Too little, too late
Ups and downs in anybody's career are natural occurrences. Ironically, it seems to have happened in case of Team India. After their emphatic Test series win against mighty Australia in the last Down Under tour, Team India became the top-ranked team amongst the Test-playing nations. In the shorter version of the game too, Team India was almost invincible.
Suddenly things started changing. After the drubbing received at the hands of England in the semi-final of the recently held T20 World Cup held in Australia, it seems to be a downhill journey for Team India in ODIs as well. They snatched defeat from the jaws of victory against Bangladesh in the first two ODIs, thereby surrendering the ODI series. Ishan Kishan's double ton and Virat Koihli's ton against the host may be a personal milestone for the said players, but it is too little, too late. So let us wait for cash-richest IPL to restore their lost confidence and forms.
Dr Ashim Chowdhury,
Guwahati.
The cruel side of sports
Just as sports can bring a lot of bliss and happiness, it can also be cruel and devastating to players, as losses in big knockout games in global tournaments force them to end their careers in moments that bring misery and desolation to them and their teams. The FIFA World Cup 2022 exemplifies this fact in no small measure as Neymar and Ronaldo will vouch for it after they profusely shed tears following their teams' agonizing losses in quarter-finals. For both these star players, the saddest thing, perhaps, is that the defining image of the 2022 World Cup will be their tears and not the happy moments of their goals for the ages. It won't be the dancing or the flicks or all the fun they had until this point. It will always come back to that scene when both gave in to their emotions. Sometimes, the penalty shootouts are brutal as one miss with one inch the wrong way, and a whole legacy is redefined. And these were the exact moments when Neymar realised he would not be winning the World Cup that meant everything for him and Brazil.
Ranganathan Sivakumar,
Chennai – 600091.
Good initiative by Assam government
The Assam government has approved special casual leave to its employees to spend time with their parents for the second consecutive year. The Chief Minister of Assam Himanta Biswa Sarma had announced this initiative for state government employees after assuming office in 2021. A government release states that special leaves will be clubbed with regular holidays of second Saturday and Sunday on the following two days. The detailed rules and modalities for applying and availing the special leaves will be informed through a special web portal. This indeed is a very good gesture, an initiative worth emulating by the states and the Centre.
Industrialization, urbanization and globalization have cast their shadow on the traditional family set-up and the beautiful values and norms that once were assets, especially in our Indian heritage, have faded. Today, the rise of nuclear family system has replaced the joint family system. In the joint family system, our parents and grandparents were cared for, and consulted by their children and loved and respected by their grandchildren. Due to fast-paced and turbulent changes happening in the society, the respect for elders is fast dwindling. The lives of the elderly in India are turning from bad to worse due to many factors created by the modern world. It is really unfortunate that many of them are forced to live lives of humiliation, discrimination, abuse and isolation, without financial, medical or emotional support. And what is shocking is that this is common across all social classes and across urban and rural areas. The Special Casual Leave as initiated by the Assam Government is definitely a step to make the younger generation understand and be aware of respecting, caring and supporting the elderly. The government should also monitor to ensure that this very good initiative is not misused by some employees.
M Pradyu,
Kannur, Kerala.