Indian Passport kendras, totally insensitive!

 

 

Computers, Tata Consultancy Services, online submissions of forms etc sounds fabulous. Those who manage get through the process are fortunate. They I believe are a very small minority.

 

Online submission is great for those who have access to computers . My wife had submitted an application on the 16^th of February, 2013. The next step was to get an appointment with the PSK (Passport Seva Kendra). We had login at 6 p.m. and solve a captcha and then click for a date and time. Even before one can look for a convenient date, the window closes and appointments for the day are over.

 

We have been faithfully trying to get an appointment since the 16^th of Feb. Finally my wife decided to apply for a Tatkal Passport. We were thrilled when we got an appointment for the 18^th March morning. As per the India Passport website my wife organised all the documents needed and  visited the PSK only to be told that there was a problem with the verification certificate and what was the problem, the stamp of the signing officer was not partly on her photograph. Next, came big news where was the bank statement for the past year? My wife protested and said that this was not mentioned on the India Passport website and pat came the answer, the website is not up to date.

 

Now the website also states that a Tatkal applicant can either take a verification certificated from a Civil Servant or carry 3 of 16 documents listed on their website. When my wife produced her Driving licens, Voter ID and PAN card again, the response was that this does not work any more.

 

In other words, what is provided on the Passport website  cannot be relied upon. Thousands of people visit the Passport Kendras on a daily basis and have to go back again simply because the website was not updated or some rubber stamp was put slightly off the mark.

 

While this modern facility is great for a lucky few, thousands spend a whole lot of time

1.       Trying to get an appointment

2.       Repeatedly trying to go back with appropriate documents

Why won’t people of the country want to use touts to get their work done? The sad thing is as a citizen, there is no where to turn for help.

 

Dreaming for a modern and progressive India

 

George

                   

 

 

Running the Marathon, an appeal for support!

　

　

Can blind people become part of our economy? Of course! Charudatta Jhadav is a senior software engineer with TCS at Mumbai, Sanjay Dang runs Le Travel World a leading travel company in Delhi, Dudhi behn runs a flour mill in Sayla village near Ahmedabad, Gautam Baruah runs a flourishing mobile re-charge business in Guvahati, Rajani Gopalakrishna is Chartered Accountant with Infosys at Bangalore, Garimella Subramanium is a senior editor with the Hindu at Chennai　　 and the list goes on. All　 these are extremely talented and successful people and　　 All　 of them are blind.

Hence, any　 kind of exclusion of blind people is not justified. "Infact we believe that Blindness is not the real problem, it is the mindset."

　 Score Foundation launched Eyeway, a Knowledge portal on life with blindness. Knowledge has　 the power to transform lives. It can impact attitudes, motivate and create awareness and sensitise.　　 Eyeway comprises the website www.eyeway.org, the weekly radio programme "eyeway, yea hai roshni ka karwan", an sms alert service,advocacy campaigns and a helpdesk. Our helpdesk reaches out to an average of 70 people each week from across India. We need to raise Rs.8 lakhs to run the helpdesk. Any kind of contribution that adds up would be deeply appreciated.

I am participating in the Airtel Delhi Half Marathon to raise funds for our Helpdesk. You can support my run by making a donation.

All cheques must be made favouring Score Foundationand sent to

George Abraham

Score Foundation,

17/107, LGF,

Vikramvihar, Lajpatnagar 4,

New Delhi 110024.



If you would like to make payment using internet banking, our bank details are given below

Account name: Score Foundation

Bank name: HDFC Bank

Branch: Panchsheel Park, New Delhi.

Account No. 02481450000198

IFSC Code: HDFC0000248

And if you want to pay online, then log onto



http://www.wishberry.in/George-Abraham-Running-Airtel-Delhi-Half-Marathon-for-SCORE-FOUNDATION-13868

Please note that all donations are exempt of Income Tax under section 80G

Thanks and regards,

George Abraham

CEO

Score Foundation

17/107, LGF,Vikramvihar,

Lajpatnagar 4,New Delhi 110024

Ph: 91 11 26472582　

　


　

Calling for your support

An Appeal For Support...

