Mumbai Bomb Blasts...The City Refuses To Die

Terrorist… what does it take to become one? Is it the cause (like fight for one’s land – right or wrong is debatable) that one believes in? Is it the religious fanaticism (irrespective of it being Islamic, Sikh or Hindu) that pushes one beyond all lines of control? Or, is it the urge to scare the wits out of your enemies and make them cower & bend down in front of your supreme, naked power (as some countries of the world are used to demonstrating)? I guess it can be either, but mostly is a mix of all three, apart from many other things added to make a heady cocktail of anger, passion, spite, etc. that turns a man into a monster.

The cause for a land may be just – as was at the time that Bhagat Singh & his fellow-freedom-fighters decided to bomb the assembly in 1930s. That they did not intend to kill is another story – they intended to scare the British and bring public notice to their cause through newspapers writing about this act. Not much different from what the Lashkar-e-Taiba is busy doing today, except that Bhagat Singh’s fight was against another nation occupying ours by force, and this cannot be termed terrorism. Same is not the case with Kashmir, even though the terrorists may draw parallels here. The debate, though, will continue forever, as one man’s murderer is another man’s martyr.

The cause for religion may also be just – should a particular religion be at risk, as the Jews were during World War II. But does Islam really have to fear? They are, after all, now the largest religion in the world. And do Hindu fanatics have to retort every time like devils whenever a Godhra happens – is our religion at risk in India? With 80% of India’s 100 crore+ population being Hindus, not yet, I may say. Christianity appears tolerant today, but the world knows how their missionaries spread their religion by the sword for centuries. No; religion can never be the right excuse to kill millions.

The cause for crushing an enemy may also be just – but should it be left to armies to fight it out or should innocent civilians be subjected to whims of nations? And is the bombing of citizens of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, howsoever noble it may have been to end the WW II, an act of war or an act of terror? Are Israel and Palestine right in what they are doing to each other’s denizens for decades? And is Pakistan right in being a sponsor of terror across our border? No, it is not – as no nation can ever be. Simple rule – even if your neighbour beats you black or blue, and then also grabs your house, you just cannot kill his wife or brothers or children to get it back, can you?

Terrorism, in all forms, is nothing but the wild expression of frustrated feelings of a set of humans (can we still call them that, or is ‘creatures’ a more appropriate word), who have their own agenda that is completely different from the world. And the only way they can make themselves heard or noticed, and remain powerful & dreaded (though they would like to call it ‘respected’), is by making a song and dance of it every time they can. The song of suffering and the dance of death.

This brings me to Mumbai, which was once again hit by terrorists yesterday. 7 blasts – inside of half an hour – in the railway network that carries teeming millions – at peak hour traffic – designed to deliver maximum impact – and to bring the city down to its knees – worked like clockwork. To my memory, only 9/11 NY, and 12/03/93 Mumbai were more horrific. The sheer panic that I saw on the faces of people yesterday was more horrifying than whatever I have ever witnessed.

What I saw was people running for their lives like I have never seen before. Office-going ladies crying like lost schoolgirls on the roadside, men in their 30s and 40s looking zombie-scared and clinging onto whatever transport they could get a hold of, old men & women pleading with everyone who would care to listen to help them reach their homes – the memories of the so many terrified faces I saw while trying to get back home yesterday will haunt me for a long time to come.

What I also saw were a lot of good Samaritans trying everything they could to help out – they were very, very few, but they were there – handing out water, biscuits, stopping private vehicles and requesting them to take some passengers with them. The city had suffered a great blow, but the city is resilient and was trying to stay alive & kicking. Today, at least for now, it has got back to its feet. And while the impact of yesterday’s terrorist attack on it is huge and loss of life suffered incomparable, the normal citizen on the road is ready to show the terrorists that they have largely been unsuccessful in trying to disrupt life. Makes me say, “Salaam Mumbai!”.

Zidane's header costs France the World Cup

Italy has won the FIFA World Cup 2006. But that is not the big news for me.

