Man of Few Words

Therefore, since brevity is the soul of wit, And tediousness the limbs and outward flourishes, I will be brief.
~William Shakespeare, Hamlet



Please click and read the enlarged view if not clear

While browsing a matrimonial website together for obvious reasons [recent past time of my Dad, me a poor victim. Sigh!] we came across this profile. And it just reminded me of what Shakespeare said. Ahem!!...95% compatibility....Errr...Excuse me Dad for rejecting a qualified guy who is full of so much wit but it looks like I'll be in constant struggle to meet some pre-defined high standards and will be compared at every step. Thats only one reason. No comments further....everyone is entitled to write as little or as much possible in "about me" sections of a matrimonial profile. :D :D

P.S. Guys are MASHA-ALLAH!

A Teacher's Reward

Come to think of it, I have always been a teacher. And had wanted to become one since childhood as seen in this diary entry at age of 10 years. [yes I know my handwriting is bad :) ]



A teacher's best reward is when a student goes out into the world and makes use of the knowledge gained and acknowledges the one who imparted it to him. As a child I used to teach all sorts of things to my first student...right from alphabets to dances of India [inspired by geography book] by pulling the student's cheeks in different ways to explain difference between Kathakali and Yakshagana and of course practical demonstration by the teacher inspired from "Baje Sargam Har Taraf Se"!! I had subscribed to a children's magazine TARGET and it had all sorts of tidbits in it..[Has any of you read it? loved the mag but it got converted to TEENS TODAY and then got discontinued] It had a travel section and in one issue it covered China. The author had given 7 Chinese sentences and their meanings...like Xia Xia (Thank you), Ni Hao Mar (How are you), Dui Puchi (Welcome) etc etc [I don't remember the rest 4 sentences]. I took it upon my little shoulders to teach those as a foreign language to my student. I used to take oral tests to make the student memorize but as the student was more interested in pulling my frock and leg, I gave up.

Two days back, that student called up from France and said "I met some Chinese people today and when I talked to them in the sentences you had once taught me they were very happy with me. I called up to tell you that today your first student has achieved success". I was so amused and so very happy!! It made my day!! [Of course I said this too "See how it proved useful and you were never serious about it"]

Thank you dear student for humouring me and for being a wonderful playmate.


The teacher Reema in specs and her first & best student Didi

*************
Miss Wormwood: Yes, Calvin? You have a question?
Calvin: Yeah, I was wondering if we could stop the lesson here and adjourn to the playground for the rest of the day.
Miss Wormwood: Of course not. Now then, let's all turn to page 24 and...
Calvin: Miss Wormwood?
Miss Wormwood: Yes?
Calvin: How about just me then?

**************

P.S. Knowledge never goes waste.

[Image credited to schoolclipart.net]

The Chronicles Of Narnia - Prince Caspian

The Poster

I love fantasy and animation movies!! I have already mentioned it before but no harm in another affirmation. Though many people consider that kiddish but I like losing myself for sometime,taking a respite from the real world in the world of magic and fairy tales. I admire the imagination of the authors who write such books and the screenplay writers & the directors who bring the pages to life. I watched the movie "The Chronicles Of Narnia - Prince Caspian" today and proceeded to write a review.

The Pevensie Kids- Edmund,Peter,Susan and Lucy

Sadly, the movie doesn't stand up to the reputation and expectations left by its 1st part "The Chronicles of Narnia - The Lion,The Witch and The Wardrobe". Somehow it seemed to lack the magical lustre in it. The storyline seems to lose its pace. In fact it drags a little bit in between. But the visual effects especially the river coming to life are worth watching. And I like the British way of talking..crisp and clear not like the American drawl. Would have liked Tilda Swinton to have more role in the part-2. [In fact I had The White Witch as my profile snap before. What can I say...I liked the mixture of Power and Evil in a woman. :D :D] The soundtrack isn't so great as it usually is in fantasy movies like Harry Potter or the 1st part. Ben Barnes (Prince Caspian) is cute looking. And I like the Centaurs very much [would like to ride one someday or in some life..hmmm]. The part where many Narnians have to be left behind to die is touching. The mouse warrior is cute and funny. Overall a family entertainer and to be enjoyed on the big screen.

