Yesterday was a very special day for me and all of us. 15^th August holds a very special place in my heart and I completely understand and treasure the meaning of independence.

I love everything about India. By nature I am a very emotional and passionate person. My bonding with my mother land is very special and deep. India is a unique country in more than many ways. And one thing which really strikes me is that despite coming from different backgrounds, we are one. No country in the world can match this uniqueness about India. Our dressing room is the best example of that. Here one can find a superb amalgamation of all sects and religions. Sachin Tendulkar and Zaheer Khan’s identity here is through the kind of game they play and not by the kind of religious beliefs they follow. As long as we understand and follow this simple mantra of unity in diversity no one in the world is a match for us. No doubt we have our issues, but, find me a house where there are no issues. But they are our issues and we can handle them. Recently, I was watching the Kargil Divas celebration on the screen, and I got really emotional. Thanks to our brave soldiers and what they did for us ten years back. They came from all parts of India and sacrificed their life to ensure that we can sleep peacefully at home. It’s basically the various colours of India that touches my heart the most. And when these colours gel together, we come across the most beautiful collage made by GOD.

In school days, this day meant we will get sweets in school and then we can go and play cricket the whole day. But once I started playing for India, I understood the importance of freedom and the price we have paid for it. Shaheede-Azam Bhagat Singh is my all time hero and his sacrifice for the mother Land has always inspired me. One thing I would like to share here is that, whenever the national anthem is played before the game, it really gives me lot of motivation and the zest and the zeal for the country increases manifolds. Most of the time on independence Day we are with the Indian team, playing in some other country and that makes the sense of the occasion all the more obvious. So no matter where we are, be it Trinidad or Melbourne, we always have a special celebration. In a very silent way, we pay tribute to all the brave men who laid down their life to so that we can stand under the Tiranga and feel proud to be an Indian.

Going by the way the things are moving in India, I can bet on one thing that, by 2020 India will be a force to reckon with. Entire world is looking unto us. When the entire world is reeling under the slowdown, our companies and banks are showing good profits. That’s because we can integrate the best of new and old and the foundation of our principles is rock solid. Going by my instinct, by 2020 India will be one of the super powers in the world, and by then there will be no poverty in India, no one will sleep hungry and everyone will have a job and security. In my field, I would like to see Indian cricket team at the top of all the forms of the game, and we are very close to it, and if keep performing well, we could be there in next two years. I would also like to see Indian sports doing extremely well in Olympics and we will have champions in all walks of life.

All this can’t be achieved without the power of the youth. Indian youth is very different from the youth of west. Our youth is more responsible, more talented and more determined to the cause. Entire world knows about it and that’s why they want us. Even president Obama is advocating the path of our youth to be followed. The youth needs empowerment; you give them that and then see things happening very quickly. Such a force with proper guidance and nurturing is someone to be reckoned. The Indian cricket team is the prime example of that. The youth is the future of the country and if we really want a prosperous and a happy nation, we need to trust our youth and let them do the things their way. We need to stay in- sync with our roots and we would never waver from the goal. Here’s wishing you a very happy independence day.

Jai Hind.

