How did it come to this?

I love this dialogue in "Lord of the Rings" when Theoden, Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli along with the king's army are gonna ride out of Helm's Deep to meet the orcs in battle. How did it come to this ... such a simple dialogue that conveys so much of helplessness and wonderment.

Well, anyways, I was browsing Prem Panicker's blog and he was commenting about how a simple discussion on cricket turns to abuses and name-calling ... and when did we all forget the art of listening and discussing with each other instead of going for the jugular (not his exact words ... but the same kinda meaning).

Recently I put my article on Rediff about hero worship ... in which they changed the title to something about Sachin Tendulkar. Though my article took SRT as an example, it could have been anyone ... could have been Ganguly or could have been Amitabh Bacchan.

While people may agree with my comments or not, that is their freedom just as it was my freedom to give my opinion. However, what was really disappointing was the way in which people were ready to mangle and tear and swear and abuse the hell out of someone who thinks different from what they do.

I got a lot of abuse ... some in polite flowery language and some in more "to the point" language ... one of the mails, however, stands out in my rememberances. It simply said "I hope you die very soon".

Ok, so they love SRT ... ok, so they don't know me ... ok, so I have not brightened their days by hitting Shane Warne over his head multiple times. But to wish someone dead coz he questions whether the man is still as good as he was ... coz he wonders why a man is being considered god? Ok, so if someone wants to consider him god, he can always say "it is my bloody business who I consider god and I will thank you to take ur nose outta my business" ... but to wish someone dead coz of this???

They r burning Vengsarkar's effigy in UP coz Kaif is not in the team ... Chappell had his funeral procession taken out during the Ganguly-Chappell spat. Very soon, I think being a selector / coach will become a very dangerous job simply coz the fans have scented blood and someday they might just kill someone who doesn't take in the guy from their state.

This is not just about cricket ... it is our attitude and our thinking which is reflected here ... which will soon not be limited to cricket. We are such a diverse nation in terms of languages, cultures, religion etc ... can we afford to be so intolerant?

My post might be considered as making a mountain out of a molehill but somehow this fanaticism scares me ... no, not in the way it will stop me from blogging or from writing articles on what I think ... but in the direction our country is moving in.

I frequently wonder - "How did it come to this"?

Cheers