Gymnasium replaces Akhada in Cuttack

Notwithstanding the popularity of cricket among youths, some of us are still huge supporter of the traditional sports events like wrestling, weightlifting and boxing and these sportsperson are key to bringing glory for the country in Olympics. However, many traditional sporting places known as Akhadas, those produced many popular sports personalities in past were lost their eminence due to lack of interest among the new generation youths and the government as well.

The millennium city Cuttack in Odisha, which has earned a name in international sports arena, however left those early days sporting Akhadas in neglect and as a result many Akhada are shut down their centers.

Ironically, due to lack of governmental incentives one of the oldest Akhadasala- Kalinga Akhadasal, now turned into a modern day gymnasium.
Established in 1928, the Kalinga Akhadasal has four other centers in the city. At present only one center is running at Chowdhury bazaar. But shockingly, it has no instruction facilities and trainers for traditional events like wrestling, weightlifting and boxing.
The center shifted to its present location in Chowdhury bazaar in 1935 and since then engaged in promoting traditional sports, said Chakradhar Behera (86), the sole wrestling coach and manager of the center.

"We were trained by the renowned wrester and Utkal Bhima awardee Padma Charan Nayak who came from Puri and started the Akhadashal", said Behera, the working president of Orissa wrestling Association.

Trained at the center, Behera represented the state at many national events and was Manager for the team India at the 1992 8th Asian GRECO Roman Free Style Wrestling Championship.

"We had six trainers till 1990 but with lack of interest among the new age youths, only one trainer available at present", said the veteran wrestler adding that those traditional sporting events are only limited to our annual wrestling championship, which held in January every year.
As the number of students decreased over the years, the state government set up a modern gymnasium at the center in 2000. Since then the akhdasal rechristened as Kalinga Gymnasium, which is now popular among city youths for body building purposes.
Had the government taken proper interest in promoting the traditional sports centers in the form of Akhadas, it could have attracted the youth masses for shaping their career in traditional sporting events, he opined.

We all are Anna !

In that morning I was yet in bed and waiting my newspaper hawker’s as usual paper throw alarm to get me up. Suddenly I woke up with the beep sound of a message on my mobile. Anna Hazare is arrested in Mayur Vihar, the message from my friend read. I became curious to know more about the latest news. Since I have no TV in my room, I turned on my laptop to get updates from social networking sites. In fact, social media played an important role in getting people united against Corruption. I remained glued to face-book and twitter for initial information and news. It was unbelievable, the Internet was buzzing with news on Anna and the public reaction. India against corruption web page was the main source of Anna’s where about. It started informing people where to go with its route details. “Anna is taken to the Police Officers Mess in Civil Lines, reach there, the nearest metro station is civil lines on Viswavidyalaya route” said one updates on Face Book. Then similar updates followed up directing people to come out of home and reach the nearest protest site.
I was completely confused, where should I go? Of course I had a plan to go to J P Park later in the day.
Another message said, “Large numbers of protesters were detained from Rajghat and civil lines and send to the Chhatrashala Stadium”, which was arranged to house all protesters.



Similar news and information poured in as the day proceeded. And I had decided to go to civil lines to join with the protesters. But I was late; meanwhile Anna was sent to Rajouri Garden and later into Tihar Jail. Till that time Chhatrasala stadium was turned into the main protest venue with thousands of protesters were both inside and outside of it.

As soon as the news of Anna Hazare’s Police detention spread out, large numbers of people came out on the street in support of the anti corruption crusade and staged protest march towards the prohibited J P Park in the heart of New Delhi. So, I decided to join the protesters at Pragati Maidan. On my metro journey to Pragati Maidan I found many protesters equipped with Gandhi cap and India against corruption banners travelling towards Pragati Maidan, the nearest metro point to reach the prohibited J P Park.



