El-Clasico “revisited”

We at “Sportskeeda” believe in Inventions. We work day and night to get some innovative ideas to give our viewers the best. Our special agent Mr. Keedi-Master invented the Time-machine for the members so that we can go on and specially watch the matches of the Future. Now, we can bring to you matches from the future and you will get to know what is about to happen! So, the team of three authors and one enthusiastic West Bromwich Fan (Yes, even these fans exist 😛 ) were off for the El-Clasico of 2014. The team had Me, Mudita, Ajay and Akash as the West Brom fan. Keedi-Master had arranged for our arrival one day before the match so that we could experience the build-up to the most anticipated match in Europe.

We sat in the giant machine and zipped off to the Future.  Everything went white for about five minutes. I felt weightless. After five minutes of weightlessness, we found ourselves in a street in Madrid. The match was supposed to be played the next day at Bernabeu. There was a pub right across the street. It was flocked with fans donning the White shirts. I ran into Sian Massey (the legendary female lines-woman) in the pub. She was supposed to officiate the match. I said, ‘Are you aware of the uproar you caused after you officiated the Liverpool Vs Wolves game a few years back? I mean, two Sky Sports pundits were….” “Yeah, yeah”, she interrupted. “Tell me something I don’t know.” So, I explained her, what the offside rule was. Mudita was furious. She never knew that the rule existed in the first place! Female football fans I tell you. There was a match from the Women’s FIFA World Cup going on. Mudita looked interested and so did the other boys. It made me nostalgic. The match reminded me of my childhood, the first time I was learning the controls to EA Sports FIFA.

I took some time off from the match and tried to get some latest transfers. Barcelona had already bought 17 new Players each being more costly than 35 million Euros. They even had a new sponsorship deal to go with the formation of 1-8-1. On the other hand Real Madrid had bought every player who had fared well in England to bolster their ranks. They had even made a surprise transfer of Howard Webb to their squad to compete with the numerous refrees bought by Barcelona. Manchester United were dejected, but this is how football is supposed to be. Unpredictable!

We had made a booking in a hotel. The next morning was a bit different than others. Birds chirped in a different way, Flags fluttered in a weird fashion. Akash was pissed at the idea of watching the El Classico that too on the new years’ eve. As we tried to kick him and wake him up, he got up and said, “El Clasico, a joke as usual. Some of the Real Players should be recruited for the Concordia rescue mission.”

It was really hard for us to get some news of the English Premiere League in Spain but we had to get that. We sure as hell love our clubs. Fernando Torres had missed for the 34738583th time for the Blues. Chelsea fans really can’t stand Torres’ misses. However reports suggest that John Terry loves her! Arsenal had signed “specially gifted sperms” as a part of their youth program. Space Agencies have confirmed that Andy Carroll’s first touch will be used for satellite launches. Manchester United had brought back Sir Bobby Charlton from his retirement as injuries haunt them. Amidst this news, the excitement for the big match could have been easily felt. We were supposed to go the Bernebaeu in the evening, that too the evening of 31st December, 2014 for witnessing the giants lock horns with each other.

Keedi-Master had given us special bug gadgets that would fly into the dressing rooms and give us an in-depth experience of the spectacle. It was Real Madrid Vs Barcelona. Ballet Vs Faceplants. It’s like the Old Firm Derby, but with Football. We had pretty decent seats. A priest, a pedophile and a racist sat next to us. He was a Barcelona fan. He gave us dirty looks as we sat there in our Real Madrid jerseys. I guess the dirty look was because of Ajay Baliga who wore the shirt with “I LOVE EMILE HESKEY” written on it. Kids, I tell you. The fans were discussing the probable tactics. They all agreed that Real Madrid need to keep their Back door shut. I guess my girlfriend would give loads of help to the players in that department. I released the bugs into the air to get some insight of what to expect. Both the bugs flew to the respective dressing rooms.

In The Catalan Dressing Room:

   “Listen Up lads. We need to win this match. They have been a resurgent force and they have beaten us twice in a decade now. They are the bastards I hate seeing my team lose to. Head Butt them, tackle the crap out of them. Elbow them in the face. Tuck on their shirts and bring them to the ground. Here Alves, take this gun and shoot Ronaldo in the leg if he goes past you. And everytime they get the ball, the nearest player should go to ground. They will get carded and we will get the ball back. Pass it among yourself for about a thousand times and bore the hell outta everyone.” A sudden voice interrupted the inspirational talk. “Thanks ref, but Pep will take it up from here”, said the Assistant Coach.

