Sania Should Stop Playing For India

The people are agog over the marriage between Sania Mirza and Shoeb Malik. Sania is from India and Shoeb is from Pakistan. Already Sania Mirza is known as a glamour girl. She has got more publicity than what she deserves, if going by her sports record. The various online forums and TV channels are running messages from her fans criticising her decision.

The hype went to such level that the proposed wedding today figured in Maharashtra Legislative Council. Opposition Shiv Sena raised the issue of increasing number of cheating cases of spouses by foreigners. "Marriage cheating cases are increasing and in Sania's matter there are reports about her fiance (Shoaib Malik) being already married," MLC Neelam Gorhe said during a debate on the law and order situation in the state.

For me, it is a routing affair. There is nothing one can do to stop such marriages. Sania knows she is marrying an already married man. It is her decision. But after marriage, she should not be allowed to play for India. Because whatever tournament she takes part in, she is going to benefit from it. How can we allow Pakistani nationals to benefit monetarily by posing as an Indian?

If she is ready to part way with India, let her do it. But then, let us not allow her to make profit from her Indian credentials.

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Checking Influenza H1N1

Doctors Put At International Airport

Even though Pune authorities say that there is no fear of swine flu, which is now called Influenza A (H1N1) spreading in Pune, the government does not want to take any chance. A team of doctors is put up at the Pune International Airport. It is expected that all persons coming from America, Canada, Mexico will be checked for the infection.

According to J. P. Mathur, director of Pune airport, a team of doctor from central governments health scheme was present at the airport from May 1. Now the team from Sate government has been appointed at the airport. The team will be working in various shifts round the clock at the airport.

Dr. P D Adling, who is a part of the team told, “At present we have a team of 10 doctors, 12 nursing staff and 4 servants who will be examining the suspects. As there are cases from America, Canada and Mexico our focus is on foreigners. While boarding the international flight all the passengers are given a form in which they have to fill up the details of their health.

Meanwhile, the central government has directed all state governments to carry out checks for Swine Flu infections. As a part of prohibitive steps, it has been suggested all the poultries and pig farms in the state should be registered with Animal Husbandry department rather than agriculture department. This will enable the department to carry out routine checks on the animals.

However, the proposal is not new. It was put up three years ago when the Bird Flu hit India in 2006. Vasant Ramteke, additional commissioner of Animal Husbandry department told Pune Mirror, “A committee is being formed in this regard. The new rules for the registration of the poultries and pig farms will be framed based on the recommendation of the committee.”

Meanwhile, the central government has issued directions to all state governments with regard to measures against Swine Flu. This includes checking the places where pet and stray pigs are found. The abattoirs will also be checked by the department. On asked whether the piggeries are registered in the state with Animal Husbandry department, Ramteke said that pork consumed in the state come mostly from local breed. “Mostly a group of about 10 to 15 pigs are reared. It is not organised in the profession manner. Hence, there is no question of registering the piggeries,” he said.

Local officials have rejected the idea of any threat of Influenza A (H1N1). According to the Pune Municipal Corporation officials, hardly any imported pork is consumed in Pune. Therefore the the risk is minimal.

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Reigning the Foreigners

Pune Police Issue Notices to College Authorities

After having a field day in the city, the foreign students in Pune are facing the heat. The foreigners registration branch of Pune police has turned its focus on the foreign students residing in Pune.

The Foreigners' Registration Office (FRO) has issued notices to college authorities in city to provide information about foreign students. The notices have been issued to keep a check on the activities of foreign students.

There are 23,432 foreign nationals registered in Pune, of which 14,800 are students. The issue has assumed importance in view of the heightened security measures in the country as well as the city. Even today, there was a bomb hoax call in the Fergusson College and Dagdusheth Halwai Ganpati Temple.

This is the second step of the measures against the foreign students in Pune. The Pune police had issued notices to more than 100 students in the month of December. The notice was given because the students were living in the city without permission.

Interestingly, I had given a story of how the number of foreign students is dwindling in the city and those of others is increasing. The reason attributed are large numbers of companies in Pune which employ foreigners. In the past, the city had overseas visitors mainly because of Osho Ashram in Koregaon Park area. But it is thing of the past now. While the persons in IT and other industries come mostly from European countries, those from Sudan, Nigeria and other African countries constitute the students.

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Pune-the foreign visitors’ hub

Pune: After hosting a large flock of foreign students over the years, the city is now seeing an increasing number of foreign visitors who are not students. Records show that foreigners who come to the city for non-academic purposes are growing in the last five years.

Known as the Oxford of the East, the city boasts of a large number of foreign-national students. The number has been on the rise. Yet, the growth seems to be downwards on percentage basis as records show increasing number of non-student foreign national visiting the city.