When I reached at Pragati Maidan, already there were hundreds of protesters. Delhi police also had arrived there with full battalions and buses to ferry detained protesters to Chhatrasala stadium. Within minutes of our arrival at the road adjacent to ITO, the police announced to move away from this area citing prohibitory orders, but we stayed there defying the order waiting to make a huge gathering and then moving towards J P Park. As the numbers of protesters grew up, police started arresting people those were on street and loaded them into the buses already in standby. After 8-10 buses being ferried away, the police was helpless to take all the protesters into custody as there were unprecedented gathering. The police then stopped taking people into custody but tried to ensure that no one march towards JP Park.
I have witnessed this historic movement against corruption in Delhi for the second time. What a peaceful and coordinated mass movement! When the police stopped people at Pragati Maidan, a large numbers of people courted arrest and others marched towards India Gate chanting Vande Mataram, suddenly the police blocked the road, again people courted arrest in mass. Then all sudden there was a silence, people changed their strategy and started their march towards India gate in an opposite direction, quite silently. Police was clueless. I also followed that communication in silent. When started marching towards India gate, I found a big queue in front of me. At India Gate within five minutes of our arrival, the circle was completely filled up. The surrounding air was filled with slogans in support of Jan Lokpal and Anna Hazare.



The following days also seen very peaceful and discipline protests across the country. Self discipline is a unique feature of this movement. Even at Ramlila Miadan people are showing the same level of discipline when they are undergoing frisking at the entry point or littering the ground. They all are aware of the fact that corruption has made their life miserable. The huge support to this movement indicates, people have realized that If they are not united now, it will never be possible to have strong mechanism against corruption. That’s why they are shouting “Abhi nehi toh kabhi nehi”.
It all happened because of one man, his dedication and his undisputed persona. He is Anna Hazare. His constant fight against corruption has exposed many corrupt politicians and bureaucrats. It is his efforts that enabled the first right to information law in any Indian state.
I salute the leader “Anna”, who made his presence felt and leading a successful peace protest. Really, I am Anna and you are Anna, we all are Anna.

Kumbh Darshan

As the car approached Haridwar, the presence of Sadhus and pilgrims as well as security personnel became more visible, making me much anxious to witness the Maha Kumbh Mela, the largest religious congregation on earth. Although my visiting day was not a special bathing (snan) date, huge gathering of devotees were there on several snan ghats. Har Ki Pauri, the main ghat was packed with men & women of all ages and sects, as if all were lost in the race of attaining Moksha or salvation.

Hindu devotees believe that taking a dip in the holy river of Ganga washes away their sins and frees them from the cycle of life and rebirth. As the main bathing dates were gone, we couldn’t find large numbers of ash smearing and half naked Naga Sadhus on the river bank practising Sadhna. However hundreds of saffron clad devotees as well as beggars dressed like sadhus were visible among the huge gatherings adding more aesthetic glamour to visitor’s eyes.

There are many interesting mythological stories about the origin of Kumbh Mela. During a fight between gods and demons over a pitcher containing the nectar of immortality, when the pitcher was being knocked, out of which nectar fell down at four places on the earth, namely, Allahabad, Nasik, Haridwar and Ujjain. According to other Puranic legends, Amrit Kalash was being put at these 4 places when gods were chased by demons for nectar of immortality. So to commemorate this holy event of the Amrita Kalasha, Kumbh mela is celebrated at these four places alternatively in every three years and a Maha Kumbh Mela in 12 years interval.

It is believed that bathing during Kumbh cures the bather of all sins and evils and grants the bather, salvation or moskh. It is also believed that at the time of Kumbh Yog, the water of Ganga is charged with positive healing effects and that water at the time of Kumbh is charged positively by enhanced electromagnetic radiations of the Sun, Moon and the Jupiter, the flux of which also varies in accordance to positions and the phases of the moon, and also by the + and - signs of the sun spots.

While looking forward to meet Naga Sadhus, we stopped by a make shift Ashram near Mayadevi Mandir. A young English speaking baba chatted with us about his life philosophy and importance of kumbh mela. He said that it is a congregation of holy people for the betterment of human being. When asked, what are the elements required for making of a baba, he said, Sadhna or rigorous practice with self discipline dedication are essential.

My Kumbha darshan culminated with the Ganga Arti offer, where thousands and thousands of pilgrims participated by taking dip and floating holy lamps on the river.

River worshipping is not seen anywhere in the world. We respectfully pray our offerings to mother Ganga, but it is an irony that we never mind to pollute it recklessly. If Ganga will be free of dirt due to a religious congregation then no one in the world can stop kumbh mela to get a Nobel Peace Prize.

The Audacity of Terrorism: Mumbai Attack

Even after the terror strike, still we appreciate the beauty of this heritage hotel The Taj. The ruthless terrorists were so blind in their wild ideology that they couldn’t see the beauty of life. Those who can’t see the beauty of life, they don’t have any right to take a savior’s role by proclaiming the so called Jihad.

