10 things to learn from Japan.

1. THE CALM
Not a single visual of chest-beating or wild grief. Sorrow itself has been elevated.

2. THE DIGNITY
Disciplined queues for water and groceries. Not a rough word or a crude gesture.

3. THE ABILITY
The incredible architects, for instance. Buildings swayed but didn’t fall.

4. THE GRACE
People bought only what they needed for the present, so everybody could get something.

5. THE ORDER
No looting in shops. No honking and no overtaking on the roads. Just understanding.

6. THE SACRIFICE
Fifty workers stayed back to pump sea water in the N-reactors. How will they ever be repaid?

7. THE TENDERNESS
Restaurants cut prices. An unguarded ATM is left alone. The strong cared for the weak.

8. THE TRAINING
The old and the children, everyone knew exactly what to do. And they did just that.

9. THE MEDIA
They showed magnificent restraint in the bulletins. No silly reporters. Only calm reportage.

10. THE CONSCIENCE
When the power went off in a store, people put things back on the shelves and left quietly!

Why only Cricket?

Why most of the people are watching only Cricket and not other sports especially in countries like India?

Why people are so crazy and treating the players like Gods and Kings?

Why Indians are giving more importance to this ‘Gentleman Game’ and not to their National Sport Hockey?

Why people are praying for their country’s win rather than for their family or underprvilized people/kids?

Why? Why?? and Why???

• One of the hidden reasons is we are ‘programmed‘ for cricket as in most of the cases. The middle class people can be easily programmed by the influencing people. Isn’t it looking like a marketing and commercial reason?
• A Cricket match takes 7-9 hours (ODIs/Test matches) for completion and there is a chance to air ads for every 4-5 mins between each over , when batsman gets out, during drinks/tea breaks while it is not the same for other games.
• A game also has to have a simpler requirements to play to get really into the hearts of the people. Cricket needs just a wooden stick as bat and Rs 10 rubber ball for any street play. It doesn’t need any other things (some stones piled if you want wickets) and hence is very economical and reachable to even street kids.
• Cricket is for everyone – though chess is a game which is more economical than cricket it requires minimum intelligence to at least understand it.
• Also cricket is one of the games which doesn’t lead to major injuries most of the times like football.
• Cricket also doesn’t require major physical hardwork like some other sports especially if you are a batsman. Not ready to agree with me?  Look at the tummies of some Indian batsmen. Can you see those for basket ball or foot ball players?

• All these above reasons again lead to the first one – being progarmmed for commercial purposes.

Just cheering for Indian Cricket team is not patriotism..

The above article is solely the personal opinion of the author Rambabu Thota (www.openletters.in)

1. Life is not fair – get used to it!

2. The world does not care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.

3. You will not receive $ 60,000 a year right after school. You will not be a vice-president with a car phone until you earn them.

4. You think your teacher is tough? Wait until you get a boss.

5. Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your grandparents had a different word for burger flipping – they called it opportunity.

6. If you mess up, it’s not the fault of your parents, not hnychte, learn from mistakes.

7. Before you were born, your parents were not as boring as they are now. They got that way paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about how cool you are. So before you start to save the world from your parents’ generation, clean the toilet in your own room.

8. Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life has not. In some schools they have abolished failing grades and give you as many times as you want to get the right answer. It has nothing to do with real life.

9. Life is not divided into semesters. You do not get summers off and very few employers are interested in helping you find yourself. Look at your expense!

10. TV – this is NOT real life. In real life people actually have to go to work and not sit at the coffee shop.

11. Be nice to nerds. It is not excluded that you will soon be working for one of them.