Lance armstrong-the fall of an icon

What a dismal fall from the dizzy heights of glory.The great legend of cycling and an icon of endurance ,the man who fought cancer to conquer the Alps with sheer courage and doggedness ,the epitome of courage and conviction stands tainted and mute.

Lance Armstrong is destined to be doomed to oblivion with all medals being stripped and stands lifetime ban with the loss of unprecedented seven straight Tour de France titles and his Olympic bronze.

The US Postal cycling team, led by Lance Armstrong, have been accused of running the most 'successful doping program that sport has ever seen' by USADA. After a decade of staunch denials ,allegations that the process that the anti-doping agency followed is "an unconstitutional ­government funded witch hunt” ,Lance Armstrong, the most accomplished athletes in cycling history, ended his fight against charges of doping.

The 1999 to 2005 Tours de France will be forever without a winner .Tour director Christian Prudhomme has said the race will go along with whatever UCI decides and will have no official winners for those years.

The United States Anti-Doping Agency alleged him as one of the ringleaders of systematic doping on his Tour-winning teams.The USADA charged him with six offences covering the use of banned substances, the trafficking of drugs, the administration of drugs to team-mates intimidating the witnesses,and "tarnish reputations, lie to hearing panels and the press and do whatever was ­necessary to conceal the truth,” The agency described the revelations as “more extensive than any previously revealed in professional sports ­history”.

On January 27, a day after he left for the US, Yuvraj Singh tweeted, "Reading Lance Armstrong's book it's not about the bike! I'm sure it will motivate me and pull me throu this time! Livestrong yuvstrong!"

Lans was not just a Champion cyclist to millions of Yuvis's,but he inspired them with his unrelenting and exemplary fight against cancer. Lance Armstrong succumbed before the doping charges that have followed him for a decade.“There comes a point in every man's life when he has to say, ‘Enough is enough’,” Armstrong said in a statement. “For me, that time is now”.

26 witnesses including 11 riders from the United States Postal Service team testified to USADA against Armstrong in a ­doping case .USADA released the findings of a two-year investigation accusing Armstrong of using a pot-pore of banned substances and blood transfusions. The doping program me was the brainchild of disgraced Italian doctor, Michele Ferrari, and Armstrong would travel across Europe during and before races to have blood transfusions.

International Cycling Union (UCI) president Pat McQuaid said the USADA’s report had been accepted and they would not appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. “Lance Armstrong has no place in cycling and he deserves to be forgotten in cycling,” Mr. McQuaid said at a news conference. "He deserves to be forgotten."

How poor Yumi must have felt hearing the episode.

Navarathri festival

In any civilized society women are placed at an exalted position either at par with men ,at times even in a more esteemed status. In the new cultures in which values and ideals are rotten ,it is only natural that women are pushed to the margins. In Sanathana dharma -the primordial Hindu culture of the world,social status of the women is considered sacred and is enshrined as a central theme. It is epitomized in the Navarathri festivals.

Unlike other religions where the God is conceptualized as masculine,in Sanathana Hindu religion women are ordained in an equal position as men. Stepping further Sri Shankara articulates that without Shakthi Siva is powerless. There is a belief that we have to depend on the Goddess of Maya to redeem ourselves from the birth-death cycle.The cosmos is the embodiment of Devi.The nature is the visible manifestation of God.To protect and preserve nature is the duty of mankind and it in itself is the worship of god.Nature is both the mother and foster mother to us. Our spiritual tomes like 'Vedas',our mother earth,the holy rivers like Ganga,Yamuna ,the domestic animals like holy cow-all those that help in the well being -are all our mothers.One cant find such an extensive concept of motherhood anywhere else in the world .

The Navarathri season is the important occasion in India for the worship of the Devi.We worship the Devi in the 9 days in three forms such as Kali,Lakshmi and Saraswathi.

The entity of oneself is being masked from him by the three 'Gunas'(Qualities) namely RajoGuna,ThamoGuna Sathwa Guna.During Navarathri Pooja the universal mother is worshipped as 'Kali,Lakshmi and Saraswathi.

The Devi in her Kali Bhavam protect us from the develish Thamo Guna.She leads us to the Rajo Guna in Lakshmi Bhavam. Finally in Saraswathi Bhavam the goddess lift us to self-enlightenment. Ater transcending the nine nights of self- realization the Bhaktha is hived to the dawn of knowledge and realisation.

'Look at everything in this universe with love and adoration ' is the message of Navarathri festival.That is why we offer the books,equipments, tools and vehicles for the poojas.The working tools are the symbols of our life.By offering them to the Goddess,we offer ourselves to the Devi.When we take them back after the Pooja, we become the instruments of the Devi purified and strong.

Navam means new.If we must get attracted to something it needs to be new.We can behold beauty only in novelty.There is only one thing in this universe which does not loose its freshness.ie the almighty.Finding newness in others is the manifestation of love within us. Love makes everything beautiful and new.In fact love and beauty are different facets of God. When we can see God life becomes refreshingly beautiful,sweet and full of happiness.

