Corona: A Curse on Migrant Workers

 

It has been months the whole world has been grappling with coronavirus. It has dented very effort put up by the mighty countries. In the global scenario, each and every country does their part helping each other during this paranoid time, from China sending PPEs and masks, to India sending hydroxychloroquine tablets (the most sought-after drugs to fight COVID-19 before the real drug is available) to all over the world, to most importantly Mr. Trump (I won’t say the United States) threatening China whenever he regains sense of his mishandling of COVID-19 in his country and the WHO for taking side with China. He is relentless in finding scapegoat over his inability to tackle the pandemic. Because of his oversight, the common people are paying the price. More than 200,000 people died so far in the United States, which accounts for one-fifths of the whole world’s casualties. Every day the news are awash of accusations and admonishment. But this will not turn the tide in favour of anyone. This is not the time of pointing finger to others, but time to help each other and work together bringing out all the expertise for the eventual removal of the virus. By now, COVID-19 has not spared the world over, with the exception of North Korea. Despite being located between China and South Korea, it remains and will remain a mystery how they manage to stay away from coronavirus.  As of writing this, COVID-19 has travelled the length and breadth both in India and in the whole world. It is all-pervasive. It has shifted its epicentre from one continent to another; first from Asia to Europe, to North America, to South America, and now back to Asia (this time in India). We have witnessed many countries especially developed countries inclining towards nationalism, protectionism, and nativism in the recent time. They will become more conspicuous in the coming years. But at the end of the day, it will not last forever as global issues like COVID-19, climate change, hunger, and global warming need concerted efforts. The whole world is racing against time to develop vaccines, but it won’t happen before a year. This time, it will be for the global public good. Whoever country makes the first vaccine will share the know-how to the rest of the world. For the first time in 20 years, global extreme poverty is expected to rise due to disruption caused by pandemic. Are we in a losing battle? No, we will emerge victorious. We have the resilience to come out from this darkest hour.

 

COVID-19 in India

 

Just like other countries, corona has given untold misery to India also. It has completely flattened our GDP. Keeping in mind the severity of COVID-19, India has taken up measures at the very early stage to stop the spread of disease. The country was imposed lockdown when we had fewer than 100 cases. Children have not gone to school for a long time. Lockdown after lockdown, but the positive end of the pandemic is not on the sight. Because of increasing case profile despite lockdown, this lockdown will remain work-in-progress project which is dragging so long and will go on till 2021. As of now, more than 90,000 new cases added every day, with over 1,000 deaths daily. If the trend continues, we will soon overtake USA for the No. 1 spot for both infected cases and death toll. More than 1 lakh already died from COVID-19 in India and the total cases already crossed 70 lakh.  Life has come to a complete halt. Who could have imagined cities like Delhi, Mumbai, and Bangalore will bear a complete deserted look. We saw such thing only in Hollywood zombie movies.

The devil wears lockdown and unleashes untold misery to the poor migrant workers

 

Although we have imposed total lockdown in the country when there were fewer than 100 COVID-19 cases, a week of lockdown has brutally exposed the callousness and indifference to the reality of India’s informal workers. The Prime Minister’s 8 pm total lockdown announcement was not accompanied by proper and necessary relief measures. What could possibly have been the reason for the Prime Minister to give only 4 hours’ notice for the lockdown? Because of this unscientific lockdown and callousness of the state, the migrant workers are undergoing clumsy, unexpected stinging pain. With each passing day, life has become increasingly difficult for them. They are living in the constant state of fear for their life. They were in a precarious condition. The panic that was created exacerbated and the prospect of dying out of hunger became clearer each passing day. Stranded without any guarantee for food and shelter, migrant workers became very weak and mentally ravaged; they decided to walk home. This homecoming is the last resort to stay alive, but this is not a one-day journey. Some will walk over 1,000 kilometres to reach home. They braved rain and heat. Many could not make home; many died in accidents. Everyone who returns home has the same tale to tell – hunger and fear of death.

