What August 15th should mean to us!

About a week ago, I received a peculiar message that got me thinking. In essence, it was an early I-Day greeting...... a tongue-in-cheek reference to how we wish people for Friendship Day, V-Day and a variety of such meaningless, absurd occasions a week before they arrive, but that we never well up with anxiety over missing out on wishing someone on Independence Day. It was maybe a cheeky way of saying that we don't value the occasion enough.

Though I'd agree with the sentiment to some

extent, I think the malaise grows deeper than that. It seems people don't see a purpose or a reason to celebrate the occasion! Besides the usual 'India gained independence and the right of self-rule after centuries of oppression by an imperialist power' that we learn to repeat without blinking our eyes in school, I have not heard many reasons why this day would hold any significance to any of us personally. In the same way that you attach significance to Valentine's Day only when you're in a committed relationship yourself, I-Day is meaningless unless it means something to all of us personally.

Thinking of my motivation for celebrating I-Day(and I can't believe I've never really felt the need to think this through the 19 previous times that I've celebrated it), I come to a fairly straightforward conclusion : To me the significance of the occasion is that the 15th of August 1947 marked the mid-point of a movement. This movement saw people across this nation, irrespective of class, creed and gender gathering together because of one realisation : They realised that this nation was in trouble, that too many problems existed in this densely populated region that could not be ignored any more, and that the only way their problems and grievances could be addressed was to take the responsibility of governing this nation into their own hands and seek solutions themselves! They realised that besides showing a general disrespect towards the people, the British lacked one thing that was needed to bring modernity to this nation steeped in tradition and culture: sensitivity. In recent times, that one quality in itself would have averted some of the most despicable crimes that have been committed against the people of this country.

After independence, the first leaders of this nation ambitiously laid plans to tackle each of our burgeoning headaches in an effort to prove that the sacrifices that had been made in the process of gaining India's freedom were not in vain. In those times, Independence Day meant something to everyone. It was a time to reflect on the progress that had been made in the past 1 year, how life had improved for the masses, and to mark out the next brick to be laid along that long road to be followed to make this nation the envy of the world. Along the way, human nature took its toll. The visions of our forefathers for a prosperous, egalitarian society were crushed so the whims of a few could be imposed on the nation. The rich got richer, the poor got poorer, and the corrupt got fat! And in the process, we lost hope. Laws were amended and new ones made that went against the visions of the Constitution, the very foundation of our democracy. Older laws, rather than being strengthened, were amended to add more loopholes to allow further corruption. Politicians stepped away from their duty towards social reform, allowing fanatics to impose their morals upon the masses in their religious bastions. Rather than rooting out the evils in our social system, we had sarpanches, imams, pujaris and pastors picking and choosing the bits and pieces of our 'culture' they wanted to retain/discard. We retain our infernal caste system in the name of tradition, but the culture of 'athithi devo bhava' now applies only to Aamir Khan's commercials.

Our goal as a nation now to be to celebrate Independence Day the way it was originally meant to : not just nonsensical chest-thumping and muscle-flexing as the Americans do it! To treat the day as a celebration of our achievements over the past year, and recognition that the road ahead is still long, while planning what development/progress we must aim to celebrate on the next Independence Day. As individuals, we can take this opportunity to demand action on the challenges we face, and to seek answers if the promises of the previous year have not been delivered upon. Progress should not mean higher GDPs, but higher standards of living across the board,with a special emphasis on workers and farmers who are the engine of our economy. As a nation, we must stop buying into the notion of 'India Shining' that our politicians seek to feed us. Such beliefs only bring in a sense of complacency among us, the people, and help policy makers kick back and take breaks on the job without being held accountable for it. The India we know should be the India we hear of everyday : the one where farmer suicides, lack of foodgrain storage, improper water management, a broken PDS, internal conflicts still dominate headlines! Let's demand constructive action on those fronts first, and then find time to celebrate our progress as a nation on those counts on August 15th the next year. As long as these issues hang like nooses around our collective necks, how can we celebrate? If we do not show the sensitivity to pay heed to the headaches of our own people, who can? Would that then, not be a betrayal of whatever progress we've made in the years since independence? We cannot distance ourselves from the misery of the masses and embrace the good fortune of a few, for it would breed discontent. We rise or fall together, so unless each of us finds a sentimental attachment to the 15th of August, its significance will continue to wane in the public conscience, which will prove to be the harbinger of the destruction of our most prized character as a nation : our unity in diversity.

