THE ZEITGEIST

Does the name "Nadia Comaneci" ring a bell? No? Let's try a different name. Perhaps "Yelena Isinbayeva" might sound more familiar. While the former is the first female athlete in Olympic history to be awarded a perfect score of 10 in a gymnastic event in 1980, the latter is the only female pole vaulter to have cleared the five-metre barrier in the event and has recently been the cynosure of several tabloids and newspapers on account of both her performance and her appealing looks.

There are numerous other examples of Olympians who have carved a distinct stature for themselves by surpassing the realms of ordinary achievement in the field of sports and transcending to the extraordinary. There is Carl Lewis, who dominated track and field for almost 20 years. Muhammad Ali, known for his boxing prowess as well as his pre-match bursts of aggression on his opponents. Amongst contemporary athletes, there are Usain Bolt and Michael Phelps, world record holders and legends in sprint and swimming, respectively.

There also are a few prominent Indian athletes who have brought glory to the nation from their Olympic feats. Major Dhyan Chand, considered to be one of the greatest field hockey players of all time, has led the Indian hockey team to many a victory during the mid-twentieth century era. Milkha Singh, nicknamed 'The Flying Sikh' and 'Payyoli Express' P T Usha are two other figures who have received international acclaim and reverence for their scintillating performances on the race track. And then there are sportsmen without Olympic fame but with no less skill, with the likes of Prakash Padukone (Badminton) and Geet Sethi (Billiards).

Now browse through the following list of names:
1) Sir Donald Bradman
2) Sir Garfield Sobers
3) Sir Vivian Richards
4) Sunil Gavaskar
5) Kapil Dev
I'm certain most people would recognize the cricketing legends that this list refers to. Also, compared to the time it would have taken to recognize the names cited in the preceding paragraphs, these would have been recalled to memory almost instantaneously.

There is perhaps no other sport in modern India that has ever enjoyed the same stature as cricket, which has maintained a monopoly across all sporting events in the last two decades, largely owing to the associated glamour and media coverage. It has become more than just a game; it is rather a thread that unites the whole country. Whether it be the World Cup or a clash with archrivals Pakistan, we think of a win or a loss for the Indian cricket team as our own. Victory brings jubilation; defeat spells despair. And this feeling of victory or defeat dominates the spirit of the entire nation, spanning almost all age groups and all classes of a diverse population.

The Olympics are perhaps the closest comparison to a cricket tournament that can orchestrate such a feeling within the country's people. We root for a Mary Kom or a Gagan Narang, who until yesterday, was a stranger to the general public, to bring to us an Olympic medal. With each victory and each medal come a million facebook status updates such as "Well done, Saina !" or "I knew you had it in you, Sushil !", and the like. Of course, most of these messages are put up by people who are complete strangers to boxing or badminton themselves, who would probably be tongue-tied when asked about Abhinav Bindra or Karnam Malleswari, whom they had apparently rooted for the last time. In reality, therefore, it seems we don't really care if the medal is won by a Saina Nehwal or anybody else, as long as it is won for the country; for us. We wouldn't have been as enthusiastic if it were a regular sporting tournament not encompassed by the Olympics. We probably wouldn't even have wasted our time watching the game in that case. However, the Olympics is a stage for the whole world, and we wouldn't like to be called the citizens of a country which is, by any means, inferior. And so, we cheer.

It's a pity we shall have to wait for another two years for the Cricket World Cup to elevate our spirits again. But let's hope that at least by then, the stars of this year's Olympics are not thrown into oblivion.

Of Swines, Humankind and the World going haywire...

I suppose one of the better reasons there are gazillions of living species is to make sure that Darwin's ground for the Theory of Evolution holds some basic merit, and that consequent to natural competition, even after annihilation of the weakest taxon, there are enough families left to inhabit this tiny speck in the vastness of the universe we call Earth. If on the contrary there were a limited few, survival of the fittest would mean one face staring at another familiar(rather similar) face and wondering if the former could at all find different anatomies anywhere else within the cosmos and get some respite from the latter's lividity.