Prince Caspian surrounded by the Pevensie kids

Reepicheep is one of the fiercest fighters in the realm

Aslan The Lion

Epic battle at Aslan's How for control of Narnia

The Lost Hobby

In our childhood we develop few hobbies that we stop pursuing as we grow older either due to disinterest or lack of time. Sometimes they even do not find place in our to-do list or back of our minds. Recently while reading a novel I was reminded of my hobby of Philately. Well it can't be called much of a "hobby" as defined by Wikipedia. My Didi and later on me (who inherited the album when she got busy with studies) just collected for fun and on basis of country or design or theme. Our maternal uncle had gifted this stamp album to Didi and it is the reason behind this hobby. We collected stamps from envelopes in the traditional way, but mostly we bought packets either mixed or of some particular theme (Thanks Dad for spoiling us!!) During ragging in college, we had to introduce ourselves by giving name,place,branch and hobbies. I used to say Philately as hobby. Used to save me from dancing or singing!! I post a tribute in the memory of my oldest and life saver hobby.

The Album



It had pages dedicated to countries in alphabetical order with some information about them at the top...but some like Bangladesh were missing so I had to make entry for them. When there was no more space under India, we converted the less known and stamps unavailable countries' pages to India.

India








Pakistan/Bangladesh



Japan/Korea



Bulgaria




This country Ajman had these small weird figurines on its stamps and these were available in plenty. God knows why! We had to see carefully so that we don't paste any same stamp twice.

Ajman
Russia




Romania



United States of America



Then there were thematic pages in the album both empty (for us to write) and specified.

Space



Birds



Animals



Sports



Reptiles




I miss the hobby but of course it was fun only when done with Didi. Once in childhood I was showing my album to a family friend's son who nicked two stamps while I left the room awhile but soon I counted (Trust me to trust no one!) I caught him and threatened to tell his mom (who was a strict lady). He surrendered the booty. :D :D

Shame! Shame!

I'd decided the world would never come to know of a recent and one of the most embarrassing incidents that happened to me . But then by not sharing I lost the opportunity to rant about men. So first the incident then the ranting.

Few days back the college where I work was a center for candidates appearing in Pre-Medical Entrance Exam. The candidates ranged from general category to the reserved, urban to rural and intelligent enough to understand instructions to the dumbest. We, the lecturers, had been assigned as invigilators. Now, each floor has 4 bathrooms at its corner...for girls, ladies staff, gents staff and boys and has that written boldly in red at top. Before the exam started, I went to freshen myself in the ladies staff one and just as I went inside the already open door, a young boy (must be candidate) was answering nature's call!!! I rushed out shouting "its ladies bathroom" and went straight to the assigned exam room.. [Yeah laugh at my plight!!] Thank God he had his back towards me!!!

Later in retrospect, I thought why was I feeling embarrassed with no fault of mine and I was disgusted at the non existence of the feeling of shame in most Indian Males (or maybe all males of world). Even if the boy had entered the wrong bathroom and didn't even know that there are separate facilities in cities/colleges; still he should have locked the door not out of manners or etiquette but out of shame. As I analyzed further, I remembered the common sight of men(any age group) answering nature's call by roadside or on a wall and mostly not hidden from view. For pictorial depiction you can see here.

One may argue that maybe men have less bladder control than women but anatomically speaking women are supposed to have less bladder control. But do we see women sitting on road side? Maybe the poor and illiterate women are seen but males of any class & any age can be seen. They consider it their birthright. The trouble we girls have to face when we go on a picnic or trip!!! We have to take a friend (girl) along to stand guard against any Peeping Toms. Why us? Men don't have to worry about such problems.

So is this habit a result of the difference in upbringing of the male child and the female child in Indian society? Do we encourage our sons to become shameless by allowing them to bath openly or roam around without wearing vests? Is covering up essential only for the girls? Is lajja or shame meant exclusively for women? Is decency a feminine virtue?

Why is it wrong for girls to wear low waist jeans and not for men? I don't like seeing or knowing about the brand of brief they wear!!! Another example.. this attitude "We are men. We don't need to hide" is so expressed in the design of Men's bathroom (note: no personal experience..as seen in movies and asked guy friends) which is different from the Ladies' in matters of privacy.

