How We Envy the World Cup

By Kofi A. Annan

You may wonder what a Secretary-General of the United Nations is doing writing about football. But in fact, the World Cup makes us in the UN green with envy. As the pinnacle of the only truly global game, played in every country by every race and religion, it is one of the few phenomena as universal as the United Nations. You could even say it’s more universal. FIFA has 207 members; we have only 191.

But there are far better reasons to be envious. First, the World Cup is an event in which everybody knows where their team stands, and what it did to get there. They know who scored and how and in what minute of the game; they know who missed the open goal; they know who saved the penalty. I wish we had more of that sort of competition in the family of nations. Countries openly vying for the best standing in the table of respect for human rights, and trying to outdo one another in child survival rates or enrolment in secondary education. States parading their performance for all the world to see. Governments being held accountable for what actions led them to that result.

Second, the World Cup is an event which everybody on the planet loves talking about. Dissecting what their team did right, and what it could have done differently — not to mention the other side’s team. People sitting in cafés anywhere from Buenos Aires to Beijing, debating the finer points of games endlessly, revealing an intimate knowledge not only of their own national teams but of many of the others too, and expressing themselves on the subject with as much clarity as passion. Normally tongue-tied teenagers suddenly becoming eloquent, confident, and dazzlingly analytical experts. I wish we had more of that sort of conversation in the world at large. Citizens consumed by the topic of how their country could do better on the Human Development Index, or in reducing the number of carbon emissions or new HIV infections.

Third, the World Cup is an event which takes place on a level playing field, where every country has a chance to participate on equal terms. Only two commodities matter in this game: talent and team work. I wish we had more levellers like that in the global arena. Free and fair exchanges without the interference of subsidies, barriers or tariffs. Every country getting a real chance to field its strengths on the world stage.

Fourth, the World Cup is an event which illustrates the benefits of cross-pollination between peoples and countries. More and more national teams now welcome coaches from other countries, who bring new ways of thinking and playing.

The same goes for the increasing number of players who between World Cups represent clubs away from home. They inject new qualities into their new team, grow from the experience, and are able to contribute even more to their home side when they return. In the process, they often become heroes in their adopted countries — helping to open hearts and broaden minds. I wish it were equally plain for all to see that human migration in general can create triple wins — for migrants, for their countries of origin, and for the societies that receive them. That migrants not only build better lives for themselves and their families, but are also agents of development — economic, social, and cultural — in the countries they go and work in, and in the homelands they inspire through new-won ideas and know-how when they return.

For any country, playing in the World Cup is a matter of profound national pride. For countries qualifying for the first time, such as my native Ghana, it is a badge of honour. For those who are doing so after years of adversity, such as Angola, it provides a sense of national renewal. And for those who are currently riven by conflict, like Côte d’Ivoire, but whose World Cup team is a unique and powerful symbol of national unity, it inspires nothing less than the hope of national rebirth.

Which brings me to what is perhaps most enviable of all for us in the United Nations: the World Cup is an event in which we actually see goals being reached. I’m not talking only about the goals a country scores; I also mean the most important goal of all — being there, part of the family of nations and peoples, celebrating our common humanity. I’ll try to remember that when Ghana plays Italy in Hanover on 12 June. Of course, I can’t promise I’ll succeed.

Kofi A. Annan is the Secretary-General of the United Nations

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Its available at Official United Nations web site.

Quota Raj

It good to be back from a loooong delay... just thought of sharing with you a very good post on NDTV for reservations detabe (source: concern (Mumbai, India))
N'joy.

One more nice read of from My best friend Aniket => Reservations / Quota Raj
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ET has opened a debate on "Is Premji right to go against job quotas in Wipro?"

As expected most of the posts agree with him...
Here is someone who put his pt in a very diff way.. :))

I think we should have job reservations in all the fields. I completely support the PM and all the politicians for promoting this. Let's start the reservation with our cricket team. We should have 10 percent reservation for Muslims. 30 percent for OBC, SC/ST like that. Cricket rules should be modified accordingly. The boundary circle should be reduced for an SC/ST player. The four hit by an OBC player should be considered as a six and a six hit by a OBC player should be counted as 8 runs. An OBC player scoring 60 runs should be declared as a century.

We should influence ICC and make rules so that the pace bowlers like Shoaib Akhtar should not bowl fast balls to our OBC player. Bowlers should bowl maximum speed of 80 kilometer per hour to an OBC player. Any delivery above this speed should be made illegal.