Can blind people become part of our economy? Of course! Charudatta Jhadav is a senior software engineer with TCS at Mumbai, Sanjay Dang runs Le Travel World a leading travel company in Delhi, Dudhi behn runs a flour mill in Sayla village near Ahmedabad, Gautam Baruah runs a flourishing mobile re-charge business in Guvahati, Rajani Gopalakrishna is Chartered Accountant with Infosys at Bangalore, Garimella Subramanium is a senior editor with the Hindu at Chennai and the list goes on. All these are extremely talented and successful people and All of them are blind.

Hence, any kind of exclusion of blind people is not justified. "Infact we believe that Blindness is not the real problem, it is the mindset." Score Foundation launched Eyeway, a Knowledge portal on life with blindness. Knowledge has the power to transform lives. It can impact attitudes, motivate and create awareness and sensitise. Eyeway comprises the website www.eyeway.org, the weekly radio programme "eyeway, yea hai roshni ka karwan", an sms alert service,advocacy campaigns and a helpdesk. Our helpdesk reaches out to an average of 70 people each week from across India. We need to raise Rs.8 lakhs to run the helpdesk. Any kind of contribution that adds up would be deeply appreciated.

Please note that all cheques must be made favouring Score Foundation. If you are making the payment using Internet Banking then the details are as under

Account name: Score Foundation
Bank name: HDFC Bank
Branch: Panchsheel Park, New Delhi.
Account No. 02481450000198
IFSC Code: HDFC0000248

Please note that all donations are exempt of Income Tax under section 80G

Thanks and regards,
George Abraham
CEO
Score Foundation
17/107, LGF,Vikramvihar,
Lajpatnagar 4,New Delhi 110024
Ph: 91 11 26472582

Apprehension Transformed to Aspiration

Last November, on the eve of the Delhi Half Marathon, several scary thoughtscrossed my mind. Will I as a blind 52 year old runner be able to complete the 21 kms? Can my body take the strain? Will my heart pack up? Will I be cutting a sorry figure? What will people say ? etc. However, as I slowly and steadily covered the distance and jogged across the finnish line in 3hrs and 7 minutes, my mind was thinking about how I could cut down my timing to 2 hrs 30 minutes and how I could bring in greater style and energy into my run in the coming year . Yes, the 21 kms run was truly a lifechanging experience inspite of the muscle cramping and the body aches.I am running 21 kms once again this year on the 27th of November. I am running this time to raise money for the Eyeway Helpdesk which informs,guides and counsels blind and visually impaired callers from across India. Lastyear the Eyeway helpdesk had attended to 1300 queries. In January, we have established theOriya Eyeway Helpdesk at Bhubaneshwar, and later this year we also will be setting up the Eyeway Helpdesk in Bengali. In the next 3 to 4 years, we do propose to setup regional Eyeway Helpdesks in every State in the country. Our dream is to be able to reach out to blind and visually impaired people and their families in the language they understand and are most comfortable with. The Helpdesk responds to queries which are a direct outcome of all our information disseminating channels on a wide range of issues like - Career Guidance, Education, Rights, Legal Provisions,Parenting,Discrimination, Poverty Alleviation programmes and so on.We need your support and encouragement to achieve our goals. We believe that information has the power to touch lives and bring about change.It is contributions from friends like you that motivate us and help us inch towards fulfilling our mission.Your cheques should be made favouring "Concern India Foundation" and sent to us at

Score Foundation
17/107, LGF,Vikramvihar,
Lajpatnagar 4,New Delhi 110024

Ph: 011 26472582

We are aiming to raise Rs.15 lakhs this year through the run to meet cost of running and expanding the reach and impact of our Eyeway Helpdesk. All donations will be exempt of Income Tax under section 80G of the IT Act.Thanking you in anticipation,Best regards,George
George Abraham
CEO
Score Foundation

Ps: Eyeway is a single stop "Knowledge Resource" on life with blindness. We believe that "The real problem is the Mindset and not the Blindness". Eyeway today comprises:
1. The website www.eyeway.org
2. The weekly radio programme Eyeway, yea hai roshni ka karwan in Hindi broadcast from 30 cities of the country.
3. The Eyeway Helpdesk
4. The Eyeway sms alert service
5. The Eyeway Training workshop
6. The Eyeway Advocacy Cell

Chasing two goals!

This year, I am chasing two daunting goals:

1. I am training to run the 21 kms Delhi Half Marathon on the 21st ofNovember. It is a challenge I am taking up. I would like to prove to myself and the World that I being visually impaired too can run the distance. I need your prayers and good wishes.