What is intriguing me, and I am sure the rest of the world, is what in the world was Zinedine doing when he head-butted Materazzi. Surely, he knew the cameras, the line refrees (if not the pitch refree), and billions across the globe would see what he did. Why did he have to resort to such a shameful thing in his swansong match?

Was it the last hurrah he was seeking, and the frustration of seeing the game entering extra time, which could go against his side? Or, was it some provocation hurled at him which finally snapped something inside him? Whatever be the reason, the act is unpardonable. Not that he has not done this before – he’s been actively involved in similar incidents twice in crucial matches.

In 1998, the only year when France has won the world cup, Zidane fouled the Saudi Arabian captain by plodding on his foot in the first round. Of course, Zizou claimed it was accidental but the refree thought otherwise, and he was red-carded. The cameras proved the refree was correct. It later also did emerge that the Saudi captain had verbally provoked Zidane (who is of Algerian ancestry) with racist remarks into the act. Maybe the same happened yesterday too. But that does not condone his sin.

Another time, Zidane was sent off in a Champions League match in 2000. Zidane aimed a headbutt at an opposing team member after both players collided & fell over in the 29th minute. He was given marching orders immediately, and his depleted side lost the match. History does repeat itself!

Clearly, Zidane does not learn from his mistakes and continues to be ruled by his own beliefs (right or wrong), irrespective of consequences to himself or his team – resulting in a hero becoming a villain of the first order. This kind of attitude appears in all people who think they are the greatest, can do no wrong, and above the law. Incidentally, it is also the same wild streak that is seen in master-criminals, who are basically geniuses gone wrong for the presence of one mischievous gene in them.

It’s not that Zidane is the only sportsman to face slurs on the field. Cricketers are known for sledging and can be pretty nasty in terms of their racist, religious, sexual and national attacks on opposing players. Notwithstanding this, and post a few verbal attacks hurled back, the game continues more or less peacefully – despite the fact that both the batsmen and the fielders have more ammunition with them (in the form of bats, balls and wickets) in one match, than the entire soccer world cup put together.

One would have liked to see Zidane lift up the cup, or to even see him going gracefully into retirement as the captain of the team that were runners-up in soccer’s biggest arena. The soccer-crazy world would have loved to have that as the fondest memory of this cup. However, that was not to be – all for the senseless temper of one second that killed a lifetime of good work. Zizou’s headbutt and his shameful exit, for me, will be the lasting memory of this world cup.

Football… the final frontier is here!

Tomorrow, the world is going to witness the FIFA World Cup 2006 final clash between 2 nations that are totally opposite of each other in how they have fared historically in the World Cup.

Italy, on one hand, have reached the finals 5 times (second only to Brazil’s 7 & Germany’s 7) – this is their 6th appearance. They have won it thrice – in 1934 against Czechoslovakia by 2-1, 1938 against Hungary by 4-2, & 1982 against Germany by 3-1. The 2 times they have lost it has been to Brazil on both occasions – in 1970 by 4-1 and in 1994 by 3-2. Incidentally, all of their 3 wins came in Europe – Italy, France & Spain respectively – and they were against European teams. And both their losses came in the Americas – in Mexico & USA – against an American team.

France, on the other hand, has managed to reach the finals only once – in 1998 – which they won beating Brazil 3-0. That the tournament was in France and they were playing in front of home crowd would have given some wings to their ambitions, and the victory margin is a clear indicator of how motivated they would have been to beat a team like Brazil, who were the defending champions. Can the French win again and maintain a 100% record of reaching the finals and winning, one needs to wait & see.

A thing to notice is that amongst 18 World Cup finals (including the current year) featuring 2 sides each, there are a maximum possible 36 teams that could have played the finals. Amongst Italy, Brazil & Germany, they now have 20 appearances – more than 50%!!! Now, that does place Italy in the premium league, doesn’t it? Records clearly suggest that Italy is much more likely to take home the trophy as compared to France.

