It's been so worth the wait ...!

It’s over. It has been delightful, painful, amazing, strenuous, nerve wracking and all that ….

 

If you have a plateful of bitter and sweet items to partake, how would you go about it? I would have the bitter one first, have the rest of the items in increasing order of the taste that I relish the most and leave the last piece in there as the one I would relish the most and would want the taste to linger on for a long time.

 

This test series has been like that. Started off with the bitter pill of 36 all out and then reached the crescendo in the last hour on the last day of the last test. Can there be any better script?

Mind goes back to 1992, the first India – Australia test series in Australia that I followed. Somewhere in one corner of my mind, is a memory of my dad listening to the radio commentary of the Sydney test of 1986 when India scored 600-4 or something like that. It was a drawn series against a rebuilding Australia after the famous Kim Hughes press conference breakdown. There was also the iconic tied test of 1987 at Chepauk that really introduced me to test cricket! Somewhere in between the two was the 16 run loss to Pakistan in Bangalore – Sunny Gavaskar’s last test.

 

Cut to 1992, a humiliating 4-0 loss in a 5 match series, the couple of highlights being a brilliant century at WACA, Perth by Sachin Tendulkar and a scintillating century by Mohammed Azharuddin (20+ fours, if I remember correctly) at Adelaide, where we lost by 38 runs. The only match we managed to draw was at Sydney, with Ravi Shastri scoring a double century. It was Shane Warne’s debut match as well, and it was one of the least impressive debuts! I used to eagerly look forward to a 30 minutes’ highlights capsule that was introduced as ‘RK Swamy BBDO presents’! Much later I realized that this was an ad agency. Imagine an ad agency sponsoring the highlights package of such a series now! The highlights package was all about drooling those phenomenal pickup shots that Azharuddin used to play from the off stump nonchalantly into the leg side and to admire the gumption of a Sachin! Being able to challenge Australia across 1-2 sessions was enough to fill our cockles!

 

1998-99 then, the only memory being Sachin playing well, all by himself and finding new ways of getting out every match (hit on shoulder and given LBW, for instance). This was a forgetful series.

 

2003-04 was played post the 2001 Eden Gardens epic and hence the rivalry took on a different tone and hue. Inspiring century by Sourav Ganguly at the Gabba helped India draw a tough match. Adelaide was about Rahul Dravid especially and Ajit Agarkar. That Adelaide test instilled belief into the Indian team that we could defeat the mighty Australians at their home. Incidentally the first innings lead for Australia despite scoring 556 was exactly 33 runs. We lost at Melbourne and the final test was at the SCG. I cannot forget those beautiful drives unleashed by VVS Laxman in India’s mammoth 700 plus score in the first innings. That innings is more famously remembered for Sachin’s highest score of 243 not out. More famous than the score was his refusal to even attempt a single cover drive throughout his stint at the crease. We were eagerly anticipating a famous Indian win. Only for Simon Katich to play the spoiler in both the innings. I have not been able to forgive Parthiv Patel for all those mistakes behind the wicket, especially a missed stumping of Simon Katich. Not to forget Steve Waugh’s match saving knock in his final essay. In the end 1-1 was a fair score, but we could not digest the ‘so near, yet so far’ feeling that has lingered on ever since.

 

Come 2008 and there was a whitewash looming after the first match at Melbourne. The second test at SCG was a bitter one – both in terms of the number and percentage of umpiring decisions that went against India and also the monkey gate scandal. There was the stumping of Andrew Symonds that was ruled not out by the 3^rd umpire (that was simply wrong, there was no iota of doubt there), the bump catch off Saurav Ganguly with Ricky Ponting playing the umpire signaling it was indeed out. We collapsed in a heap with Michael Clarke picking up 6 wickets! That was very painful to watch. Who would have thought that Anil Kumble and team will bounce back at WACA of all places? The entire team rallied and it was one fairy tale win. The last test at Adelaide petered out into a draw, India initially dominating and then subsequently trying to survive. Virender Sehwag scored a century and the series ended 2-1 in favour of the hosts. Irrespective of monkey gate, everyone was in agreement that the score line was not a fair summary of the goings on in the series.

 

2011-2012 was painful to watch as well. A 4-0 drubbing. It was painful to see the legends go through the motions. Rahul Dravid kept getting bowled to Peter Siddle and he took the decision to retire post that series. He was coming off 3 centuries in England, where Dhoni and his men got a 4-0 drubbing. VVS Laxman also played his last test there in Australia in that series. One enduring memory of that series was Virat Kohli’s first century in Australia.

 

2014-15 looked to be a contest, though set against the background of Phil Hughes’ tragic death. Michael Clarke’s sporting declarations in both the innings meant that India had a whiff of a chance and Kohli took it on. Lasting image is of Kohli going after Lyon, only to be caught in the deep, followed by Wriddhiman Saha’s ridiculous charge. Yet another Adelaide test, and yet another story of so near and yet so far. India did stay in the contest for the second match only to be derailed by the wagging tail of Australia – Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood enjoyed themselves. I think Shikhar Dhavan had an injury in the nets that forced a change in the batting order. Kohli was visibly unhappy coming into bat as well! We lost that test in that session. Rahane – Kohli partnership was the highlight of the third test at Melbourne. Rahane dominated Mitchell Johnson and how. Kohli was just handing the strike to Rahane and played second fiddle. Around the end of the day’s play, it was an ego tussle between Kohli and Johnson and Johnson had the last laugh. That proved very costly as India folded quickly in the first essay post Kohli’s dismissal. Dhoni and the lower order prevented a collapse and the match ended in a draw. That MCG match also marked KL Rahul’s debut. It was one horror of a debut. He looked totally out of place (much like Rahane did in his debut at the Kotla which prompted Gavaskar to say that he was not ready to play test cricket!). Kohli was encouraging him to take on Lyon in both the innings and Rahul just did that. Without getting the pitch of the ball, he was a sitting duck. There were laughs all around when he got out in both the innings. Rahul also dropped a sitter at slip and there was an article on cricinfo of Rahul’s horror show at the MCG. Anything that is so bitter has a tendency to be evened out by sweet stuff. Rahul did redeem himself with a hundred at the SCG. So many Indian batsmen’s careers have got a fillip at the SCG and Rahul is definitely not the last one of them. The last at Sydney also ended in a draw, with both teams looking to dominate and finally had Dhoni come out to calm the frayed nerves, yet again.