Also we should have reservation in Olympics. In the 100 meters race, an OBC player should be given a gold medal if he runs 80 meters.

There can be reservation in Government jobs also. Let's recruit SC/ST and OBC pilots for aircrafts which are carrying the ministers and politicians (that can really help the country...)

Ensure that only SC/ST and OBC doctors do the operations for the ministers and other politicians. (Another way of saving the country...)

Let's be creative and think of ways and means to guide INDIA forward...
Let's show the world that INDIA is a GREAT country. Let's be proud of being an INDIAN..

May the good breed of politicians like ARJUN SINGH long live...


So, what do you think, huh???

Rang De Basanti - A different review!!

A Great hindi movie after a long time. You can read the thousands of reviews available for this one and know why exactly it is what it is. I just want to post here some of the comments made by my friends.

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By Santosh Balakrishnan -> a methodical & critical review of this much acclaimed movie!

I do like hindi movies .. infact i love some of them, the only reason why i'm so critical about them is because they do not reflect our sensibilities (the situation on the ground .. so to speak) I mean tell me how many people can relate to (relate not ape) any of SRK's movies ? (set aside swades, paheli etc.) or for that matter most of today's movies ? On the other hand look at BigB's old movies; they were a reflection of the era they were made in. Sure you can argue that Kuch Kuch hota hai was a movie which reflected the aspirations of the neo-liberalized tweens in India - but it just doesn't cut it. This is precisely why i watch Amir Khan's movies, they are realistic and have minimal amount of crap. Everybody could relate to the tapori in rangeela, the police office in Sarfarosh etc. Rang De Basanti also features an amazing performance by Amir Khan, Siddharth et al. besides great music score and totally believable characters.

My cribs about the movie are as follows (CAUTION: ** minor spoilers ahead **)
1. The camera is never steady throughout a scene, it seems as though the cameraman had a severe bout of dysentery while shooting this film, perhaps he wanted the film to look contemporary and vibrant, i think he failed pathetically. The camera work is worse than gimmicky .. its distracting. Did also notice the various hues in which the movie is shot ? (Sepia for the history parts, B&W for the scenes shot by sue and saturated color for all other scenes) The movie looks more like an ad-campaign for the youth and less like a .. well movie ;) (Also did you guys notice the pixilated/brushed backgrounds in some scenes ... for what reason ? )

2. I think the parts featuring Sue's Grandpa were a bit overly stretched .. i mean i do understand his dilemma but that scene in the church nearly made me puke .. it was way over the top .. those parts could just have been edited out.

3. How did sue shoot such an incredible documentary, with authentic settings, clothing and so many extras, when we all know that she had no financial backing and was armed with nothing more than an elementary hand-held camera ? I would love to listen to your explanations of this bizarre occurrence ;) (this is just nit-picking .. i'm sure .. but there needs to be a rational explanation !)

4. Most importantly i think the message it conveys is frighteningly shallow (i mean not about shooting the defense minister, but about the ways in which you can do something for the nation). It seems that hardly any thought has gone into making this movie. It is undoubtedly an admirable cause but the handling of it leaves me disappointed, it seems to be made for a generation which will watch it in multiplexes on sunday and go back to work in MNCs on Monday and talk about the movie at the coffee machines and will promptly forget it on tuesday. Also please understand that i do not want every movie to a message etc. but then when an attempt is indeed made to convey a message, it should be plausible and thought-out. If the message about youth doing something for the nation stirred you i suggest you rent the CD for a movie called "Hazaaron Khwaishe Aise" (not sure how its spelt in english .. hindi translation of thousand such dreams ;)) that in my humble opinion is a much educated take on a similar subject .. one of my favorite movies too ..


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By Raghavendra Gandewar

About Sue's movie dream

I do agree... director did not really explain how She could manage that movie with no budgets.. But some how I felt.. Maybe it was just in her dream.. maybe she did not really shoot the movie and she was just visualizing it.. And.. after that drama.. what happened to the movie was unexplained!! So, I think, director brought in the whole part of movie shooting in order to just bring in the context...

I don't remember exactly.. but I don't think any indications were given to say that the movie was actually shot completely by her!!...


About Message

I thought the message was not very clear!... maybe this is the message the director was trying to convey:

"One needs to take SOME initiatives in order to achieve something...Everybody talks about the solutions.. but nobody implements them.. rather nobody has any interests in solving the problem for public/country and one is always interested to solving it for him/her own sake"...


