Get a Life, Mr Procter

Now that Harbhajan Singh has been absolved of racism charges, one question begs to be answered: Shouldn’t Procter be tried for being hasty in making the decision of branding Harbhajan a racist?

Here’s the transcript of the conversation that took place in the middle that day:

Symonds: We don’t need it, do it to your teammates (on Harbhajan patting Brett Lee on his back with his bat)

Harbhajan: Audio inaudible

Symonds: Don’t yell, go and yell at your teammates

Harbhajan: Audio inaudible

Symonds: (First part inaudible) what monkey, big monkey, you don’t know what you’ve said.

Hayden: You know this is a S*** word, this is racial vilification. This is the second time you’re doing this

Hayden: You don’t know what you have done.

Harbhajan: Audio inaudible

(Audio inaudible when Sachin tries to calm things down)

Ponting to Harbhajan: (First part inaudible) You have had it, you’ve had it, mate!

Harbhajan to Ponting: He started it, not me.

(Audio inaudible when Ponting goes to Bucknor)

(Audio inaudible when Benson is talking to Harbhajan. Lip movement suggests Benson saying, “Did you say it?”)

Harbhajan: (Audio inaudible but lip movement suggests) “No, no, I didn’t say that, I didn’t say anything.”

If this evidence ‘convinced’ Procter that Harbhajan called Symonds a Monkey that too with the sole intention of being racist, then god help his future bakras.

The next person who needs to be questioned is Symonds. Why did feel so offended when Bhajji patted Lee on the backside? Ottayan sums it up for me:

…tell me mate, what bothers you if Harbhajan pats Lee on his backside? Are you sticking it up there?

Hehehe..

How Much for a Kidney?

A few days back the Haryana Police busted the illegal Kidney racket run by Anil Kumar of Gurgaon. The dude had been doing this for ages and also has two hospitals in Gurgaon. Most of his clients are foreigners looking for cheap Kidney transplants. The news is that he has used his contacts to get away from the country. Irrespective of whether they find him or not, though, one thing this issue has clearly proved is that it’s high time organ trade was legalised in India. That, in my opinion is the best way to protect the interest of the donors who otherwise get duped by thugs like Anil Kumar.

Most of these donors are poor, uneducated people. Nothing wrong with earning money. After all, if someone can donate (read sell) blood, why not other organs, as long as they are not being forced to do it? It’s for the government to make sure that their interest is protected. If done properly, legalising organ trade would actually make sure that many needy people will find the right donor and would not have to use the wrong means. It would also remove the incentives for crooks, who rely on misinformation and fear to buy organs at lower costs and sell at higher costs. Market fores will make sure that everyone is kept honest.

It’s very encouraging to see the government make a start on this. Anbumani Ramadoss, Union Health Minister, has announced the setting up of 10 replicas of the Organ Retrieval Banking Organisation at AIIMS. This is a good first step, but has to be followed by leagalisation of organ trade sooner or later. The Transplantation of Human Organs Bill of 1994 has proved to be useless in curbing the menace of illegal organ trade and needs to be scrapped urgently. It is not surprising that demand for organs is high even in developed nations like US which banned organ trade as far back as 1984. Economic development does not eliminate myopia.

For success stories on legal organ trade, we need to look eastwards, more precisely at Iran. The country has legalised Kidney trade and is doing wonderfully well with its programme. An article from 2002 in Frontline looks at this phenomenon:

In a country where brain-stem death is not recognised by law, the system has virtually eliminated recipient waiting lists. Members of the CFSD have claimed that the regulated system is a “new chapter in the world’s transplantation history,”…

That, of course is just one side of it, as pointed out by the article. Donors have faced severe backlash at the work front where they have had to leave their job as they weren’t fit enough. That’s where the role of the government becomes so important.

History has proved that banning the trade of a good has not stopped the trade, it has merely taken the trade underground. Remember prohibition of liquor in Andhra Pradesh. People did not stop drinking because of the prohibition, they found new ways of doing it right under the governments nose without being caught. Gujarat is supposed to be a ‘dry state’. But it’s a well known fact that not only do buyers of liquor exist in Gujarat, the industry is actually doing quite well.

Related link: Organ Trade, a US-based NGO that tracks “the global traffic in human organs.”

Remembering 2nd Lieutenant Arun Khetarpal

“No Sir, I will not abandon my tank. My gun is still working and I will get these bastards.”

On the occasion of India’s republic day, let me share with you one of the most endearing acts of bravado that, every time I read it, fills me with a sense of pride that is unmatched. The hero I am talking about is 2nd Lieutenant Arun Khetarpal, who was awarded India’s highest wartime gallantry medal, The Param Vir Chakra, posthumously. He was 22 years old.