 

The 2018-19 series was played in the long shadows of the Cape Town scandal with Australia having banned their two most prolific batsmen for a year for the key roles they played in the ball tampering scandal. India were strong favourites – definitely the first time ever. You still had to go out and play well and win. Day 1 of the first test did not go so well for India. Pujara scored the first of his 3 centuries and the day ended with a fantastic piece of fielding by Cummins to get Pujara run out. Ashwin picked up 4 wickets in the first innings. It was still a close game with Lyon batting so well to come within 40 runs (another Adelaide test and the margin being less than 40 runs!). India won the test to go 1-0 up. I remember the second test at Perth for one of the best innings I have seen ever – Virat Kohli’s magnificent 123 at the new Perth stadium. The boundaries he scored in that innings are a connoisseur’s delight. India lost the test, thanks to Lyon’s heroics (a match where pacers were expected to dominate). The series was setup 1-1. Thanks to Bumrah’s spells in both the innings and Pujara’s partnership with Kohli in the first innings, India won. The key moment of the match for me though was Mayank Agarwal’s debut and his opening partnership with Hanuma Vihari (who scored just 18), but that stand gave India stability and saw through the new ball for Pujara to come in and setup his stall. Mayank threw it away by going after Lyon one too many a time. He did that yet again at Sydney to get out in his 70s yet again. India dominated that test like no other. Kuldeep Yadav came in for his first match in Australia and picked up a five-for. Pujara extended his amazing form and got within a whiff of a double, Pant showed what he’s capable of by getting a big century. India made Australia follow-on and then it rained and how. Weather intervened to save Australia a massive defeat! We all thought that the series win was pre-ordained and I, for one, thought the score line of 2-1 was unimpressive.

 

And then this series! Wow, what a series. From the humiliation of 36 all out – media calling it the winter of 36, much like the summer or 42. India looked absolutely down. The 36 all out was more of a freakish session of play, where the entire Indian innings had only 32 chances and 10 of those were taken. The usual average in a test innings is about 1 in 8-10. The next test set the trend of all those coming into the squad making an impact immediately, by either scoring crucial runs when it mattered or taking wickets at the right opportune moments. India’s domination of the test was also thanks to Australia doing exactly what India did at Adelaide – dropped so many chances that we all lost count! This was so un-Australian.  Rahane ensured that the misses were costly for Australia with a superb century – a la Ganguly at the Gabba in 2003. Strangle hold on Steve Smith was found to be the key reason for India’s success. Steve Smith was back to his usual form in the next one at the SCG scoring big in both the innings. Going into the last day, I for one hoped India would do what Peter Handscomb and Glenn Maxwell did on the last day of the Ranchi test a couple of years earlier. Australia looked down and out and 21/2 at the end of Day 4 only for some resolute batting to get the match to a draw. That series was setup nicely for a final flourish at Dharamshala (what a setting for the final match of the series). It was Rahane’s astute captaincy and aggressive approach in the last innings that ensured India chased the 120 run target comfortably and won the series 2-1 then.

 

Hanuma Vihari and Ashwin did even better, on an up/down surface at SCG that did not deteriorate to the extent we all thought it would. What fight and what resolve. We hung on for a dear draw, although at one point it looked like we could go for the win.

 

‘Can’t wait to get you to the Gabba, Ash, tell you what … ooh ooh’ was how Australia looked at the last match. So confident of annihilating a worn down India. I for one thought that the match would be a damp squib with India being rolled over within 3 days. It went to script, with India being 186/6 in reply to Australia’s 369. It was a rookie bowling attack. Am pretty sure that Natarajan, Washington Sundar and Shardul Thakur were pinching themselves, that they were indeed playing and not day dreaming! Shardul and Washington Sundar turned the script on its ahead with that amazing partnership of 123. That meant that we were beginning to clutch at straws. What if the lead came down to less than 50? What if we took the lead! Amazing conjectures! The lead in the end for Australia was 33 – cricinfo reminded us that this was a famous first innings deficit – remember Adelaide in 2003! I just laughed it off – a win at the Gabba – come on! I went through the trial and tribulation of sitting on a specific section of the sofa and not moving, waking up early with an alarm clock and not wanting to switch on the TV, hesitantly checking the score on the phone, trying to get back to sleep, unable to and with trepidation switching on the TV! Am sure that many amongst us went through the same chores! Rahane fell on the last day just when I checked the score on the phone! Should I check the score on my laptop?! Finally, I mustered courage to watch the match on my phone, but had the comfort of cricinfo updating me 1 ball ahead of what I could see on the phone. Seemed fine if I came across a wicket in my online update than watching it live. With just 10 runs to get, I took the tough decision of watching the match live on TV and what did I get! A poor reverse sweep from Sundar bringing about his downfall and Shardul Thakur followed soon after. Surely, this was not happening, shouldn’t be another instance of so near and yet so far. Such a relief it was to see the winning runs being hit.

 

Relief turned to marveling at the win and it subsequently turned to amazement at just what this team has done. This win over writes and should erase all those near wins and misses. The more I think of this win now, it is exultation and exhilaration more than relief and pride in winning ‘another’ series in Australia. It will be impossible to replicate this sort of a win against all odds. That is the problem with new benchmarks, I guess.

All those early morning wake-ups at or before 5 am IST, all those feelings of ‘what ifs’, all the humiliation and defeats was all worth it. This is absolutely the crescendo and summit that an Indian cricket fan can hope to climb, ever. Thanks to Team India. There’s not much else to convey!

