18SUNDC_COL_01R2.QXD (Page 1)

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ALL THAT MATTERS
May 18, 2003, Capital • 44 pages including Men & Women & Classifieds + 8 pages of Delhi Times
Mayawati drops
Tripathi, gives
case to CID
10 suicide bombers set off five blasts; 40 killed
AP
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
SNAPSHOTS
AFP
CANDID IN CANNES: Jury member
Aishwarya Rai at the screening of “Les
Egares” by French director Andre
Techine at the 56th Cannes film festival.
Pak names envoy to India: Pakistan’s career diplomat and Ambassador
to China Riaz Mohammad Khan was on
Saturday appointed as the country’s new
High Commissioner to India. Khan will replace Ashraf Jehangir Qazi.
MTNL’s new schemes: The MTNL on
Saturday launched an upgraded WLL-M
(mobile wireless in local loop) service
Garuda, which will allow people to access Internet on their handsets at high
speeds. The company also introduced
two new services — one that will offer
people a ‘virtual phone’ through calling
cards and another that will enable people
to get high speed Internet connection at
homes and offices. P8
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Lucknow: Chief minister Mayawati on Saturday dropped minister of state for government printing presses Amar Mani Tripathi
from the ministry for his alleged links to
Madhumita Shukla’s murder.
However, the chief minister said he would
be taken back if the probe proved him innocent. If found guilty, he would be thrown out
of the BSP. Sources attribute the CM’s sudden decision to mounting pressure from the
Opposition and her main ally, the BJP.
Mayawati’s decision coincided with the
visit of BJP president M Venkaiah Naidu,
who arrived here on Friday to take stock of
the political situation in the state. Till Friday,
Mayawati had maintained a discreet silence
on the issue and evaded all media queries.
But at the hastily convened press conference, she announced the handing over of the
investigation to CB-CID and set a one-month
deadline. The CB-CID department is considered a cold storage for high profile cases.
The CM also announced the transfer of
SSP, Lucknow, Anil Agarwal. Describing him
as an honest officer, the chief minister said
he had to be removed as his credibility had
taken a beating following charges by the
Shukla family that he had ‘‘tampered with
the evidence’’.
This is the second time that Tripathi has
been dropped from the ministry under such
circumstances. While Mayawati took almost
eight days to decide his fate, her predecessor
Rajnath Singh did not waste any time in 2002,
when Tripathi’s name figured in a kidnapping case. The case is still pending. Following
that debacle, Tripathi joined BSP and was rewarded with a ministerial portfolio.
Story so far...
May 9: Madhumita shot
dead. Sister accuses
Amar Mani of having affair
and killing her. Post mortem
report claims she was
7-month pregnant
May 10: Police take body for
DNA samples. CM Mayawati
reportedly hauls up police for
unwanted publicity. Probe
comes to stand-still
May 11: Amar Mani Tripathi
denies affair
May 15: Some officers proceed with
probe. Sister retracts earlier statement,
gives Amar Mani clean chit; says police
cooked up foetus story
May 17: Amar Mani stripped of charge.
CID takes over case
Price Rs. 2.75
Larkins spy
case accused
absconding
Spy saga
Nov 1983: Larkin brothers caught
passing documents to Americans
1985: Convicted for 10 years
1989: Released on bail
2001: HC dismisses appeal
Apr 2003: SC dismisses appeal,
non-bailable warrants against brothers,
now in their 80s
By Pradeep Rana
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
Policemen inspect the wrecked terrace of the Casa de Espana restaurant in Casablanca, Morocco.
Terror hits Casablanca
Casablanca: Terrorists set off a
string of deadly blasts in the
heart of Casablanca, killing at
least 40 people and injuring 60.
The blasts damaged a Jewish
community centre, apart from
two western targets.
The attack which apparently
killed the most people took place
at Casa Espana, a Spanish cultural centre and a nearby Spanish restaurant.
At least 18 people were believed to have been killed in either one or two bomb blasts
there, although little debris was
visible from outside. Casablanca,
Morocco’s economic centre, was
thrown completely out of gear.
Police and rescue workers
rushed to the aid of dazed, bloodsplattered survivors. Bodies
were seen scattered on the
wreckage-strewn streets. Ambulances were called in from surrounding areas to aid the injured, a police source said.
The Moroccan government
did not directly implicate Osama
Bin Laden’s Al-Qaida in the nearly simultaneous explosions, but
PORTUGAL
SPAIN
Med. Sea
Atlantic Ocean
Rabat
Casablanca
MOROCCO
Car bombs exploded
killing at least 40 people
Western
Sahara
MAURITANIA
ALGERIA
0
200 mi
0 200 km
SOURCES: Associated Press; ESRI
AP
the attack confirmed fears that
terrorists have plans to strike
less defended sites.
However, no group has
claimed responsibility for the attacks yet. According to investigations, all the attacks were suicide bombings but car bombs
were not used.
Government officials had originally reported that at least three
of the explosions were from car
bombs, and a fourth was detonated by a suicide bomber wearing
an explosive belt in a Spanish
restaurant. Residents had reported hearing a fifth explosion.
The blasts damaged a Jewish
community centre and cemetery,
the Belgian consulate, the Spanish restaurant and a hotel.
While the targets were places
frequented by foreigners, most of
the casualties were local inhabitants, officials said.
Ten of the dead were described as suicide bombers who,
at least in part, had carried out
the attacks. ‘‘They were terrorists, suicide bombers,’’ interior
minister Mustapha Sahel told reporters. ‘‘These are the wellknown signatures of international terrorists.’’
The interior minister said
there were similarities between
the attacks in Casablanca and
those in Saudi Arabia on
Monday, in which 34 people
were killed.
Sahel added that three Moroccan suspects, one of them alleged to have been a would-be
suicide bomber who was injured,
had been arrested. Agencies
New Delhi: The saga of the infamous
Larkins spy scandal, which rocked the country’s defence establishment in the 1980s, continues. In the latest development, one of the
convicted brothers, Air Vice Marshal (retd) K
H Larkins, has been declared ‘absconding.’
Non-bailable warrants have been issued
against both brothers — K H Larkins and
Major General (retired) F D Larkins, in their
80s now — after their appeal was dismissed
by the Supreme Court last month. The
Larkins have been out on bail since 1989, after serving four years of their 10-year prison
terms. Now, after dismissal of their appeal,
the Larkins have to surrender and serve
their remaining sentence.
However, K H Larkins’ present whereabouts are unknown. ‘‘He no longer lives at
the Goa address provided to the court at the
beginning of trial. Now he is said to be living
with a relative in Sri Lanka,’’ says special
public prosecutor B R Handa.
In 2001, When the Delhi High Court dismissed their appeal against their 1985 conviction by the trial court, K H Larkins was
living in Australia with his daughter. He apparently returned to India and filed the appeal in the Supreme Court.
The seniormost military officers ever to be
convicted of espionage, the Larkins brother
and two others, Lt-Colonel (retd) Jasbir
Singh and arms dealer Jaspal Singh Gill,
were charged with passing on classified military documents to US intelligence officials.
While the Larkins brothers and Singh
were sentenced to 10-year terms, Gill got two
years. The high court later acquitted Gill and
Singh. The State’s appeal against their acquittal is still pending in the Supreme Court.
The spy ring was detected in April 1983,
but the government ordered further surveillance for another seven months in view of
ramifications involved in arresting such senior officials. F D Larkins was caught redhanded on November 18, 1983, while was
passing documents to an American. K H
Larkins was also arrested the next day.
Summer school: Kids do catwalk
Bonita Baruah
By Bonita Baruah
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
New Delhi: Music. Action. And
the girl in the shiny-green pantsuit struts down the stage. The
rest just dawdle around and have
to be coaxed and cajoled to strike
the right poses. This is Aashna
and her batch mates, all toddlers,
learning the fine art of catwalking
in their playschool.
Schools are closed and summer
holidays have started, but for
many four-five-year-olds it’s back
to school again: learning to
rampwalk, pose for photographers, veejaying or getting lessons
in confidence building, personality development or table manners.
Just lolling around won’t do any
more; nor will plain old arts and
STARTING YOUNG: Pre-school kids learn to strike a pose.
craft or painting.
At Mother’s Pride, an upmarket
agencies and which agencies to feel: ‘‘If they are familiar with the
play school with branches in
choose. ‘‘There are so many stage or speaking into a mike
Punjabi Bagh, Paschim Vihar
brands out there targeting kids now, they will never be afraid later
and Pitam Pura, they have
and teens, and most ad agencies on,’’ she adds.
introduced three new summer
are looking out for kids with some
The flip side? ‘‘It’s ridiculous to
courses this year: modelling, anprofessional exposure,’’ he says.
subject a four-year-old to fluency
choring and dramatics: ‘Three
Playschools are cashing in on courses,’’ says Jitender Nagpal,
new ways to make your child a
this current craze with the psychoanalyst. ‘‘A lot of behavstar’, as they hardsell.
courses ranging from the fun to ioural issues can emerge if you
Their sales campaign: ‘Groom the inane: English speaking, pres- just overload a child with achieveyour child into the next star of entation and communication ment targets.’’ It’s a fad in urban
the ramp’, and ‘Soon all the TV skills, personality development, culture, he says. Parents tend to
channels could be vying for your home decoration, personal groom- get carried away by what their
child’. And parents are biting. The ing and dining etiquette. The neighbours or friends’ kids are doresponse has been terrific, says hottest courses, of course, are ing. ‘‘They forget that home is the
principal Sudha Gupmodelling, veejaying most important place for personalta.‘‘It’s the craze toand personality de- ity development.’’
day. Parents want
velopment.
Most of these classes are on five
their children to exBut why would days a week. While most toddlers
cel in all fields, not
parents want to send have abundant energy and these
just in the classroom.
a toddler for a per- courses can be useful, it’s a misThere is a demand for
sonality
develop- take to put them into strait-jacketsuch courses, that’s why they are ment course? For confidence, say ed, structured routines as this can
there,’’ she says.
the coaches. ‘‘Ninety per cent kids backfire, says Nagpal. ‘‘Free, unAt the Jay Wellness Centre, have a complex because they can’t structured time — just sitting on a
where ‘auditions’ are going on for speak English,’’ says Anjali, sofa doing nothing, or day-dreamtheir modelling and grooming whose outfit IPDC also offers sim- ing — is important for the child.’’
Most of the courses start at Rs
workshop, there has been a flood of ilar courses for pre-schoolers.
enquiries from parents, says Gau- These courses help the kids to 3,000. They have become megarav, coordinator. Most of the appli- overcome stagefright and inhibi- productions with add-ons like
cants are in the 4-10 age group who tions, she says. ‘‘In today’s world, trips to five-star hotels, and Mcwill be taught body language, overall exposure and developing Donalds, and ‘talent competitions’
western and Indian posing, how to life-skills are more important,’’ every week. The prizes can comact in a music video, how to face says Gupta. And there’s nothing pete with any TV show: TV, DVDs,
the camera, how to contact ad wrong with starting young, they Still wondering where’s the lure?
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CMYK
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D E L H I
SUNDAY TIMES OF INDIA New Delhi, May 18, 2003
DU, increase seats, improve colleges
Neeraj Paul
A common entrance test will ensure
equal opportunities in a democratic
way and help save money and duplicacy of labour. Increasing seats in elite
colleges is not a good idea — it will only lead
to greater heart-burn among those who cannot afford to study there. An effort should be
made to improve the quality of C-grade
colleges and bring them at par with elite
colleges. This will greatly help students from
middle class and lower income groups.
Murli Tahiliani, Old Rajendra Nagar
Whether a college is A, B or C grade, most
students bunk classes. If DU can check this
half the problem would be solved. DU should
also increase the number of seats in all colleges and then introduce a common entrance
test for students from other states. A certain
number of seats should be reserved for students from Delhi.
Neha Jain, Bengali Market
PEOPLE
POWER
Question of the week
For better education to
greater numbers, should
Delhi University:
● Increase seats in
elite colleges?
● Introduce a common
entrance test?
● Improve quality of
C-grade colleges?
Increasing seats in elite colleges will
not help much as the majority of students come from middle class backgrounds and cannot afford the high
fees. Introducing a common entrance test will
completely madden the students as they already take entrance tests for IITs, MBBS, etc.
Quality matters most. So it’s important to
improve the quality of C-grade colleges;
students from economically weaker sections
should be given the required support and DU
should introduce quality vocational courses
to attract good students.
Rajat Choudhry, Shakti Nagar
Merely increasing seats in elite colleges or
introducing a common entrance test will not
help. Delhi University should introduce good
quality distance education through television and correspondence courses and
through recorded lectures. More evening
colleges in the mushrooming management
institutes should also help.
Rohit Kumar Pandit, Shalimar Bagh
It’s very important to improve C-Grade
colleges. Well-qualified and dedicated lecturers are essential — not only for professional
courses but also for Bachelor’s degrees in
subjects like Sociology, Political Science
and Psychology. Today there are career options for graduates in these subjects, but indifferent teaching puts students off. DU
should also offer more subjects at correspondence levels for people who want to work
and study together.
Preeti Bhandari, North Delhi
The number of seats should be increased in
all colleges to make up for those reserved for
backward classes. DU must work towards improving the infrastructure of C-grade colleges so that students who are unable to get
admission into elite colleges can opt for these
without hesitation.
Shreya Chakravorty, Mayur Vihar
The education department should keep in
mind that Delhi University is not only for
Delhiites. Students from states like Haryana,
Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, UP and even the
north-east come to Delhi because of the high
standard of education, faculty and availability of exclusive courses. So increasing the
number of seats in all colleges and improving the quality of C-grade colleges is the best
way out. DU should ensure that no college is
categorised as C-grade.
Shantanu Ganguly, Piragarhi
DU should neither increase seats in elite
colleges nor introduce a common entrance
test. Instead it should open good evening
colleges with well-qualified lecturers.
These can function from public school
buildings — their vast infrastructure should
be utilised to its maximum potential. It must
of course be ensured that these colleges do
not interfere with the functioning of
the school.
Onkar Chopra, Janak Puri
Improving the quality of C-grade colleges
should get top priority. The number of seats
should be increased in all colleges without
any categorisation. A common entrance test
is also a good idea as this would help capable
students to take up courses of their choice in
case they have not done well in their Class
XII Boards.
Vineeta Chabra, Srinivaspuri
Improving the quality of C-grade colleges
is a must. It’s the only way students will opt
for nearby colleges instead of wanting to
commute 50 km a day to reach a so-called
elite college.
Vidya Sagar, Yojna Vihar
IN THE LINE OF FIRE
Let’s not categorise colleges as elite or C-grade. Every college has
its plus points and there’s a consistent effort to improve them
further. The division exists only in the mind. Faculty-wise all DU
colleges conform to a certain criterion. Infrastructure-wise there
is scope for improvement but this happens over time. Students
should check out the colleges and not go by hearsay.
I don’t think increasing the number of seats will help. Colleges
are using their infrastructure to optimum capacity. And opening
new colleges is not easy. You need funding, whether it’s government or private. A common entrance test is also not possible. Every year at least
1 lakh 40 thousand students apply for DU admissions. University exams are on
at this time and the infrastructure is already stretched to its full capacity.
The existing system with its pluses and minuses is functioning well. DU has
a strong back-up system. Around 45,000 students get admissions into regular
courses and some 80,000 to 90,000 get into non-formal courses.
Hema Raghavan, Principal Gargi College & Dean Students’ Welfare
A common entrance test is the best option.
Those who don’t qualify can opt for evening
or correspondence courses.
Kuldip Singh Bhatia, Shalimar Bagh
Students go for Delhi University as a bee
goes for honey. So a common entrance test is
a good idea. But DU should restrict the
number of seats for outsiders.
YK Vir, Tilak Nagar
The best way is to give direct admission on
the basis of Class XII results — even to institutes like the IITs. To sit for competitive
exams you need to take coaching from private
institutes like Vidyamandir. Everyone cannot
afford it. How do you expect a middle class
student who is good but hasn’t had any
coaching to cope with competitive exams? A
good way out could be to introduce multiple
choice questions — of the kind asked in IIT
entrance exams — in NCERT books.
Vaibhav Vats, Rohini
What do you mean by elite? And how would
you define better education? I think the purpose of education at university level should
be to identify and sharpen the skills of a
student so that he can gracefully earn a
living. Education should make him sensitive
about his duties and responsibilities towards
himself, his family, the society, the country
and humanity at large. A college that can
make this happen is elite enough.
P C Gupta, Green Park
To chat on SMS send 'cchat' <your question> to 8888
“ECP has features of angioplasty, bypass and
gene therapy” — DR. SUKHBINDAR SINGH SIBIA,
Director, Asian Chelation Therapy Centre
Q. I had bypass
surgery 3 years back
and now again I have
chest pain. Can E.C.P
help me?- gulloo
A: Yes ECP can help after bypass
and even after angioplasty.
Q. What is External Counter
Pulsation?- freaky_chakra
A: It is non-operative method of
treating heart disease to increase
the blood flow to the heart and is
a substitute for many cases in
place of angioplasty or bypass
and also where these have failed.
Q. How does the Counter
Pulsation System work?-frea
A: It works by dilating the heart's
blood vessels, opening up of dormant blood vessels which were
present since birth but did not
open up and by stimulating the
formation of new blood vessels.
For complete chat log on to
http://chat.indiatimes.com
• War against terror: Is
the US feeling the heat?
Are the latest blasts in
Riyadh and Morocco
signs of resurgence in the
al-Qaeda’s network of terror?
• Will Armaan click with the
masses? Known for her sensitive
scripts, Honey Irani has put togeth-
er a powerful cast, with Amitabh
Bachchan, Anil Kapoor, Preity Zinta
and Gracy Singh in the lead. Is this
going to spell magic at the box
office? Will Armaan give Bollywood
the elusive hit it has been seeking
for so long?
For complete chat log on to
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com
Thus it has features of angioplasty, bypass and gene therapy.
Q. Who all can undergo ECP?- ch
A: ECP is for those heart patients
who have decreased blood flow.
It is also helpful in patients with
decreased ejection fractions. ECP
is suitable for most patients
where medicines are not effective; patients unfit for bypass
or not wanting bypass and also
patients having recurrence
after bypass.
Q. What are the uses of ECP in
cardiology?- doc
A: ECP helps improve cardiac
flow and ejection fraction in patients of ischaemic heart disease.
It is also helpful in patients having decreased blood flow to the
brain and the kidney.
There is need to increase seats in elite
college and decrease the cut-off percentage. Colleges should also give preference to students from Delhi schools.
Shweta Bhatia, Malkaganj
Anyone who wants to study should have the
facility to do so. This will be possible only
if DU increases seats in elite colleges and
improves the quality of C-grade ones. No one
should feel that it’s better to stay home or
join a correspondence course than to take
admission in a C-grade college.
Shuchi Lakhanpal, Model Town
CINEMA OF THE WEEK
Armaan (drama) ★★★
Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Anil
Kapoor, Preity Zinta
Direction: Honey Irani
Showing at: PVR Anupam
irst the faultlines.
Faultline number one:
Gross underutilisation
of Amitabh Bachchan. Here
was the Shahenshah, ready
for a makeover that went far
beyond his wispy white hair.
And look what the debutante
director does to him? She
gives him three and a quarter
scenes and then fades him
into the background as a
wispy white frame in the
shadows. Absolutely unforgivable, specially since the
three-and-a-quarter cameo
displays the ageless actor in
great innovative form. Watch
him talking about a lost love
or a lost youth — ‘‘long time
since I looked at waterfalls’’
— and you’ll realise there’s
still loads of molten lava waiting to explode from this Vesuvius of the silver screen,
three decades later.
play which is original and
real: The actors talk and cry
like real people. For the languorous pace that works like
an aphrodisiac in this rush of
high-adrenalin films. And for
a sweet story, simply told. The
fact that we’re already seeing
a similar soap — Sanjeevani
— on prime time television
only adds that extra dash of
masala. Just a naughty query:
So who’s copying whom...
F
Fault number two: Preity
Zinta. Okay, she’s cute, cuddly
and vivacious — a veritable
live-wire on the screen. But
when did a teddy bear actual-
win over the
girl
of
his
dreams (Hrishita
Bhatt),
Irfaan is absolutely
mesmeric. His swagger between control
and unbridled power
is the finest balancing act witnessed in
mainstream cinema
so far.
Hero or villain?
You keep asking
yourself and fail to
find a straight answer. And that’s
what real acting,
flesh-and-blood
characters
are
all about.
Haasil (romance) ★★★ 1/2
Cast: Jimmy Shergill,
Irfan Khan, Hrishta Bhatt
Direction: Tigmanshu Dhulia
Showing at: Regal
int fresh and mindblowing, Haasil is a double
whammy. First, the mintfresh flavour. Debutante director Tigmanshu Dhulia
turns his attention to virgin
territory: The underbelly of
grassroots politics in a small
town university. And rightly
so, for what’s replayed in the
higher echelons of politics is
only what flows from the
gutters of backwater India.
Two warring student leaders transform the townscape
into a battlefield, complete
with country-made pistols
and dirty bombs spraying the
M
ly take home the Oscars? As
the spoilt young heiress who
wants her Barbie or Ken any
which way — so what if Ken’s
not for sale — she pitches in a
unidimensional show. One
which is as cliched as it comes
— she stomps her feet, flings
the glassware, crashes her
limo, slits her wrists and
grows hysterical when things
don’t go her way. Come now
Honey, there are ways and
ways of playing the girl who
can’t take ‘No’. So why settle
POOR★
for something that Urmila
and the rest have already excelled in (remember, Pyaar
Tune Kya Kiya).
Fault number three: Gracy
Singh. Aaah. This homespun
housefrau is okay for Lagaan
but here it’s hard to keep your
eyes on her. And here, we’re
not talking about looks at all.
So far, so bad. But that’s not
the end of the story. You can
settle for Armaan for several
reasons. For Anil Kapoor
who’s getting better with each
greying hair. For the screen-
AV E R A G E ★ ★
GOOD★ ★ ★
V E RY G O O D ★ ★ ★ ★
university campus with blood
and gore. It’s the familiar hate
game of caste politics fuelled
by the party bosses sitting in
the state Capitals. Add to
this a torrid story of covetous
love and you look what you
have: A dramatic story of
heartbreak, passion and politics played out against a backdrop of real India.
And now the mindblowing
part: Irfaan Khan. As the firebrand student leader who
wins the support of the
‘Hi-Bye’ people and tries to
Needless to say, he’s ably
supported by an ensemble
cast. Ashutosh Rana, Rajpal
Yadav, Murad Ali, and the rest
of the bad boys. Even the lead
pair — Jimmy and Hrishita —
are credible and cute with
their small town romance
played out in empty cinema
halls, clandestine my-cyclewill-follow-your-rickshawrides.
Voters ID, export
orders: Gypsies
of a new hue
he gypsy camp has vanished into the
blue. Meet Banjara Pammi who has been living in your city since 18 years.‘‘Ab hum Dilliwale hai. Aur vote bhi detey hai,’’ says the 42-year-old
gariwala lohars (ironsmiths-on-carts).
Eighteen years ago, Pammi and his band of gypsies camped on the outskirts of Delhi, in a wooded
area which later became Patparganj. Today, they
have voter identity cards, black and white TVs and
claim they even have orders for their wares from export houses. But that’s not enough. They want the
government to give them land to settle down. Plus
T
Mohua Chatterjee
Truly, a compelling debut
by a young director who has a
bright future.
Nikhat Kazmi
O U T S TA N D I N G ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
ration
cards.
Pammi and his
clan trace their
antecedents to
Maharana Pratap. Their original home was
Chittorgarh, Rajasthan, from where they branched
out some ‘‘hundreds of years ago.’’ Today, home is 12
tents pitched near wooden and iron carved carts,
parked on the roadside beside a garbage heap near
the Mother Dairy crossing in Patparganj. And bread
and butter comes from the family business where
each member has a part to play.
Evenings see the women selling their wares in the
weekly markets around the area. That’s when men
congregate for a drink or two and watch Hindi films,
songs or cricket on TV. Any dispute is settled by the
elders. There’s also a panchayat which meets during
weddings and other occasions.
Today, the itinerant has settled down and nurtures
settler’s dreams. He wants his children to go to
school and not end up as ironsmiths. ‘‘Abhi zamana
badal gaya hai. Sarkar hamey sadak pe rehne nahi
deti hai. Isi liye buzurg bhi yeh chahtey hai ki hum
bas jaye,’’ he explains, puffing away at his brass
hookah. And sometimes, dreams do come true. Explains Shiela, his wife, ‘‘Two of my sons, Vicky and
Sunil, joined the local MCD school three days ago.’’
As of now, none of these gypsies can read or write.
Pammi’s most pressing concern right now is the
increasing density of the place. “We fear being
thrown out because they are going to broaden this
road.’’ And then it’ll be back on the road. Not an easy
change for a gypsy who likes to watch TV.
Mohua Chatterjee
DELHI
UNDERBELLY
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D E L H I
SUNDAY TIMES OF INDIA New Delhi, May 18, 2003
3
K K Laskar
Lover bleeds himself
to death, almost
By Maneesh Pandey
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
Mahila Dakshata Samiti felicitated Nisha Sharma at a function held in the city. Nisha’s
parents were also present in the ceremony.
New Delhi: A married
man almost bled to death
trying to prove his love to
his ex-girlfriend on Saturday.
Son of a Greater Kailash-I businessman, Inderpal Singh (24), needed five
bottles of blood to regain
consciousness after he inflicted an injury upon himself. The victim is stated to
be out of danger.
Deputy commissioner of
police (southwest) Tejinder Luthra said: ‘‘The incident occurred while Inderpal was trying to prove to
his ex-girlfriend Romanji
(22) that he still loved her.
The girl, however, told him
that he was lying as he’s
married to someone else.’’
In a fit of rage, Inderpal
hit a window of Romaji’s
house in Safdarjung Enclave with his right hand.
The DCP said he was
bleeding profusely and the
neighbours called up the
police when they saw
blood flowing out of the
room. Police said the two
were involved in an affair
which lasted for two years.
Inderpal’s family, however, got him married to
another girl from its community in January.
Stamp duty cut
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
New Delhi: Delhi state cabinet on Saturday decided to
bring down the rate of stamp
duty from 13 per cent to eight
per cent. A notification to
this effect will be issued by
the state government and
municipal corporation of
Delhi separately next week,
sources said.
‘‘This will be done to avoid
any confusion,’’ said a
source.
The state cabinet also referred the Water Act to Delhi
Jal Board for necessary
changes.
‘Nisha’s boyfriend, not dowry
disrupted the wedding’
By Lalit Kumar
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
Ghaziabad:Munish Dalal,
now in the Ghaziabad jail for
allegedly demanding a dowry
of Rs 12 lakh from Nisha
Sharma’s family, has claimed
that his wedding was called
off because Sharma’s former
suitor, Navneet, created a
ruckus during the ceremony.
‘‘The trouble started when
Navneet, an old suitor of
Nisha, arrived at the wedding pandal with his friends.
He told my mother Vidya
Dalal that for all practical
purposes, he was already
married to Nisha. And there
was no way he was going to
allow anyone else to marry
her,’’said Dalal.
At a meeting in the Ghaziabad jail on Saturday afternoon, Vidya Dalal alleged
that Nisha’s father Devi Dutt
Sharma bit her and beat her
with a chappal.
According to Munish,
Navneet and Nisha were
classmates at her computer
institute. A few days before
the wedding, Navneet threatened D D Sharma not to marry Nisha to Munish. Sharma
had even informed a senior
Noida police officer about
this, he added.
When Nisha was contacted, her family claimed she
was suffering from fever and
not available for comment.
Sharma admitted that Nisha
had once been close to
Navneet. ‘‘She wanted to
marry him. I had gone with
her to meet Navneet’s father.
While his father agreed to
the match, he told us that
Navneet was unemployed
and had no means of earning
a living. He suggested that
Navneet come live with us.
We did not agree to this proposal. I am glad my daughter
broke up with Navneet.’’
Sharma also admitted he
had recently told a Noida police officer that he expected
trouble from Navneet at the
wedding. ‘‘The officer contacted Navneet and assured
me there would be no trouble.’’ Vidya Dalal said:
‘‘Navneet phoned me on May
8. He asked us to call off the
wedding, or he would
forcibly stop the ceremony.’’
Munish said when they
reached the pandal they were
not allowed inside. ‘‘Our
band was not allowed to play.
I was not even allowed to
mount the horse. Navneet
was there with a dozen of his
friends. When we tried to enter the pandal, we were beaten up. My mother was assaulted with chappals.’’
