Phoenix : The incomplete journey.

    PHOENIX

“If falling is your nature , then rising is your destiny.” Man is constantly vulnerable to falls, slips and trips during his eternal sojourn of success, peace , self realization and union with the supreme. Thankful should be the beings to whom god has endowed the ability to recognize such slips. There are several forces within a man which constantly prevent the soul from rising, i.e. anger , lust , pride , attachment, greed and so on. The cage with iron rods of such attributes suffocate the evolving spirits. The soul yearns for freedom , the soul time and again pines to be pure. Thus starts a struggle , called the battle of senses and enlightenment. Knowingly or unknowingly man takes part in this seemingly endless struggle. The apparent signs of this struggle are- absence of contentment even after several achievements, solitude amidst the crowds, searching extra power from within to do something wrong, doing something good spontaneously and so on.

This is the struggle which is most revered and which leads to self realization. This struggle breaks the mental bonds and crosses all limitations to make one feel integral with supreme.

I failed! I lost! I couldn’t perform! This world is scary! I wish I was dead! My life has no meaning! These are few of the commonest phrases one hears from pretty nice and capable people in this world. But why do they speak so ?? What makes them so hasty in making such conclusions so fast about life ? Moreover why to conclude a personality , why to restrict a life , what could be the need to mentally stop the process of self development so abruptly. Something has definitely gone amiss . For sure , the contingency system within has had a big blow. Something has seriously gone wrong within the combination of mind, body , heart and soul. The weaknesses, fears and loop holes have become larger than life . Even taking a step becomes pathetic , life seems a saga of pain and one eventually feels like a living corpse or a dying man.

But then most of the people are faced by a question – What  Now ?

Lost in the bewilderment of situation, extremely sluggish in any approach, the soul

Softly pats you and ask – Are you there?

And what one says totally depends on what one is made of.

A quote says-----

“ A hammer shatters the glass,

        Whereas same forges the steel.

So, depends what you are made of

      Glass or Steel ?

The soul is just looking for affirmation from you. Just one  ‘YES’, a soft ‘YES’. This becomes the most crucial moment of life when you decide to say ‘YES’ to life

Or to negate your existence by saying a brutal ‘NO’ or to neutralize your existence

By keeping quiet. The negation puts an end to the process of life, whereas silence makes you a wounded soldier in the battle field who has so badly surrendered that

He can’t even sigh when he is trampled by enemies.

There is no other way than saying “Yes to Life”. Just a gentle “Yes”, a tender  “Yes” a silent “Yes” the “Yes” which is beyond the decibels of audiometry .

There does it begin. The soul takes over to disaster management.

     Firstly it says you to sleep. Sleep like weary traveler. If there is no sleep, there would not be an awakening. The mind, the body , the heart sleep while the soul watches your beauty. Analyses You for the present situation. As soon as the soul

Feels that you are showing some sign of life within , slightest indication to redress,

Weakest shiver of resurrection, It starts talking  to your heart and there the healing begins, all under the sole aeges of the drop of divinity, your soul.

The heart starts chanting the “Mantra” I am alive million times . Still the body and mind do not respond. It could be hours, days or months before the mind and body respond. In the mean time the acquaintance of heart with soul gets deeper and deeper. The heart with its every beat repeats the lesson of life.

The mind battles with all its negativity to decline all that heart has to say But the beats go on and on. Hammering  ‘I AM ALIVE’ in the abysses of mind. Sooner or later the mind accepts yes the beats are real and the body is alive. There the Body, Heart , Mind and Soul celebrate the spirit of life and brief each other.

And Life springs , a new chapter , a new episode ....

Get me wings and I bring you the sky !!

Give me  wings and I bring you the sky !     

(An article on the upcoming international cricket stadium at Ranchi , ODIs and future of sports in Jharkhand.)  

From Olympia , Greece to JSCA stadium , Ranchi. Stadiums have perennially been the intersection loci of sports , its performers and its viewers. A place where performance , team-aspirations and sport- ambitions reach their zenith , creating milestones for civilizations and the undomitable sportsman within the man. Over the years , stadiums became the breeding grounds  of sports and sportsmen by titillating,  encouraging and inspiring the humanfolk to dream , visualise and convert their sporting prowess to reality. Serving as lighthouses , the stadiums led many weary sojourners to their destiny named “SPORTS”.

Once again , A lighthouse has been erected , a breeding farm has been set , a coin of inspiration has been tossed , A stadium named JSCA stadium once conceived has been realized in the state of Jharkhand . Another confluence of its sorts “where the global meets the local” . Jharkhand state cricket association (JSCA)) stadium stands in its full might to render its splendour to the audience of the world.

