LeeDeWyze The New American Idol!

LeeDeWyze Wins!!! Yeah yeah... Sometimes the best wins too! :)

It's 'still' a man's world, in cricket too!

The title of this post is particularly apt in the Indian scenario. In almost every field men still dominate the scene. When it comes to sports, India and Indians have a massive soft spot for the 'Men In Blue', now what they are often referred to as Dhoni's Men! Whether they win or lose, the cricketers are the 'forever favourites'! No other sport in India get attention as much as cricket, and this point is hugely debated in the past 2 or 3 years in almost all channels of media. I don't think I have anything more to add with my limited knowledge of sports.

But what came to me as a bit of a surprise yesterday, and particularly today is that, finally the women's cricket team is getting featured in our newspapers and news channels. Well, the reason is obvious. After the men's team's disastrous performance at the T20 WC, and that the women's team have fared well so far in the T20 WC and have a chance to lift the title, it is but natural that the focus has shifted to the women's team. So all ears and eyes to the 'Girls In Blue'! 

I have briefly been following the girls' team performance for a couple of years, mainly on the internet, and they have been performing rather well through the years. But who cares? How many people know the team? Leave aside the entire team, how many people know who's the captain of the team. Not only do we know MS Dhoni as the team captain, we also know about his other achievements and personal life. But poor Jhulan Goswami, she has to go a long way to let the Indians know that she is the captain of the women's cricket team. Some people know Mithali Raj's name, but I can guarantee, if people are randomly quizzed, 70 to 80 percent of the people will not know who she is or what sport she plays. That's the sad story of Indian sports, particularly the women's teams.

Will the sports bodies, media and corporates please wake up and do something now, or will they still continue to remain indifferent towards the women and other sporting forms? It cannot be said whether the 'Girls In Blue' will lift the T20 WC title or not, but if they do I hope the authorities will take note and bring in a revolution. Till such time, I am going to wait and watch, and hope those who are reading this post will do to! :)

How our icons are politicised!

Celebrating Tagore's 150th Birth Anniversary, and how the different political parties in Bengal are using this day to prove a point to the public to win their hearts! For once I did not quite oppose to this idea too much as the selfish intentions of the political parties in a way promote Tagore once again to many people. 

Sadly, Tagore has become a statue, an idol who to worship. Not too many people engage themselves to know and understand what made this man an icon. And it is sadder to note that Tagore needs to be promoted. Most of the people I associate with have no interest in Tagore, and I haven't been able to build any interest in their lives. Therefore, if the politicians are doing something to preserve and restore Tagore's legacy, my votes go out to them!

Tagore's 150th Birth Anniversary

Today is 'Pochishe Boishakh', Tagore's 150th Birth Anniversary. Like thousands of Tagore loving Bengalis I woke up with a feeling of celebration. But the spirit of celebration drowned within moments as I found myself to be the only one to feel that way. I live in Mumbai, hence finding too many Bengalis around me is not a possibility, but the ones I know are too 'modern' or maybe indifferent to know about Tagore. To them, he was just a great poet and artist.

The past 3 months I have been regularly searching the internet to find any program or event to mark this day in Mumbai; I found none. Today's newspaper has extensive writings on Mother's Day, and how celebrities celebrate mother's day, but there is not a mention of Tagore.

The whole day has gone by and my only connection with Bengali and Tagore has been courtesy 2 Bengali channels, 24 Ghanta and Star Ananda.

Is Tagore only for Bengalis? This has been a question on my mind for a long time, but after today, my question is, are the Bengalis forgetting Tagore?