 

 

Why this will not hurt ...!

Was left wondering after watching England bulldoze India to a well-earned 4-0 victory. I was surprised for the lack of heartbreak and hurt that usually accompanies an Indian loss. This was a rout by all means and yet, it did not really affect you. Following could be the reasons:

1. I did not get the feeling that most of the team members were really affected by this whitewash.
2. Especially, the captain who had the usual, put-on smile - the Captain Cool, who even gargled up some gibberish along the lines of "Well, of course, this is what makes cricket challenging. We have been winning a lot of series and now, this is a different feeling of losing"! Aw .. come on.
3. Except Dravid who one felt really sorry for, the others were merely going through the motions, instead of even putting up half a fight. Well, Mishra did a Harbhajan by doing well in what is unexpected of him and doing poorly in what you expect him to do.
4. Yours truly did predict the Master Blaster to fail in his nervous nineties - our little great man is very nervous for every single 100, so he has to be a lot more nervous for his 100th 100. Am wondering if he will do a Don and never get to his 100th! But then, he has sufficient number of 'very difficult' ODIs against England and WI at home later this year, if he does not manage it in these 5 innings!
5. If Dhoni is trying to tell us that this 'losing a bit and winning a bit' is the new normal, then it is the die-hard cricket fans who need to really wonder as to the future of this team. Captain Cool and some of our 'big guns' (who tend to fire only/more at home) are reconciled to the fact that as long as IPL keeps the money bags flowing, a few humiliations in the longer version of the game should not really matter!
6. 'Tiger' Pataudi had it spot on when he said that he could not comment much on why we lost etc, if some of the players are willing to play IPL matches with injuries and do not really care for representing the country - was surprised to see Sehwag join the ranks of Zaheer in this respect. Maybe, Sehwag keeps things real simple life - 'play cricket, earn money' like his famous philosophy in cricket, which is to "see ball, hit ball"!
7. In a way, it is all good, for thanks to this team (minus the spoilsport Dravid), this does not hurt like the heartbreaks of Sydney or Barbados, that we fans had to endure!

Let me end with the 'find of the tour'. He showed his calibre in his earlier life and also looked the part in his bit roles earlier. But, definitely he has been the find of the tour. No, I am not talking of Praveen Kumar (who was tired and injured as per Eric Simmons at his sprightly old age of 23, thanks to the workload of playing 6 tests on the trot!). Well, it is obvious ... am talking about Saurav Ganguly, the commentator.

When will we learn ....?

Oh yes! We lost - one of those near heartbreaking losses. I say ‘near’ because we did not fight till the end as we did in some of those rare occasions – like Sydney, for example, when the loss was much more painful. Listening to the post match analysis on TV about how India did not have the swagger of the No. 1 team in the world threw up some interesting thoughts.

Imagine Australia under Steve Waugh or Ponting coming to India and McGrath not being able to bowl beyond 10 overs on the first day! Also factor in Mathew Hayden not being available for the first two tests, injured. Add to this scenario, the following - Ponting not able to bat one down,with viral fever and Justin Langer not able to open in the 2^nd innings. Well, and Shane Warne becoming ineffective in the first test on account of lack of turn/bounce. Would it have been a fair contest?

Or for that matter, West Indies of the ‘70s in Australia and the following scenario unwinds – Michael Holding comes up injured after bowling just 15 overs on the first day; Gordon Greenidge having to sit out the series; Vivian Richards not able to bat at No. 4, thanks to a bout of fever in the 2^nd innings; Desmond Haynes getting injured and not able to open the batting in the 2^nd innings. Interesting, eh?!

But then, these things did not or would not have happened. McGrath was fit as a fiddle throughout his career, except on those rare occasions when he did not know how to step on a ball (!). Unlike Zaheer Khan who has managed to miss out on almost all important matches/series – had to sit out the Australia last time round (would we not have whipped them?!), did not play the first test in South Africa last year, when we got humiliated. But then, it surprises me as to how he keeps himself fit for every IPL season and those 100’s of ODIs that we play against Sri Lanka! Hayden and Greenidge never did sit out of important series, unlike Sehwag who played the IPL and thus delayed getting his shoulder treated.

Moreover, the only time India did win a series in England comprehensively was in 1986, when apparently, India played eight, yes EIGHT 3 day practice matches before the real deal! How many series do we need to 'come back' after losing the first test, thanks to BCCI's scheduling - where the only objective is to make money - and where the least priority seems to be given to ensuring an overseas series victory! But things have changed with our cricket team - we claim to be the No. 1 team in the world. What stops our “well, of course” captain from demanding adequate preparation, especially for these important overseas tours? Or maybe, these things do not matter, as long as the IPL schedule is unaffected and is not tinkered with!

So then, the verdict as per me is that the BCCI and our players have shot themselves in the foot and that us poor fans of the Indian cricket team live through this mirage of how all members of the team play for test match glory and to get their names inscribed as the very best of the lot in the world, at least for the time being. If there are fans hurting about this loss, then get over it and think – if the players and the team do not really much care, then why should this bother us? The English players, on the other hand, seem to value their test match glory and really played much better cricket. And yes, they truly deserved this victory. Period!

The score 5-0, a walk down memory lane

I had written about India – Pakistan rivalry and some very personal moments associated with the same and sent it to Indian Express by email. Little did I expect that the article would get published verbatim! The exhilaration of coming across this article in the 'Time Out' section on a Monday morning, in the crowded suburban local of Mumbai cannot be explained in words! Those memories did not cover, for some strange reason, the World cup wins over our arch rivals.

Here’s a walk down memory lane – prompted by the semi-final win.

