The Manchester Derby

Sunday amply demonstrated why being a fan to a sport team can be amply rewarding or maybe so heartbreaking at times. Fortunately for me i support the red side of Manchester and they never stop rewarding with finishes that are just beyond words.

Starting with the improbable victory at Nou Camp.. to the last Champions League where John Terry managed to stop all the hearts before sending them into elation.

This Sunday was no different. When Bellamy scored at the stroke of full time..the world came crashing down after such an exciting fight in the second half, a stupid stupid mistake by Rio Ferdinand gifting the ball away which Bellamy aptly punished United for. The anguish on Rio's face mirrored the feelings of millions of fans worldwide.

Typical to what United stands for they did not give up. Aided by maybe what some would insist as "Fergie time" they came back to win the game in style. Scoring once again in extra time and it could not be more for Michael Owen to score the winning goal. Absolute raptures, cant even begin to describe the feeling when the ball went in. Times like this are what makes being a football fan so special

Fergie asked after the game said he would have preferred a 6-0 result to a 4-3 outcome that happened eventually. In my opinion at 4-3 victory anyday with the heart-stopping winner in the final minutes of the extra-time.. Red for life..

Saturday

I don't do house-visits. Never have. Only one till last Saturday being 3 years in the profession. It ain't practical being a dentist doing house visits cos working away from clinic is impossible. Or blame our inflated egos. The first and last time I went was to a lady with a toothache and a fractured leg. One instantly feels the plight entering the home and the least one can do is provide a fix, albeit a temporary one. I gave her medicines. Never heard from her, which in my line of work is more often than not a good sign. That was six months back

Saturdays are usually the laziest days, not much work happening generally me alone in the clinic and my boss not around. This Saturday was different, my boss was around which means splitting the work load. He left around his usual time. I decided to stay on for 15 mins. A lady, his patient came and realised he had just left. I generally don't pay attention till the patient enters the operatory which was why i was stunned when the lady asked me if i could see her daughter at her house because she could not make it to the clinic .

The urge to say no was incredible. It was a Saturday. My day almost over. Hungry. Tired.
However, one look at the lady and very difficult to refuse. It was only 5 minutes away anyways.

Reached her place, the door ajar, her not being able to open it.. the Mother calling inside asking someone to move which after a few times bore result. What awaited me was something i will never forget. A small little girl about 7 maybe on the floor unable to move.

It was a just a room with a bed occupying one third the kitchen the other third and the girl on the ground. Paraplegic. Mentally retarded. That was my patient. And the only coherent word she could utter was 'aai'. Never have heard it being said so sweetly and never has it caused so much anguish.

We managed to get her on the bed and tricked her into letting me examine her. I was shocked to know she was 17. Throughout she kept grunting and kept calling for her mother. I cannot help but remember how fortunate I was to be able, physically and mentally.

It is also amazing how people at times with so little to offer can make one feel so special. A simple act of asking me 'chai' when this lady is surrounded by a Whirlpool was enough for me. In a room full of problems she made me feel big when i was juts doing my job. Compared to people with so much more and very little heart.

As I watch Bipasha Basu talk about her parent's love for her i wonder how do u place the mother's love for her child i just saw. The grit, the dignity with which she manages her affairs is amazing. Makes me question what the kid did to deserve a life as such. Or the parents loving their child so much. All the talk of karma and stuff fades when i saw them leading their lives. Fighting more for it.

We all do stuff for our parents. Being able to do something for my parents, give something back , is one of the biggest achievements for me. However whatever i do will never be a drop in the ocean for what they have done. I still wonder what keeps that mother going. I don't even know if she does get loved back in return. Ain't that what keeps us going. Being loved and cared for by the people around us.

Most of us are fortunate to be loved and know that we are being loved and more importantly give love back. At the same time families like Amruta's exist being less so fortunate and fighting the same battle as we do with much more grit and compassion. Selfless love.

As I walked away from her place the lump in my throat slowly disappeared with respect for them. Faith reposed. Teaching me that the fight is always on. Beaten to a pulp, battered not giving up. She is fighting her battles.

I have mine. Along the way. Will never lose the lesson.

