Should 'Team India' call-off Australian Tour?

It seems, as Australian Team members were waiting earnestly for these moments and craving for 'Team India' to visit their motherland to show their revenge after a so-called bitter tour of India 2 months back. It's a no-secret affair that Australian Team (read Ricky Ponting) fears 'Team India' more than any other Test playing nation. And the distressing emotion which was arousing by the impending danger from 'Team India' especially Bhajji & Kumble, worked as a catalyst for them to start playing Cricket in an unprofessional way & non-gentleman manner and which turned the Australian Cricketers from Professionals to Wild Dogs!

Now, the second Test Cricket played at Sydney has been lost by Team India but they had clearly been outplaying Australian Team in each part of the game. It's known to entire cricketing world that Team India lost because of some biased & unfair decisions given by both the umpires and an opinion has been airing on that Steve Bucknor is an in-competent umpire. Both the umpires, Steve Bucknor and Mark Benson should be called to account for their poor umpiring. Even in an unexpected show of solidarity, the Australian media rallied behind the Indian team, saying poor umpiring proved to be their nemesis and the least they deserved was a draw. Australian media is terming the behaviour of their own players as "unacceptable" and calling the standard of umpiring as poor which left a bitter taste in the mouth. Team India has been dubbed. The ridiculous deed done by the umpires was that in the world of technologically sound cricket, they didn't bother to consult the TV Umpire in some critical situations. Especially, Mark Benson asking Ricky Ponting whether Michael Clark has grounded the ball while catching out Sourav Ganguly! He's no right to ask a fielding captain or a player before giving a decision. It would have been better if he had consulted the leg-umpire at least. Had the decisions -even 50% of the decisions- given in a proper & unbiased manner, the reslut of the match would have been different somehow, draw in least manner. We've been witnessing some moments when wrong decisions have been given by the umpires. Considering that they're also human beings, we've forgotten the blunders. But the Sydney Test gave us some unforgettable tastes of mouth which're in no way possible to digest.

The biggest bitterness what this match has given us is that Off-Spinner Harbhajan Singh has been banned for three matches after the ICC Match Referee Mike Procter upheld the Australian charge that he had allegedly used racial abuses against all-rounder Andrew Symonds. Procter gave a marathon six-and-a-half hour hearing to Harbhajan, who denied the charge and was supported by skipper Anil Kumble, Sachin Tendulkar, manager Chetan Chauhan and media manager M V Sridhar during the deliberations.
Procter also heard Symonds, who was backed by Australian captain Ricky Ponting, Adam Gilchrist, Matthew Hayden, Michael Clarke along with team manager Steve Bernard, who attended the hearing to testify against the Indian spinner.
The hardest point here to believe is of match referee who's 'deliberately' given verdict against Bhajji based on the allegations made by Australian Team. He didn't even considered the testimony of Cricketing Maestro Sachin Tendulkar who's aggresively backing Bhajji saying that he's absolutely innocent. Sachin is believed to be a gentleman cricketer who never discriminates b/w fellow players & opponents and whose gamesmanship is always appreciated in cricketing circles. Hasn't he rediculously been sidelined in the said case?

The interesting point which needs to be highlighted here in this case is that the video footages being shown in the news channels clearly shows that when argument was taking place b/w Bhajji & Symonds, there were interestingly only two players witnessing the incidence close enough- Sachin Tendulkar & Mathew Hadden. Now the question arises here is that- "Isn't it the duty of match referee to consider the testimony of prime witnesses when there is no evidence available which substantiates the alleged remarks during the deliberations to justify the position of complianant?" The match referee is trusting the words of Australian players more advisedly than being a true match referee by justifying his position clearly.

Now, BCCI has strongly opposed the judgement and has appealed infront of ICC to reconsider the cases and has asked the Team India to stay back at Sydney untill the decision is taken further on their appeal and Bhajji is reinstated. BCCI has made it clear that if Bhajji is not reinstated, they may think even to call-off the Australian tour. Now the most significant question here is- "Will the ICC consider the power of BCCI in world cricket while hearing?" If not then it's now our turn to show the world cricket the power which we posses as BCCI. The only solution remains here is to abandon the ongoing tour if the judgement goes against us and let the Australians know that we control & run the world cricket by the synergy & power of money.

Sunil Gavaskar, being the chairman of technical committee and selection pannel for umpires in ICC has to strongly put forward the views of each Indian infront of ICC. The whole nation now expects a brave move from BCCI and there is no turning back as well. Hope the BCCI will not be letting us down in this case as the pride of India is really at stake!

Chak De India!!!

Regrds,
Remmish Gupta

शुभ कामना!

