Super Serena!

There are no dearths of sportsperson those excel in their own field but a few are there who achieved something beyond expectation. To find an example we don’t have to travel far as we have a genius like Sachin Tendulkar at home. If we look into the broader area then a few others name which always will grace the history book. The list is huge but a few name immediately comes to my mind  – Michael Schumacher, Pele, Maradona,  Messi, Muller, Pete Sampras, Roger Federer, Margaret Court, Steffi Graff, Martina Navratilova and now I can include Serena Williams into the hall of fame.

Serena Williams

Serena Williams was born in Saginaw, Michigan, to Richard Williams and Oracene Price and is the youngest of Price's five daughters: half-sisters Yetunde, Lyndrea and Isha Price, and full sister Venus. Later, the family moved to California, where Serena started playing tennis at the age of four. Initially she and Venus coached by their parents.

When she was nine attend the tennis academy of Rick Macci. Macci spotted the exceptional talents of the sisters. Richard stopped sending his daughters to national junior tennis tournaments when Williams was 10, since he wanted them to take it slow and focus on school work. Another factor was racial, as he had heard white parents talk about the Williams sisters in a derogatory manner during tournaments. At that time, Serena Williams had a 46–3 record on the United States Tennis Association junior tour and was ranked No. 1 among under-10 players in Florida.In 1995, when Serena was in the ninth grade, Richard pulled his daughters out of Macci's academy, and from then on took over all coaching at their home.

Williams' first professional event was in September 1995, at the age of 14 to counteract the forthcoming changes to age-eligibility rules, at the Bell Challenge. She lost in the first round of qualifying to Anne Miller, winning just two games. Williams won her first professional singles title, when she defeated Amélie Mauresmo in the final of the Open Gaz de France. Her first Grand Slam title came in 1999 in USOPEN where she beat Martina Hingis. She also holder of current Olympic gold for ladies single and doubles. With 17 grand slam singles titles, she also  own 22 doubles title along with her sister Venus and 3 Olympic gold medal in ladies doubles.

Singles
Career record	621–112
Career titles	55 WTA
Highest ranking	No. 1 (July 8, 2002)
Current ranking	No. 1 (August 12, 2013)
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian Open	W (2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2010)
French Open	W (2002, 2013)
Wimbledon	W (2002, 2003, 2009, 2010, 2012)
US Open	W (1999, 2002, 2008, 2012, 2013)
Doubles
Career record	169-22 (89.1%)
Career titles	22
Highest ranking	No. 1 (June 7, 2010)
Current ranking	No. 27 (May 27, 2013)
Grand Slam Doubles results
Australian Open	W (2001, 2003, 2009, 2010)
French Open	W (1999, 2010)
Wimbledon	W (2000, 2002, 2008, 2009, 2012)
US Open	W (1999, 2009)
Mixed Doubles
Career record	27–3
Career titles	2
Grand Slam Mixed Doubles results
Australian Open	F (1999)
French Open	F (1998)
Wimbledon	W (1998)
US Open	W (1998)
Team Competitions
Fed Cup	W (1999)
Hopman Cup	W (2003, 2008)

Olympic medal record
Gold	2000 Sydney	Doubles
Gold	2008 Beijing	Doubles
Gold	2012 London	Singles
Gold	2012 London	Doubles

!!!Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence. - Helen Keller!!!

The Tyrant's Brutal Legacy!!!

I always considered myself extreme lucky because I born and lived in a democratic country. Once more the realization crawl into my mind after reading the recent disturbing piece of news where North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un's ex-girlfriend has been executed by the firing squad along with another twelve.

The 12 who were executed were singers, musicians or dancers with the Hyon's band,, the Unhasu Orchestra or the Wanghaesan Light Music Band and were accused of making videos of themselves performing sex acts and then selling the recordings.

Before, it was Kim Chol the Vice Minister in the North Korean Army who was allegedly purged and executed for “drinking and carousing” during the period of mourning for Kim Jong-il.