JASWANT SINGH EXPELLED FROM BJP

" From Hanuman to Ravan". The hurt apparent in his voice, Jaswant Singh fielded all the questions from the journalists. I must admit he was very dignified throughout the conference.
Inspite of being treated shoddily not a word against the party or his colleagues.. in this case former colleagues

What has happened though is ridiculous. I am not sure how the BJP thinks but expelling Jaswant Singh just because he wrote a book and expressed his book is a bit too much. He may have glorified Jinnah, but it is his book, although i have not read the book i am sure whatever is written is not ground for expelling from an Organisation he has been working for the past 30 years.

The way in which it was done too leaves a lot to be desired. First asking him not to attend the so called 'chintan baithak' and then calling him on the phone intimating him about his expulsion. The least one can do is show a bit of courtesy to such a senior leader.

I always thought generally before expulsion a show-cause notice was issued. Atleast an explanation is sought from the guilty party before taking any action. Though BJP really don't have no grounds to even ask that because what Jaswant Singh did was express his personal opinions. I am not sure what offended BJP so much. Writing a book about someone who is inconsequential now. They already did distance themselves from the opinions expressed. Its so funny that they expel Jaswant Singh. however turned Varun Gandhi into some kind of a "hotshot teen political star cum victim cum star campaigner cum vote puller".Absolutely unbelievable that it actually happened because he wrote a book. Grow up BJP, because I have the bat and the ball and you said something good about someone not from my team, I wont let you play.

I would love to know L.K Advani's role in the whole event. He was the pioneer of the Jinnah-speak. Also not in our land but go to Pakistan and praise him there. And BJP loved him so much.. Leader of the Opposition and the Prime Ministerial candidate. Would love what he has to say now. If he really meant any of the things he said about the dignified political life he lead or leads... at 81 .. I am pressed to ask why... why lead a political career when you should maybe step aside and give the younger leaders a chance... coming back to the point he should really quit, if Jaswant is guilty Advani does not fare any better.

Less said about Vasundhara the better. Openly defying the Party leadership she still head the unit. Ironically Rajnath has not moved a muscle in any direction. I can Rajnath Singh rubbing his hands in glee...kisi ko toh apna power dikhaya.."Vasundhaa nahi toh na sahi..hum toh Jaswant se kaam chala lenge"

Coming back to Jaswant Singh from the highs of the Strobe Talbott talks to the uncertain political future ahead, quite the ride politics take you, from dizzying heights to uncertain nowheres and quite true about life too. Once atop a perch and before one realizes the fall. Lessons to be learnt,not only for politicians and the common public in general. For me for you.

Manchester United 1 Birmingham City 0

The defence of the league title begins. Playing in the league minus Ronaldo, United did show what a big loss it is to the team at times with the explosive runs missing. It is too early to judge performances based on this game but am just happy United did put one through against Birmingham. It was disappointing that the victory margin was not more considering United dictated whole of the game.

Birmingham made a decent start to their season not showing too much respect to their illustrious competitors. They provided the scare when Evra was forced to make a goal-line save and later in the game Ben Foster had to react quickly.

It was wonderful to see Michael Owen in United colours and I hope he is able to resurrect his career not only at Old Trafford but soon want him playing in England colours.
Overall we still are a bit lightweight in the midfield, the ability to open up defences lacking and dont have anyone in the squad who can stay on the ball and dictate play. Someone in the Pirlo, Deco or Xavi mould. Absence of Ronaldo from that mid-field also takes away the bit of flashiness that never was part of United and it was good flashiness btw, he scored many and created as many, big job to fill his boots,. Scholes and Giggs still are around but it is time to groom players who would take their places. Berbatov did work hard and was not his usual languid self. Rooney scored which is what he should be doing.

Overall a below satisfactory performance but 3 points in the bag and the quest for the title for the fourth time and more importantly go one more than Liverpool begins.

Dravid back in the squad

Two years is a long time to be left out of the team. And if at 36 he earns a comeback it speaks volumes of the man of the man who still averages over 39 in the ODI's

Dravid has been the one to have been a pillar of the Indian team much through the times when batsmen around him were flailing and deserves to be spoken in the same light as Sachin Tendulkar for his sheer ability on the field. Unfortunately him being underrated and not to assertive has come in his way of him not getting his due credit.

