India got thrashed - so why am I happy ?

Entertainment Cricket and Other Sports
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Just back from India - my country, where 2 things rule every aspect of life - Cricket & Bollywood.

Cricket, infact, is no longer “Sports section” news in most Indian newspapers - it is front page stuff. Chances are that you will see a picture of an Indian player adorning the space above the newspaper title (no less) on most days.

Turn on the FM radio in your car - and most likely something about Cricket or Bollywood is being discussed.

Turn on the TV - every second TV channel will have some “profound” cricket analysis on.

You would think - that 1 Billion plus people of this country have no problems and no issues in their life. All they care about is whether Yuvraj should be included in the Test side OR Kareena Kapoor’s new affair with Saif Ali Khan.

Then you go out and see poverty-stricken people defecating on the streets, abysmal roads and infrastructure , slums, sewage and filth all around - and you wonder if this is the same country that the media is reporting on.

I know that my Indian friends would not like that I am dissing my own country on a Pak forum - but this is the only forum I know and I want to pour my thoughts here.

I am also disgusted that burning of Churches in Orissa, Modi cashing on religious extremism in Gujarat , some Shiv Sena chtas vandalizing MF Hussain paintings in Delhi etc are not discussed with the same level of intensity as Cricket and Bollywood.

Which brings me back to the topic : Thank you Australia. Thrash our flat-track geniuses a few more times and you would have drilled some senses into our Media and Public also.

End of Rant.

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Re: India got thrashed - so why am I happy ?

Haha, just another day in paradise eh? Welcome back Some1. You can ofcourse take solace in the fact that india is in a much better condition (even if its been hollowed out from the centre) as opposed to its western neighbour right now. Now lets hear more 'touristy' stuff about your trip.

Australia outclassed India. So whats new? India is the #2 test ranking team but by what margin :) Anyway, 3 more tests to go.. anything can happen.

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Re: India got thrashed - so why am I happy ?

Kareena Kapoor is having an affair with Saif Ali Khan? What happened to Shahid Kapoor and Amrita Singh?

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Re: India got thrashed - so why am I happy ?

They got stumped. :cb:

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Re: India got thrashed - so why am I happy ?

Hain ? Lol

Did u really want to ask this question at this forum :p

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Re: India got thrashed - so why am I happy ?

One reason I am glad that I am back in the US, is that here if I am frustrated with the performance of the Indian team - I can simply change the channel on TV or close Cricinfo etc and save myself the agony from following the match.

But in India, there is no escaping Cricket even if you want to - every TV channel will at least have a ticker with the latest cricket score, you get in the car - and you will hear regular score updates on the radio , you go to any shop or to the mall - there is a good chance that they will have a TV showing the match. And even if you are out in the open - it will not be long before you overhear somebody discussing the latest match situation.

btw, as regards Bollywood - the Times of India (and I am told - also Hindustan Times) comes with a tabloid-ish supplement every single day - which has more readership than the main newspaper itself. That tells you something about our screwed up priorities.

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Re: India got thrashed - so why am I happy ?

Not just Western Neighbour my friend.
Eastern Neighbour (BD), Southern Neighbour (SL) , Northern Neighbour (Nepal) are all fast becoming basket cases.

In a sense India is andhon mein kaana raja . Don't buy into the "booming economy" hype - infrastructure wise I am told Pak is better than India - and I see no reason to disagree from what I saw in India. But yes, if mushrooming of malls and multiplexes indicate development - than yes, India is developing.....
But a call-centre and IT back office driven economy does not give me too much confidence in India's future.

Have a lot to say on the subject....but this is Cricketnama...and there is a moderator on the prowl.

Aaj Kiss Baat Par Gussa Aaya ??????
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Re: India got thrashed - so why am I happy ?

Some1: thanks for the honest opinion, feel free to add whatever you want. I just want to know your or other Indian guppies opinon on this series.

do you think India will make it interesting or the first test match is just the start of...?

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Re: India got thrashed - so why am I happy ?

I expected such brutally honest comments only from you, Some1. I hope your trip did not go too badly.

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Re: India got thrashed - so why am I happy ?

ahh! thats the naked truth about sub-continent. Govt and media showing 'sub achaa' to the public and the hunger and poverty can be seen every time you walk out of your cozy TV lounge. I have the same sentiments on India and Pakistan's current economic show off. Its more prominent on Indian side, since India has emerged as one of the biggest economies of the world and its investors are making big bids around the globe on big industries etc etc. But the load of 1B+ population is just unbearable. Certain sectors are progressing and creating a mass middle class, but 70% is still struggling for two meals a day.

Back to cricket and its coverage. All you said is true and I myself get pissed off at the craziness of the media, everytime I watch AajTak, HT, NDTV or Zee News. Its like except cricket people don't have any interest in anything else, they don't have life beyond cricket and bollywood.

LYLAK DESIGNS
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Re: India got thrashed - so why am I happy ?