नव वर्ष सुखमय हो,
मंगलमय हो, यह शुभ-कामना हमारी है।
सफल हों जीवन के हर पहलु में आप,
यह हार्दिक मंगल-कामना हमारी है॥

न निराश हों कभी क्षणिकाओं से,
असफलताओं से, अनियमितताओं से।
न हों कभी परेशां, जीवन में बाधाओं से,
पर्वत रूपी आपदाओं से, विपदाओं से॥

मंजिल हो आपकी ज़मीं पर आशियाँ
और फलक पर सितारों के बीच।
नव अवसर हो हर सुप्रभात के साथ,
मंजिल तक बेअटक आपका सफर हो॥

ख्वाबों के काफिले को सहेजकर इस ज़मीं पर,
फिर इक नया अविष्कार करना है आपको।
गर्व हो इस ज़मीं को भी आप पर,
फिर कुछ ऐसा कर गुजरना है आपको।।।

नव वर्ष कि इन्हीं हार्दिक शुभ एवं मंगल कामनाओं के साथ,
आपका ही,

रेमिश गुप्ता

'कसक'

कुछ ना कर पाने की कसक,

कुछ कर गुजरने की चाह;

अजीब कशमकश में गुजरी जा रही है जिन्दगी!

Rediscovery of Mahatma

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi- one name, which always resembles the divine eternity in today’s world - has never been a forgotten character in the world of ‘peace’. Mahatma Gandhi – popularly known as Bapu (father of the nation) – was a creator of his own destiny and the world today unfolds his charismatic approach to fight against all odds. He was born on 2nd of October in the year 1869 in Porbandar, Gujarat. The place where he was born is called ‘Kirti Mandir’ and has been converted into a national monument.

In today’s context where entire world has been beguiled by technology and scientific developments to enhance the living standards, non-violence is of less importance and terrorism & extremism are increasingly becoming more of a part of living.

''It is my belief that the problem of bringing peace to the world on a supernational basis will be solved only by employing Gandhi's method on a large scale.''
-Albert Einstein

Is he relevant today? Is peace relevant? Is non-violence relevant in today’s context? Is humanity exists today?

These are eternal values and of less importance to the human being today. These values ran like a chain through Bapu’s actions, experiments and ideas which laid down the foundation for the Independence of India. He made it possible. He taught the human being to fight the odd forces thru non-violence. ‘Satyagrahi’ he was. He taught the normal human being to demonstrate the courage & compassion and to lay down their lives unresistingly before armed forces. He taught to rise above the spite, hatred and revenge and to regard the opponent if not love. He writes in his autobiography ‘The Story of my experiments with Truth”: "If I found myself entirely absorbed in the service of the community, the reason behind it was my desire for self-realization”. The goal of self-realization (truth, which to him was God) through the practice of nonviolence stamped his every thought, word and deed.

Bapu’s way of approaching the difficult issues and situations thru truth & non-violence was really amazingly perfect and can be implemented in today’s business world too. He was a great leader in true sense.

Business Gurus in India are talking now of a new role model today – Mahatma Gandhi! He’s now being considered as the master strategist, an exemplary leader and someone whose ideas, tactics and strategies Corporate India can emulate.
From Mr. Arun Maira (CEO, Boston Consulting Group) to Mr. C. K. Prahlad (Management Guru) and economist Mr. Arindam Chaudhary, all key business thinkers are preaching how corporate India needs to revisit Gandhi's ideas and apply the lessons learnt from him to their leadership style.

Gandhiji reinvented the rules of the game to deal with a situation where all the available existing methods had failed. He broke tradition. He understood quite well that they can not fight with British rulers with force and so he decided to change the game in a fundamentally different way. He unleashed the power within the ordinary men and motivated & inspired the men & women in the country to fight under a common & unifying goal.

Arindam Chaudhary, in his book “Count your chicken before they hatch" has written extensively about Ganhiji’s style of leadership and the way to approach the difficulties and how it can be applied to Corporate India - "Mahatma Gandhi's example to me is a perfect case of adopting styles to suit the culture. The country today stands divided on whether what he did was good or bad... I just know one thing: there was never a leader before him nor one after him who could unite us all and bring us out in the streets to demand for what was rightfully ours. To me, he is the greatest leader our land has ever seen. It is 'Theory 'I' management' at its practical best: productively and intelligently utilizing whatever the resource you are endowed with." ('I' Management is India Centric Management, a management theory profounded by Professor Arindam Chaudhary.)
Gandhiji's leadership style is being termed as 'follower-centric' and one that took into account existing conditions before determining the strategy.