My creepy mind look back to this modern days dreaded dictator:

Kim Jong-un is the youngest son of former North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il. Because of the secretive nature of the regime, no one outside of Pyongyang's ruling elite knows the Kim's precise birth date but asummed as 29 or 30 years old. According to some reports suggest that her mother was Ko Yong Hui, a former dancer and mistress of Kim Jong Il.

Later, it was reported that Kim Jong-un attended the public school "Liebefeld Steinhölzli" in Köniz near Bern under the name "Pak-un" or "Un-pak" from 1998 until 2000 as the son of an employee of the Embassy of North Korea. Authorities of Köniz confirmed that a student from North Korea, registered as the son of a member of the Embassy attended the school from August 1998 till fall 2000, but were unable to give details about his identity. Pak-un first attended a special class for foreign-language children and later attended the regular classes of the 6th, 7th, 8th, and part of the final 9th year, leaving the school abruptly in fall 2000. He was described as a well-integrated and ambitious student who liked to play basketball.

On 17 December 2011, Kim Jong-il died. Despite the elder Kim's plans, it was not immediately clear after his death whether Jong-un would in fact take full power, and what his exact role in a new government would be. Some analysts had predicted that when Kim Jong-il died, Jang Sung-taek would act as regent, as Jong-un was too inexperienced to immediately lead the country. On 25 December 2011, North Korean television showed Jang Sung-taek in the uniform of a general in a sign of his growing sway after the death of Kim Jong-il. A Seoul official familiar with North Korea affairs said it was the first time Jang has been shown on state television in a military uniform. His appearance suggests that Jang has secured a key role in the North's powerful military, which has pledged its allegiance to Kim Jong-un.

The cult of personality around Kim Jong-un has been stepped up following his father's death. He was hailed as the "great successor to the revolutionary cause of Juche", "outstanding leader of the party, army and people", "respected comrade who is identical to Supreme Commander Kim Jong-il", and chairman of the Kim Jong-il funeral committee. The Korean Central News Agency described Kim Jong-un as "a great person born of heaven", a propaganda term only his father and grandfather had enjoyed, while the ruling Workers' Party said in an editorial: "We vow with bleeding tears to call Kim Jong-un our supreme commander, our leader."

He was publicly declared Supreme Commander of the Korean People's Army on 24 December 2011 and formally appointed to the position on 30 December when the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party "courteously proclaimed that the dear respected Kim Jong Un, vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission of the WPK, assumed the supreme commandership of the Korean People's Army".

World have seen the fate of some modern days dictators like Saddam Hussein and Col. Gaddafi. Once ruled with a iron fist and they died like a street dog. Definitely I don't like their end but law of the land always catch up with everyone and waiting for the same for this one too.

!!!When dictatorship is a fact, revolution becomes a right. - Victor Hugo!!!

WMD – Horrifying tales of Greed!

A war considered to be a biggest crime against humanity and use of chemical warhead is even crueler act. The effect of WMD [Weapon of Mass Destruction] is much more severe and leaves horrific trails. Leave alone a life but a few for generations have to suffer from it. Use of CW shows the dishonorable greed of the ruler or ruling establishment. Currently Syria is in the news for such heinous act and that too on its own citizen.

Rockets with toxic agents were launched at the suburbs of the Ghouta region in Syria early on 21st August, 2013, as part of a major bombardment on rebel forces. The Syrian army says the accusations have been fabricated to cover up rebel losses. The main opposition alliance said that more than 1,700 people were killed by the attacks. Casualties are far worse than any of the previous alleged chemical attacks. The bodies bear no visible wounds from gunshots; instead, many display the classic symptoms of a nerve agent attack, with startled, frozen expressions that experts say are reminiscent of Saddam Hussein's 1988 attack on the Kurds at Halabja.

Some Chemical Weapon used during the wars.