:biggthumb wow i was predicting that I would here this rant from you. What part of India did u visit. DHARAVI..

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Re: India got thrashed - so why am I happy ?

Sau main assi be-imaan fir bhi mera bharat mahan.
Translated as: out of 100 there will be 80 dishonests but then also India is great. :dhimpak: :slight_smile:

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Re: India got thrashed - so why am I happy ?

The best way to describe sub-continental countries is to see them as regions of haves and have nots (actually Botham's mother-in-law said that about Pakistan when she visited in 2001). She felt that some of the top hotels in Pakistan were even more luxurious and comfortable than the ones in England. These were her own words in a British newspaper.

In India and Pakistan if you have a nice bungalow, car, naukar chakar etc. then in a sense you lead even better lives than many of your fellow countrymen and women living in the West. Here in the West you have to do everything yourself unless you are a landed rich like Jemima etc. (then you can afford to have a butler, maid, baby-sitter and chauffeur etc.)

But if you are really poor and you don't have even the most basic amenities of life in the sub-continent then you have really had it. Here in UK everyone has access to essentially the same education (education is free in government schools till GCSEs formerly A-Levels), council housing (although I have my reservations about generally over-crowded council flats) and NHS (National Health Service) etc.

► Eshal Raza ◄
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Re: India got thrashed - so why am I happy ?

You have been outside India for very long I figure. Either that or you are a blind patriot (as many Desis tend to be).

Not Dharavi specifically my friend - but I travelled to quite a few places --- Mumbai, Delhi, Pune, Shirdi and Eastern India (don't want to give away my roots).

If you are like most Desis abroad - you are thumping your chest about how great India's economy is....Tatas are bidding for Jaguar, Sensex is touching 20,000, property market is booming, private sector is creating many jobs (eg in IT and call-centres) etc, the malls/multiplexes in Mumbai, Gurgaon etc....

But go to India and you will see how crooked this so-called "boom" is. Mumbai is becoming a Sh1t-hole really starting from the airport (which is a solitary runway surrounded by slums). Every open space in the city has been taken over by two-bit builders and being converted into ugly looking high-rises. And people are willing to pay crores to live in 1500 sqft on the 19th floor with views of bums of people defecating on the streets below. Poor roads and chaotic traffic means sometimes it takes you 1 hour to drive 3 miles. Recently Donald Trump's son visited Mumbai to explore investment opportunities and he was so digusted by what he saw that he left the country in a jiffy without committing anything. I can only understand the shock goras must get when visiting India after they have read so much about how great its economy is supposed to be. btw, even Uddhav Thackeray (a Shiv Sena biggie) was recently quoted saying - "Mumbai is no Shanghai, it is HELL".

I also visited my ancestral village - which has been rendered half-empty. The young rural population have given up on agriculture and have moved into the 4 metros to take up lowly jobs in the private sector. This has created a stampede in the cities.

Barring a expressway here, a metro there - India's infrastructure is abysmal to say the least and the burgeoing population is straining it even more (e.g. you should see the mess at Delhi airport - utter chaos everywhere). Also, given that there are so many airlines now in India without any corresponding expansion in airport real estate - planes have to hover above the Delhi/Mumbai airports for hours before getting their chance to land - wasting precious fuel.

I am no snob. I have lived in India long enough before I moved to the US....but the current situation in India depresses me. Coalition Governments cannot take tough decisions , so I see no improvement in sight.

And the most unfortunate part is that the Indian media is acting like the marketing department of the Indian Govt - focusing on Cricket and Bollywood instead.

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Re: India got thrashed - so why am I happy ?

India's thrashing is on expected lines. I will be happy if they save themselves from a white-wash.

Players like Jaffer and Dhoni cannot play on bouncy pitches...and more importantly, the poor form of Dravid means India has lost their only sheet-anchor.

I have never been a fan of Wasim Jaffer - not even when he scored those runs against Pak on flat-tracks. He is very tentative against short and fast deliveries and often gets out caught in slips or by the wicket-keeper. Many times he will offer no stroke and get himself LBW(even bowled).

Dhoni's brand of batting cannot work on lively pitches.

Ganguly (though he has been scoring decently) is obviously no great shakes on bouncy pitches either. So that leaves us only with Laxman, Tendulkar and Yuvraj in the batting department. These 3 could not do much in the 1st test - hence the result.

So bottomline - It is not India's bowling, but the batting that is of concern.

btw, if India played a Test Series against Pakistan in Australia (say against a bowling attack of Akhtar, Asif, Umar Gul ...even Tanvir and Sami), I am convinced that Indian batsmen would be found wanting and I will put my money on Pakistan to win the series.

Shoaib Akhtar recently said that flat tracks (like the one recently in Kolkata) are creating heroes out of mediocre batsmen and I agree with him.

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Re: India got thrashed - so why am I happy ?

You said it mere bhai.

The only way out is mass castration - no...really !!
No infrastructure can keep pace with this kind of unorganized population growth.

