Sir! Post!

அச்ச்மில்லை யச்சமில்லை அச்ச்மனெப தில்லையே

இச்ச்கத்து ளோரெல்லாம் எதிர்த்துநின்ற பொதினும்
அச்ச்மில்லை யச்சமில்லை அச்ச்மனெப தில்லையே
துச்ச்மாக வெண்ணிநம்மை தூறுசெய்த பொதினும்
அச்ச்மில்லை யச்சமில்லை அச்ச்மனெப தில்லையே

- மகாகவி சுப்ரமணிய பாரதியார்.

I do know a lot of people who read this blog do not know Thamizh (Tamil). So, here's a bit of translation.

" Do not fear. Do not fear even when the entire world opposes you.

 Do not fear the cold stares that people give you".

- Subramaniya Bharathiyar. 

Why I began with those lines. The reason is pretty simple -  Mr. Kapil Sibal. Minister for IT and Communications, has asked social networking firms to filter objectionable content, particularly with reference to UPA chief -Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister- Manmohan Singh. The analogy is pretty simple, when a team fails, the captain is the first one to draw flak, and here - well, needs no further explanation.

Well, it is quite apparent that the UPA is full of Taliban people disguised as Indian politicians. Starting off a few weeks ago was planning commission chairman Mr. Ahluwalia, who somehow brought about a random number to indicate the minimum amount of money required per day to survive in rural and urban India. And now, it's the turn of another educated person. 

Seriously. Mr. Sibal. What were you even thinking? And now your loyalty towards the nation as a whole itself is under scrutiny. When you took your oath, you pledged your loyalty and service to the NATION.  Loyalty and service to the UPA chief DOES NOT become loyalty to the nation. A BILLION people are under so much pressure due to your government, which has like every other government before it, forgotten how they got elected. 

We the people can only share kolaveri videos and post good pictures of your youth icon Mr. Rahul Gandhi is it? And politicians who deserve to be ***censored*** are just slapped in this country. You talk so much about censorship and all that stuff, but are you even concerned about the people who elected you? Shame on you for even calling yourself an Indian, living in a free democratic republic.

This is a classic case of the pot calling the kettle black. The government is concerned about the personal image of some very powerful people, while the average Indian struggles to make ends meet. We all get abused by you politicians day in and day out. A few days back, a teacher was slapped in Punjab, by an illiterate sarpanch. The audacity that you politicians have to tell us about abusing you. We the people are abused by you - economically, physically, psychologically, verbally and at times in some cases, even sexually. 

By the way, you said, "Hate speech must be banned."  Why would an ENTIRE nation hate all you politicians? When all you politicians, particularly the government, have done nothing worthwhile for the nation, there obviously will be hatred towards you. And now you say that people cannot vent their ire on a social forum just because one of your colleagues got slapped and that some of you may even be attacked in future? Didn't you know all this before coming to power? And you are all scared despite your Z category security? So lame.

And if you did really want to screen posts on Google, you should have made them get our map correct for a start.

All you politicians make sure that no one else comes to power by doing all sorts of illegal things such as booth capturing, cash for votes, political assassinations and threatening people. And when you do come to power, you indulge yourself by building statues of yourself, amassing huge amounts of wealth and property and all such things.

Honestly, have a chat with your own conscience Mr. Sibal, you too would feel like giving a nice tight slap to certain people. For a few minutes, forget that you ever were a politician, a minister, a man in power. Think of yourself as the common man of India, put yourself in his shoes and think. Would you really feel that you and your government have done anything good for the people? Would you really ask Facebook and Google to screen content now? Learned and educated people like you and me should realize that not all people go off to slap someone like your colleague or throw stones at someone else's house.

Exceptions do not become examples Mr. Sibal. We are living in a civilized society. The world has evolved and so must we, if we are to become a nation greater than what we are at present. Criticism should be welcomed from anywhere, and especially if it comes for the people who elected you.

Do something good for the people Mr. Sibal. The people will respect you.

Jai Hind.

P.S: This blog may not be alive tomorrow. I'm very thankful to all those who have read this blog all these days. Thanks a lot for all your support.

An unsung hero...

Millions of pages have been written about the world's greatest batsman - Sachin Tendulkar. People have run out of praises about him. He is the god of cricket. However, as the tour of Australia is next on the Indian cricketing calendar, and it might well be the last tour down under for Sachin Tendulkar and a couple of his other illustrious colleagues, namely - V.V.S. Laxman and Rahul Dravid.

Both Laxman and Dravid have been in the background as compared to the other duo of Sachin Tendulkar and Saurav Ganguly, when all four of them played. Of all four V.V.S is obviously the one who has been least sung about. His epic 281 Vs Australia at Kolkata is obviously his greatest achievement, and his shoes will be way to huge for anyone to fill. India will somehow find someone to at least bumble around wearing his shoes.

Rahul Dravid's shoes will be the ones noone can even hope or even want to fill. The kind of pressure that he has soaked up all these years, doing everything for the team  - noone will ever want to be in his place. Even when the entire Indian team collapses around him, he'd be the rock in the middle, playing his characteristic innings of holding up one end.

What has he not done for the team? Bats at number 3, kept wickets, even played some pinch hitter knocks, holds up one end steady, has even bowled, taken tough catches, has run with quicker batsmen like Yuvraj and Kaif, and has even been the captain, but has been praised a lot less than either Sachin Tendulkar or Saurav Ganguly. Indian cricket should be thankful for the presence of this gentleman cricketer who has given his all for the game and the team.

Dravid was dropped from the ODI side at one point of time, because he couldn't make fast runs, but his absence has always been felt whenever India started collapsing. The guts that this man has to steady a ship and even take the team close to winning matches or at least face saving draws - no words. Respect.

I was just thinking about the Indian test side today, especially with respect to replacements for Dravid, Laxman and yes, of course, You-Know-Who too. Nope. None of them can be replaced. In fact, truth be told, India are yet to find a proper replacement for the worst of the fab four - Saurav Ganguly (Yes. He can be regarded as the worst of the fab four and Yes, I am a die hard Ganguly fan, who says this). Scary thoughts, just to imagine an Indian team travelling to England, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa without The Wall. On a green top like in New Zealand - no Dravid, no score.

India have gone on tours previously with at least one of the fab four to rely on, and at most times, it has been Rahul Dravid on whom India have depended on to take control of the batting in the middle. India will have to search for appropriate replacements and groom them properly, if they want to see someone make at least half the number of runs that Dravid has made in his test career till now.