Saina Nehwal – A Pride of India
K S VENKATARAMAN

Saina Nehwal beat Japan's Sayaka Sato 21-19, 13-21, 21-11 in the final in Jakarta on Sunday, June 27, 2010. She has achieved the hat-trick after her India Open GP Gold and Singapore Open Super Series titles over the last two weeks.


When somebody asked about her rankings, 20 year-old Saina Nehwal replied, “I want to be 100 per cent at every tournament. I’m not concerned about rankings. If I win, my ranking will improve. My focus is on improving my game and fitness. If that happens, everything else follows.” What a healthy philosophy of life, this youngster has as the foundation of her life! In these few words, she has given the teachings of the Bhagawad Gita in nutshell: ‘Concentrate on your duty, without worrying about the rewards. If you can perform unswervingly at your best, understand that it is the major reward of life.’
Prakash Padukone won the English Masters Championship in 1979 held at Royal Albert Hall, London. Further, he won the Danish Open and the Swedish Open Championships in the year 1980. These Swedish, Danish and All England titles lifted him to world No 1. The summit that Padukone scaled is now within sight of Saina as well. Not that she cares too much about rankings.
Saina Nehwal is now the ace Indian badminton player, holding the world rank number 3. Her latest victory at the Djarum Indonesia Open Super Series, enabled her to retain the crown on Sunday and gave her the third title in the last 19 days.
Saina began briskly her first game and secured a 9-4 lead. But Sayaka Sato was not a pushover. She fought back and led Saina at 16-17. Saina had to win three consecutive points to move to 19-17. Still Sayaka managed to save a game point but very soon the first set ended in Saina’s favor.
Sayaka returned with a lot of determination. She put forth her best and hit the shuttle very hard. She rushed to a 14-7 lead! She smashed 14 winners and Saina had to concede the set to her opponent.
Saina came back and asserted her superiority in the third set. Her concentration was superb. She did not give much air and kept the shuttle in play. She also forced her opponent to the net frequently. Sayaka committed many errors and could not control Saina’s progress. Finally, in the battle that lasted 45 minutes, Saina Nehwal smelt victory; with four successive points, she emerged victorious and defended well her championship here.
Saina acknowledge her success gracefully and said, “I am very, very happy. It’s a memorable moment in my life. To defend the crown is exciting and to win a third title on the trot is a great feeling. I am delighted.” She added, “This is my 15th consecutive match and winning all of them is great. I am extremely satisfied with my performance. Winning at Chennai, Singapore and here was just amazing. I am very happy that I have been consistent over the last three weeks.”
The next challenge for Saina is already very near and in sight. It is the World Championships to be held in Paris from Aug 23 to 29. She has said, “My next target is the World title. These three victories have given me immense confidence. I want to train hard and do well at the World Championships.”
Her victory in Jakarta may not take her higher than her present third rank because here she had only defended the points she had already won. But no doubt, the boost to her self-confidence would be great.
Her coach Pullela Gopichand has said,, “It’s phenomenal. Very few players are capable of winning three titles in a row. It’s a result of her fitness and rigorous practice. She’s very young and I am expecting more such performances from her. Once she’s back we’ll start preparing for the World Championships.” He also added, “She’s been very consistent and is getting better all the time. It’s simple — just use your brains while training, don’t complicate things too much. I don’t use computer software or anything to analyze.”
Dr. Harvir Singh Nehwal, Saina’s father said with justifiable pride, “I always believed she can do well at international level. Before going to Singapore she told me, ‘Papa, I’ll win this title.’ It’s God’s grace that she’s doing so well. I hope she’ll come up with a good performance at the World Championships as well. She’s made the country proud.”

Born on March 27, 1990 at Hisar in Haryana (India), Saina Nehwal has already an impressive list of achievements. She has already been honored with Arjuna Award and the title of Padma Sri.