1914: Tear gas

The earliest military uses of chemicals were tear-inducing irritants rather than fatal or disabling poisons. During the first World War, the French army was the first to employ gas, using 26 mm grenades filled with tear gas (ethyl bromoacetate) in August 1914.

1915: Large-scale use and lethal gases

The first instance of large-scale use of gas as a weapon was on 31 January 1915, when Germany fired 18,000 artillery shells containing liquid xylyl bromide tear gas on Russian positions on the Rawka River, west of Warsaw during the Battle of Bolimov. However, instead of vaporizing, the chemical froze and failed to have the desired effect.

British gas attacks

The first use of gas by the British was at the Battle of Loos, 25 September 1915, but the attempt was a disaster. Chlorine, codenamed Red Star, was the agent to be used (140 tons arrayed in 5,100 cylinders), and the attack was dependent on a favorable wind. However, on this occasion the wind proved fickle, and the gas either lingered in no man's land or, in places, blew back on the British trenches. This debacle was compounded when the gas could not be released from all the British canisters because the wrong turning keys were sent with them. Subsequent retaliatory German shelling hit some of those unused full cylinders, releasing more gas among the British troops.

The small quantities of gas delivered, were not even detected by the Germans. The stocks were rapidly consumed and by November a new order was placed by the French military. As bromine was scarce among the Entente allies, the active ingredient was changed to chloroacetone.

1915: Deadly gases

The deficiencies of chlorine were overcome with the introduction of phosgene, which was prepared by a group of French chemists led by Victor Grignard and first used by France in 1915.  Colourless and having an odor likened to "mouldy hay," phosgene was difficult to detect, making it a more effective weapon. Although phosgene was sometimes used on its own, it was more often used mixed with an equal volume of chlorine, with the chlorine helping to spread the denser phosgene.  The Allies called this combination White Star after the marking painted on shells containing the mixture.

1917: Mustard gas

The most widely reported and, perhaps, the most effective gas of the First World War was mustard gas. It was a vesicant that was introduced by Germany in July 1917 prior to the Third Battle of Ypres. The Germans marked their shells yellow for mustard gas and green for chlorine and phosgene; hence they called the new gas Yellow Cross. It was known to the British as HS (Hun Stuff), while the French called it Yperite (named after Ypres)

Although all major combatants stockpiled chemical weapons during the Second World War, the only reports of its use in the conflict were the Japanese use of relatively small amounts of mustard gas and lewisite in China, and very rare occurrences in Europe (for example some sulfur mustard bombs were dropped on Warsaw on 3 September 1939, which Germany acknowledged in 1942 but indicated had been accidental). Mustard gas was the agent of choice, with the British stockpiling 40,719 tons, the Russians 77,400 tons, the Americans over 87,000 tons and the Germans 27,597 tons. The destruction of a cargo ship containing mustard gas led to many casualties in Bari, Italy.

1990s: Persian Gulf War

Shortly after the fighting between Iraq and Coalition Forces in the Persian Gulf War ended in February 1991, reports circulated that Hussein was using chemical agents against rebellious Kurds and Shiite Muslims. The United States intercepted a message ordering the use of chemical weapons against the cities of Najaf and Karbala. U.S. President George H. W. Bush’s response was that such use of chemical weapons would result in air strikes against the Iraqi military organization using the chemicals.

Amid of economic meltdown better prepare yourself for another war.

!!!Destruction, an annihilation that only man can provoke, only man can prevent. - Elie Wiesel!!!

World’s obsession with the Royals!

Once, India was known as country of snake charmer and also country of Raja and Maharajas. However, today India is the largest democratic country and no more Rajas and Maharajas around but there is whole lot countries exist which still practices monarchy. Countries like Saudi Arabia, Brunei etc. still ruled by the king. As citizen of the world we hardly bother about the kings and queens but British Royals not fall in these criteria. Even. the British monarchy is known as a constitutional monarchy, means that, while The Sovereign is Head of State, the ability to make and pass legislation resides with an elected Parliament.