Irrational thoughts

1. Don't think defence minister in India will take that Deadly walk every morning alone!!! 2. Don't think defence minister can be killed so easily 3. Killing a politician cannot solve the corruption problem.

What I liked

1. Chemistry between all of them
2. Way each character was clearly defined
3. Meaningful songs
4. Motivating music
5. Acting

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By Sandeep Shinde -> myself, in response to Santosh's comments

I completely agree with you about the era movies, I too have stopped Yash Raj/SRK movies long back. Movies like Veer-Zaara do not at all excite me any more. But I know such movies will keep coming specially due to their success rate. India mei aisa nahi hai ki there are no talented people or talented actors available, the major problem I think is that there is no need to make use of this talent. You can easily make a peppy movie (like bunty&bubly or Neal&Nikki or even salaam namaste) without much of an effort put into it (except the music...where I think the talent of Music directors is used to a good extent, obviously except the ones like anu malik and himesh rash....).

Watch "Saher" (if you haven't already), too good of a movie. I know u'll like it a lot. I have been searching for Hazaaron K.A. in all the music stores in delhi, but kahi nahi mil rahi hai.

And not about the RDB comments of yours...
I was about to write a review for it on my blog and I seriously agree with most of the points put in by you.

1. yes the camera work is pathetic at places, majorly I found it very bad during songs...with rapid camera movements in front of street lights, he was trying to create some light effect (this was happening in every song) which I didn't understand till the end. Also when he showed bike and jeep riding, camera movements were so fast, I thought I have some problem with my eyes
:-)
But I liked the color difference between shot scenes, past scenes and current scenes...a very different technique, it had good effect on me at least!!

2. yes about sue's grandpaa, those parts were looking odd in the movie..

3. I had the exact same question as soon as they showed shooting of first scene (the train scene!!), I just asked my friend sitting next to me, how did she manage to bring such a old train compartment!!! I really do not understand why the director hasn't given any thought to explain this!!

4. The message is given to youth, but it is definitely too much stretched with defence minister killing and the final scene too ( I don't want it to reveal to aniket). But I guess for a movie to work in india, something crazy HAS to happen at the end...then only people have a great impact of the movie on their minds. (it used to happened with BigB movies too...sholey, mukkadar kaa sinkandar). I personally didn't appreciate it at all.

Now my points for the movie:
Pros:
1. First half is amazingly humorous, the actors are suited to their characters. I Liked Atul kulkarni, but he was given very few dialogues... The scene where he reads "sarafaroshi ki tamanna hamare dil mei hai" fully with so much of emotion....ohhhh amazing. That was the scene of the movie for me.
2. The past history is mapped to the present scenario in India, and it is handled in a very good way.
3. Three cheers to music, songs and specially background scores. The songs are also in background, you don't release when they come and go. Very different lyrics too. AR Raheman is gr8.
4. Amir khan is amir khan again, and that has made a huge impact on performances others too.
5. Generally I try to predict where the story is going and try to think from directors mind. But I was not able to even think whats gonna happen.

Cons:
1. Soha ali khan was not at all fitting in the group, somebody other would have been much better.
2. To much drama in the end.
3. and your points which I agreed....
4. director's message is definitely not going to reach to the audiences, you are exactly right when you say that it'll be forgotten on Tuesday...

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And I'm sure this is not yet over :-)

Zinda - Worth Watching!

Sanjay gupta is back again with Sanju Baawaa, and in his third offering to the film fraternity I must say he has come a long way. As the previous 2 of his movies (Kaante & Musaafir), this flick too has got a totally different feel than typical bollywood movies of this generation. The director has learned a lot from his last two mistakes and has done a great job for Zinda. But I must say, Sanjay Gupta is very much inspired by hollywood director Quentin Tarantino of Kill Bill fame. His previous 2 movies are copies of QT's flicks, and Zinda too is lot inspired by Kill Bill. The brutality in the scenes, the background score, even the cinematography is lot almost exact to Kill Bill.

Sanjay Dutt has again proved that he is still one of the best, has done a great job in Zinda. But he might have looked better without that pathetic wig. A cute little role for Lara Dutta comes as a refreshing break in the movie. John Abrahim is definitely improving day by day, and does a pretty good job.

I am not going to tell you the story, you have to watch it. It's very trilling and gripping too, from start to end (except at some points in second half). Most of the scenes are almost black & white, I couldn't get what effect director was trying to get but looks different. When the romantic scene between Dutt and Dutta comes, everything becomes colourful and the background is completely red (a copy from Sanjay LB's Black -> kissing scene between Amitabh and Rani).

