass rally to celebrate the occasion. Adding to the mockery, the furious opposition demanded an immediate enquiry and a high level probe on this money might show, in retaliation Maya the illusionist ordered for a CBI probe against a malicious honey bee attack on her and her party workers during her high profile rally. Now can you beat that? J

It is hard to comprehend the motive of such politicians because people are dying without food, good grains are rotting in godowns and Mayawati is busy garlanding herself. Just days back she shamelessly refused to give the victims of temple stampede their due compensation stating that the state is broke and out of funds and Centre should come in for rescue, I wonder how did she manage the Rs 200 crore rally or Rs 10 crore garland or those Rs 2000 crore worth of elephant and self statues? Are they worth more than those sorry lives or is it a brazen exhibition of power? In a state where 65% of the people have not even seen, touched or spent a thousand rupee note all their lives, is this a big joke on all those poor people who have elected these bunch of insane politicians to rule them or do we really deserve such rulers as a punishment for wrongly exercising our biggest right (right to vote). I have always failed to understand why and how people re-elect such people again and again but every time I have consoled myself saying that the people of my country are smarter than these politicians and they endorse the fact that ‘Bullshit is also a very good fertilizer’ and in a set of bad alternatives always choose the least worse to minimize the damageJ.

--

kin...

Do we really deserve a Men's Day?

The build up to Women’s Day this year has been quite baffling for me. Lots of emails floating in the office emphasizing on the importance and existence of a Woman and also about the mega celebrations on the Women’s Day, including activities like ethnic fashion show and tempting and free sumptuous snacks to name a few but all with a disclaimer of ‘ For Women Only’, as if it has been deliberately planned to outcast people like me who are more than interested in both the fashion show and free sumptuous snacks. If this wasn’t enough the moment I entered my office this morning, I was in a fix that whether I have entered a wrong place or what, because I was totally misled by the soothing smell of 100’s of exotic perfumes and deodorants, forcing me to believe that I have mistakenly entered the banquet hall of Hotel Taj Krishna but for the same boorish expression on the building's security guard's face which made me realize that I am very much in the same place, I visit daily. Moments later I was again confused to find myself in a Ladies Sangeet gathering, but for their ID cards, the women all around were all heavily clad in none less than bridal saarees, overtly laden with truck loads of glittering jewelery and with atleast 3 extra layers of make up than usual, painted on their slightly familiar faces. Somehow I garnered little strength and tried to strategically place myself besides two other guys waiting for the elevator, who were also looking equally shocked,oppressed and frightened by the in flavor attitude of Women's Day. Now to add to our fury the elevator door opened and we found three equally over dressed prospective brides on the other side of the door, one of them was reading the Women's Day special edition of The Times of India and the other two were vociferously discussing the odds of passing of Women Reservation Bill in the parliament. I was anxiously waiting along with the two other pity souls on the edge of the elevator door for our destined floors to come, we were in such a state of petrification that can only be matched by 1st year engineering students in front of their most dreaded seniors, anticipating the cruelest form of ragging. But after probably one of the longest wait of my life the elevator doors opened on my floor and I almost ran to reach to my cubicle seat only to drink one full bottle of chilled water and kept wondering can't this day be an optional holiday for all the non women employees?

All the while I was thinking what bad or what cruel all the men on this planet have done that they don't have a day called 'International Men's Day' celebrating the cause of masculinity or manhood. The maximum the men get is a day called ' Father's Day' but to qualify for that one has to be a father at least. So no luck for young and mis opportune people like me here too. So what could be the reason of no such concept like 'Men's Day' in practice, as against the annually celebrated 'Women's Day'? One reason could be, we the men don't have the stamina and capacity to continuously chat on endlessly and hence we don't qualify for such felicitations. Another reason can be we the men don't have those extra terrestrial wooing powers which the likes of Urmilas and Shakuntalas had which made the likes of staunchest saints and yogis drooling for these ladies, leaving behind all there ethics and beliefs. Another probabilistic reason can be we hardly stand anywhere when it comes to the qualities of beauty and good looks. So with all these follies how can we even dream of a special day dedicated to our fraternity. So there is no point cribbing and getting jealous on the mega celebrations on Women's Day. In this hazy scenario the best we can do is to wish and pray to the almighty god that ' Agle janam mujhe beti hi keejo'.

But on a full on serious note I salute the intensity with which the women all around the world celebrate the concept of Women's Day. I really feel that all the women, be it our mothers, be it our sisters, be it our wives, be it our daughters or be it our house maids, all of them deserve a standing ovation for all the sacrifice, love and care they have given for the well being of the entire mankind. We the men of this planet can not repay this debt by any means, the least we can do is we can minimize this deficit by not harassing these beautiful women by the means of eve teasing, domestic violence or cruel things like dowry demands. The love, the care and the concern which we receive from all these wonderful angels is way beyond our imagination and rather priceless in comparison to any monetary or materialistic substitute we yearn for. We should always give due credence and respect to all the pain a woman bears for us right from the most excruciating pain of all pains, i.e the Labor Pain to the other unbearable mental pains we experience in our lives, just to give us a happy existence all through our lives. Also if there is some love, harmony and peace in today's world its just because of these beautiful princess, otherwise we men are far too carnivorous and blood thirsty to survive the myths and demons of anger, lust, power and pride.

So let us all take a pledge to treat all the women in our lives with utmost love and care and rather place them one pedestal above all the men, keeping aside our inflated male chauvinist egos and join all these beautiful ladies in the celebration of this day not just as a Women's Day but more so as a remembrance for all the sacrifices and act of love and kindness they have continuously bestowed on us. And thanks to all those beautiful women in our lives whose unconditional love and care for us is much deeper than those six layers of multi cosmetic makeups:)

Happy Women's Day!