2. I also am working towards raising Rs.5 lakhs to support the Eyeway Helpdesk for the blind and the Eyeway radio programme which has been reaching out to hundreds of blind and visually impaired persons across India. Over the past 8 years, Eyeway has touched and changed the lives of many families and individuals who have been coping with the challenges of life with blindness.

I believe that it is small contributions from friends, relatives and associates that can make the big difference.

If you would like to donate online, then my "I Pledge" link is

http://concernindiafoundation.org/marathon/ipledge/ipledgepage.php?ipid=DC104&ipdetails=smgma2zvsg73vny

or if you are writing a cheque, then make it favouring "Concern India Foundation" and courier it to

Score Foundation
17/107, Basement,
Vikram Vihar,
Lajpatnagar 4,
New Delhi 24
India

Phone: 91 11 26472582

All contributions are exempt of Income Tax under section 80G of the IT Act. Also, please feel free to share this mail with others who might like to support my run.

Do look forward to hearing from you.

Love,

George

If Sport be the food of life, then play on

1. Blind people in India are passionate about their cricket: The year was 1989, the city was Dehradun, I was visiting the National Institute for the Visually Handicapped and was staying at their guest house. Was woken up one morning by the sound of cricket commentary. Kapil Dev bowling to Sunil Gavaskar... I promptly jumped out of bed and ran towards the grounds just outside my window and saw a group of blind kids playing cricket. The bowling was underarm, they were using a ball that made sound. The skills were good, the action was exciting and the passion was high. I was told that they ate, slept, talked, played cricket just like what one of Coca Cola ads said.
2. Focus is on the Ability and not the Disability: The year was 1993, the city was Ahmedabad and it was the finals of the 3rd National cricket tournament for the blind. The game was between Karnataka and Gujarat. A large number of curious spectators had gathered in the ground to see how exactly the blind play cricket. Soon the curiosity changed to engagement. They no longer were wondering how the blind played the game, they were wanting to know what the score was and how the various individual players were performing. Clearly, the focus had shifted from the blindness to the performance - the Ability and not the Disability.
3. The "mantra" to successful living" It was the great West Indies opening batsman, Conrad Hunt who said " I was born with a tripple handicap. Was born black, poor and not knowing who my parents were. Was growing up wild on the pavements of Bridgetown Barbados, till the time I started playing cricket and discovered the "Mantra" to a successful life. The 5 Ds viz Dream, Desire, Discipline, Dedication, Determination." The sport empowers and I believe that cricket that the blind are so passionate about does teach the blind a thing or two about life.
4. Being a contributer: I believe that it is your ability to contribute that establishes your niche in life, be it your family, your community or for that matter your country. A team sport like cricket does teach you the value of making a contribution. As long as you are able to contribute to the team's cause, you are part of the team. For instance, Yuvraj Singh who was once an integral part of India's batting line up in the shorter versions of the game is today on the fringe of being dropped. He has not been contributing. As John F Kenedy, the former American President had once said "Look at what you can do for the country, rather than what the country can do for you." As long as you are a contributer, you are in the thick of things. Life is about empowerment and contributing.
5. The real problem is not the blindness, it is the mindset: We at Score Foundation have setup Eyeway, a single stop Knowledge resource for living life with blindness. There are 16 million blind people in India and a further 28 million people living with Low Vision. Most of them live in the margins of their families, the community and the Nation.We are concerned about the mindsets of the blind people as well as the mindsets of the community. Eyeway connects with its stakeholders and uses information/knowledge to not only Inform but also to Inspire and Include them into the mainstream. We presently connect with our stakeholders using Radio, the website www.eyeway.org, a SMS alert service, a Help line, Audio books, training programmes. Now we are also looking at establishing cricket as a platform to connect with communities to empower the blind and help focus on their skills and abilities so that they become contributers.
If Sport be the food of life, then we must play on.
(Synopsis of George Abraham's-CEO Score Foundation Talk at the Sport for Development summit held at Mumbai on the 19th of May, 2010)

Table rocking with changes

The last week has seen a number of teams from the top half sliding down and teams from the bottom have been making their way up the points table.

Rajasthan Royals contrary to expectations have started a steady climb with three good wins. Lucky to see another Pathan blitz the other day when he hammered Deccan Chargers attack.

Kings XI Punjab however has not really had any such luck. In fact they have lost all their games and even that single win was a lucky break, thanks to the super over.