Her International / Indian Titles

Czechoslovakia Junior Open 2003
Asian Satellite Badminton Tournament 2005
Philippines Open 2006
Asian Satellite Badminton Tournament 2006
Indian National Badminton Tournaments 2007, 2008
Yonex Chinese Taipei Open 2008
World Junior Badminton Championships (First
Indian to win a world Junior title) 2008
Indonesian Open Super Series (First Indian to
win a Super Series event) 2009
India Open Grand Prix Gold Event 2010 (June 13)
Singapore Open Super Series 2010 (June 20)
Indonesia Open 2010 (June 27)

Other International Performances

Commonwealth Games, 2006 Bronze medal in mixed team event
Beijing Olympics, 2008 Quarterfinals (First Indian woman
to reach Olympics Quarterfinals)
Badminton Asia Championships, 2010 Bronze medal
All-England Super Series, 2010 Semifinalist

The field is vast. Many a summit is there to conquer like the Asian Games, the World Championships, the Olympics and so on. Saina is only 20. With her courage, determination and positive frame of mine, she will, no doubt, easily accomplish much more and make the country proud.

Saina Nehwal is a source of inspiration and role model for the global youth. Dynamic Youth Online Magazine congratulates Saina Nehwal on her remarkable achievement and wishes her a long successful sports career and that she should become numero uno soon.

Sources

http://sports.rediff.com/report/2010/jun/27/saina-nehwal-wins-indonesia-open-super-series-crown.htm

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/more-sports/badminton/Super-Saina-shines-supreme/articleshow/6099486.cms

http://www.dnaindia.com/sport/report_saina-nehwal-does-it-again-clinches-indonesia-open-title_1401907

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K S Venkataraman is the Associate Editor, Dynamic Youth Online Magazine dedicated to Global Youth Development and freely viewable in www.dynamicyouth.org
He may be contacted through e-mail: dynamicyouth_development@yahoo.com
http://www/linkedin.com/in/ksvenkataraman

Sine qua non of Government

(With special reference to India)

K S VENKATARAMAN

Men have not, at bottom, been contending about forms of government. Writers and orators have; but the mass of nations do not enter into theories; they look to the practical effects. They have been seeking such a change as will render their lives more happy and less humiliating, with very little regard as to names and forms.

Cobbett

A Tamil proverb says, “The vessel may have a hole in it; it is perfectly all right if the cake is cooked well.” (Ottai chattiyaanaalum kozhukkattai vendhaal sari). What is the point in having a shining, beautiful vessel that does not help in properly cooking the dish? Our governments can be equated with showy vessels not only with a number of holes but also useless instruments for cooking.

I do not want to dwell at length on various theories of government. But there are some common expectations, irrespective of the form, about any good government. The ancient Tamil literature stipulates that a king (the head of government) should ensure that the citizens do not suffer in any way by ‘himself, his henchmen, his officials, internal and external enemies and wild animals’. The first and foremost need for the people is safety and protection; and these are the five sources of danger to the public safety and protection.

India is a country with a great history and culture. We, Indians are independent. We have the democratic form of government. We have rich natural resources and huge human population. As such basically and structurally there seems to be no problem. But why most of the people are poor and suffer untold miseries? Why Indian government is undoubtedly a disappointment?

The first and foremost duty of a government is to ensure safety and protection to all the citizens, without any exception. This is the fundamental and sacred duty of government. If proper law and order is maintained, if proper social values are not disrupted, the people would find themselves working together towards prosperity for all.

I have nothing against the governments encouraging research and other developmental activities. But there is a fixed priority for their functions.

First one wears underwear; then pant, then shirt, then overcoat and so on. If one wears overcoat first and does not think much of wearing an underwear, what to think of him? Our governments, both at states and center, behave like this. They are busy with very big things; the projects, which cost in billions, and in which there can be inbuilt scams involving billions of rupees; but simple and fundamental duties, are not of much interest to them.

