Nidhu Bhusan Das :
He is unlike others in the game – the unique Rahul Dravid, silent, determined, and a man with sense of proportion. He has all the rare qualities of head and heart. He has shown the world where to end a journey although he might have in the realms of thought reverberation of the Whitmanian refrain: ‘I have miles to go before I sleep.’
Rahul bade adieu to cricket while in form after 16 years in international turf, as did the soccer wizard Pele. At 39, Rahul is a wise man. He is driven by the call of heart and mind, not by commercial calculations though he has a degree in commerce from St. Joseph’s College of Commerce, Bangalore. In his valedictory statement he says: ‘… it wasn’t a difficult decision for me (to retire) because I just knew in my heart that the time was right, and I was very happy and comfortable in what I had achieved and what I had done.’ It is a sincere outpouring of a man who has admirers but not slogan chanting fans demanding of the cricket administration the space for their hero to perpetuate his career. He had no drummers to drum up his achievements. He stepped down as Captain of India on his own when he found that the job of the skipper was costly for him as a batsman.
He ends the statement thus: ‘My approach to cricket has been reasonably simple: it was about upholding the spirit of the game. I hope I have done some of that. I have failed at times, but I have never stopped trying. It is why I leave with sadness but also with pride.’ This is where lies the humility of a man who could walk out of the game with the head held high. He has the reason to be proud. However, he has never had the air of vanity. He has all the qualities of a gentleman, and the best of them may be his being self-effacing even after scoring a double century or steering the team to victory out of a possible debacle. So, when he would be on the crease or on the outfield he had the ‘reassuring presence’ for India. Anil Kumble, another gentleman cricketer of the past .called Dravid one of Karnataka’s ‘finest cricketing sons’ while BCCI president N. Srinivasan dubbed him as an ‘irreplaceable’ cricketer. This is a great tribute to Dravid who has been popular as ‘The Wall of Indian cricket’.
The second highest scorer in the history of Test Cricket, Dravid could be the last of India’s classical Test batsman. He successfully straddled the old school in the new age.
In sports statistics plays a role in determining success of a player. But it is not all. Only statistics cannot assess the greatness of Pele, Mohammad Ali Clay, Bjorn Borg et al. Sportsmanship is also very important.Dravid displayed that both on-field and off-field. He represents the southern sense of humility and personality that makes a great hero, erect, determined, and contented sans vanity. An innate sense of style and self-confidence go hand in hand to make his personality.
Change is a Fact in West Bengal
Nidhu Bhusan Das :
That a significant and irreversible political change has occurred in West Bengal through the assembly polls of 2011 is a settled fact. The effect of the change is likely to be far reaching despite the fact that the ruling party shows certain tendencies typical of the three-and-a half-decade rule of the Marxists holding the umbrella of a Left Front. These disturbing tendencies will continue because of the moral degradation encouraged and accelerated during the Marxist dispensation for perpetuation of power. The new rulers have the toughest challenge ahead to reverse the process and bring back the moral strength and usher in an era of moral regeneration.
The statement that the change is irreversible is based on the facts of history. The French Revolution of the eighteenth century was followed by the infamous ‘Reign of Terror’ which caused disillusionment among many sympathizers but that could not take France back to the period that preceded and created the objective condition for the revolution to come about. Harold Bloom in his essay ‘Prometheus Rising’ written for a preface to his book ‘The Visionary Company’ observes:’in the semi-apocalyptic dawn of the French Revolution, it really did seem that a renovated universe was possible – that life could never again be what it had been. It is not very easy now for any of us to summon up the fervor of that moment, through whatever leap of historical imagination. We have no real analogue to it as a universal psychic shock that at first promised liberation from everything bad in the past. The Russian Revolution, even if it were not now almost as historically remote from us as the French, would not be the adequate analogue, for it took place in a world already suffering through a war. He French Revolution was, in its day, a new kind of ideological revolution – hence the terror it aroused in its opponents, and the hope in its sympathizers.’
Monarchy did not return to French despite the disillusionment that followed the Reign of Terror. The fruit of the Russian Revolution staled and yielded place to capitalism, an anathema to socialism which the revolution promised. Another country of socialist revolution China has opted for market economy.
Red rule of Stalinist hue that left skeletons of dissenters buried is unlikely to be reinstated in the state even if the present government fails to deliver and reverse the process of silencing dissent and allow terror-for-democracy to continue. Mamata Banerjee, who played the catalyst for change is faced with a Hobson’s choice- she has to toe the line of Congress, the senior partner in the ruling UPA at the centre in it’s economic policy which often goes counter to her views, or to have her own way of economic regeneration of the state with innovative measures difficult to find out and implement where degraded morality engendered corruptions of every kind and enlightened thinking appears to be a rarity.