Although the British Sovereign no longer has a political or executive role, he or she continues to play an important part in the life of the nation and whole world. In the beginning I was far from it because I found them boring and conservative bunch of people. Queen Elizabeth and her family seem nice enough but have no real accomplishments. However with emergence of princes Diana I too caught in the same web.

Princess Diana was a ray of sunshine, a breath of fresh air. She had a fairytale wedding, married her prince and moved into a castle. While she didn't live happily ever after, she touched people with her unselfishness, support for numerous worthy charities. She had a heart of gold even with her very own human flaws and vulnerabilities. Everyone in the royal family including Queen Elizabeth was amazed at the attention she brought to the royal family.

This royal fascination, or even obsession, is not a new one, and it is part of our thirst for more, more, more. So, what’s the deal with it anyway? Here are some psychological reasons

The Royal family is always in the media, every day, decade after decade. While stars sometimes fade, we follow the royal family from birth to death.

Commonwealth countries weren’t the only ones closely watching the Queen's Diamond Jubilee over the past four days. Americans are renowned for their love affair with the British Royal family. That might seem ironic, given the symbolism of aristocracy, royalty, and colonisation is in stark contrast to the American values of capitalism, democracy, and freedom.

With the wedding of Prince William and Katherine Middleton and now the birth of Prince George Alexander Louis, the monarchy has a new generation of royal watchers. Which hopefully, they will not disappoint us. By the time, Kate Middleton becomes the Queen she will be the most famous woman in the world. An estimated 2.5 billion people watched the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton, many more times than the any other events.

!!!The monarchy is a labour intensive industry.- Harold Wilson !!!

In the Firing Line!

It is no more a secret that in every step we have to pay the bribe to get our work done. Every time we shell out our hard earns money to the worthless public servant we blame the hand but not the head behind it. However, among the scores of arrogant and dishonest bureaucrats who are responsible for the state in which we are in there are a few who are ready to fight against the odds to stay clean. Whenever a brave bureaucrat tried to fight against the injustice and wrongdoing, they found themselves in the firing lines. Bulk of them decided to fall in the line but some may not and finally they shown the door.

I already written about three brave hearts before, Shanmugam Manjunath, Satyendra Dubey and Yeshwant Sonawane laid their life for different purpose. Their fault was that they acted against the mafia those are mostly backed by the politicians. Some of the honest lots are transferred many times and others are suspended. My blog is about two who ends with same fate but never gave up.

Ashok Khemka

Ashok Khemka was born in West Bengal, India. He graduated from the I. I. T, Kharagpur in 1988 and followed it up with a Ph.D in Computer Science from the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai.  He also holds a MBA in finance and MA in economics.

He is an IAS officer of the 1991 batch. He has been repeatedly transferred by various state governments in his home cadre of Haryana after he exposed corruption in the departments he was posted in. Dr. Khemka transferred nine times in five years during government led by Mr. Om Parkash Chautala. Ashok Khemka was transferred in October last for cancelling an allegedly irregular land deal between Robert Vadra, son-in-law of UPA chairperson  Sonia Gandhi,and DLF, was again shifted on Thursday amid a raging controversy over irregularities in the Haryana Seeds Development Corporation (HSDC) that he unearthed during his short tenure of five months as its head.

Durga Shakti Nagpal

Durga Shakti Nagpal is an IAS officer of the 2010 batch from Uttar Pradesh cadre. She came into public view after taking action against corruption and launching a massive drive against illegal sand mining within her jurisdiction of Gautam Budh Nagar. She was later suspended by the government of Uttar Pradesh for allegedly demolishing an illegal mosque wall. Her suspension resulted in a large backlash against the government's order, which was perceived to be based on flimsy grounds and there is a growing demand by internet social media, opposition political parties and IAS Officers' associations for her suspension to be revoked