1987: The match that never happened

I start off with a match that all of India was looking forward to, eagerly in anticipation of the mother of all finals. However, Graham Gooch and Steve Waugh ensured that that was not to be. The budding Steve Waugh put paid to Pakistani fans hopes with a gritty and calculated innings, scoring 18 runs off the last over – exactly the margin of the defeat! On this side, Gooch swept and how! Rumours of fixing on hindsight (when the Prabhakar expose came to light) aside, Gooch literally swept India off the world cup. We were stationed at the school gates to regulate traffic at the end of the day, when yours truly promptly managed to position myself at the gate that overlooked a house that had the TV set on! Distinctly remember the heartbreak of seeing Azharuddin’s stumps broken and with it went the match

1992: Miandad stealing the show for the wrong reasons!

We all eagerly looked forward to watching this match at home. After the heart break of the 1 run loss to Australia (thanks to supreme running skills of Mr. Muscles - Venkatapathy Raju!), came the first ever World cup encounter between India and Pakistan. Tendulkar played well (when has he not!) and got us to a decent total. Remember Srinath’s fiery pace getting a few and Miandad doing a Misbah of waiting forever before the charge! But the image ingrained in every one’s mind would be Miandad’s clown act of jumping, to get back at Kiran More (no idea what this meant though!)

1996: Oh yes, Jadeja and Prasad!

Watched this match at our landlord’s place! Jadeja’s blitz against Waqar was to be seen to be believed. Sidhu had laid a good foundation early in the innings. Prasad getting back at Aamir Sohail immediately after the taunt to pick the ball up from the fence was the turning point of the match. We bowled and fielded well. What I will never forget is that after the match, the 80 year old ex-army man staying across from us, woke up from his sleep to enquire at about 10 pm as to who won! The look of contentment that he gave when told the result would stay in my mind forever! No one knew of how wretched things would get in a few days when we would lose shamefully to Sri Lanka!

1999: Prasad does it yet again!

Not many remember this match that was held in Manchester. I remember Azharuddin batting quite well and that Pakistan were not in the chase fairly early, thanks to Prasad’s leg cutters and slower than usual bowling! We won, in the shadow of the Kargil war.

2003: Who can forget this one?

This was the evening/night before our convocation. Watched Pakistan build up a near imposing total in between rounds of catching up with friends, batch mates and a few others for one last time! We were also busy packing since we were leaving the city in just 2 days. We watched the first 5 overs of the Indian innings in the executive guest house on campus where parents and uncle/aunt had come over for the convocation. India was off to a rollicking start with Sehwag and Tendulkar mauling Akhtar and Waqar for 54 runs of the first five! It was time to leave for the pre-convocation dinner! At the buffet, no one had time for the sumptuous fare that was on offer! Professors, parents and students gobbled whatever they could manage enquiring with one another the current status of the Indian chase. The campus administrators had put up a huge screen adjacent to the football ground and we all watched and celebrated a successful chase! It was exhilarating stuff!

2011: Déjà vu start and great finish!

They had put together a big screen to project the TV feed for the 1st semi-final itself at the office cafeteria. Anticipating huge numbers, they tried to move the same to the open air seating gallery for the Wednesday clash. Thanks to logistical issues of bright light hampering the clarity etc, better sense prevailed. Better sense on hindsight I felt, because the atmosphere in the enclosed space was to be seen to be believed. Every table in the cafeteria at least had at least 8-10 people standing, not to mention one person standing per chair! This was in addition to the seating arrangements, which were already taken! The roar that accompanied Sachin and Sehwag when they entered the ground was louder than a Chinnaswamy or even Mohali, I guess! Sehwag ensured that our minds went back to 2003 with a blitz that helped India put up 47 in the first five! And when he perished, most of the crowd, including yours truly disappeared. That is when one felt (a la Ravi Shastri!) that the mantle has been passed on from Sachin to Viru! Gone were the days one watched and switched off till Sachin batted. The new Sachin grafts, builds, anchors and occasionally attacks whereas the old Sachin’s baton has been taken over by Sehwag!

Reached home to see a typical, customary, a wee bit selfish at times, play by Harbhajan and Zaheer. But, Raina still had enough parts of his brain working to ensure that we reached a total that even by Saurav’s objective observations was 10 – 20 runs below expectation!
Who would have thought that Nehra and Munaf of all people would stick to the basics and did not succumb to adrenaline! Or maybe, it was because their adrenaline levels are normally so low that the intensity of playing Pakistan got them to play ‘normal’ cricket unlike a majority of the team including Sachin who succumbed to the negative effects – read over cautious approach, when it came to key moments.

For me, Viru and Raina’s batting, Munaf and Nehra’s bowling and Yuvraj, Virat and Raina’s fielding in the inner circle were the takeaways. And yes, to quote Sidhu ‘you do not murder people who are committing suicide’ summed up the batting of Pakistan. Misbah, again to quote Sidhu, tried to be the ‘living beggar, rather than the dead emperor’ and it proved quite costly.

I have heard that matches between these two teams do things to people. I was witness to one such incident. Wife who has absolutely no interest in cricket ensured that she kept her eyes wide open and more importantly, glued to the TV, since whenever she was ‘actually’ watching, is when the Pakistanis committed hara kiri or for that matter, even Nehra and Munaf bowled good line and length balls!

The score then is 5 – 0 for India. At some time, the first ‘goal’ against us will be scored. Will it be in Australia in 2015? Let us hope not ….!

For most of my friends in the North, it doesn’t matter now if we win the final and are crowned World Champions or not! We have won the ‘mother of all matches’. For us in the South, who have been largely unaffected by the Partition and the terrorist attacks launched and supported from across the border, we would like Dhone and co. to go that bit farther this time. And yes, avenge the 1996 semi-final!

What a decade ...!

March 2001. VVS Laxman's best innings (yet!) and one of the all time great test matches brought us a lot of joy. We looked forward to the Indian team's exploits, thanks to a settled middle order. And boy, how they have delivered. Cut to Dec 2010, 10 years later and we are celebrating one of India's greatest test wins abroad. I would go so far as to say that this was the best victory ever by an Indian team. To beat the team comprising the best bowling unit in the world at the moment, in their own backyard, and that too at Durban, of all places. Can it get any better than that? VVS Laxman in the middle of it all ... well, 10 years, nothing much has changed!