 

There were so many heart-breaking stories – 16 persons were killed when a train run over them while they were sleeping on train track; the video of an infant playfully tugging at the sheet that covers his dead mother at Muzzafurfur Railway station in Bihar; a young girl returning from Telangana to Jharkhand died just one hour to go before reaching her home; a father of four from Bihar who returned from Delhi to Bihar by cycle with his friends killed by speeding car in Lucknow; a migrant woman giving birth to a baby on the roadside and then walked another 150 kms after taking rest for 2 hours. Such stories of tragedy are endless. Migrant workers from Orissa pooled money to buy waterboat and braved the five-day journey in sea to reach their home from Chennai. At least five such waterboats reached Orissa from Chennai. Thousands of migrant workers are returning to states like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and Madhya Pradesh. The centre’s turn down of opposition’s extension of help to ferry migrant workers is pure political gimmicks. UP govt has rejected Rajasthan govt’s offer to ferry workers when thousands are walking hungry on roads. Not less than 3 crore migrant workers have returned home. This reverse migration will put severe strain to origin states.

 

Small traders and entrepreneurs witness a sharp fall in income, a large number of workers in the organized sectors are facing salary cut and job loss, and farmers are facing difficulty to sale their produce even at MSP. Migrant workers are the most vulnerable section of the informal sector, which accounts for 80% of non-agricultural employment. They are most vulnerable because they don’t have social protection, nor do they have health care benefit that other salaried group enjoys. Cooks, cleaners, delivery boys, factory workers, construction workers, painters, etc. form majority of migrant workers. Migrant workers were in the middle of cross-fire when the center and states are passing buck over each other for the train fares, let alone the center’s advisory to the states to take care of food and accommodation of migrant workers during lockdown. Few days after the lockdown, defying all social distancing rules thousands of migrants gathered at Anand Vihar bus terminal in Ghaziabad only to find that the news of arranging 1,000 buses to ferry the migrants to their respective home states was false. This is a real insult to the helpless migrants.

 

Prosperity of our nation will come from equality and education, not from the pursuit of more and more inequality. Our migrant workers should be empowered to shine through. It is very disheartening to rob off their right to be heard and express their worth. Stimulus package of 20 lakh crore announced by the Finance Minister is a big welcome. Now, we need to turn this to reality that the MSMEs will continue operating. MSMEs, the largest employers of industrial workers, is the hardest hit. The small businesses are the places where most migrant workers from rural India work.

 

It is no wonder that most not well-thought-out plans are characterized by omission of humane side of the story. Any plan that places human misery at the backstage will have serious repercussion.  The death of migrant workers due to failure of state machinery is nothing less than the systematic extermination of individuals in detention centers. This conduct amounts to committing crime against humanity. In a world that has shown them only prejudice and heartbreak, the poor never succumb to bitterness. They bear all the pain they are going through silently and continuously stand up. But the institution and corruption keep dragging them in the vicious cycle of poverty. People are dying; inequality soaring. Everyone has aspiration for upward social mobility. If they are deprived of their legitimate rights every time, one day when things have become increasingly oppressive, they will definitely stand up and fight the obvious injustice of the system, and create mayhem which will be difficult to contain—a storm that will take much more to get through. Remember the Arab Spring and the Yellow Protest in the Western countries. Lifting up a few and pushing down the majority will drag all of us down.

 

LET’S NOT FORGET: UNITED WE STAND, DIVIDED WE FALL.

Corona: Mother Nature’s Message to Humanity

Donning your magnificent crown

You set out to build an empire,

An empire too big that no emperor ever built before.

From your humble abode of Wuhan

You have travelled far and wide,

Conquered the whole world in months.

Even the British Empire where sun never set

Has become so tiny.

The mighty British, Persians, Romans and Spaniards

Bow to the ground and surrender without any protest.

Despite the most advanced technology at our arsenal,

You have brought all the mighty to their knees.

Your origin still unknown,

You cast intolerance and racism among nations.

Your atrocities all-pervasive,

Your reign of terror omnipresent,

The whole world gripped by your juggernaut;

You are the king of the kings,

The emperor of the emperors.

Many fell victims to your wrath,

Thousands bade farewell to their loved ones,

Brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers, and relatives,

Lying inside a serpentine queues of coffins,

Piling up to erect the mound of dead;

And many more are lying in hospital beds,

Hospital walls reverberated with moans and sobs

Life hovering in uncertainty between death and life.

Your lockdown has brought untold misery to us.