Nobel peace prize

The Nobel Peace Prize for the current year has evoked mixed reactions.Brussels was overjoyed. "The EU is the biggest peacemaking institution ever created in human history," said Herman Van Rompuy, the president of the European council, who chairs European Union summits. The award was "the strongest possible recognition of the deep political motives behind our union", he said.

The prize, which is worth €921,000 (£743,000) will do little to help plug the EU's debt and banking crisis which has so far cost over €6 trillion. An interesting comparison from the internet: "If shared equally amongst the EU's 500 million citizens, it would pay a peace dividend of just €0.002, or less than two thousandths of a British penny."

The Nobel peace prizes have always been controversial and the objects of wild imaginations.While Science related awards often entail  no dissents as the yardsticks to study the contributions of scientists are quiet transparent and tangible where as the critarian in spheres like peace it could be cumbersome and could always pronounce a tinch of subjectivity which could spell trouble.

It is not rare that the Nobel peace prizes to have been received by an organization.Organizations like Red Cross,UNICEF and Amnesty were the recipients over  the years .But it is the first time a conglomeration of states getting the coveted prize.

The EU began decades ago in the 50's under certain treaties as a small organization known as the “Common Market,”to promote economic cooperation breaking down trade barriers among warring European states . Over time the organization expanded to a conglomeration of 27 states with 17 of them sharing the same currency. The union was conceived as a means to bring peace to a continent trampled by centuries of umpteen internecine wars. Over the last 5decades – as the Nobel Committee put it – Europe has been transformed from a continent of war to a continent of peace.

Was the peace in the area the handiwork of EU? Is the European Union, this year's recipient, a more worthy champion of peace? Opinion is divided and the debate is on.

After 1945 Germany was profoundly tamed and was an advocate of peace in the region. The EU was the tool of peace in the member countries . José Manuel Barroso, head of the European commission said "At its origins, the European Union brought together nations emerging from the ruins of devastating world wars – which originated on this continent – and united them in a project for peace." He added that the EU had reunited a continent "split by the cold war" around common values. The monetary Union was pivotal in promoting democracy and able governance across the continent. Spain, Portugal and Greece joined the EU after decades of fascist dictatorships.The Eastern Europe saw the EU as a harbinger of stability after years of Soviet occupation and Communist dictatorship. The EU has defended democratic institutions against authoritarian governments in Hungary and Romania. EU's single market, the 20th anniversary being officially celebrated is a remarkable political achievement, discarding protectionist tariffs that have paved the way for a huge expansion in trade. According to European Commission estimates,by 2006, the single market had boosted GDP by 2.2% and helped create an extra 2.75 million jobs in the EU countries.

Of course, these achievements lack luster in the wake of euro zone collapses, bringing about economic chaos and political harakiri. Much of the continent is mired in a severe economic slowdown.Already, the crisis is taking its toll on the single market,crisis countries remain highly vulnerable to bank runs, debt downgrades, deepening recessions and political instability. EU is on the death bed. It is now 3 years since one of the worst economic crises slapped Europe but there is still no light at the end of the tunnel.The 'fiscally-broke' Greece faces a sixth year of economic recession and the far-Right movements is on the rise in Greece. Riots are mounting in Spain, demonstrations in Italy. The crisis is deep on the streets of Athens and Madrid and is reopening deep historical divisions. Solidarity is breaking down.While Northern European countries, relish in record low interest rates at the cost of supporting crisis countries, harsh austerity measures are thrust on the Southern European countries as the price for assistance .

In spite of all these, explains Thorbjorn Jagland, Committee Chairman  : “we saw that the prize could be important in giving a message to the European public of how important it is to secure what they have achieved on this continent.”

Many a Nobel laureates in peace are in oblivion and many live in our memory with the glean and aura of thousand Suns. It was the fear of antagonizing the British who were in combat with Nazi-Germany from choosing the all time great apostle of truth and non-violence ,the Mahatma for the prize. Mahatma Ghandhi who fought the British colonialism and took 50 crore Indians to the horizon of freedom through his Ahimsa ,though nominated for 5 times ,was not rewarded. Leo Tolstoy who had deeply inspired the Mahatma was also not conferred with the prize for literature.

Between 1901 and 2011,about 99 individuals and 23 organizations were awarded with the prize with out any appreciable controversy though some of the selections were brazenly outrageous. In 2009 freshly-elected U.S. President Barack Obama was awarded the peace prize. As was widely believed ,he won the prize, not for being Nobel's "champion of peace" for he had no qualities or the character to be a champion of peace.He got the prize because the committee was thrilled he was not George W. Bush.

Any Prize will become worth its salt only when it is justified. By conferring to the right person it is the award which gets honored.

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