What if we look ahead! There won't be any Sehwag, Dravid, Tendulkar, Laxman or indeed Zaheer Khan, 10 years down the line. Will we be able to still dominate world cricket or at least be amongst the top 3-4 teams then? Only time will tell.

And the frail looking lady began to smile ...!

What was the most endearing image in India’s sensational win yesterday? No, there was no fat lady to sing at the end of the game, but there she was, a frail looking lady – must have been part of the ground staff, running in to just touch Sachin. She was there for a moment, gone the next. She was all smiles; the sort of smile that is pure and comes from the bottom of one’s heart. For all you know, she may not have known the game of cricket at all. Yet, something there made her joy know no bounds. I am sure; she would be telling her grand children that she had the good fortune of congratulating the master after he completed one of his finest innings, that, hold your breath, took India to victory in a test, and that too while chasing a mammoth score! So was the rest of the ground staff, who came and congratulated the man of the moment.

For a country and her people traumatized with the goings-on in Mumbai over the past few days, these smiles of unmitigated joy are needed in truckloads. Not to overcome the grief – it cannot be overcome, period. But then, to take our minds away from the fear psychosis and concern generated by the gruesome and brutal nature that a human mind can be turned into, to something that is nice, happy and endearing to a lot of people.

But then, not everyone is so fortunate. They do not know what they seem to be missing! Please God, help them understand that in this nation of under achievers, at least the cricket team is there as a pressure valve for so many of us!

Cry, my beloved country ... Cry!

There has been this churning feeling ever since yesterday morning, seeing the dastardly acts of terrorism on screen. The way our media has covered the whole 'story' - with kid gloves and absolute lack of maturity, is also very disturbing.

Father called me yesterday noon and his sense of concern was so apparent. He has visited Mumbai a few times and had been to the foyer of the Oberoi to meet his friend who used to work there, and also to see the hotel. My sense of desperation has been more tangible, given that I have lived in Mumbai for a few years and these were the symbols that one used to look up to, not from an aspirational view, but from a point of 'feel good'.

If I can have such an emotional string attached to the city that never sleeps and to the landmarks therein, imagine the scores of Mumbaikars and others who frequent these places. Also to ponder, if the high and the mighty can be laid so low, what happens to the common man. But then, oh yes, the common man in India, and especially in Mumbai, must have got used to terrorism by now.

And yes, we are such a 'soft' country. At least, we can cry ... and feel frustrated at what's going on ....!

Oh Captain, Our Dear Captain!

It is after a long hiatus that the column comments about a story. And oft has been the case, it is the India – Australia series, or rather, the end of it, that has prompted this. Well, not really. It is to say “Thanks” to our dear captain of old! The lovely Dada, or for the uninitiated – Prince of Kolkata or for the still cricket unaware people (like some close ones are) – Sourav Ganguly! Yes, the guy who used to appear on the Britannia ad – you know, some people are so ignorant …!

Sourav da, your remark that you were more disappointed with not scoring a century in the first innings than with doing a Bradmanesque stint in your last, is so very characteristic of you. But then, you played such an important role in your last test and the whole series. So, what if you did not get an opportunity to play a match saving innings like your bete noire … well, you were his adversary, not the other way round, I guess! You scored 3 runs more than Steve Waugh did on his last, and more importantly, India won the match and the series, something that most cricketers would just dream to achieve.

Your timing of the retirement was spot on, much like those caresses on the offside. And what redemption – to regain the Border-Gavaskar trophy at the very same ground …err the city that some say was the setting for the beginning of your downfall in your first essay, and in such an emphatic manner against the team that promised to play ‘new age’ cricket but was taught some age old wisdom by you guys – aptly named – the Fab Five, or as one channel put it yesterday – the league of extraordinary gentlemen!

As Siddharth Vaidyanathan lamented in his blog about the kind of role models that this school going generation would grow up to, I guess the previous generation grew up to soft people as their role models. Thanks to you all – Kumble, Dravid, Sachin, VVS and you for being the role models to our generation, soft where it mattered and hard on the cricket ground. And amongst them all, you gave us all the self-belief and helped us develop an attitude that helped us be proud of the little things that we did in our daily lives, without ever sounding arrogant.

And to see your animated gestures during the last few minutes of the match, captaining Team India once again, meant so much to so many of us. It was a specially endearing moment, to watch you smile when Dhoni walked with you asking you to take over the mantle one last time.

Thanks a lot … for all these years of great memories. Here’s to you … our dear captain from one of the millions of Indians … and among the few tens of thousands who came to the Chinnaswamy stadium in Bangalore to watch you play one last time in the first test of this series.

And thanks to our new captain for those small gestures yesterday that will make lots of parents look up to you as a good role model. Wah captain … our dear captain!

Why we love fights more than wins!

Well, the whole nation is agog with rumours of Team India packing it's bags prematurely from a tour down under and yes, how can "The column" remain silent at this critical juncture?!

To sum it all up, Australia lost a cricket fan. Yours truly was a passionate admirer of the Australian way of things - the "in your face" attitude so well brought to life in the Fosters ads (the famed Australian beer brand). So when the "pigeon" (the nickname for Glenn McGrath) used to scalp the little master Tendulkar after mouthing the choicest obscenities at him from close range, including the 'F' word (so often captured vividly on camera) on being struck for a four, I used to lament at how poor we are, when it comes to succumbing under pressure and not fighting it out! Well, that is it, right? We always love fights. How often have we lamented that our team gives in without a fight - "it's ok if we don't win, but at least we should have fought hard" is something we are wont to say, at the drop of a hat. Does this trait, so much Indian that other cultures will find it a bit alien, run in our blood?