With not guarantee of food and shelter for many poor,

Thousands brave relentless summer heat and rain,
Walking thousands of miles to be with the family;

Many have died mid-way

From starvation, deprivation, and scorching heat.

Story of unrelenting tragedy all around,

The world is engulfed with innumerable personal tragedies.

Very quiet and tranquil,

You made the whole world kneel before you.

The whole earth has gone to perpetual deep sleep,

There is only fear on the earth,

Fear and panic let loose on the earth,

Nothing left on the earth but fear,

Horror, heartbreak, and panic all around.

The cloud of uncertainty hovering,

Humanity has become so alienated and moribund.

We are looking up at the sky for magic healing;

The stars and moons are laughing at us.

Everything is in standstill and all work halted,

Only your casualties grow to staggering numbers each day.

Our heroes are fighting with splendid heroism,

But they are only fighting with the invisible force.

While humanity is grieving

And living every moment in fear,

Oh, Mother Nature, you are all smiling and glowing.

Your pale and dull look disappeared,

The dust that masks your beauty is gone,

Your glow has become increasingly brighter,

Your beauty so captivating,

All the beholders enthralled and seduced.

What a repercussion!

Now you have gifted this mask to us

And it has become our new fashion.

The sky is blue, the air is clean,

Can see gleaming snows of the Himalayas from afar,

The trees glitter with fresh green leaves,

The scent of flowers travels long distance,

Birds are chirping and signing in glory,

Toxics-liberated rivers are flowing again with full vigour,

Everyone is singing and dancing,

Only humans are in sombre mood.

We are dreadfully silent now,

Our life so terrifying and unsettling.

The marching of hundred thousand hurry feet

Echoing down the busy street,

The hustle and bustle of city,

The noise of honking vehicle and train,

All become dead silent and deserted;

Everyone is celebrating the beauty of Nature.

Forests, rivers, oceans, moon, stars, and Sun,

All conspiring to punish us,

Seeking avenge for our cruelty and callousness.

Blinded by greed and folly,

We extracted all the natural resources

By all of us, for all of us,

Ravaged forests and cut trees with impunity,

Pollute lake and oceans,

Choking rivers and polluting skies,

Spewing intolerable cruelty and unforgivable exploitation,

Human folly transcends borders.

A constellation of problems we created;

In a place where everyone lived in harmony,

Humans greed prevailed over peaceful co-existence

Between humans, non-humans and nature;

We have become so habituated

That we give no attention to the suffering of others.

Even in anger, you can’t hide your love for humanity,

Your punishment comes with a precious gift,

The long-deprived time together with family.

In the race of competition and livelihood,

We all forgot our family;

TV and mobiles have become

Closest friends, father and mother of our children.

Oh, Mother Nature!

We always ignore your warning;

You sent Ebola, swine flu, Nipah

When we infiltrated your territory

And disregard the distance between us.

Now, you have taught us the lesson

And we have learnt it.

Please give us a chance to amend our past wrongs;

Please show us a ray across this storm-torn ocean.

The night seems long,

Dispel the cloud of fear,

Let the sorrow and despair sink away,

Let the magic healing save humanity.

