Happy Independence Day India

Independence Day is around the corner. The entire media is gearing up for patriotic ferver which spews high decibels during this period. Politicians get ready to act as if they respect the heroes of our independence struggle and pay empty homages to them in the respectable precincts of the Parliament and elsewhere. We, ordinary citizens look forward to a day off and enjoy with our families... But has anyone ever thought "Are we really independent" in true sense. Is India really united as it claims? ...


Lot has changed in modern India, but we are still ruled by our ancient old beliefs, cultural divides, geographical divides, corruption, our chalta hai attitude, parochialism etc...


We are all disparate communities divided by religion,caste,sub-caste,geography (state) united only by the convenience offered by the deomocratic set up. If we take away democracy, rest assured we will start fighting within ourselves and seek our own statehood , much like what happened in Russia. We are ruled by corrupt politicians and administered by even worse government officials (Ramarithams) (as one of my co-blogger puts it). We(me included) have also become corrupt ourselves as we do not think twice bribing someone to get our work done...


After 50 years of independece we are debating bringing around a bill to curb corruption which is being met with stiff resistance and being watered down.... Sadly if Mahatma was alive today he would have probably felt India was perhaps much better off under foreign rule...

Happy Independence Day Fellow Citizens

Roger Federer- True Champion

On a lazy Sunday afternoon on the Centre Court at Wimbeldon, the year 2003, a man of Swiss nationality won his first Grand Slam Title. Little did the world realize that it was the one among the 15 Grand Slam titles that the man would win. Fast Forward 6 years later, the same man went on to win his 15th Grand Slam title at the same venue where he won his first one by beating Andy Roddick of the United States in a tough 5 set match. The man is Roger Federer. With this win Roger eclipses the esrtwhile record held by Pete Sampras (Pistol Pete). Also remarkable about this win is that it was achieved in front of Pete himself and accompanied by the tennis legend Rod Laver abd Bjorn Borg. Federer now holds maximum Wimbledon titles- 6 in total.

So what is that makes Roger special from other sporting greats?

1. Humility- Roger has never shown arrogance despite his tremendous success and has always been well grounded. He has never ever self proclaimed himself to be the greatest or given any self glorifying interviews. He has been humble both in success and failures. How many times would one have seen him swear, throw his racket and display his emotions while playing?. Even when he was pushed to the wall today by Andy, he was his usual calm and focussed on the game.
2. Hard Work and Determination- To be the gratest Grand Slam winner of all time cannot be achieved without hard work. Despite having a bad season last year and losing the numero uno spot to Rafeal Nadal, he has shown great determination in coming back this year and not only claiming the French and Wimbledon titles but also re-claiming his righful spot of Number 1 in the ATP Rankings.
3. Respect for Opponents- Although being aware of his super human tennis skills, I have never seen Roger taking his opponents lightly whether they are ranked no1 or no 250 in the rankings. This talks a great deal about his attitude and the way he approaches the game.
4. Professionalism- Roger has exhibited professionalism while on and off court. I have never read any controversy surrounding him to date.

I chose to write this blog because he is my inspiration of what one can achieve in life with all his great qualities regardless of the field or profession you are in.
In an interview to BBC today he categorically stated that he wishes to continue few more years... Surely this means more Grand Slams... Guesses any one...


P.S. (A message to Indian Cricket Team- Kindly take a leaf out of Roger's book and try to emulate at least one of his qualities. It would help)