The stars are looking down
Some one is walking in the dress of a clown
Look around you, he is hiding
So closer to you yet confounding

Look at the back, up and down
There’s a stranger in your town
So much of peace in your city
Careless people, sleeping authority

Look at his dress, look at her gown
Fireworks are waiting to happen in the midtown
Blood and flesh are about to split
Ticks of the clock, lives ready to tilt

You can’t fight to him, just run, & back down
Time is running out, there’s a killer in your town
You have to stay alive to count the bodies
Last touch, last ritual, to the unknowns & your buddies

As gold is glittering and the fireworks are about to begin,
we are ready to celebrate Diwali. The festival of lights, festival of
prosperity. And every one is welcome to
celebrate. But just before you start celebrating, think for a moment, look
beyond your ecstasy, look at the reality around us.

Just few days back news came in that thirteen persons,
including ten child workers, suffered severe burns in a major blast at an
illegal cracker-manufacturing factory in the old city of Hyderabad. All the children are in the age
group of 8-14 years. But news come and go, hardly anyone bothers about this
kind of news. Seldom these things hamper their spirit to enjoy the occasion. But
think again. Are you really going to celebrate the festival of prosperity? Are
you celebrating the victory of good over evil?

In the factories manufacturing crackers children are used,
which is illegal. It spoils the future of such children. These children work
mostly at illegal cracker manufacturing factories and work in a dire environment.
They all do this only for surviving. Let’s put aside the thoughts of education.
What does prosperity mean for them? The children who work day & night with
such high risk of life just to add some flair to all of us, what actually are
they getting? As we celebrate the festival of lights, I wonder where the lights
are for all those children. What’s life going to give them in the future?

Nothing can be changed overnight. But… this Diwali, when
you’ll be going to celebrate the lights and prosperity, please think about all
those children for once. Think once for that child who’s made a cracker only
for you, that you’re holding now.

Wishing you all a Happy Diwali!

One drop of rain
A glimpse of sun
One stroke of pain
A touch of fun

A ride- smooth & rough
Sometimes up, a sudden down
A kiss of ease & stubborn tough
Smile of life, fearful frown

A calm tranquil ocean
Emergent surprising tide
Massed but still the one
Revealing words & sensations to hide

Frightful soul, argumentive life
Determinedly losing to compromise
Delicate as petal, deadly like knife
Simultaneously watching sunset & rise

A clear blue sky
A broken rainbow
Dreams- not close or nigh
Yet something to mow

Baffling path of life so many mysteries to solve
And one by one so many emotions to evolve

Dropping Rahul Dravid for the first two ODIs against Pakistan to me
is the biggest blunder of Indian Cricket history. What’s the logical reason
behind this extraordinary decision? Dravid is been India’s most consistent performer
ever. It’s not very often we see Dravid goes like this. Then why the selectors
lost their patience so quickly? Or something else is going on behind the scene?

It’s ridiculous to hear that Vengsarkar said Dravid is a one
dimensional player. What did he mean by that? If Dravid is a one dimensional
player then what is Sourav Ganguly? Or Gautam Gambhir and Robin Uthappa? Well,
one can say that the latter two are better fielder than Dravid but that’s not
enough. Rahul Dravid is a safe fielder and the best catcher in the slip. And
more, at one stage of his career he kept wicket very smartly and even bowled
under Azharuddin’s captaincy! How many more dimensions Mr. Vengsarkar wants? By
commenting like this he just insulted the most dedicated and modest cricketer India has ever
produced. Rahul Dravid is one of the best batsmen India has ever produced. And One of
the all time bests in the world cricket. His technique and consistency is
unmatched till date. Even Sachin Tendulkar can’t match it. So Mr. Vengsarkar
& co. just dropped India’s
most consistent performer ever only because he failed in five matches. It just
shows the mental attitude they possessed. As I can’t question Mr. Vengsarkar’s
cricketing knowledge here therefore I must say he and his team are playing a
dirty game here. A game to ruin Dravid’s career.

Another extraordinary decision they took by selecting
Virendra Sehwag. On what basis he got selected? Was his performance that much
satisfactory in the Challenger Trophy? Sehwag is been trying hard but he
remains inconsistent as ever. Not much has changed in his batting since he
dropped from the side. Yet suddenly he got the benefit and that too over Rahul
Dravid. We can easily remember how Vengsarkar was upset and angry over Dravid
because Dravid was consistently supporting Sehwag’s place in the team. And now
Vengsarkar by showing his double standards picked Sehwag ahead of Dravid!
Amazing things happen in Indian Cricket! May be vengasakar is taking his
revenge.

BCCI wasn’t happy with Dravid because he resigned from the
captaincy before the tough tours (why Dravid did it that is another story).
They wanted him to carry on till the Australian tour. But under some tough
circumstances Dravid left the top job. BCCI wanted to make Tendulkar captain
but not before the Australian tour. They just don’t want to ruin Tendulkar’s
captaincy record. BCCI wants to give Tendulkar the captaincy after the tough
tour against Australia.
That will help Tendulkar to make better his captaincy record. It’s well planned
that Vengsarkar & co. want to give Tendulkar a grand felicitation &
farewell when he will retire. They want Tendulkar to retire when he is
captaining the Team India. Everything was okay but dravid’s resignation came
earlier than expected. And the problem started.

Now BCCI is confused as usual about test captaincy. They
have enough vengeance in their mind against Dravid. Just started calling their
shots now. It’s shame for Indian Cricket. No matter who is in the power a
politician or an ex-cricketer nothing changes in Indian Cricket. Dirty politics
find its way by any mean.