Absurdities that has creeped into Cricket of late

These days Umpires hardly check for No Balls, and most bowlers get away with murder. This despite, in most of the matches, Umpires have DRS (excepting those in which India play), and don't have to worry too much about LBW. But what galls me is the Umpire, who has failed to call a no ball, asking for a review whether the bowler has overstepped, AFTER a batsman has got out. This is ridiculous to say the least. The bowler has just delivered a legitimate ball (if the umpire doesn't call a no ball, then it is supposed to be legitimate), gets a wicket, Umpire GIVES HIM OUT, celebrates and then told ' hey hang on, let me check with the third umpire to see if you have overstepped?". The  batsman is on his way back, asked to wait till the check is over, and then either recalled or sent on his way. The least the Umpire can do when an appeal is made, is to 'NOT MAKE A DECISION' till they check for the No ball. Even that is a compromise. Either give the power to the third umpire to call no balls after each delivery, or develop a technology like 'cyclops' where No ball is called automatically when a bowler oversteps.

 

On No balls, is it not easier to change the law as it exists today, where in 'some part of the feet has to be behind the bowling crease at the time of landing'? This is complicating issues. See how easy it is in Athletics Long Jump competitions. If you touch the line, your jump is a 'Fault'. ICC can have sensors on the bowling crease, and the moment the feet touches the sensor 'No ball beep' comes up. This way one doesn't have to leave to the subjectivity of the Umpires at all.

 

Another absurdity is Umpires referring close-in catches to the third umpire. It is known to all and sundry that Cameras are totally unreliable when it comes to catches held close to the ground. In 100% of the cases, the ball is shown as having bounced before it enters the fielders hands, and the batsman escapes. The Cameras do have parallax error and they are not designed to give a clear cut evidence of ball bouncing or not before being caught. Knowing this, why are the catches being referred time and again? A good leg umpire, if he is observant, can easily identify if the catch is clean or not 95% of the time! The umpires are shirking their duties these days.

 

 

Is the Current Generation moving away from Ithihasams - 3

The third major development of the last few decades that led to a lack of awareness about the Ithihasams amongst the current generation, is the so called 'secularization' of education. When I was attending school in 1970s, 95% of us studied in Government Schools, and almost all of them followed the State Board. The State Board Syllabus was more sensitive to local culture, States history, and also to the hindu way of life.

 

With the advent of Christian missionary schools followed by those started by other minority, this changed. Also, CBSE schools started cropping up like mushrooms and parents flocked to these Private Schools to admit their kids. With Congress ruling the Centre for most parts, and with India's education content development, including history, at the mercy of the so called Left Academicians, who loathe anything that is Hindu, especially post Babri Masjid demolition to prevent the rise of BJP, the atheist, Western dominated, doctored syllabi was taught in the Schools. It became fashionable for the Schools to abuse Hindu Ithihasams and Indian Culture, while glorifying the Mughal Period, and the British Period, forgetting that both of them were invaders and looters in the first place. Students were not encouraged to learn their mother tongue, and majority of the middle class students of the last 25 years cannot read or write in their mother tongue. Most escaped the 'burden' of opting for their mother tongue as third language by opting for the alien French or German instead.

 

With English language dominating the Education scenario (most of the Private English medium schools punished their students if they even inadvertently spoke in their mother tongue in the School!), and with our Ithihasams not easily available for reading in English language (in any case, one doesn't get a feel of them if one were to read the translated version in English - a Classic Example being M T Vasudevan Nair's Classic 'Rendamoozham' in Malayalam, which when translated to English became a damb squib. It lost its sensitivity totally, despite the fact that the translation was excellent) and with the children unable to read in their mother tongue, couple of generations lost complete touch with our Ithihasams. It became fashionable to deride Hinduisms and to claim proudly that one doesn't know Ramayanam or Mahabharatham, but is more comfortable with Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn.