Munish alleges that Nisha
called the police during the
confusion to ‘‘give the whole
thing a different color. It was
not about dowry at all.’’
Another bride walks out
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
New Delhi: A new bride refused to go with her husband when he demanded
dowry of Rs 8 lakh on the
day of the wedding. The
groom’s family made the
demand just before leaving
the bride’s house.
Anupama, the bride, is
yet to lodge a formal complaint. The bride’s family
told the police that they will
settle the matter themselves. Anupama’s husband
Yogender is a constable in
Central Reserve Police
Force. She is a resident of
Nand Nagri.
Deputy commissioner of
police (northeast), Praveer
Ranjan, said: ‘‘The police
has offered help to the
bride’s family and asked
them to lodge a formal complaint so that matter could
be investigated properly,
but they have refused to do
so. They want to settle the
matter through the panchayat of elders. Both families know each other and
they hail from Meerut.’’
Anupama’s father, Kehar
Singh had reportedly given
Rs 51,000, a motorcycle, jewellery and other gifts in
dowry to her in-laws during
the engagement. The marriage took place on May 14.
But just before the marriage party was to leave the
bride’s home, Yogender and
his relatives allegedly demanded Rs 8 lakhs from the
bride’s family. Otherwise,
they threatened to call off
the marriage.
This led Anupama, a textile designing student, to
take the strong decision
and walk out on the new
marriage.
Joint commissioner of
police
(crime
against
women cell), Vimla Mehra,
said: ‘‘Unlike Nisha, this
case is different. Because of
the social stigma attached
to such cases, not everybody dares to come out in
the public or lodge complaint.’’
Teen crushed
between two
speeding buses
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
New Delhi: A teenager was
killed between two speeding
buses in Delhi Cantt area on
Friday. According to police,
Samarpal (17), had boarded
the bus, plying on route number 740 to visit his brother in
Uttam Nagar.
There was another bus plying on the same route and the
drivers tried to overtake each
other. ‘‘Samarpal was peeping out of the window when
the accident took place near
Dhaula Kuan. His head was
crushed. The Delhi cantonment police have arrested the
errant driver,’’ a police officer
said.
On May 10, a Class 10 student of St Columba’s School
was crushed under the
wheels of a Blueline bus.
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CMYK
œ ND ‰ ‰ † ‰ CMK
D E L H I
SUNDAY TIMES OF INDIA New Delhi, May 18, 2003
NATIONAL
Mumbai: I-A 0700,
0800, 0900, 1200, 1300,
1700, 1800, 1900, 2000,
2300 Jet Air 0650,
0800, 0935, 1400, 1725,
1935, 2030, 2200,
Sahara 1700, 0935,
1520, 1800, 2025
KOLKATA: I-A 0700,
1600★★,1700,1945
Jet Air 0600, 1720,
Sahara 0620,1915
CHENNAI: I-A
0640,0955★★★
1645,1900 Jet Air
0645,1900
BANGALORE:
I-A 0650, 1645, 1900
Jet Air 0635,1715,
Sahara 0725, 1745
HY’BAD:I-A 0630, 1745
GOA: I-A 1200,
Sahara 1200
KULU: Jagson 0630,
0650, 1215 ★
AHMEDABAD:
I-A 0600,1700★★1845,
Jet Air 0610
GUWAHATI—BAGDOGRA:
I-A 0555★★, 1010•
★ Jet Air 1010
WEATHER
Rain or thundershowers likely to occur at many places
in Andaman and Nicobar Islands; at a few places in
Arunachal Pradesh, Assam and Meghalaya, Nagaland,
Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Lakshadweep and at isolated places in WB and Sikkim, Orissa,
Haryana, Punjab, HP, J&K, coastal Andhra Pradesh and south interior Karnataka. Mainly dry weather will prevail over the rest of the
country.
INDIA
WORLD
Max
Max Min
Delhi
Mumbai
Chennai
Kolkata
B’lore
Ahm’bad
T’puram
Bhopal
B’eshwar
Pune
41
33
39
38
33
44
33
43
38
40
24
27
29
29
23
27
26
26
28
24
Guwahati
Dehradun
Hyd’bad
Indore
Jaipur
Lucknow
Patna
Rajkot
Shimla
Srinagar
33
37
43
43
43
43
38
41
26
26
Max Min
Min
22
20
26
28
28
23
26
25
17
09
Amsterdam
Bahrain
Bangkok
Beijing
Chicago
Geneva
Hong Kong
London
Los Angeles
Moscow
16
39
35
22
14
17
32
17
21
24
05
22
28
15
07
04
27
08
13
09
TRAIN RESERVATIONS
Earliest date on which berth / seats were available at 2003 hrs. on
17.05.2003 in important trains leaving various Delhi stations.
AHMEDABAD:
0120 (AI 610)
MUMBAI: 0615 (AI140),
0700 (AI 170), 1855
(AI 301), 2145 (AI 319)
Train No. Train / Exp / Mail
NORTH
4033
Jammu Mail
4645
Shalimar Exp
2403
Jammu Exp
EAST
2302
Kolkata Rajdhani
2304
Poorva Exp
2382
Poorva Exp
2312
Kalka Mail
2392
Magadh Exp
2402
Shramjeevi Exp
2418
Prayag Raj Exp
4056
Brahmputra Mail
5622
North East Exp
2554
Vaishali Exp
2816
Puri Exp
2802
Purshottam Exp
8476
Neelanchal Exp
4230
Lucknow Mail
WEST
2904
Golden Temple Mail
2926
Paschim Exp
2952
Mumbai Rajdhani
2954
AG Kranti Rajdhani
2474
Sarvodaya Exp
1078
Jhelum Exp
2916
Ashram Exp
SOUTH
2616
G T Exp
2622
Tamil Nadu Exp
2432
Trivandrum Raj
2626
Kerala Exp
2618
Mangala Exp
2628
Karnataka Exp
2724
A P Exp
2430
Banglore Rajdhani
7022
Dakshin Express
A-I: (City)23736446 /47/48
(Air.)25652050, British Air:
(Air.) 25652908, Lufthansa:
23323310, Singapore Airlines
23356286, Thai Air: 3323638
No. of passengers dealt on 16.05.2003 (Delhi Area): 61,983 (N. Rly. Area)
2,60,831. It does not necessarily mean that reservation is available on all
subsequent dates. For further information regarding reservation: Ph: 131 for
computerised PNR, for status enquiry contact 1330, 1335, 1345.
(Information supplied by Indian Railways)
Ph: I-A:140,142. ★ Mon, Wed,
Fri, ★★Tue, Thu, Sat, ★★★
Mon-Fri, Sun, Jet Air: (City)
6853700, (Airport) 25665404
Sahara: (City) 2335901-9,
(Airport) 25675234/875, (TeleCheckin) 25662600. • Mon, Fri.
INTERNATIONAL
BANGKOK/TOKYO: Thai
Air 0010 (TG-316),
A-I 0050 (IC-855)
FRANKFURT: Lufthansa
0305 (LH-761)
AMSTERDAM:
KLM 0745 (KL-476)
LONDON: British Air
0210 (BA-142)
PARIS: Air France
0040 (AF-147),
A-I 0735 (AI-141)
SINGAPORE: Sin’pore
Airlines 2315 (SQ-407),
I-A 0050 (IC-855)
HONG KONG/OSAKA:
A-I 2320 (AI-318)
ROME/GENEVA:
A-I 0350 (AI-171)
AIR INDIA
1 ac
2 ac
Ac 3t Sl
24.05
—
23.05
27.05 04.06 27.05
22.06 18.06 28.05
10.06 14.06 11.06
19.05
21.05
23.05
N.A.
N.A.
—
22.05
—
—
20.05
—
—
—
21.05
23.05
04.06
09.06
23.05
28.05
21.05
22.05
N.A.
17.06
03.06
02.06
17.06
22.06
26.05
13.06
11.06
16.05
25.06
29.05
27.05
22.05
01.07
24.06
09.06
12.06
16.06
17.06
26.05
—
12.06
16.06
23.06
29.05
29.05
26.05
19.06
19.06
16.06
14.06
13.06
01.06
02.06
25.05
27.05
29.06
31.05
—
—
27.05
12.06
16.06
12.06
10.06
12.06
24.06
17.06
17.06
18.06
16.06
11.06
26.06
17.06
16.06
17.06
18.06
—
—
19.06
16.06
10.06
21.05
04.06
24.06
—
—
—
10.06
14.06
—
10.06
10.06
01.07
21.06
26.06
18.06
16.06
28.06
11.06
17.06
17.06
29.06
18.06
21.06
17.06
20.06
27.06
—
04.06
09.06
—
12.06
10.06
04.06
10.06
—
29.05
Wrestler dies in freak accident
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
New Delhi: In a freak incident on Friday, a wrestler
died when he was accidentally stabbed by a pair of sciccors. The police said the deceased, Sandeep (19), was
staying at the Railway
Colony akhara with other
wrestlers.
A friendly scuffle had occurred when Sandeep tried
to cut his friend Narender’s
hair.
Narender
twisted
Sandeep’s hand and the scissors stabbed him in the chest.
Sandeep fell unconscious
and was taken to a nearby
hospital where he was declared brought dead. TNN
Dilli ko gussa kyon aata hai?
Cow hide seized: Two men were arrested for smuggling 194
cow hides to Hapur by the southwest police.TNN
The pressure of urban living, a troubled past and poor civic amenities have ensured
that Delhiites are perennially in a heightened state of rage
By Sachin Parashar and
Diya Koshy
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
onfucius
said
when anger rises,
think of the consequences.
To
many in the city,
however, flaring up over
small things is a matter of
routine.
More than 150 cases of
murder have been reported
in Delhi in 2003, 34 of which
resulted from minor provocations. Every year almost 80
people lose their lives in
small scuffles all over the
city.
Aggressive
naturally:
One school of thought says
that this happens because
Delhiites are innately aggressive. There are others, however, who believe that Delhi’s
transition from a bureaucratic city to a bustling metropolis has acted as a catalyst in
keeping the city on a permanent short fuse.
Pankaj Mullick, an executive with a multinational
says, ‘‘ Aggressiveness is the
law of the jungle here. You
have to bear your claws to be
taken seriously. I smile at
people and am polite. That
tends to unnerve them. ’’
‘‘The paradigm shift taking place in the city is adding
to the anger which then manifests itself on the city
streets. Delhi is no longer a
traditional, laidback city. Unlike Mumbai, Delhi was never an industrial society. It’s
only now that we see more
entrepreneurs and executives in the city. The transformation from the traditional
to the modern has been laced
with violence for the city,’’
says psychiatrist Jitender
Nagpal.
The competitiveness induced by this transition has
ensured that people are always at each other’s throats.
Sapna Bharwani, an immigration executive says, ‘‘
People here don’t like to
take no for an answer and
they don’t like being disciplined.’’
Rebekah Samuel, a callcentre executive says, ‘‘If
you follow the rules, you
get left behind. People have
no regard for rules here.’’
According to Dr Rajat
Mitra, director of a society
for
mental
health,
Swanchetan, Delhi is not
an isolated case. ‘‘There’s is
the case of Boston where
people are more aggressive
and there are more cases of
road rage there than in any
other part of the country.
Initially, tribal societies
never fought with each other, but it all changed after
things were put on offer for
them,’’ says Mitra, who
conducts anger-management classes in Tihar.
Fragmented society:
What’s compounds the
Swati Chakrabarti
C
AWARENESS
• Admit you are
angry
• Focus on what
makes you angry
• Anger often
results from fear
or insecurity
• Recall the last
time you were
angry
• How often you
get angry
• Think of
situations that
anger you
problem is the absence of a
social fabric in the city. Psychiatrist Sanjay Chugh says
the large migrant population
in the city prevents Delhiites
from evolving as a society.
‘‘People don’t have roots
here. The joint family system
is on its way out. There is less
emotional support and fewer
outlets for pent-up feelings.
All this leads to a pressurecooker
situation,’’says
Chugh.
‘‘You always
seem to be walking a social
tightrope here.
Be it at home or
in the workplace, expectations are high and stress levels higher,’’ says Mullick.
Samuel also attributes it to
the large population. ‘‘There
are just too many people and
not enough to go around.
Everyone wants to be first in
line. Even at the traffic light
there is always someone who
wants to be just ahead of that
white line. What’s funny is
that you will meet the same
person again at the next
crossing. So everyone seems
to be in a terrific hurry and
no one seems sure if they
SECOND STEP
FLIGHTS OUT
OF DELHI
FIRST STEP
4
CONTROL
• Go to the washroom, clench your fists, confess
you are angry
• Be realistic about expectations
• Have a balanced diet with three square meals
• Be sensitive to others needs
• Assert yourself positively, avoid getting offensive
• Don’t carry office anxiety home
• Consult a doctor or a psychiatrist
• Sleep for 7-8 hours a day
• Avoid excessive consumption of alcohol
and nicotine
• Aerobic exercises, yoga, meditation at least
three to four times a week can help
• In case none of this works, just count ten before
you explode. You may not.
will ever get where they are
going.’’
There are many who believe that Delhi is yet to rid itself of the legacy of partition
and there is this collective
sub-consciousness through
which memories are passed
on. ‘‘The way most people behave, it’s like they are reliving the partition days. It’s
similar to the Germans still
reliving the trauma of the
World War II,’’ says Mitra
Quality of
life: Poor civic
amenities
in
the city have
also compound
the issue. The
buses are over
crowded and it’s impossible
to get off a taxi or an autorickshaw without haggling
over fares. Nothing comes
easily here, except the rage.
However, it’s not just the
system which can be blamed
for the acrimony.
Extreme climatic conditions contribute no less to the
seething rage in the city.
‘‘It’s not just the summer
when we experience gruelling heat. The absence of
sunlight in the extreme Delhi
winter causes depression
CAPITAL
STORY
which, leads to anger,’’ says
Chugh.
Blame game: Experts are
unanimous that it’s high
time people did some introspection and recognised
their own fault rather than
just point fingers.
According to Chugh, people in Delhi have failed to
reprioritise their lives.
‘‘Most people spend 80 per
cent of their time doing 20
per cent of the things which
are important. As a result,
they only have 20 per cent
time left for 80 per cent of
the things which are important. It’s called the 80-20
principle.’’
‘‘There has to be some
stress management system.
We have to stop iving so
much in the past and live in
the present and for the future,’’ says Bharwani.
Samuel takes a less sympathetic stand. ‘‘Delhiites have
to get over their arrogance
and the assumption that they
are invincible and that the
rules just don’t apply. Till
that changes, no amount of
criticising the system will
work. It is they who failed the
system, not the other way
round.’’
Who will win the Mirchi car?
he Mirchi car has
been zipping all
across Delhi over
the last week. Thousands
of people have written the
word Mirchi on it, and
guessed
how
many
Mirchis the car would
sport by the end of its journey on Sunday.
The lucky winner of the
Kitni Mirchi Hai contest,
whose name will be announced on Radio Mirchi
98.3 FM on May 19, has The Mirchi car attracts curious throngs wherever it
guessed a number that is goes. Here it is parked at Karol Bagh.
closest or equals the final chance to guess Kitni slew of mega prizes and
tally. Today, which will be Mirchi Hai, and if lucky, cool contests lined up in
the last day of the Kitni you drive home the hottest the coming months. AlMirchi Hai contest, the little car in town.
ready the Samsung Shut
Mirchi gaddi is going to be
Those
contestants, Up and Listen Contest,
stationed at 3Cs Cineplex whose estimates fell far where listeners won MP3
at Lajpat Nagar in the short of the final tally, players and Radio Mirchi
morning and PVR Saket in need not worry. Radio goodie bags, has created
the evening. It’s your last Mirchi promises to have a great excitement.
T
For booking &
information,
please call:
23302000
51-666-888
23492027,
Residents protest trader’s
encroachment
New Delhi: A building material dealer
who was evicted from a governmentowned land in Green Park Extension on
Tuesday morning, returned to occupy
the land in the evening.
Residents alleged collusion between
MCD officials and the encroacher. ‘‘It
was so disheartening to see building material being unloaded at the spot the
same day in the evening,’’ said resident
Aruna Bhomwik.
MCD south zone’s administrative officer, Nirmal Kumar, said a
complaint about the alleged encroachment had
been received. ‘‘We have
been briefed about the
problem and we will ensure that the action is taken to its logical conclusion.’’ He said he investigate the allegation of connivance between the encroacher and officials.
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CMYK
23302351
œ ND ‰ ‰ † ‰ CMK
I N D I A
L E T ’ S TA L K M O N E Y
Women inducted into Many Dalits convert to Christianity in Bhojpur
country’s elite forces
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
‘I sold my horses
and slept peacefully’
e was the first Indian to sell a painting
for Rs 1 lakh. M F
Husain again made news
when a recent work sold for
Rs 2 crore. Money seems to
chase the octogenarian, but
he warns, ‘‘Don’t hang on to
every paisa you earn. You
won’t be able to live life.’’
Are you a spender or a
saver?
A spender. How else did I
Udayshankar
set up the museums — in
Faridabad, Hyderabad and Ahmedabad — or make
my films?
How much money are you carrying?
I haven’t counted (fishes out about Rs 5,000 from
his pocket). I don’t keep a purse. I just stash some
money in my pocket and set out. Nor do I keep a bank
account. In fact, I keep a zero balance account. When
money comes in, I just do all that I want. I guard
against hoarding it — even though I had such a large
family.
Do you carry credit cards?
Yes, for convenience. Plastic money gives you the
freedom to do things on the spur of the moment.
Have you invested in property?
My museums are my property.
What’s your best investment?
What I put into buying my paint. They say, ‘Ghode
bech kar so gaya.’ (He sold off his horses and slept
without a worry). But I did everything by selling my
‘horses’ — I built museums, made Gajagamini,
painted a 100-feet canvas. Who will buy a painting
that size? I also knew I won’t get a single paisa from
Gajagamini. But one must have the guts to do things
one wants to.
Your worst investment?
None.
And you’ve had hard days?
Yes. But even then, material possessions were not
a lure. Once, a fire broke out in the chawl we lived in.
People ran to save furniture, clothes, valuables. I just
picked up a favourite painting and said to my wife,
‘‘Let’s go.’’ Even after such experiences, I haven’t
gone for insurance or shares. I don’t believe in investing money into something in order to get more
out of it. What do I want of life? I have all I need and
have done all I wanted to. As for my children, they’ll
get my paintings.
Most expensive thing you have bought?
Once in New York, I went wild buying art material. The bill I paid was the biggest for any one thing I
bought. I also love cameras.
What does money mean to you?
Money is good as long as it doesn’t come with a
sense of possession. When there’s an urge to hoard,
you become its slave and cannot enjoy life. When I
wore shoes, I was scared to take it off lest someone
walk off with it. I lost that fear when I gave up wearing shoes.
Money for me means the ability to go see a movie,
watch an opera, and buy more paint. Na aane ki
khushi, na jaane ka gham. Like the faqir, I’m not jubilant when money comes nor dejected when it goes.
H
SUNDAY TIMES OF INDIA New Delhi, May 18, 2003
By Mohua Chatterjee
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
New Delhi: For the first time,
women are being inducted into
the country’s elite commando
force. The National Security
Guards (NSG) sent out the
word to its feeder agencies —
the Central Reserve Police
Force (CRPF), the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF)
and state police forces — about
two months ago.
Names of willing and suitable police officers have already started coming in. The
eligible ones are being recruited for training. Since Tamil
Nadu and West Bengal already
have women commandos, most
names that have come in are
from these two states.
‘‘We have decided on raising
a contingent of 20 to 25 women,
to begin with. So far, about seven or eight names have come to
us. We will give them special
training and those who qualify
to join the NSG will be retained
for three, four or five years
(like the men in the force), before being returned to their
parent agencies,’’ said NSG
chief R S Mooshahary.
The decision is not a sudden
one. Even countries like Pakistan had women commandos
for many years now, said
Mooshahary. This has assumed
importance in the light of the
growing counter-insurgency in
the country and the fact that
the insurgents are using more
women now.
On the directives of the
home ministry, intelligence
agencies — with the help of
professional organisations —
conducted surveys on whether
women could be inducted.
Women were found to be instinctively better suited for the
job than men, when it came to
taking swift decisions, apart
from other skills.
Patna: There are reports
that several Dalits in Bihar’s
Bhojpur district converted to
Christianity.
‘‘Preliminary investigations reveal that a group of
Dalits in Udwantnagar block
have converted to Christianity. But our probe suggests 10
to 15 persons have converted
in the past one month and
not 100 as suggested by some
media reports,’’ Bhojpur district magistrate Sanjay Kumar said on Saturday. He said
the district administration
has recorded their statements. ‘‘In many cases, the
head of a family embraces
Christianity but not the
rest,’’ Kumar said.
Kumar says there are indications that they were given
Ratnottama Sengupta
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monetory incentives to convert. ‘‘In most cases, bicycles
have been distributed among
the new converts,’’ he said.
According to media reports,
missionaries distribute bicycles so they can spread the religion in the area.
œ ND ‰ ‰ † ‰ CMK
I N D I A
SUNDAY TIMES OF INDIA New Delhi, May 18, 2003
West beckons designers,
but it isn’t a cakewalk Conventional fridges are
good buys but cool
customers want frost-free
A TIMES SPECIAL REPORT
FOCUS ON REFRIGERATORS
By Nona Walia
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
Who’s selling where
NYT
New Delhi: When a Tarun Tahiliani label
travels from rustic Mehrauli to Fifth Avenue’s Lord & Taylor, the price tag reads $
2,000 for a beaded tunic; a Manish Arora
quilted silk jacket costs a cool $ 750. And a
hand-crafted
Raghuvendra
Rathore
evening gown sterling 2,500 in Selfridges.
For Indian fashion designers, going
West obviously means big business. But
it’s no cakewalk: it’s also mean business,
needing big bucks and big orders.
‘‘It took me two years of lobbying,’’ says
Indophile and wife of former American
Ambassador Jacqueline Lundquist, who
showcased Indian designerwear in the US
recently . ‘‘We did 18 trunk shows in 11
cities, where celebrities like Uma Thurman bought outfits. Only then, did we
catch the eye of a store like Lord & Taylor.’’
After rave reviews from the US press, they
have offers from five other stores.
But only a minuscule fraction of our designers are doing business abroad. Global
exports constitute only Rs 30 crore of the
Indian fashion industry which has a
turnover of Rs 200 crore.
But the potential is huge: a study by
FDCI-KPMG puts it at Rs 300 crore. ‘‘The
global market for Indian designers has
great potential,’’ says Anurag Mehra, director of KPMG Consultancies. They are
studying how the fashion industry became
a billion-dollar industry in the West and
are trying to identify strategies for growth
here.
‘‘There’s a lot of East-West interaction.
The Indian influence is getting stronger in
the West, this is the time to explore the
global market in a planned way,’’ says Vinod Kaul, executive director, FDCI (Fashion
Design Council of India).
Ask La Vella Olexa, director, fashion
merchandising at Lord & Taylor, New
York. ‘‘Indian designers have potential,
we’ve had a fabulous experience with
them,’’ he said.
India, then, is the flavour right now and
Indian textiles have always generated interest in the global fashion world; So why
aren’t more of our designers out there? Because going global has not been easy.
‘‘The global market is tricky. For instance, Christian Dior spends $ 2 million
on one fashion show, I don’t have money
like that,’’ says designer Suneet Varma.
‘‘I’ve been doing four shows in Dubai every
year and I retail in Faftafeen, but Europe
and US require huge investment. Most of
us survive on trunk shows or become design developers for Ralph Lauren or Donna Karan,’’ says Varma, who represented
the fashion industry at the World Economic Forum in Davos, last year.
• Tarun Tahiliani: Selfridges, Zaineb
Alam in London; Karma in New York;
Sun MotoYama in Tokyo, Sanskrit in
Hong Kong, Aesthetic in Dubai.
• David Abraham: Selfridges,
Kimono’s, The Conrad Shop, SAKS
and Macy’s
• Hemant Sagar: Harrods in London,
Vivaldi in New York, Dale in Paris, Star
in Chicago, Mezzaluna in Riyad
• Suneet Varma: Fafateen in Dubai,
Zaineb Alam in London, Metropolitan
Museum, in New York
• Abu Jani and Sandeep Khosla:
And London Ltd in London
Designer Rina Dhaka may have been
driven around in a limousine, and she may
have had full-page ads in The New York
Times and rave reviews from Women’s
Wear Daily, but she agrees it’s tough. ‘‘You
need a big budget. It’s a big gamble with a
huge investment.’’
Designer Raghuvendra Rathore agrees.
He’s worked for Oscar de la Renta in New
York, ‘‘I have my regular clients, so every
summer I take my trunk and sell overseas.
But to retail in a store is more organised
business, you need an agent to promote
and sell your clothes. Unless you want to
spend Rs 70 lakh just travelling to get orders and deliver them. There has to be a
sustainable business model with solid financial backing.’’
So who’s making a mark abroad this
summer? Tahiliani’s ensemble will travel
to Lord & Taylor stores in Florida and
Chicago.
He also retails in Japan, Hong Kong
and London; Varma makes his mark in a
shop opposite Harrods, London. Other
names who are already selling abroad:
David Abraham sells in 30 outlets in 11
countries; Hemant Sagar’s couture line
sells in Paris.
In the meantime, Jacqueline Lundquist
is planning to get more aggressive. ‘‘I’m going to expose the brightest stars of Indian
fashion in the US. We’ll be making fashionable milestones.’’
BY SANJAY KUMAR
THE level of penetration for
refrigerators is quite low in
the country at present.
Hence various refrigeratorsegments have good business
potential in the Indian market. The segments that are
growing very well are the
Direct Cool refrigerators between 165-184 litre segment
and the low end Frost free
category
between
185
litres-250 litres segment. The
refrigerator market is expected to grow by around
6% this year to achieve a volume of around 3.3 million
units.
The MNCs are by and
large dominating the Frostfree refrigerator segment of
the Indian market. In the Direct Cool Segment, Indian
companies are holding significant market shares.
MNCs who have set up manufacturing facilities in the
country are also successfully
tapping the Direct Cool market, which is a more price
sensitive market compared
to the Frost-free market .
The factors that consumers consider before making a refrigerator-purchasedecision are primarily:
a) The technology -that is
whether they want a Frost-
One major change
in the refrigerator
market is the
increase in
contribution of the
frost-free segment
from virtually
zero to 13%
today
free or a Conventional Refrigerator; b) the efficiency
of cooling c) the featuresthe utility compartments,
vegetable box, egg tray etc
and finally, d) the aesthetics,
which are increasingly be-
SAMSUNG India has launched its new i-cool
series of Frost-free refrigerators in India.
These are targeted primarily at customers
upgrading from a Conventional Refrigerator
(DC) to the Frost-free segment. Available in
the capacities between 310 litres and 440
litres, the i-cool series provide optimum cooling on account of the Twin Shower Cooling
feature in the refrigerator. The Twin Shower
Cooling feature entails cooling from three
sides and hence a cooling process that is
more powerful and speedy. Furthermore, it
AFP
Pakistani MP Sardar Saleem (2nd from R) and other legislators wave at the Wagah border on
Saturday, before returning to Pakistan after a 10-day peace mission to India.
New Delhi: She’s every
man’s dream girl — classy, reliable and quite a head-turner. Infact second-hand bhi
chalegi. An increasing number of people are buying second-hand Mercedes-Benz and
catapulting themselves into a
niche segment. What’s more,
there’s little to distinguish it
from a new car.
And the price difference
between new and old Mercs
is substantial. Manjeet Bala
of Tai-pan Traders Ltd,
Chandigarh, says the price of
a brand-new C-Class Merc
starts at Rs 22 lakh approx. A
second-hand costs Rs 15-17
lakh depending on age, condition, model, mileage and
accessories. A new E-Class
(fully loaded) car costs Rs
35.7 lakh. Second-hand — Rs
10-28 lakh. The Rs 58 lakh SClass can be had for Rs 42-45
lakh. ‘‘Still, the demand outstrips supply.’’
Car expert Murad Ali Baig
says over the last 10 years,
some 10,000 Mercs have been
put on Indian roads. ‘‘Second- hand Mercs are fine for
those who want a luxurious
car and are not hung up on
latest models.’’ But why
would anyone want to buy a
second-hand Merc when a
new Lancer or Honda City
costs less? ‘‘A Merc is a Merc.
Formidable reputation, great
looks,’’ says Baig.
