Here comes the new kids on the block - World Cup Champs

Congrats to the Indian Under 19 cricket team for winning the World Cup in Australia decimating Australia in the process. Special praise for Indian Captain Unmukt Chand supported very ably by his entire team...Watching them play today and inching towards victory gave me goosebumps and a sense of joy and pride in the manner they achieved their goal. Goes to show if your planning and execution is sound, you can work wonders. It's these good and proud moments by the youngsters of our Country which really inspire us.
Congrats to the senior cricket team also for defeating the New Zealand team by an innings in the 1st Test Match played at Hyderabad. Cheers....

Bipasha........at her ethnic best

V.V.S. calls it a day.......

V.V.S. Laxman popular as Very Very Special Laxman has decided to call it quits. He has decided to retire from international cricket with immediate effect. Why he didn't wait for the New Zealand series to finish will remain a mystery, but it would have been thrilling to see VVS bat for the last time against New Zealand before he retired. Alas that was not to be, unless VVS reconsiders his decision to bat at least the current New Zealand series.
VVS will be missed no doubt. In many an innings he has stood as a rock to rebuild India's innings, and has been responsible for many a match winning performance.
VVS started his Test career in 1996 against South Africa at Ahmedabad. His best innings was probably the 281 runs he scored in the 2nd innings against Australia played at Eden Gardens. India won this test match and the series. This and many other match winning innings will be remembered  by VVS fans.
But there will surely never be another VVS Laxman. All the best to you....

Remembering Enid Blyton.....the eternal storyteller

Remember books like the Famous Five, Secret Seven and the Wishing Chair. The all too delightful Noddy series.....and who wrote all this.....of course the one and only Enid Blyton.
She's the darling of all the kids and those who have been through their childhood. Let me share a secret, she's the favorite of .....hold your breadth......Nargis Fakhri......
So all you Enid fans keep loving her....You can revive old memories by perhaps reading some of her books again...why not..:)
Cheers till the next one...

Happy in our Independence - Great to be Indian

                                                       

On the eve of our 66th Independence Day, as a proud Indian I can't but sit up and salute our Freedom Fighters', our Messiahs who sacrificed their lives in the struggle for Indian Independence. The people who lived and struggled in the Fight for Freedom, are remembered for their great sacrifices, their relentless pursuit for the goal of complete Freedom for India, which they saw, envisaged and ultimately achieved. Freedom Fighters' like Pt Jawahar Lal Nehru, Subhas Chandra Bose, Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar, Lal Bahadur Shastri, Dr. Rajendra Prasad, Pt Madan Mohan Malviya, and so many other great stalwarts joined in the clarion call given by the Mahatma - the Father of the Nation - Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi to come forward and join him in the march towards Freedom. It was their relentless struggle and efforts to fight for what was rightfully ours, that India was able to achieve the goal of Freedom and we can now proudly sit back and say with pride that we are the citizens of a free and prosperous Nation.
The foundation laid down for a free and prosperous India was envisaged by our first Prime Minister Pt. Jawahar Lal Nehru and he was to a large extent responsible for the broad industrial and agricultural framework which India inherited and set itself on. We saw our Nation make rapid strides towards becoming a self reliant non aligned force to reckon with in this Asian region. His legacy was followed and carried forward by his illustrious daughter Indira Gandhi, the Iron lady of India who ruled with a firm hand and took the Country forward with rapid strides so much so that she was called 'Indira is India.'
The foundation built by these great leaders was carried forward by the great Rajiv Gandhi who introduced the 'modern concept' in young India. This was the age of computers, the era of science and technology, the concept of youth chipping and sharing in with their ideas of Nation building, and the Country made huge strides under the leadership of Rajiv Gandhi.
Street agitations have always been part of India's political scenario and they are nothing new. However no agitation was ever big enough to overshadow India's growth story. The people could always differentiate between street agitations, a peoples' movement and good governance. People were smart enough to distinguish which movement was good for them, and ultimately they voted for that party which brought stability to the Country. After all nothing was more supreme than preserving the unity and integrity of our beloved Country. It was always the Party which the people believed that would be able to keep the Country together which ultimately won in the elections.
Today what do we see on the streets. It is full of opportunistic politics. People are clamoring for power, the means may not be necessarily noble, but the journey is certainly being made to look extremely noble. So we have extreme forms of street agitations springing up at every nook and corner of our Country with noble aims and 'ambitions' in mind. The agenda is manifold, the issues definitely appealing to the grassroots, but the means simply appalling. So it is in these circumstances we stand today to celebrate our Independence.
 However I do maintain that all said and done, at the end of the day when elections are finally announced we will have our work to speak for. All the rhetoric, all the speeches, all the street agitations will give way to the stark reality of performance and goals having been achieved. In difficult times which party has been able to achieve how much for the Country will stand the best chance to be on top. Irrespective of public posturing, grand standing and stage tamashas, it is the Party or parties who have the right performance behind them, will survive and the rest will simply melt away.
So I join the Countrymen in saluting our great Nation and wish everybody a Happy Independence Day. May we share the fruits of this Independence with each and every citizen of our Country, who can now stand up in pride and declare that I'am proud to be an Indian.
Cheers and Jai Hind. 