Movies Promote Crimes Against Women and Racism in the Society

Whenever any crime against a woman is committed, the first person to be blamed is either the politician or the police. The film industry is hardly mentioned at all. From time to time, women’s right activists voice their concern over nudity/vulgar scenes and item numbers. But these item girls and villains who rape heroine or the protagonist’s sisters are not the role models of the masses.  What the hero does is what that stays long in our mind and that we imitate. Films promote the traditional male characters that are partly responsible for promoting sexual crimes against women. In every Bollywood films, we will see heroes pestering and stalking heroines, forcing unwanted attention to heroines. But they will end up getting the heroines, and the audiences are cheering and happy at that. That is the conventional Bollywood way for heroes to win heroines. Take any examples of blockbuster movies. In Deewana, Sharukh Khan, a spoilt son, was seen stalking the heroine, a widow. In Tere Naam, Salman Khan, a college dropout, was seen harassing and stalking the heroine, a college student. No one reacted and voiced against the heroes’ behavior toward heroines. Everyone was happy when their heroes won the heroines. Worst of all, in the movie Darr, Sharukh Khan was seen stalking and calling up the heroine late night in her home telephone all the time, tormenting the life of heroine, her fiancée, and her family members. At one point, she was suffering from acute depression. In spite of all villainous activities Sharukh portrayed, no one sided the protagonist Sunny Deol. It is the villain and women stalker Sharukh who got all the accolades and sympathy from audiences. Imagine Sharukh and Salman are the heartthrobs of millions of people, will they be able to think what their heroes are doing are wrong? Beware of this, because they are indeed heartthrobs and have huge fans following throughout the country. When the movie Fire was released, there were huge protests against the film demanding either to ban the film from running in theaters or delete the lesbian act between the two lead female protagonists. Ironically, the names of female protagonists in the movie were Radha and Sita, the name of Hindu deities. Imagine, if Sabhana Azmi and Nandita Das were heartthrobs for the country just like Salman and Sharukh, what message would they send and lesson they would teach to their die-hard fans? Our all-time favorite villains Ranjeet, Prem Chopra, and Gulson Grover each had almost hundred rape scenes in their filmi careers, but they failed to motivate the masses since it is heroes not them who are worshiped by the masses. What villains do in the film is not a threat to the society, but what heroes do does. We are not judgmental to what our heroes do. We cheer and glorify whatever they do. We believe whatever they do is right, and start applying in our life.

Imagine what lessons are taught by heroes in other states where heroes are worshiped as deities. I can’t comment much on other regional movies in other states, but I have clearly seen the transition in the behavior of youths and rising crimes in my state Manipur. We grew up watching Hindi films. We saw villains raping heroines, killing brothers for property dispute, killing brides for dowry, villains kidnapping heroines or heroes’ mothers or sisters for ransom. Although we watched these movies all the time, we never imitated or tried to imitate. We always believed that our culture is different from these. So we watched these as just films, and never tried to imitate what Hindi films showed to us nor influenced our mind. However, after the ban of Hindi films in Manipur, regional moves started becoming very popular. Now the erstwhile foreign culture shown in Hindi movies is no longer alien. Now we can relate these acts to our culture and society after seeing the same acts in our own regional films. Killing wives for dowry or other reasons was unknown to Manipuri society, and rape and molestation of women were unknown or happened very rarely. But today, we are not so lagging behind other states for such crimes. I believe the same is true in other states.  One easy way to get this fact right is to compare the crime rates between the U.S. (the home of Hollywood) versus other European countries.

Nirbhaya: A Yet Reminder of Rape Against Women in India

So much has been written and said about the brutal assault and rape of a young 23-year-old medical student Nirbhaya by six men. It is not that this incident is something new to our society. What is new is the solidarity and united voice “Enough is enough, it is time to awake.” Every rape and killing of women has always been a yet reminder of another brutal attack to women. How far can this go? Instead of trying to remember other such horrible instances of the past, let’s straight get into why the rapists are so emboldened to commit such crime over again and again, and how to control such menace from the society. First, let’s find out what is going in the mind of these rapists. Why are they so emboldened to commit such heinous crime? Although today girls perform better than boys in education and many fields, their mobility and socio-economic growth have been hampered by these treats and crimes against them. Now let’s us focus on two institutions that need immediate reforms. First and foremost, we need to have judicial and police reforms.

Judicial Reforms: Slow, low conviction rate, and lighter sentence embolden these criminals. It takes years to convict a rapist. Many rapists are moving freely in the street, uncaring of their conviction thinking there are hundreds of rape cases pending before them. Speedy, impartial, and efficient justice delivery is the need of the time. It is widely known that there are large vacancies of judges in both lower and high courts. Our judges are overstretched due to this. The lack of the number of judges and poor infrastructure such as the lack of computerization make the delivery of justice a snail pace. Until we have enough number of judges, the need of the time is computerization of our courts to achieve quick case disposal. We should seize the opportunities of information technology, such as video conferencing, for faster delivery of case. Considering the increasing number of criminal activities against women, the need of the time is to set up fast-track courts especially to address crimes against women. No any case should lay idle on the file for more than a month.