The Master and the Pretender

Yes, this is turning into a football blog, but if so, so be it! The past 2 weeks have been incredible to watch football-wise, and while boring everyone with depressing details of my academic achievements during the study holidays is an option, I think I'm making the right decision here.

On Tuesday night, Barcelona completed the job they should've done at the Emirates. They only played about 60% as good as they had in the 1st leg, and went behind to an astonishing early goal courtesy Nicklas Bendtner : but a little genius who leads the European scoring charts raised his hand up to be counted. If there was ever any debate over who is the world's best player : the bullish and bang-in-form Rooney, arrogant prince 'CR9', or the magician who enthralls the Nou Camp week-in, week-out, then that debate has been settled once and for all! Messi demolished Arsenal in a first half delay that had the commentators gasping for breath and scanning their thesaurus for plaudits that had not already been showered upon him. The first goal was a bullet, powerful, precise, squeezed between 2 defenders' legs in a split second into the top corner before Almunia could move. The second goal was the result of a trademark Barca breakaway, and credit goes to the youngster Pedro for a delightful pass that put Messi through barely 2 metres from goal. The third was a touch of class, a delightful chip passing inches over a desperately advancing Almunia. The fourth goal in the second half merely the cherry on top! Barcelona outpassed Arsenal, and proved why the level at which they perform, Arsene Wenger can only hope his young team will do in 7 years' time. It showed how Barca were not only more adept at passing and retaining the ball than Arsenal, but were also more clinical in front of goal, and more composed in their reaction to going down! To their credit, Arsenal didn't let their shoulders drop and kept soldiering on, but having less of the ball, and less penetration due to the absence of Fabregas, Song, Van Persie and with Rosicky putting in a shoddy performance, Arsenal had little hope of rescuing anything from the match! At the weekend, Real Madrid host Barcelona at the Santiago Bernebeu, with last season's outcome being a 6-2 demolition by the visitors. Madrid may be top of the league, but any layman could tell you they don't play nearly as well as this Barcelona team do, even on their off days!

Wednesday night saw United being dumped out of the Champions' League by a remarkably patient, cunning Bayern Munich side. Though they won 3-2, Robben's wonder strike which produced the 2nd goal levelled the tie on aggregate and sent Bayern through on away goals. It was a first half that United dominated : putting to bed fears that they'd be suffering a hangover from their miserable 1st leg loss at the Allianz Arena and the despair of dropping 3 points at home to Chelsea! United produced a sparkling display, and Nani in particular, was brilliant, producing two magical pieces of skill that we would expect from the likes of CR9 and Messi. 3-0 up and cruising, young Rafael retaliated to a challenge by the all-at-sea left back Badstuber, needlessly earning a yellow card! Olic sneaked in a goal just before half time, proving to be a thorn in United's side once again, thanks to poor defensive work by Carrick. Rafael proved his naivety at this level by pulling back Ribery when he was already on a yellow card. The 2nd yellow was inevitable, and United found themselves a man down, and needing to keep Bayern out to progress. A well worked corner shattered those dreams. Ribery picked out Robben straight from the corner, who volleyed, almost Zidane-like (2002 Champions' League Final) with power and precision straight into the bottom corner. No goalkeeper in the world would've stopped that Howitzer!

Ferguson blamed the 'typical German' mentality of the Bayern players pressuring the referee to send Rafael off. But across all these quarterfinal ties, what anyone would've noticed is that even purists such as Barcelona aren't averse to rolling around on the floor and feigning injury to win free kicks and convince the referee to brandish cards. Chelsea were undone similarly by Inter, Barcelona outclassed as well as out-foxed Arsenal, while United shot themselves in the foot to be honest! United were the poorer team in Germany, failing to keep possession against a Bayern team with only Ribery for inspiration, and despite dominating the first half at Old Trafford, let Bayern back in it in the 2nd half! Someone should explain to Sir Alex that losing 3 out of 4 halves in a 2-leg tie, doesn't make you the better team over the two legs ! The very fact that he'd blame luck and the opposition rather than analysing his team's own frailties should be worrying! As for Bayern, their 'star' Ribery, to me, is THE most overrated player in European football! Comparing himself to Zidane, having a price tag of 50 million pounds labelled against his name : what exactly has he achieved to deserve that? Of what I've seen of him he's self-centred, lazy to hustle the opposition to regain the ball, reluctant to track back, often attempts too much when he does get the ball( reminiscent of the Cristiano Ronaldo of old) and generally has no effect on the team when the team itself plays poorly. When United went down to 10 men, he suddenly appeared from the shadows and began to play, just as Bayern began to keep the ball better! Until then you wouldn't have known that he was the hottest talent produced by France after Zidane! Ultimately, it's big occasions where the big players step up...I have not seen Ribery do that, and for that matter, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, barring his 2 goals vs Arsenal, comes on that list as well! The World Cup might give him the platform to do just that however, with an uninspiring French side led by a national hate figure of a manager, but until then, his greatness will remain in his mind, and he will always be the pretender to the throne upon which Messi is seated today!

