As if the tigers were not enough, we have regionalism crippling the Indian cricket team too. How a youngster like Wriddhiman Saha with virtually no exposure to cricket at the highest level has made it into the squad inspite of a host of superb batsmen waiting in line to get noticed escapes me. If India wins the test, I believe this will most definitely go unnoticed. But if they don’t I will be mighty surprised if the Indian media doesn’t highlight this already highlighted issue.
What escapes me is how can they leave someone of the caliber of Parthiv Patel outside the squad. And that too when he has been the highest run scorer in Ranji recently.
But such are the ways India works. And the Indian intelligentsia believes that there will be people protesting against the tigers’ regionalism. I sure don’t think so.
Posted in Uncategorized.
Tagged with cricket, india, parthiv patel, wriddhiman saha.
By Janit Vora
– February 6, 2010
Let go, Let it flow,run, have fun;
Let go your heart
Let it fear the dark
Let it love the lark
Let it free.
Sate the satan of your soul
Feed the flames of your desires
Plunge down the precipice
Create a world of your own device
Forget the musts, indulge the wills;
Feel the rush of the wind
Feel the ground beneath your feet
Feel the Freedom to feel.
Posted in Poetry.
By Janit Vora
– June 4, 2007
Gasping for breath,Looking for light
Enduring through a lost fight.
Living a life Devoid
Of Love of hate of passion, compassion
Bigger the heart, larger the void,
Harder life’s lesson.
Rueing the loss of dreams
Of a life void of whims.
Falling down the abyss
Finding nothing to miss.
A life of empty laughs and stifled screams
Of lost chances and ruined dreams
Of broken hearts and missed chances
Of standing rooted as life dances.
Posted in Poetry.
By Janit Vora
– June 4, 2007
The tame bird was in a cage, the free bird was in the forest,
They met when the time came, it was a decree of fate.
The free bird cries,’O my love, let us fly to the wood.’
The cage bird whispers, ‘ Come hither, let us both live in the cage.’
Says the free bird,’Among bars ,where is the room to spread one’s wings?’
‘Alas’,cries the cage bird,’I should not know where to sit perched in the sky.’
Isn’t this what we all desire in life ?
A place to sit in repose. A heart to live in.
We crave for that illusion of security. We crave to be in a position that helps us feel secure. The more ambitious ones try to do one better. Notwithstanding exceptions like the ambitious ones ,the conservative view is still the dominant driving force for the rest of humanity. All that we care to satiate is the need to feel secure. Since the stone ages that is what our quest has been. All our inventions are based on our needs. And in filling in one need after the other we have created a multitude of needs. An unbelieving atheist like me would also attribute the creation and also the continued veneration of the concept of GOD to this feeling of insecurity.
This is a translated version of what Gurudev wrote in Bengali. Yet his words stir the soul like none other. The first time i read them i was - Exalted. Thats the word. He isn’t just sublime or beautiful, he is complex, concise and the way he relates to nature is unique. One common string that runs through all the great works of literature is that they somehow transport you into their own world and thereby make you feel special. When you grasp the meaning of these words then they enchant you. The trick lies though in maintaining the balance. It should not be so complex that its beyond anyone’s understanding and at the same time it should make us exercise our grey cells so that we’d feel exalted after interpreting the author.
Thats what counts. Doesn’t it ? Balancing. Somehow it seems that there are no absolutes in life. Life doesn’t just have grey shades. Life is grey.
Posted in Writing.
By Janit Vora
– April 4, 2007
Luv em Hate em but you just can’t ignore em. Exams are an irrevoccable facet of our lives. Three years of toil expressed in three mere hours. No amount of reason can help me understand the futility of these much dreaded chores. I am itching to fight reservation, Arjun Singh and also ignorance ala Aamir. But what we really need to fight is this incessant stress on learning by rote, the toil, the hardwork and the perseverance required for a 3 hour performance.
I call it performance - its not a test or for that matter an exam. Its just what we all are slowly becoming adept at - Performance. Its an expression of your work and in that expression your work is measured. Your ranking, your standing amongst your peers is determined more often than not by some nincompoop who can never measure up to you, yet will definitely measure you.
There I go cribbing again. Just can’t help it. So these are the loop holes and the onus lies on us as to how well we expose and utilize them. The most important part is fooling the nincompoop who is evaluating us and to that end we must keep some basic points with regards to answering the questions in mind. The cardinal principles of achieving pass class are enumerated below.
1. Never leave a stone unturned……
This means that no matter how much you know….. Attempt Everything.
2. Test the junior supervisors…..
The young breed of Greenhorn Nincompoops are wonderful to toy with. Guts and gumption combined with skill and common sense can do wonders for your answer sheet.
3. Desktop Publishing…..
This has been my favourite tool to combat the menaces of the first bench. The point worth remembering here is to use a light pencil and to try and keep the scribble covered at all times during the exam hours.
4. Scribble….
Oh Yes. If you have a penchant for bad handwriting then you have a good chance to get through if you write the main points neatly and scribble the rest in your original handwriting.
5. Diagrams……..
Sad but true. You must remember them. Or publish them on your desktop ofcourse. But its imperative for your healthy scores that this aspect of the three hour chore need not be ignored.
The list goes on. But these are the points that come to mind right now. Of course psyching ourselves for the exams is also important as is the runtime presence of mind. Never losing hope, even if you don’t seem to remember the curriculum leave alone the contents, is important. Just interpreting all the questions by their names and elaborating on the same may be enough under most circumstances. Some other day will add some more.
Posted in Blogs.
By Janit Vora
– March 22, 2007
I have been a lifelong fan of Ayn Rand’s and The Fountainhead has probably been the most influential book I have ever read. Maybe thats why or maybe because my dad’s been building them all his life, I love buildings and before I discovered the fairer sex, a walk down the road was an exercise in structure watching.
