Delhi Lagaan boys come home

Virat Kohli, captain of the victorious under-19 team, dedicates this World Cup win to his biggest fan: his father. Like most fathers, Prem Kohli, always insisted Virat put his studies before cricket. But after he saw Virat’s dedication to the game, he became a strong supporter of his son’s cricketing dreams.

Virat’s father is no more. He passed away in December 2006 after being bed-ridden for a month due to a stroke. Today, fond memories of his beloved father haunt Virat as he joins his family and the nation in celebrating the team’s success.

“My father’s death has strengthened me,” he said. “I matured as a person and became more and more dedicated towards cricket.”

Vikas Kohli, Virat’s brother, remembers a day in the year 2005 when Virat was in England for a tournament and their father remained hooked to the Internet watching live updates of the match.

“My father would get really excited when Virat was selected to play a tournament,” Vikas said. “He would tell everybody ‘mere beta ka selection ho gaya.’ Virat ko ajeeb lagta tha.” (‘My son got selected’ but sometimes Virat felt awkward about all the attention.)

Virat’s all praise for is Coach Rajkumar Sharma. “He has been with me for 10 years now and has completely changed me. I am and will always be grateful to him,” he said. Although Virat has proved his hand in both batting and bowling, he wants to emulate the batting style of Herschelle Gibbs.

Pradeep Sangwan, the other 17-year-old player from Delhi, worships Waseem Akram. However, if he gets selected to play for Team India, Pradeep said his dream is to play like the skipper Zaheer Khan. “Waise to main Waseem Akram jaisa banana chahta hoon, lekin agar Indian team se dekhen to main Zaheer Khan ki tarah consistent performance dena chahoonga apni team ke liye.” (Although I want to play like Waseem Akram, if you ask about Team India then I would like to perform as consistently as Zaheer Khan does.)

Pradeep’s coach, Amar Nath Sharma, who has also trained Virender Sehwag, has great things to say about Pradeep. “Pradeep is an aggressive player and has a killer instinct. That’s what a fast bowler should have,” he said. Sharma praised Pradeep’s sense of curiosity. “This attitude is hard to find in others, as they just blindly follow me and never discuss any problem with me,” said Sharma.

Pradeep’s family shifted from Haryana to Najafgarh in Delhi a few years back. At first, it was Pradeep’s elder brother Sandeep Sangwan who harboured dreams of becoming a professional cricketer. “But by the time we came to Delhi, I was too old to train as a cricketer. So I decided to make Pradeep a cricket player.”


According to Sandeep, Pradeep was always more interested in cricket than his studies. “Pradeep never showed much interest in his studies,” Sandeep said with a chuckle. “He is in the 11th class right now. We never received any complaints from his school either because his school is also more sports oriented.”

For Pradeep, failures have only given him confidence to do better. Although he was a little upset about his individual performance in the World Cup tournament, the team’s overall victory matters most to him. Pradeep’s friend Kapil Yadav recalls, “Once in an inter-school cricket competition, he couldn’t play well in the first match and was quite depressed. But it boosted his confidence and he took nine wickets in another match. I have never seen such a committed guy. He has a routine which he follows through out the year, no matter what.”

Even as Virat and Pradeep bask in the attention and affection showered by the media and their fans, they also want to ensure that they are not distracted from their goals.
When asked how he would deal with a Yuvraj Singh-Deepika Padukone-type issue, Virat said, “It’s a part of the process. I just want to be normal. I would never drag myself into controversies. I will have a girl friend in the future but I won’t publicise it.” Virat’s brother, Vikas, also has a say on this issue. “I have always been strict in such matters. Virat should concentrate on his career,” he said.

Pradeep’s brother, Sandeep, added, “Pradeep is very close to me. Most of the time I am with him, even during his practice sessions.” For now, the players are on cloud nine. Pradeep said: Khushi hoti hai, achcha lagta hai, lautne ke baad pata chalta hai kuch fans mere bhi hain.” (I feel happy. I feel good. On returning, I realised I have some fans as well.)

A VOICE CROSSING THE BORDERS…

Music knows no boundaries. This has been proved by the latest Pakistani music sensation Atif Aslam, who has become a rage in Pakistan as well as in India. His album Doorie broke all the records on music charts and now his latest album Meri Kahani is making the mark in both the countries. Born in Wazirabad, Gujranwala, this 25year old singer always aspired to be cricketer until he discovered the passion of music in him.

