Irony of Being an unarguementative Fan .............

Irony of being a fan of Indian sportswoman is that the life span of fantasy is short lived. Your dream is destined to be tragedy -tipped if she is a tennis player and an underachiever. Sania Mirza burst into the scene like real star and I was smart enough to announce myself into her rapidly growing fan club. She was an immediate headline hitter . Growing up with an inherent instinct for Soccer and Cricket, I picked up the deuce to be an undying admirer of a tennis player.My embarrassing knowledge of the game gave people a winning point to canvass what made me to be a hot pursuer of a tennis player. I found it wise not to make any quixotic effort to hide my sentiments from public domain. No wonder that more than her tennis prowess she took the world by the storm for her breathtaking beauty and stunning sex appeal. It was an inescapable realty for media that deified her into glamour queen discrediting her unmatchable talent of tennis. Given the statistics pundits quibble that she couldn't justify her immense talent. Becoming the first Indian women to break into the top 50 is a massive achievement. She has not been able to clinch a major ATP tournament, excluding Hyderabad Open. She is yet to win a Grand slam. Career graph is not quite impressive though, bouts of injury and periodic controversy have hampered her career throughout. Its not easy to be a fan of sensation like Sania. Being a fan you have the legitimacy to enjoy the privilege to explain why she fails to qualify into final of a Grand slam. Making a brave face after her every failed effort is the most challenging aspect of being a fan. The famous tribe of critics who get emboldened after her every debacle , do not leave a chance to pull down the spirit of an avid admirer.My loyalty as a follower of her is not based on her performance.She has bravely set out a trend that should encourage a generation of young women to join sports. More than her formidable forearm in the tennis court, it’s her rebellious and fearless spirit that has invoked undivided loyalty of millions of fan. In a society where fanatics don’t allow any breathing space to women and there every social move is shackled by the forbidding fatwa, she has been a stand- alone upstart. Muslim women should no longer be scared of labeled as social outcasts if they jump into the ring. Before its too late and I invite flak of her amateur critics who can not resist to glued to her beauty , I would carry my chalice of loyalty for her as an argumentative admirer. Media seems to be besotted with her charm , she does not face the heat of media. Her failures are given the colors of heroic effort , her weakness gets fleeting mention.In last few years she has become a all- pervasive lime light hogger in media. It would be a disregard to Sania if I a blame her for media frenzy. But it eventually steals the thunder from the other brilliant performers who might not be as beautiful as her. Just a passing mention to wrap this up: Shuttler Saina Nehal did not even feature in the front page after winning Indonesia Open. At the end of the day its beauty that counts ....

Keats had romanticized this long before :

Beauty is truth , truth is Beauty.

And for me it would a romantic blunder to look for elsewhere...........

Loking Back for a Lost Hero ...

Long before I stated studying perfunctory historical record of Netaji and his freedom struggle, I discovered Netaji as an epic hero from a romantic novel. Tales of his unflinching patriotism, of great escape and episodic military adventure against the mighty British made him a character of a heroic folklore. Sadly enough people outside Bengal find it bit off the cuff why sentiments and emotions run high in the name of Netaji. I have grown up with a sense of distraught that our Nation is yet to accord Netaji the position he deserves. It is not that the Bengalis have been ditched by the Government. Our Government has manufactured history to leave in impression that Indian achieved freedom only under Gandhian leadership and non- violent Sataya graha movement. History has been scripted with the denial of the contribution of Indian National Army and their freedom struggle against Britain. The freedom that we had to bargain out from Britain, eventually put burdens on Indian leadership. They were not in a position to offend Britain. Nehru knelt down to his Britsh master and urged them to treat Netaji as war criminal.Nehru and Congress government tried to detach and disowned Netaji and his unyielding struggle for freedom. Since then our Government pursued a policy of denial and disapproval of any intelligence of Netaji. Post independence two prominent commissions have been formulated.Shah Nawaz Committee by Nehru and GD Khosla commission by Indira .They concluded a fabricated truth that Netaji died in Taiwan Plane crash. There are lots of irregularities and loopholes in their reports. Neither Japanese Government nor Royal Army HQ made any official statement regarding Netaji's death at that time. His close aids and bodyguards don’t subscribe to this theory that he was dead in the air crash. There are sufficient intelligence reports by Japanese intelligence agency and KJB that he sneaked into Soviet union. Justice Mukharjee Commission ‘s findings negated the the reports of Shanawaz commission and Khosla commission. In 2005 JMC revealed in clear terms that there was no plane crash in Taipei. Government did not accept the reports of JMC . Government has always kept any documents of Netaji under cover and away from public domain .Lots of sensitive files have been destroyed by the Congress Governments. Deliberate negligence on the part of the Government has relegated Netaji to a second rung leader in the history of freedom movement .His portrait does not have place in the central hall of the Parliament.