I cannot see Bayern winning the Champions' League Trophy. They're patient, and they wait for their opportunities, but against Barcelona or Inter they won't get many. United have lost themselves an assured 3rd consecutive final appearance!

Top DROGS Again!

The doubters came, and the doubters were proved wrong! After the meek surrender to Inter Milan in the UCL Round of 16 and the barrage of criticism following the complacent draw at Blackburn, the Chelsea squad proved how tough they are!

After comments flew in left and right that this team lacks energy, lacks creativity, has no spark, lacks the pace and the hunger to to handle a title run in, they bounce back with 3 wins on the trot. 5-0 vs. portsmouth, 7-1 vs aston villa (the tightest defence in the league according to stats until then) and finally a well deserved 2-1 victory against reigning champions Manchester United at Old Trafford!

The 1st half seemed like almost a play-by-play of United's defeat to Bayern. Chelsea kept the ball and just didn't let United near it. They frustrated them by stringing together 20-30 passes in each move and movi ng from side to side. Malouda continued his incredible form and Joe Cole seemed to be newly confident after a few good recent performances, and the 2 combined to give
Chelsea a deserved lead after a delightful flick by Cole left Van der Sar beaten all ends up. Two penalty appeals arrived, both of which should've been given and on the basis of which Gary Neville should've had a yellow card, and since he picked up a yellow card around the 60th minute as well, United should've been a man down.

Irrespective, United came out of the tunnel fighting. They made the game much more interesting in the 2nd half, threatening from the wings in particular as Valencia broke into space countless time but was under sustained pressure and produced few truly magical crosses! United kept pushing forward, but more than skill or flair, they played more with a steely determination, fighting to scrape through with a draw. When Drogba came on, his 2nd touch of the ball yielded a goal! Although Drogba was clearly offside, the linesman for some reason didn't raise his flag. The finish from Drogba though, was exceptional! Shocking yes, but as United scored only minutes later with a scrappy goal that came off Federico Macheda's chest and then his arm, the referreing errors seemed to even themselves out. Inspite of the great lift that United must have felt following that goal, they still failed to set up camp in the Chelsea half, and Chelsea maintained their composure and weathered the storm to pick up a much deserved win!

5 games to go....2 points ahead....4 goals ahead on goal difference....and the Blues March On!

Football at its Best!

The Arsenal-Barcelona showdown in Champions' League quarterfinals proved as mouthwatering as predicted. Prior to the game, I felt Arsenal would sneak a 2-1 win given that it was at the Emirates and Barcelona weren't the kind of team to sit back and defend simply because it was an away leg.

As it turned out, the first half was an exhibition of why Barcelona are the most feared team in the world. The first 25 minutes saw the ball trapped in the Arsenal half of the field, with wave after wave of Barcelona attack baring down on poor Manuel Almunia. To his credit, he stood his ground as Barcelona tortured the Arsenal defence, creating chance after chance for Ibrahimovic and Xavi to give Barca the lead. He pulled off some magnificent blocks to deny Barca what should've been a 3 goal lead on the basis of the play. Arsenal started to get the ball back a bit near the end of the half, but created absolutely nothing, giving possession away at the Emirates, a place where visitors usually suffer the fate they seemed destined for that night. Barcelona, undeservedly, went into the break level at 0-0.

The beginning of the second half saw Arsenal's luck finally run out, as Ibrahimovic poached two stunning goals to give Barca a deserved lead. At that stage, it seemed game, set and match in this quarterfinal tie, as Arsenal would need nothing less than a miracle at the Nou Camp to march on. Until the half hour mark, it seemed Barca would only extend their lead. But with the introduction of Walcott, Arsenal came alive. Walcott's simmering pace finally gave the Barcelona defence something to fear. A glorious heading chance was spurned by Bendtner as Valdes parried, but Walcott himself prevailed eventually, whisking past dani alves on the wing and making a beeline for Valdes' goal, before stabbing the ball home as the keeper came out to stop him. It was the first direct piece of football Arsenal had pulled off the entire night, with their passing game blown away by Barcelona's selfish ball possession. Arsenal fought back, and even though Barca still created chances and controlled most of the possession, an 80th minute penalty scored by captain courageous Cesc Fabregas tied the match at 2-2.