Surprising to see the Chennai Super Kings struggling inspite of their heavy weights. The other day they should have put it past Mumbai Indians. I think Suresh Raina and Badrinath did not quite hit the accellerator in the last couple of overs. The last over from Malinga just got them 7 runs. Given the situation, they should have gone hammer and tongs after the 17th over. They had plenty of batting left in the dugout.

The problem I feel with the Kings XI Punjab is not a cricketing one, it perhaps is player politics. Remember, Sangakkara was made captain after replacing Yuvraj Singh. Interesting to note that Yuvraj has not quite set the stadium alight with his bat. In this format of the game, a man like Yuvraj cannot be kept quiet for long.

Last Friday, the Indian team for the T20 World Cup was picked. Surprised to see Ashish Nehra, Piyush Chawla and Rohit Sharma's names in the team. Nehra has not been playing any cricket in recent times, Rohit has not quyite been keeping the scorers busy and Piyush Chawla has not really done anything to justify dropping of Amit Mishra or Pragyan Ojha. Vinay Kumar is a good choice. Manish Pande and the Tiwari from the Mumbai Indians could have been good in the side in place of Rohit Sharma.

We begin our campaign against Afghanistan, which is good. Gives the team some time to settle down before they take on South Africa in their second game.

Would really like players like Irfan Pathan, Ambadi Rayudu, Pradeep Sangwan and Muhammad Kaif to do well in the remaining games. Watson should be soon joining the Rajasthan Royals. He is a big impact player with his bowling, batting and fielding. Well good entertainment awaits us in the weeks ahead.

Champions must be consistent

Against Mumbai Yousuf Pathan looked like a champion. Against Delhi Dare Devils, he looked a novice. Playing at the highest level calls for a certain degree of consistency. Sure, Delhi is a formidable side, but the meek surrender by the Royals was disappointing. The inexperienced middle order of the Rajasthan team was exposed. It is difficult to see Warne and his men making a dent this time round.
Moving to Bangalore, it was delightful to see the exciting and successful 200+ run chase. Kallis was superb and Pande and Uttappa backed him up magnificently. Pande is a definite prospect for the future. At the half way mark, Kings XI Punjab must have thought that they had enough to bag the two points. Bopara is in great touch. Bisla looked good, again the question is how often will he perform. Uttappa was wonderful, but again he needs to deliver more often.
KKR , after last night has come down a couple of knotches. I guess SRK had a premonition of what was coming. Perhaps that is why he had said the other day that he would start dancing only after his team has registered 5 wins on the trot. Good to see Dhoni amongst the runs He is always entertaining. Sad that he is going to miss the next few games. I believe that his presence will not only be missed by CSK as a batter but also as a leader.
.
When Rohan Gavaskar took guard, Robin Jackman had commented that he looked a lot like his father. But then he was quick to add that the comparison ended there. Sunil Gavaskar is a tough act to follow. Dad Gavaskar was one of the greatest openning batters the cricket World has seen.
It was also interesting to have the son at the crease while the father was in the commentators box in the same game though Rohan Gavaskar did not last long enough for his father to commentate on his batting. The last time I recall a father commentate on his son was when Lala Amarnath was expert commentator on All India Radio while Surinder and Mohinder were playing in a Ranji game.

Planning Critical and need to play to one's strengths

Each cricketer is in the side for his ability and skills. He brings something special to the table. If he tries to emulate someone else, he is neither doing justice to himself nor to his team. All of us perform tasks and we are best at doing it our way. Likewise, each batsman must approach the task on hand while at the crease in the way he is most adept at We need to back our strengths. .
Stroke players like Dhoni, Gilchrist Kemp and Simons would go bang bang while the touch artists like Laxman, Vijay, Badrinath should depend on finding the gaps and timing instead of trying to blast the ball and manufacture strokes .
120 balls in a T20 game are a lot of balls. One can afford to play a few dot balls as you come to the crease. The top order of the Royal Challengers seem to be in a big hurry. Getting a good start is critical. The easiest thing to say is that we played badly and the opposition was better than us on the day or blaming it on luck.
It is important for players like Dravid to bring in the solidity to the middle order. He should not be expected to play like Sehwag. The problem that the Bangalore team faced was that they lost wickets early and 135 proved too little. It was good to see young Manoj Tiwari blossom in the company of the Ausie veteran Brad Hodge. Also not to be missed, the passionate leadership of Saurav Dada.