In The Real Madrid Dressing Room:

 “Pass the Ball to Ronaldo.”

   “But if I have a clear chance of scoring?”

   “Pass the Ball to Ronaldo.”

   “But there’s no one in goal and I am six yards out?”

   “Pass the Ball to Ronaldo.”

   “But what if Ronaldo is substituted?”

   “We are officially F*cked then. And Pepe please take the SledgeHammer out of your shirt. It’s visible for f*cks sake. Here take this Gun.”

It was time for the epic battle to begin. This wasn’t a match it was a battle. Both the dug-outs were separated by Bullet proof glass. Pinto had brought a bazooka along just in case Jose comes in firing range. Jose had brought tweezers to pinch any opposition player who dared to come close. All players were frisked before the match for precautionary measures. The whistle blew, and the match had started. Mudita started crying at the start. Girls and football never go well. She had become so emotionally engulfed with the fact that she was actually watching a live match.

Within three minutes we had the first card of the Game. Iker was booked because Dani Alvez had gone down in his own box. I saw no logic but well, it was Spanish football after all. There was a sound of a gun-shot after some time. Busquets had gone down along with Ronaldo. The timing had been same. The refree was unable to make out whether Ronaldo or Busquets was shot. Off course, Ronaldo had blood smearing all over his body but Busquets was a brilliant actor afterall. Ronaldo was booked for diving as He was taken to the Hospital right away. In the meanwhile, Dani Alvez passed the gun to the Linesmen.

Pepe swung the Sledge hammer and went onto miss his target. The hammer slipped from his hand and hit Jose Mourinho whose crooked jaw bone was repaired instantly. The match became a brawl now (as expected). There were steel rods and chains brought on to the pitch. Pepe had apparently jumped on Messi who was playing his game-boy, gifted by Xavi and Iniesta, from the ladder. He had thus overtaken John Cena as the World Heavyweight Championship. Jose Mourinho had hired snipers to shoot down Pinto but Pinto had seen through the idea. The match had been the sheen removed after 4 Real Madrid players were sent off for hiding in the dug-out. Barcelona were trailing after Xabi Alonso scored a 45 yard screamer. The time was 23:15 and it showed 89 minutes on the clock. I feared that it may be the first match that it would start in one 2014 and end in 2015.(due to the added injury time) But things stayed that way and Real Madrid had defeated Barcelona and had cracked the Catalan Juggernaut again.

© Supriyo Mukherjee

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The Gray Patch of a Dichotomy

The Gray Patch of a Dichotomy

(India is recognized in the world for its hypocrisy, which is meticulously hidden in a quilt of morality. While prostitution is so rampant in the country, those who are a part of this activity do not exist in the eyes of law. What one does not see is that for an activity to exist, there has to be a parallel demand. India is one of the few countries which has limited legality in prostitution, yet the workers are considered filthy. This article tries to state the fact that it is better to recognize this act, then to quietly pass a Red Light Area turning a blind eye.)

Out of the 1.2 billion population of India, there would be hardly a handful of people who would be conscious of the fact that prostitution is legal in India. For a country that so strongly professes “spirituality” and “religion”, this should come as a rude shock, as prostitution is an “unscrupulous” act. There is a high probability that political parties and their invincibly steep leaders/cadres are not aware of this provision, or else there would have been mass brainless protests declaring prostitution to be non religious; if not invention of theories to add weight to their argument.

The Law

As per the “Immoral Traffic Prevention Act”, soliciting in a public place, kerb crawling, owning or managing a brothel, pimping and pandering are crimes, but private prostitution is not illegal, per se. (Source: Wikipedia). Digging deep into the law, one might agree that the provision of this law is so complex that there is hardly any space left out to vent the air. Nonetheless, on paper, India is one of those few countries to have limited legality in prostitution.

Facts

India is renowned for its obliviousness, but facts have their own verbiage. Given the cascading hierarchy of laws, Red Light Areas have flourished in almost all major cities, complemented by those thousands of unknown patches that operate in the penumbra of bright light. According to data by “The Hindu”, there are 1,100 red light areas in India and 23 lakh sex workers with 54 lakh children living there. (NEW DELHI, July 14, 2013-Abused, confined and forgotten by society) . Among the stalwarts, we have Sonagachi (Kolkata), GB Road (Delhi), Kamathipura (Mumbai), Budhwar Peth (Pune) and Reshampura (Gwalior). Common to all these is a definite culture of prostitution that has spread its firm roots in the system. These are also a storehouse of contractors and brothels. The poignant part of this story it sees a very high amount of human trafficking; which happens mostly from the poor pockets of the country as well as from Nepal and Bangladesh. A large chunk of this may even be below the “legal age of consent”.