Of course the Govt is to blame for not providing public utilities along the road on an infrastructural basis and for not maintaining those which are provided. One factor is the so called lack of funds for such a trivial thing when we have bigger problems to deal with like price rise and poverty. Another may be that are not most of the politicians male and have the same attitude towards "shame"? Thus they feel no need to provide such a basic amenity even in slum areas. There is an old joke about this Indian habit. You can read the joke and a good rant about this habit and another famous Indian habit of spitting here.

I admit its fine when one goes long distance driving like from one city to city. But in normal circumstances why can't you just stop at a restaurant/petrol station or hold it till you reach wherever you are going? And for God's sake look if its for men or women & for Shame's sake Lock The Door!!!

P.S. Some (like a very dear guy friend of mine) may think "what an absurd topic!" but its My Blog and I can rave and rant about whatever I feel like. So there!

Pseudo Birthdays

Today is my Didi's pseudo birthday. A pseudo birthday is that birthday date Indian parents (mostly fathers' idea) put as their child's birth date instead of real one and which is a few months or years later date and in some rare cases it can be a few months previous date. The mentality behind this practice is that the child will get extra years at service which means extra money. It is also done in case of those children whose actual birth dates fall between school session like in October,November etc so that they get admission instead of wasting one year. Then there are some unlucky ones like my Dad. He was a naughty child and always playing outside. He caught the local school's headmaster's eye and the headmaster suggested my Grandpa to put him in school. When Grandpa said my son is not yet of the school going age, the headmaster said nothing to worry and promptly increased my Dad's year of birth by 1 year and admitted him to school!!! Poor Dad. Maybe thats the reason he was influenced to change my Didi's birth date by 6 months!! Not even a year! Its like done with a mind that wants to do it and also doesn't. Then there are some like one of my colleagues whose parents made her birth date 25 July instead of using the actual 10 July because 25 July is their marriage anniversary!! Talk about saving expenses!!

But there are so many consequences of this silly practice!!! The repercussions range from mere explanations to dealing with red tape.

1. Those who have dual birth dates tend to hide this even from their closest friends because after all its illegal and to save themselves from Q&A session.

2. Poor fellows do not get to celebrate their actual birthday and people wish them on the pseudo birthdays for years whereas they are not feeling the joy. They even receive cards & gifts on the wrong day. (But that shouldn't hurt right?)

3. People (having read Linda Goodman) may form false impression about their actual nature and traits as they appear to belong to a sun sign and may get themselves into trouble. Like people may mistake my Didi for a paradoxical, flirtatious, talkative, breezy Gemini whereas she is a reserved, intense, mature, stubborn Scorpio. Their friends even read out wrong daily horoscopes from newspaper for them. Some friends may even chart out horoscopes and come out with wrong predictions!!!!

4. I don't want to sound biased or generic [Amit plz note :) ] or accusing anyone, but decreasing the age used to be quite common in Biharis, UPites and MPites (don't know about present situation).There are so many uncles who have become so old (You may decrease the age but you can't stop/delay the aging process) but are still in service. And others make fun of them or may be jealous of them.

5. And then some get retired early or get sucked in the Education System early.

6. Last but not the least, the amount of running around and bribing it takes to make a duplicate birth certificate (because the original is submitted during admission to Class 1) showing the pseudo date and Ministry's signature for Visa and Work Permits purposes especially for Europe; causes high blood pressure, sleepless nights and hypertension and you really regret the day you lied about the birth date.

So don't do koi jhol jhaal
Mat chalo koi chaal
About the janm tithi or saal
Warna karna padega babu ko mala-maal
Tab jaake galegi aapki daal
Aisa hai jhooth ka jaal
Mat rakhna koi shikwa mere naal
Goodbye to aaalll

[I got carried away by the poetic/rap urge :D]

Anyway,Didi, your birthday today may be pseudo but my wishes are always heartfelt.
Happy Pseudo Birthday!!


P.S. Don't worry guys...Mine is real i.e. 22nd June :D

Edited to add: This poem is an original Rimu and subject to copyright laws.