Every foreign national residing in the city for more than 180 days has to register at the Foreigners’ Registration Branch in the Police Commisionerate. The records available with Foreigners’ Registration Branch show that 4,214 students registered in the last year as compared to 3,445 students in 2006, which shows a growth of 22 per cent. In 2005, the number of students registered was 3,784, while in 2004, the number was 2,900. This shows that number of foreign student dropped in 2006 while 2005 had witnessed a growth of almost 30 per cent.

At the same period, overall foreign visitors have increased relatively. In 2007, there have been 6,153 visitors compared to 5,024 in the previous year. That amounts to a growth of 22.5 per cent. The growth in the preceding year was 9 per cent. The exception was in 2006, when there was a decline. The registration at the Foreigners’ Registration Branch is categorised on the basis of visa. They are put in student, tourist and others categories.

“The number of students is large but the overall visitors are growing. At times, the manpower in our office seems inadequate,” says inspector S.V. Gadgil, who is in charge of the registration office. As most foreign tourists leave the city within days of their arrival, their count in the records is low. Spouses and relatives of students, those on medical visa or other purpose are included in other category.

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Spiritual Pull of the Hinduism

Eventhough world, especially English speaking literate class taked pride in deriding Hindu ethos. But the Hindu tradition and spirituality continues to overhelm people all over the world. This fact is corborated by a story that I chanced upon recenly. I reproduce the story as it is.

Allahabad : It was 38 years ago that Baba Rampuri, as this once Beverly Hills resident is now called, set out from Los Angeles in search of truth and peace. He was just 18 then. He has been at each Kumbh and Ardh Kumbh since 1971, and the son of an American dental surgeon turned Hindu ascetic says the English dictionary 'does not have a word to describe the bliss I experience each time I am here'.
His first halt was an ashram in Rajasthan, from where his guru took him to Haridwar, one of the holiest Hindu pilgrimage centres on the bank of the Ganga, where he found his new home. By the time he was 20, he made up his mind to give up all worldly pleasures, including the company of the rich and the famous, to step into a contrasting world where abstinence was the buzzword.
The saffron clad 56-year-old - who refuses to give his original American name - is now camping on the banks of the holy river here, taking part in the 42-day-long Ardh Kumbh - the every six-year religious cornucopia during which millions take dip in the Sangam, the confluence of three rivers sacred to Hindus, in the hope of gaining salvation from what the faithful believe the unending cycle of births and deaths.
'A dip at the Sangam during the Kumbh Mela gives me more pleasure that one could get in a football match,' Baba Rampuri told IANS, taking a few puffs of the 'chillam' which he describes as 'part of the tradition'.
'I did go back to LA after my first visit here in 1968 but decided to return to India in 1971 once and for all ... and that too with just $20 in my pocket.'
Baba Rampuri was formally initiated into the world of Hindu ascetic life 36 years ago on these very banks of the Sangam. He was among the first few whites to find a privileged place in the Juna Akhara, which is considered the oldest of India's nine Hindu akharas, or religious orders.
There are many foreigners like Baba Rampuri, including women, who have left their homes in far away continents and have become Hindu sadhus. Most of them prefer not to reveal their original names.
Says Jasraj Puri, an Australian who became a sadhu: 'My original name was washed down in the waters of the Ganga and got immersed in the Bay of Bengal 15 years ago when I joined the ashram of Swami Maheshwaranand, who went from India decades ago to set up base in Vienna.' The 35-year-old former physiotherapist has picked up reasonably good Hindi as well and currently heads an ashram-cum-school run by his guru Maheshwaranand in Rajasthan. The polluted waters of the Ganga don't discourage him from a daily dip. 'The Ganga is spiritually so pure that pollution and even visible dirt becomes secondary and immaterial,' explains Puri to IANS.
Similarly, Ganga, 45, arrived here from her home in Britain nearly 10 years ago. 'I propose to spend the rest of my life in the Maha Nirvani Akhara,' she said. While camping at the Ardh Kumbh, Ganga makes it a point to take a dip in the Sangam every morning. 'But it was a different experience on Mauni Amavasya (Jan 19), the holiest of the holy bathing days,' she said after stepping out of the water in which an estimated ten million took a hallowed dip that day.
Hindu spirituality continues to attract youth from various countries. Verena, 25, is a first-time visitor to the Kumbh from Germany and is so overwhelmed by the spiritual rituals here that she wouldn't mind settling down as a disciple in the Juna Akhara. And 24-year-old Dase, another Kumbh first-timer from Latvia, is only too keen to give her company. Susan, who has come from the US, is still debating whether she should abandon her filmmaking career in California and settle down to a saffron life of Hindu renunciates.
'I will go back at the end of the Kumbh Mela but I might be back soon. The divinity I have tasted here has been an unparalleled experience, which I cannot describe in words,' said Susan. The list is endless. Besides the over 450 foreigners in the Maheshwaranand camp, the Juna and Maha Nirvani Akharas too boast of nearly 250 people belonging from 17 countries who have chosen to embrace the Hindu spiritual path.
By Sharat Pradhan/Indo-Asian News Service

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