Cafe ke Baithak - MAy
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Re: India got thrashed - so why am I happy ?

^ u said it right. U take the poverty in America and multiply that with 6 or 7 times and that will be India. I am living in Europe a better place to live in compared to even US, but in big cities I still see poverty, unemployment and lack of cleanliness that is typical of indian big cities scaled with the population.
I have been to India for one and half months. I returned from there like 3 months ago. I had exact same feeling like you are having. But lets put this thing in perspective. A billion plus population, a very diverse demography, a democratic country and a feeble govt. and what can u expect.
I think the worse thing I have seen is lack of knowledge about how to treat waste. The cities are being created without any planning, waste management has the least priority. I have travelled extensively in south. Madras and Banglore is overwhelmed by the population coming in. 3 years ago the traffic was much smoother in these cities, now the traffic is so much more congested. Outskirts of these cities are used as dumping ground for wastes produced by millions living in and around the cities. Its filthy and smelly utterly disgusting going anywhere near these parts. Even smaller cities like Kochi is not immune to lot of people coming in than the city can take. Mallus who pride ourselves of cleanliness should look at the condition Kochi is now in. Its smelling so horribly. Drainage system is non existent. Whatever that is there is leaking terribly. There is no place to dump the waste, and all the waste gets accumulated at the collection point.
Govt should realize that this is a grave matter and should set up a national policy (commission) for waste management and implement whatever the findings are. If such system is implemented, I can be sure that India will be able to show a better face to the world and nobody will get out of the country in a huff .

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Re: India got thrashed - so why am I happy ?

^Vinesh, I agree 100% with you on city planning and waste management.
I have also wondered how these builders who are building those high-rises left, right and center , get their projects approved from regional development authorities because they seem to be violating all building laws. Most times these bldgs don't have much of frontage space for roads etc and don't gel well with the rest of the locality.

btw, Waste management for most Indian households is based on the NIMBY (Not in my back yard) philosophy. So if you cut down on open space, the trash spills on the streets.

The big difference between US/Europe and India is.....that Indian Govt survives on the knife's edge most times and can't be expected to take tough decisions.

Example : The slums around the Mumbai Airport cannot be removed for expanding the Airport even though they are clearly unauthorized. Even the slum population constitute a vote bank - and also in this case , I am told, that the slum colony is majorly occupied by Muslims. So you move in the bull-dozers at your own political peril.

Khaana Shaana...
Khaana Shaana...
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Re: India got thrashed - so why am I happy ?

The situation in India and China is going to get worse in the coming years. These growing economies have sort of imported economy]technology with little idea of how to manage it. The industrialization and it's affects on global warming are going to be far worse than the west. People are neither educated nor capable of monitoring the growth.

As for the cricket, India doesn't believe it can beat Australia. They are not going to get an easier (subcontinental) pitch than what they had at MCG. Australian bowling was professional, not unplayable. Defensive batting is not going to win them matches.

Dukhi Aatmaaon ki Mardam Shumari
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Re: India got thrashed - so why am I happy ?

Whether cricket board or administrative services or government, India is very corrupt. So what? That will change as expectations of the masses increase.

After 600 years of moghul occupation and 200 years British occupation when India was treated as nothing more than a source of raw material and provider of services for rascally elite, I am glad within a short span of 60 years we have emerged as a power to reckon with.

Yes it is disgusting that poor people use open spaces as toilets in crowded Mumabi. There really ought to be something done about this quickly.

These are important issues but let us not be so totally superficial in an attempt to be pseudo honest because it is a Pakistani discussion forum.

Purely IT and backoffice services driven economy? What planet were you in while making this statement? Just take a look at contribution levels of various sectors of the economy before entertaining such fallacy.

I am sorry but I am angry about the comments you have made about India.

It has also become a fashion to say "ah India is fantastic if you have money...you can have everything and servants will do everything". So good living does create such jobs for the servants donit?

Let me tell you some facts and open your real eyes. Poor have to use open toilets because they don't have toilets in their huts and slums. They live in slums because of poor town planning. There is poor own planning because of corruption. There is corruption because the previous generations of Indians have been bred with babu culture and at best try to be conformists of norms. They did not want to shake up the boat or upset the apple cart.

The current and next generations are different. They are and we are breaking out of such shells created by occupiers. We will do that with due pride of emanating from the best of civilizations and culture and where necessary we will do it with moral grenades such as we are the best. If that means we go buy a Jaguar and Rover just to show we can, it is worth it. If that means we send up satellites to beam inane bollywood songs, that is fine too - because we can. If that means we will publish research finally showing the fallacy of European version of histiry we will.

It is a process and we know it will take time. You have already reaped the benefit of it by merely being borne Indian. You can either be part of it and encourage this marvelous transformation or just continue being a miserable babu validating Indian poverty through whatever colored glasses you are granted by others.

Oh yes, it is probably a smart thing to be like that in a Pakistan discussion board. After all flagellation and appearance of it must be honesty.

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