Vacation Resolutions

New Year Resolutions are such a cliche. Having become wiser I have stopped making customary resolutions on the onset of a new calender year which I have never been able to adhere to anyway. In my present work, I get a whole month summer vacation and that is the time when I make resolutions to do certain things and complete certain tasks every year. So taking a break from my usual quite vocal posts about social issues and being currently uninspired; I have decided to enlist my Vacation Resolutions ( or rather a To-Do list) as my blog page is always open and it will constantly remind me.
  1. Assist Maa in the kitchen and catch up on cooking.
  2. Begin my annual one month morning walk.
  3. Read The Complete Adventures of Feluda by Satyajit Ray (vol 1 & 2), start and finish A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini and Freakonomics by Levitt & Dubner (both gifted by a dear friend who didn't know my taste is mystery and humour...though I think Freakonomics is in humor category isn't it?)
  4. Clean my room obsessively.
  5. Learn MATLAB 7.0 and practice it.
  6. Watch movies like You've Got Mail, Thelma and Louise, The Sting, The Royal Tennenbaums, The Terminal, The First Wives Club, Bonnie and Clyde, Amos and Andrew, Sweet Home Alabama, Space Cowboys, Sleepless in Seattle, My Fair Lady, Severance, The Merchant of Venice, Death at a Funeral, The Devil's Advocate and more.
  7. Read the 15 blogs I have bookmarked and comment and not to bookmark any more blogs till I have read these.
  8. Convert my baby steps into the blogging world to a stride.
  9. Being alert while filling cooler with water and not to forget the tap is on. (read: Save the Earth!!)
  10. Indulge in food (mostly non veg and pizzas) and mango juice.
May the Force be with me!!

P.S. My vacation started on 18th. Shit! I'm running late by 4 days. (At least got around to make a list today!!!)

The Business of "UFM"

Firstly for those who are unaware of a very important term in an Engineering student's academic life, UFM means Un-Fair Means (Some universities may use some other name) i.e. the tempting, illegal, sometimes lifesaving, mostly time consuming, always risky methods used by students during the exam duration. I, being a cog in the wheel of Education since I stepped into kindergarten and till I became a lecturer, have so many anecdotes to blog about but never got around to do so. This particular incident however just had to be told.

Gone are those days when kids in school and students in colleges used to just peek into their neighbour's answer copies or ask around in whispers or bring hand written chits of paper. Due to the birth of Generation Y and Z in a world of rapid advancements in technology and economy, these kids and youth have understood the power and importance of technological applications and money fast enough. The extent of this was unearthed during the recent end semester exams of 1st year Engineering. The university provides with only one day gap between 2 papers (I guess to encourage regular studying and to end the famous tradition of studying in the long gaps by Engineering students in most private non autonomous colleges). But as usual with recent growth of private colleges like mushrooms and every other kid doing Engineering, there are many students who use UFM as their life jackets. The students are divided into two groups in 1st year and study different subjects. They have exams on alternate days. So on the fateful day (a cliche!) two students of one group were caught lingering near the bathroom with solution of the paper other group was giving. After strict and rough inquiry a whole organised scheme was disclosed. A student in higher semester was the kingpin and he took money from these 1st year students. A question paper after being distributed was smuggled out of any room by various ways. Solutions of various parts were made in small chits by several hired students and stuck in a single A4 sheet and then xeroxed into number of copies as per buyers. Students were told to sit with their mobiles in pockets. A sms used to be sent to inform that so-so guy is waiting there with solution. The candidate would then take permission to go out to drink water and take the solution. And this same solution was found in other colleges of the city. 19-20 year olds implementing such an ingenuine business plan comprising a strong network of finance, messengers, bikes, xerox shops, mobiles and even the sweepers of the college. Its like "hey I have to use UFM anyway. So why not make money out of it as well" and the policy of "You scratch my back I'll scratch yours" because its obvious any student who is busy giving such social service in the gap will need the same aid next day. This exposes the fact that studying has become the last priority and option.

In the pursuit of monetary investments, higher gains, possession of latest stuff, getting the desired results; have the older generation instilled such attitude and values in their children urging them to become rats in rat race be it of education or career? Is "The end should justify the means" the motto of this Gen Z?

I wont go into discussing the glaring shortcomings of the invigilators or exam conductors or the "Flying Squad" which comes from the university. Of course it takes two to tango. I have just focussed on the leading partner!

Disclaimer: Nothing in this post shall be construed as prompting the students to employ such means. The blogger does not endorse such methods. You hereby acknowledge that any use of such methods shall be at your sole risk.