Durga Shakti Nagpal belongs to Chattisgarh and has a BTech in computer engineering from Indira Gandhi Delhi Technological University for Women. She secured an All India Rank (AIR) of 20 in the Union Public Service Commission examinations in 2009. She served for over two years in Punjab as an Assistant Commissioner with the Mohali district administration

Ms. Nagpal was initially an officer in the Punjab cadre and later changed to Uttar Pradesh cadre after her marriage to Abhishek Singh, who is an IAS officer of the UP cadre. She was posted in Ghaziabad as a Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) in September 2012, and then got appointed as SDM of Gautam Budh Nagar. She came into public notice after acting against the sand mafia in Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh by forming special flying squads to stop the illegal sand-mining in the Yamuna and Hindon river banks. She had ordered the arrest of 15 people and imposed a fine of Rs. 2 crore  on them. UP chief minister Akhilesh Yadav suspended IAS officer and SDM Durga Shakti Nagpal on the grounds that her action to demolish a mosque wall would have led to communal tension.

A video posted online apparently showing senior Samajwadi Party leader, Narendra Bhati, boasting to a crowd that he was responsible for Ms. Nagpal’s suspension, added to outrage at what many characterize as arbitrary political action against an honest civil servant.

Mr. Bhati was shown in the video saying that after he found out about the plans to tear down the mosque wall, his phone calls to his party chief, Mulayam Singh Yadav, and Akhilesh Yadav, meant Ms. Nagpal was suspended within 41 minutes. Mr. Bhati could not immediately be reached for comment.

!!!Courage is grace under pressure. - Ernest Hemingway!!!

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly - II!!

Amrish Puri 

Amrish Puri  was a leading theatre and film actor from India, who was a key player in the Indian theatre movement that picked up steam in the 1960s. He worked with notable playwrights of the time, such as Satyadev Dubey and Girish Karnad. However, he is primarily remembered for essaying iconic negative roles in Hindi cinema as well as other Indian and international film industries. To Indian audiences he is the most remembered for his role as Mogambo in Shekhar Kapur's Hindi film Mr. India  and to Western audiences he is best known as Mola Ram in Steven Spielberg's Hollywood film Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.

His siblings include elder brothers Chaman Puri, Madan Puri (both actors) and elder sister Chandrakanta and younger brother Harish Puri. He went on to work in Hindi, Kannada, Marathi, Hollywood, Punjabi, Malayalam, Telugu and Tamil films. Though he was successful in all of these industries, he is best known for his work in Bollywood cinema. He has appeared in over four hundred films. His dominating screen presence and baritone voice made him stand out amongst the other villains of the day.

Amjad Khan

Amjad Khan was the son of legendary actor Jayant. He was the brother of fellow actor Imtiaz Khan and Inayat Khan who acted in one film. Khan was educated at St Theresa's High School, in Bandra, Mumbai. He attended R D National College, and was the general secretary – the highest elected student body representative. He worked in over 130 films in a career spanning nearly twenty years. He enjoyed popularity for his villainous roles in Hindi films, the most famous being the iconic Gabbar Singh in the 1975 classic Sholay and of Dilawar in Muqaddar Ka Sikandar.

Pran Krishan Sikand

Pran Krishan Sikand better known as Pran, was a multiple Filmfare award-winning Indian actor, known as a movie villain and character actor in Hindi cinema from the 1940s to the 1990s. He acted as a villain from 1942–1991 and played supporting and character roles from 1948–2007. In a long and prolific career he appeared in over 350 films. Pran has received numerous awards and honours in his career. He won the Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award in 1967, 1969 and 1972 and was awarded the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award in 1997. He was awarded as the 'Villain of the Millennium' by Stardust in 2000. The Government of India honoured him with the Padma Bhushan in 2001 and the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 2013 for his contributions towards Indian cinema. In 2010, he was named on the list of CNN's Top 25 Asian actors of all time.

There are a few others who made their presence felt with negative roles such as Gulshan Grover, Ranjit etc. While we think about woman in negative roles then instantly the name of Lalita Pawar keep crawling into our mind.

