I am pissed off at the attitude of Indian players towards training. The most important factor responsible for team India’s shameful exit is the self-conceit each player is overwhelmed with. Let me begin with Sachin
1. He rarely finds time for practice as he is busy with advertisement. The directors even chase him down to the training ground where he performs in breaks during training. Know why he keeps adjusting his pelvic guard incessantly during batting? Well he once appeared for diaper advertisement but forgot to take it off for the entire day. This caused rashes to develop in and around his pelvic area which no ‘Etch guard’ could remove so far. Poor guy has to suffer his entire life for that malfunctioning diaper.
First let me apologize for the dismal performance of the team at the World Cup. We take full responsibility of the defeat. We understand your frustration at the team’s exit in the first round and especially at the loss to Bangladesh but you see we had no option. The loss to Bangladesh was planned because the Indian Government struck a deal with the Bangladesh that if it allows its team to lose this match then the illegal Bangladeshi immigrants,spread across length and breadth of India, would be accepted back. Plus there was lot of pressure from the ICC to make Bangladesh win as it has been so many years since it was granted test status.
As far as I can remember the news about the Godhra incident starting flashing in the morning of February 27th. It was a period when the news channels were slowly coming up. Aaj Tak was growing great guns and so were Star News and Zee News. Doordarshan, government run channel, was pushed to the background by the private channels so that meant there were no censors in the news items. It was left to the discretion of the dudes from US/UK to decide what’s best for us. Aaj Tak got all the publicity because it was marketed as India’s own channel. So our own Aaj Tak started flashing images from the train carnage uncensored. The blame was put on Muslims as they fell to the taunts of the returning Kar Sewaks and eventually burnt the train. My first reaction to the news was my utter shock at this inhuman punishment meted out after slightest of provocations. Even though independent fact finding teams have refuted this earlier claim and label it is a part of larger conspiracy of the state government, I am not getting into conspiracy theories.
My immature mind was already corrupted by this communal feeling. I often wondered if we too will meet the same fate as other Muslims who perished in the riots. My mother lost her cousin in the Bengali-Bihari riots in Bangladesh. She told me that her cousin could save her daughter as she hid her below her saari who was later rescued by the police. At least I now have a hiding place in case of emergency!
Winter was about to set it but the climate around Tube factory in Jamshedpur was still warm. I was playing with my brother on the veranda when mom called us inside. Doors were shut and all windows closed even though it was still not cold outside. We were pushed to the living room where Doordarshan was broadcasting news. It was quite unusual for DD to broadcast news in the evening but I soon found out why. Babri Masjid was being attacked my Kar Sewaks with unconfirmed reports that it has already been demolished. Even though at that age, 9 years, no one gives a damn about politics but I was born sensitive so was infuriated at a Masjid being demolished. Even though I didn’t know the names of RSS/VHP/BJP leaders but their continuous venomous speeches had made me realise that that they are ‘bad people’, at least for the Muslims (Fortunately Shahi Imam Bukhari was not a media darling at that time).