Prior to landing at Ranchi Airport , you will notice the Chhota nagpur plateau offering an amusing bird’s eye view of marginal farms and huge clusters of green patches reminding you that Jharkhand deserves to be named the lungs of India for its greenery. As the vibrant roads lead you from Airport to the stadium , you enjoy the green panorama of the city , where trees seem to be playing “sun and shadow” with you. Nature unfolds both its arms at the gateway called JSCA stadium to welcome the globe in its humble locality called “Jharkhand”.

The awe is all yours and the humility belongs to the JSCA Stadium when you make a tete-a-tete with the state of the art magnificence. The JSCA Stadium promises to seat 40000 spectators to the grandeur of the Cricketing phenomena. Its another feather in the cap of JSCA , which aims to make Jharkhand , a crucible of excellence in cricket and to contribute significantly to the sport of the cricket in the years to come.

JSCA International stadium complex includes additional indoor cricket facility , tennis academy , club houses , gymnasiums etc. Built over a period of two years and an investment of approximately 180 crores  , it is a true merger of nature and technology.  The two turf hills , east and west endow the cricket lovers to relish the passion from green , grassy hills. There are two pavilions , north and south which include VVIP areas and both have five viewing levels. The president box, member’s area , donor’s area , BCCI box , dressing rooms , commentary boxes and dining spaces are also part of these pavilions.

All this didn’t happen over night. It took some pain , some dream and more of real hard work. The story of the stadium is incomplete without mention of Mr. Amitabh Choudhary , President,JSCA  , The visionary man upfront with the mission of making Jharkhand self-reliant in terms of Cricket Infrastructure. This man with the mission envisaged an independent cricketing avenue , realized it within two years and with all his humility thanked all the hurdles on the way for his success. On 17^th Jan 2013 , JSCA aims to  inaugurate the International experience for the state of Jharkhand.

An apple and Newton led the world to new innovation paradigms. But the rains at Melbourne cricket ground on 5^th jan 1971 during the test match between Australia and England led to the invention of 1^st One day International , which makes India echo “Dil Maange more” in 2013. Since then ODIs never looked back and adopted several new features , i.e. coloured uniform , day-night matches, use of white balls, multiple camera angles, effect microphones , dark sight screens , advent of power plays and field restrictions. ODIs evolved to integrate the game and the audience. Thrill was the quotient which ODIs invigorated.

The Indian ODI Maestros , to name a few have been , Sunil Gavaskar , Kapil Dev , Ravi Shastri , K. Srikanth, J. Srinath, Anil Kumble , M. Azharuddin , Navjot Sidhu, Saurav Ganguly, Yuvraj Singh , V. Sehwag , M.S. Dhoni  and the legendary Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar.

If cricket is the passion of India , then ODIs are its brightest colours . India , ranked 3^rd in latest ODI rankings has twice been world champions of ODIs , respectively in 1983 and 2011.

ODIs today involve a regime of sports which looks for all round fitness and natural athleticism in addition to skill and class. The pace of the ball and numbers on the scoreboards have ever been rising to make the form of game a conquest for the best. The concord of technology and sports has led the standards of ODIs , performance , decision making and competition to its history best. The evolution of the ODIs have led it to compete with itself for perfection.

Jharkhand, The traditional hockey state slowly swung to the mastery of Cricket and Archery. Jharkhand takes pride in nurturing and strengthening the spirits of sportsmanship and sharpening it to world class potential. Deepika kumari , the world champion Archer , Asunta Lakra , former national women hockey team captain , M.S. Dhoni , the present Indian cricket captain have been the latest flag bearers of India in the sporting arena of the world. The small unknown cities, suburbs and even villages of Jharkhand have been witness to production of world class sportspersons.

Where is Jharkhand heading next?  Is India and the world poised for Jharkhand’s contribution to sports ? Do you remember the next door boys from Jamshedpur , Saurav Tiwary and Varun  Aaron who made headlines  by their impressive presence in Indian cricket team. What it could have taken for Saurav  and Varun to  be there!

All a sportsman needs is an icon to dream about , a spirit which never yields,  an access to world class sporting facilities , a mentor or a coach to train the nuances of the game and a facilitator who helps his each step of journey with care and caution. Today , Jharkhand is blessed to have it all. So , its time when the younger ones can dream , toil and be. The time is ripe when the harvest of sportsmen is going to grow leaps and bounds in Jharkhand.  The recently held national games , the yet to be held ODI , the yet to be held IPL are going to energize several young minds. For Jharkhand , this is the start , the journey begins here . History will be created on 19^th Jan 2013 when the world will gaze through the alleys of Jharkhand , when the world will notice the sporting advancement of Jharkhand and thenceforth history will be repeated.  Jharkhand will  stand to the testimony of success as an endless marathon , where each milestone would remind the need for greater courage and commitment towards the unseen.