--

kin...

Are we Unfair to our National Sport?

I have always tried to inculcate in me a feeling of love, pride and passion for the game of Hockey but unfortunately I have failed every single time in my efforts. If on one hand the laurels of the past have always made me feel inspired and motivated about this game. Then on the other hand I have also experienced a sense of dejection and helplessness, seeing the sorry state of our national team players or the disarray of its main governing body. But even in this state of dilemma I have always figured it out that these feelings aren’t of true love for the game but they are feelings of mere infatuation. So amidst all the ongoing hoopla surrounding the Indian Hockey Team and the Hockey World Cup being staged in India, the big question is ‘Does the current generation render a step motherly treatment to the game of Hockey or are we too overawed by Cricket and its multimillionaire superstars?’ The answer to this controversial question is both Yes and No. YES, because to a good extent we don’t actually care about what is going on in the world of Indian Hockey and if at all we do give an ear to the game, it is only when there is yet another sad story showcasing the sorry state of affairs about the game. We are in a habit of discussing Hockey only if we have to make fun of the game or self-depreciate our team to share a few laughs amongst ourselves. On the contrary the answer to this dubious question is NO also, because we react and behave on what we see and come across in our daily lives. We do pamper and idolize the cricket stars of our country because they give us a constant reason to do so every now and then. They make us feel proud by achieving something, breaking some world records or consistently beating the best teams in the world. And this adulation is not just confined to cricket only (vis a vis Hockey). We pamper the likes of Sania Mirzas, Saina Nehwals, Abhinav Bindras, Vijender Singhs and Raghvendra Rathores we the same intensity and vengeance too. I believe the current generation is a fast food generation, they endorse anything which brings them instant fun, quick returns and satiates their taste buds, they are not the ones to get hooked to something, just dwelling on the past laurels a game might have brought to the country.

The state of Hockey and its following is so bad in our country that people aren’t even aware about the rules of the game, leave apart knowing the names of the players in our national team, at best they know about some ‘Dhanraj Pillai’ and a few older and wiser ones might know about ‘Major Dhyanchand’. And it’s a pity that most of us aren’t even aware of the captain of our national team, though the more hockey literate guys can recall him as some Singh, wisely guessing between Singhs and Pillais, as they are the safest bet in the world of Indian Hockey. But thanks to the recent awareness campaign in the media and to Dr Google as well, most of us know Rajpal Singh is the man leading our nation in the Hockey World Cup. Similarly, the administrative setup and the internal politics amongst the officials of Hockey Federation of India is so dirty and cheap that it hardly adds to the progress of the game in our country, no wonder we stand at a distant no.11 in the world stage and we have qualified for the World Cup by the virtue of being the host nation and not on the basis of merit. So with a weak governing body, weaker financial support and a consistently poor string of results by our hockey team in recent times, how can we expect the current generation to follow and support the national team to raging levels? Its not that the current generation is being partial towards Hockey and unnecessarily biased towards other sports. If the support towards other sports is better, its not that it has been achieved overnight, it has been a slow and a gradual process. There was hardly any following for Cricket before 1980’s, only after India won the Cricket World Cup in 1983 and the sport started producing heroes like Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev and Sachin Tendulkar who claimed all the records in the cricketing world and resurrected India as a cricketing super power, that the support and following for the game gained momentum and gradually reached its peak. Similarly the rage for tennis in India wasn’t attained over night either, it was the diligence of the likes of Paes, Bhupathis and Mirzas who kept the tricolor flying high and garnered support from all corners. Same was the build up for the games like shooting, chess, weightlifting and boxing, courtesy the great sportsmen like Rathore, Bindra, Anand and Vijender. The younger generation is watching these mortals sweating it out and turning into immortal heroes by the virtue of their consistency and perseverance. The support and the following for a particular sport are directly proportional to the string of successes, consistency of performances and the level of Iconization related to it. So it would be utterly unfair to blame the current crop of youth for showing no interest towards the game of hockey because I doubt this disinterest will persist if we start winning more often and if we produce world class players like Bindra, Vijender and Tendulkar in the field of Hockey.

Another thing which I find very illogical is the concept called ‘National’. We say Hockey is our National Sport, but by logic and common sense a national game should be the one in which that nation excels and a majority of that nation plays that sport. But is it really the case with our nation? We stand way below on the excellence barometer and Hockey is certainly not the most widely played game in the country either. Understandably, when these national jargons were declared, at that point Indian Hockey was at its zenith, but things do change and evolve with time, Bombay is Mumbai now, Madras is Chennai, so what’s wrong in reviewing (say every 50 years) and changing the national sport to a sport in which the nation actually excels and plays extensively? Similar is the state with our national animal, will we continue to take pride in calling Tiger as our national animal, say 20 years down the line too, when in reality there won’t be any Tigers left in our land? So I believe there is nothing wrong in adjusting and acclimatizing with the changing world and also there is no directive from United Nations either that you can’t change any of your National Icons once you have declared them. Ironically, the way we have treated our national icons, be it our National Sport or be it our National Animal, has been absolutely horrendousJ. However, this is an entirely different issue; the state of the game can’t be improved by such cosmetic changes. For a stronger Hockey in India, we need changes from the grass root level, we need a complete overhaul of the administration and the Hockey Federation, we need a solid financial backing from the government and various private agencies, we need a constant string of wins, we need a set of icons, we need a real life coach like SRK to motivate the team and explain them the importance of ‘sattar minute’ but most importantly we need a Lalit Modi who can revitalize this sport in his own way, only then we can expect a mass youth following for this beautiful sport.

Chak de India, Chak de Hockey!

--

kin...