Breaks don’t come easy to us and right now we are savouring one such rare break from cricket by spending most of the time with our families & friends, giving rest to our jaded bodies, trying to recover from small niggles, following fitness programme prescribed by our team management and doing simple things in life which we often miss as cricketers. In between we have some odd sponsor commitments and franchise events along with the few famous meetings for the WADA issue. Apparently, we are still the top newsmakers and are featuring in the newspapers and TV channels for all the reasons, portrayed as villains for not signing along the dotted lines suggested by WADA.
It seems like everyone and anyone has a view on it and the majority blaming us for creating much ado about nothing. It has become such a huge crime, that the intellects from all walks of life have obliged us by making us realise how irresponsible we are as a sportsperson and as a citizen of this civilised world. The general outlook is that we are spoiled brats who want doping to continue in the chaste world of sports or hardly care about this serious issue.
In the last eight years I have been tested at-least 15 times (the recent one being the one in the World-T20 in England along with Dhoni) and every time I bowed gleefully to the demands of the circumstances. I would like to clarify one thing here that we are responsible sportsmen and completely understand that proper measures should be taken to uproot this menace from the arena of sports. We support the cause and are up for it. Personally, I am against any kind of drugs and that is what I would recommend to all the upcoming youngsters.
Let me utilize this opportunity to tell the world that we have no problems with entire contract but we do have serious issue with one of the ‘whereabouts’ clause in the contract. This clause in particular breaches our privacy and freedom which is very rare and special for us. To elucidate it further, I would like to mention our schedule from 20th of August 2009 onwards. Round about this time we will have our preparation camp for the upcoming season. After that we have to participate in the ‘BCCI Corporate Cup’ and straight from there we have to go to Sri lanka for the Tri- series. We come back from Sri-Lanka by the third week of September and straight away leave for South Africa to play in the Champions Trophy and when we come back most of us will be playing in the Champions league at home, where some of us will get a small break. Final of the Champions league is on the 23rd of Sept and on 25th of Sept we start a seven match series against Australia. Straight after that series, we play against Sri-Lanka followed by another series against Bangladesh in December-January. We come back and find ourselves eagerly awaited by South Africa at home for a full series followed by Asia cup in the next year. And then there is IPL and world T-20 in West Indies. So that takes us to May 2010 , and then a tour to Zimbabwe followed by Sri Lanka. This is my cricketing where about for the next one year and during this time I am available for testing anytime and anywhere. Just read it carefully and you would find breaks are rare and we have to attend too many family and personal issues during these breaks. Most of the times we get four to 7 days break in between series and at that time we have to play so many roles and fulfil so many responsibilities. Role of a son, husband, father, friend and I dare to mention some little time and peace with yourself. During this time someone has to give attention to his mother’s prolong illness or someone has to get his house repaired or re-done. Someone has to take his kids out for holidays or someone has to find suitable boy for his sister. If you ask me, my plan in these breaks is to have no plan. I can be at home or suddenly pick my friends and go for a long drive. One fine morning my mother would wake up and would like me to accompany her to the Golden temple and what would be my reply… Apologising for my non accompaniment as someone from WADA is expected today. Or God forbids, I have an emergency situation. What would you expect me to do, address that issue or worry about WADA people who may come or not. I have to be at home or at a given location for this hour or at that moment I need find an internet connection or send an sms, which may deliver or not. And in the process of all my personal commitments, if I am not available in their prescribed radar, I have a ‘missed test’ label against my name. Three incidents like this and a ban of one to two year waits gracefully for me. And going by how efficient Indian media is, it will find way in some newspaper or another, questioning my integrity and commitment. In a nutshell, this clause is like an iron chain around my valuable time which belongs to me, my family and my close ones. We never go out and preach other sports their code of conduct and that is what I expect from my respected colleagues from other sports too. At no point I feel that we are doing more for our country then them or we are at a higher platform from them. I feel we all try our level best to bring laurels to the country in our chosen field. But at the same time, I would humbly request the people to understand that in India, we, as cricketers, are more in public eyes than others. Trust me, we don’t ask for it and yes, it’s a double edged dagger. We are privileged to have this kind of following but at the same time this also brings too much intrusion in our lives. I would ask other sportsman that how many times they have been questioned on petty personal stuffs like owing a new house or attending a public function in a particular manner. How often have they been tagged by the media like we have been? Is there any other sportsman in this country who, not only has to answer his on the field performances but also has to explain his off the field conducts. Trust me, at times it’s a very choking experience and that’s why these breaks are rare and private where we don’t want anyone to disturb us or chase us. We would like to live our life like normal human beings and attend to our other commitments apart from cricket. All these issues are as vital as our cricket.

Here I would also like to mention that I am extremely thankful to BCCI who has gone all the way to understand our concern and support us. And yes people are giving example of greats like Fedrar and Nadal, Ussain Bolt and Lance Armstrong. They all have criticized this clause and given a choice I am sure they wouldn’t have signed it. One good thing is that, in the last few days, other cricketing bodies in Australia, South Africa and New Zealand have also supported our case and are very much in sync with what we feel about this clause. So there is awareness and unity in our thoughts. It’s a different issue that they have signed it and I don’t know under what compulsion they have done it. But as any other human being, privacy is my right and I would guard it at any given cost, giving due respect to my cricketing commitments.

PS: To put it more relatively, I would like others to imagine themselves being under a 24 hour vigilance for the coming 3 months on the pretext of some theft occurred. And to add on to it, one is under scrutiny all the time and answerable to every search conducted. How many of you will agree or won’t protest against it? I am sure there are better ways to catch the real cheats.

Cheers
Bhajji