I am not a person who is particularly drawn towards sad and negative aspects of life; but compelled by the need for driving my point home, let me narrate briefly an ‘incident’ that happened In Hyderabad in the early hours on May 31, 2010.

A woman of about 25 years is stabbed seven times by the assailants in the proximity of an apartment; she shouts for help, which is not forthcoming; the apartment’s watchman refuses to let her in; severely wounded, she crawls a few yards to a heap of sand and dies of profuse bleeding. The only humanitarian act was that the watchman gave her a tumbler of water before dying.

(Deccan Chronicle, June 1, 2010).

I don’t labor under the impression that the story narrated above would have created any emotional turmoil in readers. Most of you might have chuckled at best or worst. I am not blaming anybody. I am pointing out to a fact, i.e. to what abysmal mental conditioning most of us have been subjected to. Thousands of such incidents, many of them ‘quantitatively and qualitatively’ worse than this are reported in our dailies and where is the time for us to think about such things in detail?

The organized criminals do not have any fear about our enforcement system. They are not afraid of police. Only the law-abiding citizens have got to fear about both criminals and police! Is it not shameful that even murder cases take very long to get decided, sometimes more than a decade?

Our culture is that for having killed a calf, the prince had to die; for unjustifiably caused a murder, the king had to die. Okay, I am able to hear what you are saying; it is all old stories! But are they not our sources of inspiration? Should we not be guided by them? If we cannot achieve that level, at least should we not try to move in that direction?

India is the country that occupies the first place in a list. That is the list showing the number of persons dying because of dog-bite every year. Our ‘honorable first’ is achieved by losing about 40000 persons ‘annually’ to stray dogs. The distant second position goes to the more populated China, where about 4000 persons die every year. This is not something for our ‘rulers’ to cogitate upon, leave alone doing something. Doing something means talking to people, educating them, making them understand that human beings are more important than stray dogs and so on; it is really too much to expect our ‘representatives’ to take upon themselves responsibilities for such missions. And there are those who never have to get down from their air-conditioned cars, ever ready to talk against cruelty to animals, turning a blind eye to the cruelties to human beings. I am also not saying that we should be cruel to stray dogs; but why not take it seriously and formulate concerted measures to solve the problem. The lives of the poor people, who have to work in open fields, who have to return home during late hours in nights, do not command any value in our country. Only the lives of the VIPs and political bigwigs matter.

If any of you ask me why I am talking about a single murder and dog-bite deaths, while thousands are dying in the hands of terrorists like Maoists, sorry, I do no have any counter point. Only our benevolent, development-oriented and efficient government can answer you.

With the forces at our command for enforcing law and order, if the government sincerely tries, is it impossible to bring down crimes and corruption to zero level? If so, I have no hesitation to say that we have a government that is strictly not qualified to exist; for the safety and protection of the people form the sine qua non of any good government.

K S Venkataraman

dynamicyouth_development@yahoo.com

www.dynamicyouth.org

Miss World 2009

K S VENKATARAMAN

 

Enchanting Gibraltar

 

Gibraltar, (latitude 36o07'N and longitude 05o21’W) the small country on the South coast of Spain, till recently a dependency of Britain and a bone of contention between Britain and Spain, received international attention today (December 12, 2009) as the Miss World, 2009 emerged from here.

The northern part of Gibraltar is a sandy plain land. In South is the rocky mass of grey limestone considered to belong to Jurassic age. It is overlaid here and there by dark shale, limestone breccias, or sands.

Standing guard over the western Mediterranean, and commanding the unique position of ‘Meeting Place of Continents’ (Europe and Africa), Gibraltar has been continuously the focus of international conflicts. On November 7, 2002 the people of Gibraltar voted against a plan of joint sovereignty of Britain and Spain. They have approved a new constitution for themselves on November 30, 2006.

This small territory of about 6.843 sq. kilometers with a population of 27,967 overlooking the strait to Africa is a tourists’ paradise. Throughout the year it has the pleasant sub-tropical climate. Its environment is captivating. In addition to its breathtaking scenery, wildlife and architecture that still reminds old Mediterranean style, there are other modern attractions; it is VAT free jurisdiction and its famous Main Street offers thrilling shopping experience to the tourists.