"Anti-Indian" Indiana Jones

I don't think that every famous and admired story writer or director has only good/brilliant movies to their credit. I'm sure each one of them has one or more movies which they are ashamed of writing or directing. The ones who provoked me to write this post are still living in the illusion that its another wonderful and different creation of their remarkable skills. They advertise the "work of art" using sentences like "The movie which broke all the rules and changed the film industry"!!! Maybe they think that any art they dish up would be lapped up by the public without any criticism and from the hype about the movie I gather they have managed to pull it off. I'm talking about the crap called "Indiana Jones and Temple of Doom". (Maybe I'm not the first one to write such a strong criticism against the movie as I have not yet researched into the reviews that movie had received and also I believe some sane people are still out there in the industry).




I think Mr.George Lucas (yeah the guy behind Star Wars) the story writer and Mr.Steven Spielberg (yeah yeah the Jurassic Park guy) the director, should hide this movie in question in their biographies and their later real works of art are a compensation to the torture they inflicted on the audience with this Indiana Jones sequel. After hearing so many people rave about the famous movie I decided to download and watch all three. I liked the first one "Indiana Jones and Raiders of Lost Ark". Infact I think its the source of inspiration for most of the action sequences and damsel in distress scenes of Bollywood, Tollywood et al. It was an enjoyable movie with every imaginable twist in action sequence and drama. Then I started the 2nd sequel. It turned out the movie's story is set in India and had our own Amrish Puri and Roshan Seth starring in it. (How did Amrish Puri agree to act such a role? Just for Hollywood fame?) I wont describe the plot and lengthen my post. An Indian village was shown where people spoke god knows which language and of course few spoke English!!!!!! The most disgusting scene of the movie and which made me scream out of indignation"Is THIS a Spielberg creation? What was he thinking? Shame Mr.Spielberg" was a dinner scene at the Pankot palace of Bhanpur. In this scene, 1st dish to be served was "snake surprise". A huge boa was served and when its stomach was cut lots of little snakes crawled out and people aka Indians ate that. Then next on menu were beetles whose shells Indians cracked and slurped the insides with the heroine (Kate Capshaw) gaping at them and ready to puke. Are you too feeling gross? Wait, there's more. Then the heroin asked for soup seeing such food and she was served soup with eyeballs in it. The dessert was a monkey's head on a cup with head split and Indians eating its brain with spoon just like icecream. I'm ready to puke now!

Maybe if we really ate that stuff, George Bush wouldn't have blamed us for price rise. Then maybe SPCA and PETA would have targeted us!!



More absurd and demeaning scenes of a cult of "Thugees" (whatever that means!) who were Kali worshipers were shown. (I think its the practice of sacrifice to Ma Kali that fascinates Western people and inspires them to cook up gory stories). People were made to drink human blood and were thus hypnotized to follow the cult leader, Amrish Puri. He was shown to punish by digging his fingers right into the offender's bare chest and grab his heart out!!!! By the love of god, that was the height of preposterousness.




Well maybe I'm being too harsh. The mine chase sequence was definitely nicely wrote and shot. But that doesn't make up for the image portrayed of Indians and their diet. No wonder Western people have strange ideas about India, Indians and their cultural and religious practices, India's mysticism (e.g. snake charmer found in most cartoons where the snake stands up and is used as a rope to climb or an ascetic on bed of nails or flying carpet). A person like Lucas or Spielberg who are making sci-fi movies should have at least done little bit of research into India before showing such ridiculous and offensive stuff. Neither it can be enjoyed for the sake of fun nor can it be included under artistic license or cinematic license. Any true blue Indian will be enraged at such depiction. I was.

Marathis vs North Indians - Part 2

In the name of Lord Rama, what is going on in India? Wasn't the eternal feud between Hindu and Muslims enough, that now we are hell bent on fighting among ourselves on the basis of region? Our so called leaders or people's representatives have forgotten the Preamble of the Constitution of the Republic of India. I quote

"WE, THE PEOPLE OF INDIA, having solemnly resolved to constitute India into a SOVEREIGN SOCIALIST SECULAR DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC and to secure to all its citizens:

JUSTICE, social, economic and political;

LIBERTY of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship;

EQUALITY of status and of opportunity;

and to promote among them all

FRATERNITY assuring the dignity of the individual and the unity and integrity of the Nation;

IN OUR CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY this twenty-sixth day of November, 1949, do HEREBY ADOPT, ENACT AND GIVE TO OURSELVES THIS CONSTITUTION."