Nonetheless, the French are not going to be pushovers; the way they kept Brazil at bay in the quarter-finals tells you a thing or two about their current form. Also, Zidane has not returned from his retirement just for nothing. Though at 34, he is pretty old to play football, his legs have appeared to be the freshest in the tournament so far. Also, very few can dispute the fact that he is probably the best footballer of his generation in the world. And he is an inspiring leader, to say the least – his team’s commitment to him demonstrates this in no uncertain terms. They would die (and kill) to give him the best farewell a footballer can get – the world cup.

However, the beautiful game is very unpredictable – specially in this season. Who would have thought that none from Brazil, Argentina, England & Netherlands would reach the final 4 stage? Who would have thought that so many games would go to extra time and penalties? Who would have thought that not a single match would witness a hat-trick (this has never happened before)? And it is the very unpredictability of the game that makes it so beautiful.

So, who will win? Don’t we all love underdogs and would love to see France win? But don’t we also want to see the more deserving side, Italy, emerge glorious? I will not hazard a guess on the outcome of the final. Because, while I love my pizzas, I also cherish my wine.

Indians finally beat Windies to taste success abroad

The first non-Indian cricketers to sing the Kingfisher Beer song “Ula la la la, vey o” (I hope this is correct – I have no intention of getting Vaughan try to correct me) were the West Indians. In fact, Kingfisher was the official sponsor of the West Indian cricket team almost half a decade back, and this Indian sponsorship gave some decent funding to the impoverished game that every man, woman and child loves in the Caribbean. Today, I am sure, almost everybody in the West Indies would be despising all things Indian, notwithstanding the fact that 4 of their playing 11 in the last test (Ganga, Chanderpaul, Sarwan, Ramdin) are of Indian origin. In fact, together they scored almost 2/3rd of the total runs scored by West Indies in either innings (67/103 in the first and 142/219 in the second); yet could not save their team from the blushes.

India, on the other hand, have finally shaken off the ghost of not being able to win a series outside the sub-continent (I don’t think winning the series against a totally depleted and demoralized Zimbabwe in Zimbabwe last September should count as being able to win outside). The last time when India actually won a series of consequence outside was when Kapil’s Devils demolished England 2-0 in 1986. Who would have thought that it would take a good 20-years to repeat the feat? However, if you just go a little back in history, you would realize that India had taken 15 long years to register their 1986 series win abroad – the last time it happened before that was in 1971 in England again. Though, then the Indian team was fresh with having beaten the mighty, mighty West Indians in their backyard just a few months ago.

The question that arises is that “Is India capable of continuing to win abroad?” On paper, very much so. When you win despite not playing Irfan, and with Sehwag, Kaif and Yuvraj being in terribly low form, it tells you that things are auguring well. We did play the series pretty well and should have won at least 2 if not 3 of the tests, had the rain gods not intervened to favour West Indies. However, one must not miss the fine point that the Indians got pretty “Indian” wickets in West Indies, and their task was made that much easier. They cannot expect the same every time and elsewhere. Also, the very fact that England went home from India with their chests held high a few months ago, despite not having their top league players in the team, tells you a thing or so about the Indian state of affairs in tests.

Victories tend to make you heady, specially when they come after such a long gap and such toil. It is time indeed to be drunk in the joys of reaching a long-cherished goal; yet one must not forget that the journey has just begun. We cannot be complacent from here onwards. Dravid and his team would be well advised not to let this go to their heads, and should ideally see this as almost a gift given the nature of the pitch given to them. Yes, the series is won, but because the opponent inflicted self-injury.

While record books will show that we are victors, the team should not assume the same and think of themselves as good as Kapil’s Devils; not yet at least – maybe in the future, they will prove themselves to be even better. Dravid has infused a sense of responsibility & pride in this team by leading from the front with his own knocks in the past few months, and by his demeanour on & off the field. He must surely be feeling happy today. However, he would also be the first one to realize how close they have come to winning and then squandered it – in ODIs specially – due to lack of killer instinct. His work is not over; it has just begun.

I, despite sounding very boorish & critical in this monologue, am one proud Indian today. But I can’t get myself to sing, “And I’ve, had the time of my life…”.