How long we live amidst the perils of terrorism? Just removing debris from each terror strike spots doesn’t solve the problem. We must think about strong actions against the culprits.

Every time we gather at the terror struck sites to get a glimpse of sorrows and sufferings, but this time we came closer to take action ourselves. It’s really high time to take action against the spoilers.

A spirit called Patriotism

Scene-I
The cloudy Monday morning suddenly turned into sunny when the news from Beijing broke out stating, “India wins first individual Olympic gold medal”. Indian ace shooter and world champion Abhinav Bindra achieved a rare milestone in the sports history of India by winning a gold medal in the 10 meter air rifle event at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Then the wave of greetings sprung out from every walk of life, revealing the spirit, we call patriotism. Without loosing a single moment, Indian news channels went on entire day coverage, leaving behind other happenings back, as if all are waiting this special day to come.

India, a billion plus nation have always been criticized for its poor performance in the field of sports. After a long gap of 28 years India won a gold medal in the Olympics. Isn’t this the most jubilant moment for every Indian to celebrate? Being a proud Indian no one doesn’t really wanted to miss the opportunity to showcase the spirit of togetherness and solidarity. No matter whether one loves sports or not, but sharing the glorious moments are spontaneous as like revealing the untamed spirit of nationalism. The repeating picture of unfurling Tri-colored national flag with the sound of national anthem in background on every Indian news channel made every Indian to feel the emoted spirit of patriotism as like of any national day. As the news spread across the country the voice of oneness started echoing on television screens. With the progress of day, voices from each and every parts of the country swell into a mainstream tone- we are proud of you Abhivav, ham honge kamiyab ek din (We will successful one day) and Jai Hind (Long live India) etc.

On the same day, news from the trouble-torn Jammu & Kashmir remained unheard to many. Have you ever heard any public comment on J & K situation since the Amarnath land row erupted? In such crucial cases, we prefer to stay silence and let our decision makers to speak on behalf of us out of their dirty minds and hidden agendas. We never dare to share our own voices; however we dance with the politician’s rhythmic vote bank tunes. Yes, we practice fanaticism as true spirit of patriotism and chauvinism. When it comes as the saga of sport success we celebrate in high spirit saying united we stand. But in reality we stand divided by the name of region, religion and caste, don’t we?

Dare to Share

The Far Reached Naxal Menace
On last Sunday, one of my neighbours, who is a native of naxalite affected Koraput district of Orissa, came to my place to say about his plan to leave Delhi for the time being. I got astonished to hear his plan and suddenly wanted to know the possible reasons. While I am pondering with so many questions in mind, he said, “I am in serious financial problem, then how can I float my dream to become an IAS”. His distressed statement made me speechless a while, I remain silent and kept on searching the ways, how to console him, because I am not in a position to help him out of financial crisis.

Further he said: -

"As told earlier that my family is regularly getting threats from the naxals, that’s why they had fled from village to an undisclosed place to save their life. My parents were engaged in village grocery business and with their insufficient income from both business and agriculture; they supported me and my brother to scale a record height in higher education. Being from a poor schedule caste family of Koraput bordering Andhra Pradesh, I and my brother become the first one to be graduated in a tribal dominated block of Koraput. I have obtained a master degree from a central university, while my brother has a post graduate professional degree from a university in Orissa. Yet we are unemployed and depend on family support. How can we pursue our targets in such a crisis? The naxalites are demanding money from my parents assuming that my father is earning a handsome amount from the village shop. Even they are also targeting educated youth like us. Thus my parents are in an undisclosed place and advised me to come back to Orissa because now they can't afford our study expenses. Therefore I am going to my uncle’s place in Orissa to avoid this financial crisis and once the situation gets simpler, I will back to Delhi".

I remained silent and felt ashamed being supporting the maoist cause sometimes in past. Why should I support such a cause which has been completely diverted from its sole objectives? Was Naxalbari movement aimed at mass killing and harassment of innocent peoples? Can true naxals act immediately to check fake naxalism? Can they stop exploitation against the marginalized one? No, they can’t stop exploitation against innocent peoples. However they justify themselves as exploiters rather than saviors. Likewise the sad story of my friend as described above, there are lots of sorrowful stories, one can find, if visit to any naxal affected areas.

DU opens FM radio.

Finally it's the tuning time to DU FM, its our own FM radio. dear friends don't think that ourinnovative ICT based UBC radio is a dead end project now. any way DU FM is a path finder to our dream project.

please get up and start working on it.