As toddlers when the story of Mahabharata is told to us, Arjuna is usually the hero that kids want to emulate. But sometime, am not able to put a finger on the age, say, when one is between 5 and 10 years old, the question: "Which character in the Mahabharata would you like the most?" would elicit a reply: Abhimanyu, or Karna (the wronged one). (Well, this attraction and fascination to heroics that end in tragedies ... is it something peculiar to a blood variant that has the inscription - "from Kerala" or is it something that transcends the Aryan-Dravidian divide is something that I would like to know?!).

Maybe this hypothesis is the answer to why the whole country is up in arms in unison, demanding fair treatment, for we have been wronged. Not only that, but this has come in the face of stiff fight that 'Team India' gave to the strongest team in the world. And more, importantly, lost, in the process. If you step back and think for a moment, whether any of these issues - "integrity" of a certain captain nicknamed "Punter" by his own (!), the alleged racist taunt, the poor umpiring and so on, would have become such burning issues, had we stuck out for the remaining 8 minutes and saved the game? By the way, I cannot understand how on earth calling someone (who is so funny with his expressions and hairstyle!) a "monkey" is racist. After all, science tells us that Homo Sapiens descended from apes. But at the same time, mouthing the "b" word, the "f" word or whatever other 4 or x-letter word that has only one meaning irrespective of the culture and language, is perfectly alright and is within the limits of the "gentleman's game"! How ridiculous can one get!

So then, maybe it's better that we lost and that too fighting till the end and to the last man. For, had we drawn the match, that sweeping use of English verbiage "a bad day at the office for the umpires" (well, the ICC Chief had the gall to tell this!) would have figured tucked away in the inner pages of our media. Like our own epic heroes, we fought and in the end we still lost, and our obsessive media caught on to the story that they knew would find instant resonance with something deep within all of us.

And yes, read this to understand why I would not support the baggy green from now onwards, unlike what I had to write earlier ....

Up above the world so high, "Harmony" in the sky!

"The two crews have completed the initial outfitting of the Harmony module that was attached to the station last week." , says NASA in it's portion of the website dedicated to the space station, today.

Well, it was a hot summer noon in 2000 when I visited the Kennedy space center of NASA in Cape Canaveral, Florida. We just missed the program wherein visitors can talk to those ex-astronauts - guys for whom the epithet - "been there, done that and having seen it all" would be so apt, much more than anyone else! Although my initial mood was a bit sombre - on account of silent resentment at my cousin for being more than a bit casual regarding the schedule for the day or else we would have made it on time, the rest of the day more than made up for all that. We went on a conducted tour - so well configured by NASA that the narrative on the TV sets installed next to each row on the bus is very well in synergy ... err ... harmony, if you will, with the scene one gets to see outside. So then, we saw the launch pads - unfortunately there were no shuttles in sight - one of them, Discovery I guess, was inside the tallest single storeyed building in the world and the other Columbia was up there, scheduled to land in a couple of weeks time. We were also taken to the Apollo assembly hall where a real life model of Apollo was kept - we were also given a "live" experience of the successful Apollo launch that bridged a giant leap for mankind (the expedition that took Armstrong and the others to moon) - this was a very well orchestrated audio visual - the voice over (live recordings of that moment in history) played out in the very room that created history - with all the action happening (lights getting turned on, screens showing data, the countdown happening .... and then a huge swoosh .... the lift off ... or rather .... the blast off, and then congratulations all around). Well, not the least of all was what preceded it all .... JFK's inspiring speech asking America to deliver the first man on the moon .... all this was a very heady experience, presented in the true US of A way.

And then, as part of the tour, we were taken to a chamber where NASA scientists were at work, on the International Space Station. We were shown a life-size model of the module that they were working on. The guide also informed us that the scientists were working on a module that was sponsored by Italy and that would go into space 'x' number of years later. Guess what, now I remember, it was named "Harmony"!

So, the next time I look up to the skies, I know that there is harmony up there - harmony that I saw and knew from so close quarters more than seven years back .....!

10 years is a long time ...!

Anniversaries come and go. And then, there are some that are milestones. Though painful - anniversaries generally are a meter of duration and most often than not they make one look back and think "Oh my god, it has indeed been so many years .... time does indeed fly". One would tend to think so, even on a first anniversary. So, come to think of it, 10 years is indeed a long time.

My mind's eye takes me to the party we were having just before passing out from college. Quite a few scenes rush are fresh. There was Rahul, our secretary, promising that our branch should be different from our batch, in having a get-together function every year. That resolution was unanimously passed with "Ayes" all around. There was Ompie wailing loudly - literally crying like a baby, that he will miss many of his friends. There were groups - the "right-wing" group, then the left group - more so the hostellers, then there was the electrical side of G-15 (I doubt if G-15 members - an assorted mix of 7 girls of electrical and 8 guys of Mechanical and Electircal - actually knew that they were called so - primarily for their liking to culture of the USofA and even more so, for their behaving as US citizens in campus!) probably reliving the good memories of the 4 years spent or were they all contemplating the paths one would have to take in future. Will those paths cross - some ensured that they would - obviously by marrying the ones they loved in campus, maybe there were many who were apprehensive of decisions that they had no clue about!

10 years hence, on this very day that we wrote our last university exam on (well, the subject was "High Voltage Engineering" for yours truly, for which the text book was purchased the previous day!), one wonders as to how time went by. I am not aware of a single get-together of our branch in these years - there was possibly 1 attempt made 5 years back! Maybe, they are meeting up in San Francisco or LA, right now when I pen ... err type these words. Or maybe one of the "left wing" friends is chatting with a "G-15" member or maybe they are still in their own groups, a few of them may be living as life partners - and this day may have turned out to be of little significance. What about me? I was in my own little cocoon 10 years back and probably in a smaller cocoon now. But then, I have been up to something - 4 companies, 5 cities, 1 more campus, a marriage and lots of travels point to a lot of activity. But then, I do have my own circle of friends from college, who I am sure, will maroon in a flood of memories the moment I inform them of this day 10 years back. Well, or maybe, when they get to read this, if at all. But of one thing I am sure, I will be the first person to inform/remind them. My first call now is to Rao ... who stayed closeby and who definitely missed us (the 3 roommates) a lot once we all went our own ways.

