Prelude:
Hey.. I am not a cine buff and it's got nothing to do with either Kamal Hassan or the Butterfly theory!
I am of a deep belief that all the so called 'myths' & ‘superstitions’ that have been legacies of our ancestors, have an abstract meaning for us to comprehend.
Good thoughts like ‘Truth triumphs’, ‘Good defeats the bad’, ‘Hardwork bears the best fruits’ and many noble qualities were showcased by Gods during their avatars.
But are the above the only things they teach us??? I guess there is more into it.
I've always been fascinated by the voluminous Hindu mythology right from my childhood when my grandma used to tell bed time stories. My favourite among those were the Dasavataram of Lord Vishnu. I used to simply love the idols of the ten avatars on display at Kolu during Navarathris (Again.. It’s not the film I am talking about!!).
And, as years went by, I came across the Darwinian Theory of Evolution. And I was amazed by this gentleman’s great vision of the past and the future. Though science wasn’t among my favourites, this particular theory had quite an impact on me.
And it was during my early college life that I found something really interesting. We used to chit chat a lot in our Hostel as there were no other sources of recreation. And on a particular day, we started to discus about the evolution of man. A guy (who happened to be an atheist) started to bring Darwin’s theory into picture in his protest against the myths saying there can’t be any avtars if man has evolved from a monkey and blah blah…. Though his main target that point of time was Christianity as he was challenging the concept of ‘the forbidden apple’ with the Darwinian theory, I couldn’t stand that as a Believer of God.
The burning desire to outwit him made me think hard like never before.. And man.. What a discovery it was!!! I got hold of a wonderful connection between evolution and Dasavataram out of nowhere…
Darwin’s theory in brief:
Life originated in water… Then creatures started adapting gradually to the shores.. and gave way to amphibians.. Then came the land animals. And from then evolved humans... Darwin puts a never ending comma on the future saying life will get destroyed along with the planet and may start all over again on another place under favorable circumstances!
And this has a definite connection with the ten Avatars of Vishnu…
As we all know, the avtars in chronological order are:
1. Matsya : A Fish indicating that life originated in water.
2. Kurma: A turtle(amphibian) indicating the movement towards land.
3. Varaaha: A Boar indicating evolution into a Land animal.
4. Narasimha: A half Human-half animal creature indicating the intermediate stages of evolution of man from animal.
5. Vaamana: A dwarf indicating the completed evolution of man from animal.
6. Parasurama: The ferocious warrior indicating the primitive man’s temper.
7. Raama: The ideal human with all the qualities considered to be ideal. This avtar indicates the early stages of civilized man who strictly followed the law of their land and led highly principled life.
8.&9. Krishna & Balarama: These avtars bring into picture the different ideologies of good persons. Though Krishna & Balarama were brothers, they had difference of opinion on certain cases. Yet they lived amicably. This showcases the medieval era where different dynasties with different ideologies co-existed.
(And a good friend of mine put a better thory saying Balarama( the elder one) represents the period when man turned to farming from hunting. Balarama in fact carries a plough to signify it. And Krishna (the younger one) represents the period of the thinking man with his crafty weapons like the Chakra signifying it.)
10. Kalki: He is believed to appear at the end of kali yug in 427,000 years time when a great destruction of earth will take place according to the Garuda Puraanam. This avatar indicates the near future when people might have to fight against many stigmas like the spread of deadly diseases, drying up of resources, international wars, terrorism, Nuclear Weapons, etc.
This is where Darwin loses hope on humans and says the end to the world is inevitable. But “cometh the hour, commeth the man (Kalki)” says the Puraanas.
We only have to wait and watch!!!
(It was shocking to check out later that the connection between Dasavataram and Darwinian Theory was already under research for many years. And I definitely wasn’t the first one to discover it. So sad na…. )
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Sunday, December 16, 2007
The Legend named "DADA"
An insipring story of a cricketing prince ...Sourav Chandidas Ganguly is the most successful captain of the Indian national cricket team. Born 8 July 1972, Ganguly lives at Barisha in Kolkata (formerly Calcutta). Ganguly has been nicknamed Bengal Tiger, Prince of Kolkata, Lord Snooty by his opponents, and affectionately Dada (which means elder brother in Bengali) by his team-mates. Rahul Dravid once commented, "On the off-side, first there is God, then there is Ganguly”.
