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The Daily Janchetna
Year11, Issue:11, Monday, Nov.16,2020.
. Message of the Day .
Do involve yourself in social activities to bring the desired changes without expecting instant results. Fruits of the mango tree sown by you will be enjoyed by your grandchildren.
. History of the Day-6 .
Drafting a formal constitution proved much more of a challenge for the National Constituent Assembly, which had the added burden of functioning as a legislature during harsh economic times. For months, its members wrestled with fundamental questions about the shape and expanse of France’s new political landscape. For instance, who would be responsible for electing delegates? Would the clergy owe allegiance to the Roman Catholic Church or the French government? Perhaps most importantly, how much authority would the king, his public image further weakened after a failed attempt to flee in June 1791, retain? Adopted on September 3, 1791, France’s first written constitution echoed the more moderate voices in the Assembly, establishing a constitutional monarchy in which the king enjoyed royal veto power and the ability to appoint ministers
. Today’s History .
16th November
Important Events:
1927 — Shreeram Lagoo, Marathi and Hindi film and theatre actor, was born
1930 — Mihir Sen, Indian swimmer who became first Asian to swim across the English Channel, was born
1936 — Ramoji Rao, Telugu businessman and media entrepreneur, was born
1963 — Meenakshi Seshadri, Indian film actress, was born
1980 — Jayan, Malayalam film actor, passed away
1991 — Maya Dolas, underworld gangster, died
As a child he was interested in cricket but his brother reportedly nudged him towards badminton. During college he captained the combined varsities badminton team in 1990 and 1991. Gopichand’s coaches included S.M. Arif, Prakash Padukone and Ganguly Prasad.
In 1996 Gopichand won his first National Badminton title. He followed this with five successive national titles. At the 1998 Indian national games in Imphal, he bagged two gold medals and a silver. He won gold at the 1996 SAARC badminton tournament at Vijayawada and the 1997 edition at Colombo. He won a silver medal in the team event and a bronze in the men’s singles at the 1998 Commonwealth Games.
In 1999, he won France’s Toulouze open championship and the Scottish open championship, as well as the Asian satellite tournament held at Hyderabad.
In 2001, Gopichand created history in London by winning the All England Open Badminton Championships, making him the second Indian to win the championships after Prakash Padukone, the 1980 winner. His resounding 15-12, 15-6 victory in the finals over China’s Chen Hong came after beating Olympic champion Ji Xinpeng and a semi-final victory over the worlds’ top ranked player, Peter Gade.
Calling his triumph “one of the biggest surprises” of the prestigious tournament, Richard Collins of The Telegraph wrote: “The 27-year-old’s success emulated that of Prakash Padukone, who has not only coached Gopichand at the Padukone academy in Bangalore, but implanted a few of his own characteristics as well. There were similarities in the fluid movement and the deft net game and even in the comparable absence of a big smash, although Gopichand is more attacking than the master.”
According to a report in the Indian Express Gopichand “deliberately slowed down the game which forced the Chinese into committing a series of unforced errors…Chen was clearly unnerved by the first game loss while luck smiled on Gopichand whose first two points in the second game came from serves that landed on the back line”.
After retiring from the game, Gopichand was determined to provide young and upcoming Indian players a space where their physical and mental skills could be honed, an endeavour leading to the opening of the Gopichand badminton academy in Hyderabad. Badminton star Saina Nehwal is a product of the academy. So are players such as Parupalli Kashyap, P.V. Sindhu and Gurusai Datt.
The Olympic medal-winning Nehwal also won the Indonesia Open, and is one of the brightest stars of Indian badminton. Outlook magazine in August 2013 described how Gopichand’s academy was bringing out the best in players: “…Gopi’s academy has become a sort of ‘champ factory’, churning out a line of world-class, aggressive shuttlers. Being a high-energy sport, badminton is often referred to as a ‘coach-vs-coach game’ where strategies are as important as a player’s skill...Sindhu, who is 5’11”…was initially said to be ‘too tall’ for a shuttler. Her coverage of the back of the court, especially, was sluggish. But Gopi recruited special fitness trainers to strengthen Sindhu’s legs and now the weakness is her greatest strength.”
The academy today trains between 130 and 150 badminton players. Besides coaches and support staff, the eight Yonex courts are “complemented by a swimming pool, a health club, rehab and wellness centre, a football ground, running track, ice and steam bath facilities, jacuzzi and a cafeteria”, India Today magazine reported in September 2013. “When I was playing, I went abroad looking for places to train to get better,” Gopichand told India Today. “Sometimes I was refused entry because coaches there would not want outsiders to know how their system worked. I wished we had such a place so we did not have to beg.”
Gopichand is also known to take a principled stand when it comes to endorsements, and once turned down a lucrative contract with a major soft drink manufacturer. Explaining his decision to Outlook, he said: “Personally, I never drink fizzy drinks so I don’t want any child to drink one because of me. I am no medical expert but I know soft drinks are unhealthy. I have made it clear to my manager that I will not endorse anything I believe is unhealthy such as cigarettes, liquor or aerated drinks.”
For his contribution to sports, as a player, coach and mentor, Pullela Gopichand has received several awards including the Arjuna Award (1999), Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna (2001), Padma Shri (2005) and Dronacharya Award (2009). Through his badminton academy he has ensured that his legacy will be a long and illustrious one in the history of Indian sports.
. Current .
The Demons of Fake News
Fake news is real, morphed images are used freely to make a point, quotes are repurposed to state what they never did or to make a point different from the original one.