Vrooming ahead
Worldwide sales of new
Mercedes-Benz
passenger cars reached
1,026,900 units from
Jan-Nov 2002. A look at
the second-hand market
in India. Figures of an
authorised Delhi dealer:
Year
No. of
second-hand
Mercs sold
2000
35
2001
45
2002
45-50
2003?
60 (hopefully)
Second-hand Mercs are
also testing ground for firsttime buyers who want to
eventually graduate to new
Mercs. ‘‘These cars are wellmaintained, without too
much mileage — about
35,000-50,000 kms,’’ says one
dealer. They are also passed
on to vice-presidents by company heads, who then go in
for new ones.
‘‘The most popular series
in the second-hand market is
the E124 series. It’s been in
India longer and is affordable,’’ says Bala. Plus with
easy financing by banks, entering this exclusive segment
is smoother. ‘‘Service records
of Mercs are clear. Pedigree
and repairs done are all
recorded. The customer will
not be short-changed,’’ says
the dealer.
Is it any wonder then that
John Thomas came all the
way from Kochi to Delhi for
this beauty? Two weeks of intense search and he found
what he wanted: a secondhand W124, 1989 model 250D.
‘‘As an engineer, I can say this
car is the best engineered vehicle I have used. While it’s
not a fast car, its reliability is
beyond question. It has wonderful character.’’ He’s obviously smitten.
However, the second-hand
car market is not organised.
V C Aggarwal, a businessman with a penchant for converting second-hand petrol
Mercs to diesel ones, has a
word of advice: Don’t go for
Mercs more than 10 years
old. ‘‘It’ll eat up your time
and money.’’ He himself has
used seven second-hand
Mercs over the years. This,
after trying other cars.
The market for secondhand Mercs in the South,
says a spokesman of Sundaram Motors, one of Chennai’s largest car companies,
is about 60 cars a year. So can
ordinary mortals own a
Merc? One dealer is categorical. ‘‘It’s meant for those who
have worked hard, done well
and are ready to enjoy themselves.’’ For the rest, starry
eyes are the only option.
IF your business involves
selling or serving food, a
significant portion of your
energy bill goes towards
keeping the food
refrigerated. Here are some
things you can do to reduce
refrigeration costs:
added bonus, these curtains
repel airborne
contaminants like dust and
pollutants.
● Defrost regularly so your
refrigerator can more
efficiently remove heat from
the case.
● Keep the temperature at
the right setting. Better yet,
consider installing variable
speed drives which
automatically adjust the
level of refrigeration and
are being used on the
motors of all kinds of
refrigeration units.
● Add strip curtains to
walk-in coolers to reduce
the amount of energy lost to
the surrounding air. Your
system will use less energy
and will not work as hard,
which also can cut
maintenance costs. As an
● Consider installing a blast
chiller, which reduces the
core temperature of food
before it's stored in a
conventional cooler. In
addition to chilling food
effectively and efficiently, a
blast chiller is crucial to
complying with Food Code.
● Each month, clean
condenser coils and check
for the proper amount of
refrigerant. Also check
gaskets and latches on
doors to make sure they
form an airtight seal when
closed
COOLING OFF WITH SELECT BRANDS
ENTRY LEVEL
By Shobha John
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
ensures that every corner of the compartment is evenly refrigerated even when the refrigerator is filled to full capacity. States R
Zutshi, V.P-Sales, Samsung India, "The Twin
Shower Cooling feature in the Samsung icool refrigerator ensures 35% faster cooling
and more even cooling of food, enabling it to
stay fresh longer." The i-cool range is available across five models, 310lt., 330lt., 360lt.,
400lt. and 440lt., is priced between Rs.21, 90036, 700/-. The i-cool series have a stylish, luxurious design and all the models come with
the modern stainless steel finish.
Equipped with ergonomic features like
one twist ice cube maker and adjustable
shelves, the i-cool series offer an energy efficient cooling solution to consumer's needs. With the launch of the
new series, Samsung now has a range
of 14 Frost-free refrigerator models in
its product portfolio, priced in the
range Rs.16, 400/- to Rs.116, 000/-.
To maximize the sales of its Frostfree refrigerators in the summer
months, the company is currently
running a 'Samsung Rang De Kismat
Offer' Consumer Promotion. “This
promotion is valid till May 31, 2003
and entitles a customer to Lucky
Gifts with the purchase of any Samsung Frost-free Refrigerator category” says R. Zutshi, VP, MarketingSamsung India.
"The 'Samsung Rang De Kismat
Offer' is the first of its kind promotion that we have ever launched for
our refrigerator category”, he adds.
“We are targeting a 100% jump in
our Frost-free refrigerator sales
during the promotion period over
sales in the corresponding period
last year," says Zutshi.
The company is spending Rs 5
crore on this promotion.
Maximum refrigeration with minimum power
SAMSUNG
WHIRLPOOL
LG
ELECTROLUX
SR-A17
175 Corona Elite FFI
GR-T252 GP
170 liter Insta Cool
●
●
●
170 litres
Conventional
cooling
Dial temperature
control
SR-25
●
MID LEVEL
Every man’s fantasy: A classy
second-hand Mercedes-Benz
coming important for consumers. Thereafter an individual’s brand preferences
come in.
Brands like Whirlpool,
Samsung and LG enjoy top
consumer sales in the country of their various refrigerator brands. In the bid to
keep enhancing their products, top refrigerator brands
keep constantly innovating
their product-features to offer maximum consumer satisfaction. One major change
that has happened in the refrigerator market in the
country is the increase in
contribution of the Frostfree segment from virtually
zero to a level of over 13% today. This change is primarily
on account of MNCs focusing on making available
their latest technology, bringing in feature-rich models in
this segment, educating customers on the benefits of
Fost-free technology as well
as the drop in prices that has
been happening in the past
few years.
New i-Cool technology brings
on the goosebumps
●
●
250 litres - Frost
free opreations
Crystal shelves
Humidity control
chiller
SR-45
PREMIUM
6
●
●
●
440 litres;
100 HCFC free
Bio-deodoriser
Chilled room
●
●
●
7 year protection
plan
Deep door
design
Fast forward
250 litres
Patented door
cooling
technology
Cell fresh crisper
●
●
●
Ice Magic 230 Elite
●
●
●
Special roll bond
freezer
Humidity control
Large multipurpose
IceMagic 350 Elite
●
●
●
6th sense cooling
Door open alarm
Electronic
monitoring
●
●
●
GR-T282GP
●
●
●
280 litres
Grey colour
Patented door
cooling
technology
GR-T382GV
●
●
●
380 litres
Z4 Airflow
Special
exchange
price
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Unique ice lock
Extra large
vegetable tray
Large pet bottle
space
Electra
●
●
●
External themostat
control
Digital clock with
alarm
Entertainment music
Ozone-frost-CFC Free
●
●
●
360 air power
Digital vigilante
Humidity control
œ ND ‰ ‰ † ‰ CMK
SUNDAY TIMES OF INDIA New Delhi, May 18, 2003
7
FOCUS ON
REFRIGERATORS
A TIMES SPECIAL REPORT
Destroy and conquer
bacteria - Hot tips for
germ-free refrigeration!
First, let's learn a little bit
about refrigerators. Your
refrigerator should be set
to a temperature of 40 degrees Fahrenheit or below
to 32 degrees Fahrenheit.
This is low enough to help
slow enzymatic processes
and the growth of bacteria, but not cold enough to
affect food quality by allowing ice crystals to develop. It's a good idea to
keep a refrigerator thermometer in the fridge to
make sure the temperature is low enough for food
safety.
Always cover food in
Foods that need
refrigeration should
be placed in the
refrigerator within
two hours after
eating to help
prevent bacteria
growth.
your refrigerator. The air
inside your fridge is extremely dry and food will
quickly dry out and lose
quality, and become unappetizing in a short period
of time if not covered.
Covering foods also prevents bland or delicate
foods (like dairy products)
from acquiring odors from
other foods (like cabbage).
The cool temperatures
in the refrigerator slow
down the process of enzymes in the food and slow
down bacteria reproduction. This prolongs food
quality, taste, and texture,
and keeps food safer
longer. Refrigeration does
not kill bacteria and cannot improve food quality.
Don't be afraid to put hot
foods in the refrigerator.
The appliance is made to
cool down foods. The chilling process will happen
more quickly in the fridge,
once again giving bacteria
less time to grow in the
temperature danger zone
of 40 - 140 degrees Fahrenheit. If you have a large
casserole or dish that
needs to be chilled, separate the foods into smaller,
shallow (no more than 3"
deep) individual containers for faster cooling. It
can take a pot full of hot
chicken soup 24 hours to
cool to a safe temperature
in the refrigerator! Don't
overload the refrigerator. There should be
enough space between
foods that air can freely
circulate around them.
This way the temperature will be more even
throughout the appliance.
Use your refrigerator
thermometer to check
the temperature of the
crispers and shelves.
The coldest part of your
fridge is not the place to
store fragile food like
lettuces
and
delicate
fruits. In any refrigerator,
the top shelf is the oldest
spot; lettuces develop ice
crystals there, so make
sure to store them on a
lower shelf.
Foods that need refrigeration should be placed in
the refrigerator within two
hours after eating to help
prevent bacteria growth. If
the ambient temperature
is more than 80 degrees
Fahrenheit, that time safety zone shrinks to 1 hour.
Don't violate this rule!!! At
least once every three
weeks, remove everything
from your refrigerator.
Wipe down all the interior
surfaces with a baking
soda solution. Dry thoroughly. Pay attention to the
seals and gaskets too.
Chill Zone: Cherry-pick your way to the best
Homemakers can make this summer a truly comfortable and enjoyable season, thanks to some smart refrigerators strutting in the
market-place. Major fridge brands are pushing select new models that bring an array of superb features and value-added functions toward
understanding and providing what homemakers and their families really need. These models compare with the best among the world-class
range of refrigerators and pack a slew of consumer - relevant innovations.
BY SANJAY KUMAR
At Whirlpool India, the buzz in its
refrigerators’ business is on the revolutionary Fast Forward Ice System, that gives superior cooling and
makes ice super fast - all at just the
press of a button. This new feature
was introduced in Whirlpool’s Ice
Magic Range of Refrigerators last
year and has been a surefire hit
with consumers, says Ashok
Bhasin,VP Marketing-Whirlpool India.
“This feature is now present in
both our Frost-Free Refs and Direct
Cool Refs and has resulted in a market share gain of over 3% for the
company”, heinforms. After its
huge success in 2002, this unique
feature has now been extended to
Whirlpool’s entry segment DC refrigerators also. With this, Fast Forward Ice is now available in nine
Whirpool’s fridge models, making
this extremely successful consumer
proposition available to many more
consumers at an affordable price.
Another home-appliances major,
LG, too has taken the lead market
position in a number of large
home appliance products in India
including refrigerators. According to a survey by a market-research company, the LG Frost
Free Refrigerator sold 19,000
units in January alone this year,
making it among the most popular refrigerators in India. LG was
also the first global consumer
products manufacturer to introduce a digital refrigerator, the Internet Digital DIOS Refrigerator,
in June 2000 in Korea.
While the refrigerator became
an early target of designers and
engineers seeking to bring the Internet into the kitchen, LG was
the first to make available the
Internet Refrigerator to consumers.
“Our research indicates that
consumers shopping for new refrigerators look for one that cools
food efficiently, maintains tem-
peratures evenly, minimizes
spoilage and is whisper-quiet,”
said an LG top honcho. Conventional refrigerators cool food by
pushing cool air up and forward
from the back of the refrigerator,
but food items stored near the
front and on the door shelves may
not receive proper air circulation.
Hence, they may not be as cold as
items in the back of the refrigerator. However, LG’s patented doorcooling technology, in its refrigerators offer an idea cooling solution to beat such problems.
Like Whirlpool, Samsung India
too is counting on its newly
launched attractive refrigeratormodels to perk up its share in the
market. Samsung’s new 500,000
capacity Refrigerator plant is
now under construction at Noida
in which the company is investing US$25 million. Samsung India will be manufacturing both
Conventional as well as Frost-free
refrigerator models at this facili-
ty. “With our new state-of the-art refrigerator facility getting ready to
commence domestic production in
August 2003, we will be in a position
to offer an even more enhanced refrigerator range to our Indian consumers, introduce new refrigerator
models with shorter lead times as
well as allow for greater customization of the range,” says R. Zutshi,
V.P, sales of Samsung India.
According to Zutshi, Samsung India is targeting refrigerator sales of
400,000 units in the Indian market
this year including both the Conventional as well as Frost-free refrigerators.
Besides selling the ‘Bio-Fresh’ Refrigerators in the capacity 290 litres670 litres, ‘Bio Cool’ Conventional
Refrigerators in the 165 litres- 200
litres capacity, Samsung expects to
notch up a 21% market share in the
Frost-free refrigerator market in
the country this year. The company
sold 200,000 refrigerators in the year
2002.
Instant ice at the zap
of a button
Whirlpool Icemagic Refrigerators have been specially designed keeping in
mind the consumers'
needs especially during
the hot and tropical Indian
summers.
What makes these refrigerators special, is the
host of unique benefits
aimed at enhancing performance.
Like - the
unique sixth sense cooling
in these refrigerators
reaches and maintains the
desired temperature in the
refrigerator section quickly and efficiently. The
Quick Cooling System
cools every corner of the
refrigerator including the
door, giving perfectly
chilled drinks, fruits and
vegetables every time. The
Auto Power Save mode
provides energy efficiency
by automatically shifting
the refrigerator to minimum power consumption
mode if the door is not
opened for over 24 hours.
The Icemagic does not
need to be switched off
when going on short vacations.
That's not all. The other
unique features includes
Door Open Alarm, the
Quick Serve which serves
ice by the simple twist of
the knob, Flexible Shelves
and the Auto Shelf Locking facility, Toughened
glass shelves, Freezer
light, Internal water dispenser, Can rack etc... .
These products are priced
between Rs 7,000-35,000.
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I N D I A
SUNDAY TIMES OF INDIA New Delhi, May 18, 2003
Ex gratia denied to kin
of ticketless travellers
By Raju William
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
Ludhiana: Railway authorities denied ex gratia payment to the next of
kin of seven deceased passengers on
board the ill-fated Mumbai-Amritsar
Frontier Mail on the grounds that
they were travelling without reservation. The authorities had earlier
denied that the ticket examiners had
been negligent and allowed more
than the permissible number of passengers in the affected bogies.
The names of Sakha Ram, Gotiya,
Jai Gopal Mehra, Kashmira Singh,
Jasminder Kaur, Jaskaran Singh,
and Sunita were not there in the
chart, sources said. They added that
their bodies had already been identified and handed over to their families.
Another factor giving credence to
this fact is that three officials on
board — conductor Sudhir Prakash,
train ticket examiners (TTE)
Dharamvir and Jasvir Singh — were
placed under suspension the day the
mishap occurred.
Divisional
railway
manager
(DRM), Ferozepur Division, H C Punia, when asked why they were suspended, said the action was taken on
the basis of passengers’ statements
about their absence on the train. But
he also added that preliminary departmental inquiry showed their
presence. They were on duty and
helped rescue passengers, he
claimed.
Denying the negligence factor, Punia argued that suspension is not
considered punishment as per railway rules and the final action would
depend on the outcome of the inquiry report. He confirmed that ex
gratia was denied to the seven deceased as they were not bonafide
travellers as per record.
Punia denied that officials on
board allowed passengers into reserved bogeys by taking money.
Reuters
VHP activists practise the art of fighting with swords at a summer training camp in Mumbai
on Saturday. Over 100 camps have been organised across India to train lakhs of Hindu girls
aged 15-35 in karate, judo and combat with knives and swords.
Garuda service launched
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
New Delhi: The Mahanagar
Telephone
Nigam
Ltd
(MTNL)
on
Saturday
launched an upgraded WLLM (mobile wireless in local
loop) service Garuda, which
will allow people to access Internet on their handsets at
high speeds.
The company also introduced two new services —
one that will offer people a
‘virtual phone’ through calling cards and another that
will enable people to get high
speed Internet connection at
homes and offices.
As for WLL-M, it is the
third time in almost as many
years that the company has
‘launched’ the service.
MTNL officials cited reasons like poor coverage and
inadequate capacity for the
poor take-off of Garuda so
far but said that this time
those constraints had been
removed and the ‘‘new
avatar’’ would offer ‘‘the
most advanced and most affordable’’ mobile service to
customers in Delhi.
The network, with a capacity of over one lakh connections, has been upgraded by
Motorola to enable Net connectivity of up to 144 kbps,
said MTNL CMD Narinder
Sharma. In actual usage,
however, people will get
about 60 to 70 kbps, which is a
higher speed than what they
get on dial-up connection.
The service has four tariff
plans ranging from Rs 200 to
Rs 1,200 a month and call
charges from Rs 0.40-0.75 a
minute, depending on the
one chosen and the service
being called — WLL-M, cellular or fixed line. The pulse
rate or call duration has been
kept at 12 seconds.
MTNL is offering Kyocera2235 3G 1x handset that
would cost Rs 4,500 on down
payment or a monthly instalment of Rs 200 for two years.
As for the high speed connectivity at home, people will
have to pay about Rs 7,000 a
month that will cover registration, installation and security.
BSNL moves court
New Delhi: Bharat Sanchar
Nigam Ltd has filed a petition in the Kerala High Court
seeking the cancellation of
an order staying for a month
the implementation of its
tariff for fixed telecom services.
A division bench of the
Kerala High Court had, earlier in the week, stayed for a
month the BSNL circular revising basic telecom tariffs,
which came into effect on
May 1. TNN
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I N D I A
SUNDAY TIMES OF INDIA New Delhi, May 18, 2003
9
Barbara Taylor Bradford’s injunction against the serial Karishma and a legal notice from J K Rowling and Warner Brothers to Harry Potter copycats in Kolkata have
thrown up serious questions on copyright and its boundaries. Sunday Times scans the creativity radar at home and abroad.
The great Hollywood heist machine
By Vikas Singh
Bollywood’s DVD-dependent
writers and directors may be
the butt of many jokes, but
Hollywood’s hottest have often been ‘inspired’ themselves. Japanese master Akira Kurosawa, for example,
was vastly admired — and
frequently copied — by Hollywood. Rashomon became
The Outrage. Yojimbo got recycled twice over, first as
spaghetti western A Fistful of
Dollars, then as the prohibition-era gang war saga Last
Man Standing.
The best-known Kurosawa
remake, though, was John
Sturges’ The Magnificent
Seven, a copy of Seven Samurai (traces of which can also
be found in our very own
Sholay). Kurosawa, though,
probably didn’t mind too
much. Yojimbo itself res e m b l e s
Dashiell Hammett’s detective
novel Red Harvest, and Kurosawa adapted both western
literature — Throne of Blood
(Macbeth), Ran (King Lear)
— and pulp fiction — High
and Low (King’s Ransom) —
to Japanese settings.
Then there was the curious case of Satyajit Ray’s
1967 script, ‘The Alien’,
sourced from one of Ray’s
own short stories about a boy
and a marooned extraterrestrial. Ray had also done an illustration for the story. Years
later, a remarkably similarlooking alien cropped up in
Steven Spielberg’s ET. Ray
categorically wrote, ‘‘ET
would not have been possible
without my script of ‘The
Alien’
being
available
throughout
America
in
mimeographed
copies.’’
Spielberg, though, says he
was still in high school when
the script was circulating in
Hollywood.
Likewise, Kaante is clearly
a remake of Quentin Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs. But
Tarantino’s cult classic about
a heist gone horribly wrong
was itself inspired by an obscure Hong Kong movie, City
of Fire. European films are
fair game too: Luc Besson’s
Nikita became Point of no Return, with Bridget Fonda essaying the role of the convictturned-assassin (a quick gender switch later, the same
role was essayed by Sanjay
Dutt in Kartoos).
When Hollywood runs
out of foreign
films to remake, it simply recycles old classics.
Steve McQueen and Faye
Dunaway indulged in the
Thomas Crowne Affair in
1968; Pierce Brosnan and
Rene Russo followed in 1999.
Peter Cook Bedazzled Dudley
Moore in the 1960s, Liz Hurley did the same to Brendan
Fraser 30 years later. Charlton Heston not only starred
as a heroic human astronaut
in the first Planet of the Apes,
he also played a cameo as ape
general Thade’s dying father
in the 2001 version.
In the ultimate irony, Jennifer Lopez is set to star in a
remake of the 1983 hit Flashdance — after copying the
DEEP
FOCUS
The big business of lifting ideas
TOI
By Subhro Niyogi
Plagiarism: Look who’s talking
Magnificent Seven was
a remake of Kurosawa’s
Seven Samurai
Tarantino’s
Reservoir
Dogs is a
copy of a
Hong Kong
movie,
City of Fire
J Lo copied
the famous
Flashdance
dance routine
in her video
‘I’m Glad’ and
is now starring
in the remake
version of this
1983 movie
movie’s famous ‘What A Feeling’ dance routine almost entirely in her own music
video, ‘I’m Glad’.
Executives at Paramount,
which holds the rights to
Flashdance, were initially
outraged, but then woke up
Thomas Crowne Affair is
recyled from the 1968 version
to the potential goldmine
they were sitting on and
promptly began talks with J
Lo for a full-length feature.
And just in case you thought
copying was a modern phenomenon, consider this: In
his book God Knows, Joseph
Heller accused a certain Will
Shakespeare of plagiarising
from the psalms of David!
Perhaps, there is truly nothing new under the sun — including that last cliche.
(Inputs by Aditya
Chatterjee)
ahitya Tirtha and NandiS
ta Publishers, the two
Kolkata-based
publishing
houses accused of trademark
infringement by US entertainment
giant
Warner
Brothers and copyright violation by Harry Potter’s creator J K Rowling are back in
business after ‘‘amicably’’
settling the issues.
Shockwaves hit College
Street, Kolkata’s famous
book mart when the legal notices first arrived from
Akash Chittranshi & Associates, the Delhi-based lawfirm
hired by Rowling, Warner
and Co some months ago.
Panic-stricken
publishers
swiftly removed unauthorised Bengali translations of
James Hadley Chase, Harold
Robbins, Alistair McLean
and Sidney Sheldon from
their shelves.
‘‘There’s a great market for
such books. No one had
threatened a lawsuit before,’’
says Uttam Ghosh, author of
Harry Potter Kolkataye (Harry Potter in Kolkata). He
spins a story around the Harry Potter adventure by introducing a Kolkata boy Jhontu.
‘‘This episode may act as a
deterrent to College Street
publishers. They will be less
adventurous in lifting titles
in future,’’ Ghosh feels.
Ghosh’s writing career
started with smut. Among
his best-sellers are Nishiddha Swad (Forbidden Taste)
and Bedside Stories. But, the
testimony to his range, is his
next project — a two-volume
translation of Vivekananda’s
English writings.
Tirthapati Dutta, propri-
“ They would have nothing to say if
I had changed the name to Hari
Patra. But then, wouldn’t have
been the same thing, would it?
... My book is not plagiarism.”
Uttam Ghosh, author of
Harry Potter Kolkatay
etor of Sahitya Tirtha and
publisher of ‘‘Harry Potter
Kolkataye’’, is remorseless.
‘‘The case is now over. There
was no compensation involved,’’ he says, pointing out
that it would be small change
for Rowling given her earnings of over Rs 100 crore.
Rabi Chakraborty, of Nandita Publishers which printed Harry Potter O Paras
Mani (Harry Potter and The
Philosophers
Stone),
is
equally defiant. ‘‘We were not
aware of the legal intricacies. Now that we have been
told about the matter, we
have withdrawn the book,”
Chakraborty said.
While
its
translator
Arghya Das remains elusive,
the author of Harry Potter
Kolkataye is more than willing to hog the limelight. ‘‘My
Wake-up call for Indian idea-mart
By Sanghamitra Chakraborty
New Delhi: They are a wakeup call to lazy publishers, entertainment
professionals
and academics. Barbara Taylor Bradford’s case against
the TV serial Karishma — A
Miracle of Destiny and J K
Rowling and Warner Brother’s legal notice against Harry
Potter copycats in Kolkata
have focussed on how law can
catch up across continents
when stories, ideas and characters are copied.
Says Amal Ganguly, senior
SC counsel who argued
against Karishma: “Writers
like Barabara don’t want compensation, they want people
to stop copying them.” While
Sahara channel refused to
comment, Ganguly is confident that Bradford is on very
strong ground as Akashdeep,
the serial’s director, is on freelance journalist Pammi Somal’s tape admitting that Karishma was “based” on Bradford’s Woman of Substance.
“He even told Somal he had
decided upon Woman of Substance as it was a tried and
tested subject,” says Ganguly.
Akash Chittranshi, who
represents
Rowling
and
Warner Bros in India, was
Some major gains
• Vaults India into league of copyright-compliant societies
• Will enforce greater copyright compliance in India
• Will prevent Indian ideas from being stolen.
• Help encourage creativity and original thinking
• Highlights India’s strong Copyright Act
successful in lifting unauthorised Bengali Harry Potters
from the market says: “In the
West, people feel it is easier to
tackle copyright infringement in India. A simple legal
notice could result in resolution.” Tamali Sengupta counsel for major Hollywood studios in India sees the impact
of such cases as encouraging.
“The injunction is 80 per cent
of the legal remedy, the remaining 20 per cent will cease
to matter as it could take upto
five years for a judgment.”
Sengupta points out, “There is a problem about the way
we Indians perceive copyright
and cheating in India.” She
says Indian students in the US
are seen with great suspicion
by academics.
Bollywood is notoriously
copycat. Even so, Sengupta
suggests that the scope of
copyright in the arts must be
looked into as there are a limited number of core themes
doing the rounds which are liable to have similarities. “The
story of an alien coming to
earth and making friends
with an earthling goes back to
H G Wells. Also, I think Raaz
is not a copyright violation of
What Lies Beneath as its setting is different, the sequences are not repeated.”
Chittranshi says there has
been a change in the Indian
market. “In 1995, when I represented Microsoft and BSA
against software, it took us 19
days to convince the police to
conduct raids, it will not take
even 19 hours now,” he says.
Having worked in many south
Asian and West Asian countries, he is convinced that India is doing quite well. The
best news is that “the jurisdiction has become hospitable
to protecting copyright.”
Message for CEOs: Do the
job well or move out
By Sujata Dutta Sachdeva
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
New Delhi Chief Executive
Officers (CEOs) all over the
world are facing hard times.
A record 253 of them lost
their jobs last year, a 10 per
cent increase over 2001, said
a recent Booz Allen Hamilton survey.
Most of them were forced
out because of poor performance. In the US, the average tenure of CEOs has
gone down to 20 months.
In India, Pranab Barua resigned as the managing director of Reckitt Benkiser
in January this year. The
buzz was it was the result of
mounting problems for the
company.
After a decade as the top
boss of Britannia Industries, Sunil Alagh, the flamboyant MD, decided not to
extend his contract beyond
February 2003. No real reasons were given. According
to a top headhunting firm,
last year, four CEOs in major MNC telecom companies
were asked to leave on performance issues.
While the scenario in India may not be as bad, CEOs
are feeling the pressure now,
say experts. ‘‘Unmistakably,
the trend is towards shorter
tenures with more accountability,’’ explains Atul Vohra
of Heidrick and Struggles.
Studies conducted in India by Executive Access —
Asia’s largest search firm —
show that last year 30 per
cent more CEOs were fired
Experts say
• 30 pc more CEOs fired
on performance issues
last year
• Trend is towards shorter tenures with more accountability
• Pressure from boards
making CEOs more accountable
on performance issues.
‘‘Many more CEOs are job
hunting compared to previous years. Our internal
studies have also shown a
rise in the number of CEOs
in the job market today. This
means, the supply is far
more than the demand,’’
says Ronesh Puri, India
head of Executive Access.
The trend has caught on
in India too as many longtime CEOs are being phased
out as consultants. At times,
CEOs wait six to nine
months between jobs. According to an expert, ‘‘There
have been instances where
CEOs from middle-level
companies have settled for a
director’s job in a bigger
company as they could not
find jobs at their level.’’
And what’s triggering
this trend is the pressure
from boards and shareholders making CEOs more accountable, say experts. ‘‘The
board is unforgiving on the
performance issue. It does
not hesitate to shuffle the
pack,’’ says Puri.
Adds Donny Koriakose of
Edge Executive Access,
‘‘With good corporate governance becoming an issue,
CEOs are being recruited on
performance parameters. A
report card is then drawn
out, making them more accountable.’’
How a company has performed under a particular
CEO is what is being looked
at before choosing an incumbent. ‘‘If the record of
the previous company is not
good it becomes difficult for
the CEO to move to a new
job. It’s not the name of his
previous company but how
the company performed under him that matters more,’’
explains Puri.