Arrival ...Building an Empire
Ganguly made his One Day International debut for India against West Indies in 1992. Scoring just 3 he was dropped immediately. He returned to International cricket four years later for a Test series in England. He made his Test debut at Lord's, scoring a century. He became only the third cricketer to score a century on debut at Lord's. In the next Test match at Trent Bridge, he scored another century, 136, sharing a 255 run stand with Sachin Tendulkar.In 1997 Ganguly scored his maiden ODI century. Opening the innings, he scored 113, in his side's 238, against Sri Lanka. Later that year he won four consecutive Man of the match awards in the Sahara Cup with Pakistan. The second of these was won after he took 5/16 off 10 overs, his best bowling in a ODI. In 2000, after the match fixing scandal, Ganguly was named the captain of the India team.In 2003 under his captaincy India reached the World Cup Final, where they lost to the Australians. He led India in 49 Test Matches, winning 21 of those, including 12 of them outside India. All three figures are records for Indian Test captains. He also led India to their first series wins in both Tests and ODIs in Pakistan, a feat that had eluded India for over 50 years. Ganguly also led India to more Test wins (12) outside India between 2000 and 2005 than all Indian captains had done between 1980 and 2000. He led India to victory over Steve Waugh's Australia in the 2001 Border-Gavaskar trophy which is considered one of the greatest wins in the Indian cricket history.
The kingdom falls ...
While he
has achieved significant success as captain, his individual performance deteriorated during his captaincy, especially after successes in the World Cup. His dispute with then coach Greg Chappell resulted in many headlines during 2005 and early 2006. Greg Chappell emailed the BCCI stating that Ganguly was unfit to lead India and that his "divide and rule" behaviour was damaging the team. This email was leaked to the media and resulted in huge backlash from Ganguly's fans. Eventually due to his poor form and differences with the coach he was stripped of his captaincy and dropped from the team.
Ganguly made his One Day International debut for India against West Indies in 1992. Scoring just 3 he was dropped immediately. He returned to International cricket four years later for a Test series in England. He made his Test debut at Lord's, scoring a century. He became only the third cricketer to score a century on debut at Lord's. In the next Test match at Trent Bridge, he scored another century, 136, sharing a 255 run stand with Sachin Tendulkar.In 1997 Ganguly scored his maiden ODI century. Opening the innings, he scored 113, in his side's 238, against Sri Lanka. Later that year he won four consecutive Man of the match awards in the Sahara Cup with Pakistan. The second of these was won after he took 5/16 off 10 overs, his best bowling in a ODI. In 2000, after the match fixing scandal, Ganguly was named the captain of the India team.In 2003 under his captaincy India reached the World Cup Final, where they lost to the Australians. He led India in 49 Test Matches, winning 21 of those, including 12 of them outside India. All three figures are records for Indian Test captains. He also led India to their first series wins in both Tests and ODIs in Pakistan, a feat that had eluded India for over 50 years. Ganguly also led India to more Test wins (12) outside India between 2000 and 2005 than all Indian captains had done between 1980 and 2000. He led India to victory over Steve Waugh's Australia in the 2001 Border-Gavaskar trophy which is considered one of the greatest wins in the Indian cricket history.
The kingdom falls ...
