Happy Valentine's Day!

It's the 14th of February today and it's time to celebrate love and express your affection for that special someone in your life; unless, of course, you are single and alone or a Shiv Sena activist! Yes, the 'Sainiks' were out this year again, burning cards and protesting the holiday.

Though celebrating Valentine's Day is a very recent phenomenon in India, unlike many other western imports (fast food joints, big box retailers etc.), it's a much welcome import. A land that gave us the Kama Sutra and that quintessential expression of love - Taj Mahal - had somewhere down the line lost its tradition of love. Any overt expression of love became frowned upon. And, I am not even talking about love before marriage; I am talking about married couples having to repress expressing their love for each other! Except for honeymoon couples in holiday spots, how many couples hold each other's hands in public? How many parents hug or otherwise be romantic at home in front of their kids?

Looking beyond the commercial aspects of the holiday, the underlying spirit of expressing love is definitely worth celebrating (and much needed) in India. In fact, more than youngsters, it provides an opportunity for the older generation to finally express their affection for each other a little bit more openly. If my grandmother buys my grandfather a Valentine's card, would the 'Sainiks' rip it out of her hands and burn it? I think not!

What Not to Wear

When I first heard that the appropriateness of actress Shreya's attire at a recent function in Chennai was discussed with fervor in Tamil Nadu , I wondered if that show on TV where two oddly dressed gay guys and a hot girl discuss celebrity fashion (Fashion Police on E!), has now gone global to Kollywood as well. But, apparently it was the state's politicians who were discussing the subject and that too in the state assembly!

To be honest, she was the only one who was appropriately dressed for the occasion. I mean, it's a movie function after all and it's supposed to be about glitz and glamour. Amidst all those somber looking guests, she was the only one who was even smiling!

On a serious note, while the new generation of young Indians are leading the nation to a brave new world, incidents like these expose the narrow-minded social chauvinism that is still prevalent.  What's more bothering is the fact that no major social organization came in support of the actress. Whatever happened to editorials and opinion columns in newspapers? Where are those feminists and women's organizations? Shouldn't the movie fraternity have come out in support of her? The only voice of protest has been from individuals in blogs and online forums. Why is that people who burn effigies of umpires for giving a wrong decision against their favorite cricket player, keep quiet when the very concept of democracy is threatened? Some might think that I am overreacting; after all nothing came off the issue, but, if we don't question such attitude, we will never end it.

Similar to the IT revolution that has changed the economic outlook of the country; we need a social revolution to bring in the next generation of politicians to better represent the new India.

Harbhajan race row - case closed

Finally, there is some closure to the Harbhajan Singh racism controversy after Judge John Hansen cleared him of the racial abuse charge, and instead penalized him for using abusive language. The full text of Hansen's judgement can be found here.

Compared to how Mike Procter, the ICC match referee handled the same case, Hansen seems to have approached the issue much more methodically and sensibly. He has documented the evidence, explained his analysis and justified his conclusions, leaving no room for debate.  If only Mike Procter had handled the issue similarly, there wouldn't have been so much drama!

Earlier, when Harbhajan was first banned, I had blogged that though Harbhajan should be punished, he shouldn't be named a racist. Echoing similar sentiments, Judge Hansen in his report says -

"...But in my view even if he had used the words “alleged” an “ordinary person” standing in the shoes of Mr Symonds who had launched an unprovoked and unnecessary invective laden attack would not be offended or insulted or humiliated in terms of 3.3..."

He is essentially implying that even if Harbhajan had used the word 'monkey', he still would have cleared him off the racial abuse charge!

Tendulkar delights India with his 39th test hundred!

Sachin Tendulkar's yet another commanding century was the highlight of the first day's play in the 4th test match between India and Australia at the Adelaide Oval. He started off slowly, but once past 50, dazzled with some magnificent strokes, especially against Brad Hogg.

Coming in with a pre-meditated intent to attack Hogg, the early part of his innings was dominated by cuts, slog sweeps and a huge hit over midwicket for six. But, past 50, his feet started moving better and he unleashed those superb drives straight down the wicket. Particularly severe on Hogg and Michael Clarke, his straight six off Clarke and subsequent cover drive for four that took him to his 39th hundred were the shots of his innings today.

Riding on Tendulkar's 124* and half-centuries from Sehwag (63) & Laxman (51), India have reached 309 at the end of play, but with Australia scalping 5 wickets on a good batting pitch with some outstanding bowling from Brett Lee, the match is evenly poised.

India would be hoping for Tendulkar(124*) and Dhoni (6*) to get them past 400 and that depends on how well they handle the new ball on day 2. Australia would want to end this partnership as early as possible and run through the tail. Either way, day two promises some exciting cricket!

India stops Australia short of 17th win at Perth!

Australia's bid for a record 17th straight test match win was brought to a halt by India at the WACA in Perth. India convincingly beat Australia in what must rank as one of their greatest wins ever! On a pitch where nobody gave them a chance, with a second string bowling attack, coming off a heart breaking last minute loss at the SCG, this win was a tremendous team effort! 

 

 

Here are the highlights of the match -

Anil Kumble winning the toss and choosing to bat - With so much talk about how the pitch is going to be fast and bouncy, and Australia bringing in Shaun Tait to go in with a 4 pace attack, it would have been the easy decision to bowl first. But, Kumble took the tough choice, which paid rich dividends at the end.

Tendulkar and Dravid's partnership - Kumble's call to bat first paid off mainly due to the partnership between Tendulkar and Dravid. Dravid back at his no.3 spot, played a wonderful innings, but, it was Tendulkar's inventive stroke play that was the highlight of the partnership.

Pathan, RP Singh and Sharma's bowling - India's second choice attack (all three played only because of injuries to Zaheer Khan, Sreesanth and Munaf Patel), instead of trying to exploit the pace of the wicket, played to their strengths - keeping the ball up and swinging. Theirs was the most consistent pace bowling by India in recent times, swinging the match India's way.

Laxman's partnership with Dhoni and RP Singh - With the big 3 failing in the 2nd innings, Australians were with a real chance to get back in the game, but ran in to VVS Laxman. With runs worth their value in gold, he patiently grafted every run in the company of Dhoni and later with RP Singh. Dhoni too, curbed his natural style and knuckled down to scrapping every run possible. This was one of the most determined batting efforts by India in recent times. To me, this was the most intense and definitive passage of play in the whole match - ugly to watch, but beautiful in intent.

Ishant Sharma vs. Ricky Ponting - What a wonderful passage of play this was - a rookie troubling one of the most accomplished batsmen in this era! Excellent pace bowling by Ishant had Ponting missing, fending, swaying, hopping, mistiming and finally edging to Dravid.

Michael Clarke's innings - Clarke exemplified the Australian winning attitude. Batting with confidence and controlled aggression, he lead Australia's charge towards an improbable win. While he was at the crease, an upset was definitely on the cards.

Sehwag bowling out Gilchrist - With Clarke batting fluently and the new ball due in 10 overs, Gilchrist was preparing to launch an assault  - he had just brought out his squash ball and stuffed it in to his left glove (remember the world cup 2007 final?). In an inspired move (or, maybe just lucky!), Kumble tossed the ball to Sehwag and he obliged bowling out Gilchrist around this legs, exposing the Australian tail and snubbing out any chance of an Australian win.