It was an extremely eventful week – these last few days have witnessed a myriad of stories taking centre stage, each trying relentlessly to not give up its place in limelight. The week started off on an extremely proud moment for every Indian with the nation celebrating its 60^th Republic Day. In a sense, it was on 26^th Jan, 1950 that India was accepted whole heartedly as a liberated democracy which had its own constitution – extremely elaborate and encompassing of every possible rule one has ever read or encountered. It was no mean achievement given the fact that just 4 years earlier people were fighting for basic rights of humanity.

Watching the parade on television is a ritual I can never get tired of. It is a wonderful platform for the country to showcase its diverse cultures, advances in technology, military heroes and also indulge in some good old Indian ‘naach-gaana’. There were the usual cynics on every primetime news channel slot, who never get tired of crying hoarse on how our nation still has miles to go and question the point of celebration but attention invested in such is attention wasted!

Moving on, there were excited discussions and questions raised (some valid) after the Padma Shri awards were announced. The 4^th highest civilian awards that are awarded to people from various walks of life, recognizes talent and achievement. Just one name featured in the category of public service. Rightfully debatable and arguable. What bothers me more though is the amount of fuss being created over one recipient and that is Mr. Saif Ali Khan. The poor soul could not even celebrate his success. Protests were held in Rajasthan against the honor bestowed upon him since, there are cases of poaching against him that are still pending in a court of law. He is an actor of immense caliber and has been a working actor for nearly two decades. So, his contribution to Indian cinema cannot be judged or questioned since art depends on perspective and is personal on many levels. Saina Nehwal was also one of the jubilant winners but at such a young age and with only one grand title to her name, I think the award was a tad too early. There are various other forms of encouragement; if that was what the Government’s intention was. Even in the past these awards have racked up controversy and many noted personalities have expressed their doubts over the credibility of these recognitions.

Moving on, another major headline garner was the IPL-3 auction. 11 Pakistani names featured in the list but no bids were placed on any of them. This created a huge uproar in Pakistan with several Pakistanis (especially one Mr. Afridi) taking it as a personal insult and showing displeasure at the fact that political and sporting lines were getting blurred. One cannot not consider the animosity between these two nations, and in the wake of the 26/11 trials and the failure of Pakistan to curb terror elements in its own land, relations have become strained. The manner in which the issue was handled though is questionable and the fact that proper clarity was not given by Mr. Modi only goes to show how stupid the whole exercise was. With several people including Mr.P Chidambaram coming out with statements in support of the hurt sentiments of the Pakistani cricketers, IPL seems to be backtracking and maybe some players may get picked up. This controversy though is alive and kicking – a typical trait of every IPL.