 

When these children, born in 1975 and beyond grew up to become adults and parents, they just did not possess the cultural background, or knowledge about ithihasams to pass it on to their children. They were focused on migrating to US or Europe or Australia leaving India and Indianness behind. I have asked many adults born post 1970s to recall the 10 Avatharams of Vishnu and found 99% of them struggling or unable to do so or just shrugging in indifference. That is the word - indifference. Couple of generations of Hindus were totally indifferent to our Ithihasams due to the reasons mentioned above and in the previous posts. The left dominated academicians and media, which had an agenda to promote Christianity in India, did not miss any opportunity to deride anyone who dared to rectify the syllabus in favour of Bharathiya culture, crying 'saffronisation' till their throats were hoarse, and took all effort to make anyone who wanted to learn Ithihasams feel guilty. With parents having a false set of values, is it any wonder our current crop of children have no clue as the greatness of our Culture and the lessons for life hidden in Vedams, Upanishads and Ithihasams?

Is the Current Generation Moving Away from Ithihasams - 2

Apart from the Family, the immediate society played a great part in creating an environment for the knowledge of Ithihasams to be imbibed amongst the young generation.

 

Most of the settlements were river based and had a presiding deity for the people to worship. Over a period of time, temples sprang up, which had its own source of Agricultural Land owned by the Temple but leased to cultivators. These temples were not just places of worship, but in addition they were cultural centers too.

 

With the Hinduism boasting of numerous festivals, the temples always had a reason to celebrate something or other, be it the ten day long Annual festival, Vishu, Navarathri, Karthikai, Pradosham, Pournami, Ekadasi, Thiruvathirai, and so on. The list is endless. The young were taught by the elders in the village as to the reason why these festivals and auspicious days were celebrated, and this got internalized over a  period of time.

 

In addition, the Koothambalams, and the much smaller stages in the local temples were venues for the conduct of Namasankeerthanams, Kathakalakshepams, Bhagavatha Parayanams, Ramayana Parayanam, Music, Dance, Drama, Dance Drama like Kathakali, Ottan Thullal, Chakyar Koothu, Yakshaganam.............It varied from district to district and state to state. But the underlying theme was the same - narrate/demonstrate the story of the god in such an aesthetically pleasing way that it leaves a lasting impression on the minds of the impressionable children. If you have seen a top dancer performing about Yasodha and Krishna, you tend to remember it for ever. I still recall my first exposure to Kathakali when I was 9 years old. It was the popular 'Kiratham', the fight between Arjunan and Lord Shiva, in the guise of a Kattala, which culminates in Lord Shiva blessing Arjuna with the Pasupathasthram. The fact that I can remember this almost 43 years down the line, as I first saw in Chandranagar Colony School ground, shivering throughout a december night (Kathakali performance start at 10pm) and go on till 4 am, is a testimony to the impact these Kshetra Kalakal had on young children. I was barely 6 years old when our School in Vadakara organized an Ottan Thullal - Kalyanasougandhikam.

 

Bheeman, in search of Kalyanasaugandhikam, meets an old monkey (his brother Hanuman, which he is not aware of) lying prone blocking his path, and arrogantly says,

 'Nokkada nammude marge kidakkunna

Markada neeyangu mari kidasada'

 

And what followed was an enchanting display of Thullal kala, telling the 'Samwadam' between the two brothers, born across two different yugams, as narrated by Kunjan Nambiar.

 

The eco system thus took care of spreading our Ithihasams and their core philosophy through anecdotes and stories, which left it etched in one's mind forever.

 

But with people moving away from villages, and cities becoming concrete jungles, with hardly any 'Sanskriti' to boast of, today's generation is limited to knowing about Ithihasams only from TV Serials and a few comics.

 

If I ask ten hindus, inclusive of the elderly, to name the 10 avatarams of Vishnu, I will hardly find one capable of giving the right answer, and none who can tell it in sequence. The other day, I was watching a TV Quiz show, and the participants ignorance when asked about some basic questions from Ramayana and Mahabharata was astounding. When one stumbled by mistake and gave the correct answer, he attributed it to watching a TV serial 10 years ago!!

 

The society has changed, and in the rush to be westernized, we have lost our roots. It is a matter of shame that it is the Westerners who are more into our religion and culture, than Indians....... contd..