Virginia massacre-An inevitable tragedy

The Virginia massacres have shocked the international community and brought back the focus to ethnicity and race.But,the crux of the problem is not "outsiders" or terrorists.It lies deep within the policies of the American government.A part of the blame also lies on the media which has irresponsibly showed video garbs of the killer-Cho giving out hate speeches and posing in front of the camera with horrifying gestures.This kind of irresponsible behaviour will only send out the wrong messages to many more such Cho's who live in America and elsewhere in the world.
The entire world has prayed for the inncoent victimes killed due to a moment of frenzied madness by a mentally disturbed youth.However,we tend to forget that this isn't the first time something of this sort has happend in the US.In fact one could count it as a "normal" incident had it not been for the huge number of innocent victims(32 in this case).The point of concern is the social fabric of a country like the US and more importantly the arms lobby.The arms lobby has been influencing American foreign policy since the advent of World War-II.Billions of dollars are spent by them to ensure that their products are sold all over the world.In fact its an open secret that the American economy is completely dependent on the arms industry.No wonder guns and pistols are so easily available over there.If such things are sold to teenagers who come from a background which has no value for human life(can't blame them either because they have seen movies like Terminator and many more such gruesome action films where the value of human life is next to zilch).We also tend to forget the fact that these kids have never exactly been brought up in a family type of environment.In fact many of them have seen marriages crumbling like a pack of cards.No wonder psychiatrists are in high demand in the US.I'm by no means trying to genaralise the case but this is something which has been observed over the last 3-4 decades.People have been blindly running after money and have lost out on a lot of other things like happiness,relations and more importantly a happy family life.This part though is being addressed slowly and people have started making a conscious effort to mend their wild ways and move towards a nuclear family structure.But,the arms lobbly is still ruling the roost not just in the US but the entire world.This problem cannot be solved easily since the US Presidential elections too depend on the support of the arms lobbly!No wonder George W Bush has been crying out hoarse over terrorism,national security and enemies of USA.He has definitely managed to scare an already paranoid people to believe that war and billions of dollars of investment in arms are the only way to save America.This might save Amreica from the external enemy.But,what about the enemy within?What about the direct and indirect effects of this policy ?Actors like Sean Penn have openly written against the republican party policies and the arms lobby.The people however have not realised that overdependence on the arms lobbly may make them rich but it can never make them happy.They will only continue to live in fear of many such Cho's unless a president comes who puts an end to this hogwash and bans arms distribution completely.

Adious "jumbo"

The curtains are finally down on the glittering ODI career of India's greatest matchwinner.Anil "jumbo" Kumble formally announced his retirement from the shorter version of the game in a sombre mood.The announcement was always expected,in fact probably delayed considering the treatment which had been meted out to him over the last 4-5 years by former captain Saurav Ganguly and present captain Rahul Dravid.
It was really sad to see that Anil Kumble had to bow out without the kind of farewell which he actually deserved.Inspite of winning umpteen number of matches for India,he had to warm the bench for most of the time after his shoulder surgery in 2001.What is more disturbing is the fact that his replacement Harbhajan Singh wasn't exactly picking up wickets by the dozen nor was he economical.But,Indian cricket has never gone by logic.Even seniors like Tendulkar,Dravid(during Ganguly's tenure as captain),Srinath and the selectors never said spoke a word against the shabby treatment meted out to this brilliant sportsman and above all complete team-man.The gentleman that Anil is,he too never spoke out.He just bided his time,waiting for whatever opportunity came his way to perform and give his 100 percent for the team.
One can never forget his metch-winning 6/12 against the West Indies in the hero cup final.Neither can we forget the sight of a completely bandaged and badly injured Kumble coming back to bowl an try to win a test match for India against the Windies in West Indies.He almost succeeded in helping India win.The phrase "gave his sweat and blood for the team" suits him to the T. The sight of him spitting out blood after almost every over and disregarding the physio's advice to go back to the dressing room will always remain etched in every cricket lovers's memory.No wonder he got a standing ovation from the crowd after he completed his spell of 14 harrowing overs which got us the wicket of Lara and almost had Carl Hooper(only to be denied by the umpire this time).
What really pains me is that a player like Kumble would have been treated like a gem had he played for a country like Sri Lanka,New Zealand,West Indies or South Africa.We are a country of a billion crciket crazy fans who make demi gods out of a Dhoni,Yuvraj,Saurav or Pathan and relegate playesr like Kumble to the backburner.Critics might say that Kumble had slowed down in the field,could'nt bat much and his bowling wasn't as potent as it used to be.My answer to that is "How many wickets did his replacements pick up? How many more half centuries did they score?How many matches did they win for India?".The outcome of the matches against Bangladesh and Lanka could have been different had Anil been a part of the playing eleven.Even the finals of World cup 2003 might have been different.Anil's fighting attitude and dedication was what made him stand out in a team which boasted of a plethora of stars and demi-gods.A person of his stature could have contributed to Indian cricket in more qualitative terms than he was allowed to.Thankfully though he still has the urge to play test cricket for the team.Any other player in his place might have quit in disgust at the way things have unfolded over the last 4-5 years.But,Anil has never been like that.The team man in him would never allow him to speak out against the team management.The fact that he defended his teammates even after the world cup dream was shattered only shows how his heart beats for the good of Indian cricket and his teammates.