The enigma that surrounds his disappearance and death has made him immortal. Its not only Government, but Nation seems to have no will to remember him whose sacrifice was supreme. We need to relive his ideals and visions. Besides being a braveheart, he was a great thinker as well. His vision of unified India is inspiring and a revelation to the present day policy makers of Indian administration….

India has actually always formed a cultural unit in their history, although not always a political one. In spite of all differences in language, an Indian from North will find all he needs for his private and religious life every where in the South. In our prayers for our country we include by the name all the holy places of India from one end to the other. In former days the numerous founders of philosophical schools in India, who benefited by the proverbial Indian tolerance and provided the outer world with a constant stream of New Thought.

Today, our nation is bogged down by menace of external and internal terrorism and an increasingly megalomaniac political class that keeps on forming weaker Government in the center. The Need of his fire brand patriotism is greater than ever now. We cannot allow him to fade into the mere confines of historical documents.

Sleeping in Eclipse ...

I slept past today's solar eclipse. After all the frenzy and excitement fanned by media, a sense of missing out on a Cosmic spectacle creeps into my morning mood. But believe you me , once I woke up from my sleeping eclipse , sun was dazzling like as ever. As the first ray of morning sun touched me ,I found the first flint of sunlight more warm and welcoming because I could not shake off the sense of loss sounded by electronic channels. As I scribble this ...the drooping sun in the dusk looking more inviting than ever. I do not know how many people are there who regret to miss the Solar eclipse. Sense of reinventing the splendor of sun is stronger than the feeling of loosing out on the spectacle of Solar eclipse. It looks more beautiful than ever. But someone who was lucky to behold the cosmic event would discount my assertions as a fleeting effort to disown the depressing reality of missing on some immortal thing. I cant resist to say that sight of eclipse is divine which is out of this world.This was the 2nd episode of solar eclipse in my life time. I was small enough to witness the first episode. It is hard to forget the celestial diamond ring and the awesome darkness that engulfed everything. I watched the entire celestial with awe and suspicion. This episode has made me wise enough to put my previous experience into words.I had to shed my stain of watching eclipse with a redeeming bath. The Belief that" eclipses stain both moon and sun" is still there. This blindfolded belief that the eclipse of Sun invokes minstrels of darkling spirits , does not hold back thousands of Sun gazers who fly above the clouds and cross thousands of miles to catch a glimpse of the Solar eclipse.There are other tribes of faith vendors who cried foul of ill omen before the eclipse , its time they get enlightened and stop fear mongering. Solar or Lunar eclipse are the part of a grand cosmic scheme that reminds the littleness of mere mortals. Its been a revelation of sort that if there were not earth enveloping darkness we would never have realized the brightness of sunlight. Darkness comes with a promise of daylight. If ever again Sun dips in the darkness of clouds , my thirst for light wold increase. Leaving all my philosophical babble, I would put these lines to paint the magnificence of the spectacle :
They call it a great wonder
That the Sun would not
though the sky was cloudless
Shine warm upon the men.