The situation is likely to
magnify in the future with
more CEOs being available
in the market, say experts.
‘‘Many more CEOs would be
looking around as companies that have not yet restructured
also
make
changes at the top,’’ confirms Koriakose. However,
the situation may not yet be
out of hand, feels Vohra. ‘‘Although the trend is towards
smaller CEO tenures, there
are still many good jobs
chasing good men,’’ he adds.
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book is not plagiarism. I did
use the names of characters
with reference to the magic
school at Hogwarts but the
storyline is essentially based
in Kolkata,’’ Ghosh insisted.
Apparently, the lawfirm
had nothing against the story
line. Its objection were the
use of original characters
names and printing 16 stills
from the movie Harry Potter
and the Sorcerer’s Stone.
‘‘They would have nothing to
say if I had changed the
name to Hari Patra. But then,
that wouldn’t have been the
same thing, would it?’’
The unauthorised Harry
Potters are off the market
but other translations are
back. Publishers argued they
couldn’t ignore hard facts. ‘‘It
makes business sense to be illegal,’’ said a publisher.
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S P E C I A L
SUNDAY TIMES OF INDIA New Delhi, May 18, 2003
R E P O R T
Didn’t we ban dowry 40 years ago?
Nisha Sharma said No.
She’s safe, secure and still
starry-eyed about her future
apart from becoming a global
celebrity. Look what happened to those who didn’t...
Romil Wahi, a 24-year-old London-trained computer professional was tortured by her in-laws because her father failed to deliver the promised
car. Three years after living together, her in-laws
starved her to death by denying her food and water for three days. Her father-in-law was the joint
director prosecution in the UP government at the
time of her death, four years ago.
Dr Snehlata Shukla, a physician was allegedly
murdered with a poisonous injection when she
could not fulfil her in-laws demands — money for
a nursing home. Her husband was a doctor; his
brother, a senior IAS officer.
Dr Anita Jain also failed to bring a nursing
home along with her trousseau for her doctor
husband. ‘‘Pocha lagao’’ (swab the floor), her husband ordered. The lady doctor acquiesced and
died of an electric shock. A live wire had been allegedly dropped into the bucket of water.
So what’s the real picture in upmarket, postmillennium India, 40 years after we turned our
backs to the inimical dahej pratha?
● According to the latest NCRB figures, dowry
deaths registered a 4.4 per cent increase in the
21st century. UP alone accounted for 31.8 per cent
of these cases followed by Bihar (15.5 per cent).
● At least three girls are burnt for dowry in Karnataka every day. From December 2002 to March
2003, over 150 women were admitted to the burns
ward in Victoria Hospital, Bangalore, with 80 to
100 per cent burns. In 2002, of the 632 women who
sustained burns (80 per cent cases were dowry-related), 446 died.
● According to unofficial estimates nearly 25,000
women die due to dowry harassment, with many
more left maimed or scarred.
●In UP, 75 per cent of marital discord is directly
attributable to dowry disputes, say NGOs.
She’s educated. So what?
No apologies here, with consumerism becoming
the New Age credo. The business of marriage has
been truly transformed into a mandi (market)
where greed is good and inability to pay up a fatal
lapse. Ironically, women’s emancipation and education seems to have stoked the fires even more.
As Vijaya Pathak, activist, points out, ‘‘Educated
women face more harassment for dowry. And the
greed never seems to stop. The parents keep giving out the money hoping that everything will be
alright, but the demands keep increasing.’’
M
anish Tandon, a computer engineer who has
been looking for a groom for his younger sister feels marriage has been transformed into just
another business deal. ‘‘This is the era of direct
talk where negotiations are conducted across the
table between the two families.’’ He recalls his
last negotiation and silently shivers. The engineer father of the prospective groom took a cursory glance at the bride’s photograph and declared: ‘‘Theek hai, chal jayegi. (Okay, she’s passable). If she is as fair as she looks in this photograph, it’s fine. But if she isn’t, you’ll have to pay
a few extra lakh.’’ Manish is still hunting.
Today, if dowry negotiations are an intrinsic
part of the lagna patrika (wedding pact) down
South, then Punjab has devised its ‘Maruti marriages’, says Pramod Kumar, director, Institute of
Development and Communication. ‘‘In rural Punjab, we have what are called Maruti marriages
whereby a farmer takes a loan from a bank to buy
a tractor and then sells it to buy a Maruti for his
daughter’s dowry.”
How about a bus, Papaji
N
ot only has the incidence of dowry increased
in middle and upper middle-class India, there
has been a mutation in its form too. Consider a
check list of most favoured dowry items from Patna:
● Laptop, designer mobile set (not less than Rs.
25,000), home theatre, digital video camera, microwave, diamond jewellery sets, digital flat TV,
honeymoon package somewhere in Europe, midsize luxury car, a flat in one of the metros.
All this, apart from good, old gold, now demanded in kilograms. In traditional Gujarat too,
the four F’s (phone, fiat, fridge, flat) have been replaced by cell-phones, Santros, frost-frees and
low-rise, quake-proof apartments. And if that isn’t big enough, you can also add a bus to the list.
In Mysore, a doctor who recently married a businessman running a private bus service carried a
brand new bus along as dowry.
Material guy? Not for me
T
hey’re smart, educated and
independent. Yet, the Dword still crops up to haunt
them. Is today’s young urban
woman willing to toe the line
and pay up? ‘‘I am not for sale. If
the boy asks for dowry, I will
call him an illiterate and shut
the door on his face,’’ says Nikita Rao, a final year B.Sc student
from Bangalore.
Archana Rajendran, an engineering student from Chennai
is equally firm: ‘‘It’s so stupid
and silly. Who would want to
marry a guy who’s under his
parent’s thumb and asks for
dowry? Maybe, I will get some
jewels and cash for my security.
But since I’ll be
working, I won’t
really need it.’’
For Chennaibased software
executive Padma Shenoy, the
very idea is demeaning. Patna’s Natasha Sinha has already turned down five men,
including an IPS officer, after
they started giving dowry details. “I am still looking for my
suitable guy,” she says.
Succumbing to demands simply encourages greed. As Lucknow collegiate Nida Ahmad
points out: “The girl’s parents
should then be prepared for further demands even after the
marriage. So why not stay away
from proposals involving any
element of dowry.”
But as Delhi’s Suruchi Vohra
points out:‘‘Girls themselves
encourage the practice. They
don’t realise that even gifts like
white goods, furniture etc are a
form of dowry.’’ For many,
there’s clearly a dilemma, and
the desire to swim against the
tide is tempered by hard reality.
“When it comes to marriage negotiations, we do not have much
say in the matter,” says Smita
Prasad, a convent-educated girl
of Patna.
Then there’s Vinita Duggar,
an interior decorator in
Kolkata, who admits she doesn’t know the answer. ‘‘I guess I
would not let my parents demean themselves before
strangers. But it is such a
p rev a l e n t
custom in
my community that I really
don’t
know how I would react if
faced with the situation.’’
Samira Gupta, a journalism
student from Kolkata draws a
line between what constitutes
dowry or does not. ‘‘If my parents were to give me a car or a
TV for my use, I have no problems. But why should they shell
out money for my in-laws? I
would never agree to that.’’
Sangeeta Mcgee, teacher at a
Lucknow public school, is pessimistic. ‘‘All these protestations are a farce. For the bride’s
parents, it’s often a status symbol. Besides, how many groom
families really do not think
about dowry as a pre-condition?
Speak
Not more than 10 per cent.
Then what choice do the
girls have?’’
According to Raghav K, an executive with a car
finance agency, the lowly Maruti has been replaced by the Santro, Zen even the Ford Ikon.
Meanwhile, the Maruti itself has ousted the twowheeler from the government clerk-as-groom category.
For the upper middle class, the sky is becoming
the limit as the father of the bride is ready to pander to every ugly wish of the groom’s family. A
senior government officer in Lucknow boasts: ‘‘I
have ensured a tension-free groom hunt for my
two daughters.’’ And how? He has bought two
identical flats for both of them. ‘‘I have already
circulated the news among my relatives and
The law on dowry
If you demand dowry
According to the Dowry Prohibition Act
1961, giving or receiving dowry is an offence
punishable by imprisonment between six
months to two years.
If you harass her
You could be imprisoned for three years
and fined under Section 498-A of IPC, which
deals with cruelty by husband or his relatives.
Cruelty is harassment of the woman with a
view to coercing her or her relatives to meet
an unlawful demand for property or valuables. Cruelty also includes any conduct
which is likely to drive the woman to commit
suicide or cause grave injury or danger to her.
● Section 406 of the IPC stipulates imprisonment upto three years, or fine, or both for the
husband and in-laws of a girl if they refuse to
part with the streedhan in their safe-keeping.
●
If you murder her
● Dowry death falls under Section 304-B. If
she dies due to burns or injuries or not under
normal circumstances within seven years of
her marriage and it is proved that before her
death she was subjected to cruelty or harassment in connection with dowry, such
death will be called ‘‘dowry death’’. The husband or relative shall be deemed to have
caused her death. The punishment: Imprisonment for not less than seven-years which
may be extended to life imprisonment.
friends and the response has been tremendous,’’
he exults.
Kaun Banega Crorepati?
S
o whose stock is currently the highest in the
marriage mandi?
‘‘It is a fallacy to think that only semi-literate or
the middle-class demand dowry,’’ says Shalini
Mathur, secretary, Suraksha (an anti-dowry organisation). ‘‘In the last 18 years, I have seen highly educated and top professionals, including chief
engineers, IAS officers, top businessmen, even
high court judges making direct demands,’’ she
adds. Up North, it is the IAS groom who sells the
highest — Rs 50,000 to 1 crore. ‘‘No average man
can aspire to have an IAS son-in-law’’ says Vijaya
Pathak, activist. ‘‘There is always a queue of ministers, top politicians, principal secretaries of
state in front of an eligible IAS officer. Mantris
are ready to shell out abominable sums of money
to get their daughter an IAS groom.’’ This is followed by the doctor (Rs 20-30 lakh), the engineer
(Rs. 20 lakh), the software professional, the NRI,
the businessman and the bank manager. A college lecturer will have to settle for less than Rs 2
lakh. In Kolkata and Bangalore, it’s the software
professionals and the corporate executives who
command the highest dowry followed by doctors.
‘‘The barristers and the bureaucrats, who till now
enjoyed the greatest market value have clearly
lost their edge,’’ says Subrata Mullick, a marriage
counsellor.
Isn’t it time for a lot more Nisha Sharmas to
find their self-esteem and just say No? After all,
they have nothing to lose but a greedy groom
who’s just not worth the moolah.
Postscript
H
ere’s a real life story. Nidhi, a double MA married an engineer in Indore. Her father was a
forest officer and owned two houses in Bhopal.
The in-laws insisted he sell both the houses and
give them the money for a bungalow at Indore.
The family resisted. ‘‘I told my in-laws since I was
the only daughter, I would inherit all my dad’s
property. My husband said: What if your father
lives for 20 years. I can’t wait that long for a house
of my own!’’ says Nidhi. She underwent mental
and physical torture until the police intervened
and her in-laws ordered: ‘‘Go home and don’t
come back till you bring the money.’’
Are grooms like this worth the trouble...
Nikhat Kazmi
Greed versus a few good men
I
s Munish Dayal (Nisha
Sharma’s
spurned
groom) a rarity among
today’s upwardly mobile
young men? Not really.
There are many who cite
tradition as defence. ‘‘It’s
okay as a ritual but not as a
means of satisfying greed,’’
argues Bhanu Pratap, a
Lucknow-based marketing
executive. ‘‘Some accept it as
compensation when the bride is
either not up to the mark or
when her parents want to ensure her comfort at her inlaws’
home.’’
Chennai’s
Anand J, a professor in a
business school, argues:
‘‘Dowry is
traditionally
considered a
security blanket
that can help the
girl if something goes wrong. I
would not demand it but if it
comes, I will not say no.’’
Ajay
Singh
(name
changed), an IRS officer
from Patna has no qualms
about declaring: ‘‘Why
shouldn’t I take dowry?
My late father paid
Rs 10 lakh to get my
sister married and I
have two more sisters
Imaging: Neelabh
to marry off.’’
But there are many more who
do not subscribe to the view.
Says S Jacob, an M Com student
from Chennai: ‘‘In our community, dowry is a prestige issue
for the bride’s parents who feel
their daughter will not get any
respect otherwise. But I’ll insist
that no dowry is accepted.’’
Delhi doctor Swapan Debroy
insists, ‘‘I won’t even accept furniture from her father. I want us
to build a home together where
we buy our things with our own
money.’’ Suranjan Rao, a law
student from Bangalore, is willing to disown his family if they
broach the topic of dowry. For
Bangalore tax
consultant
Rishikesh Reddy it’s not dowry
but the girl’s
character that matters more.
Mumbai lawyer Suneet Joshi,
who’s getting married soon
says, ‘‘I would not dream of asking for an almirah or a Santro
or whatever else it is that
grooms are supposed to ask for.’’
Delhi-based architect Shresth
Nagpal says, ‘If one is clear
about their principles they can
convince others about it — I
know I can and I will.’’
Speak
●Reports: Pranav K Chaudhary, Patna; Manjari Mishra,
Lucknow; Swati Das, Chennai; Suchandana Gupta, Bhopal;
Seethalakshmi S, Bangalore; Chitra Siddarth and
Krishnendu Bandyopadhyay, Kolkata; Tina Parekh and Priya
Adhyaru, Ahmedabad; Siddharth Singh, Chandigarh; Nina
Martyris, Mumbai
In Delhi, they
call it ‘decent
marriage’
I
n the nation’s capital, marriage is
all about give and take. The ‘giving’ often starts much before the
nuptials. When a senior Army officer’s IAS son was getting married,
the bride’s parents sent them a twotonne National AC and a jumbo
Whirlpool fridge for the engagement. ‘‘It was as if they were paying
us a bayana (advance) to ensure that
we didn’t look for better options. It’s
only when we threatened to call off
the ceremony that they took the
goodies back,’’ says the officer.
He may be the exception in a city
where the demands are getting upgraded by the day. Home theatre has
replaced TV, car models are specified, and if the groom is an NRI it’s
not unusual for the bride’s family to
sponsor the entire baraat’s air tickets. ‘‘Growing consumerism is making the problem worse,’’says lawyer
Kirti Singh.
In 2002, 130 dowry deaths were reported in the Capital. But the disease
is far more widespread than the
headlines reveal, according to NGOs
working with dowry victims. ‘‘The
trend is set by the cash-rich and fuelled by five-star ladies’ sangeets and
designer weddings. The middle
classes emulate them and the lower
middle class kills itself trying to
keep pace,’’says counsellor Prem
Sharma of the National Federation
of Indian Women.
According to Vimla Mehra, joint
commissioner of the Crimes against
Dowry demands are
“getting
upgraded — home
theatre systems instead of
TV, select cars and air tickets
for the entire baraat
’’
Women cell, they get complaints
from families of defence services,
bureaucrats, businessmen and top
professionals. Most of the complainants are between 25 to 35 years.
Around 35 per cent of these cases get
mutually settled. Most of the complaints are filed after marriage and
rarely (2 per cent) do girls’ families
seek police intervention before marriage. Activist Deepti Bharati says
they cry foul only when they can’t
meet the growing demands. As Sharma points out: ‘‘There is no dearth of
those who want to give and those
who want to grab. Nor is there a
paucity of money. Non-compliance
generally results in humiliation.’’
A recent study by the All-India Democratic Women’s Association
shows that dowry has spread to more
communities. The done thing is to
announce: ‘‘All we want is a decent
marriage,’’ but it could set the
bride’s parents back by several
lakhs. As in Moushmi’s case. Her inlaws, leading hoteliers, wanted a ‘‘decent wedding’’, so her middle-class
parents spent a fortune on their
aadar satkar. Later, it was discovered that the boy was impotent. The
marriage broke up.
Often, the demand is disguised as
a loan. Sunita’s father had to shell
out Rs 5 lakh for an additional floor
in her in-laws’ Noida house. ‘‘It’s
been four years, there’s no talk of
paying back, and I dare not remind
my husband,’’ says Sunita helplessly.
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Sakina Yusuf Khan
œ ND ‰ ‰ † CMK
I N T E R N A T I O N A L
11
SUNDAY TIMES OF INDIA New Delhi, May 18, 2003
TOI graphic
DVD that can
destroy itself
after 48 hours
Los Angeles: This disc will selfdestruct in 48 hours.
That is the warning The Walt
Disney will issue this August
when it begins to “rent” DVDs
that after two days become unplayable and do not have to be returned.
Disney home video unit Buena
Vista Home Entertainment will
launch a pilot movie “rental” program in August that uses the selfdestruction technology, the company said on Friday.
The discs stop working after a
change in colour renders them
unreadable. They start off red,
but when they are taken out of
the package, exposure to oxygen
turns the coating black and
makes it impenetrable by a DVD
laser.
Buena Vista hopes the technology will let it crack a wider rental
market, since it can sell the DVDs
in stores or almost anywhere
without setting up a system to get
the discs back.
The discs work perfectly for the
two-day viewing window, said
Flexplay Technologies, the private company which developed
the technology using material
from General Electric.
Chief
Executive
Alan
Blaustein said he was also in conversations with other companies
to use the self-destructing discs.
The technology cannot be
hacked by programmers who
would want to view the disc
longer because the mechanism
which closes the viewing window
is chemical and has nothing t do
with computer technology.
However, the disc can be copied
within 48 hours, since it works
like any other DVD during hat
window.
Buena Vista did not disclose
pricing plans but said the discs,
dubbed EZ-D, would be available
in August in select markets with
recent releases including The
Recruit, The Hot Chick, and
Signs. Reuters
BRICKBATS
The episode on the recent railway
tragedy was in very bad taste. Please
don’t impose your pathetic sense of
humour on us.
— A loyal TOI reader
If the largest selling newspaper in the
the world’s largest democracy is
gonna print lies about a man who had
the guts to stand on his own, you’ve
got a lot of soul searching to do.
— Ashutosh Ratnam
For bouquets log on to
www.timesofindia.com
e-mail: [email protected]
I N T E R N AT I O N A L G R A F F I T I
Reuters
AFP
Tough one for Arnold:
Arnold Schwarzenegger says
that Terminator 3 ranked
as the toughest movie he
had ever
made and
vowed his
days as an
action hero
were far from over. The 55year-old actor was reportedly
paid $30 million to reprise his
role as the unstoppable manmachine from the future and
he hopes the release in July
of Terminator 3: Rise of the
Machines will restore the box
office muscle he once
wielded at the peak of his
career. Reuters
Virginity for sale: A
Chilean student short on tuition money announced the
auction of her virginity during
a local radio programme. ‘‘I
have a gynaecological certificate that my hymen is intact,’’ said the 21-year-old.
The auction opens in a week
over the Internet. Bidding
starts at the equivalent of $
990 she said over the W radio network programme, The
Crab Club, one of the country’s most popular shows.
She insisted she was not a
prostitute. Rather, giving up
her virginity was the only way
to defray her tuition, she
said. Reuters
It’s a girl for Brooke:
Brooke Shields has become
a mother for the first time.
The 37-year-old US actress
gave birth to a girl at a hospital here. No other details
were available. The former
wife of US tennis star Andre
Agassi, Brooke is now married to writer-producer Chris
Henchy. Brooke, who reportedly struggled for several
months to conceive, is now
planning to be a ‘‘stay-athome mom,’’ reports EOnline. ANI
An Afghan model presents
a traditional costume during an exhibition of Afghan
handicrafts in Peshawar,
Pakistan, on Saturday.
competition in both categories from the tough-talking
psychologist Dr. Phil McGraw, Oprah Winfrey’s protege. Reuters
Sharon’s film snapped
up: A thriller starring Sharon
Miss Cyprus Evie Lazarou (left), Miss Turkey Ozge Ulusoy
(centre), and Miss Bolivia Irene Aguilera in Panama City on
Friday. The Miss Universe 2003 competition is scheduled
for June 3.
into an ‘‘ecotourism retreat’’.
The 25-acre island will have a
main house, camping sites, a
training centre and treehouse accommodation and
will offer tennis courts, nature
walks and water sports.
Branson said he bought it to
thank staff for making the Virgin group a success.Reuters
Emmys for Wayne Brady:
It’s Wayne’s world, and we’re
all just living in it. Wayne
Brady was the surprise winner of two Daytime Emmys
for his rookie TV series,
which he accepted while
multitasking as the award
ceremony’s host Friday night.
The 30-year-old comedian
won best talk show host and
The Wayne Brady Show tied
for best talk show with The
View, which had its first win
in six consecutive nominations. Brady had been nominated for prime-time Emmys
twice before for the comedy
show Whose Line Is It Anyway? He was up against stiff
Reuters
Gay Crocodile Dundee?
Branson buys island for
employees: Flamboyant
entrepreneur
Richard
Branson has
bought an island off Australia’s eastern coast for
the worldwide staff of
his Virgin companies. Branson told mediapersons in
Perth on Friday that Virgin
would be forking out A$5 million to buy Makepeace island
off the plush Sunshine Coast
resort of Noosa and turn it
Stone as a woman investigating the disappearance of
her spy husband has been
snapped up at the Cannes
film festival, the film industry
magazine The Hollywood Reporter revealed. North American rights to A Different Loyalty, which also stars British
actor Rupert Everett, has
been acquired by Lions Gate
Films, the publication said
Friday. The movie tells the
story of a woman in 1963
Britain who tries to track
down her missing husband
and finds out that he is suspected of being a communist
defector. It is currently being
shot by Less Than Zero
British director Marek
Kanievska, using locations in
London, Malta, Montreal and
Moscow.AFP
Sex shop chain Ann Summers asked a British court on
Friday to force government job centres to advertise its
store vacancies.
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Are we about to see the ultra-butch Crocodile Dundee
go gay? According to a film
industry magazine, it seems
that’s exactly what Australian
actor Paul Hogan is aiming
for in his next project. But the
transformation of ‘‘Hoges’’,
as he is known Down Under,
is to be fictional in more
ways than one in the movie,
titled Strange Bedfellows,
Moving Pictures International
reported in its Cannes film
festival issue on Friday. In the
story, ‘‘two Aussie blokes in a
small outback town pretend
to be gay for tax reasons —
and then have to prove it to
the tax inspectors, without
the neighbours giving away
their secret.’’ AFP
œ ND ‰ ‰ † CMK
12
SUNDAY TIMES OF INDIA New Delhi, May 18, 2003
I N T E R N A T I O N A L
Pak won’t roll back N-programme Briton charged with Indian’s murder
Islamabad: Pakistan’s foreign minister said his government will never give up
its nuclear weapons unless
India does, according to news
reports Saturday.
“Let me say categorically,
there will be no unilateral
rollback of Pakistan’s nuclear program,” Khursheed
Mehmood Kasuri was quoted
by the state-run news agency
as saying in an interview
with the Urdu-language Jang
newspaper group.
Kasuri said Pakistan has
reason to believe that India is
a threat to its security. “Our
threat perception is real. It is
not imaginary,” he said.
Kasuri was interviewed
Friday by the newspaper in
London en route to Pakistan
following a visit to Washington, where he told US government officials that Islamabad
was ready for “composite and
sustained” dialogue with
New Delhi. He said Washington wanted both countries to
adopt a “reasonable posture.”
He said Pakistan approached the talks with India
without any solution for
Kashmir. “Let the dialogue
start. Let us approach the
talks in a positive spirit,” he
said.
Reiterating Pakist an’s
commitment to hold a “composite and sustained” dialogue with India, he said it
would be a continuous
process. Islamabad was
ready to show flexibility, he
said, but insisted that Kashmir would be “an integral
part of the dialogue”.
On cross-border terrorism,
Kasuri said Pakistan was trying its “best to control the incursions”. He said when a
Indian fishermen
released from jail
Quetta: A group of 14
Indian fishermen began
their voyage home Saturday after being held in
a Pakistani jail for two
years for crossing into
Pakistan’s waters, a jail
official said.
They were released as
a goodwill gesture to India ahead of possible
peace talks between the
two countries.
“We have sent 20 Indian prisoners to Lahore,
from where they will be
taken to Wagha border
on Sunday,” Quetta jail
deputy superintendent
Naveed Ahmad said. AP
suicide bomber go on a martyrdom mission, he does not
take permission from any
one.
He however, said Pakistan
did have influence with
the people of Kashmir, but
“we cannot dictate them,
they don’t take dictation
from us”.
Kasuri said that during his
talks with US deputy secretary of state Richard Armitage he had made it clear
that durable peace could not
be established in the region
without taking into account
the wishes of the Kashmiri
people.
On developing trade relations with India, Kasuri said,
India should join gas
pipeline project from Turkmanistan via Afghanistan
and Pakistan to cater to its
energy needs. Agencies
Reuters
London: Police have charged a 38year-old man with the murder of an
Indian-born millionaire businessman
whose body was found in the sea almost three months after he went missing with his family.
Amarjit Chohan, 46, from Heston,
west London, disappeared with his
wife, their two young sons and his
mother-in-law in February. His body
was
found
floating
near
a
Bournemouth pier in Dorset, southern England, on April 22.
Chohan ran CIBA Freight Services,
a haulage company importing food
into Britain from Africa.
But the businessman had also spent
time in prison after receiving a threeyear jail term in 1996 for tax evasion.
File photo of Indian-born millionaire Amarjit Chohan with his family.
Police said Peter Douglas Rees, 38,
from Portsmouth, had been charged trates Court on Saturday.
the time of their disappearance. Their
Officers said the missing family bank accounts have not been touched
with Chohan’s murder.
He was arrested on Wednesday and members’ passports had been with the and they have not contacted friends or
will appear at West London Magis- Home Office for routine paperwork at relatives. Reuters
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I N T E R N A T I O N A L
Maze of highways:
American roadmap
for development
ay what you will
The Federal-Aid Highabout the US, but way Act of 1956 provided
among the most ad- $25 billion to build an exmirable things about this tended network of 66,000
country is its road system km to handle the projected
known as Inter-State High- traffic till 1976.
ways.
It involved nationwide
The
expanse
and design standards, includmajesty of these ribbons of ing a minimum of two
concrete (nearly 100,000 lanes in each direction, 12
km of at least four-lane ft lane width, ten-foot
highways) is as vital as it paved shoulder, and capais speedy and convenient ble of handling speeds of
NYT 50-70
and it has
mph.
been celeThe federal
brated in
government
prose (if
met 90 peryou
call
cent of the
Jack Kerconstrucouac’s On
tion
costs
the Road
primarily
that) and
paid for by
film (Thelfuel taxes.
ma
and
The rest of
L o u i s e
the
costs
a m o n g
and upkeep
others).
was left to
Since
state
govIndia
is
ernments.
now well Buick will celebrate its cenThe effect
into
its tenary on May 19. From top: of the new
first major 1963 Riviera, 1984 Grand Na- f r e e w a y s
m o d e r n tional and 1992 Roadmaster. was
stunroad projning.
ect in the form of the $12
They relieved the presbillion, 13,000-km Golden sure on American cities,
Quadrilateral, it’s instruc- hastened suburbanization,
tive to see
and creathow
the
ed a whole
G r e a t
new ethos,
American
besides
Interstates
spreading
came into
out
jobs
being.
and busiChidanand Rajghatta
nesses.
In 1919,
They also
General
John Pershing, who had engendered a culture of
been impressed by the Eu- long-distance driving that
ropean system of inter- endures to this day, as a restate highways during his sult of which many critics
assignment as commander say the US has to fight (in
of American Forces in more ways than one) to
World War I, sent a young keep fuel prices low.
army
colonel
named
Still, it is commonly acDwight Eisenhower on a knowledged that the Intercoast-to-coast drive from state changed US landWashington DC to San scape for the better.
Francisco as part of a
But what continues to
study to see how quickly grow the American interUS forces could move state system is that succesacross the country in case sive governments have
of war.
spent billions more on
But between the depres- upgradation, expansion,
sion and war, very little and upkeep, something Inprogress was made on the dia often fails to do after
Pershing plan, with the US undertaking
Herculean
rail lobby exercising its projects.
dominance over the autoSo laying down the Quad
mobile industry.
will only be part of the InIt wasn’t until Eisen- dian achievement. Keephower himself became ing it going requires
president in 1953 that he greater commitment and
laid out the great Ameri- resources — not to speak
can road map.
of a little road sense.
Matrix Reloaded sets opening day record
NYT
S
ONLY IN
AMERICA!