According to Arun Maira, Gandhi's style of leadership as applied to corporate India would involve making even the lowest person in the organization believe in it and the significance of his contribution towards it. In business, empowerment is all about making sure everyone is connected to the organization's goals. Gandhiji has a way of doing that: making sure that everyone in the cause is connected to the goal.

But how does a capitalist Corporate India reconcile itself to the socialism that Gandhiji stood for? Gandhiji was vehemently against industrialization and felt it would have a highly negative impact on society. Accepting all Gandhiji’s values and principles would not be possible for Corporate India but the disconnect between Gandhiji’s socialist ideas and capitalist views is not as wide as it seems. Capitalism is not just about creating wealth and ignoring the interest of all concerns. We need to take care of all associated too like shareholders and stakeholders. Years ago, the emphasis on the interests of shareholders and stakeholders was labeled socialism and hence, Gandhiji’s ideas, philosophies and principles are not totally different from what the Corporate World would like to do.

And that’s why Gandhiji’s leadership qualities, managerial ideas and style of dealing with worst situations may be followed and implemented in business ethics to create a value proposition in the Corporate World. It’s not really the selective application of his managerial ideas but he’s an example of a great and extra-ordinary leader in managerial role. There was no one in the world who could get all the people together for a common cause and who could embrace his vision as their vision. And an understanding of these leadership qualities is increasingly becoming a part of managerial roles in the Corporate World. It’s not surprising if all B-Schools and Management Development Programs may have a subjective chapter on Gandhiji’s management principles which emphasizes on enhancing the leadership & managerial qualities by applying the methods and ideas which Gandhiji did in historical India.

Thanks to the movies like Gandhi, Lage Raho Munnabhai and Gandhi my father for bringing a new dimension in the thinking and understanding process of Business or Corporate World.

Rgrds, RG

"तमन्ना"

One more poetic reference from the diary of my scholastic days...

रुखसार पे तेरे, अश्क न आएं तो अच्छा है,
ग़र आ गए, लबों से लग जाएँ तो अच्छा है।
'तमन्ना' मेरी, अश्क बन फिरता रहूँ
रुखसार पे तेरे, लबों से लग जाने की तमन्ना है।।

गिला नहीं है मुझको, 'तनहा' सा हूँ मैं,
इंतज़ार है, तमाम उम्र है, एहसास भी है।
ज़िद है तो बस, आंखों से निकलने की तेरी,
रुखसार से चल, लबों में समां जाने की 'तमन्ना' है।।

अजनबी ही सही इस शहर में मैं मगर,
निकला हूँ मुसाफिर कि तरह तेरे दर के लिए।
उम्मीद है अश्क बन जाने कि मुझे, "हमसफ़र"
कुछ पल के लिए ही सही, बन जाने की 'तमन्ना' है।।

कि यकीं नहीं है मुझको, तेरा प्यार भी नसीब होगा,
चल रहा हूँ तो बस उम्मीद लिए, कि कभी तो
अश्क बन निकलूंगा तेरी आंखों से 'मोहब्बत',
दरिया की तरह, समंदर में मिल जाने की 'तमन्ना' है।।


रेमिश

सारे जहाँ से अच्छा- हिंदुस्तान हमारा!

I had written this patriotic poem when the unwanted intruders were trying to break the immortal silence & unity of the great Republic of India in the year 1999 by their wicked & purposely driven intrusion into Kargil & other hilly sectors of J&K region. Albeit, it's not the case & scenario today and our relationship with the neighboring country is a bit nectareous now and being friendly, it reminds me of those overt days when our bravo soldiers lost their lives in saving the integrity of our beloved country.

सारे जहाँ से अच्छा हिंदुस्तान हमारा!

हौसले हैं बुलंद हम हिंदुस्तानियों के, इक दिन सारा ब्रम्हांड हिला देंगे;
लहराएगा तिरंगा सूरज चांद पे, सारे जहाँ को हिन्दोस्तान बाना देंगे।।।

वीरों के इस वतन में, जहाँ हिमालय सुशोभित है;
क्या दम किन्ही गैरों का, जो तोड़ सकें इसकी अखंडता।

वीरांगनाओं की इस जन्म स्थली में, जहाँ माँ गंगा प्रवाहित है;
आ दम अगर तुझमें है, देख हमारी अनेकता में एकता।

हिंदु-मुस्लिम-सिख-इसाई, नाम दिया किसने इन सबका;
भारत माँ के सच्चे सपूत हैं जो, उनका है सिर्फ इंसानियत से नाता।

नरम दल के नेता बापू, सत्य-अहिंसा था जिनका बल;
सपना उनका अखंड भारत का, पुरा करेंगे हम- हैं राह में अटल।

बापू-आज़ाद और शहीदों की, शहादत को ना भुलायेंगे हम;
तन-मन से प्रण है भारत माता तेरी, सारे जहाँ में तिरंगा फहरायेंगे हम।

के अबके फहरा देंगे तिरंगा पाकिस्तान पे,
नाज़ करेगा हर हिन्दुस्तानी अपनी पहचान पे।

जय हिंद! वंदे मातरम!