Gibraltar is linked with Spanish territory by a narrow one mile-long sandy isthmus; and rises steeply. The rock is of three miles length and ¾ mile width.

The tourists have more than one reason to select Gibraltar for a pleasure trip; it has so many leisure-time activities like sailing, diving, fishing, bird watching, rock-touring and so on.

     

 

 

The Gibraltar rock’s highest point is 1396’. From the north escarpment, the inaccessible rock of sharp, knife-ridge runs for about 1½ miles and then slopes southward for about a mile, till Europa Point (the southern end).

 

 

 

 

 

The whole upper length of the eastern face is inaccessible and the steep upper half of the western slopes is uninhabited and has been designated a nature reserve.

 

Gibraltar has interesting flora and fauna. The only wild primates in all Europe, the Barbary apes, which are charming and friendly, may be seen here in a den high on the Rock. Flying fish and schools of leaping dolphins greet those who sail into the bay. For the millions of migrating birds which fly between Northern Europe and tropical Africa, Gibraltar Rock serves as a staging post.

Though the Nature has precluded Gibraltar from agriculture and major industry, it has blessed it with impressive tourism potentials. The Alameda Gardens is a famous public park of Gibraltar. Many new species from former British territories like Australia and South Africa with which Gibraltar had maritime links at the time of the British Empire, have been brought to Alameda Gardens, developing it into one of the very interesting botanical gardens of the world.

Okay, I am able to hear your murmur. I shall start saying about the Miss World.

Kaiane Aldorino of Gibraltar is Miss World 2009

Kaiane Aldorino of Gibraltar has won the 2009 Miss World crown at a glittering ceremony here on Saturday, defeating 111 contestants from across the world.

 

The 59^th Miss World Final from Gallagher Convention Center, Johannesburg, the City of Gold, selected Kaiane Aldorino of Gibraltar as Miss World 2009.

Official judges at the Miss World 2009 Final were:

Julia Morley Miss World Limited Chairman and Chairman of the

Judges

Priyanka Chopra Miss World 2000 and Bollywood superstar

Zhang Zi Lin Miss World 2006. The international face of L’Oreal
Mike Dixon West End and Broadway award-winner musical director
JJ Schoeman Leading South African designer
Lindiwe Mahlangu-Kwele CEO Johannesburg Tourism Company
Graham Cooke MD World Travel Group
Warren Batchelor Executive Producer, Miss World 2009

Ksenia Sukhinova (Russia) Miss World 2008 placed the bejeweled crown on the latest beauty Kaiane Aldorino of Gibraltar.

The first runner-up Perla Beltran (Mexico) and

second runner-up Tatum Keshwar (South Africa)

took their positions on the sides of Kaiane Aldorino.

Former Miss World and Bollywood superstar Priyanka Chopra graced the occasion.

The Miss World 2009, trying to suppress her tears of bliss, said, “My time has come. I am living a dream that I pray will never end.”

 

The 22-year old blonde, Kaiane Aldorino is an HR Clerk by profession. She has won the first Miss World title for her country. She said, "Thank you South Africa, this is the most wonderful moment of my life."

Miss India Pooja Chopra, who participated in the contest, nursing an injured ankle, made it to the semi-final along with 15 other contestants. Unfortunately she had to miss the penultimate round. Chopra earlier won the 'beauty with a purpose' title for supporting the save the girl-child initiative back home.

The Miss World flag was handed over to Vietnam, hosts of Miss World 2010.

Sources

http://www.gibraltar.gov.gi/

http://www.missworld.com/

K S Venkataraman is the Associate Editor, Dynamic Youth Online Magazine. His e-mail: dynamicyouth_development@yahoo.com

Dynamic Youth is freely viewable in www.dynamicyouth.org