Well, I guess its not their fault. After all power corrupts. And most of them are not educated enough to be political leaders. Literacy is different from Education. But still they are adults and supposed to behave maturely and understand the effects of the influence they wield on their followers. Just by saying provocative sentences they create disorder, lawlessness and riots leading to violence and cruel acts of fanaticism. When did this feeling that I'm only leader of Marathis exclusively and have no responsibility towards rest of Indians, creep into their hearts? Why should a particular region be resided only by their natives? Then we should all go back to where Aryans came from!!! In today's fast growing economy where India is dreaming to be a superpower, a leader can't see the money the immigrants are bringing. If north Indians are earning from jobs in Maharashtra, they are spending it there only. They pay their taxes to the Maharashtra government only. Just because the leader is not in power, he thinks Marathis should drive out North Indians. I want to find out whether his laundry man or driver or maidservant is Marathi or North Indian and whether he has fired them or not. I want to know if workers have stopped working in the industries owned by him?

In today's world where peace is the keyword, the leader is creating a mass exodus like in the time of partition. How does he justify an act as cruel as chopping off hands by his followers? Are Marathis only about violence and intolerance? Doesn't the leader know the fundamental rights of all Indians? How can anyone sleep in peace with the blood of many on his hands? May the souls rest in peace and may God give strength to the family left behind.

I would like to remind Mr. RT of the famous patriotic poem

sāre jahāñ se achchā hindostāñ hamārā

ham bulbuleñ haiñ us kī vuh gulsitāñ hamārā

parbat vuh sab se ūñchā, hamsāyah āsmāñ kā

vuh santarī hamārā, vuh pāsbāñ hamārā

godī meñ kheltī haiñ us kī hazāroñ nadiyāñ

gulshan hai jin ke dam se rashk-e janāñ hamārā

mażhab nahīñ sikhātā āpas meñ bair rakhnā

hindī haiñ ham, vat̤an hai hindostāñ hamārā

Translation

Better than the entire world, is our Hindustan,

We are its nightingales, and it (is) our garden abode

That tallest mountain, that shade-sharer of the sky,

(It) is our sentry, (it) is our watchman

In its lap frolic those thousands of rivers,

Whose vitality makes our garden the envy of Paradise.

Religion does not teach us to bear ill-will among ourselves

We are of Hind, our homeland is Hindustan.

"Sanctity of Cricket"

The recent controversy on cheerleaders performing in India Premier League cricket matches inspired me to write this post. Cheerleaders, many imported from abroad, were hired to liven up India's new $900 million domestic cricket league in which eight teams play a shortened version of the traditional game. The cheerleaders have been introduced into the IPL as part of moves to add glamour and entertainment to the game. The sight of many foreign women and Indians dancing in high boots and skimpy shorts sparked anger from both Hindu nationalists, who opposed their open sexuality, and some leftist parties who said it crudely copied Western culture.




One of the nation's leaders Mr.BT even said "the sanctity of cricket has been lost as the promoters have turned the stadium into a dance bar and the cheer girls have been brought to seduce the crowd."

For crying out loud, since when cricket rather any sport was a holy game?? Some games are "holey" but definitely not a single game is holy!!! Are we supposed to go to stadium like we go to a temple? Is watching cricket going to replace visits to temple? Are our cricketers replacing our Gods? First of all cricket is not an indigenous game...its an after effect of the British Raj in India. And Mr.BT of all the people should not create a hullabaloo. He is the father of the protest against celebration of Valentine's Day in India because its Western culture. Second, what this thing of Marathis against dance bars? Its just a supply to the demand. Third what seduction are you talking about? Its an open stadium not some private strip club. Don't you seduce potential voters by hollow words? Seduction is everywhere Mr.BT, in various forms of varying degree.


He also said "At a time when farmers in Vidarbha and Marathwada region are committing suicide because they are burdened by debts, it is not clear what the people, who are pumping money to bring cheer girls, want to convey."