Police Reforms: Retired IPS officer and social activist Kiran Bedi had rightly stated that the unfortunate gangrape of Nirbhaya was an avoidable one if the basic law and order measures were implemented by the police. She went on to say that the worst is that the police escaped unpunished despite failing to do their duties, because their officers themselves either don’t know whats and whys of policing and governance or misplaced their priorities. What is more appalling is the victim’s male friend revelation that the police wasted more than half an hour over jurisdiction argument. Had the victim been rushed to a nearby hospital, she could have been survived. Before talking further of police reforms, we are better not to forget that just like judges, there are enormous vacancies of police personnel too. Our officers are overstretched. These unfilled posts and VIP security duties make an appalling ratio of 1 policeman for ordinary 760 ordinary citizens and 3 policemen for 1 VIP.  VIP security service is very often the excuse for the police why they can’t provide enough security to stop such crimes against women. Since police reforms are huge and the goals can’t be achieved very soon, let’s us divide our priority into short- and long-term goals.

Short-term goals: Increase the number of women police officers in every police station, register all FIRs to cases against women and prosecute those who don’t do this, install GPRS to all public vehicles and cabs, install CCTVs to public places and roads, issue non-temparable ID to auto and taxi drivers, identify vulnerable areas and conduct random checks on vehicles, and tinted glass should be removed from the vehicles everywhere irrespective of cities and other areas. And most importantly, to augment our meager police personnel we need to use the community resources. Create village defense forces, and utilize NCC cadets, citizen wardens, and special police officers. With proper training, discipline, and guidance, they can deter the incidence of crimes beyond imagination. Cooperation between police force and community will build up better relationship between the two, but they should be under constant review. 

Long-term goals: Here come accountability and transparency in the functioning of police officers. Our police functioning must be insulated from the interference of politics in the recruitment, posting, transfer, arrest, and prosecutions. Finally, the 2006 Supreme Court-mandated police reforms --- in the recruitment of the police chiefs, DGPs, IGPs, senior SPs --- must be implemented.

Besides all the measures and reforms, it is education that can make our society a peaceful and crime-free one. It needs discipline and respect to women to prevent crimes against women. And we get discipline from education. But home is considered children’s first school and parents their first teachers. Hence good parenting and good school education play the most important roles of all. Shutting down metro stations, cordon off streets, and spraying water canons are not the answer. When the whole nation stand up in anger and shout in a common voice, can the government dare to waste more time instead of having an emergency joint sitting and pass a stringent law against rape and crime against women.  Don’t politicize safety of women. Set aside political interests. It is the time to shun off these blame game and selfish political interests.

A tip to Congress!!! The government, which has already long suffered from trust deficit and corruption, must not miss this opportunity to rebuild the lost trust. With the election just one year away, seize this opportunity. Pass a strong rape law and immediately punish the convicts with maximum punishment. This will again boost confidence to people that the government does really care for the people. Don’t forget the real power lies at the hand of the people. The government is formed by the representatives of the people. The people can bring the fall of the government anytime at will. When the whole nation awakes in anger against you, the only thing the government should do is listen to them carefully and do what they want. 

Time and Friendship

Friendship is like a watch battery
It comes with a warranty for a specified time
Arguments are reconciled to few occasions
Once gone, it is gone forever
It has to be replaced by a new friend
No one bothers the whereabouts of the dear departed
The newcomer will play his part until the validity is over
Some friendship lasts longer and some shorter
Everything comes with a price, but momentary
It’s all how much we’ve invested our thought to that person

Proximity keeps the relationship ticking
Meeting eclipses the impending nostalgia post-disappearance of her
Togetherness adds the colors of friendship
Friends are for laughter and celebrations
As recluse is for sorrow and melancholy

But sacrifice our time for the other erodes its lifetime
The friend who says,
“I hope I am also among those who are very special in your life,”
Will be the one who leaves you first when you are in extreme need of her

When corrupted, it results to an immature end
Ego and misunderstanding kill friendship half-life

The Death of Paul

The FIFA 2010 World Cup is over, and the clubs desperate chase for the best players has already begun. Time for that record-shattering deal is not very far. It is that emotional time to see the reigning stars bid adieu and handover the throne to newcomers—little-known players just 30 days before—to rule for the next four years. Many star players who came to blast the dream tournament with mighty dreams returned home with dreams only. This World Cup witnessed for the first time in its history that the off-field players rocked the tournament more than the on-field players. It was Diego Maradona, the God of soccer fans all around the world, who ruled the tournament till the quarter finals. Blame Maradona for always being famous both in short and long pants, off and on field. Believe it or not, people glued on television to get the glimpse of this little man. Then entered the little-known little Paul like a thunderstorm, and the mighty little Maradona’s life cut shockingly short with his arrival. Questions erupted how the entry of the never-heard-before player marked the exit of the legend. It happens in sports—new heroes are born and records are broken. Every World Cup has some surprises and heartbreaks. Above all, Maradona is no match for Paul, simply because he has only two legs while Paul has eight legs.

