Thought

Where there are expectations, there is disappointment...

The Game and Players

World's apart, but arm in arm from Cricinfo

India won its match against NZ :) :) but this is not abt that...

"With Indian vice-captain Rahul Dravid behind the stumps, Ifran Pathan at extra cover, and two dozen Zimbabwean orphans bouncing around the infield, India's match-winning Harbhajan Singh bowls another gripping offspinner. But as he surveys his handiwork, a strident call of "no ball" comes from nine-year-old orphan, Tinashe. It is a courageous and plucky call, and one that immediately curries favour with the sometimes roguish Singh. For the next hour he and Tinashe chat and walk together. India's cricketing hero and one of Zimbabwe's 1.3 million orphans. World's apart, but arm in arm.
And so it went throughout the morning as five of India's cricketing stars took time away from their busy tour schedule to meet more than 100 orphans at a UNICEF-supported education project on the outskirts of Harare."

OH

9 posts today!!!!!!

Article for coffee lovers like me :)

Coffee in moderation is 'good for you' form Daily Mail [via Anitha]

"It said the majority of people were not aware of the beneficial effects of moderate coffee consumption. These benefits included improved concentration and a high content of antioxidants"

quote

Forgive many things in others; nothing in yourself.
-- Ausonius

Some intresting points

Women players have really come a long way from The Hindu

"Federer is not a patronising sort of fellow, though to read into this that women first polish nails and then forehands is abject nonsense. They can do both. Ask Sharapova if the game comes first for her, and she will sneer. That No.1 tag is not for modelling, though sometimes, alas, it is almost as if a beautiful women's player must prove herself doubly. One of the points missed about Anna Kournikova is that she did not set out to be a celebrity, but a tennis player."
...
"Sometimes still a disservice is done to women's players with prurient questions, and some level of objectifying remains and so do double standards. If like Svetlana Kuznetsova, Sharapova was defending champion and lost in the first round, teeth-gnashing would occur over whether her tennis was being sacrificed for selling perfumes. Federer, who has his own fragrance, would scarcely face such scrutiny."
...
"Truth is, what makes the women's tour attractive is that many of its players are not merely finely gifted, but proud, young, sure of themselves, and not averse to expressing their personalities. They are mistresses of their own fate and charters of their own destinies.
The Williams sisters are multi-dimensional, engaging and provocative. It might be said if Serena focused purely on tennis instead of fashion/ decorating/movies, her impressive record would be more glittering. It might also be argued that such distractions give her balance and have helped shelter her from burn-out. Either way it makes her fascinating, a player of passion and personality, and worthy of respect."

I am wondering who worte this article... my assumption is that a women wrote it.

Moderate Muslim

Who is a "moderate" Muslim and how? from The Hindu

"What Western governments are looking for are orthodox but non-fanatical "insiders" (as against secular "outsiders") — people who have enough acceptability within the community and can invoke the authority of Islam to denounce terrorism. It is argued that a message couched in an appropriately religious tone and delivered by seemingly "devout" Muslims who are in "communion" with the community has a greater chance of being given a hearing than a lecture on reforms by secularists whom the community regards as too elitist and detached."
...
"Having said that, leaders from a traditional mould can — if they wish — play a positive role for the simple reason that conservative Hindu and Muslim faith groups feel more comfortable with them than with secularists who remain on the fringes of community life. It is a mistake to dismiss all traditional leaders as necessarily obscurantist, communal and backward-looking. No doubt, most happen to be status quoists and have a vested interest in keeping the community backward in order to maintain their hold on them, but there have been many exceptions both among Hindus and Muslims. Many of the reforms in the Hindu community were spearheaded by traditional and deeply religious figures, and one of the most prominent Indian Muslim reformers, Syed Ahmed Khan, the founder of Aligarh Muslim University, also came from a "traditional" background.
Traditional and modern
Sir Syed was a practising Muslim who acknowledged the importance of religion but, at the same time, he was also a modern man, and was able to mobilise the community around a modernising agenda. What is more, as The Daily Telegraph writer Mihir Bose notes, it was in the "depth of Muslim despair" (not very different from the situation today) that Sir Syed emerged to lead them to modernity — encouraging them to free themselves from "customs and beliefs that were outdated and hidebound."
Another "traditional" leader who became a major Muslim reformer was the late President Zakir Hussain, one of the founders of Jamia Millia Islamia. (Ironically, seeds of narrow Muslim nationalism and separatism were sown not by "traditional" leaders but by a highly westernised, secular and modern figure like Mohammed Ali Jinnah.)
People like Sir Syed and Dr. Zakir Hussain were able to separate religion from politics and, more importantly, they had a vision for the community, which the present-day leaders lack. Mr. Sacraine and his counterparts in other countries are, essentially, ambitious politicians in search of a constituency and an agenda — and a community feeling under siege is just what the doctor ordered."