News from all over the World and from all walks of life continues to hold our attention. Some sad, some that gives us a reason to smile or to be amused. But certainly most which can be ignored.
My heart goes out to the small boy who was the lone survivor in the plane crash at Libya yesterday. As we speak, he is barely conscious, and has just about managed to state the name of the Country he came from - Holland. There were about 60 Dutch passengers on that flight, along with this boy. In all probability he was with his parents who perished in the accident. No relatives from back home have made a contact yet. Has he even been able to grasp the full magnitude of this event - I wonder.
Dhoni's press conference remarks have got all kinds of people reacting. He admitted that players have been concentrating on too much cricket and as if that wasn't enough, there was a lot of partying....When I say 'admitted' I mean I suspected all along that this was a root cause of all the problems with the Indian team.. Senior retired players did not take his remarks very 'sportingly' stating that these wee excuses. And there are mixed opinions about the fact that players always have the choice of refusing to attend parties hosted by the Franchises that run into late nights and take a toll on their physical fitness.
Whatever be the case, the team and the management has a lot of thinking to do - about how to 'turn around' Meanwhile there is a reason to cheer that has to do with cricket. And that is the performance of our women's team. They have done well - even coming up thus far, and who know - they may spring a pleasant surprise.
A word also about the 1971 War records having been completely destroyed and not available anymore. Amongst many other mysterious happenings associated with that war which Indians will now never get to know, there is this mystery about the sinking of the Pakistani submarine 'Ghazi'. The Indian Navy had boasted about having destroyed it on the morning of 4th December, just a few hours after the war started on Dec 3 , 1971. The fact was that the submarine was destroyed by accident while laying mines. The Indian Navy had in fact nothing to do with its sinking
Lt. Gen. Jacob who was the Chief of Staff of the Indian Army's Eastern Command, and the main Officer who played a pivotal role in the execution of the war plans that led to the decisive victory in the Eastern theatre of the war, later went on to write a book "Surrender at Dacca' which was his won account of the war. He mentions in his book that on December 1, the remains of the 'Ghazi' were found floating on the waters of India' s eastern maritime border near Vishakhapatnam. Both the Army and the Navy got to know about it, and exchanged notes on December 1, 1971 to confirm the news. Apparently, the submarine had been destroyed by a mine explosion, its own doing. On December 3, 1971 Vice Admiral Krishnan called up Genl Jacob to ask whether the Army had reported the sinking of the 'Ghazi'. When Genl Jacob replied in the negative, a much relieved Admn. Krishnan requested the General to forget the incident.
The next morning, the official news released to the World through the Navy's press release was that the Indian Navy had attacked and sunk the Pakistani submarine.
So what's the truth? We will never get to know now. There records don't exist anymore. And while Lt. Genl. Jacob is around, I doubt whether he will spill the beans...
And finally, Big B and his family have been counted in the new Census. Obviously as residents of Mumbai. Wonder what Mr. Bal Thackeray and his nephew Raj Thackeray have to say. Do the Bachchans have their 'permission' to be called citizens of Mumbai?
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