Academics
Atif’s education started with “Kimberley Hall School" in Model Town Lahore to Saint Paul's school, Islamabad then again to PAF College Lahore. He cleared his 10the grade at a young age of only 14 due to his double promotions at Kimberly Hall for being an outstanding student.

Aspirations
Cricket was his childhood passion and was selected for ABN AMRO bank team and was offered a first class cricket match until he faced a failure in the subject of Chemistry at his college by just getting 29 out of 100.

Appreciation
In 1998 at PAF College Lahore and sarogodha. Atif's friends forced and encouraged him to participate in a singing event on Independence Day. While he performed at that event on stage that evening people were thrilled to hear him out and therefore he won first place. He kept on winning these competitions every semester until he announced that he will no longer participate in next competitions so that someone else can also win the competition.

Admirations
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan songs and Kishore Kumar were an inspiration to him. Atif says “There was a time when R.D. Burman had such good melodies, lyrics and arrangements, that's not happening now. Everything is run of the mill as they have to produce and produce that there is no original music anymore. I listen to all the music that is around me. I have a wide spectrum of listening spanning from Noor Jehan to Pink Floyd to U2 and Eric Clapton. Personally I prefer to listen to Nusrat's memorable qawwalis and do so whenever I am alone. This is in turn what shapes me as a musician and stimulates my creativity.”

Albums
Jalpari is a music album released on July 20, 2004. It is his first solo album after he left the Pakistani rock group, Jal. Two of his songs from the album were used by Bollywood film directors. His three songs Aaadat, Ehsaas and Yakeen were included in a Hollywood art movie Man Push Cart. The film had its world premiere at the 2005 Venice Film Festival.

Doorie was the second album by Atif Aslam released in 2006. This album was produced by Sachin Mithoon and Atif himself. All the recordings were done in Mumbai.
Meri Kahani is his third album. The album was officially released on 8th January, 2008. It was reported to be leaked on the Internet before release. Like his earlier albums, this one also got a huge response in Pakistan as well as in India. His latest song "Pehli Nazar" from the movie Race is creating sensation.

Affection
Atif describes himself a deep and a passionate person, which shows in his kind of music. He says “Doorie is not my kind of album, but it gave global fame which I could never get in Pakistan.” His first album Jalpari is near to his heart which was a bigger hit than Doorie in Pakistan. He says “I want to experiment and come up with something new and totally different each time. I want to surprise others and myself as well. I believe I have to create a lot of music to define my own genre and this will take time.” Atif says that many of his fans are really near to his heart and recalls one such fan, “One of my fans from India, who is a doctor, told me that my songs are used in their psychiatric ward as therapy for mental patients. The song helps the patient relax. All this gives me a great sense of satisfaction.” He says I want to be a “Simple guy making great music”, rather than a rockstar.

Achievements
· Best song, Best Composition, Best Lyrics "Aadat"- 2nd Jazz Indus Music Awards.
· Best playback singer, Best debut singer - Sahara Sangeet Awards (India).
· Best Song, Best Lyricist, Best Composition - ARY Music Awards (Pakistan).
· Most Wanted Male - The Musik Awards (Pakistan).
· Best pop star of the year - Filmazia awards (Pakistan).
· Best album of the year "Doorie" - 2007 LUX style awards (Pakistan).
· Received Tamgha-e-Imtiaz (Star-of-Excellence) from the Pakistan
government.
· Best stylish musician of 2007 - MTV Pakistan style awards.
· Most stylish MUSICIAN - MTV STYLE LYCRA AWARDS INDIA


Like every star Atif has also been surrounded by controversies. During his college days he formed a band called ‘Jal’ with Goher, his college mate. But soon the band dispersed and the copyrights of the song Aadat became an issue and the case is still pending in the court. A very recent one is, when Atif didn’t turn up for the concert at Pragati Maidan in Delhi in December 2007.

Royal Albert Hall is the most prestigious place in Europe for a concert. Only legendary artists from around the globe have performed there and it was dream come true for Atif Aslam to perform there. The only Pakistani artists that have performed over there till now have been Late Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan Sahib and Junoon.

Atif Aslam may be a singer idolized by millions, yet deep down he really is, what he claims to be: a ‘simple guy.