A toast to my companion on her birthday

She came into my life 19 years back. I still remember the day – the evening that I met her standing there – glowing skin, all fresh. I walked her down the 2 km distance till I reached home and the pride I felt was insurmountable. She was my constant companion through thick and thin for the next few years – 5 years to be precise – and then I had to share her with many others. Before your thoughts go wandering, let me clarify – am talking about the cycle that Appa bought for me when I was in my eighth standard!

Well, this was the most prized possession of mine for a long time. The gleaming maroon BSA-SLR cycle was the one that I took to school – having learnt cycling on my sister’s silver Speed King that had served it’s purpose quite well and could have been mine, but for the perception of ignominy that I had in mind in taking a ladies cycle to school on a daily basis. By the way, she is still cross with me for being the root cause of taking the cycle away from her – Appa gave it to his friend for a nominal amount since she had left home to pursue her higher studies and also because it became difficult to maintain and keep two cycles at home.

The first day was an eventful one. All was well in the morning ride – even the notorious district court bridge junction in our small town was negotiated with calm. However, in the evening, just about a furlong from home, the first “accident” happened – these two school girls were just alighting from their school auto and I could not brake hard – or rather the front brake did not work since my school lunch bag had already pressed on the brake wire – bump I went and hit into the younger one who fell down and started wailing! I did not know what to do, but then the elder sister picked her up and turned off, not before making a scornful face at me. The only other disaster that happened was the evening I was going to the badminton club for the first time, directly from school. The lunch bag was again to blame and my front wheel went straight into the sari-fold of a lady who was walking towards me. Before she could react, I was off in a hurry.

But for these two occurrences, the first 5 years were a breeze. My father used to go cycling to the temple and his driver used to take her out for lunch and these were the only rides she had while I was in college, away from home. But then, I used to more than make up for lack of activity for her, by cycling 10-12 km over the weekends that I used to be at home. And as I went farther away from home – job, post graduation etc, I used to ride my cycle less and less frequently. But still, Appa used to take care and ensure that annual overhauls happened and that she was fit for a ride whenever I went home.

The last two years have been difficult – no cycle rides at all, thanks to a niggling back pain. Was it the reason for me to turn an avid fan of Tour de France, the best cycling event in the world? Maybe! My friend and I had an interesting debate on whether cycling is worth watching, what with the drug tainted sport falling victim to too many controversies this year. But, I am afraid he is too clinical in his analysis and at times cannot relate to the thrill of wind hitting the body – my view is that cycling is the only activity where man and machine are so closely and physically involved in the process of transport. Watching the cyclists attack the Col du Gabriel mountain climb and the subsequent race down amid the scenic French countryside has to be seen. The sheer physical effort involved (drugs or no drugs!) took me back in time to those little races that we used to have, while in school. I used to win a very different race quite often – the slow cycle race which required more balance and control than effort.

As she enters her 20^th year and celebrates her birthday today, here’s wishing her more activity after a 2 year rest, since I am looking forward to getting back on my cycle. There is the interesting option of riding to work on my wife’s cycle, but then am a bit apprehensive since you guessed it right, it’s a ladies cycle!

The greatest ever?

Well, coming a day after one of the most enthralling matches and that too at the most hallowed turf of green grass there is in the world, very few need to be event presented with a “guess who” for an answer! McEnroe had predicted 3-4 years back that Federer has it in him to be the “greatest ever” to have stepped on a tennis court. The only opponent was himself is probably what most of us had interpreted that statement to be. But then, the bull fighter from Mallorca gave an insight into what else could be there!

Well, forgoing at least two other personal commitments, I reserved the “second best seat” as Vijay Amritraj put it, right from the time the whole show commenced – assuming that the final starts at 5.30 PM (IST). But then, I was witness to one of the most poignant moments on TV screen in a long while. There was the genius John McEnroe, the great Jimmy Connors and the one and only Bjorn Borg walking and talking together right from the locker room to the centre court. And they were interviewed by Sue, who very aptly said that she was about to live the most incredible moment in her life … and as an aside, requested John and Jimmy to not spoil it, for her sake, when she was talking to Bjorn.

And then, the match began. Nadal showed that he is the prince and the king-in waiting on grass. As Sue said in the post match interview, last year we all knew he could win, this year he himself thought that he could win! His fighting qualities, relentless pursuit of balls that others would have so easily given up are in itself a deadly combination. But, what flummoxed most people was his amazing comfort and accuracy with net play and volleys. His prowess at the net surpassed Federer’s by a long margin. But then, the champion came up with his serves in almost all the big points, a quality that propelled his illustrious predecessor Pete Sampras to his share of the grand slam pie. Probably, that is what proved crucial – his 24 aces compared to 1 of Nadal, and most of those aces were when the chips were down. I guess, one would not do justice by trying to some up yesterday’s match in words.