The story below narrates what happened in Pakistan when Arun Kherapal’s father, Brigadier M.L. Khetarpal, visited the country; almost 30 years after his son achieved martyrdom in the Shakargarh Sector during the 1971 war.

The Commander of the Pakistan tank battalion is said to have met the Indian battalion commander after the battle and make enquiries about 2nd Lieutenant Khetarpal’s tank since he was very impressed with the gallantry of 2nd Lieutenant Khetarpal. In 2001 Arun’s Father decided to go on a visit to Pakistan to see his ancestral place. A Pakistani brigadier named Khawja Mohammad Naser, acted as a host & took proper care of Mr M L Khetarpal. Just a fortnight before his departure to India, Mr Khetarpal got aware of his host’s past. Major Nasir like a true soldier mentioned what happened on that faithfull day between him & Arun in the following words “‘Sir there is something that I wanted to tell you for many years but I did not know how to get through to you. Finallyfate has intervened and sent you to me as an honoured guest. . However on that fateful day, your son and I were soldiers, unknown to one another, fighting for the respect and safety of our respective countries. I regret to tell you that your son died in my hands. Arun’s courage was exemplary and he moved his tank with fearless courage and daring, totally unconcerned about his safety. Tank casualties were very high till finally there were just two of us left facing one another. We both fired simultaneously… it was destined that I was to live and he was to die.

It is only later that I got to know how young he was and who he was. We are trained to fight and kill without mercy or remorse. We do in war what we have to without thinking too much about it. However we are humans too and sometimes war takes a personal turn and makes an impact on the inner self.”

Though M L khetarpal didn’t say anything, but when they left they took photographs and even mentioned it was him who wanted to meet him personally after the war, but Mr Khetarpal was not interested. However after reaching Delhi, Mr Khetarpal, received the photograph with the words of bravery from Major Nasir.

The full account of 2nd Lieutenant Arun Khetarpal’s Battle of Basantsar is available here on the Indian Army’s website. Read it.

Be Very Worried

“I love the spotlight. The Aussies should be worried I am coming.”
[...]
“Sreesanth’s way is to be aggressive. Sreesanth will always remain Sreesanth.”

That’s the man talking to Cricinfo’s Sriram Veera.

I don’t know who should be more worried, the Aussies or MS Dhoni? Don’t get me wrong here, I think the guy is super-talented and always wanted him to be playing the tests. But statements like these don’t quite inspire any confidence.

He later adds:

“What’s the worst that can happen? Six sixes? I can always come back next over. All I need is just one ball to get him [the batsman] out.”

The worse that can happen is that the team loses the match because of your stupidity. But looks like that is the last thing on his mind.

Do I here the Aussies smacking their lips?

Just Read: The Reluctant Fundamentalist

I had bought this book along with Measuring the World about a month or so back. Since then it has been through two borrowers (Santhosh and Sridevi) and finally reached me on Monday. I had read good reviews for the book and was looking forward to have a read. Suffice it to say, I was not disappointed.

It’s a small novel (184 pages), so, I could finish it in three sittings–of roughly 2.5 hours each–flat.

The first thing that catches your attention, and requires you make an adjustment of sorts, is the first person narration that the author, Mohsin Hamid, employs. He narrates his story to a stranger from whom we never hear. The story unfolds at a dusky Lahore restaurant on a spring evening. the stranger is an American, so the connection between his past and present is quite obvious.

Hamid moves back and forth into his life in America and the stranger in front of Changez, the protagonist, with great ease. Although some times I thought it stopped the flow, in retrospect I see that it was quite needed that he talked to the stranger. Every time he went back to his life in America, though, I felt as if I, the reader, was the stranger himself.

Particularly delightful reading were the descriptions of life back in Pakistan. Like when Changez says to the stranger:

It is remarkable, I must say, how being in Pakistan heightens one’s sensitivity to the sight of a woman’s body…It is the effect of scarcity; one’s rules of propriety make one thirst for the improper.

Another aspect of Hamid’s writing that catches attention is the frequent italicising of words. Such words appear sprinkled benevolently and at times look very unusual. Like here: “He had a penchant for quoting lines from popular cinema, much as my mother quoted th poems of Faiz and Ghalib. But I suspect Wainwright made this particular allusion to Star Wars mostly in jest….” Notice that Star Wars is in italics but Faiz and Ghalib aren’t. Also, consider this line: “But why do you recoil? Ah yes, this beggar is a particularly unfortunate fellow. One can only wonder what series of accidents could have left him so thoroughly disfigured.” If you were disfigured, it mostly had to be because of an accident or tow. If the beggar was born disfigured, then why use the plural? May be I am reading too much into it, but I did find it very peculiar.

And finally, I must admit that I never could identify more with the protagonist of a book than Changez. Several parts of his life looked so familiar, especially the girl in his life, Erica.

Image courtesy: The Hindu