Rise and Fall

Paul, the beautiful eight-legged oracle octopus residing in German aquarium, has become the sensation of the tournament after he correctly predicted the result of all seven games of Germany, as well as the finals between Spain and the Netherlands. He shot to international fame after he correctly predicted Germany win over Argentina in the quarterfinals. Then onward, the attention of the whole world shifted to the real hero of the tournament. He defeated his competitor Mani, a Singapore-based oracle parrot, who came at the tournament in the late stage and hanged him upside down on the goal post. Neither Messi nor Ronaldo got so much media coverage as Paul did. It was Paul and only Paul who made headlines of both newspapers and TV news channels when the tournament entered the crucial stage. Paul remained the true patriot and national hero of Germany until he picked up Spain over Germany in the semi final. All of a sudden, the national hero turned enemy of the state, and celebrated oracle octopus became psychic octopus. It is not uncommon that friends turn foes, patriots turn traitors, and friends turn lovers. From that moment, all those Germans who sang praise choruses for Paul have been busy tweeting the recipe of octopus. The whole world was in shock and awe when Paul appeared in the hit list of Hitler. Today, Twitter is flooded with Paul. Most of them are from Germany, the Netherlands, and Argentina. All these three countries are desperately pursuing Paul for the same mission—KILL PAUL. Germany wants to fry Paul, Argentina wants to beat him till death, and the Netherlands wants to hang him. Now comes the rescuer. The enemy of a country is a patriot for another country. No sooner had Paul become the Enemy No. 1 of Germany than he became the celebrated hero of Spain. Pressurized by its citizens, the government of Spain is pursuing to bring Paul in Spain and give the hero Spanish citizenship and re-christen him as Pablo. Having rejected its demands by Germany, Spain is now all set to send security guards to protect Paul in Germany. Also, they are seeking legal aids from the UN International Court of Justice (ICJ) to bring the hero home. ICJ is not very cooperative with Spain as the Netherlands, where it is headquartered, is also pressurizing it to bring Paul there. Now, if Spain succeeds, Paul will get everything—love, protection, and fame—in the new land for the next 4 years until he picks up some other nation over Spain in the 2014 World Cup.

In India

Imagine the great Paul lands in our country. Can you even imagine how much media coverage he will get? If he thinks all the media coverage he will get is temporary, then Paul, you are underestimating the power of Indian media. Since cricket tournaments are held 365 days in a year both in and outside India, and India participates all the tournament, you will always stay at the headlines of both newspapers and news channels. Apart from cricket, you can put your hand in Bollywood also. Because of the absence of good soothsayer, most big budget movies bomb at the box office. You will be a big help for big producers and directors who make ambitious projects but end up making big flops and run heavy losses. A wise lady said that if she has Paul, she will gift it to the MET Department of India to provide correct weather forecasts. I think it is a very wise idea, particularly during the monsoon season when the MET Department officials are tired of coin flipping to predict weather.

The Hero Takes Retirement

Now, it’s official that Paul will take retirement. He said this in the award function where he was facilitated the Champion trophy and the Diamond Boot of the Year for being the most sensational player of the tournament. It was a very bleak and emotional moment for billions of people who glue on television watching their favourite star. Now, Paul will go back to his previous profession—playing with his handlers and children who visit him. Spain won the World Cup, but all the credits go to Paul. Kudos to Paul! You rocked the Cup of the World.