The hangover of the monolithic rule of the Marxists is likely to continue for a considerable time given the fact that the bureaucracy and the political establishments, by and large, shorn of positive thinking and new ideas, tend to be regressive and talkative. Distortion of fact and lies appear to be their stock-in –trade. In such a desert it is not easy to lay out a meadow. Only a strong will and honest purpose coupled with an appropriate plan to rejuvenate the economy creating suitable infrastructure can help. The assiduous endeavour to implement the central schemes like the National Rural Employment Guarantee (NREG) can help a lot to ameliorate the sufferings of the people in rural Bengal. The law and order situation is to be improved a lot to help people live in peace in rural areas where terror-for democracy is said to be more in place than in the urban centres. Skeletons were found in rural Bengal, not in urban West Bengal where media focus deters such methods of political subjugation. Mamata can win the battle against corruptions and overcome odds if she is able cobble up a dedicated and honest team of elected representatives and, side by side, a team of honest party workers and leaders at every level to watch and monitor the implementation of welfare and development projects. The momentous moment came when the people scripted for her a landslide victory in the assembly elections. Now it is her turn to deliver. She can inspire hope in the people if she keeps at bay sycophants, corrupt party men and cease to make comment when it is avoidable and advisable.
That a significant and irreversible political change has occurred in West Bengal through the assembly polls of 2011 is a settled fact. The effect of the change is likely to be far reaching despite the fact that the ruling party shows certain tendencies typical of the three-and-a half-decade rule of the Marxists holding the umbrella of a Left Front. These disturbing tendencies will continue because of the moral degradation encouraged and accelerated during the Marxist dispensation for perpetuation of power. The new rulers have the toughest challenge ahead to reverse the process and bring back the moral strength and usher in an era of moral regeneration.
The statement that the change is irreversible is based on the facts of history. The French Revolution of the eighteenth century was followed by the infamous ‘Reign of Terror’ which caused disillusionment among many sympathizers but that could not take France back to the period that preceded and created the objective condition for the revolution to come about. Harold Bloom in his essay ‘Prometheus Rising’ written for a preface to his book ‘The Visionary Company’ observes:’in the semi-apocalyptic dawn of the French Revolution, it really did seem that a renovated universe was possible – that life could never again be what it had been. It is not very easy now for any of us to summon up the fervor of that moment, through whatever leap of historical imagination. We have no real analogue to it as a universal psychic shock that at first promised liberation from everything bad in the past. The Russian Revolution, even if it were not now almost as historically remote from us as the French, would not be the adequate analogue, for it took place in a world already suffering through a war. He French Revolution was, in its day, a new kind of ideological revolution – hence the terror it aroused in its opponents, and the hope in its sympathizers.’
Monarchy did not return to French despite the disillusionment that followed the Reign of Terror. The fruit of the Russian Revolution staled and yielded place to capitalism, an anathema to socialism which the revolution promised. Another country of socialist revolution China has opted for market economy.
Red rule of Stalinist hue that left skeletons of dissenters buried is unlikely to be reinstated in the state even if the present government fails to deliver and reverse the process of silencing dissent and allow terror-for-democracy to continue. Mamata Banerjee, who played the catalyst for change is faced with a Hobson’s choice- she has to toe the line of Congress, the senior partner in the ruling UPA at the centre in it’s economic policy which often goes counter to her views, or to have her own way of economic regeneration of the state with innovative measures difficult to find out and implement where degraded morality engendered corruptions of every kind and enlightened thinking appears to be a rarity.
The hangover of the monolithic rule of the Marxists is likely to continue for a considerable time given the fact that the bureaucracy and the political establishments, by and large, shorn of positive thinking and new ideas, tend to be regressive and talkative. Distortion of fact and lies appear to be their stock-in –trade. In such a desert it is not easy to lay out a meadow. Only a strong will and honest purpose coupled with an appropriate plan to rejuvenate the economy creating suitable infrastructure can help. The assiduous endeavour to implement the central schemes like the National Rural Employment Guarantee (NREG) can help a lot to ameliorate the sufferings of the people in rural Bengal. The law and order situation is to be improved a lot to help people live in peace in rural areas where terror-for democracy is said to be more in place than in the urban centres. Skeletons were found in rural Bengal, not in urban West Bengal where media focus deters such methods of political subjugation. Mamata can win the battle against corruptions and overcome odds if she is able cobble up a dedicated and honest team of elected representatives and, side by side, a team of honest party workers and leaders at every level to watch and monitor the implementation of welfare and development projects. The momentous moment came when the people scripted for her a landslide victory in the assembly elections. Now it is her turn to deliver. She can inspire hope in the people if she keeps at bay sycophants, corrupt party men and cease to make comment when it is avoidable and advisable.
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