There is lot of brutality in the action scenes (again copy from Kill Bill). I liked one scene where Sanju baawaa fights with a hammer, this scene (almost 5 mins) has been shot in a single shot (no shifting of scene or camera). In the final action scene they use swords (which are exactly the same as that of Kill Bill). One fighting scene even has a Matrix score running in the background!!!

The 2-3 songs come at a pretty good time in the movie. Great music by strings, I love all the songs.

Overall its a good movie, pretty different. Watch it.

Wedding Crashers!

Amazing Comedy, beautiful girls, good performances and many more!!

I think after many days hollywood has come back to comedy again, and its come back with a bang! Both Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn have done a great job. Even for a bollywood buff like me (who does not understand 50% of the dialogues in english movies), it was a complete blast...

If you have time, do watch it!

Read the plot of movie here!

Sania Mirza - My Indian of the year 2005

From last few days NDTV is conducting a poll for Indian of the year 2005. They have around 13 candidates shortlisted. 4 of them are politicians, 4 are from corporate world and 2 are from bollywood. Only 3 persons are from sport field!!

My choice (without any confusion at all) is of course from the sport category, and as you have guessed it from the title of this post->Sania Mirza! Some may go with Sachin for his 35th century in Tests or with Rahul for his consistent performance for India, but these things we already expected from them. We always knew Sachin is going to achieve that some day and Rahul is a wall as always. The thing we didn't expect was somebody playing Tennis!

Profile:
Birth Date: 15 Nov 1986
Birth Place: Mumbai, India
Residence: Hydrabad, India
Nationality: INDIA
Height: 5'7 1/2" (1.53m)
Weight: 130 lbs. (59kg)
Plays: Right Handed (Double Handed Backhand)
favorite Surface: Hard
Coach: C.G.K. Bhupathi
Age Began Tennis: 6
Personal Interests: Swimming, Music
Other Information: Ambition in tennis: To be in the Top 20 of the World.
favorite player: Steffi Graf


A small girl from Hyderabad's middle class family has achieved something that no Indian has been able to even come close to. This record holds from the day a sport called Tennis has started. She won a WTA singles title!!!

Sania was some 250+ ranked player 2 years ago and in 2005 she has improved her WTA ranking to 34!!! Yes it seems like a dream run, and it has been a dream run. I noticed her first in the Australian open (as everybody else did), and couldn't stop noticing her in the following slams & other tournaments. The pinnacle came when she became the first Indian to win the WTA singles title at her own hometown (h'bad), in front of her own crowd!

Sania has taken Indian tennis to a completely new level. The Indian tennis players have suddenly got a boost with Sania's performance at the highest level, her determination and ability to compete with the best in the business. Every tennis player in India has now start believing in his/her abilities! And I'm sure the situation is only going to improve here onwards.

With achievement comes criticism, and that too in country line India (who doesn't even forgive a small mistake done by greats like Sachin Tendulkar), where the media is evolving day by day. Some say she is too weak at her serve, some say she can't fight at the crucial points, bla bla bla.

Yes we all know she has some missing points in her game but just imagine her age (18 yrs) and the kind of temperament she has shown when facing players like Serena Willams, Maria Sharapova, svetlana kuznetsova. So as for the India tennis, here onwards things are only going to improve for Sania too.

Will Sania achieve the kind of success her idol achieved? We don't know the answer to this question, but surely I want to see her win a grand slam event, this year or the next or the next or ...

One major point I want to highlight here is the kind of support (financial) Sania received from the AP government when she wasn't even recognized by anyone. That truly shows the change in attitude of governments towards promoting sports as a career for younger generation.

Now for any Indian, who wants to be a sportsman/sportswoman cricket is not the only choice!!!

Sania has introduced a new hope, Hope of Playing Tennis!!

Ek Ajnabee - Review

If you have nothing at all to do, jump out of your house window but DO NOT go and watch this movie... I have already made that mistake, don't repeat it! This applies to crazy fans of Amitabh Bachchan too.

I seriously agree with Abhishek Bachchan, Big B has to slow down and only do project which are more interesting with a strong and different characters. He does not look good fighting & getting hit with 6 bullets and still surviving.

I don't want to waste my time any more on this movie, writing a review.

TOI gave 3 star rating for this movie, it was really surprising for me. I didn't even make an attempt to read it. How can one can trust the TOI ratings if film like Kalyug gets 3&1/2 star rating!