FIFA World Cup 2010: Eats, Drinks, Waka Waka, and Paul

The month-long thrilling and gripping football saga has come to an end finally with style. Spain who came to the tournament as the favourite of bookies won the title for the first time in its history. Their skills, quick and magnificent passing, and unity among players proved indomitable to other teams. As predicted, this South Africa FIFA World Cup exceeded all. It is a blockbuster in every sphere: fun, crowd, action, vuvuzela, dance, drinks, warm hospitality, and inspiration—those who broke their hip while dancing Shakira’s “Waka Waka” are inspired by K’naan’s “Waving Flags” to dance once more. It got bigger and stronger than the joint effort of Japan-South Korea in 2002 and Germany 2006. Imagine how big the event could get if the two largest populations of the world India and China participated the game—I mean if they could qualify to participate. This World Cup made history for many reasons: the entry of new champion, hosted for the first time by non-developed nations, vuvuzela, and Paul. The gap between strong teams and weak teams has reduced. Significantly, the strong teams made an early exit, throwing the red carpet for novices and weak teams—marking the event of making sacrifice for the first time in the history of sporting event. Kudos to FIFA and mighty teams, particularly Italy and France (the defending champion and runner-up) and Brazil and Argentina, for taking this bold initiative. This World Cup also marked for the first time in its history that the coach rocked the tournament more than his players. Blame Maradona for always being famous both in short and long pants, off and on field. For Italy, it is a very emotional moment because not only its national team made a historic sacrifice but also the prime minister sacrificed his “playboy” tag. In the parliamentary session, the famous Silvio Berlusconi declared, “I am no longer a playboy, I am play old now.” Hundreds and thousands burst into inconsolable tears. A young reporter broke down, and she was rushed to ICU. Why did you do this, Mr Berlusconi? You have been hailed as the epitome of S.T. Coleridge’s famous lines:
“Life is but Thought: so think I willThat Youth and I are housemates still.”
Now, who will we adore as our youth icon?

Heroes and Zeroes
Expectations were so high on star players like Ronaldo, Kaka, Rooney, and Messi. They are the costliest players on earth, and every team competed to buy them before the World Cup. High stakes are riding to them, and the whole world is betting for them.

“THEY CAME, THEY SAW, AND THEY ARE CONQUERED”

Just like every World Cup, the FIFA 2010 World Cup also produces new heroes, but it was never expected that all the existing heroes will return zeroes. It was the not-so-known players who rocked the tournament. It was a delight to see emerging heroes David Villa, Thomas Muller, Arjen Robben, Wesley Sneijder, Asamoah Gyan, and Diego Forlan, who eclipsed these big stars, in the field.

Complaints and Criticisms
No sooner than the beautiful event kicked off, the ugly controversies erupted—poor and dreadful Jabulani ball, noise of vuvuzela-blowing, wrong referee decisions. Coaches, players, goalkeepers, everyone was in complaining mood: The direction of the ball cannot be predicted; it is like someone guides the ball; its trajectory is unpredictable; it moves so much and makes it difficult to control; it is like the one you bought from the supermarket; and the list goes on. I agree the new ball might have got some problem, but guys you are not the only player or team who experience this. Each player, each goal keeper, each team plays the same ball. Also, FIFA gave this new ball to each team for practice months prior the World Cup. But, by the time the tournament entered quarter finals stage, the complaints for vuvuzela blowing and Jabulani ball have subsided. Because, in the battlefield the one who complains dies first. It is time to defeat the enemies and move on. Beyond belief, the popularity of vuvuzela had shot up. Brazil has already booked five vuvuzela manufactures for the next World Cup they are hosting. Even, Indian prime minister has asked his South African counterpart to supply vuvuzelas for Commonwealth Games. But there is a condition: vuvuzelas do not make sound if the crowd in the stadium in fewer than 10,000. So, the Indian Government is having a second thought. But the South African Government says there is no any conditions apply for supplying vuvuzelas for IPL.

The Age of Technology
Debate erupted why FIFA does not use technology to ward off wrong referee decisions. Every sport, be it cricket or tennis, uses technology. Pressure mounted on FIFA officials, yet they are still reluctant to adopt technology. I think there is a valid reason behind this. The truth is at the time of framing the Sports Constitution, football was given the rights to live only for 90 minutes, unlike unlimited lifetime given to tennis and cricket. Also, football fans don’t have whole day to watch the match as do the cricket fans. Football can’t afford the luxury to wait 5 minutes for the referee decision. Guys! It is not cricket that players can slower or faster the game at their will. Soccer means exact 90-min thriller from beginning to end, and there is not even 10 seconds to relax because it takes less than 10 seconds for the ball to reach from one goalkeeper to the other goalkeeper. That is why soccer is so gripping. It is not only soccer, in today’s fast and busy life everything small and short is famous and most-demanded. That is why Tweeter is so famous. Those days of writing beautiful and flowery letters are gone. It is a world of “C U 2moro” and “4 U I die.” Send this text messages to Chomsky; he will hang himself just like Isaac Newton committed suicide after watching Rajnikant’s movies. It is not only life that is busy, so is the road. That is why more and more automobile makers have produced small cars.

