Tuesday, December 19, 2006

Two Smiles In One Day

There are times when you feel good about your country and yesterday was one such day. The Indian cricket team, the Indian judiciary and the intertwined story of human triumph are responsible for this ‘feel-good’. Let me tell you how.

Indian team beat South Africa in their home-turf. While this Test is an incredible story in itself, a tale of great sporting triumph in the face of adversity, it is as much a tale of great human triumph in the face of tremendous hardship and a fascinating mosaic of several individual stories. Big and heroic return of Ganguly, emergence of Sreesanth and comebacks of Zaheer and Laxman. I am not the usual cricket crazy Indian, yet the victory (in more ways than one) gave me a big smile to carry through the day. And it came back today when I read about it in the morning newspaper. The story of this epoch-making Test will be told to young cricketers and readers for a long time, and rightly so.

Even if it's seven years after the crime, justice prevailed in the much-talked case of Jessica Lall’s murder. Rang De Basanti, Citizens of India, the victim’s family & friends, Bina Ramani and the sensibilities (Der Aaye Par Durust Aaye) of the judiciary system of our country contributed towards this much-awaited verdict. Once again, this is a great tale of undying human spirit and its ultimate triumph. So,
this news added to my smile and here I am, writing about my happiness. As for Manu Sharma’s fate, I don’t want to hear another capital punishment from the court of justice. To know why, read my earlier post on the subject at http://tangled-up-in-views.blogspot.com/2006/10/short-piece-on-killing.html
Did you also feel the way I felt about these two stories?

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

It sure did! there's scope for hope in this country. I feel lucky to be a part of it.

meraj said...

am glad that its a life sentence

meraj said...

What Sabrina Lall says...

Amazingly, Sabrina says she doesn’t want the death sentence for Sharma. “I want the life sentence because I feel that the individual should be punished. The death penalty would mean that he will go away, leaving his family behind. I don’t want his family to suffer. Family members suffer through no fault of their own. I want him to get punished during his lifetime. I want Manu Sharma to suffer,” says Sabrina.