While he
has achieved significant success as captain, his individual performance deteriorated during his captaincy, especially after successes in the World Cup. His dispute with then coach Greg Chappell resulted in many headlines during 2005 and early 2006. Greg Chappell emailed the BCCI stating that Ganguly was unfit to lead India and that his "divide and rule" behaviour was damaging the team. This email was leaked to the media and resulted in huge backlash from Ganguly's fans. Eventually due to his poor form and differences with the coach he was stripped of his captaincy and dropped from the team.The Return of the King
In November 2006 , afte
r being dropped from the side for almost eight months, Ganguly was selected by the national board of selectors, chaired by Dilip Vengsarkar, in the team for the three-Test series against South Africa. The decision came after India could not reach even the Semi-finals of the Champions Trophy, held in India, as well as losing the opening three games of an ODI series with South Africa. The selectors decided to back experience in a total reversal of coach Greg Chappell's mission to inject fresh blood into the Indian cricket team .Ganguly emerged as the leading run getter for India in the Test series with South Africa.In the next series against Sri Lanka, his performance of 168 runs from 3 matches earned him the "Man of the Series Award". It was his first MoS Award in 6 years.On January 12, 2007 he was recalled for the ODI team, 15 months after he was dropped from the ODI side.He staged an excellent comeback by scoring a match-winning 98 run knock in Nagpur on his return in the first ODI. Ganguly is the highest Indian rungetter of 2007 in ODIs & Tests even though he has played less matches than others.On December 12, 2007, Ganguly scored his maiden double century of his incredible 11 year long career while playing against Pakistan in the first innings of the third and final test match of the series. This made the comeback into a true fairy tale . He was involved in a 300 run partnership for the 5th wicket along with Yuvraj Singh - a much needed partnership that saved India which was struggling at 61 for the fall of four wickets. He later went on to score 239 before being dismissed .
The Legend Continues ...
Ganguly has 22 centuries in ODIs & 15 in tests. Sourav, along with Sachi
n Tendulkar, formed by far the most successful opening pair in One Day Cricket, having amassed the highest number of century partnerships (26) for the first wicket. Together, they have scored more than 7000 runs at an average of 48.98, now with Sachin he is a world record holder for creating most no. of 50 run partnership in the first wicket(44 fifties) .In 2004, he was awarded the Padma Shri. Ganguly is only the third Indian Test match batsman to maintain a career average that never dipped below 40 runs per innings for his entire Test career. Ganguly also shares the Indian record for scoring at least 10 or more centuries and never being on the losing side in every match in which they had scored a century. He is also one of the 3 players in the world to achieve amazing treble of 10,000 runs, 100 wickets and 100 catches in ODI cricket history. He is playing his 100th test match in Australia in Dec 2007 , the inspirational legend continues ...
In November 2006 , afte
r being dropped from the side for almost eight months, Ganguly was selected by the national board of selectors, chaired by Dilip Vengsarkar, in the team for the three-Test series against South Africa. The decision came after India could not reach even the Semi-finals of the Champions Trophy, held in India, as well as losing the opening three games of an ODI series with South Africa. The selectors decided to back experience in a total reversal of coach Greg Chappell's mission to inject fresh blood into the Indian cricket team .Ganguly emerged as the leading run getter for India in the Test series with South Africa.In the next series against Sri Lanka, his performance of 168 runs from 3 matches earned him the "Man of the Series Award". It was his first MoS Award in 6 years.On January 12, 2007 he was recalled for the ODI team, 15 months after he was dropped from the ODI side.He staged an excellent comeback by scoring a match-winning 98 run knock in Nagpur on his return in the first ODI. Ganguly is the highest Indian rungetter of 2007 in ODIs & Tests even though he has played less matches than others.On December 12, 2007, Ganguly scored his maiden double century of his incredible 11 year long career while playing against Pakistan in the first innings of the third and final test match of the series. This made the comeback into a true fairy tale . He was involved in a 300 run partnership for the 5th wicket along with Yuvraj Singh - a much needed partnership that saved India which was struggling at 61 for the fall of four wickets. He later went on to score 239 before being dismissed .The Legend Continues ...
Ganguly has 22 centuries in ODIs & 15 in tests. Sourav, along with Sachi
n Tendulkar, formed by far the most successful opening pair in One Day Cricket, having amassed the highest number of century partnerships (26) for the first wicket. Together, they have scored more than 7000 runs at an average of 48.98, now with Sachin he is a world record holder for creating most no. of 50 run partnership in the first wicket(44 fifties) .In 2004, he was awarded the Padma Shri. Ganguly is only the third Indian Test match batsman to maintain a career average that never dipped below 40 runs per innings for his entire Test career. Ganguly also shares the Indian record for scoring at least 10 or more centuries and never being on the losing side in every match in which they had scored a century. He is also one of the 3 players in the world to achieve amazing treble of 10,000 runs, 100 wickets and 100 catches in ODI cricket history. He is playing his 100th test match in Australia in Dec 2007 , the inspirational legend continues ...
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