What do you prefer - goondaism or democracy?Joseph Lelyveld is become popular thanks to Narendra Modi for proposing to ban his controversial book on M K Gandhi. Lelyveld's work is become as tempting as forbidden fruit. A media hype has been created and this is bound to covert this scholarly work into a sensational bestseller.
The book is a complex study of an extremely complex personality. The Mahatma remains a profoundly challenging moral being for all those who try to make a serious scrutiny of his principles and actions.
It is a British tabloid which gave the information that Lelyveld's book claimed that Gandhi was 'bisexual' and had a lover's relationship with a German weightlifter, Hermann Kallenbach. But the fact is there is no hint in Lelyveld's book that the relationship between the two men was anything other than platonic, though the expressions of affection used were often couched in passionate language.
Most Indians like to think of themselves as belonging to an ancient tradition of tolerance. They possess the ability to see and accept the other person's point of view, even though it might be totally opposed to one's own.
But how true is this of India in the second decade of the 21st century? From M F Husain's self-imposed exile following attacks for his allegedly sacrilegious paintings of Hindu deities to goons beating up couples for celebrating Valentine's Day, intolerance rather than tolerance seems increasingly to have become the order of the day in India.
Freedom of expression, within the boundaries of the law, is allowed The growing intolerance is proving to be the most serious threat to our democracy. The Indian liberal is becoming an increasingly endangered species.
Each new challenge to tolerance, to the spirit of liberalism, presents an opportunity for a public debate on debate itself and our freedom to engage in it. How free are we as a society? Where does one person's freedom of expression become another person's trespass of religious or social sensibility?
This is the paradox of all bans and censorship. The more you oppose someone the more attention you draw to him and the more public discourse you create around him. Silence is the victory of the ban; argument and discourse are the victories of democracy.
Now it is left to you to decide whether you prefer to remain silent or whether you would like to debate. In other words what would you prefer goondaism or democracy?
How to handle success and failures
You must always play to win. You must try hardest to win till the last. Never give up. Try to achieve excellence even if it means losing here and there. When you try to attain excellence your inherent talents come to the surface. Never mind if you lose. A person who has never lost has never found the joy of winning.
You do feel pleased when you win and you do feel disappointed when you lose. But when you enter a competition you should be prepared to both win and lose. Only then can you give your best.
A winner has four qualities: Self-confidence, mental toughness, winning-oriented thinking and the ability to innovate. Self-confidence stands on three important pillars: feeling good, taking responsibility and developing skills. One has to learn the art of feeling good even in moments of pressure.
You must have tremendous control over your emotion both when you have won and also when you have lost.
In cricket, when wickets are falling, new players are under great pressure. In such situations, the cricketer should avoid looking back at their past failures and they should look forward to achieve more and more success. This is how they can ease the pressure they are in. That is the responsibility and discipline one should have.
Learn from your past failures. This will help you to score more and more victories in the future. Remember your idol who had achieved success even after being under tremendous pressure. This will encourage you to emulate him.
One has to train one's body, emotions and spirit to be in a peak state. In such a peak state, a different quality of energy emerges and will influence one's action.
Mind has to be tough for doing so. See that your mind is not in a disturbed state.
At last one also has to understand that failures are fertilizers to success. In fact, failures are always followed by success provided you learn from the failures. Failures should not make you worry and fear. Instead, you should remain unaffected by failure. You should not get discouraged by failures nor should you get elated by success. This attitude will boost your self-esteem and you will be in a position to score victory after victory in the future. Cultivate you talent, believe in innovation, practice a lot, derive inspiration from the greats and be sure you are on your way to success. Remember that every successful man has tasted failures and every failed person stands a chance to succeed in the future.
Has ICC made the right decision?The International Cricket Council's (ICC) has decided that the 2015 and 2019 editions of the World Cup will have 10 teams which means non-Test playing associate nations such as Ireland and the Netherlands cannot compete in this tournament. This regressive step punishes even those countries that have made significant strides in improving their cricketing infrastructure in recent years.
Currently, Ireland's performance in the recent World Cup was highly encouraging. Yet they find themselves short-changed. Similarly, exciting talents such as Ryan ten Doeschate of the Netherlands and Hiral Patel of Canada will have to wait for at least eight years before they can again represent their country at the World Cup. Without the coveted tournament to aim for, government support and corporate sponsorship for the game in the associate nations are bound to dry up. Compensating the latter with T20 cricket is not enough. Talented cricketers will migrate to greener pastures in Test-playing nations and deprive youth back home of role models.
The argument that including minnow teams lengthens the World Cup format and leads to fatigue cuts no ice. There was no loss of intensity in the 2011 World Cup despite it being played over 43 days. There's no denying that the minnows bring colour to the World Cup. The ICC would do well to stop thinking about financial gains alone and focus on expanding the sport around the globe.
But there are many who welcome the ICC's decision to trim the 2015 and 2019 World Cups to just 10 countries since it will ensure that the 2015 event will revert to the ideal system of showcasing 10 Test-playing nations. They say that the move should be seen in the correct perspective. While cricket is a game of uncertainties, there is little doubt about the results of matches involving minnows. Also, matches involving the associate nations hardly generate public interest. These critics say that big-ticket events like the World Cup should be more about upholding the competitive spirit of the game. According to them the passport to participating in such events must be earned with consistent performance. So they feel that the ICC has adopted the right approach by introducing a qualification process for the last two berths in the 2019 edition. They believe that compensation in the form of Twenty20 World Cup given to the left out teams should be adequate.