Keanu Reeves as Neo in a scene from The Matrix Reloaded. The Matrix sequel raked in
a record $42.5 million at American box offices in its first day on Friday, surpassing last
year’s smash hit Spider-Man, which took in $39.4 million on its first day.
SUNDAY TIMES OF INDIA New Delhi, May 18, 2003
13
Scent of a woman’s fury
Jensen Beach (Florida):
When Lynda Taylor put on
perfume and lit scented candles around the house, it wasn’t romance she had on her
mind. It was spite, police say.
Taylor, 36, was arrested
last week on charges she
tried to seriously injure her
chemically sensitive husband.
In addition to using the
perfume and candles, Taylor
sprayed the house with bug
killer and Lysol disinfectant,
plugged in scented air fresheners, and emptied lavender
sachets around the home, her
husband says.
David Taylor, 46, says the
fragrances caused him to
swoon — and not in the
hearts-and-flowers sense, either. He says he fell into a stupor that left him too feeble
even to call for help.
His wife denies using fragrances to torment her husband and suggests he is faking his sensitivity to chemicals. She says she often
dabbed on perfume and it
never affected him before
during their three-year marriage.
Taylor’s husband claims to
suffer from a rare disorder
called multiple chemical sensitivity, an allergic reaction
to perfumes and other scents
that he says can be fatal.
The couple had been feuding over a $150,000 workers’
compensation
settlement
that the husband received in
March for his illness. Taylor
says he and his wife were
talking about splitting up,
and his wife became hostile
when he refused to give her
half the money and the
house.
After Taylor’s doctor supplied a letter to verify his sensitivity to scents, police arrested the wife. She was released after being charged
with aggravated battery,
which carries up to 15 years
in prison.
The cause of multiple
chemical sensitivity is unknown, and some authorities
question whether it even really exists. Taylor traces his
illness to toxic mold and
cleaning chemicals in the
county.
He says his wife, with help
from his stepdaughter, subjected him to three days of
torment in early April. She
started with perfume, then
moved on to other scents after police came to the couple’s home and said it wasn’t
a crime to wear fragrance, he
says. AP
Birthdays, books and stirring POW rescue that never was
the Memory Mulligatawny
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
t’s not only a birthday —
mine and the literal birth
day of an old new bookshop — that serves as a reminder of organic half-life.
There are other signposts on
the road downhill to rheumyeyed discontent and wobbly
decrepitude. Memories, for
one. These were once memorably described, as I recall,
by one Plum Wodehouse, as
akin to Mulligatawny soup in
a cheap restaurant. It’s best
not to stir them.
But stir we must, despite
all. And it takes as little as a
sign in the window of a London chain bookshop to dip
the doubtful spoon in, whole.
And one is off, down the absurd alleyways of the past.
The sign was an advert for
the inevitable ‘‘price crash’’
that had apparently knocked
as much as ‘‘four pounds off
chart books’’. It’s fitting, I
suppose, to have a chart to
record the new Harry Potter
saga’s dizzying rise to the top
of the bestseller lists more
than five months before it
was even published.
Fitting too, for those charts
to reflect Zadie Smith’s potential for literary megacelebrity because she’s in her
twenties and skin a delicious
shade of mocha. The charts
seem less preoccupied with
Smith’s prose than with the
poetic bow of her mobile
mouth. But then that’s what
I
The London Review of Books
has recently opened its own
bookshop.
charts are meant to do.
Still, I remember an age
without ‘‘chart books’’ and it
wasn’t all that long ago. Back
EURO
VISION
Rashmee Z Ahmed
home in small-town India,
where you were guaranteed
to talk to the same bookseller
after school as you would after university, ‘‘chart books’’
were an unknown quantity.
Those were the days you
bought a book because you
liked the blurb on the jacket,
or, I confess, the author’s pho-
to on the back cover. Everyone had their own personal
chart. It was the me-generation in a way, only it was
called the Third World consumer straitjacket back then.
This is the sort of chartless nirvana parts of the
West are rewinding to. Just
this month, the chartcolonised alleyways of London Town, clanking with the
chains of corporate bookselling, took a quantum leap
backwards.
The London Review of
Books opened its own bookshop with the unfashionable
promise of no crashing
prices, no bestsellers, no
‘‘three-for-two’’
bonanzas
meant to clear remaindered
stock. In a prosaic resonance
with that dim, fusty bookshop of my mis-spent youth,
it emphatically houses no
coffee bar and offers no
smart nibbles. Sushi-lovers
can get their fix elsewhere.
The London Review Bookshop exists only to sell books
to those who need to buy
them from those who are
qualified to talk about them.
Unsurprisingly, no one
quite expects the new shop to
succeed. We’ll find out if
they do by next birthday. By
which time well be all be older, but no wiser, about stirring the Memory Mulligatawny.
New Delhi: The dramatic
rescue of US soldier Jessica
Lynch on April 2 from an
Iraqi hospital made headlines everywhere, including in this newspaper.
The whole world saw dramatic footage — conveniently filmed by US army
night vision cameras — of
helicopter-borne American
special forces kicking down
doors and firing their guns,
apparently at Iraqi soldiers.
The rescue of the young
POW boosted morale on the
US home front at a time
when the invasion of Iraq
had appeared to run
aground. ‘‘It was a classic
operation done by some of
our nation’s finest warriors, who are dedicated to
never leaving a comrade behind’’, US brigadier general
Vincent Brooks declared.
And the entire media
breathlessly retailed this
story.
There was only one problem: the story simply wasn’t true. The dramatic rescue was a well-prepared ‘infowar’ operation staged for
the cameras. The purpose
being to shift media focus
away from the killing of
civilians by the US bombardment of Iraq and on to
the ‘heroism’ of US forces.
Interviews conducted by
the Toronto Star and BBC
US staged the rescue of Jessica Lynch for propaganda.
at the hospital in Nasiriya
where Lynch was being
treated have revealed the
following facts about the
entire affair:
• All Iraqi troops and fedayeen had withdrawn
from the area two days before the ‘daring’ rescue.
• The hospital staff had
driven Lynch to a US checkpost in an ambulance a day
earlier in an attempt to
hand her over but were
fired upon.
• US soldiers involved in
the rescue fired blanks to
create the impression that
they had to fight their way
in.
‘‘It was like a Hollywood
film’’, Dr Ammar Uday told
the BBC, ‘‘They cried ‘go,
go, go’, with guns and
blanks without bullets and
the sound of explosions.
They made a show...’’
‘‘The most important
thing to know’’, Dr Harith
SUND180503/CR2/13/M/1
SUND180503/CR2/13/C/1
SUND180503/CR2/13/K/1
SUND180503/CR2/13/Y/1
CMYK
Houssona told the Toronto
Star, ‘‘is that Iraqi soldiers
and commanders had left
the hospital almost two
days earlier’’. He said that
the night they left, his colleagues moved Jessica
Lynch out of intensive care
and into an ambulance.
‘‘We began to drive to the
Americans, who were just
one kilometre away. But
when the ambulance got
within 300 metres, they began to shoot’’.
The BBC, whose documentary on the stagemanaged ‘rescue’ will be telecast on Sunday, said the
Pentagon ‘‘had been influenced by Hollywood producers of reality TV and action movies, notably the
man behind Black Hawk
Down,
Jerry
Bruckheimer,’’ whose advice
‘‘was taken on and developed on the field of battle in
Iraq’’.
œ ND ‰ ‰ † CMK
14
SUNDAY TIMES OF INDIA New Delhi, May 18, 2003
TA L K I N G T E R M S
Dileep Padgaonkar
Heady days in Cyprus
Nicosia: Even as India and Pakistan
were renewing their dialogue, exchanges of another, far more dramatic
sort of some interest to both of them
had begun to convulse this island which
has been partitioned along communal
lines since 1974. That year, Turkey, taking the cue from a coup engineered by
the fascist colonels who then ruled
Greece to take over Cyprus, dispatched
its troops to occupy the northern part of the country. Over
200,000 Greek Cypriots were uprooted and driven penniless
southwards just as several thousand Turkish Cypriots
were forced to head in the opposite direction.
For close to thirty years there has been no contact
between the two sides. The north, under the iron rule
of veteran politician Rauf Denktash, declared itself to be
an independent, sovereign entity. Only Turkey, whose
powerful military backed him with troops and money
for strategic reasons, recognised it. After the fall of the
Berlin wall in 1989, Nicosia remained the sole ‘divided’
capital in the world.
On April 21, Denktash, to the surprise of every party involved in the Cyprus crisis, announced that Greek Cypriots could visit the north and Turkish Cypriots could go to
the south from several points along the ‘green line.’ The
government in Nicosia feared that the travel permits issued by the Denktash regime would be tantamount to
recognising it. But the Greek Cypriots paid no heed.
Within the first ten days, a quarter of the entire island’s
population had crossed the ‘green line.’ By the end of the
fortnight, one in every third Cypriot had visited the other
side. Stories in the press spoke of the warm reception visitors received from the present occupants of their old
homes. To cap it all, labour leaders from both communities
appeared on the same platform on May Day in a prominent
square here in Nicosia and jointly clamoured for the reunification of the island.
Why did Denktash lift the barriers? One reason, according to Turkish Cypriots I spoke to, is that he had got wind
of the Greek Cypriot government’s plans to allow people
from the north to travel to the south with the minimum formalities. Fearing that this might lead to a massive exodus
of his people, he chose to make a pre-emptive move. Another reason could well be that the influx from the affluent
south would shore up his flagging economy. His regime indeed doubled the insurance payment for cars of the Greek
Cypriots and compelled them to stay in hotels.
These reasons do not tell the whole story. Knowledgeable
observers here point out that with Cyprus about to join the
European Union less than a year from now, the regime in
the north would come under intense public pressure to join
in the ‘gold rush.’ Even more significant, these observers
argue, Ankara’s government, now run by an Islamist party, has decided that Turkey’s admission into the EU is far
more important than supporting the Denktash regime.
The EU would not entertain any such application if the applicant happens to occupy the territory of one of its members. Besides, after America’s victory in Iraq, Ankara’s
military generals know only too well that the strategic importance of Cyprus is bound to decline.
For the moment, however, everyone here is still in a daze
about the thousands of people who have crossed the ‘green
line’ and, in a manner of speaking, made known their overwhelming desire to see that reunification occurs at the earliest. The rulers on both sides were clearly unprepared for
this development. It is now up to them to work out powersharing arrangements, perhaps on the lines suggested
by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan. Denktash has so
far refused to go along with the Annan plan. But his days
appear to be numbered.
JUGULAR VEIN
Jug Suraiya
A L L
T H A T
Has corruption become a part of the Indian DNA?
No. Ordinary Indians are as honest as people anywhere in the world.
Yes. Our irresponsibility and ‘chalta hai’ approach to things make us corrupt.
Corruption
is not a cultural or genetic problem. Ordinary Indians are as
honest
as
people anyJayprakash Narayan where in the
National Coordinator,
world. A reLok Satta movement
puted global
magazine conducted a survey of levels of integrity in
several nations by dropping
at several public places
equivalent sums of money in
small packets containing addresses. About 85 per cent of
Indians — mostly the poor,
hard-working labourers —
returned the money to the
addressee.
Yes, it cannot be denied
that corruption is ubiquitous
in our national life. This is
because we have made the
price of honesty inordinately
high. In most cultures human behaviour is regulated
by three forces: fear of god,
societal pressure and punishment for unacceptable conduct. Indians are more godfearing than most other cultures, and we still have
strong families and peer
pressure to moderate our behaviour. But the institutions
of state no longer have the
capacity to promote honesty
and curb corruption.
Indians by nature are not
corrupt. They conform to
Corruption
is the love of
imperfection. Indians thrive
in
tackiness, doing
things hurriedly, leavJyotirmaya Sharma
ing
tasks
Resident Editor,
unfinished
Hyderabad edition
and saying
‘chalta hai’ on being questioned. Corruption is not being responsible. Indians at-
rules and become model citizens when they live abroad.
Neither the people, nor their
values have changed; they
simply adapt to an environment which rewards good behaviour and punishes bad behaviour. Here, we have built
an environment which does
the exact opposite: reward
bad behaviour consistently
and extravagantly, and often
penalise good behaviour.
Abuse of authority is a
natural propensity in all societies. And people submit to
such abuse because they
have no realistic options. Often the cost of resistance to
corruption is disproportionately higher than the likely
benefit accrued. It is well
neigh impossible to resist demands for extortionary demands if your daughter is
under a surgeon’s knife in a
government hospital. Very
few people collude in corruption and benefit. Such behaviour is seen in all societies,
and we need strong institutions and a governance system which promotes honesty.
In India, honesty and survival in elective office are increasingly
incompatible.
Centralised bureaucracy, lifetime job security, and virtual
immunity from punishment
make public servants callous
and corrupt. Inefficient and
inaccessible justice, and absence of instruments of accountability make punish-
ment for corruption difficult.
We need to increase the
risks of corruption to unacceptably high levels, and enhance rewards for good conduct. Comprehensive electoral reform including proportional representation and
funding reform, substantial
decentralisation and empowerment of local governments, measures for efficient
justice will radically alter the
risks and rewards and promote honesty.
S U N DAY D E B A T E
Deepak Harichandan
Bachi Karkaria
Last week I went home.
Not to Mumbai, my permanent-address home.
Not Kolkata, my firstcrush home. Not Ahmedabad, my in-law home.
Not Bangalore, my justto-show-off home. But to
an unmarked amble of
orchards between Maharashtra’s Dahanu and Gujarat’s Valsad,
which is my race-memory home.
I’d never been to Garigam before, but I
could have told you exactly which tamarind
tree had the most swingable branches, and
the precise spot in the river where you could
laze without being horned off by a proprietorial buffalo. I could have also whispered
to you the dubious pedigree of those decidedly tribal children running around with
unabashed Parsi names.
I didn’t grow up in Garigam, but I cer-
tainly grew up on it. My mother had spent
much of her childhood amidst the dark,
deep acres of mango and chikoo belonging
to her Framroze Mama, he of the aubergineeyed wife. Uprooted in a whirlwind romance, mother landed up as a bride in
Kolkata. Distance, apart from its acclaimed
ability to lend enchantment, also has the notorious tendency to distort. She fed us on
highly romanticised stories of summers in
Garigam, a space-time module overflowing
with milk and mangoes.
We lapped up her industrial-strength rural idyll. For us, eggs came from refrigerators, not hens, so ours was not the romanticists’ willing suspension of disbelief. With
no first hand access to fact, we had no disbelief to suspend. So there we sat, blithely
straddling our bedroom chairs and a cultural chasm whose breadth we were too young
to comprehend.
Garigam remained an imagined place.
PA S S I N G T H O U G H T
Conditions are excellent here, young man — he was
brought here for experimental purpose and today he
heads the department!
Gurcharan Das
Two weeks ago I met
an old friend after a
longish gap and he
asked me what I had
been up to. I admitted
somewhat reluctantly
that I had been
wrestling with our ancient Sanskrit texts,
but mostly in translation. On prodding, I confessed sheepishly
that I had been dipping into the
Arthashastra, Manusmriti, Kathopanishad, Bhagavad Gita, and Kathasaritsagara. ‘‘Good God, man!’’ he exclaimed,
‘‘You haven’t turned Hindutva, have
you?’’ I think his remark was made in
jest, but it upset me. I asked myself, what
sort of secularism have we created that
has appropriated my claim to my intellectual heritage?
I was born a Hindu, had a normal Hindu upbringing, and like many in the middle class I went to an English medium
school that gave me a ‘‘modern education’’. Both my grandfathers belonged to
the Arya Samaj, but my father was drawn
to the syncretic sant tradition of bhakti,
and he joined the Radhasoami sect in
Beas. When I was growing up, I vividly remember my mother telling us stories
from the Mahabharata in the evenings
Swaminathan S Anklesaria Aiyar
Should this perception change
after mind-boggling corporate
scandals involving the biggest
multinationals and investment
banks of the world? Enron, Arthur
Anderson, and WorldCom have
gone bust after revelations of
skullduggery. The latest scandal involves the biggest firms of Wall
Street, which produced reams of
bogus research to trap ordinary investors into buying shares of
dodgy companies whose new issues they were managing for a fat
fees. A top analyst of a Wall Street
firm called a company POS (piece
of shit) in an internal memo, yet
later recommended it to investors
Over the years, I danced a tentative minuet
around it, circling it, but never violating the
remembered space. I built a home, a creek
and two hillocks away. I delved just deep
enough to reinforce my mother’s bed-time
tales, but I refused to plunge right in for fear
of crushing the myth under the mundane
weight of reality.
And, then, last week, I took the decision
and the country road to confront my mother-painted past. I wasn’t disappointed.
Garigam, serene in its antiquity, couldn’t
have cared either way.
Framroze Mama had long passed on to the
great vaari in the sky, but his son who had
always been referred to as Mama no Minoo
(Mama’s Minoo) had taken residence in the
old raftered house with new plumbing. I had
embarked on a nervous rendezvous with my
past, but he had made a hiccup-less break
with his. The smear of suavity apart, Minoo
bore no trace of his former life as the big-rig
MEN AND IDEAS
S WA M I N O M I C S
We have always
regarded
our
businessmen as
crooks, and foreign companies
as more trustworthy, warts
and all. The
stock markets
have always given foreign companies higher valuations than comparable Indian
ones, believing that foreign companies are less likely to cheat.
tribute all their misfortunes
to fate, sins of past lives, systemic constraints, a perpetual sense of being shortchanged, the ISI, the CIA, the
rain god, colonialism among
the chattering classes, and
foreign invaders among the
caste-marked classes.
Corruption is the outcome
of a melancholic temperament. Indians love to sulk.
Theirs is the longest sulk
in history. This tendency
emerges from a lack of engagement with life. Why engage in life when it is all
maya? This body is after all a
prison, they argue, and the
world itself is ephemeral. We
are pure souls, universal
souls. Between this endless
preoccupation with brahman
and atman, a lot of garbage
piles up in the backyard.
Corruption is moral pride.
Indians revel in it. We are the
best, they say. We have an ancient civilisation. We have
the Vedas and the Upanishads. We know it all, and
better still, we can teach the
world a thing or two. We also
kill each other with a
vengeance, tolerate poverty
and conspicuous consumption, live in squalour, cannot
produce a bright idea for centuries, and are generally happy to be mimic men.
The Sanskrit word bhrasht
conveys the sense of corruption better for us. It means
fallen or dropped, strayed or
Memory Matrix Reloaded
E R R AT I C A
Foodies and fammies
It was a great party. Aptly so. For it was
launching a great product. The second
edition of TOI’s Delhi food guide, a
labour of gastronomic love brought out
under the very capable orchestration of
the Delhi Times editor, Sabina Sehgal
Saikia. The launch underscored a vital
truth: Delhi doesn’t march on its stomach; it stampedes. There were more selfproclaimed foodies per square inch
than there are trishuls in a VHP jamboree.
In days gone by, if you talked too much about eating you
ran the risk of being dubbed a greedy glut. Today the foodie has come out of the culinary closet and is considered to
be a member of the cognoscenti, an aficionado.
A foodie is someone who can discourse knowledgeably
about cuisine, the more exotic the better. Who knows that
hollandaise doesn’t refer to a jet-lagged globetrotter’s
mnemonic that ‘If it’s Tuesday it’s got to be Amsterdam’.
That guacamole doesn’t mean a deep-penetration espionage agent in a place called Guaca, wherever the heck
that is. And that sun dried tomatoes aren’t beach bimbettes
suffering the dehydrating consequences of solar radiation.
In short, a foodie is someone who knows his or her onions.
So it was reassuring to see that Sabina’s bash was choca-bloc with foodies. Then the stand-up comic doing double
duty as an MC announced the award ceremony for the
restaurants that had won special mention in the TOI guide
and asked for assorted celebs to come up and give away the
prizes. A walking clothes-hanger on stilts came on stage. I
didn’t know this was also a charity event for starvation victims from Kalahandi, I said. He’s not a starvation victim;
he’s a famous male model, explained Bunny. She knew he
was a male model because he wore ear-rings. If he’d been
shaved bald instead, he’d probably have been a famous female model, otherwise known as a fammie fatale. But why
does he look as though he hasn’t eaten in weeks? I persisted. Because he probably hasn’t eaten in weeks, said Bunny.
It’s called the famished look; it’s very in.
The world — the Indian world, anyway — is distinctly
bipolar. And it’s divided between the foodies and the fammies, short for the famously famished. The fastest growing
industries today are food and fashion, for which read emaciated. If you aren’t so thin that you can count every finger
you have with your ribs you’re as out of the picture as one
of those sacks of grain decomposing in a FCI godown.
So far, so bipolar. But what if there were a secret synergy between foodies and fammies, as evidenced by the preeminence accorded to fammies at what was a foodie gathering? Were they the two sides of the same coin? In every
foodie was there a fammie waiting to out, and vice versa?
Was it like the theory of the oscillating universe which postulated a Big Bang followed by rapid expansion (foodie)
which slowed and, through gravitational pull, reversed
into a contraction (fammie) which eventually led to another Big Bang, and so on, ad infinitum, and I do mean tum?
But what about those who were so in fashion as to be
foodies and fammies not sequentially, but simultaneously?
How did that work? Could you be a foodie who was so busy
talking about food that you never got a chance actually to
eat the stuff, and so earned yourself that ultimate karmic
double helping of being a foodie and a fammie at the same
time? But would a foodie faking being a fammie, or a fammie faking foodiehood, be a real foodie or fammie or only a
real fakie? Do you think they’re faking it? I asked Bunny. I
couldn’t say, she replied. All I know is that there are plenty
of fakes about; starting with fake humourists, she added.
You mean that stand-up comic who entertained us earlier?
I asked. No, she replied. I mean the sit-down comic who isn’t entertaining anyone right now.
Always knew I was a glutton. For punishment.
M A T T E R S
as an excellent buy. Between 1999
and 2002, two firms belonging to JP
Morgan Securities made payments
of $1.3 million to other banks to
write bogus reports praising new
issues that they underwrote. US
Bankcorp Pipar Jaffray, Morgan
Stanley, Bear Stearns and UBS
Warburg made similar dirty deals.
US authorities investigated the
10 biggest Wall Street firms. The
Terrible Ten have now settled out
of court, paying $1.4 billion. They
have also signed a pact promising
$432 million over five years for independent research, and stop dubious practices like bribing CEOs
with shares in hot new issues. Two
top analysts, Grubman and Blodget, have been barred from the securities business.
This will not end wrong-doing.
But the stars of Wall Street have,
not for the first time, been pilloried
and penalised. They know they are
in the public gaze, and that improves conscience and behaviour.
What does this imply for India?
No matter how crooked the top
Wall street firms are, they can help
improve governance in Indian
markets. First, they will create
deviated from, separated
from, deprived of, expelled or
turned out from, decayed,
lost, vicious, depraved. We
are all this and much more.
Corruption is, then, a lack
of vision for the future. Indians constantly look forward
to the past. Corruption is
handing out trishuls to people instead of distributing
pens. It is wielding well-oiled
lathis instead of the plough.
More so, corruption manifests itself in breaking religious structures and insisting on building new ones
rather than opening schools
and hospitals.
Corruption is a woeful lack
of aesthetics in the public
realm. The shrill and mindless speeches of politicians
and the paan-stained walls of
government buildings are its
living embodiments.
Like children, our faith
and hope lies in toys. We
think machines will minimise corruption. ‘Computerisation’ will solve all our
problems. What could be a
greater instance of corruption than trusting a machine
more than a fellow human
being? Corruption, is not the
bribe you pay a ticket tout for
getting to see a film, ‘first day,
first show’. It is a disease of
the soul; it is a character flaw,
an imaginative shortcoming.
It is like bad breath. It can be
curbed temporarily, never
eliminated.
of an oil major. The autumn of the patriarch
had segued into the era of the gentleman
farmer. Mama no Minoo sat on the deep otla
as Warli women sashayed in with baskets
piled with mangoes blushing at their own
voluptuousness. His wife Aban had made
her own leap from PTA Mom to Earth Mother. She wasn’t a stern matriarch like her violet-eyed mother-in-law, but a benign conjurer of the same open-fisted repast.
She supervised the procession of roeplump fried boi and dried Bombay duck
patiyo, spit-roasted chickens, home-grown
cluster beans and mounds of brown-flecked
rice that didn’t come from a health-food
store. But, there was a praline mousse from
an American packet. Her daughter is an administrator at UCLA, disbursing millions of
dollars in grants.
‘The past is prelude to instant pudding,’ I
thought to myself, as I bit into equal parts of
nuts and nostalgia.
★★★
Alec Smart said, ‘‘How do you measure a
society’s stock? With the Downy Jones
Index.’’
Secularism gone awry
while my father meditated in the next
room. Despite this, I grew up like many
Indians with a liberal attitude that is a
mixture of scepticism but sympathy towards my tradition.
Our most cherished ends in life are not
political. Religion is one of these and it
gets demeaned when it enters public life.
Hence, religion and politics must be kept
separate, and to believe this is to be
secular. I agree with BL Mungekar that
‘‘India will die if secularism were to die’’
and if we abandon secularism we will become like tragic Pakistan. But why has
such a sensible idea failed? Our secularism has failed to stem the tide of intolerance because most secularists do not value the religious life. In well-meaning efforts to limit religion to the private life
they behave as though all religious people are superstitious and stupid. This naturally doesn’t go well with the majority of
Indians who are deeply religious and suspicious of godless, westernised, brown
sahibs telling them what to do.
Secularists are also statist and think
that the state can reform society and religion, which is again arrogant and foolish
for genuine reform must emerge from
within society. Moreover, secularists forget that the truly religious people are
usually deeply secular. Thus, what has
failed is not the noble philosophy of secularism but its practice. And in the meantime, intolerant fundamentalists have
filled the vacuum.
So, how do we begin to privatise religion? The answer, I expect, lies with the
moderate voices in each religion’s mainstream. Moderates must come forward
and teach us that true religion has nothing to do with hating others. It worked
when Gandhi or Maulana Azad preached
secularism for they were believers themselves and the masses identified with
them. Secularism was successful in Europe in the 18th century because people
were disgusted with the corruption of institutionalised religion. In India too,
moderate religious leaders must demonstrate that the agendas of Ayodhya, conversions, and banning cow slaughter are
perverse. They must show up the extremists for what they truly seek, which is a
grab for power. The answers will not
come from the Congress or the BJP. Nor
can we wait for another Gandhi to
emerge. The answer lies with the many
reasonable voices of good sense within
the Hindu and Muslim communities.
Surely, there must be a few courageous
individuals among them who will speak
up before their faith is totally hijacked by
the terrorists.
Can crooks improve governance?
pressures to improve operating
conditions in India to global standards. Second, they will bring higher standards of governance because they will worry about being
jailed for misgovernance in the US,
whereas Indian firms have virtually no fear of being jailed by slow
courts. Third, Wall Street firms
bring additional competition,
which benefits common investors.
Until very recently, Indian stock
markets were dicey places. Promoters of companies disappeared
without trace after a public issue.
Controlling families of companies
siphoned profits off the books at
the expense of ordinary shareholders. The Bombay Stock Exchange
was replete with price-riggers and
crooks who enriched themselves at
the expense of investors. One-tenth
of all share certificates were
forged. The delivery of shares
could take months.
When foreign institutional investors (FIIs) entered India in the
early 1990s, they said it was impossible to do much business in such
an environment, and asked the government to upgrade this to global
standards. They sought this for
their own selfish ends, but the end
result aided all investors. The National Stock Exchange came up as
a world class rival to the Bombay
Stock Exchange, with computerised trading that made price rigging through telephone calls impossible. Paper shares were dematerialised into electronic shares,
ending forgery. Delivery was tightened and expedited to happen two
days after purchase. The Bombay
Stock Exchange was forced to imitate the high standards of the National Stock Exchange to survive.
The net result is that India today
has one of the best and most modern stock exchanges in the developing world, Ketan Parekh
notwithstanding.
Second, FIIs have brought in
higher standards of research, and
forced companies to provide more
pertinent information on a regular
basis. Companies that fail to live up
to their profit predictions are penalised heavily by sharp falls in
their prices, a sea change from the
bad old days.
Finally, competition has improved governance. In the bad old
days, the UTI dominated a thin, riggable market. The UTI could not
dump wholesale the stock of any
group no matter how crooked —
there was too much political pressure. But the FIIs ended the quasimonopoly of the UTI and brought
in competition. Unlike the UTI,
they dumped wholesale the shares
of companies with suspect practices, whose prices crashed. And
they paid premium prices for companies with a reputation for good
governance. They did this for their
own self-interest. Yet the result was
that, for the first time, the stock
market began to systematically reward promoters with good governance over promoters with political connections or the ability to rig
markets. Many Indian companies
still cook their books enthusiastically, but are easily recognised by
the low price-earnings ratios the
market gives them.