Jana Gana Mana - India National Anthem English lyrics

Comprehensive Sports Policy Needed

Don't cry for me India is definitely borrowed from ...you know where. But as I see the London Olympics come to a close, and I see the ecstasy, agony, frenzy, determination, all rolled into one, writ large on the faces of the Indian sports persons. I wonder if more young people would come forward and join the 'sports' revolution' in India, we can achieve what China has been able to do with its sports persons.
Sports perhaps is the best policy the Government could follow. All the disappointment, agitation, frustration, incidents happening all around us could hopefully diminish if only we had a full scale functional sports policy in place. Although the present sports minister Mr Ajay Maken has been trying and will continue to do so, these efforts are simply not enough to bring about the sports' culture or a sports' revolution we want to unleash in our Country.
For a sports' policy which is almost devilish in nature and extracts the best talent from out of our youth, it needs careful planning, astute and honest implementation, adequate and absolute funding and quick decisions. The implementation needs to be done at the grass root level, in schools and colleges. Sports have to be identified which can be picked and nurtured. Such a policy would help in development of sports in India, not only at the Olympics but the Commonwealth Games, Asian Games and other international meets.
So here's hoping the correct decisions would be made, by the right people, at the right time and implemented with full honesty. Don't want no more people who wish to make a fast buck while controlling the various associations and sports federations. People with foresight, vision and integrity who are really interested in promoting the cause of sports in India need to sit at the helm of affairs and then perhaps we can see the sports culture slowly pervade the entire nook and corner of our Country.
So Cheers to that sentiment and don't let the enthusiasm fade away just because the event is over. The journey has just begun...

GO FOR GOLD....Sushil Kumar.....

All the best to Sushil Kumar for his Final Bout in the 66 kg freestyle wrestling match at London Olympics 2012.... GO FOR GOLD SUSHIL....INDIA IS WITH YOU AND LOTS OF CHEERS COMING YOUR WAY......

Yogeshwar sculpted in Bronze.....for India

Yogeshwar Dutt won the bronze in the London Olympics 2012 in the 60 kg freestyle wrestling category. Best was the way he won his fights. Losing his initial fight, he was left to fight his way in the repechage rounds. Literally clawing his way back in the fight to the bronze he was tested both physically and emotionally when he was made to fight 3 times in a row in a space of roughly 45 minutes, and that too against the world's best.
But that's what champions are made of. The grit, determination, the preparation and the hunger to win the medal at any cost, was there for everybody to see.
Let's celebrate India's spirit to win. May it become a deluge and we see lots of medals coming our way in the next Olympics. Cheers to that !