Oft being criticised for being too defensive at times, he reinvented himself and was the backbone of the team for almost the entire time he was playing. Quite a feat when we realize that he holds the Indian record for the 2nd fastest 50. Even more surprising is the fact that the fastest %0 record for an Indian is held by... Ajit Agarkar..but that's a different matter.

I have always felt that his ODI career was aborted midway with him having a lot to offer. Much to do with the internal politics that governs the game than anything that he did on the field. With the selectors much vaunted youth policy stuttering a bit it is time that Dravid comes back and puts the records right and goes out on his terms ending a fabulous career.

Tryst With Destiny

NDTV did me a favour by playing out Jawaharlal Nehru's speech made to the Indian Constituent Assembly. " At the stroke of the midnight hour...." it starts all so familiar and then ignorant me actually heard the whole speech... The speech is truly stirring..

"That future is not one of ease or resting but of incessant striving so that we may fulfil the pledges we have so often taken and the one we shall take today. The service of India means the service of the millions who suffer. It means the ending of poverty and ignorance and disease and inequality of opportunity. The ambition of the greatest man of our generation has been to wipe every tear from every eye. That may be beyond us, but as long as there are tears and suffering, so long our work will not be over.

And so we have to labour and to work, and work hard, to give reality to our dreams. Those dreams are for India, but they are also for the world, for all the nations and peoples are too closely knit together today for any one of them to imagine that it can live apart Peace has been said to be indivisible; so is freedom, so is prosperity now, and so also is disaster in this One World that can no longer be split into isolated fragments."

As we celebrate our independence day Jawaharlal Nehru's speech remains as relevant as it was 62 years back. And therein lies the problem. 62 years and the number of millions of Indians who suffer remains staggeringly high. Poverty and ignorance rampant in our country. Yes we have prospered and have a booming economy but wiping a tear from every eye is a distant dream.

Right to Education bill got underway and soon enough the bill for Food security shall be introduced. Earnestly there has been no dearth of bills, never was. Where we have lacked is implementation of the bills. It truly would be a shame if a great initiative like the Food security is mismanaged and goes down the train. When we have statistics that claim 46% of children aged under 3 are malnourished it is a cause for concern. Ethiopia fares better than us on the index. No disrespect to Ethiopia but with a GDP like ours we surely can do much better for the kids in our country.

Going back to the speech again Nehru's word strike a cord deep within...

The future beckons to us. Whither do we go and what shall be our endeavour? To bring freedom and opportunity to the common man, to the peasants and workers of India; to fight and end poverty and ignorance and disease; to build up a prosperous, democratic and progressive nation, and to create social, economic and political institutions which will ensure justice and fullness of life to every man and woman.

We have hard work ahead. There is no resting for any one of us till we redeem our pledge in full, till we make all the people of India what destiny intended them to be. We are citizens of a great country on the verge of bold advance, and we have to live up to that high standard. All of us, to whatever religion we may belong, are equally the children of India with equal rights, privileges and obligations.....

And to India, our much-loved motherland, the ancient, the eternal and the ever-new, we pay our reverent homage and we bind ourselves afresh to her service. "

Arm-twisted

For 'teh' one who reads... yes ...u managed to twist my arm and make me post...

Pune and the Swine Flu

As my city grapples with the pandemic disease a sense of panic has gripped it. In my 8 years of using a face mask i have never seen so many on the display. Ever third person on the street is using a face-mask protecting himself/herself from the virus.

The Government has acted without a doubt but there need to be clearer guidelines on what to do in a patient suspected with flu like symptoms. Asking for a preliminary examination to be done is hardy a guideline.

The media needs to be a bit more responsible while reporting the tragedy. I understand two lives have been lost and it is a crying shame that the doctors in the hospitals did not have the presence of mind to test them both for swine flu and then maybe could have saved their lives.

It is a disease that can transform into mammoth proportions unless the whole administration gets into a unified act of controlling the epidemic. Sensationalism by the news channels does not help anyone, if at all it makes the job of the health professionals all the more difficult, with people panicking everywhere. As i mentioned never ever seen departmental stores housing face masks and selling them for almost 4 times their price. And as if it helps. A disposable mask can stop droplet infections but Swine flu..not sure how much. It can be cured and more focus should be on curing the disease and isolating anyone who has it.

