Blah from Ed and Eddy: Hey guys, With cricket fever grappling the nation, it only made sense to base the theme of this issue on cricket. Cricket is a sport that is synonymous with most Indians. Cricket above all, is the mentality of most! Kids bunk school, grown ups take a leave of absence while the others stay off the roads! Such is the crazy mania that’s widespread in our nation. This issue of Zing addresses a few aspects of the sport. Beyond that, Saurav Ganguly is this month’s guest on Kofffee with KKKK-Karan Zohar and RCJC’s lil birdie envisions the club on the cricket pitch! Flip the pages. A guaranteed fun read ahead! Happy Reading! Rtr.Wayne D’Cruz and Rtr. Nilofer Rehman, Editors-in-chief.
Koffee with KKKK-Karan Zohar
KZo: The cricket fever has gripped the whole nation and we at Koffee... have no intentions of being left behind! With MSD and Co. bringing the cup home after 28 long years, everybody live, breathe and bleed blue! So keeping the cricket main alive, please welcome the Big Daddy of Cricket, Saurav Gangulyyy! Dada: Thank you so much for having me! It’s my pleasure! KZo: Alright. Without any further ado, let’s begin with our infamous rapid fire round. So get ready to switch on the best in you <Dada takes a sip of his Nescafe> KZo: My first question. Why does everybody call you Dada?! D: Well KJo, Lemme tell you the difference between God and Ganguly. It’s simple. God doesn’t think he’s Ganguly. And hey, I am the Big Daddy/Dada of cricket. <\m/> <KZo tries hard in vain to stifle a giggle> KZo: Why do you keep getting out so early? Dada: I’m the new Brand ambassador of Maggie TWO minute noodles. And hey! The pavilion has ACs! <winks. Kjo arches eyebrow; <whatever.> KZo: How did SRK select you then, as the captain for KKR last time? Dada: <laughs> Well let’s just say that cricket too has it’s “couch”, Karan <\m/ > \KZo: Yes, yes of course... well I must say that was quite something. A few shocking revelations and well some unexpected answers! Well dada need I say more? Here is your cricket special Blue Koffee hamper! Congratulations! <Applause> <Dada leaps off the couch. Takes his shirt off. Yes, that had to happen.> Dada: Oh my God, Karan! Thank you so so much! It’s been quite a while since I’ve won anything! This is by far the most proud moment of my life! <Gets teary eyed and chokes.> <KZo is exasperated.>
Miss Goody Two Shoes, Rtr. Devyani Shah talks about the game that drives the nation crazy!
It’s just a game! ‘Cricket is a religion and Sachin is God’ is an adage often heard from the mouths of many Indians old and young alike. But is cricket really a religion? How can a sport with so many short comings and scandals reach the hallowed status of a religion? Agreed, just like a religion, its followers are many but what qualities does cricket have that qualify it to be religion? A religion is a way of life for people, it is the sacred rules by which people live their lives and differentiate between right and wrong. But cricket? It can hardly be called a way of life, unless you call match fixing, betting, sledging and many similar evils a way of life! Cricket as a sport is very exciting and entertaining, and no one can debate with that, but it stops at that, people have to realize that cricket is played by eleven fools and watched by eleven million fools. It is played as well as followed by us mere mortals with no divine power in it. The recent scandals and scams that have rocked the cricketing world are proof enough that cricket is like any other sport whose main motive is to entertain and earn big bucks for the player and little else. The shocking match fixing and betting scandal that was unearthed recently disappointed millions of fans it made them reconsider their loyalty towards the game and the players. How can a player who can throw away the honour of his country and his personal integrity for a paltry sum of money be God? The match fixing has only shown the world the human and the greedy side of cricket. Life follows an eternal cycle; every tide is balance by a crest, what goes up has to come down one day. Confirming this fundamental principle, the seemingly invincible Australian cricket team has lost its crown, only to declare Team India as supreme, but for how long the boys in blue will maintain their place is something only time can tell. It is not possible to win every match, you win some, and you lose some! The world cup taking place in India was something every Indian was happy and proud about, but thanks to our poor infrastructure and planning, a stampede ensued for the tickets of virtually every match India played. The police intervention and the crowd hitting back made for some rather ugly and sad pictures! Plagued by so many ills, how can cricket be a religion? It has its flaws and problems just like any other sport. And it is just a game, meant to be watched, played and loved even, but not to be idolized and given the status of God.