Howard Roark might disapprove, but I have always loved historical buildings and the Fort Area of Mumbai and Shahibaug in Ahmedabad as well as the Pols - the narrow bylanes that used to form the dwellings of the bourgeoisie have enchanted me since childhood. Baroda being one of the princely states of the country has a rich architectural tradition and the whole city is dotted with huge palatial buildings built by the Gaekwads.
These days my expanding waistline has forced me to take morning walks in the famous Sayajibaug - aka Kamatibaug. A vast, sprawling plot of lush gardens, kamatibaug is adorned by a huge museum and art gallery right in the middle. The museum is housed in a beautiful Victorian style building with a facade that takes my breath away every morning. The Victorian building complete with arches, intricately carved skylights and window panes of varied hues, shapes and colours. And by god, it is huge, by any standards. Unfortunately visiting hours for the building are from 10:30 to 5:30 and so are my office hours. Hence I am waiting impatiently for the weekend when I can poke around the building at my leisure. But it sure has me bewitched.
Posted in Personal.
By Janit Vora
– March 17, 2007
Slipping on my running shoes, I run;
Through the place I learned to walk I run;
By the gates I learned to speak I run;
Past the place she held my hand, I run:
Torn and tattered, by the waning strength of my limbs, I run;
Zipping through the memory lanes, with zest I run;
Bruised and battered, by the will of my soul I run;
Knowing not - To or From, I run.
Posted in Personal.
By Janit Vora
– March 13, 2007
Nostalgia - Feels like a hard hitting word…..so much at odds with the feelings that it tends to convey. Leaving my college and all my friends, the canteen, our block, every wall and every brick that partook our joys, our laughter, our shrieks of happiness tears at the strings of my heart.
I vividly remember sitting at my usual last bench in B-Audi on my first day in Nirma. Sitting with complete strangers who over the course of time became a part and parcel of my life. Friends and fellow mates who I came to love, trust and respect. And now the time has come to bid goodbye.
From a joyous past to the enticing morrow;
Caught in the midst, fraught with sorrow.
Through all of my ups and downs, whenever I have stepped onto the cement tarmac of Nirma University, whenever I read that plaque adorning the gate, whenever I looked at the steps leading to my beloved B-Block I had a zing in my step. More than anything, the pride of being a Nirmaan never failed to rouse my spirits. I have spent some of the most fulfilling days of my life and picked up some of the most loving friends in those hallowed halls of joy.
Traditionally incompetent at goodbyes, I hope I manage to break the precedent.
Posted in Blogs.
By Janit Vora
– March 10, 2007
The following are the excerpts of an excellent article about his atheism by Bhagatsinghji written during his last days. Message me if you want the full copy.
” ‘Belief’ softens the hardships, even can make them pleasant. In God man can find very strong consolation and support. Without Him, the man has to depend upon himself. To stand upon one’s own legs amid storms and hurricanes is not a child’s play. At such testing moments, vanity, if any, evaporates, and man cannot dare to defy the general beliefs, if he does, then we must conclude that he has got certain other strength than mere vanity. This is exactly the situation now. Judgment is already too well known. Within a week it is to be pronounced. What is the consolation with the exception of the idea that I am going to sacrifice my life for a cause ? A God-believing Hindu might be expecting to be reborn as a king, a Muslim or a Christian might dream of the luxuries to be- enjoyed in paradise and the reward he is to get for his sufferings and sacrifices. But what am I to expect? I know the moment the rope is fitted round my neck and rafters removed, from under my feet. That will be the final moment, that will be the last moment. I, or to be more precise, my soul, as interpreted in the metaphysical terminology, shall all be finished there. Nothing further. “
The final paragraphs of his writings again reiterate his belief that religion is nothing but a crutch.
“As regards the origin of God my own idea is that having realized the limitations of man, his weaknesses and shortcoming having been taken into consideration, God was brought into imaginary existence to encourage man to face boldly all the trying circumstances, to meet all dangers manfully and to check and restrain his outbursts in prosperity and affluence. God both with his private laws and parental generosity was imagined and painted in greater details. He was to serve as a deterrent factor when his fury and private laws were discussed so that man may not become a danger to society. He was to serve as a father, mother, sister and brother, friend and helpers when his parental qualifications were to be explained. So that when man be in great distress having been betrayed and deserted by all friends he may find consolation in the idea that an ever true friend was still there to help him, to support him and that He was almighty and could do anything. Really that was useful to the society in the primitive age.
The idea of God is helpful to man in distress.
Society has to fight out this belief as well as was fought the idol worship and the narrow conception of religion. Similarly, when man tries to stand on his own legs, and become a realist he shall have to throw the faith aside, and to face manfully all the distress, trouble, in which the circumstances may throw him. That is exactly my state of affairs. It is not my vanity, my friends. It is my mode of thinking that has made me an atheist. I don’t know whether in my case belief in God and offering of daily prayers which I consider to be most selfish and degraded act on the part of man, whether these prayers can prove to be helpful or they shall make my case worse still. I have read of atheists facing all troubles quite boldly, so am I trying to stand like a man with an erect head to the last; even on the gallows.”
My salutations to the great man.
Posted in Philosophy.
By Janit Vora
– March 9, 2007
I have been blogging since the last year and a half on blogspot but I have made more friends in the last two days on rediff than what I got to on blogspot. The concept of mingling a social networking website with a blogging tool has been there for a long time but the rediff interface provides a different feel. The only problem I had was the time taken to load these pages as it seems that the rediff server is flooded 24 7.
Posted in Blogs.
By Janit Vora
– March 8, 2007