Courtesy: www.aadeez.com

DIGGING THE ROOTS IN A STUDIOUS WAY…

“My son wants to pursue his Bachelors from U.S.” says Mr. Sudhir Kapoor, suddenly Mr. Nagesh Patel also interrupts “even my daughter will be going to London for higher studies.” The discussion went on and went and suddenly Mr. Omkar Sharma replied “I will be sending my son and daughter to India for pursuing their studies after completing school.” These were three NRI friends who met each other in Delhi after 5 years and were planning for the future of their children. Mr. Kapoor and Mr. Patel work in Dubai whereas Mr. Sharma in New York. Both were surprised to hear Mr. Sharma, and asked him “why India, when you can give your children better education in the U.S.?”

To this Mr. Sharma replies gone were the days when Indian parents preferred to send their children abroad for higher education, now the scenario has reversed with NRI parents seeking to send their children to India for better education. He adds further why choose any another country when our own country is providing our children quality education!

Today India has one of the World's largest and most diverse education systems with over 320 universities and 16,000 colleges. Nearly 9.3 million students study at specialty institutions, professional colleges, management institutions, and institutions for medicine and engineering etc. The medium of instruction in these places is invariably English except for a few that teach arts subjects or humanities in regional languages. If we talk about schools, here also India is providing quality education which attracts kids every year from different part of the world. Taking the example of popular public which have awesome construction, talented faculty huge libraries, massive IT systems, impressive array of sports and cultural activities, counselling, global cuisine, 24-hour health services, and a very low teacher-pupil ratio, these schools have it all. NRI’s have also established such schools in different part of the country.

Taking examples of few such universities in the Indian Capital New Delhi which provide quality education which attract not only the NRI’s but also the foreigners. Central Universities like Delhi University, Jamia Millia Islamia and private universities like Amity International give lot of opportunities to these students. They even have reserved seats for NRI’s. Jamia receives students from countries like Afghanistan, Bhutan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Persian Gulf etc. It even runs culture exchange programme, which gives an opportunity to the students to interact and know and learn about the other country. One of the biggest reasons why India receives large number of foreign and NRI students is that India has an advantage with the widespread use of English language that makes learning and daily interaction easier. When asked how do the NRI students feel in India? Most of them gave the same answer; coming back to Motherland is always a good experience and India has taught them which any other country would never teach. Foreigners seem very impressed by the culture and the large number of festivals which different communities celebrate in India.

My curiosity to know more about NRI students and their experience in India drove me to Jamia Millia Islamia, Central University located in New Delhi which has a good number of NRI and foreign students. There I met Asim, an NRI student, born and brought up in Saudi Arabia, who did his Bachelors in Commerce from Jamia. Hearing the name of the country he belongs to my curiosity reached the heights! Here are the few questions he answered and told about his sweet and bitter experiences in India.


1. Why did you choose India?
Although I hold an Indian passport by birth, it is quite ironic that I have hardly visited India. My father being an Indian loves his culture a lot, and considers it to be the best place for the exposure. Moreover undergraduate education is quite inexpensive here.

2. So, how did you find your stay in India? Any kind of problem that you faced initially?
Coming from a country like Saudi Arabia to India is altogether a different experience. Initially I couldn’t adjust with the people, but adjusting with the taste of the (Spicy) food was even more difficult for me!

3. Do you find any difference in Education system in India and Saudi Arabia?
As Saudi Arabia is a conservative Islamic country, therefore the education there is not co-educational. All the schools and colleges there are separate for girls and boys; they are not even near- by each other. The girls school and boys school of Indian Embassy are about 15 kilometres apart. Where as in India we find both kinds of education systems, co-educational as well as separate.

4. What did you learn here which you could have never been able to learn there?
Well, now atleast I can myself a graduate (laughs). Talking about my own university Jamia Millia Islamia, it gave me an opportunity to learn Urdu language apart from my comprehensive financial syllabus. For me that is my one of the biggest achievements in India. Moreover, the kind of diversity this university has is something to watch out. I had a big friend circle which had guys from Kashmir, Yemen, Iran and from other parts of the country. Knowing so many different people at the same time was so delightful.

5. After going back to Saudi Arabia, did you see any enthusiasm amongst the NRI’s there regarding the Indian Education?
Well not really! People still prefer to send their children to either U.K or U.S for higher education. But slowly and steadily the awareness towards the Indian education is picking up pace.

6. So, finally tell us do you see yourself working or settling in India?
Yes, ofcourse! That’s why even after completing my graduation am still staying in India. Can’t say any thing about settling here, but still they say no matter how far you go but the end of the day you always come back to your home.