In the game played at Chennai, The Deccan Chargers got their act together this time. All their big guns fired. 190 for 4 was a formidable total. But then when the chase began, I wonder what players like Dhoni and Albi Morckle were doing sitting in the dugout. They should have come out higher up the order. By the time Dhoni had walked in, the match perhaps was at the threshold of the impossible Zone.
In a T20 game, a captain should always be thinking of maximising the returns on his resources. Morckle, Dhoni and Kemp should have been batting at 3,4 and 5 followed by Raina and Badrinath. Vijay should have been instructed very clearly to stick around, rotate the strike and preserve one end. Each player must be given his clear role. The Chennai Super King team certainly had the talent to score 190, but then they got their planning horribly wrong.
In life too, all of us have our strengths and ability to contribute to the overall scheme of things. It is critical for us to know what we are good at and look at playing the game of life backing our strengths.

Amazing Stroke play

Today's game between Mumbai Indians and Rajasthan Royals was truly fascinating. The Mumbai team scored 212 for 6 in their 20 overs. Young Ambadi Rayudu and Saurav Tiwari put together 110 magnificent runs for the 5th wicket. Good to see young Rayudu perform. He had promised a great deal during the under 16 and the under 19 World Cups some time ago. A good IPL should put him back in the reckoning for National duty. Wonderful talent. I also believe that the Rajasthan Royals bowlers gave away too many free runs through wides.
But then the real treat was yet to come. The Royals stumbled and tumbled at the start. and soon were 4 down with very little on board. A mountain to climb and the commentators had begun to write them off. Out came Dogra to join Yousuf Pathan and what followed was simply breath taking. The hitting was simply out of this World. 100 in just 37 balls with 8 hits over the ropes and 9 boundaries. It was a classic demonstration of outstanding fearless stroke play. It was the ultimate display of self belief and confidence. Truly facing the situation on the front foot. The doubting Thomas's in the commentary box also began changing their tune.
It was just a stroke of sheare good luck that stopped the Pathan onslaught and saved the day for Mumbai Indians.
The Pathan Dogra show reminded me of the Yuvraj Kaif partnership at Lords a few years ago when they turned a seemingly lost cause into a famous win. I guess this is why we say "No match is won or lost till the last ball is bowled". I believe that this is also true with life. Never give up, hurdles could be great, but it is not really wise to write oneself off at any point in time.

A Scratchy Start

Yes, the third edition of the IPL is here. The opening game was bit of a scratch scratch affair. None of the batsmen except for Angelo Mathews and O A Shah seem to be middling the ball.
Chasing 162 should have been a stroll in the partk for the Deccan Chargers. They started off well with a lot of luck. The KKR fielders appeared to be a bunch of novices when it came to catching. Had all the catches been held, the Chargers might have struggled to cross 100.
It was good to see the old war horses Laxman and Gilchrist at the top of the order. But it was rather disappointing to see Laxman abandon his own sublime poetic style of batting and attempt to emulate Viv Richards by trying to belt the ball out of the ground. All he needed to do was to keep a cool head, nudge the ball around, take singles and time the odd bad ball to the fense. He could easily have made a run a ball 60 or 70 and given the Chargers a better chance of getting to the target.
Garry Sobers was asked on the sidelines whether he would have change his style of batting if he were to play T20 cricket and his reply was a simple "No". To do well in the format, one needs to stick to one's own natural style.
Rohit Sharma is a huge bundle of talent, but then he is also a master at throwing his wicket away. If he does not learn the art of putting his head down and delivering at the crease, he could very soon be out of the reckoning and that would be a shame.
T20 is not about putting every ball across the ropes, neither is it about scoring at a hectic pace right from ball one. It is about keeping the score board ticking, keeping a cool head and building partnerships.

Another observation is that the TV commentators very often did not appear to know the names of the players who were bowling or fielding, specially when it came to Indian players. Besides it would have been interesting if the commentators could from time to time give the viewers a little background on each of the players.

I have nothing against Hindi commentary, but then please don't burden the viewers/listeners with substandard talent. Someone might have been a great cricketer in his time, but if he cannot speak straight and does not know enough about the game, he should not be forced upon the cricket loving public.