What this shows is that competition, even between crooks and
semi-crooks, can improve outcomes for ordinary investors. What
FIIs sought was improved trading
conditions for their narrow selfinterest. Yet in the process they
improved conditions for all investors, and helped push our
stock markets to become among
the best in Asia.
Vol. 14 No. 20 : Air charge: Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Mumbai ,Cochin, Chennai & via Rs.3, Indore and via 50 paise. National edition: No aircharge.Price in Nepal: NEP Rs 5, except Sunday: NEP Rs 7. RNI No. 507/87/90 MADE IN NEW DELHI REGD. NO. DL-25001/92. Published for the proprietors, Bennett Coleman & Co. Ltd., by Balraj Arora at Times House, 7, Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg,
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Executive Editor: Shekhar Bhatia. © All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission of the publisher is prohibited. Postal Registration No.: TN/Chief PMG/399/2002
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SUND180503/CR1/14/C/1
SUND180503/CR1/14/K/1
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CMYK
œ ND ‰ ‰ † CMK
M I N D
•
• • I AM
Neelabh
O V E R
M A T T E R
If you can dream it,
then you can do it
Everything is possible. Just go for it, says motivation guru Wayne W Dyer
I
Listen to the music in
everyday life, says
Ustad Amjad Ali Khan
S
pirituality is the sacred relationship
and experience one has with God. It
is the beautiful bliss which one experiences when one surrenders to God. The
feeling, the connectivity and the
experience of realising the presence
of a Higher Power — that, for me,
is spirituality.
I am spiritual in that my music is
what brings me close to the Almighty.
Swar hi Ishwar hai — for me, there is
nothing which compares with the feeling that sound brings to me. And don’t
get me wrong, it is not that I do not appreciate the beauty of the spoken word
— I do. I enjoy good poetry and the
words of sages and wise men please
me. But words can be twisted around to
abuse, to hurt, to humiliate. Music, on
the other hand, is pleasing and delightful. It cannot be any other way.
I am religious, but I am not a fundamentalist. My experiences over the
years have taught me that whatever
happens, happens for the best. I also believe in karma but I think it can be
influenced by an individual’s continuous efforts and hard work.
Everybody knows about God.
But how many of us surrender ourselves to that Higher Power without
any expectations? To be spiritual
is to experience the delight of complete
surrender.
Sound is my life. Whenever I am
tense and need to relax, I immerse
myself in music. There is so much
beauty in the music of everyday life.
The sound of a heart beating is music.
Recitation, chanting and singing are
the purest forms of music. When a
child is born, it associates with sounds
before words. Music is the reality of life
— words come much later.
One needs to get away and look within to find bliss. My most peaceful moments are spent when I sit back and listen to the sounds of silence.
(As told to Anubha Sawhney)
Marie T Russell
D
on’t tell me what to do! We’ve
heard that said many times...
we’ve even said it, and at times
when we didn’t say it, we
thought it! Don’t bug me! Don’t get on
my case! Don’t tell me what to do!
Sounds like a teenager speaking... ah!
but it is! It’s that inner teenager that
most of us still carry around inside.
That teenager has had enough of being bossed around... being told what,
when, where, how, and why to do
things. Never having any say in the
matter... or if he/she did have some say,
was it listened to? Mostly not.
So that teenager still resides inside
many of us. Mine pops up when it’s
time to exercise. (It’s not a four-letterword, but I swear my inner-teenager
thinks so.) I sat myself down (along
with my inner teenager), to get to the
root of this attitude. The ‘I don’t want
to exercise’ attitude.
What I asked myself was, ‘‘why don’t
you want to exercise?’’ ‘‘Dunno.’’
have a dream! Most of us are familiar with this
now famous line of Martin Luther King as he
spoke of his vision for the US and for mankind
in general. He had faith in his dream, in his vision. Others throughout history have also had
visions, dreams, hopes, aspirations... Just like we all
do, or at least we all did at some point. Sometimes the
dream got buried and seemingly forgotten. Except
that it makes itself felt by a vague unhappiness, an
undefined longing, an apathy that we can’t identify.
What was your dream, your vision of your future
when you were younger? When you didn’t have a list
of ‘I can’t because’ or ‘You shouldn’t because’, or other objections whether they came from inside yourself
or outside from your peers, teachers, parents....
I remember many dreams that I had... many of
them could have been
valid choices made
along the way. When I
was around 10 years
old, having been selected to sing a solo at
midnight mass, I
thought I could be a
professional singer.
At one point, having
been named ‘the discovery of the year’ for
my performances in
the drama club, I
thought I could become a professional
actress. Yet, because
of self-doubt, and because of lack of encouragement
from
‘the
outside’,
I
shelved those dreams.
I didn’t think I ‘had it
in me’ to accomplish
these grandiose possibilities for my future.
Too many ‘what ifs’
stood in my way, too
much self-doubt, too
little
self-esteem.
‘What if it doesn’t
work out... What if I
fail... What if I’m just
not talented enough... What if I can’t make money at
it....’ These ‘what ifs’ were the walls between me and
my future.
Most of you can probably relate to that. Most of us
have grown up with self-doubt — not receiving the
encouragement to ‘take the risk’ and go for our
dream. At times, not only were we not encouraged,
we may have been actively discouraged and told to
choose a career that would have security and a good
pay-check. Some of us traded our happiness for that
security... and everyday, some people choose to stick
with that path, and others choose to go for their
dreams.
In the movie, Field Of Dreams, another dream is
presented... building a baseball field in the ‘middle of
nowhere’. The dream is so ludicrous that Iowa
farmer Ray Kinsella doesn’t want people to know
what he is doing.... How often do we also fear ridicule
when we share our dreams with others? Or having
been the target of jokes and ridicule, how many of us
dare keep going and have enough faith in ourselves
to stay the course? It’s not always easy.... I know I gave
up my dream of singing when jealous siblings told
me I didn’t sing very well.
Somehow their input had more weight than the
music teacher’s who had chosen me to sing the solo
at church. Somehow my fear of failure was stronger
than my love for the theatre. I didn’t have enough
faith in myself and in my talents.
Faith in ourselves. Now that is a big concept. Many
of us, having been raised in some form of organised
religion, recognise the word faith as having to do
Neelabh with believing in something other than ourselves... Faith in a
higher power, in God,
in Jesus as the Saviour, in angels, in miracles.... Even Webster’s
first definition for faith
is: ‘unquestioning belief, especially in God
or religion.’ Faith has
become equated with
belief in something or
someone else.
Somewhere
along
the way, we didn’t get
the message. The message that we are powerful, that we also can
‘move mountains’, that
we also can turn water
into wine. I’m not talking about magic here
or witchcraft. I’m talking about believing
enough in ourselves to
believe in our own success, in our own divine
potential.
Build it and they will
come... Follow your
dreams, follow your
heart, and know that
success (happiness, peace of mind, abundance) will
be yours. Whatever your dream is... whether it has to
do with career, lifestyle, relationship... whatever that
dream is, believe in yourself.
I firmly believe that we are not given a dream without the potential to make it come true. If you have a
seed, a dream, a vision, planted within you, then you
have the capability to make it happen, and the Universe will help you in making that seed flourish into
a grandiose creation.
Whatever your heart yearns for, whatever your
highest vision of yourself is, if you can dream it, you
can achieve it. Start by believing in a loving supportive Universe, and then go the next step by believing
in yourself as a ‘perfect’ child of that Divine
Universe. Everything is possible. Just go for it!
SUNDAY TIMES OF INDIA New Delhi, May 18, 2003
BOOKS
Active Wellness - Feel
Good For Life
Gayle Reichler, Nancy
Burke
Price: Rs 495
Most weight-loss and exercise programs ultimately
fail because they don’t address individuals as unique persons with special needs, says nutritionist Gayle Reichler, president and founder of Active Wellness, Inc —
Active Wellness is designed to help people
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In it you will learn how to mentally prepare your self for the Active Wellness journey by setting realistic long- and short-
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targets not only weight loss, but any unique healthcare problems you may have,
create a comprehensive physical exercise
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of fitness and that combines stretching,
aerobics, and strength training.
Excerpt:
Some of you may be aware of your unhealthy habits already. Others of you may not
have topped to think about this concept of
unhealthy versus healthy behaviour. The
second ingredient of successful change is
becoming increasingly aware of your unhealthy habits. One way to practise is to
carefully observe your daily behaviours
with a noncritical eye. Practising awareness can be a revelation: Some of your habits
may have become so routine that you haven’t even noticed yourself doing them.
Buy this book @ 30% off. Our price Rs 347
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Learning to exhale!
R
elaxation strategies can be extremely
helpful and useful. Relaxation can help
you to better manage stress, tension and
anxiety, help you perform better at work and
remain calmer in any situation. It can be
used at work or at home, on the bus or while
you are standing in a queue.
This method of relaxation is usually referred to as controlled breathing.It is most effective in reducing anxiety and helping you
to keep calm. It is quick and easy to use anywhere and anytime. Make yourself comfortable and then breathe slowly and evenly. Quietly say to yourself ‘in’ when you breathe in,
and ‘relax’ when you breathe out.Repeat this
over and over again. Focus as much as you
can on these two simple words.Imagine that
with every breath out, each time you say relax, you are becoming more and more calm
and relaxed. If you get
distracted or if your
thoughts wander, refocus as often as you need
to. Don’t forget, practice
is the key. If you can
practice between 5-7
times each day,even if
only for a few minutes,
you’ll gradually master
the skill.
Breathing deeply can relieve patients suffering from nausea after surgery. Voluntary
breath control is probably the oldest known
stress-reduction technique. It is a major component of yoga, the ancient Indian self-help
system of health care and spiritual development. Tai Chi, a Chinese movement art form;
and the Lamaze method of natural childbirth. These and other methods share a focus
on the four distinct phases of the breathing
cycle: inhalation, pause, exhalation, and
pause. Once you gain control of your breathing in a non-stressful environment, you can
more readily call up your relaxation breathing during times of stress.
Don’t tell me what to do!
(Sounds like a teenager response, doesn’t it?) So what came to me was that it
wasn’t so much the exercise that ‘‘I’’
was resisting (after all, we all know
that exercise, especially once we’re out
of our teens, is a needed attribute to
staying healthy, fit, and full of vitality).
So, what was I resisting? Ah! It was
the being told that I ‘‘had to’’ exercise.
Who was telling me? Not my doctor,
though I’m sure if I went to see one, I
might get that advice. Not my husband,
though, he also is aware of the benefits
of exercise. So who then? ME! I was the
one telling myself to exercise. Logical,
right? Yes, except that my ‘‘inner
teenager’’ was resisting having me (the
adult ‘me’) telling her what to do.
So how to get out of this dilemma?
Definitely by sitting down and talking
to ‘her’ and finding out what type of ac-
tivity (notice I did not call it exercise,
since she considers that a ‘dirty word’)
she would like. So we came us with a
list of things that are fun to do: walking, jumping on the trampoline, riding
a bike, playing tennis, etc.
I then gave ‘her’ (we’re still talking
about my inner teenager) a choice... My
thought was that perhaps by offering
her a choice between various types of
exercises (oops, activities) to do each
day, she would be willing to participate
(or at least to let the adult ‘me’ participate).
So we made a deal. Every morning I
let her choose which type of ‘activity’
she would like to partake in that morning. Now, I must admit that she’s still
‘testing’ me. There’s still quite a few
mornings that she says she doesn’t
want to do any ‘activities’. OK, I’m giv-
15
ing her some space on this one. I have
complete confidence that if I don’t impose my will on her, she’ll come
around... After all, she doesn’t want to
be living inside an old saggy tired overweight middle-aged woman (who me?)
whose main exercise is moving fingers
on a computer keyboard...
So, we’re still working on that one...
some days we exercise, some days we
don’t. But, we’re accepting the fact that
we have a choice... And that no one is
‘forcing us’ to do anything. We do what
we choose, when we choose, if we
choose to.
Another time my teenager rebels is
with food! She sometimes trips me
when I’m reaching for the lettuce in the
store, and ‘makes me’ pick up pastries,
cookies, and ice cream instead. Mind
you, in this area, we have a better un-
derstanding. She is a teenager after all,
and is very conscious of her looks and
of ‘looking cool’, so in the food area, we
have less of a tug-of-war. But even
there, I have to ‘make deals’ with her.
But after all, this teenager and I reside in the same body, and, since I’m
older and wiser (we hope), I do feel that
I ‘know best’. So... What’s the answer?
The solution is to make friends with
No one ever injured their eyesight from looking
on the bright side of things.
— Unknown
◆
Love is like quicksilver in the hand. Leave the
fingers open and it stays. Clutch is, and it darts
away.
— Dorothy Parker
◆
By seeing the seed of failure in every success,
we remain humble. By seeing the seed of
success in every failure we remain hopeful.
— Mel Ziegler
◆
Love is too strong a word to say too early, but it
has too beautiful a meaning to say it too late.
— Kurt Spiteri Cornish
◆
The people to fear are not those who disagree
with you, but those who disagree with you and
are too cowardly to let you know.
— Napoleon Bonaparte
◆
There are two gifts we can give our children:
One is roots.The other is wings.
— Carter Hoddings
◆
Love is not finding someone to live with, It’s
finding someone you can’t live without.
— Rafael Ortiz
◆
Great men are they who see that the spiritual
is stronger than any material force, that
thoughts rule the world.
— Ralph Waldo Emerson
◆
Don’t expect to build up the weak by
pulling down the strong.
— Calvin Coolidge
your ‘inner teenager’. Become a team! Set goals
and agree on how to reach
them in a way that is fun
and that gives both of you
‘space’ to be who you are.
We sometimes treat our
inner teenager the same
way we were treated as teenagers. Do this! Do that!
Don’t talk back! Behave!
We need to respect our
inner teenager, so that
she can then learn to respect us. We need to acknowledge her needs, her
fears, her emotions, and
open up a dialogue with her. Yes, we
can talk to our inner teenager. How?
Simply sit down, close your eyes, and
ask her some questions. Ask her about
the areas of your life that aren’t ‘working out’. Ask her about why you’re having certain difficulties... Ask her if
she’s upset with you and why... You may
be surprised at the answers!
SUND180503/CR1/15/M/1
SUND180503/CR1/15/C/1
SUND180503/CR1/15/K/1
SUND180503/CR1/15/Y/1
CMYK
œ ND ‰ ‰ † CMK
16
O P E N
SUNDAY TIMES OF INDIA New Delhi, May 18, 2003
NOW I C U
e4
Recently I was in an ICU for a
day (though heck only knows
why they call it that
considering you can't see anyone) (wait, maybe it's because the guy in the white
coat who invariably appears
in toothpaste commercials
later can see you), and was
getting bored with my affliction. So I asked my beautiful
ambulatory other to get me a
few books from home —
specifying in detail their
names, authors and, in one
case, even its Library of Congress Catalogue number. But
she who thinks I'm some
kind of horribly twisted ogre
who eats riddles instead of
children for breakfast brought
me back something from 40
years ago. So bless her heart
as you rapidly solve this gently lifted puzzle from 1963.
Imagine that in an ordinary square-shaped room,
we hammer a nail into each
of the four walls and then
one nail into the ceiling and
one into the floor. We have
with us pieces of strings in
two colours—say blue and
red. Now connect every nail
with every other nail using a
new piece of string each
time. The pieces of string will
form triangles, one angle of
M I N D S P O RT
Mukul Sharma
which will be at the nails. The
problem is, can we do this
without making one triangle
in which all the pieces of
string forming the three sides
are the same colour? Either
way, yes or no, can you give
the answer without dipping
into Mersenne primes, repunit palindromes and stuff
used for making mystic pentagrams of yore, but using
only methods beginning
without math?
DEAR MS,
World-Cup-Mishap-Dept:
How could you have people sending in such foolish
Endgames again and again?
Anyway, in the cricket puzzle
team B loses like this: The
first ball is bowled and the
first batsman gets caught.
The second is bowled and
the second batsman is bowled. The third is bowled and
the third is out LBW. The
fourth ball and the fourth is
stu-mped. The fifth ball is
bowled and the fifth batsman
is run out. Now, five balls
have been bowled and five
wickets are down. Thus the
bowler has to get five wickets in one ball. It can only be
possible if the sixth batsman
is out hit-wicket, the seventh
handles the ball, the eighth
obstructs the fielder, the
ninth takes more than two
minutes to come out to the
field. The last four wickets fall
in a fashion in which the ball
is not considered. The tenth
batsman hits the ball twice.
Hence five wickets down in a
ball! Hats off to the bowler!!
—Gaurav Menghani,
menghani_gh@indiatimes.
com
Male-Tale-Dept:
This Endgame about what
was common to BADE,
DATE, DARE, GORE, RODE,
PORE, MANE, PAGE, SANE,
MORE, HIRE, TALE and
HOLE was a sitter! Besides
the four traits mentioned, the
fifth which is common to all
is that they are all Maharashtrian surnames. But just 13
words in this category is an
underestimation (if you relax
the constraint that it has to
be a verb or a noun). KALE,
DOLE, LELE, NENE, REGE,
FENE, KATE, MATE, . . . the
list goes on!
—Aniket Joshi, Ann Arbor,
MI, USA
As-Goode-As-It-Got-Dept:
I quote from the book
Mathematics on Vacation by
Joseph Madachy; page 176:
“As a testament to the
lengths that some number
enthusiasts will go I will mention one more large number:
9^9^9^9 --------. Nevertheless with a knowledge of the
elementary properties of
numbers and a simple desk
calculator, the last ten digits
of this fantastically huge
number have been calculated
—namely, 1,045,865,289.” I
confess neither my math
friends nor myself could
solve this problem and we
are eager for a method to do
this. Hope you throw it open
to brainy readers.
— Malcolm F Goode, malcolmgoode@ rediffmail.com
ENDGAME
You have three baskets with
each containing exactly four
balls, each of which is of the
same size. Each ball is either
red, black, white or purple
and there is one of each
colour in each basket. If you
were blindfolded while each
basket was shaken so that
the balls were randomly distributed, and then took one
ball from each basket, what
chance is there that you
would have exactly two red
balls?
(Submitted by F F Corinth,
Dubai, UAE)
Snailmail: D-268 Sushant Lok-I,
Gurgaon, Haryana 122001
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.mindsport.org
S P A C E
Why are bubbles always round in shape?
AP
LETTERS
Gender Politics
The question, ‘Do
women make better
politicians than men?’
(May 11), seems irrelevant. Politicians are
politicians, irrespective
of their sex. History
has shown that women
in the field of politics
are not any different
from men. Emergency
was, after all, declared
during Indira Gandhi’s
regime.
—A. Jacob Sahayam,
Karigiri (Tamil Nadu)
Forget US
Mt Etna volcano provides a picturesque backdrop during the fifth stage of the Tour of Italy cycling race from Messina to Catania, Italy. QUESTION: Which is
the world’s oldest active volcano?
OPEN SPACE
How do tubeless tyres work?
Tubeless tyres are similar to tubetype tyres where the function of a
tube is done by non-permeable inner
surface of the tyre itself. Non-permeability is achieved by halobutyl compound in the inner layer of the tyre.
Halobutyl rubber is impermeable.
Structurally, the rim-holding area
(called the bead) will have an extra
compound with a definite profile so
that the air is flush against the rim.
Hence, it must have definite a bead
profile, otherwise it will provide an
escape route for the contained air.
— Shriharsha Bhat, Baroda
If chess is a test of brain power, why
are there separate competitions for
men and women?
There are no separate competitions
for men. Competitions in which men
take part are also open to women.
When we say GM Sasikiran is a national champion, he is champion of
both men and women. However, there
are separate competitions for women
only. This concept was not clear even
to the All India Chess Federation
officials during the ‘70s because of
which Rohini Khadilkar had to go
through mental trauma. The matter
became clear once FIDE, the world
chess body, explained its viewpoint (as
stated above).
— V.D. Pandit, Mumbai
What is the cause of auto combustion in human beings?
Auto combustion, known as Spontaneous Human Combustion (SHC), occurs when a person bursts into
flames and is incinerated. The first
reliable historic evidence of SHC
appears to be from 1763 when Frenchman Jonas Dupont published a
collection of cases entitled ‘De Incenditis Corporis Humani Spontaneis’.
Initially, it was felt if a person
explodes, it was a visitation of god
and therefore some form of divine
punishment.
However, so far, no scientifically
accepted theory can account for SHC.
In 1700s, the popular belief was that
it was caused by excessive drinking
of alcohol. Another theory suggests
that certain people can build up
enough static electric charge and
some sort of atomic chain reaction
could generate tremendous internal
heat leading to SHC.
— S.P.S. Jain, Mumbai
Why are bubbles always round in
shape?
The film of the soap bubble actually
consists of two very thin membranes
between which a layer of water is
sandwiched. This film (including
both the membranes and the layer of
water) behaves as an elastic skin under tension. This tension is called
surface tension. This soap film has a
tendency to become as small as pos-
sible due to the surface tension. Since
spherical shape (i.e. round shape) has
the least surface area as compared to
any other shape thus, the soap film
tends to become circular in shape.
— Yojita Pai, Mumbai
What is the significance of the
number ‘007’ with reference to
James Bond?
James Bond is a secret agent with
Her Majesty’s Secret Service known
as MI6, which deals with countering
external threats to Britain’s national
security. The number 7 is his serial
number. The ‘00’, or double-oh prefix,
indicates that he is among the elite
group of agents which has a licence
to kill enemies. We have seen other
‘00’ agents too — ‘009’ in ‘Octopussy’,
‘006’ in ‘Tomorrow Never Dies’, ‘003’
in ‘A View to Kill’, etc.
— Raghav Upadhyay, Ahmedabad
What is the origin of the word ‘taxi’?
In the late 19th century, the word
‘taximeter’ was used for a device
used in a hired carriage, indicating
the fare and distance travelled.
Taximeter was borrowed from
French ‘taxemetre’, where taxe
meant tariff and metre meant meter.
In the early 20th century, hired carriages/ automobiles were colloquially known as ‘taxi’.
— Ravi Gupta, Hyderabad
How deep is the world’s deepest
underground station?
Park Pobedy, the Moscow city’s 166th
metro station opened on May 6, 2003,
is the world’s deepest underground
station at 97 metres. It has the world’s
longest escalator at 125 metres. It took
16 years to build. The station is the
last stop on the dark blue ArbatskoPokrovskaya line, four kilometres
from Kievskaya metro station.
— M.K. Kurpe, Surat
ANY ANSWERS?
How does a mud pot keep water cool
even in summer?
— Ravi Kumar P., recd via email
Who created the bikini? Why is it
called so?
— Hussain Kathawala, recd via email
What is the Ig Nobel prize?
— Subhkaran Choradia, Varanasi
What’s a ‘dead cat bounce’ in
corporate jargon?
— Dipti Ranjan Gantayat,
Bhubaneswar
What is the maximum height to
which a helicopter can fly?
— Shakti Raj Ghorpade, Gwalior
Why are goose bumps called so?
— Simran Singh, recd via email
You ask. Or you answer. Mark the envelopes
‘Open Space’ and address your answers and
questions to:
Open Space, Sunday Times of India,
II Floor, S&B Towers, 40/1, M.G. Road,
Bangalore — 560 001
email: [email protected]
SUND180503/CR1/16/M/1
SUND180503/CR1/16/C/1
SUND180503/CR1/16/K/1
SUND180503/CR1/16/Y/1
CMYK
It’s time Indian politicians realised that the
United States can never
be an ally. India features on the American
agenda only when one
of its diplomats is on
an official visit to the
subcontinent.
Now, we have Brajesh
Mishra talking about
an Indo-US-Israeli axis
to fight terror. Why
should a non-violent
country like India subscribe to America’s
cowboy approach to
combat terror?
Countries such as the
US and Israel have no
regard for the other
opinion and they have
in the process turned
into terrorists themselves. Why can’t Indian politicians and
diplomats instead concentrate on mending
the fences with our
neighbours such as
China and Pakistan?
—Firdaus Mantri,
via e-mail
Home And Away
Chief Minister Rabri
Devi reportedly walked
out of a seminar in
which Bihar was described as the most
backward state of India. The Yadavs have
since pointed out that
the Punjab owes its
prosperity to the migrant Bihari labourers
who toil in its field. Instead of making such
sweeping statements,
the first couple of Bihar should wonder
about why Bihar residents choose to migrate
to other states.
— A. Seshan, Mumbai
œ ND ‰ ‰ † CMK
The Sunday Times of India, New Delhi, May 18, 2003
Henry stays put
Eddie backs Alonso
Limping Lindsay
Arsenal’s French striker Thierry Henry
has signed a new contract keeping
him with the club till 2007. The
25-year-old asserted: “I will stay at
Arsenal as long as they want to keep
me.” Talk about loyalty
F1 stalwart Eddie Irvine’s stuck his neck out
again. He’s pipped Renault driver Fernando
Alonso (in pic) to oust speedy Schumi from
the world champion slot. “Alonso is mega,
and he is the new Schumacher,” Irvine’s
gone on record to say
Lindsay Davenport’s preparations for the
French Open suffered a setback when a
hamstring injury forced her to pull out of
next week’s Spanish Open. She’ll now
stay at home and miss crucial clay court
match practice
Tiger Woods falters in the Deutsche Bank SAP Open golf
B R I E F LY
AFP
Challenging task ahead of WI
AP
Waugh defends
players’ behaviour
Kingston: West Indies captain Brian Lara won the toss and chose to
field in the opening One-day cricket
International against Australia at
Sabina Park here on Saturday.
The West Indians, looking to carry on the momentum from their historic three-wicket victory over the
Australians in the fourth Antigua
Test, named three ODI debutants,
THE TEMPERAMENTAL STAR: German
international Stefan Effenberg (R)
stands next to Ahmad al-Sulaity, a
member of the Qatari Soccer Federation, as he shows off his new shirt of
the al-Arab club in Doha on Friday.
India clubbed with Dymnamo Kiev:
India have been placed with Dynamo Kiev
(Russia), Preston Club and Country Antrim
in the U-18 Milk Cup to be held in Northern Ireland from July 18-25. The teams
have been divided into 6 groups of 4
teams each. The U-18 camp for the Indian
juniors begin in Margoa from May 20 in
which over seventy boys will be training
under Stephen Constantine. TNN
Dalmiya to meet selectors: Cricket
board president Jagmohan Dalmiya will
have a session with the national selectors,
when they meet here on May 24 to finalise
the India ‘A’ squad for the forthcoming
tour of England. The BCCI has already intimated the quintet of selectors about the
session with Dalmiya, which will precede
the choice of the squad for the 75-day
tour in June. PTI
Envoys of Spain, Argentina win:
Spanish envoy Don Rafael Conde and Argentine envoy Briotos jointly lifted the first
Ambassadors Golf Cup Kashmir 2003
played at the picturesque Royal Springs
Golf course in Srinagar on Saturday. In the
non-diplomat section, the team comprising Najamus Saqib and Lennort Johanasson won the first prize. The individual
prize was grabbed by Vinod Wazir. PTI
Sydney: Steve Waugh has defended
his players’ behaviour during their
Test series in West Indies and strongly hinted he wants to continue as
Australia’s captain in the longer version of the game.
Waugh told reporters on his arrival home on Saturday that while his
players had stepped out of line on a
couple of occasions, their conduct
had generally been good and there
was no animosity between the teams.
Australia won the four-match Test series 3-1 and the Ricky Ponting-led
One-day side play the first of seven
internationals later on Saturday.
“The heat of the moment got to a
few players (but) from a playing point
of view it was probably the friendliest series I’ve been involved with,”
Waugh said. “On and off the field the
guys had a lot of interaction, talked
with each other a great deal and
helped each other with cricket.”
Waugh was told by Australian cricket boss James Sutherland to haul his
players into line after a heated onfield row between fast bowler Glenn
McGrath and West Indies batsman
Ramnaresh Sarwan in the fourth and
final Test. McGrath later apologised
for his actions and Waugh said he
hoped people would not judge the
tour on that one incident “I’m not
making excuses for it but it does happen, that’s the reality of the situation,” Waugh said. Agencies
At the end of 30 overs Australia
were comfortably placed at 144
for 3 with Darrel Lehmann and
Andrew Symonds unbeaten on 37
and 6 respectively. Ricky Ponting
was the last man out for 59.