It seems the day might arrive sooner than one would expect. Now, with the advent of Swine flu, there has been revealed what was concealed for several millenia - survival has assumed an altogether new meaning. Influenza symptoms have become the most dreaded of all human fears, when just a few months ago nobody cared if a stranger as much as sneezed on your face. The name itself incites fright. People are fleeing from the more adversely affected regions for the sake of their own well being, praying not to encounter a "running nose" on the way. Travelling to places is a dangerous proposition keeping in mind how easily the flu is communicable. This global pandemic is a sardonic mockery of human advances in medicine - at an age when baneful diseases like cancer have been vanquished by human intellect.

But where do hogs hog into the limelight? To say the least, they are the very harbingers of the virus strain that has bamboozled medical experts worldwide. It seems weird that such silent, innocuous and self-involved creatures could possess a trait so unique and distinct that can affect a race millionfold in population and incomparably superior in capability. Sadly, this distinctive attribute is enough to wreak havoc in an otherwise ignorant mortal soul.

As a measure against the spread of this pandemic, mass gatherings have been prohibited within the IITR campus (to many a person's dismay). And this memorandum has been issued at a time when things looked like life was returning back to usual. Unfortunately, it was not to be. Perhaps it would take more than a few weeks to regain the lost grandeur. Atleast, everything should fall back in place by the time some of us get the long-awaited opportunity to visit Europe or America next year.

PS:

6 fresh cases have been reported in the insti as per reports being circulated..... and i thought there couldn't be a safer place than Roorkee !

Hovering Down the Winding Road....Waiting to Touch Ground !

It's that time of the year when utterly important (life-altering) decisions are to be made. All former sophomores are running around asking for precious advice from seniors and exploring future career prospects. And here I am, in this pandemonium of sorts - (wondering if I choose to savour the powers of the Indian bureaucracy, or scribble away documents in my air-conditioned chambers, or work my way up amongst moguls craving for the largest pie in the market) - waiting for the moment when The Almighty whispers into my head and voila ! I suddenly know what I'm destined for.

I know nothing of that kind is ever going to happen and I need to make the call sooner than later. But then there's so much more to be done! For instance, there's footie (I'm sure I'll become a pro within a few months time...one more thing to add to my resume), badminton, the gazette, bakar and chapos, more of my special multifarious theories, projects and then the secondary CGPA issue. Add to that humour and entertainment that are crucial for human survival within today's gloomy environs that engulf a B.Tech 3rd year undergraduate. If there was a way that could take care of our career obligations and at the same time not give up on the aforementioned "essentials" of life, there wouldn't be a happier person in the whole universe (provided that the Martians do not have to fulfill such material responsibilities already).

Professionals in test-taking-strategies (read CL and TIME) are sweating it out to lure potential "managers" with assurances to each who enrolls, of a berth in one of the prestigious IIM's (I still can't empathise why these "brilliant minds" never ended up where we're supposedly being sent to). To begin with, they quote formidable statistics that might make the listener dizzy with ambition, which crashes to below sea level when the final number is revealed - "You see; we expected atleast 40 to make it out of a batch of 45, but unfortunately, owing to discrepancies in the sub-standard question paper, only 14 could - between two batches, of whom 10 were our classroom students and the others bestowed upon us the privilege of mentioning their names wherever we'd like to". For the past few days, I've been receiving calls from one such CAT-specialist telling me all about the lecture schedule; the poor guy would be elated to know I'm publicising his institution in this very post without actually intending to become a part of it.

The "dreamers" are doing everything to ascertain nothing gets in the way of them reaching their final destination. While some aren't so conspicuous about their clandestine trips outside the campus gate every evening, others are bubbling with enthusiasm over having started early enough to commence the race from pole position. Its an altogether different world - obviously dissimilar from a few months back - scrawling notes all day long, no dawdling, no respite from voices reciting principles and theorems, devoid of sleep and lacking peace.

I've not started dreaming yet. It's only dusk; night is hours away. Let chasers pursue the snitch even before Quidditch begins; a good seeker will win it eventually in due time. Meanwhile I'll just enjoy reading as the mystery unfolds for "A Prisoner of Birth" and watch my favorite sitcoms before I retire to bed. Dawn will bring me inspiration and divine guidance to embark on my endeavours. I cannot let the strands of complacency bind me, but then, they never can.