The book is a complex study of an extremely complex personality. The Mahatma remains a profoundly challenging moral being for all those who try to make a serious scrutiny of his principles and actions.
It is a British tabloid which gave the information that Lelyveld's book claimed that Gandhi was 'bisexual' and had a lover's relationship with a German weightlifter, Hermann Kallenbach. But the fact is there is no hint in Lelyveld's book that the relationship between the two men was anything other than platonic, though the expressions of affection used were often couched in passionate language.
Most Indians like to think of themselves as belonging to an ancient tradition of tolerance. They possess the ability to see and accept the other person's point of view, even though it might be totally opposed to one's own.
But how true is this of India in the second decade of the 21st century? From M F Husain's self-imposed exile following attacks for his allegedly sacrilegious paintings of Hindu deities to goons beating up couples for celebrating Valentine's Day, intolerance rather than tolerance seems increasingly to have become the order of the day in India.
Freedom of expression, within the boundaries of the law, is allowed The growing intolerance is proving to be the most serious threat to our democracy. The Indian liberal is becoming an increasingly endangered species.
Each new challenge to tolerance, to the spirit of liberalism, presents an opportunity for a public debate on debate itself and our freedom to engage in it. How free are we as a society? Where does one person's freedom of expression become another person's trespass of religious or social sensibility?
This is the paradox of all bans and censorship. The more you oppose someone the more attention you draw to him and the more public discourse you create around him. Silence is the victory of the ban; argument and discourse are the victories of democracy.
Now it is left to you to decide whether you prefer to remain silent or whether you would like to debate. In other words what would you prefer goondaism or democracy?
How to handle success and failures
You must always play to win. You must try hardest to win till the last. Never give up. Try to achieve excellence even if it means losing here and there. When you try to attain excellence your inherent talents come to the surface. Never mind if you lose. A person who has never lost has never found the joy of winning.
You do feel pleased when you win and you do feel disappointed when you lose. But when you enter a competition you should be prepared to both win and lose. Only then can you give your best.
A winner has four qualities: Self-confidence, mental toughness, winning-oriented thinking and the ability to innovate. Self-confidence stands on three important pillars: feeling good, taking responsibility and developing skills. One has to learn the art of feeling good even in moments of pressure.
You must have tremendous control over your emotion both when you have won and also when you have lost.
In cricket, when wickets are falling, new players are under great pressure. In such situations, the cricketer should avoid looking back at their past failures and they should look forward to achieve more and more success. This is how they can ease the pressure they are in. That is the responsibility and discipline one should have.
Learn from your past failures. This will help you to score more and more victories in the future. Remember your idol who had achieved success even after being under tremendous pressure. This will encourage you to emulate him.
One has to train one's body, emotions and spirit to be in a peak state. In such a peak state, a different quality of energy emerges and will influence one's action.
Mind has to be tough for doing so. See that your mind is not in a disturbed state.
At last one also has to understand that failures are fertilizers to success. In fact, failures are always followed by success provided you learn from the failures. Failures should not make you worry and fear. Instead, you should remain unaffected by failure. You should not get discouraged by failures nor should you get elated by success. This attitude will boost your self-esteem and you will be in a position to score victory after victory in the future. Cultivate you talent, believe in innovation, practice a lot, derive inspiration from the greats and be sure you are on your way to success. Remember that every successful man has tasted failures and every failed person stands a chance to succeed in the future.
Has ICC made the right decision?The International Cricket Council's (ICC) has decided that the 2015 and 2019 editions of the World Cup will have 10 teams which means non-Test playing associate nations such as Ireland and the Netherlands cannot compete in this tournament. This regressive step punishes even those countries that have made significant strides in improving their cricketing infrastructure in recent years.
Currently, Ireland's performance in the recent World Cup was highly encouraging. Yet they find themselves short-changed. Similarly, exciting talents such as Ryan ten Doeschate of the Netherlands and Hiral Patel of Canada will have to wait for at least eight years before they can again represent their country at the World Cup. Without the coveted tournament to aim for, government support and corporate sponsorship for the game in the associate nations are bound to dry up. Compensating the latter with T20 cricket is not enough. Talented cricketers will migrate to greener pastures in Test-playing nations and deprive youth back home of role models.
The argument that including minnow teams lengthens the World Cup format and leads to fatigue cuts no ice. There was no loss of intensity in the 2011 World Cup despite it being played over 43 days. There's no denying that the minnows bring colour to the World Cup. The ICC would do well to stop thinking about financial gains alone and focus on expanding the sport around the globe.
But there are many who welcome the ICC's decision to trim the 2015 and 2019 World Cups to just 10 countries since it will ensure that the 2015 event will revert to the ideal system of showcasing 10 Test-playing nations. They say that the move should be seen in the correct perspective. While cricket is a game of uncertainties, there is little doubt about the results of matches involving minnows. Also, matches involving the associate nations hardly generate public interest. These critics say that big-ticket events like the World Cup should be more about upholding the competitive spirit of the game. According to them the passport to participating in such events must be earned with consistent performance. So they feel that the ICC has adopted the right approach by introducing a qualification process for the last two berths in the 2019 edition. They believe that compensation in the form of Twenty20 World Cup given to the left out teams should be adequate.
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