IPL has become an annual event that every Indian looks forward to. It is rather sad that Lalit Modi and gang have totally ignored the millions of blind cricket lovers who would also have liked to follow the action on good old Radio.

Athletics in India - sad news!

About 6 months ago, I had made a serious bid to prepare for the 21kms run in the Delhi Half Marathon. I began by skipping and spot jogging at home. A few weeks down the line, I stepped out of the house to find an athletic stadium where I could freely jog without being worried about on coming vehicles, hurting my knees and possibly breathing some fresh air.

Well NOIDA had nothing to offer, except for the NOIDA football grounds with thick grass and and ditches. I quickly returned to the safety of my home and also gave up the idea of 21 km run.

New Delhi is hosting the C'Wealth games and not one stadium with a proper running track. The roads are unsafe and running on the roads is not the best for one's knees. When I was in school at Hubli in Karnataka, every morning my friends and I went out for athletics practice at the local Engineering College grounds. It was a good 400m track. Hubli at that time had at least two other athletics stadium. In school the annual athletics meet was a highlight of the year. I wonder if school kids in Delhi have the opportunity to work on the sprints and other athletic disciplines. I know that the school in which my daughter studied had their annual athletics meet once in 4 years! Ha! Ha!

I wonder if the sport loving citizens of Delhi would have more facilities for athletics after the 2010 Games. Shouldn't Sheila Dikshit and co ensure that all the DDA sports complexes are accessible and have proper running tracks which ideally should be standard 400m tracks. These tracks could easily go round the millions of cricket facilities around the city.

I want to run. I am sure that there are many more people in the NCR who also want to run. So please, the powers that be, do something about it.

Donate today:6 days to do!

Hi ,

This year I am running the Airtel Delhi Marathon on the 1st of November aspart of the Dream Team. I am raising funds for the following projects

1. Score Foundation's Scholarship Fund for under privileged Blind studentswho would like to pursue higher studies. The fund will support tuition fees,hostel fees, purchase of assistive technologies, computers and so on. There are a number of students who approach us from different parts of the country with request for financial help.
2. Score Foundation's Eyeway Talking Book Production Service. This is aneffort to make available reading material to blind children, students andprofessionals. We sign up with publishers to convert there print material into audio books. Presently, we have a number of volunteers who record withus.
3. Score Foundation is launching a cricket for development programme. The plan is to use cricket as a tool in Community Based Rehabilitation by drawing blind children out of homes and coaching them and providing them with a platform at the community level to play the game they love anddemonstrate their ability. I would urge you to please support this effort by making a contribution towards any of the above projects. Your cheques should be drawn in favour of "Concern India Foundation" and sent to me at George Abraham
CEO
Score Foundation
Y-70, LGF,
Hauz Khas, New Delhi 110016
India

This donation will be exempt of Income Tax under section 80G When you send the cheque, please do indicate the project you are contributing towards. This is a request to you personally and not to yourcompany necessarily. Even the smallest of contribution will mean a great deal to the work we do. You can also now donate online at http://www.concernindiafoundation.org/i-pledge/help_ipledge_page.asp?dreamid=DTeam5&session_id=gk04ErpDDx

Score Foundation is a registered NGO that has been working with the blind since 2002. We have launched Project Eyeway, a single stop Knowledge Resource for persons living with blindness and low vision. Eyeway today comprises:

a. the website www.eyeway.org
b. a weekly radio programme Eyeway Yeh Hai Roshni Ka Karawan broadcastfrom 30 cities of India
c. the Eyeway helpdesk that takes calls from all over the country fromblind and visually impaired persons
d. an SMS news alert service that informs over 600 subscribers aboutlatest career opportunities, new technology, events and so on
e. the Eyeway talking books

The Eyeway experience has been a life changing one for many a blindpersons in the country. We do look forward to your support.

Warm regards,

George

An Indian Cricket team for all seasons

I have been following cricket very closely for 4 decades now. Read a lot, wathced a lot and heard a lot of cricket. I thought it would be an interesting exercise to put together an India Cricket Test XI taking cricketers from all seasons and all eras.

