FIFA World Cup 2010

FIFA World Cup 2010 started today amidst unprecedented anticipation and excitement. Can India ever be a part of it, besides Salim Sulaiman composing music for the event, or John Abraham and the likes giving their expert comments for the Indian audience (in India)?


I feel the only way we Indians can be a real part of this grand event if we manage to host it as this is the only way a country qualifies automatically. I may be a pessimist, but I don't see any other way how India can qualify for the world cup in the near future.

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?

My First Trip To A Desert

Desert Safari at the Dubai - Sharjah border...

 

                                                                                    I look parched and baked!

When to have a baby...

In India, having a baby within a couple of years after getting married is normal. In case the period goes beyond that, thousands of questions are asked by family members, relatives, nosy neighbours, and friends. Some will ask you if there is a problem, some will suggest remedies without even asking if there is a problem or not! Those who cannot ask questions directly would normally discuss you when you are not around and jump to conclusions.

Eight years of marriage and not a baby yet, there has to be at least one problem. Yes, I am talking about myself. I wouldn't say that too many people have asked me why don't I have a kid, but some have asked my mother and also suggested that she should convince me to have a baby. To that my mother completely shut them up by saying that she does not like to interfere in anybody's personal life. Thank God, that I have such a supportive mother to shut those stupid people up! Almost all my trainees have asked if I had a kid after knowing that I was married. Wonder is it compulsory to have a kid?! An ex-colleague once called me a DINK (double income no kid) couple with a hideous grin. What was itching her I don't know, chose not be rude so I did not respond. A couple of so called friends (read acquaintance) asked if I had a problem... well I didn't even know if I had a problem... I didn't care to find out because my husband and I did not want a child then.

What always bothered me was the mental set up of people. Why is it that that a couple needs to answer to questions asked by almost inconsequential people about plans of having a child. Why is it anybody else's business when it is supposed to be only the couple's business?

It's not always about a career, it's sometimes about the maturity of the couple that delays them to plan a baby. My husband and I did not want to rush into bringing a life into this world when we ourselves were not good enough to take care of each other. We just didn't want to have a decent career and have a baby. We wanted more time for each other, we wanted to travel a fair bit. We did not want to struggle all our lives and give up our aspirations just to please the society.

I am 3 months pregnant now, and I am thoroughly enjoying my break from work after 13 years. I am sure many people who know me have assumed that I have had major problems and I had to go through treatment to get pregnant. God and life have been kind... I had things happening very smoothly so far. And I know that with all the love and blessings I have got from those who care, nothing will go wrong in the future too.

Whether to have a baby or not have one should be a couple's decision and nobody else's. And, how and when they want to time it should again be absolutely the couple's business.

Why hypothyroidism worries women!

I was detected with Hypothyroidism quite accidentally. I was suffering from a throat infection for a long time and I had to get well as I had a gig lined up in a month’s time, and I was supposed to sing. My friend, who was also a part of the band, was so tired of my sore throat, that she took me to her doctor friend to get a check up done. The doctor prescribed a course of Azythral and a set of vitamins. I had them for a week but nothing happened. I went back to the doctor again and she asked me to repeat the course. While talking to her I casually mentioned to her that lately I feel very tired and sleepy without doing much work. On hearing that she asked me to get Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH) blood test, along with T4, T3 tests done. I used to be so scared of the needle and the pin prick that I just ignored her advice and did not get the blood tests done. The day of the gig was nearing and my throat still felt terrible. I was not worried about my health; all I cared was that I had to get fine to be able to sing. Therefore, I popped in a few more Azythrals; this was the third round though.

The gig went off well but the throat irritation would not go. And I knew that continuing with such strong antibiotics would not be a good idea at all. With no choice left I went to get my blood tests done, and as expected, my TSH level was high, which meant I had Hypothyroid.

I have Hypothyroid for six years now. All I need to do is take a pill of Thyronorm everyday in the morning. I live a very normal life. I haven’t bloated. The little fat that has accumulated around my tummy is just the result of eating unhealthy and not exercising. Besides that, I am 34 years old, and it’s ok to have a little tummy; this is just my way of consoling me for the tummy that just doesn’t seem to go in!

The only thing I suffer from is periodical bouts of cough and cold. But in India, who doesn’t? Thanks to the pollution and poor eating habits we all suffer, don’t we? The degree of suffering may vary from one person to another but the suffering is very much a part of normal living.

Some doctors say that Hypothyroid slows down the system slowly. Initially, when I heard this it did scare me a little, but it didn’t affect me too much as my mother has it for about 25 years, and she is just fine. I am sure there are some negative effects of Hypothyroid on the body, but it varies from one person to another. I very strongly believe that a lot of pain and suffering can be reduced by staying active and happy. My body ache may have gone up a little because of Hypothyroid. I am not sure about the body pain bit as it was told by one doctor I consulted once. Many doctors in India tend to shift the focus onto something else when they realise that they cannot help their patients heal from an ailment. So instead of going back to understanding the symptoms as common sense would suggest, they recommend a different course of treatment. As far as I am concerned I still jump about all the time; a mere body ache cannot stop me from doing what I want to do!

It is also believed that memory gets affected because of Hypothyroid. When did I have good memory power anyway? I used to forget almost everything as a 10 year old; I am sure I did not have Hypothyroid then! Coming to think of it, I forget many important things, but I do remember a whole lot of things, even those things I would rather forget.

My suggestion to all the women with Hypothyroidism is to stay calm as there is nothing to worry about. Eat healthy, exercise a little, get blood tests done once in three to four months, take the tablet regularly, and stay active and happy.

An Angel Called Sachin!

Today was one of those chaotic days when I had to attend to multiple things at the same time. Joy called me amidst all this mess and asked if I was watching TV, I said no, and cribbed a little before asking why was he asking. While asking why, my instant feeling was maybe somewhere there was yet another bomb blast or some fire accident or something as scary, but no, he said, Tendulkar was on 190 and was still batting! For a moment I thought how my mind has got conditioned to expect bad news only.

Sadly, I could not turn on the TV to witness the magical moment when Tendulkar achieved yet another 'first time' record to score a double century in a one day match, but the news channels compensated by repeatedly showing that unforgettable moment. In times of chaos, of almost every kind, all around the world, this man helps to give such tremendous joy with his achievements that one can forget the worries of life for some time.

Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar, hats off! From the core of my heart I wish and pray that this wonder man achieves many many more records!

Grammy Awards - Then and Now!

Last week, while surfing the TV channels, I found that the Grammy Awards programme was about to start in a few minutes. I was mighty thrilled! In that moment of excitement I completely forgot that there weren't too many my kind of musicians who perform anymore. Nevertheless, I still wanted to watch. After watching the programme for a while I felt so dated; I hardly recognised any of the artistes. And, even if I did recognise some faces, I was clueless about their music. By the way, Beyonce Knowles was the star of the evening with her 6 Grammy awards! I still can't figure out what do people find in her music, she whines instead of singing most of the times, but gyrates very well; that sells I guess.

I still remember the times when Stevie Wonder, Whitney Houston and their kind of musicians used to sizzle the Grammy stage with their heart warming renditions. Today, most of the singers cannot sing in pitch, which includes multiple Grammy winner Taylor Swift! The little relief was to see glimpses of a few of my favourite old time musicians such as Eric Clapton, Bruce Springsteen. Bon Jovi performed for the first time on the Grammy stage; they have also changed a little to keep pace with the present world.

I am a little confused about what is happening in the music scene around the world. Though there are still thousands of good musicians still performing, yet there is a huge dearth of good new music. Are we heading towards a time when good music will become history?