Reality check

As a kid whenever I heard "Hindu Muslim Sikh Isai, Apas mein hai bhai bhai", I always wondered why it had to be stated like that, wasn't it obvious? Even riots and all make you think that they are instigated by politicians for their own survival and largely hoodlums participate in it. I have grown up since then. Had an inter-religion wedding in the extended family. It was boycotted by the bride's family. Not a single soul from her immediate family.... felt really sad.

WC-III

Oh the Germans! They have proved it that you can be a man and yet when you have just the goalie and the goal in front of you, you can still wait and give a gentle pass to your team mate who is in a better position to make a goal. It is possible to control the urge to take a shot at the goal from a position which has a near-zero projected area in view. And they have been doing it consistently since their first match against Australia. Must be to do with the coach Joachim, you know the one who dresses girlie. Lastly, Klose's clinical finish...... just magnificently neat.

Sorry for Argentina though, I liked them a lot. But then I guess the thought of Maradona in nude on the roads of Buenos Aires was weighing on the players' minds too.

To have or not to

A BBC correspondent’s desire to have another child, a fourth one, led to a rather passionate discussion amongst us on if we as the plunderers of mother nature have lost our right to be a mother, biological one, ourselves. The reason that the lady in question gave was that she loved babies. Is that so inadequate a reason?

I feel that given the available resources, which are different in different countries, governments can provide a broad guideline as to what is a manageable average number that a family should aim for. Beyond that it is everyone’s personal choice if one wants to have one, more or none as long as one can provide them a decent upbringing.

It doesn’t need the sharpest of brains to figure out that the earth would definitely be a better place if we just remained animals all along, with no health care that unnaturally supports us to live longer, no buildings to live in, no books to read, no vehicles to travel, no electricity, no clean water to drink etc. etc. Basically everything that is a manifestation of our difference from animals comes at a cost to mother nature. Can we strive to sustain everything that makes our life perfect but take away the right to satisfy a basic human desire to have our own children?