My XI is

1. Sunil Gavaskar
2. V Sehwag
3. Rahul Dravid
4. Sachin Tendulkar
5. Vijay Hazare
6. V Mankad
7. M.S Dhoni
8. Kapil Dev
9. Zaheer Khan
10. E A S Prassanna
11. J Srinath

There could be discussions on certain positions in the team. I opted for Vijay Hazare over Vishvanath for instance on the basis of Hazare's good performances overseas. Vishvanath is a very good batsman but most of his spectacular cricket was played in India. The other debate is the wicket keepers spot. Dhoni is steadily improving as a Keeper and has proved to be a very productive batsman. His records speak for itself.

Your thoughts and suggestions are welcome.

Shocking! Can we do something?

The other day, I attended a campaign launch function organised by Save the Children Fund (SCF). The campaign was called "Everyone".

The campaign is about the children of our country and the dire straits they are in. I learnt that 4 lakh children born in India do not make it past 24 hrs, 1 million children do not make it past their 1st birthday and 2 million children do not make it past their 5th birthday. This is indeed shocking. The tragedy is that most of these infant deaths are due to mal nutrition, diarrhoea, poor drinking water and highly inadequate public health services.

What can we do about this problem, beyond just creating awareness?

Commonwealth Games, A Waste of Tax Payers Money?

October, 2010 will see the Commonwealth Games take place in New Delhi. It surely would be a spectacular event with very grand openning and closing ceremonies and dazzling sporting action . But the big question is whether our country can afford such an extravagant venture and how the event is going to affect the sporting scene of the country.

In 1982, we proudly hosted the Asian Games. The event was considered by many as a huge success. Huge money was spent on sporting infra structure and other facilities. Does the average sporting loving Indian have access to any of those facilities? Have the Sport Authority of India done anything to maximise the utility of the facilities? Did the holding of the events throw up fresh enthusiasm for athletics and other such sporting disciplines?

We have had a few great sporting icons like Milkha Singh, P T Usha, Shiny Abraham Anju Bobby George, Prakash Padukone, Gopichand and more recently Abhinav Bindra and the boxers . All these champions have come through inspite of the system.

Sad to say that Milkha Singh's record of the1960 still stands for the 400 meters. While World Records are tumbling all the time, Indian athletics records have not changed very much. How do we justify the fact that Suresh Kalmadi has been at the helm of affairs for nearly 3 decades. It is obvious that he has done precious little to raise the standard of Indian sport. I am sure that there is someone else in our vast country who can do better.
If Abhinav Bindra, Prakash Padukone and others can be World Class, there should be plenty more talent around who can be coached and developed to be World Champions. I think as a country we should focus on creating World Class sportsman and women rather than wasting money on big events that do not benefit anyone.

Running because I care...

Hi,

This year, I am running 21 kms at the Delhi half Marathon on 1st November to raise money for

1. The Eyeway Scholarship fund for under privileged blind students wishing to pursue college and university education. The scholarship will be looking at funding tuition fees, hostel accommodation, assistive technology, books and so on. The scholarship will be an All India one and will be given on merit and need base.
2. The Eyeway talking book service which is an endeavour to make reading material accessible for the blind and visually impaired people.
3. The IPL for the blind. In February, 2010, we plan to organise the first Indian Premier League cricket for the blind at New Delhi. 112 players from all over India would be participating The players will be selected through 16 Talent Scouting Camps across India.I would urge you to support our effort by making a donation.Your donation would be exempt of Income Tax under section 80G of the IT Act.

Your cheque should be made out favouring "Concern India Foundation" and sent to us at Score Foundation.
Thanks,George

George Abraham
CEO
Score Foundation
Y-70, LGF,Hauz Khas,
New Delhi 110016
India
Ph: 91 11 26852581
Telefax: 91 11 26852559
Mob: 91 9810934040/91 9810001181
Email: george@eyeway.org
Skype: georgeabraham13

Times they are a changing...