The Slick Maverick, Rtr. Siddhi Desai speaks her mind on IPL
IPL: Cricket, seriously? Girls. Glamour. Money. Celebrities. Betting and scandals. Sounds more like rock n roll or even the mafia then a cricket tournament, no? Well it is a known fact that cricket is the fourth most watched and followed sport but seriously, does everything need to turned into a money making machine? Seriously, they couldn't even spare the gentleman's sport! Now if you haven't gotten the crux of the thing I'm criticizing then well I'm talking about the grand Indian Premier League, better known as the IPL. Just some time ago I used to remember cricket as a sport which was practically tactical and it was all about the pitch, kind of shots, calibre of players and all these quintessential things which make the soul of cricket. But now it seems any Tom, Dick or Harry who can just somehow manage to get the ball beyond the boundary is considered fit for cricket! There was a reason why cricket didn't last as long, or rather as short as football. And seriously, cricket is not a skirt for God's sake; you just can't keep on reducing its size! When was cricket all about the money? When was it okay to sell players like antique furniture at auctions? There was, even if you deny it, a certain patriotic aspect to cricket to, be it national or even regional. Now I hardly think one can be patriotic to a beer company or a bimbo! Well there certainly is, by the way, a mystery even the greatest minds won't be able to solve. How the heck do celebrities get themselves into everything?! They're like those omnipotent bacteria that just need to pollute and multiply in clean surroundings. Well it's not all bad, even I admit it; regional players are getting a platform to present themselves, the country has been known more due to this, be it good and/or bad reason and all that jazz. But to me, it doesn't strike a balance. IPL is like a zombie version of cricket that does not having a functioning soul or brain and that instead of eating humans, eats money and the soul of cricket. Well like or dislike my thoughts about this tournament and its franchises, but you can't ignore them. This tournament takes the right thing and uses it for the wrong reasons and is produced through the people, who if given in a simile-like form, are infants trying to toilet train other infants! I don't mean to be a purist, but there are some boundaries. There is a limit to the sequels of a movie, no matter how promising the story line is; same goes for cricket. It may be entertaining, but my friends, it's not cricket!
Sachin Tendulkar: The Living Legend Rtr. Bhargav Pajwani, Sports Administrator
A boy born on the 24 April 1973, to a middle class Marathi family; he had a dream. He fell in love with something; something that went on to become the most important thing in his life. He fell in love with a sport call CRICKET. Ever since, the man has served his country and continues to do so. Occupying a place in the hearts of his billion fans, the man is none other than Sachin Tendulkar. Sachin Tendulakar, is a name that sends a chill down the spines of the best bowlers in the world. He is the leading run-scorer and century maker in Test and one-day international cricket. He is the only male player to score a double century in the history of ODI cricket. In 2002, just 12 years into his career, Wisden ranked him the second greatest Test batsman of all time, behind Donald Bradman, and the second greatest one-day-international (ODI) batsman of all time, behind Sir Vivian Richards. In September 2007, the Australian leg spinner Shane Warne rated Tendulkar as the greatest player he has played with or against. Tendulkar was also an integral part of the 2011 Cricket World Cup winning team, at the fag end of his career, his first such win in six World Cup appearances. He is an idol to 75% of the Indian young guns who play cricket in the nation. When he bats the entire nation just chant one name, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Sachin.â&#x20AC;? The crowd cheers the master with every stroke of his. The noise emanating, when the master hits a shot is the sweetest music to the nation. Girls drool over him. Guys want to be like him. While at school, he developed a reputation as a child prodigy. He had become a common conversation point in Mumbai circles, where there were people who suggested, that he would become one of the greats. His season in 1988 was extraordinary, with Tendulkar scoring a century in every innings he played. He was involved in an unbroken 664-run partnership in a Lord Harris Shield interschool game in 1988 with friend and team mate Vinod Kambli, who would also go on to represent India. At 14, Tendulkar was a ball boy for the India versus Zimbabwe game at the Wankhede Stadium during the 1987 World Cup. When he was 14, Indian batting legend Sunil Gavaskar gave him a pair of his own ultra light pads. "It was the greatest source of encouragement for me," he said nearly 20 years later after surpassing Gavaskar's world record of 34 Test centuries Tendulkar sponsors 200 underprivileged children every year through Apnalaya, a Mumbai-based NGO associated with his mother-in-law, Annabel Mehta. A request from Sachin on Twitter raised 10.25 million through Sachin's crusade against cancer for the Crusade against Cancer foundation. Today when I write about Mr. Sachin Tendulkar, I feel privileged. He was and still is my idol. I have seen him play all my life, and every time he hits a short itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s been a treat to my eyes. Seeing him achieving every possible laurel in the cricketing world, makes me swell with pride!
Not Quite The Girl Next Door, Rtr. Devanshi Sanghvi, talks about how superstition and cricket are so closely intertwined!
