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Sachin: A Hundred Hundreds Now
Beyond Religion
The Indian version of secularism envisages respect for all religions, i.e., you can be secular and yet remain religious, whereas the Western one pits state against the church and, therefore, in order to be secular you have to renounce religion, i.e., become an atheist. The Dalai Lama’s emphasis is on ethics. This book’s subtitle says it all, "Ethics for a whole world"; a reiteration of Buddha’s principles enunciated in the Eight-fold Path. Overall, the narrative sows the seeds for an avant garde value-based civilisation where religions may become redundant or, at least, be subordinated to a set of universal ethics. International Encyclopaedia of Abbreviations
Verma has done a good job by painstakingly collecting various abbreviations for this encyclopaedia. Not only has he presented these in the alphabetical order, along with their full forms, but also given short explanatory notes that would help even a layman to understand what these terms actually stand for.
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Arguably
the greatest cricketer ever to wield the willow, Sachin Tendulkar –
often referred to as the God of Cricket – remains a favourite
subject for various academic, intellectual and casual discourses. So,
another book on the cricketing legend comes as no surprise, especially
when it celebrates his century of centuries. On his debut in Karachi
he gave sufficient evidence of what he was capable of. Cricket experts
described him as the embodiment the Sunil Gavaskar style. However,
ever so gradually, he carved out not just a niche but an entire realm
of which he became the undisputed monarch. There is hardly any batting
record that he has not set. His enthusiasm for the game saw him become
a respectable bowler and an agile fielder, too. His first century came
in the second innings of his ninth test match at Old Trafford,
Manchester; setting him off on a trail that would leave other
cricketing greats way behind. Some, like Brian Lara, did offer
credible challenge, but eventually Sachin’s class manifested itself.
Beginning with his debut year 1990 and ending in 2012 when he scored
his hundredth hundred, this volume takes a comprehensive look at the
rise and rise of Sachin Tendulkar – providing interesting asides and
insights into the man and his game.
When
someone like the Dalai Lama observes that prayers do not yield any
tangible results whereas modern science does, you have to sit up and
take notice. However, while reading this volume, you realise that far
from denouncing religion His Holiness is emphasising the importance of
ethics. According to him, one is not born with a religion and it is
not really essential for one’s survival in this world. But a set of
ethics is vital in the same way as water is to life. Religion is more
like tea – its ingredients lend colour and flavour to water, but do
not in any way become indispensible. He lays great stress upon common
human values that "do not rely upon any religious
principles".
It
is common for one to come across abbreviations in newspapers and
books. These may refer to an organisation – for example IMF
(International Monetary Fund), a document like the promissory note,
viz., IOU (I owe you), a technological term like IP (Internet
Protocol), or a medical test like LD-50 (Lethal Dose Fifty Per cent)
conducted on animals. Abbreviations are useful in several ways.
Firstly these are easy to remember, and therefore have a great recall
value. Secondly, professionals find them useful as part of their
jargon – instead of using a longish or tongue twisting scientific
term or formula its abbreviated form would be easy to pronounce,
communicate and understand.