Ramakrishna today is General Manager, Finance with IDBI, He is totally blind. He is the first blind person to successfully complete an MBA degree. Geetha Shamana is a German translator working out of Bangalore. Sanjay Dang owns and manages a Rs.1.5 crore Travel Company in Deli. Charudatta Jhadav, a software Engineer is a Project Goup Leader aTata Consultancy Services. Sidhdharth Sharma runs a PR company, while Vikram Dalmia runs his own Industry. Kanchan Pamnani, Kanchan Gaba and Deepak Motivala are thriving lawyers. Sameer Late, Dilip Loyolka and Rajni Gapalakrishnan are CAs doing wonderfully well. To add to this L Subramani, Garimella Subramanium and Rajesh Kumar are journalists with leading Newspapers of the country. These are just a few names of individuals who are doing extremely well in the mainstream and happen to be totally blind.
The last couple of decades have witnessed tremendous changes as far as living with blindness is concerned. In the 1960s and 1970s, educated blind people could aspire to get into the teaching profession or take up music at best When it came to the less educated or the uneducated blind person, they would be lucky if they could sell candles, cane chairs or at best be part of an industrial assembly line.
The opening up of the media in the 1990s, the coming of age of assistive technology for the blind, the increasing opportunities for education for blind persons and the steadily rising recognition of the ability of blind persons slowly but gradually has started opening up a wide range of avenues.
T: Technology
E: Education
A: Ability
M: Media
Indeed a formidable TEAM that promises to put the blind people of this country onto an equal footing. Surely the potential is there and now the TEAM tools are available, what is needed are the inclusive policies, universal designs and a determined and discipline effort on the part of the blind persons.
The 1990s saw the emergence of Personal Computers, Mobile Phones, Scanners and so on and along with it saw the advent of screen readers, OCR software and the internet. This has opened up a whole newn World of Knowledge that has become accessible to the blind persons of the country. This revolutionary access to the World of knowledge has created a vast variety of opportunity both in terms of education and also in terms of employment.
The 1990s also has seen several mainstream schools opening their doors to blind and visually impaired students. Today, in the big cities, inclusive education is catching on where blind students are learning side by side with their sighted peers. Hence the blind persons are beginning to be included into the mainstream from an earlier age and this truly is progressive.
Further the media has since the past decade and half have told many a stories about blind persons that has informed, inspired and empowered not only blind and visually impaired persons, but also their families and the society at large. With stories of people like Erik Waheinmayer, the blind mountaineer who climbed Mount Everest, David Blunkett- the former Secretary of Home in the UK, Miles Hilton Barbar- the blind Pilot who flew a twin seater aircraft from London to Sidney, Dr.Geeratt Wermaij- a totally blind professor of Marine Biology, Shasha Wanlu- a totally blind detective, there is no doubting the times that are changing .
George Abraham

We want to know!

Dear Friends who care!

What happened in Mumbai is terrible. It is really heartening to see the overwhelming responses from the citizens of the country. Terror should not be tollerated at any cost whether it is from outside our cuntry or from within. We have to get to the root of things and address the issues decisively. We need to look at strengthening our systems , border protection and our security forces.While we do all this , I would also like to askWhat are the citizens of the country going to be doing about the butchers who killed hundreds of Christians in Orissa? What are the citizens of the country going to do with the cowards who massacred hundreds of Muslims in Gujarat? Shouldnt we call for action? Shouldnt we bring the people behind this dastardly acts also to book?Terror inflicted on the elite or for that matter unleashed on tribals and the poor in my book is the same. Terror sponsored by a foreign organisation or sponsored by an Indian outfit is again the same.What are the citizens of India going to do about this?Are we going to allow political parties to take up issues that pit people against people to fight elections? Are we going to tollerate hate merchants like Tugadia and Raj Thackaray?Oh citizens of the country, can we come together and fight hate, corruption and unnecessary violence?Can we start afresh today and work towards an India where our children can live in confidence and without fear? Can we stop thinking just about ourselves and start thinking about our Nation? Without our Nation, we are no where. We need to preserve our Nation.
George Abraham

Worrying for India

Dear fellow Indians,
To begin with, what happened last night at Mumbai is unacceptable. In fact this recent rise in terror attacks across the country is truly worrying. It is time that the educated concerned citizens of the country come together to do something about this.
To start with the politics of hate and communalism has to end. I am aChristian and an Indian. I will stick my neck out and say that ever sincethe Communal brand of politics has come to stay, communal hatred and intolerance has increased and the cosmopolitan fabric of the Indian society has become frail.
I think the current form in the way in which our country is governed needsto be reviewed. The electoral process has become a hypocritical routine which we follow session after session without questioning.
I do think something needs to be done before we Indians kill and destroy each other and our beloved country fragments.
All the economic development is of no meaning, if the average Indian cannot live with dignity and confidence.
It is time to say "Enough is enough" It is time for the average citizen to play a more active role in determining how our country is managed.
I would appeal to every Indian to rise above political allegiances and think and do something positive to save our country.
Worrying for India
George
George Abraham