Ohh is that so, Mr.BT? What do people try to convey when they pump enormous amounts of money in holding rallies and election campaigns for you? What about the time when your followers and henchmen destroy public properties and nowadays fellow Indians? All that comes from the taxpayers' money,Sir. When so many politicians are "pumping" money outside to Swiss accounts and "pimping" India's valuable resources, then what is the harm in pumping money in creating cheer and pimping cricket? What did you do when you were in power to stop these suicides? If all the followers and supporters were put to work, the annual flooding of Mumbai can be stopped by cleaning all waste.

Indian police say the organizers of the new tournament transforming world cricket could be fined if cheerleaders are deemed to be dressed indecently. Organizers could be fined for violating the norms of the entertainment licence they had secured for allowing performances in the stadium.

I do not say that the cheer leaders are not skimpily dressed. They do wear very short skirts and display midriffs. My point is that its not such a critical matter that it should have been discussed in the Parliament. When an important issue is to be discussed or a bill has to be voted upon, our MPs are absent or too busy breaking furniture of the House. But they consider this issue important enough to be discussed. Whereas each one of them secretly enjoys displays of flesh and I'm sure several of them have many skeletons in their cupboards. Are there no norms of the entertainment provided by movies? Because if the cheer leaders could be fined for indecent dressing then our heroines like "Marathi Manoos" Urmila Matondkar should be fined for films like Rangeela, ...or Kareena Kapoor for Tashan.....Bipasha Basu, Udita Goswami.....the list is endless....

An actor-turned politician lashed out at organizers of IPL matches for bringing cheerleaders to the stadiums and making a "mockery" of cricket. He said it was "difficult to find cricket in these matches". He appealed to the cricketing bosses to seriously ponder over the issue to save the glory of the great sport.

Dear Sir, if you would take your eyes off the cheerleaders you would find mostly cricket in 4-5 hrs duration. Aren't sports like basketball or football where the cheerleaders originally perform glorious or great enough? Or because they have cheerleaders, these games are not serious enough?

A minister of Maharashtra has said "We live in India where womanhood is worshipped. How can anything obscene like this be allowed?"

Oh my god!!! Well I suppose this worship can be understood from this information.....

Rape is a social disease in India. Hardly a day passes without a case of rape being reported in Indian newspapers and media. Women belonging to low castes, and tribal women are more at risk. What is sad about rape in India is the lack of seriousness with which the crime is often treated.Statistics from 2000 showed that on average a woman is raped every hour in India.

According to a recent report by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) up to 50 million girls and women are missing from India' s population as a result of systematic gender discrimination in India. In most countries in the world, there are approximately 105 female births for every 100 males. In India, there are less than 93 women for every 100 men in the population.

Diagnostic teams with ultrasound scanners which detect the sex of a child advertise with catchlines such as spend 600 rupees now and save 50,000 rupees later.

And dont even get me started on eve teasing. What worship are you talking about Mr.Minister? Celebrating Navratri or Durga Puja can't be counted as worship of womanhood. How can you allow more obscene scenes and dialogues in Hindi movies which is seen by the Indian family more than cricket? Stop being a hypocrite.

"The manner in which semi-clad girls keep shaking their limbs is in bad taste," said another leader of a hardline Hindu nationalist party.

What about the song "Dhak Dhak" or "Choli ke Pichhe" by another "Marathi Manoos" Madhuri Dixit? Infact what about every other song in Bollywood movies? These cheerleaders are shaking only their limbs,if you know what I mean. We should be thankful for that.

There have been reports in the Indian newspapers of cheerleaders complaining of sections of the crowd jeering at them and making lewd comments.

This news item is another example of the famous worship of womanhood. Why can't Indian men show decency towards these professional cheerleaders and just watch and enjoy? Why do they assume that when a woman is dressing skimpily she is looking for trouble and naturally inviting comments and cat calls and find it justified to tease her? And this goes even for a girl wearing a very decent top and jeans.

At a time where there is acute shortage of water and inflation is hitting hard, our leaders are busy watching cheerleaders and then creating a unnecessary issue quoting the "Indian culture" as always and still continuing to watch sneakily. The fault mostly lies in cameramen on the field. They take close ups of these cheer leaders at various inappropriate angles and are crucial to sparking this controversy.

And is our hundreds of year old Indian culture so weak that few cheer leaders can destroy it? It definitely is not.