Lalita Pawar

Lalita Pawar was born on 18 April 1916. she started her acting career at age nine in the film, Raja Harishchandra (1928), and later went on to play lead roles in silent era and 1940's films, in a career that lasted until the end of her life, spanning seven decades. She was known particularly for playing maternal figures, especially wicked matriarchs or mothers-in-law. She also notably played the role of the strict but kind Mrs. L. D'Sa in Anari (1959) with Raj Kapoor, under Hrishikesh Mukherjee's direction, she gave the performance of a lifetime for which she received Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award and the devious hunchback Manthara in Ramanand Sagar's television series Ramayan. She was honoured by the Government of India as the first lady of Indian cinema, in 1961. She died unnoticed on 24 February 1998 in Aundh, Pune.

Apart from Lalita Pawar, there was a few like, Nadira, Shashikala and Bindu, but now there is not a single actress who can fill the slot like these actress have done.

!!!There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so. - William Shakespeare!!!

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly - I !!

I am more passionate about Ravana's than the Rama. However, I am completely opposite of category of good basher and evil hugger. I was from a different era where we saw quite a few evil characters in Bollywood. Almost, all movies had a one such. Honestly, those days we were really scared of those fellas. Yet, today we hate to hate them because they were not the villain in their real life as we projected when we were kid. Current phase we hardly see a villains in the long run. They come and they fizzled before noticed. The hero's of bollywod doing overtime be it villain or a comedian, hero’s coming with a complete package. Therefore there are hardly any actors around whom we can term as villain as it was decades before. With the demise of Pran, the golden era of gentleman villains comes to an end. Here are few names who entertained us throughout the generation and made the Hero’s out of nothing.

K. N. Singh

K. N. Singh was a prominent villain of Hindi films. K. N. Singh came to acting by way of law, giving up his first career in 1937 to pursue his newfound interest in performance. More often than not, Singh found himself portraying a "gentleman" type of villain, usually costumed in a fine suit and hat, and smoking a pipe. His career spanned six decades and included over 200 films. In 2000, he died at the age of 91.

Madan Puri

Madan Lal Puri had four siblings, among elder brother Chaman Lal Puri, younger brother Amrish Lal Puri  was known to Indian audience. He was the first cousin of the legendary singer K.L. Saigal, with whose help he started to make a mark in Bollywood. Once Puri was an established star he did the same for his brother the late Amrish Puri by helping him in establishing himself in the movie world. Puri had an acting career which spanned over 40 years from the 1940s through to the mid-1980s. He appeared in more than 300 films. He was one of the greatest villains in Bollywood.

Premnath

Premnath made his film debut in Ajit  and  then he got a major roles in Raj Kapoor's first directorial film Aag and Barsaat which was his first major success. Premnath went on to appear in many films for the next three decades, some of which were the biggest blockbusters in Indian film history. He played the central villain role or supporting role were some of the biggest blockbusters in Indian film history. He died in 1992 of a heart attack at the age of sixty-six.

Ajit

Hamid Ali Khan, better known by his stage name Ajit acted in over two hundred movies in almost four decades. His first movie as a villain was Suraj and with films such as Zanjeer and Yaadon Ki Baaraat, there was no looking back for him. He died in 1998 at the age of seventy-six.

Kanhaiya Lal

Kanhaiya Lal Chaturvedi staged his own written play Pandrah August in Mumbai, later he tried his luck in films. In 1940 he got a role of moneylender in a Mehboob Khan's film. After that he later acted in many films as a character artist. When Mehboob Khan was directed his immortal film Mother India he again picked Kanhaiya Lal to act as Sukkhi Lala, a character that came alive with his natural acting.

Jeevan

Jeevan, who acted as Narad Muni in mythological films of the 1950s. Later he essayed the role of a villain in many films of the 60s, 70s and 80s.  He died in 1987 at the age of 72.

!!!There is nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so. - William Shakespeare !!!