Devon Smith, Omari Banks and
Carlton Baugh.
Ricky Ponting’s World Cup champions, who are putting on the line
their 17-match unbeaten run, have
rested fast bowler Jason Gillespie
from the opening match of the sevenmatch series. Brett Lee will be sharing the new ball with Mcgrath. AFP\
The shotmakers
West Indies: Chris Gayle, Devon Smith,
Ramnaresh Sarwan, Brian Lara (captain), Marlon Samuels, Ricardo Powell,
Omari Banks, Carlton Baugh, Vasbert
Drakes, Corey Collymore, Mervyn Dillon.
David Bernard (12th man).
Australia: Matthew Hayden, Adam
Gilchrist, Ricky Ponting (captain), Darren
Lehmann, Andrew Symonds, Michael
Bevan, Ian Harvey, Brad Hogg, Andrew
Bichel, Brett Lee, Glenn McGrath, Jim
Maher (12th man). Umpires: Billy Doctrove (WIS) David Shepherd (ENG).
THE LEADER: West Indies captain Brian Lara (R) practices with
the team prior to the first One-day International against
Australia at Sabina Park in Kingston on Friday.
Skippers urge their batsmen to deliver
AFP
Seeds have it easy: Top seeds kept
their reputation intact, moving into the
second round without any hiccups in the
Adyar Times Millennium FIDE rated Open
Chess on the opening day on Saturday.
Top seed International Master R B
Ramesh scored a neat win over young
Arvind Subramaniam. In another encounter, IM Sundar Rajan Kidambi outwitted Asha Meera in 25 moves. PTI
BETTING METER
TENNIS
French Open
J. Ferrero 3/1
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(as per ladbrokes.com)
LIVE ON TV
Star Sports: 1715 hrs: Formula One -2003 World Championship.
2000 hrs: WI vs Australia (2nd ODI).
ESPN: 0000 hrs (Monday): Spanish Football League: 2002/03.
ICC vows to change
Bangladesh’s future
Dhaka: The International Cricket Council
(ICC) has vowed to reverse Bangladesh’s
cricketing fortunes after repeated defeats in
Test and other matches, an official said here
on Saturday. “I honestly tried to point out specific areas where the ICC could render support to make Bangladesh more competitive as
quickly as possible,” Andrew Eade, ICC’s
Global Development Manager, said before
leaving Dhaka at the end of a two-day visit.
“The ICC wants to bring about significant
changes in terms of result-oriented progress
in Bangladesh’s cricket within a short span of
time,” he added. Eade said the ICC would help
whittle down lists for a chief executive officer
of the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) and a
high-profile coach for the under-19 team as
well. AFP
Dambulla (Sri Lanka): Rival
captains Marvan Atapattu of Sri
Lanka and Pakistan’s Rashid
Latif have challenged their batsmen to produce runs when the
second round of the limitedovers tri-series starts on Sunday.
“My batsmen must start valuing their wickets, they need to
quickly fight a way out of the batting slump,” Atapattu said as his
team prepared to defend its fiveyear winning record of limitedovers series at home.
To protect their unbeaten series record here since July 1998,
Sri Lanka need to avenge their
79-run series opener loss to Pakistan when the teams meet again.
One’s got to accept that Sri
Lanka’s batting is going though a
terrible lean patch,” said Atapattu. “This has gone far too long,
but we’ve worked hard on our
batting and hope to reverse the
trend — it’s time now for the
batsmen to deliver.”
Atapattu said his batsmen are
capable of dominating at Rangiri
Stadium, where the swinging
and bouncing ball has given
bowlers the ascendancy. The
fresh and lively pitch, with excessive moisture during the
morning session, has turned the
matches into a virtual lottery as
Sri Lankan batsman Mahela Jayawardena (R) bats as wicketkeeper
Romesh Kaluwitharana looks on during a practice session at
Rangiri Dambulla Stadium on Saturday.
the toss plays a crucial role.
Batsmen have struggled in the
conditions, but Latif says that it
gives his young lineup the perfect learning environment. “So
what if the conditions are tailormade for pace bowlers, the batsmen must learn to handle such
adversities,” he said.
I N D I A N S A B ROA D
Sehwag ultimately
gets off to a good start
London: Keen to make up for his string of
poor scores in four successive innings in his
debut county season, explosive India batsman
Virender Sehwag struck a quickfire 20-ball 32
before rain stalled what could have been another of his blitzkriegs.
Roped in by England county side Leicestershire, Sehwag finally seemed to have found
his bearings, unleashing some fine-looking
strokes in the four-day match against Surrey
at the Oval on Friday. In the 20 minutes of
play that was possible in overcast conditions
on the third day, Sehwag, resuming at his
overnight 14, had no problems in seeing the
ball hurtling out of the gloom and his first
scoring shot was an immaculately-timed
straight driven four off Martin Bicknell.
Bicknell’s next ball was struck powerfully
through the covers and after four overs the
score had reached 32 for two with all the runs
being scored by Sehwag. Just then rain intervened and Leicestershire will now have the
fourth and final day left to knock up 328 runs
with eight wickets in hand, weather permitting. Sehwag, who had made just two runs in
the first innings, will have to build up on his
start if he is to help his side save the match.
Leicestershire: 200 and 32 for two (Sehwag not out 32). Surrey:
560 for eight declared (Mark Ramprakash 152, Ian Salisbury 101
not out, A Brown 73, A Stewart 71). PTI
Pakistan overhauled their
team after the World Cup in
South Africa, where the 1992
World Cup champions were ousted in the first round. Eight veteran players were dropped and a
new-look team was fielded in last
month’s four-nation Sharjah
Cup, where they won four con-
secutive matches to clinch the title.
“The match against Sri Lanka
is a crucial one,” Latif said.
“Managing to repeat our firstround win will instil confidence
after our loss to New Zealand.
“A win on Sunday could spur
us to the second One-day title in
two months.” Latif said the conditions in Dambulla had dictated
the low scores, but batsmen must
not shed their positive outlook.
“Our bowling has been clinching
us victories, and now it’s time for
the batsmen to prove their mettle,” he added. “This is a test that
should steel our young batsmen
for future challenges.”
Latif ignored a painful groin
strain, sustained during Pakistan’s first match, to play in the
second game. The skipper said
the five-day break had helped him
recuperate for the next round.
Sri Lanka, Pakistan and New
Zealand all start the second
round with a win and a loss
apiece, but the bonus point system puts New Zealand atop the
standings with seven points,
with Pakistan on six and Sri Lanka on five.
Each win is worth five points
and bonus points are awarded if
the winner achieves a run-rate
1.25 times that of the opposition,
but the losing team retains the
point by not conceding it.
The bonus point that slipped
out of Sri Lanka’s grasp boosted
New Zealand’s tally, but Atapattu
said he wasn’t unduly perturbed.
“Our first priority was to get back
into the winning mode, the bonus
point was secondary,” Atapattu
said. “We’re out to prove that Sri
Lanka have not forgotten winning
at home.” The two leading teams
after the second round advance to
a one-off final on May 23. AP
Pires fires Arsenal
to FA Cup title
Cardiff: Robert Pires scored
the only goal of the 122nd FA
Cup final as defending champion Arsenal beat Southampton 1-0 on Saturday to become the first team for 21
years to win the trophy two
seasons in a row. The Frenchman struck seven minutes
before half time as injury-hit
Arsenal, who lost their Premier League title to Manchester United, gained the
consolation of winning soccer’s oldest cup competition
for the ninth time in its
record 16th final.
Veteran England goalkeeper David Seaman, captain of
the team in the absence of injured Patrick Vieira, ensured
Arsenal’s victory when he
fisted a shot from Brett
Ormerod over the top seven
minutes from the end and
Ashley Cole cleared a header
from James Beattie off the
line in the fifth minute of injury time.
But Arsenal should have
been three goals ahead by
then, Henry going close at
least three times and Saints
defenders twice clearing off
the line. The final was the first
in the competition’s long history to be played “indoors,” officials deciding to close the
Millennium Stadium roof because of heavy rain.
Arsenal should have gone
ahead after 24 seconds when
Fredrik Ljungberg put Henry clear down the right.
The Gunners, who hammered Southampton 6-1 10
days ago, went ahead seven
minutes before half time.
Ray Parlour played the ball
inside to Henry who slipped
it neatly out to Bergkamp.
The Dutchman fed the ball to
Ljungberg whose shot was
blocked but rebounded to the
unmarked Pires. He needed
just one touch before firing
home for his 16th goal of the
season. AP
Injury-hit England turn
to their own McGrath
London: Three uncapped
players figure in the 13-man
England squad announced
on Saturday for the first Test
against Zimbabwe starting
on Thursday at Lord’s.
The newcomers are Lancashire’s James Anderson,
Sussex pace bowler James
Kirtley and the Yorkshire allrounder Anthony McGrath.
Andrew Flintoff has been
named in the squad but there
are concerns about his fitness as the all-rounder is carrying a shoulder problem.
England’s chairman of selectors, David Graveney, told
BBC Radio Five Live: “It is a
bit of an odd injury Andrew
has got. He took a blow to his
right shoulder while batting,
which has affected the nerves
in his shoulder. This condi-
tion can easily go between
now and Thursday. It was
prudent we keep him in the
squad and hopefully he will
be able to take his place on
Thursday.” Missing from the
list was pace-bowler Andy
Caddick who has damaged
ligaments in his right foot.
Anderson made his case
for inclusion at the World
Cup where he totalled 14
wickets in 23 One-day internationals. Graveney said McGrath would share the role of
fifth bowler with Mark
Butcher.
England squad: Nasser Hussain (Essex,
capt), James Anderson (Lancashire), Mark
Butcher (Surrey), Andrew Flintoff (Lancashire), Ashley Giles (Warwickshire),
Stephen Harmison (Durham), Mathew Hoggard (Yorkshire), Robert Key (Kent), James
Kirtley (Sussex), Anthony McGrath (York),
Alec Stewart (Surrey), M Trescothick (Somerset), Michael Vaughan (Yorkshire). AFP
Srinath pendulum:
Has he or hasn’t he?
London: Javagal Srinath
has decided
to
retire
from firstclass cricket, a leading British
newspaper
reported on
Saturday but there was no
confirmation from the
player.
Srinath, who is in UK as
a bowling coach-cum player for English county side
Durham, could not be contacted for confirmation of
the report in Daily Telegraph which gave no
source for it.
Srinath, who had a wonderful World Cup in South
Africa in February-March
returning a haul of 16
wickets at 23.06, may continue to play limited-overs
cricket after a break, the
paper said.
The medium pacer has
had a distinguished international career which
fetched him 236 wickets in
67 Tests, figures second
only to the legendary
Kapil Dev among Indian
seamers.
The 33-year-old Srinath,
who also played in 229 Oneday internationals (315
wickets at 28.08), had successful stints with English
county sides as well. Playing for Gloucestershire in
1995, Srinath took 87 championship wickets at 19.09.
Srinath signed up last
summer with Leicestershire where he grabbed a
hat-trick against Surrey
and topped the bowling averages with 30 victims in
five games. PTI
Selection woes: When will the best talent be picked at the right time
By Karnam Malleswari
I can never forget that moment. It was
the month of September. The year
was 2000. And the
venue: Darling Harbour, Sydney. Well,
if you haven’t yet
guessed it, I am referring
to
my
bronze medal victory in the Olympics. My life changed
completely after that.
Ten years before that momentous
victory, I wasn’t even thinking about
it as a sport, forget about winning a
coveted Olympic medal. Let me explain. I was just a little girl who casually started doing some lifting. That
was, of course, because of my sister,
Karnam Narasamma, a national
weightlifter.
It also helped that my father was in
the Railway Police: we were always on
the move. In November 1989, we had
gone to Visakhapatnam to Bangalore
to watch our sister compete in the selection trials for the national camp.
That was the beginning of my fascinating journey.
I was just standing there when the
There’s a little twist in everybody’s life. Olympic bronze medallist Karnam too feels
that luck played a key role in her journey from an unknown little-town girl to a
champion. Thirteen years after that little twist, she’s wondering if that’s the only way
to produce winners in the country
two coaches (Raibakon from Russia
and S.L. Salwan) in charge of the proceedings noticed me. They were
rather impressed with my body structure and they asked me if I was interested in lifting. I just nodded my head.
I promptly took my parents’ approval. I was at the national camp
even without participating in a district competition. Luck? Destiny? You
can call it anything.
I was soon competing in the junior
nationals at Udaipur. What the coaches didn’t know at that time, of course,
was that I had loads of determination,
great concentration and a burning desire to win too. It was a roller-coaster
ride after that.
Today, as I sit down in the confines
of my hostel here in Patiala I often
venture into the chaotic hellhole
called Indian sport. I know that I was
lucky to get the right break at the
right time. But what about others? I
am sure there are scores of highly tal-
INDIAN SPORT
SLEEPING
GIANT
ented boys and girls who can’t find a
way out of this hellhole.
I would like to stress that an
Olympic medal is not an accident of
fate. It also doesn’t come with just one
or two years of hard work. Many people spend lifetimes in its pursuit. It requires top-class coaching, scientific
training methods, right diet and even
good selection procedures.
If we really want to win medals on
the world stage, we have to revamp the
entire system. There’s an abundance
of talent at the grassroot level; it is
important to not only identify it but
also to nurture it properly.
Do we have the system? Unfortunately no. Many champions are lost
simply in the fight for survival, or in
the folds of mediocrity.
I strongly believe that the government should look inwards, into rural
areas, if it really wants winners.
We only have accidents of success.
A few individuals who rise above
themselves and their surroundings to
win a few medals. You sink in oblivion
if you don’t become at least a state
champion. Why do we continue with
these obsolete, and quite often whimsical, selection systems?
Why can’t we have a system where
talent, ability and passion are the only
criteria? Why should we restrict the
selection trials to only 100 or 200?
Quality is important; but that will
come only we increase the quantity
and the range.
In addition, it is very important to
have a strong bonding with the coach
to succeed at the highest level. This is
especially true in individual sports.
Quite often, when I’m not feeling too
confident or my rhythm is missing I
just need to look at my coach.
He knows exactly where I am going
wrong and what I need to do; one look
and I know what he wants me to do
too. This bonding doesn’t exist, and is
not encouraged, in our system. If I
hadn’t been spotted by those coaches
that day I too would never have attained my full potential.
As told to Indraneel Das
Karnam Malleswari became a world
champion in 1995 in the 54kg with a
world record in clean and jerk
(113.5kg). Besides an Olympic bronze
and an Asian silver, she has won many
world and Asian titles. She had started
her career in the backyard of her house
in a small township (Amadalavalasa)
near Vizag in Andhra Pradesh. She often looks back at her life with awe and
surprise.
She would probably have reached
the pinnacle a little earlier, or more
gracefully, if the selection system in the
country was better; if the best talent is
culled out when it is ready to be
moulded.
Readers are invited to write in their
thoughts and solutions to [email protected]. Or even fax them at
23323346 or 23324173.
SUND180503/CR2/17/M/1
SUND180503/CR2/17/C/1
SUND180503/CR2/17/K/1
SUND180503/CR2/17/Y/1
CMYK
œ ND ‰ ‰ † CMK
18
S P O R T
SUNDAY TIMES OF INDIA New Delhi, May 18, 2003
By Bobilli Vijay Kumar
and Dinesh Chopra
or the first four days of
the final Test, the West
Indian
supporters
could do only one thing:
snatch and break broomsticks that their Australian
counterparts had brought
along to make sweeping
statements.
On the last day, however,
everything changed. Young
Omari Banks scored a fighting 47 to snatch a thrilling, almost impossible, victory. The
fans drank gallons of rum
punch again. But this time
they did it to celebrate; not to
vent out their anger or drown
in their sorrow. Just like they
used to when cricket was
king.
Brian Lara’s boys, on the
other hand, did something
even more fantastic: they
gathered near the edge of the
pitch, hand in hand, and
kneeled down in unison to
kiss their beloved ground. It
was a touching innovation of
the Great Indian Huddle.
They are, of course, not likely to do that routine after
every wicket, or after every
victory. But it at least sent a
much-awaited signal to the
rest of the world: We are not
yet finished, maan. We still
love our cricket.
The first question that surfaced after their historic
chase, inevitably, was the
same old one: Will this trigger the revival of West Indian cricket? Will they quickly
regain the grand road to victory, and onwards to supremacy? Have they found
the nucleus for the team of
the future?
‘‘I don’t think so,’’ says
Clive Lloyd, the architect of
the Invincible Machine of
the 80s. ‘‘I think the current
players lack cricketing acumen more than anything
else,’’ he adds. ‘‘I really wonder if they talk enough about
the game among themselves.’’
The sad part is that a lot
has
changed
in
the
Caribbean Islands in the last
couple of decades. The most
significant one, however, is
that all the joy has gone out of
their cricket: during the
reigns
of
Lloyd
and
Richards, and much before
that too, they always seemed
to be enjoying themselves on
the field; today, they are striving to compete.
The cocky camaraderie
and liveliness has simply
vanished from their game.
The calypso will not rever-
F
here’s something in our
T
blood
that
probably
makes us very good chasers.
And we are not talking just
about those ‘chases’ around
trees that we pay to see on a
70 mm screen. At least in
cricket we have some parallels. One Sunil Gavaskar, his
bro-in-law Gundappa Vishvanath, and batting braveheart Mohinder Amarnath
did it in Port-of-Spain more
than two decades ago when
they chased a record 403 to
win against the West Indies.
Two others Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Ramnaresh Sarwan, albeit West Indians, but
with a lot of Indian blood
THE GREAT
MIRAGE
berate around the world until
they rediscover that spontaneity.
Agrees Desmond Haynes.
‘‘We need at least two more
good fast bowlers. And one
more reliable opening batsman.’’ Lloyd too feels that the
core is not yet ready. ‘‘I would
add a world class spinner and
a wicket-keeper who can
score at least 40 runs to this
list.’’
‘‘The victory posed more
questions as far as I am concerned,’’ says board president Wes Hall. ‘‘If a team can
chase 418 in the fourth innings of a fourth Test, why
couldn’t they score in the earlier Tests too,’’ he asks.
West Indies were ruthlessly annihilated in the first
three Tests. Lara, Sarwan,
Chanderpaul and Gayle
sparkled at different times;
but as a team, they just couldn’t stop the Aussie juggernaut. Even on slow, low pitches that weren’t really suitable
for the pace of Lee, Gillespie
and McGrath. Can these
highly talented batsmen
spark the kind of revolution
that the pace quartet had
done all those years back?
‘‘I don’t think the batsmen
are gonna see the West Indies
through in the future,’’ says
Andy Roberts, the one fast
bowler who could mesmerise
and kill you with a smile on
his face. ‘‘It has to be done
only by bowlers. You can’t
win Test matches without
picking 20 wickets.’’
His main worry is that
there aren’t any top-class
bowlers on the horizon. ‘‘If a
team is allowed to score 400plus scores regularly, then
there’s something seriously
wrong with the bowling,’’
adds Roberts.
There was a sliver of hope
with the arrival of Jermain
Lawson. He is quick, he is aggressive and he knows how to
take wickets; the only problem is that he has already
been drafted into the list of
chuckers. Merv Dillon too
had appeared to have come of
age just a few months back;
now it looks like age has
West Indies may have
scripted the greatest
chase in the history of
Test cricket. But it
was more like David
slaying Goliath by accident. They still have
a long way to go before they can catch up
with the Australians,
or a couple of other
Test nations. Times
News Network does
a spot check
come to him.
Vasbert Drakes, Pedro
Collins are all honest triers,
the kind we have been used to
seeing in Indian cricket. As
irony would have it, their
best hope now seems to be
the spinner, Banks. The
youngster showed courage
and the fire to fight back
even when everything
seems lost. All put
together, however,
they just don’t
seem to know
how to take
wickets, or
at least cut off the runs.
Former fast bowler and national selector Joel Garner
too believes that they still
have a long way to go. ‘‘What
hurts me most is the fact that
runs are being pinched off
our bowling fairly easily,’’ he
says. ‘‘The guys don’t have
the pace to intimidate the
batsmen. They don’t even
have the skill to think him
out,’’ he adds.
Hall, however, feels that
things are changing. ‘‘There
are some world class boys in
the pipeline,’’ he says. ‘‘We
will blood them soon. We jus
wanted to give the current lot
a decent run,’’ he adds. ‘‘The
only problem is that they will
always be compared with the
likes of Holding, Marshall,
Garner and Roberts.’’
Until they find bowlers to
match them, the West Indians will have to keep looking
for the broomsticks.
THE FUTURE IS HERE
Opening problems: Chris Gayle (left-hander, opener from Jamaica): Loves to
play his strokes. On his day a match-winner. Is a useful spinner and sharp fielder too. Here to stay.
Devon Smith (Grenada) and Wavell Hinds (Jamaica) are
belligerent left-handed openers. A little caution would make
them ideal foil for Gayle. West Indies need to find a partner
for him quickly if they want to be serious contenders. Darren Ganga, a number three batsman, is also a studious
opener. Needs to add some strokes to his armoury. Likely to
be groomed as future captain too.
Brian Lara (captain, middle-order): Is the most charismatic batsman of our
times. Can be inspirational when the going is good. Bats particularly well with
captain’s cap on head. Is, however, proving to be prone to unknown diseases
in recent times. If around for another five years can surely trigger the revival
with this bunch.
Ramnaresh Sarwan (right-hand middle-order): The future of West Indies cricket. His precise footwork and attacking style gives confidence to team-members. Needs to
control his pull shots to convert those 60s and 70s into big
hundreds. Has already become the most reliable batsman
in the team.
Shivnaraine Chanderpaul (left-hand middle-order): An unorthodox to the
core leftie. Doesn’t believe in looking up the coaching manual. But soft hands,
crafty defections and crisp drives give him lot of runs. Highly dependable and
will surely stay on top for some more time.
Omari Banka (off-spinner): A rare gun in the Caribbean armoury. With an elegant, high-arm action he has proved that spin is not completely dead in the
land of pace. Took wickets and scored runs under immense pressure to show
that he’s also here to stay. Hope the selectors agree too.
Mervyn Dillon (right-arm fast medium): Has always been
seen as the successor to Walsh. His smooth high-arm action is a handful. Probably lacks deception or raw pace to
become a genuine Carib speedster. Time is running out on
him. West Indies urgently need replacements.
Pedro Collins (left-arm fast medium): Has bowled alongside genuine pacemen like Ambrose and Walsh in his early career. Lacks stamina of a fast bowler
but has enough swing to trouble right-handers. Must work on fitness or pace
to survive at the international level.
Jermaine Lawson (right-arm fast): A hat-trick in the third Test, followed by a
seven-wicket haul in the final Test made people sit up. Has breathed new life
into the dying pace factory of the Islands. Only problem might well be his action.
If that is cleared and he doesn’t get burnt out, might become the WI’s spearhead.
Marlon Samuels (middle-order): A classy right-hander whose electric start
to his Test career prompted comparisons with Viv Richards. When Samuels
first played against Australia in 2000-01, he was only 19 and had not even
played for his native Jamaica. Has fine technique, plays strokes on both sides
and can be the big one.
Ricardo Powell (middle-order): One of the best clean hitters in contemporary cricket. Punishes bowlers with brute
power. Great fielder too. A little consistency might give him
and the team a lot more depth in the middle order.
Compiled by C. Shekhar Luthra
One win can’t spark
a revival: Sarwan
By Dinesh Chopra
Ajit Ninan
How India had done it at Port-of-Spain
running in their veins did it
last week in Antigua.
“The West Indian win is
fine, even great, considering
it came against a better attack but I’d be interested in
seeing what happens when
the series is at stake or at
least there’s a chance to
equalise. I’m sure their approach would have been different then,’’ says former India wicket-keeper Syed Kirmani, who was part of that
victorious Indian team in
DOWN MEMORY LANE
1975-76. Kirmani may be
right but the West Indian effort fought its way to the top
with ease. Just the effort to
keep the likes of McGrath,
Gillespie and Lee at bay can
make one pale.
But the Carribean boys
went a step ahead, saw eye-toeye and won. “We too fought
on equal terms. May be the
media and the TV wasn’t as
active as it is today and that
took the sheen off our
achievement,” says Kirmani.
One of the chief architects
of that win, Vishvanath,
says: “Me and Sunny scored
runs at a fair rate. Their attack wasn’t that big a deal
but then playing in fourth innings is never easy and on a
slow turning track. Our job
was made easy by Jimmy
Amarnath who ground their
attack by his strong vigil.”
Gavaskar’s opening partner Anshuman Gaekwad isn’t shy to admit that the
chances of an Indian win
then were not very realistic.
“Not until Sunny and Vishy
came together. But we (the
batsmen) talked amongst
ourselves and just decided to
stick around in the middle
and spend as much time as
possible. I think that was the
trick. In the end, Brijesh
Patel played a very good hand
too.”
Patel’s 49 not out was al-
most gold plated but now and
then the buck stops at the
Gavaskar-Vishvanath stand
that raised 159 runs. Says former West Indian captain
Clive Lloyd: “We weren’t
cocky about the declaration
and knew if anyone could be
a threat it had to be either
Gavaskar or Vishvanath and
as luck would have it, they
were both in for a great day
then.” But deep down Lloyd
must be a contented West Indian seeing that the record
has been erased by his fellow
countrymen. But then, we
won’t let him forget the Indian connection in that. — DC
Schumi’s late charge gives him pole
TOI
Spielberg: Five-time world
champion Michael Schumacher cut it fine as he
claimed his third consecutive
pole in Sunday’s Austrian
Grand Prix at the A1-Ring on
Saturday.
Returning to the track
where 12 months ago he and
his Ferrari team courted controversy for using team orders Schumacher set the
pace again but only just to
beat Finn Kimi Raikkonen
by 0.039 secs. Colombian Juan
Pablo Montoya took third. AFP
A1-Ring is lucky for me
By Giancarlo Fisichella
aharashtra team won
the T.P. Khosla trophy
for the team event at the
2003 summer Nationals at
Dehradun comfortably
beating Tamil Nadu in the
finals. B. Satyanarayana
and Kiran Nadar won the
Agarwala IMP Pairs event.
Here is a deal from the
Agarwala trophy. Ajay
Khare of Maharashtra was
South. West opened 1Nt
(14-15 HCP), North overcalled 2D which’s a transfer
to Hearts, and Ajay Khare's
2H bid closed the auction.
West found the ♥J lead
which happened to be the
best defence. Ajay inserted
♥Q. East won ♥K and contin-
don’t think there are many
experiences that compare
with the rollercoaster ride of
Formula One. The different
qualifying format this year,
plus the weather during the
first three races, played a significant part in shaking-up
grid positions, but just when
you think you have found a
little luck, it can disappear as
quickly again. Therefore, not
finishing the San Marino and
Spanish Grand Prix was
tough for me and my team,
because I know everyone at
Jordan and Cosworth are putting in a tremendous effort.
This is what I will be aiming
at the Austrian GP!
I remain confident for the
next race and you can be sure
I will be going for more points
at the Austrian GP. A good
grid position is important, but
I
Brazilian Ferrari driver Rubens Barrichello sits in his car in Spielberg racetrack pits during the
second free practice session on the eve of the Austrian Formula One Grand Prix.
M
West Indies’ young middle-order batsman Ramnaresh Sarwan loves the drama in Hindi
movies. The climax of
Shahrukh Khan-starrer Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge
still fascinates him. He was
witness to some real-life drama too when Vasbert Drakes
square cut Stuart MacGill for
a world record win in the Antigua Test. “Unbelievable,” he
says, as he shares his thoughts
on the victory with TNN.
Where’d you rate this win
in the final Test?
Nothing can beat the feeling. It’s been more than 72
hours since we won the Test
but the feeling hasn’t sunk
in. I know it was a dead game
for the series but am glad we
fought on even terms. And
chasing a record total against
Australia is a once in a lifetime thing. These are the moments that pep you up when
you are low.
Can this win can work as a
catalyst for West Indies cricket?
No, not really. There are a
few things to learn from this
game but to think that the tide
will change immediately is a
long call. We have a few guys
who look solid but we need to
work together as a team. It’s
(this victory) so much an
adrenalin thing but that alone
can’t win you matches. At
least, we know that we can do
it. Omari Banks playing a crucial knock was unbelievable.
Personally, it must’ve been
satisfying scoring hundred.
No and yes. No because I
couldn’t stay till the end. And
whenever a wicket fell or
somebody played and missed
I’d be really nervous. So much
so, I didn’t see the game till we
needed about 60-70 runs to
win. It was satisfying in
terms of getting a hundred
against a well-rounded attack.