The social stereotype is such that these prostitutes lead a life of misery. No one acknowledges the fact that they too work to eke out a living, and the notion of morality is society based. The reason why most of the sex workers took up prostitution as work is because the country has failed to generate enough employment for women, and the social safety nets are pathetic. The “trickle down” idea has failed big time. No one would enter this world deliberately (in India)-there is bound to be an Archilles Heel somewhere. The Archilles Heel mostly lie in a child or poverty. The authorities may flaunt that India is on the path of poverty reduction, but what they do not flaunt is their measure of poverty line. Without dwelling much into the issue of poverty, the fact of the matter is that poverty has not reduced in India by a huge margin. With poverty comes a lot of issues like lack of education, skill development, health, etc. With limited source of livelihood, and obligation to others, the only option available to them is the path of prostitution. NGO Bhartiya Patita Uddhar Sabha, which works for the upliftment of the status of sex workers and children say that almost 85% of the children of these people are illiterate. Even though, the Constitution has laid provisions for the Right to Education, these children are termed

as “Children of prostitutes”, and are thrown out of the mainstream world.

Hypocrisy?

In India, open expression of sexual behaviour is a criminal offense. Parties with strong religious ideals have taken strong stance on issues of sex, leave aside prostitution. One of the hotly debated issue on the “Prevention of Sexual Offenses Act’ was regarding the age of consent (for a girl) to be involved in a sexual activity. The number oscillated between 16 and 18 years. The argument that some parties gave against a low age of consent was that a lower age was a “western concept”. What these parties seemed to have forgotten is that child marriage is very much a “culture” of the Hindu tradition, and the age of involvement is a sexual act could in reality have been much lower than even 16 years (Controversy over Age of consent, Economic and Political Weekly,-July 20, 2013).

While there is absolutely nothing wrong in worshiping the Shivling or praying in Kamakhya, but talking about them is non religious. Strange laws are made which only make things worse. The ban on dance bars in Mumbai is a good example. Dance bars do not mean brothels. It was just a clubhouse where people used to come and get refreshed. The stand of Maharashtra Government to ban dance bars in hotels below three star show the narrowness of mind. There are question marks as to whether the Supreme Court ruling will do any good, or is it that the judgement has reduced to a pyrrhic victory.

Need for Change

There is a very urgent change needed, but not in the law. A change of mindset has become pertinent, as the numerous laws will continue to remain redundant as long as people do not believe in the sanctity of it. On the one hand, India exaggerates on its spirituality, and yet it is the home for thousands of brutal rapes. An idea that women are not objects has to be put in place. The problem with prostitution in India is that it is not respected at par with other occupation, but as commodities which can be bought in the market. Red Light areas are considered bad and prostitutes as salacious items. Accepting the fact that prostitution is not something which a woman aims for, and in any case, it is something which is not harming anyone else rights is utmost important. Covering a child’s eye while passing GB Road is not a good thing to do, because what that ripe mind would believe is that those women are filthy. Only an overall mindset would bring about a revolution.

© Jatin Bavishi

(Eco Hons. 3rd Year)

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In the Depth of Dreams

My eyes began to murmur
riding upon a pallid dream,
absorbing the echo of falls
somewhere down the oceans.

Somewhere a sleek shell rang in obscurity
where fishes swam in dark
with a jelly fish hanging like a star.

My eyes abandoned me in caves,
marshy in the the abdomen of sea.
A silence engulfing my human senses
making me feel you are awake.

© Priyanka Kapoor

(English Hons, 1st Year)

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Utopia

Orwell’s 1984 dystopia is a battle:

ephemera versus eternity.

Waves ironed in sleep

form a puckered transparent flat sheet

hiding octopus’s garden inside

(Big Brother’s castle)

sepia in sunlight and blue in moonlight.

It won’t allow us inside

so we lit a cigarette and threw it in water.

(Silver dollars and green rupees were distant calls)

It evaporated and we dived into nothingness

producing tangential crevices

that are a part of government and wars.

Eventually water condensed

and we zoomed out of vapors.

Thrown into 4.6 billion years old Earth−

the black globe.

© Atul Mishra

( LitSoc VP. English Hons, 2nd Year )

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