आपका ही,
रेमिश गुप्ता
Note: it's not meant to hurt any body's sentiments and religious values.

India: aiming towards becoming a real Super-Power!

“I know u Love her, it's not a secret anymore! She’s pretty, she's so rich n cultured. Congrats! Today she turns 60. Happy Independence Day!”

I read one of the fellow citizens quoting today and unanimously I agree that it’s true to full extent. She’s pretty, she’s really so rich and cultured. As she turns 60 today, on this momentous occasion of her 60th anniversary of Independence, I gratefully extend my warmest wishes & greetings to all my fellow citizens.

60 years ago, Pt. Nehru had unfurled the glorious ‘TIRANGA JHANDA – The national Flag of our country’ for the first time from LAL KILA (Red Fort), thus fulfilling the centuries-old dream of crores of Indians to be independent from foreign (British) dynasties.

This year we’re celebrating 150th anniversary of first battle started for Indian Independence in the year 1857. Through the celebrations, we’ve a chance to once again remember our ancestors & freedom fighters of that great battle which laid down the foundations for our Independence and who dreamt of a free & Independent India.
In the year 1857, Bahadurshah Zafar had declared the Battle for Independence from the same historic LAL KILA. The battle cry of Rani of Jhansi- Lakshmi Bai, Peshwa Nana Saheb, Tatya Tope and Begum Hazrat Mahal of Lucknow was 'Delhi Chalo'. This cry was renewed with vigor and force by Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose and in 1947 this ambition was fulfilled.
Today, we’ve the opportunity to remember their sacrifices and to learn from their enthusiasm & self-confidence, a number of traits which can be more useful in the current scenarios and facing today’s challenges as well.

When Pt. Nehru elucidated about the endeavor of free India, he said “It is to bring freedom and opportunity to the common man, to the peasants and workers of India; to fight and end poverty and ignorance and disease; to build up a prosperous, democratic and progressive nation, and to create social, economic and political institutions which will ensure justice and fullness of life to every man and woman."

As 60 years pass by, our beloved country seems to be on the right track. Be it on the economic, political, judicial or diplomatic front, it seems to be working hard to make the 1947 dream a reality. But there's still a long, raring way to go.
The India of today has the right mix of philosophy, viewpoint and practical will to get to the top. Where India was once fighting as a third-world country, it's now a Super-Power in-waiting. The world is now waking up to the powers of India.

With the Indo-US civilian nuclear deal coming through, the United States of America now looks at India as an important ally. The United Kingdom's view is no different. Russia and India have always been friends. As for China and Japan is concerned, the Asian countries are realizing now the importance of being her neighbour.
On the International front, the future of India is bright and shining. Despite, various wars with Pakistan and China, the nations are now making an effort to solving all troublesome issues.

However, although, Indian economy is growing at a rapid pace, on the domestic front, various issues still haunt the pace n enthusiasm of India. There’re still many citizens living below poverty line and do not have basic amenities in life to live on and still dying of starvation. Farmers are committing suicides. On the one hand, our Judicial system is acting independently and is a strong entity on its own, our political system is still a mess. Corruption is plaguing India and acting as a hindrance to the actual economic, diplomatic and democratic growth. Though more educated and young fraternities are taking interest to enter into Indian political fray and willing to bring a political change, there’s still more and more participation required in this regard.

Now all fellow countrymen have realized the importance of real economic growth and are making best efforts towards building India a real Super-Power in the world map. They now are realizing the importance of being a true citizen too. Yeah, movies like Lage Raho Munna Bhai; Rang De Basanti, Lagan, The Legend of Bhagatsingh and like may be acting as a catalyst, but it’s the soul of all countrymen which has awaken, become cognizant and is bringing a true Indian out of all citizens.

And if this trend keeps the right momentum ever and stays alive, the day is not far away when we see our beloved country in the list of ‘Powers’ and when we start feeling proud of being the children of Mother India.
As loyal citizens of this country, it is our duty, as individuals, and as a nation to ensure that we do not let this unprecedented moment in time go unutilized for the dream of a strong, robust and prosperous India.

Vande Mataram. Happy Independence Day. Jai Hind!