Image Transformation
The success of the event has changed the way how the world watches the host nation and Africa as a whole. So far, Africa is defined by poverty, AIDs, and crime. It is very heart warming to see the event brought togetherness and unity to the nation that is so riven racially. All those critics who slammed the host country for lavishing $5 billion for the event have been silenced by vuvuzelas in the middle of the tournament. They think that spending billions of dollars in airports, public transportation systems, roads, and stadiums for the game does not make sense when the country has so much social needs and poverty. The truth is otherwise; these lack-of-long-sighted-thinking critics could not visualize the improved infrastructures will bolster growth in the long run by attracting foreign investments and surge of tourism. Now, with the World Cup in its resume, it is no wonder that South Africa has emerged as one of the best destinations to host major sporting events. To South Africa's credit, not even a single crime against outsiders who came to watch the World Cup was reported during this month-long event.

Enter the Great Paul
When the tournament entered quarter finals stage, the attention of the whole world shifted to the real hero of the tournament. Paul, the beautiful eight-legged oracle octopus residing in German aquarium, has become the sensation of the tournament after he correctly predicted the result of all seven games of Germany, as well as the finals between Spain and the Netherlands. He defeated his competitor Mani, a Singapore-based oracle parrot, who came at the tournament in the late stage and hanged him upside down on the goal post. Neither Messi nor Ronaldo got so much media coverage as Paul did. It was Paul and only Paul who made headlines of both newspapers and TV news channels when the tournament entered crucial stage. Paul remained the true patriot and national hero of Germany until he picked up Spain over Germany in the semi-final. All of a sudden, the national hero turned enemy of the state, and celebrated oracle octopus became psychic octopus. From that moment, all those Germans who sang praise choruses for Paul have been busy tweeting the recipe of octopus. Twitter is flooded with Paul. Most of them are from Germany and Argentina. Germany wants to fry Paul, Argentina wants to beat him till death, and the Netherlands wants to hang him. Now, Spain has come for rescue. The government of Spain wants to give citizenship to Paul and bring him to Spain. Now, they are seeking legal aids from the UN International Court of Justice (ICJ) to bring Paul in Spain. ICJ is not very cooperative with Spain as the Netherlands, where it is headquartered, is also pressurizing it to bring Paul there. Now, if Spain succeeds, Paul will get everything—love, protection, and fame—in the new land for the next 4 years until he picks up some other nation over Spain in the 2014 World Cup.

Paul in India
Imagine the great Paul lands in our country. Can you even imagine how much media coverage he will get? If he thinks all the media coverage he will get is temporary, then Paul, you are underestimating the power of Indian media. Since cricket tournaments are held 365 days in a year both in and outside India, and India participates all the tournament, you will always stay at the headlines of both newspapers and news channels. Apart from cricket, you can put your hand in Bollywood also. Because of the absence of good soothsayer, most big budget movies bomb at the box office. You will be a big help for big producers and directors who make ambitious projects but end up making big flops and run heavy losses. A wise lady said that if she has Paul, she will gift it to the MET Department of India to provide correct weather forecasts. I think it is a very wise idea, particularly during the monsoon season when the MET Department officials are tired of coin flipping to predict weather.

The Hero Takes Retirement
Now, it’s official that Paul will take retirement. He said this in the award function where he was facilitated the Champion trophy and the Diamond Boot of the Year for being the most sensational player of the tournament. It was a very bleak and emotional moment for billions of people who glue on television watching their favourite star. Now, Paul will go back to his previous profession—playing with his handlers and children who visit him.

Spain won the World Cup, but all the credits go to Paul. Kudos to Paul! You rocked Cup of the World.