With the proposed closing down of malls and theatres a step in the right direction might be taken to prevent the disease from spreading. However a lot desires to be done by the government and the administration and us people in helping us control this epidemic and come out of it relatively unscathed.

The Mayawati Statue

Oft raised the Mayawati issue finally had reached the Supreme Court with the highest court issuing a show cause notice to the UP government.

Saying anything against Mayawati is the quickest way to brand oneself as elitist ignoring the atrocities inflicted on the downtrodde. One cannot deny the fact that the downtrodden section of our country still is way in darkness and a lot needs to be done for them. Parading oneself as their messiah for one's own petty gains is not the way it is done

That's my grouse with Mayawati. She aint no messiah for the Dalits or for anyone. She is furthering her agenda by way of giving a voice to the Dalit cause. The statue issue is just one of the ways to put herself up using the Dalit cause.

2000 crores in these times to erect statues is horrific. When more than half of the kids under the age of 5 are malnourished, spending that amount of money for erecting statues is crazy. Height of sycophancy whereby she erects her own statues in the lofty company of Dr. Ambedkar. Misusing his legacy to achieve power and govern the state to further ruins.

I still cannot fathom why i have to pay from my pocket for erecting a Maywati statue. If she wants it so much let her have a million of them in her own house paying for them for her own pocket. Why use public money for erecting her own statue.

Offering limp excuses that Kanshi Ram always wanted her by his side wont do. Kanshi Ram's family would have a different story to tell. If his last days were anything to go by it would be difficult to believe what Mayawati often propogates.

Thank god the Supreme Court has intervened and ask the Government to respond. It would be interesting to see what defence the government mounts. It however wont change till the people who vote for her wake up and see whats happening.

It's statues today...something else tomorow. Mayawati will find a way to use and rouse the emotions. Her vote-bank hopefully realised this and asks for better governance than to turn a corner and have Mayawati in stone lookin back at them

Amongst a flurry of emails there usually is one or two that beats the "send it to a million and you'd spawn a million " kinda mail, something that stands out. A mail that one is loathe to delete from the archives.

Just happen to view one such email. Katie Kirkpatrick. Never heard of ever before. Never will forget her ever after.

The ability of Human spirit to rise above pain and achieve what it wants for itself continues to fascinate me. Katie symbolizes the fight inherent in all of us to go beyond issues that stop us. Thats Katie when she was the homecoming queen at Lapeer East High School where she also was a co-valedictorian. the photograph sits on a table in her family's home living room in Metamora.


On Valentine's Day 2002, Katie Kirkpatrick, then a freshman at Rochester College a small Christian college in Rochester Hills, Michigan) was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor. Undaunted, Katie strove to keep up with her studies, but she suffered another setback in 2003 when she was diagnosed with "an inoperable lung tumor wrapped around her pulmonary artery.

However Katie did not allow that to stop her from celebrating one of the happiest days of her life. She was in love with Nick Godwin since 11th grade. The fact that is that we can rise above adverse circumstances. It always is about how much one gets and what one can make out of it. Katie got what she did but what she did further with it is what makes it all the more special


Katie strode ahead inspite of the severe pain taking morphine and numerous medications to help her. Inspite of suffering from terminal cancer with prolonged medications and multiple organ failures Katie took care of every detail of her wedding.The wedding dress though had to be adjusted a couple of times because of her constant weight loss. Inspite of everything Katie walked down the aisle to marry Nick Godwin, 23, at Church of Christ in Hazel Park on Saturday January 15, 2005.


Five days later, Katie died. She did not let her illness stop her getting what she wanted. She has a wonderful wedding the love of her life by her side. She did not stop living then. She did not stop living now. Incredible that the story has resurfaced again after about 5 years. Her father recently lost his battle against the same illness. However the human spirit or the tales of such live on. All of us have the same human spirit, to look an adverse situation in the eye and strive and attain what we want inspite of our situations. Katie Kirkpatrick is an embodiment of the same human spirit and lives on long after she has gone. I know she will last with me till the time I am. And that i believe is the way that an illness could not stop Katie from attaining love, happiness and share memories with people all over the world.