A Page from the Diary of an Unreserved Citizen

2008-05-06T08:18:00.001-07:00

I was born in independent India. I hated political science and loved economics,but the preamble of the constitution always appealed to me.

"WE, THE PEOPLE OF INDIA, having solemnly resolved to constitute India into a SOVEREIGN SOCIALIST SECULAR DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC and to secure to all its citizens:
JUSTICE, social, economic and political;
LIBERTY of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship;
EQUALITY of status and of opportunity;
and to promote among them all
FRATERNITY assuring the dignity of the individual and the unity and integrity of the Nation];
IN OUR CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY this twenty-sixth day of November, 1949, do HEREBY ADOPT, ENACT AND GIVE TO OURSELVES THIS CONSTITUTION."

It took me ten years to realise that equality in India was a myth. Equality of status and opportunity,as it said. These words kept ringing in my head after the Supreme Court of India passed the OBC bill. "EQUALITY of status and of opportunity"? This was however,not the first bill that raped the preamble. There were many more. I couldn't not sleep that night; what used to be a fact for me was slowly but surely turning in to a myth. I never saw Rajiv Goswami and in 1990, I knew nothing more then He-Man and Mahabharat. They were the world for me,and little did I knew, that somewhere far away in the capital of India, one Goswami self-immolated while a student at Delhi University, in protest againt the Mandal Comission Report on job reservations for Backward Castes in India. When I read about his in 2001, I wondered how someone could go to this extent?! One of his friends remarks, "When I saw flames leaping out some 15 metres ahead of me, my first thought was that the burning effigy should not lead to violence. Several screams later, it hit me. It wasn't an effigy. It was a flesh and blood human being. It was Rajiv Goswami." I can however, visualise him. Every morning I wake up in fear of yet another 'reservation', the death of another generation in other words.

Several years have passed,and India, acting according to its nature, had forgot everything. A new society was created on the death-bed of several futures. This society was the modern India, rather, the ultra-modern India with a GDP of US $1.50 trillion, an India which takes pride to host the world's costliest cricket league,and India where graduates go on to study in the United States of America just like a fish entering the waters. OBCs (Other Backward Castes) constitute of a large number of people. Sadly, even after 60 years of independence, someone is still backward in India. No, India has not changed, its still the same.....backward, undeveloped.

94 amendments in the constitution......will you call it dynamism? Or will you call it a result of the myopic vision of the intellectuals who wrote it? Whatever the answer was, India is still burning.

The 'system' guarantees equality in the society. But this pillar of equality is erected with the bones of the society itself. Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) are Indian communities that are explicitly recognized by the Constitution of India as requiring special support to overcome centuries of discrimination by mainstream Hindu society. Years of suppression for these people, the upliftment efforts could be understood. This time it is the turn of the 'general' castes to face the music.The only difference is that, the former society was the crude Indian society with no governance, while the society we live in today, is called the independent India. A tooth for a tooth,and eye for an eye......we Indian's love revenge,so be it.

Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high;
Where knowledge is free;
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments by narrow domestic walls;
Where words come out from the depth of truth;
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection;
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way into the dreary desert sand of dead habit;
Where the mind is led forward by thee into ever-widening thought and action--- Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.

---- Rabindranath Tagore.

The birth of Indian test cricket

2008-04-28T05:07:00.001-07:00

India played its 1st ever test at Lord's against England in 1932.It was a 3-day test match.India was led by C.K.Nayudu,who lead team and a nation which was still under the British rule. It was like a match between the master and the slave. The master was there to dictate,while the slave follows the master. England batted 1st,and it was the legendary Mohammed Nisar, who bowled the 1st ever ball for India.Nissar also got 5-wicket haul.Wisden speaks "Mohammed Nissar was India's first pace bowler, possible one of the fastest they have ever produced, and one of the best too."India must have bowled particularly well,since the English team consisted of people like Herbert Sutcliffe(the only batsman in test cricket whose career batting avg. never dropped below 60 right from his debut...even Bradman didn't have such a record),Wally Hammond (the one-time highest scorer in test cricket with 336),Percy Holmes and the legendary captain Douglas Jardine.England scored 'just' 259 in their 1st innings.When India's1st innings started,Janardan Navle,who was also the wicket-keeper,faced the 1st ball for India in tests.India was all out for 189,with captain C.K.Nayudu top scoring with 40.England declared their 2nd innings at 275/8,with Jahingir Khan picking up 4 wickets for India.This was the same legendary Jahingir Khan who's son Majid Khan captained Pakistan in tests,while his grand-son Bazid Khan played tests too!
It is to be noted that,none of the English batsmen managed to score a 100 againt India! Eng set a target of 346 runs for India to win.But India could manage just 187 runs,with fast-bowler Amar Singh scoring 51,which happened to be the first half-century in tests by an Indian."There is no better bowler in the world today than Amar Singh,'' said Len Hutton in an informal chat with pressmen at Madras in 1970.This was India's 1st ever half-century. The English pace attck was led by Bill Voce,yes the same Voce who was Larwood's opening ball partner in the (in)famous Bodyline attack.You can only imagine the pace at which he must have bowled in this match.. ...England won by 158 runs,but India came of age to show a fighting spirit,while going down.Hats off to all those brave Indian cricketers who played that match.The match was lost,but the history of Indian cricket had already started,in their own "owner's" backyard. How easy was it to face your 'master' in the eyes and break the stumps with a fast yorker,or how tough was it to hit the ball for a boundary? This was the courage shown by those brave men,most of them probably didn't even know to speak English,as you can guess.
Today,Indian cricket has changed. Today India has gone to the backyard of the world champions,since 1999, and won the series. They probably gave the best fight for the 'unofficial' test champions.It has been a long journey,of 75 years. If Indian hockey fell from gold to mud,Indian cricket rose from rugs to riches.Jack Hobbs rated Navle,the wicket keeper, in the same league as George Duckworth and Bert Oldfield, which is high praise indeed.In his later life he worked as a security guard in a sugar mill and lived in a humble two room flat in Poona. He died in the streets,trying to earn a living. Sadly,Indian cricket has forgotten Mohammed Nissar and Amar Singh. Today, people earn in millions. Indian cricket has changed,India has changed.But history can't,for it was written with pride.

My School of Thought

A Page from the Diary of an Unreserved Citizen

The birth of Indian test cricket