Monday, September 12, 2005

Ashes 2005 - A new era for cricket

This is a bit of a change from my normal posts, but what a series the 2005 Ashes has been. If someone is a fan of the game of cricket, the way England and Australia have played this series will warm anyone's heart. This may signal a rebirth of Test cricket and maybe end Australia's current dominance of the game.

England have played out of their skins to win the series, with different players putting their hands up when things mattered most. All in all one of the best played series ever played and well done england !!!

Saturday, September 10, 2005

Roop Kanwar - Sati Mata

September 1987, 17 year old Roop Kanwar performed self immolation on her husband's pyre (sati).

As word spread devotees started visting and worshipping at the site. The government arrested 45 people, releasing all of them last year. Thousands of villagers gathered in the village in memory of the sati mata with efforts made to turn the site into a temple.

In spite of the government ban, she has acquired the status of the village's favoured diety, though it is widely believed that she was drugged or forced to kill herself.

The India of the 21st century still exists uneasily side by side with the India of olden times