Given that Barca are level on aggregate, the 2 away goals may prove a decisive advantage, but Arsenal will take heart from their fightback and may dream of eliminating the World Champions if luck goes their way at the Nou Camp. Next Tuesday, all I know is that another spectacle awaits!

Game ON !

To be very honest, I'm loving this season of the Champions' League. Yes, Chelsea are out and that still hurts, but that now allows me to view the remainder of the competition as first and foremost a football fan. This year's edition has been the most exciting in several years! It seems that finally, the romance is back, and that the giants of Italian and German football are performing to their potential rather than meekly surrendering to the English and Spanish! The quarterfinals this time around feature only 1 Spanish side, Barcelona ( though arguably the best in the world ) and 2 English sides, Arsenal and Manchester United, along with 2 French, 1 Italian, 1 German and 1 Russian outfit. Granted Michel Platini's vision for European football aims to promote teams from other regions , the likes of Scotland, Portugal, Austria, Turkey reaching the quarterfinals, but this is at the very least a great first step!

I am loving the unpredictability of this tournament! Liverpool have been rank amateur all season and unlike in previous seasons where they struggled for 4th in the league but still prevailed in Europe, this year their European pedigree matched their Premiership pedigree! To be dumped out at the group stages is a scenario Benitez wouldn't have rehearsed for too often. Real Madrid succumbed in the last 16 to Lyon, scoring only once over 2 legs, inspite of the array of world-class attacking talent at their disposal, to go 2-1 down on aggregate. Madrid still need to gel as a team, and watching them play, you would agree that unlike in other teams, the stars in that side take away each others' space, rather than creating space for each other! Lyon were regular contenders at the last 16 a couple of years ago, but seemed to go downhill, losing ground not only in Europe but also domestically. With Bordeaux also in the quarters, the signs for French football are promising! Inter Milan dumped out Chelsea, though this tie might have turned out differently if Chelsea had taken their chances in the first leg or been lucky with a couple of penalty decisions in either leg. Either ways, one can't deny that Inter's performance at Stamford Bridge was superlative. They rugby tackled Drogba to oblivion, body-blocked every single shot on goal, broke the flow of the game, and in Sneijder, they had an in-form passing machine. Sneijder did not get possession often given how fractured play had become, but he seemed to find Milito and E'too at will as they ran and got behind the Chelsea back four. If Milito had timed his runs better and not been caught offside nearly 4-5 times, this match would've been over by the 60th minute. Before the tie, not many would've voted Inter as favourites to go through, but they did!

Last night, the surprises continued. Manchester United put in arguably their worst performance of the season against Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena. Their play lacked pace, their passing was horrible, and they couldn't keep the ball for more than 5 seconds. An early free kick and a slip by Demichelis gave them a fortunate lead, but Bayern pressed all night, and Van der Sar was kept busy throughout while Hans Jorg-Butt probably fell asleep at the other end. That said, Bayern's attack was hardly effective, and even though they passed the ball well, their final balls always seemed to go awry. That changed with a bit of luck from Ribery's free kick deflecting off Rooney into the back of the net. Rooney himself was a lonely figure, isolated up front with his midfield thoroughly outclassed all night! And 2 minutes into injury time, eerily reminiscent of the night at the Nou Camp in the 1999 Champions League final, Bayern righted a wrong and this time BROKE United hearts as Olic robbed Evra and shot past Van der Sar to make it 2-1. Truth be told, Van der Sar was probably the only United player on the pitch who played upto even half his usual ability. Shocking for a side in rich vein of form, having won their last 7. Bayern got little more than they deserved, but the 2nd leg at Old Trafford will still be a challenge. At the very least, Bayern have an equal chance now though, since United have no option but to look to score and settle the match early. But this Bayern side was without Arjen Robben and Bastian Schweinsteiger, and both Ribery and Mario Gomes were carrying injuries. The return leg will feature a much stronger side that will be a whole lot more effective and innovative in attack! United have only themselves to blame for backing themselves into a hole, though most, including me, still believe they will get out of it! For now though, it's Game ON!