I’d credit both Shivnarine
Chanderpaul and Brian Lara
for my performance. Me and
Shiv had zeroed in on small
targets eg: chasing 25 runs, 40
runs and 80 runs at a time later. People ask me if I was intimidated. No. I’ve been in
tight spots before, specially
playing junior grade for
Guyana. That helped.
How did the altercation with
Glenn McGrath affect you?
It’s all part of the game. If I
could provoke one of the best
bowlers I must be doing fine.
The incident raised my
game. I was desperate to
prove a point and when McGrath congratulated me on
the effort I was satisfied. I
wanted to win it for my people and for Carl Hooper.
How realistic were the
chances when you went into
the fourth day’s play?
Not very high. Players
were down and dejected but
Brian Lara’s pep talk got us
going. He reminded us of the
5-0 loss to the Aussies when
we were there last and how
we should remove that scar.
As we had nothing to lose
from there, we decided to give
it a shot.
with a Spade. On the
third trump, East discarded a small Diamond indiPrakash Paranjpe
cating Diamond interest.
Ajay Khare finessed ♠
W Dealer
♠ AQ9
Q
and
cashed two
EW Vul
♥Q 9 8 7 5 2
trumps. West discarded
♦J8
a Diamond and a Spade,
♣5 4
while East discarded two
small Clubs. By this time,
♠
J
8
6
2
♠K T 5 3
the position of ♣Queen
♥ K4
♥A J T
was a foregone conclu♦ QT72
♦A 4 3
sion. (Had East held on
♣ 976
♣Q T 8
to his Clubs, the Declarer
♠ 74
would have had to judge
the situation). Ajay
♥ 63
cashed the AK of Clubs,
♦K965
ruffed the 3rd Club and
♣A K J 3 2
dropped the ♣Queen.
www.demicoma.com
ued with Hearts. West cashed
[email protected]
his trump winners and exited
BRIDGE
in Austria it could be a tradeoff against good strategy. It is
a shame that the A1-Ring is going to be dropped from calendar as I had some good results
there. The past few weeks
have been quite eventful in
my racing career. I collected
my first GP winners trophy
in Brazil. (Copyright Atlas F1/ Gameplan)
ormer World Under 10
Black has sacrificed a full
Champion Deep
Rook for an attack against
White king. In fact, Black can
Sengupta of Tata Chess
Pravin Thipsay
Centre, Jamshedpur, added
force a mate in just three
one more feather to his cap
moves. Deep overlooked
Deep sengupta
by making an international
this contin-uation but went
8
Master norm in the
on to win the game
7
Commonwealth Chess
brilliantly. Can you find out
Championships held at
the mate he missed?
6
Mumbai. The championship
POSITION:
5
sponsored by Union Bank of
White: Kh3; Qc1; Rb1;
4
India attracted participants
Bh8; P-a4, c2, c3, d4, e5
3
from as many as 15 countries
Black: Kb7; Qe2, Nf5; Pand thus provided excellent
2
a7, b6, c4, d5, e6, g3
opportunities for setting up
1
PROBLEM: Black to
norms for Indian youngsters.
play and mate in three
f g h
a b c d e
Thirteen-year-old Deep
Rahul shetty
moves.
scored a fine victory in the
SOLUTION: Black can
10th round over International Master Rahul
checkmate the opponent with 1...Qh2+! 2.Kg4
Shetty of Indian Airlines to achieve his maiden
Qh4+ 3.Kf3 Qe4#
IM norm. Here is a position from this game.
F
CHESS
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CMYK
œ ND ‰ ‰ † ‹ CMK
S P O R T
Clean sweep
by Argentina
Agustine Calleri
SUNDAY TIMES OF INDIA New Delhi, May 18, 2003
India run into defending champs in opener IAAF vouches for Lewis
New Delhi: India will begin their
campaign in the 25th edition of the
Champions Trophy hockey tournament with a match against defending
champions Holland on August 16 at
Amsterdam.
India, who are yet to win the prestigious title in their nine appearances
in the game’s premier event so far, finished fourth in the last edition at
Cologne in Germany.
Though the Indians have never
qualified for the Champions Trophy
final, they can take heart from the
fact that their best showing came in
1982 at Amsterdam, the venue of this
year’s edition, when they finished
C H A M P I O N S T RO P H Y
third, ahead of Pakistan, Germany
and erstwhile USSR.
The premier six-nation event,
which will conclude on August 24,
also features Australia, Argentina,
Germany, and Pakistan.
India will play arch-rivals Pakistan
on August 23, while their matches
against last year’s runners-up Germany, Australia and Argentina will
be held on August 17, 19 and 20 respectively. In the last edition at
Cologne, India won two of their five
league matches — against Australia
and Pakistan, held Holland 3-3 and
lost to Germany and South Korea.
In the play-off match, India lost to
Pakistan 3-4 to finish at the fourth
place. PTI
Madrid: World track and
field’s anti-doping chief determined in 1988 that drug
samples provided by eight
American athletes at the
Olympic trials that year
should not be treated as positives, according to IAAF
records.
Arne Ljungqvist, head of
the sport’s anti-doping commission, found that the US
Olympic Committee “had
wrongly announced that
eight athletes had been found
Gaston Gaudio
Guillermo Coria
David Nalbandian
Hamburg (Germany): Four
Argentines swept into the
semifinals of the Hamburg
Masters on Friday to make
tennis history.
Never before had four players from Argentina ever
reached the semifinals at one
tournament. It was also the
first time four countrymen
will play the semifinals of a
Masters Series, the nine tournaments that rank just below
the Grand Slams.
David Nalbandian led the
Argentines charge when he
rallied from a 1-4 deficit in the
third set to beat Fernando
Gonzalez 5-7 6-3 6-4.
Guillermo Coria was the
second to play and needed
less than hour to sweep past
Mark Philippoussis 6-2 6-0.
Then came Agustin Calleri,
who beat Wayne Ferreira 7-5
6-2, and Gaston Gaudio completed the sweep by knocking
off Olivier Rochus of Bel-
gium, 6-1 6-1.
The last Argentine to win
in Hamburg was Guillermo
Vilas in 1978.
The eighth-seeded Nalbandian is the highest-ranked
player left in the field.
Gonzalez, the 15th-seeded
Chilean, upset top-ranked
Lleyton Hewitt a day earlier.
He seemed headed for another upset with is powerful
ground strokes well into the
third set. But Nalbandian
started playing better and
won the last five games, hitting a crosscourt forehand
winner on his first match
point.Nalbandian became the
first Argentine to reach the
Wimbledon final, where he
lost to Hewitt last year. He
was also a quarterfinalist at
the Australian Open earlier
this year.
The Hamburg is a major
warmup for the French Open,
which starts May 26. Agencies
Tiger wilts in Germany
Alveslohe: Tiger Woods’ fading hopes of winning continental Europe’s top tournament for the third straight
year all but vanished when he
failed to mount a charge in
Saturday’s third round. The
World No 1 started the day
four-under-par
in
The
Deutsche Bank-SAP Open,
nine strokes adrift of pacesetter Padraig Harrington of
Ireland and was badly in need
of a Tiger-like assault on the
Gut Kaden course
But after birdies at the
fourth and the sixth set abuzz
the huge crowds following
him, a morale-sapping bogeyfive at the seventh. Woods
reached the turn in 35 and de-
spite another birdie at the
10th, he stood at just six-under through 14 holes, still well
short of the leaders who were
just starting their third
rounds.
With conditions near perfect for low-scoring, Woods
looked resigned to playing a
supporting role in one of only
two tournaments he will play
in the buildup to the defence
of his US Open title at
Olympic Fields, Chicago next
month, the one Major he still
owns.
Best early round of the day
came from Englishman Anthony Wall who blitzed eight
birdies on the way to a tournament-best 64. AP
SPORTING WORLD AT A GLANCE
AP
Former Argentina star Gabriela Sabatini with Germany's
former star Boris Becker during an exhibition match
against Michael Stich and entertainer Otto Waalkes at
theHamburg Masters on Friday.
FOOTBALL
Copa Libertadores Second phase:
Paysandu 2 Boca Juniors 4 (Agg 3-4).
French Ligue 2: Nancy 0 Beauvais 2,
Amiens 1 Metz 0, Caen 2 Creteil 2,
Chateauroux 2 Wasquehal 2, Clermont
Foot 1 St Etienne 0, Grenoble 0 Le Mans
0, Gueugnon 1 Istres 1, Laval 2 Niort 1,
Reims 0 Toulouse 1, Valenc 1 Lorient 1
FORMULA ONE
Austrian Grand Prix, Spielberg
Times and positions after second
qualifying: 1. Rubens Barrichello (Ferrari), 01:09.241 hrs. 2. Juan Pablo Montoya (Williams), 1:09.301. 3. Michael
Schumacher (Ferrari), 1:09.331. 4. Ralf
Schumacher (Williams), 1:09.418. 5.
Jarno Trulli (Renault), 1:09.704. 6.
Jacques Villeneuve (BAR), 1:09.708. 7.
Kimi Raikkonen (McLaren), 1:09.870. 8.
19
Mark Webber (Jaguar), 1:09.891. 9. Fernando Alonso (Renault), 1:09.923. 10.
Giancarlo Fisichella (Jordan), 1:10.018.
TENNIS
WTA Tour Italia Masters, Rome, Italy
Quarter-finals: (4) Amelie Mauresmo
(Fra) bt (5) Jennifer Capriati (USA) 6-3 76 (12-10), (1) Serena Williams (USA) bt
Conchita Martinez (Spa) 7-5 6-2, (13) Ai
Sugiyama (Jpn) bt Tina Pisnik (Slo) 6-1
6-3, (2) Kim Clijsters (Bel) bt (8) A.
Myskina (Rus) 6-2 6-2
ATP Tennis Masters Series, Hamburg,
Germany Quarter-finals: (8) David Nalbandian (Arg) bt (15) Fernando Gonzalez
(Chi) 5-7 6-3 6-4, (12) Guillermo Coria
(Arg) bt Mark Philippoussis (Aus) 6-2 60, Agustin Calleri (Arg) bt Wayne Ferreira
(Rsa) 7-5 6-2, Gaston Gaudio (Arg) bt
Olivier Rochus (Bel) 6-1 6-1.
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CMYK
positive,” according to minutes of the IAAF Council
meeting in Seoul, South Korea, on Sept. 18-19, 1988.
The document supports
the IAAF’s statement last
month that the USOC was
right in clearing Carl Lewis
and other athletes of doping
violations. According to documents released the USOC’s
former director for drug control, US athletes tested positive for drugs more than 100
times from 1988-2000. AP
œ ND ‰ ‰ † ‰ CMK
20
S P O R T
SUNDAY TIMES OF INDIA New Delhi, May 18, 2003
No more torture: The IOC has vowed to rebuild the Iraq Na-
GRAFFITI
AFP
tional Olympic Committee. But the IOC executive board, meeting
in Madrid this weekend, assured that those members involved in
the torture of athletes, will not be involved. AFP
Kimi Raikkonen steers his car on the Spielberg racetrack on Saturday during the
second free practice session on the eve of the Austrian Formula One Grand Prix.
play Vladikavkaz on Sunday.
of orange and chocolate) reFor the English palate:
The device containing 1.5kg
quested.
Baked beans will be waiting
of TNT explosive was disfor England’s soccer players
Roofed-up final: Saturcovered in the upper part of
when they visit South Africa
day’s FA Cup final between
the north stand at the stadinext week, but their hotel
Arsenal and Southampton
um in the south Russian city
cannot provide the breakfast
was the first played underof Vladikavkaz, capital of the
cereal and cakes they asked
cover after the Football AsCaucasus republic of northfor, the Johannesburg-based
sociation decided to pull the
ern Ossetia. The bomb was
Saturday Star reported. The
roof over the Millennium Sta- defused and an immediate
team, who will play a friendly
dium in Cardiff because of
inquiry was launched.
against South Africa’s
bad weather. After a night of
Bafana Bafana in Durban on
heavy rain and more falling in
Thursday, will be staying at
On a shaky chair: The
the hours before the match,
the Beverley Hills hotel at
the FA decided a closed roof pressure on Aston Villa’s ocUmhlanga. A spokesman for
togenarian chairman Doug
was the best way to protect
the hotel told the newspaper
Ellis intensified on Saturday
the pitch. Fans started gaththat the English Football Aswith a call for him to step
ering outside the stadium
sociation had asked that only
down coming from a former
from 7 am and some touts
fish familiar to English
team captain. Dennis Morwere offering tickets for
palates be served. The hotel
timer, who led Villa to Euroabout 1,000 pounds.
is stocking up on baked
pean Cup glory, is upset at
beans and tomato sauce for
Bomb at stadium: Army
the cirmustances surroundthe footballers, the newspaofficers with sniffer dogs
ing the departure this week
per said, but was not able to found a bomb at a football
of manager Graham Taylor,
provide the mini-Weetabix
stadium on Saturday where
and says under no circum(cereal) and Jaffa cakes
Russian first division leaders stances should Ellis select
(sponge biscuits with layers
CSKA Moscow are due to
Taylor’s successor.
Name and Fame
ready for glory
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
New Delhi: Name And Fame
is in fine shape and should
annex the Jayachamaraja
Wadiyar Cup (gr III), the
main event of the Bangalore
races scheduled for Sunday.
Selections: Mount Everest Plate
(div.II): 1,400m: 2.00pm: Acquaintance 1,
Demanding 2, Astor 3. Aureole Plate:
1,100m: 2.30pm: Surprise Gift 1, Accolade
2, Zimmermann 3. Malenahalli Plate:
1,400m: 3.00pm: Zhanna 1, Nice And Noble 2, Hoorpari 3. Heir Apparent Salver:
1,200m: 3.30pm: Samyuktaa 1, Baracudda 2, Calescent 3. Jayachamaraja Wadiyar Cup (Gr III): 1,400m: 4.00pm: Name
And Fame 1, Brunswick 2, Taipan 3. R Khodayar Memorial Plate (div.I): 1,200m:
4.30pm: Fly For Fame 1, Red Mamma 2,
Private Emotions 3. Mount Everest Plate
(div.I): 1,400m: 5.00pm: Smart Supreme
1, Rubik 2, Actuary 3. Kinigal Stud Plate:
1,200m: 5.30pm: Southern Goddess 1,
Hero Worship 2, La Reine 3. R Khodayar
Plate (div.II): 1,200m: 6.00pm: So
Supreme 1, Baira 2, Red Zeppelin 3.
SUND180503/CR1/20/M/1
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CMYK
œ ND ‰ ‰ † CMK
S P O R T
Clean sweep by Argentina
Hamburg (Germany): Four Argentines swept into the semifinals of the
Hamburg Masters on Friday to make
tennis history.
Never before had four players from
Argentina ever reached the semifinals
at one tournament. It was also the
first time four countrymen will play
the semifinals of a Masters Series, the
nine tournaments that rank just below the Grand Slams.
David Nalbandian led the Argentines charge when he rallied from a 14 deficit in the third set to beat Fernando Gonzalez 5-7 6-3 6-4.
Guillermo Coria was the second to
play and needed less than hour to
sweep past Mark Philippoussis 6-2 6-0.
Then came Agustin Calleri, who beat
Wayne Ferreira 7-5 6-2, and Gaston
Gaudio completed the sweep by
knocking off Olivier Rochus of Belgium, 6-1 6-1.
The last Argentine to win in Hamburg was Guillermo Vilas in 1978.
The eighth-seeded Nalbandian is
the highest-ranked player left in the
field.
Gonzalez, the 15th-seeded Chilean,
upset top-ranked Lleyton Hewitt a day
earlier. He seemed headed for another
upset with is powerful ground strokes
well into the third set.
But Nalbandian started playing better and won the last five games, hitting a crosscourt forehand winner on
his first match point.
Nalbandian became the first Argentine to reach the Wimbledon final,
where he lost to Hewitt last year. He
was also a quarterfinalist at the Australian Open earlier this year.
“I played a very good match, but it
was very difficult to come back from
1-4 down in the third set. I had to give
everything. The difference was nothing, one or two points,” Nalbandian
said.
The US$2.4 million Hamburg claycourt event is a major warmup for the
French Open, which starts May 26.
But none of the top stars reached
the last eight in Hamburg. Defending
champion Roger Federer and threetime French Open winner Gustavo
Kuerten also lost on Thursday.
Philippoussis was unable to match
his performance in ousting Federer
and looked frustrated by Coria’s accurate passing shots from the baseline.
“I was just mentally drained,”
Philippoussis said.
MAY THE BEST MAN WIN
AFP
AFP
David Nalbandian
Gaston Gaudio
AFP
AFP
Agustin Calleri
The big-serving Australian stuck
with his serve-and- volley game, making Coria’s job even easier.
“It went faster that I thought,” said
Coria, who was named after Vilas.
“He served and volleyed and I could
dictate the match from the baseline.
“I played an incredible match. I am
getting better with every match and I
hope to be 10 out of 10 in Paris,” he
said.
Ferreira, a 31-year-old veteran on
the tour, upset Kuerten in the third
round. But he ran out of gas against
the steady Calleri, who broke Ferreira’s serve when the South African
served for the first set. Ferreira never
recovered.
Former Argentina star Gabriela
Sabatini celebrated her 33rd birthday
by watching her compatriots in action. She also entertained the crowd
earlier by taking part in a doubles
match involving Boris Becker,
Michael Stich and a German comic.
No sweat for Serena and Clijsters: World number one and defending champion Serena Williams
cruised into the semifinals of the clay
court Rome Masters after beating un-
Guillermo Coria
seeded veteran Conchita Martinez.
A comfortable 7-5, 6-2 victory over
the 31-year-old former Wimbledon
champion on Friday took Williams
into the last four where she will
meet French fourth seed Amelie
Mauresmo.
Belgian second seed Kim Clijsters
will meet Japanese 13th seed and
doubles partner Ai Sugiyama in other semifinal at the Foro Italico.
Clijsters defeated Russian eighth
seed Anastasia Myskin a 6-2, 6-2,
while Sugiyama ousted unseeded
Slovenian Tina Pisnik 6-1, 6-3.
Williams said she was impressed
with the form of Mauresmo, who
stands between her and a place in a
second consecutive Rome final.
“Amelie is definitely here to win
and hopefully I’ll get in her way,” said
the 21-year-old American, winner of
22 WTA Tour titles.
Mauresmo defeated American fifth
seed Jennifer Capriati 6-3, 7-6 (12/10)
to clinch her place in the semis.
Sugiyama became the first Japanese player ever to reach the last four
after brushing aside Pisnik. Agencies
India meet Holland
in Champions
Trophy opener
New Delhi: India will begin their
campaign in the 25th edition of
the Champions Trophy hockey
tournament with a match against
defending champions Holland on
August 16 at Amsterdam.
India, who are yet to win the
prestigious title in their nine appearances in the game’s premier
event so far, finished fourth in the
last edition at Cologne in Germany.
Though the Indians have never
qualified for the Champions Trophy final, they can take heart from
the fact that their best showing
came in 1982 at Amsterdam, the
venue of this year’s edition, when
they finished third, ahead of Pakistan, Germany and erstwhile
USSR.
The premier six-nation event,
which will conclude on August 24,
also features Australia, Argentina, Germany, and Pakistan.
India will play arch-rivals Pakistan on August 23, while their
matches against last year’s runners-up Germany, Australia and
Argentina will be held on August
17, 19 and 20 respectively.
In the last edition at Cologne, India won two of their five league
matches — against Australia and
Pakistan, held Holland 3-3 and lost
to Germany and South Korea.
In the play-off match, India lost
to Pakistan 3-4 to finish at the
fourth place. PTI
SUNDAY TIMES OF INDIA New Delhi, May 18, 2003
IAAF records back USOC on Lewis case
Madrid: World track and field’s anti-doping
chief determined in 1988 that drug samples
provided by eight American athletes at the
Olympic trials that year should not be treated as positives, according to IAAF records.
Arne Ljungqvist, head of the sport’s antidoping commission, found that the US
Olympic Committee “had wrongly announced that eight athletes had been found
positive,” according to minutes of the IAAF
Council meeting in Seoul,
South Korea, on Sept. 18-19,
1988.
The document supports the
International Association of
Athletic Federation’s statement last month
that the USOC was right in clearing Carl
Lewis and other athletes of doping violations.
According to documents released to media
outlets by Dr Wade Exum, the USOC’s former
director for drug control, US athletes tested
positive for drugs more than 100 times from
1988-2000. Only a handful were barred from
competing; 19 went on to win medals. AP
Woods wilts in Germany
Alveslohe: Tiger Woods’ fading
hopes of winning
continental Europe’s
top tournament for
the third straight
year all but vanished
when he failed to
mount a charge in
Saturday’s
third
round. The World No 1 started the
day four-under-par in The Deutsche
Bank-SAP Open, nine strokes adrift
of pace-setter Padraig Harrington of
Ireland and was badly in need of a
Tiger-like assault on the Gut Kaden
course north of Hamburg.
But after birdies at the fourth and
the sixth set abuzz the huge crowds
following him, a morale-sapping bogey-five at the seventh took the wind
out of his sails.
Woods reached the turn in 35 and
despite another birdie at the 10th, he
stood at just six-under through 14
holes, still well short of the leaders
who were just starting their third
rounds.
With conditions near perfect for
DEUTSCHE OPEN
low-scoring, Woods looked resigned
to playing a supporting role in one of
only two tournaments he will play in
the buildup to the defence of his US
Open title at Olympic Fields, Chicago next month, the one Major he still
owns.
Best early round of the day came
from Englishman Anthony Wall
who did what Woods was supposed
to do by blitzing eight birdies on the
way to a tournament-best 64. That
left him at 11-under for the tournament. Harrington, playing in the
same group as Woods in the first two
rounds Thursday and Friday, shot 65
and 66 to lead by three at the halfway
stage on 13-under from South
Africa’s Retief Goosen.
Four players were grouped a
stroke further back on nine under Peter O’Malley of Australia, Robert
Karlsson of Sweden, Graeme McDowell of Northern Ireland and Andrew Coltart of Scotland.AP
SPORTING WORLD AT A GLANCE
AP
Former Argentina star Gabriela Sabatini with Germany's former star Boris Becker during an exhibition match against Michael Stich and entertainer
Otto Waalkes at theHamburg Masters on Friday.
FOOTBALL
Copa Libertadores Second
phase: Paysandu 2 Boca Juniors 4
(Agg 3-4).
French Ligue 2: Nancy 0 Beauvais
2, Amiens 1 Metz 0, Caen 2 Creteil
2, Chateauroux 2 Wasquehal 2,
Clermont Foot 1 St Etienne 0,
Grenoble 0 Le Mans 0, Gueugnon 1
Istres 1, Laval 2 Niort 1, Reims 0
Toulouse 1, Valence 1 Lorient 1
FORMULA ONE
Austrian Grand Prix, Spielberg
Times and positions after second
qualifying: 1. Rubens Barrichello
(Ferrari), 01:09.241 hrs. 2. Juan
Pablo
Montoya
(Williams),
1:09.301. 3. Michael Schumacher
(Ferrari), 1:09.331. 4. Ralf Schumacher (Williams), 1:09.418. 5.
Jarno Trulli (Renault), 1:09.704. 6.
Jacques
Villeneuve
(BAR),
1:09.708. 7. Kimi Raikkonen
(McLaren), 1:09.870. 8. Mark Webber (Jaguar), 1:09.891. 9. Fernando
Alonso (Renault), 1:09.923. 10. Giancarlo
Fisichella
(Jordan),
1:10.018.
GOLF
Collated second round scores
and totals at the EDS Byron Nelson Championship at TPC at Four
Seasons Resort, Las Colinas, Irving, Texas (USA unless stated,
21
par 70):130 Vijay Singh (Fij) 65 65
131 Tim Petrovic 65 66 132 Jeff
Sluman 63 69, Kevin Sutherland 64
68, Scott Verplank 69 63, Robert
Gamez 66 66 134 Luke Donald
(Gbr) 69 65, Briny Baird 65 69,
Cameron Beckman 66 68, Robert
Allenby (Aus) 67 67, Brad Faxon 67
67, Jim Furyk 64 70, J.P. Hayes 66
68, Lee Janzen 68 66, Jerry Kelly
65 69 135 Peter Lonard (Aus) 68
67, Hidemichi Tanaka (Jpn) 66 69,
Robert Damron 69 66, Chris DiMarco 70 65, Dudley Hart 68 67, PerUlrik Johansson (Swe) 66 69, Mark
Walker 65 70
TENNIS
WTA Tour Italia Masters, Rome,
Italy Quarter-finals: (4) Amelie
Mauresmo (Fra) bt (5) Jennifer
Capriati (USA) 6-3 7-6 (12-10), (1)
Serena Williams (USA) bt Conchita
Martinez (Spa) 7-5 6-2, (13) Ai
Sugiyama (Jpn) bt Tina Pisnik (Slo)
6-1 6-3, (2) Kim Clijsters (Bel) bt (8)
A. Myskina (Rus) 6-2 6-2
ATP Tennis Masters Series, Hamburg, Germany Quarter-finals: (8)
David Nalbandian (Arg) bt (15) Fernando Gonzalez (Chi) 5-7 6-3 6-4,
(12) Guillermo Coria (Arg) bt Mark
Philippoussis (Aus) 6-2 6-0, Agustin
Calleri (Arg) bt Wayne Ferreira (Rsa)
7-5 6-2, Gaston Gaudio (Arg) bt
Olivier Rochus (Bel) 6-1 6-1.
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S P O R T
SUNDAY TIMES OF INDIA New Delhi, May 18, 2003
No more torture: The IOC has vowed to rebuild the Iraq Na-
GRAFFITI
AFP
tional Olympic Committee. But the IOC executive board, meeting
in Madrid this weekend, assured that those members involved in
the torture of athletes, will not be involved. AFP
Kimi Raikkonen steers his car on the Spielberg racetrack on Saturday during the
second free practice session on the eve of the Austrian Formula One Grand Prix.
play Vladikavkaz on Sunday.
of orange and chocolate) reFor the English palate:
The device containing 1.5kg
quested.
Baked beans will be waiting
of TNT explosive was disfor England’s soccer players
Roofed-up final: Saturcovered in the upper part of
when they visit South Africa
day’s FA Cup final between
the north stand at the stadinext week, but their hotel
Arsenal and Southampton
um in the south Russian city
cannot provide the breakfast
was the first played underof Vladikavkaz, capital of the
cereal and cakes they asked
cover after the Football AsCaucasus republic of northfor, the Johannesburg-based
sociation decided to pull the
ern Ossetia. The bomb was
Saturday Star reported. The
roof over the Millennium Sta- defused and an immediate
team, who will play a friendly
dium in Cardiff because of
inquiry was launched.
against South Africa’s
bad weather. After a night of
Bafana Bafana in Durban on
heavy rain and more falling in
Thursday, will be staying at
On a shaky chair: The
the hours before the match,
the Beverley Hills hotel at
the FA decided a closed roof pressure on Aston Villa’s ocUmhlanga. A spokesman for
togenarian chairman Doug
was the best way to protect
the hotel told the newspaper
Ellis intensified on Saturday
the pitch. Fans started gaththat the English Football Aswith a call for him to step
ering outside the stadium
sociation had asked that only
down coming from a former
from 7 am and some touts
fish familiar to English
team captain. Dennis Morwere offering tickets for
palates be served. The hotel
timer, who led Villa to Euroabout 1,000 pounds.
is stocking up on baked
pean Cup glory, is upset at
beans and tomato sauce for
Bomb at stadium: Army
the cirmustances surroundthe footballers, the newspaofficers with sniffer dogs
ing the departure this week
per said, but was not able to found a bomb at a football
of manager Graham Taylor,
provide the mini-Weetabix
stadium on Saturday where
and says under no circum(cereal) and Jaffa cakes
Russian first division leaders stances should Ellis select
(sponge biscuits with layers
CSKA Moscow are due to
Taylor’s successor.
‘Use golf to
prop tourism’
Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed on Saturday
said golf could be used as an
instrument for promotion of
tourism in the trouble-torn
state which has been showing significant improvement
in the ground situation.
“I have asked the state
tourism ministry to evolve a
three-day golf-cum-holiday
package for people from corporate sector of
other
states,” Sayeed said at the
concluding ceremony of the
Ambassadors’ Golf
Cup
Kashmir-2003.
Under the new package,
Sayeed said, tourists can fly
to Srinagar on Friday morning, have four sessions of golf
up to Sunday afternoon and
then fly back. PTI
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