CRICKET AND SUPERSTITIONS The country, it seems, has bowed before Cricket. A few days back, the whole world saw the rise of the Indians as they lifted their first world cup in 28 long years. A country with diverse cultures, once again were united by one love – CRICKET. “The incredible game” as they call it was all on the people‟s mind. Work, worship and even life for some, were secondary. Cricket is what people believe in. “Bleed Blue” was their motto and “Go India Go” was their chant as they saw their team go on to lift the coveted trophy. Now, we all know that Virender Sehwag AKA Viru doesn‟t have a squad number. He thinks it brings him good luck. Yes, he‟s superstitious. But he‟s not the only one! A few billion here at home did just the same! Fans from across the country did some very unusual things, for they believed that would bring victory to the team. Superstitions come along with cricket. From no squad number to not having a bath, to literally “touching wood”, each was convinced that doing what they did would it was what they thought would bring Team India luck. A country which believes in so many different things, a country with varied perceptions, a country that believes in itself, made people take the most absurd, random and sometimes, might I add, even unhygienic measures to make sure the Men In Blue come away victorious. And in the end, they did! Cheers! =) I read this in a newspaper that there was a person who would watch India‟s matches with his legs crossed. He would sit at home, cross legged during the entire match because he thought if he were to uncross his legs; it would jinx India‟s chances of winning! Then, there was this one dude who didn‟t speak to anyone during the course of the match. He didn‟t even go to work. India came before his life and victory before his paycheck! People didn‟t go to work, students didn‟t attend school, teachers didn‟t come to teach, exams and tests and even surgeries were postponed because India is all that mattered! Indians did all of this because they thought it would be good for the team. The antithetic crowd did add up to the „home‟ feeling the team needed.
Coming your way…
This April and May ZODIAK FEST 6th & 7th May
PANTOMIME 28th & 29th may
Zodiak Fest is a cultural festival, scheduled to take place in early May. This festival comprises of events that test your creativity, intelligence and dance or dramatic skills. If you have a skill, we have the event. If you’ve got the talent, we’ve got the laurel. Get ready for… The Hunt for the Smartest Club in town!
Pantomime is a Rock Fest, much like a Battle of the Bands. What sets it apart is that all proceeds will be donated to the cause of education. Watch out, hardcore music addicts; this one’s coming up late May!
Extraa Innings 2011 Ab Khelega Mumbai 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th selection 10th – auctions 15th opening match th 16 , 17th, 18th league matches 20th semis 23rd final
Extraa Innings 2011 is a Mumbai level cricket tournament modelled on the lines of the IPL and is open to those who fall in the age group of 1625 years. The tournament is scheduled to take place between 14th and 22nd May, 2011. Selections will commence from the first week of May. 150 players will be selected and put up for auction. Post the auction, the number will be narrowed down further to 108. Eight Rotary Clubs will double up as team owners. Their respective Icon Players can help them form their teams. Icon players will be selected before the auction on the basis of their rating which will be given to all those who come for selections.Apart from their rating, their experience will also be considered.
WRITE RIGHT Write Right is a conclave for writing fanatics. Personalities from different fields take the stage to address issues pertaining to writing. Journalists, Bollywood personalities, Authors, etc. It is the perfect platform for those who aspire to become writers and also for those who are clueless and have always wanted to know how to write. Also, audience members get to pose questions to the panelists! Listening to celebrities and getting to question them- Now that’s a double whammy!
Boom-Baaadda-Boom!!
“A LITTLE BIRDIE CHIRPED THAT…” With sports being the current flavour of the season, Lil Birdie picks a few, who she thinks would make an awesome team! ;) The captain of our ship, our very own captain cool who made our club reach new heights just like India's new drug MSD did, is no other than Saksham. Our multi tasker, all rounder, Yuvraj Singh can be compared to our Editor-in-Chief as well as the new secretary Wayne. Dependable, whether it's fielding, batting or getting the job done. Raina- Qais. The cool guy, he's quick on the field while ours is quick on wit. Zaheer KhanDhaval. The delicate darling, fragile but it doesn't mean that the person can't deliver. Ashish Nehra-Nishtha The stud on and off field! Virat Kohli-Purav Struggles alot and always tries their best. Munaf Patel- Priyanka Aditi and Aditya have kind of a relationship like Sreesanth and Harbhajan. Now which on is which you decide. He got alot of money, he gets alot of attention, and they both give their money's worth. Gautam Gambhir- Dugar. They're not what you call inconsistent, they just like challenges. They both conquer territorioes that are yet to be found. Like all rounder Yusuf Pathan, Sahu does alot of unconvetional stuff. And then there’s me, Lil birdie... I’m just as epic as Sachin! ;D Also there’d be two people fighting to fill in Gary Kirsten’s shoes- Bhargav and Shroff! For the squad could do with some cricketing skills! :P So this is the RCJC World Cup sqaud! So if ever there were a match between the clubs, other clubs would ask why, we'd just say WHY NOT! Ideas? Suggestions? Feedback? Want to have your say in “GB SPEAK”? Or want to blog along on “My Say…My Way”? We’re all ears! Get in touch with Ed, Eddy & Co.! ededdyandco@gmail.com
A Rotaract Club Of Jai Hind College Publication
Best Project: Silent Saturdays (Rtr. Tarang Gupta and Rtr. Priyanka Chauhan) President’s Special Appreciation: Rtr. Dhruti Chedda
RCJC is finally making its presence felt on the Web. Check out your club in its online avatar!
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