The golden deer was a demon in deerskin and it presents a turning point in the epic. It led to Sita's abduction and the subsequent battle between Rama and Ravana, and changed the course of the narrative -- just as misinformation, white lies, hyperbole and outright lies are doing today.
There are two parts to the problem of credibility today: One is the dwindling trust in people who wield power and the second is the lack of faith in the words they use.
For instance, when politicians talk about the demonetisation exercise or growth or religion, the words used are the same but intent and understanding differ.
Words have lost their power, being used to make a point rather than reveal a truth.
In myths, the word is sacred. It is the beginning of the world and brings the universe into being.
Ancient cultures imbue a sense of infallible divinity in the word; a goddess in most cultures. Aletheia is the Greek goddess of truth while Vac is the Vedic goddess of speech. (Vac and Saraswati are used interchangeably in the later texts.)
If the word is divine, she must be upheld and hence myths were fashioned around principles that aimed to drive home the importance of being true to a promise or a curse or a boon.
In the Ramayana, for instance, there are stories that set down the dire consequences that may result if the word of Brahma, the creator god, is proven false.
Brahma had granted Ravana the boon of immortality. Drunk on his power, the king of Lanka stormed into the realm of Death.
Brahma had also granted Yama the kaldanda, the weapon that gave him authority over the end of every creature's life.
So when Ravana faced off with Yama, Brahma was rattled.
If Yama killed Ravana using Brahma's weapon, his boon would be rendered false.
And if Ravana survived, then his word to Yama would be untrue.
So Brahma asked Yama to stand down because he said that making his word false would put all the three worlds at risk.
Truth was more important than anything else.
Brahma's veracity has to be absolute if the universe has to keep its consistency, wrote Robert Antoine, a Belgian Jesuit priest who taught comparative literature at Jadavpur University (Rama and the Bards: Epic Memory in the Ramayana).
Brahma's word stands for universal truth, and when that is challenged or rendered futile by misuse, the world falls into an abyss.
The Greek myths add another layer to the power of truth in the story of Aletheia's origin. Prometheus sat down to sculpt the perfect goddess, one who would regulate human behaviour. He was nearly done with his work when he was called away by Zeus.
Prometheus left the workshop under the charge of his assistant, Dolus (trickery), who fashioned an identical sculpture. But just as he was about to put the feet on the sculpture, Prometheus walked back in.
The god did not question his assistant for he wanted to take credit for the work and he breathed life into both.
But, Truth, or Aletheia, walked with measured steps, while the other stood in her tracks. Her name is Mendacium, or Falsehood.
A lie wrecked the order of the universe and had to be stopped, that is what the myths said.
In the Mahabharata it was seen as the greatest sin. Yudhishthira suffered a glimpse of hell because he told a half-truth on the battlefield, not because he gambled away his brothers and wife.
In epics and myths across the world, sages took their students to task for not revealing the most inane details of an exercise and kings staked their children to keep their word.
Truth was non-negotiable, unlike the present day when it stands in front of a mirror with many faces.
. Informative .
Ducks Quack,
Eagles Soar
He handed me a laminated card and said: 'I'm Abdul, your driver. While I'm loading your bags in the trunk I'd like you to read my mission statement.'
Taken aback, I read the card. It said: Abdul's Mission Statement:
To get my customers to their destination in the quickest, safest and cheapest way possible in a friendly environment.
This blew me away. Especially when I noticed that the inside of the cab matched the outside. Spotlessly clean!
As he slid behind the wheel, Abdul said, 'Would you like a cup of coffee? I have a thermos of regular and one of decaf.'
I said jokingly, 'No, I'd prefer a soft drink.'
Abdul smiled and said, 'No problem. I have a cooler up front with regular and Diet Coke, lassi, water and orange juice.'
Almost stuttering, I said, 'I'll take a Lassi.'
Handing me my drink, Abdul said, 'If you'd like something to read, I have The NST , Star and Sun Today.'
As they were pulling away, Abdul handed me another laminated card, 'These are the stations I get and the music they play, if you'd like to listen to the radio.'
And as if that weren't enough, Abdul told me that he had the air conditioning on and asked if the temperature was comfortable for me.
Then he advised me of the best route to my destination for that time of day. He also let me know that he'd be happy to chat and tell me about some of the sights or, if I preferred, to leave me with my own thoughts.
'Tell me, Abdul ,' I was amazed and asked him, 'have you always served customers like this?'
Abdul smiled into the rear view mirror. "No, not always. In fact, it's only been in the last two years. My first five years driving, I spent most of my time complaining like all the rest of the cabbies do. Then I heard about POWER OF CHOICE one day."
Power of choice is that you can be a duck or an eagle.
'If you get up in the morning expecting to have a bad day, you'll rarely disappoint yourself. Stop complaining!'
'Don't be a duck. Be an eagle. Ducks quack and complain. Eagles soar above the crowd.'
'That hit me. really hard' said Abdul.
'It is about me. I was always quacking and complaining, so I decided to change my attitude and become an eagle. I looked around at the other cabs and their drivers. The cabs were dirty, the drivers were unfriendly, and the customers were unhappy. So I decided to make some changes, slowly ... a few at a time. When my customers responded well, I did more.'
'I take it that it has paid off for you,' I said.
'It sure has,' Abdul replied. 'My first year as an eagle, I doubled my income from the previous year. This year I'll probably quadruple it. My customers call me for appointments on my cell phone or leave a message on it.'
Abdul made a different choice. He decided to stop quacking like a duck and start soaring like an eagle.
Start becoming an eagle today ... one small step every week..next week... And next...And....
A great Thought..
"You don't die if you fall in water, you die only if you don't swim.
Thats the Real Meaning of Life