This Wimbledon, the wettest in at least 25 years, has been tremendous in terms of the quality of tennis that one witnessed. From what I can recall, the Jelena Jankovic – Lucie Safarova match started it all. A tremendous match, the highlight being two back to back rallies featuring 20 odd shots, and remember, we are talking grass here, not clay! Then there was the Ana Ivanovic – Nicole Vaidisova match, Ana surviving 3 match points before recovering to win. There was the Nadal – Soderling match, where Nadal had acknowledged applause of the crowd as part of his victory celebration, when the Swede challenged the call and won. And it took 3 more sets over 2 days for Nadal to stamp his authority. Nadal had another 5 setter, recovering from being 2 sets down before beating Michael Youzhny. Novak Djokovic had to fire on all cylinders and go to the last bit of his reserve, before beating the Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis in a 5 hour 5 setter. Novak had already put in 4 hours to beat ex-champion Lleyton Hewitt. Novak had exhausted his reserves to such an extent that he had to throw in the towel half-way into his first Wimbledon semi-final. Serena pulling her leg in the match against Hantuchova, and having divine intervention in the form of heavens opening up, enabling her to recover and then beat Daniela in a 3 setter. Then there was the phenomenal run of Mariam Bartoli, beating Jelena Jankovic in 3 sets, before taking the snuff out of the front-runner Justine Henin. Will Henin end up being like so many of her predecessors, winning all but the one slam that matters the most, or will she be in that elite club that includes Martina and Steffi? Bartoli turned the match in the second set and beat her own as well as those of quite of a few experts, with the greatest upset of her career. She played damn good in the final too, but then when Venus is on song, it hardly matters who the opponent is. Like Sharapova in 2005 who threw everything at her, but got more of it in return, she was simply superb – coming up with serves that would have won her points even in the epic final of the men’s … err … gentlemen’s singles.

And to cap it all, World No. 1 against World No. 2, both of them chasing the record of Bjorn Borg – one to become the first man in history to equal (note, the key word here is ‘equal’!) Bjorn’s record of 5 successive Wimbledon titles and the other to again equal another record that has so surprisingly stood the test of time, of being the first after Bjorn to win both French and Wimbledon titles in the same year. With at least 5 ex-Wimbledon Gentlemen’s Singles champions (number of Wimbledon titles in brackets) – Bjorn Borg (5), John McEnroe (3), Jimmy Connors (2), Boris Becker (3) and Manuel Santana (1) looking on, Federer summoned his last reserves and played out of his skin to win. Greatness always comes with humility, and Federer so aptly summed up at the net “You deserved it as well, I just got lucky”! Well, he also conveyed as to what he felt about Nadal – that he was just 21 and so he will have lots to pick up and that Federer’s is just pocketing whatever he can. Let us hope that these two come up with more great matches, resembling the rivalry of Borg/McEnroe, McEnroe/Connors, Edberg/Becker (to some extent?!) and Sampras/Agassi. I would have to give my bias at least now, let Federer get the crown at Roland Garros and that too beating the Clay King (Grass Prince!) Rafa, so that he joins Laver who is there in his 1 man club! Let there be more …. “It was a privilege to watch the two of you …..” during the presentation ceremonies of at least a few more Slams. And if it takes a lot of rain to produce such a beautiful day with sunshine, let the heavens open up at the most beautiful tournament in the world!

Story of a film roll

We (six of us) had gone on tour of Nepal utilising the time between our placements and convocation. The trip was quite entertaining - the co-travellers by their idiosyncracies more than making up for the cloud cover in Pokhara, rip-offs in Kathmandu and hassles due to the Maoist trouble in its infancy then. Hope to cover the details in http://sankaratravels.blogspot.com some time soon. Limiting myself to the film roll used in that trip, which contained (hopefully) a few good snaps on my SLR camera.

That film roll was quite precious in more ways than one. Our batch was graduating after a rigorous MBA course and we were all in that mood, wherein one begins to look back at things with nostalgia - the campus, the good times and the not-so good times etc. How many of these can a camera capture, one may ask? But the shutterbug that I was, I even took a "junior's" bike for a last look at the campus, and had taken what according to me, were some of the most stunning shots of our lovely campus.

Most of the luggage was packed and sent home. I was cleaning up the few odd things - those things that tug at the strings of your heart to be treated as souvenirs rather than disposables, when my father looked at me and asked where the film roll should go. On the spur of the moment, assuming that it was the black casing, I just threw it into the dustbin - well, given that the entire batch was moving out, the dust bins were all full and stinking.

We were off - bidding goodbye to one-another, the campus, the city etc, and reached Varanasi the next day. Well, it was not exactly to wash off the sins of the 2 years that we went to Varanasi, but as part of a mini-North India trip for the family. Maybe, the holy waters of the Ganges did the trick, or was it the punya bhoomi of Varanasi, it is difficult to fathom. Once we were back at the ashram after a refreshing bath at the Ganges ghats, it came as a thunderbolt - where was the film roll?

Hoping against hope to find it, I rummaged through the luggage, when a tiny impulse was interpreted by the brain as "how can you find what you are looking for, when it is not with you!". After blaming everyone, I was faced with the reality of not being able to view what would have been beautiful photographs (well, you could anyway call it that, because no one would be able to see them!). But on that day, after the bath, things happened differently. I tried ringing up the hostel - but who would pick up at the unearthly hour of 11 in the morning! I, the de facto telephone operator who used to speak to all the girlfriends, fathers, mothers, nana/nanis of my corridor mates, was here ....! Well, I tried my luck at the other side of the hostel - to my surprise, my batchmate picked up the phone, listened and after mumbling something, to my horror, hung up! I tried all hostels one by one, and finally got hold of one of my batchmates who had also come to Nepal with me, to go to my hostel and check the dust bin! Or worse, if garbage was cleared by then, to go to the garbage disposal place/yard inside/outside campus. Would anyone in his senses do it? I had lost all hope and ruminated on the veritable "if only ...." and continued on our trip - from Varanasi to Delhi and then to Bangalore, before finally reaching home a couple of weeks later.

I eagerly went to the cybercafe to check my mail and found to my horror that the guy did not bother to follow my instructions. Well, come to think of it, who would, in their right frame of mind?! I was about to close my mail and leave in a huff, when my mind's eye caught hold of another mail. Well well, what would this be about, I thought! My eyes were stuck on the following words "hi dude, ur film roll is with me so plz let me know wot u want to be dun with it.... cheers vikas". These were like manna from heaven for me. I was delirious with joy. Later on, I came to know that it was Vikas who took the call that I made from Varanasi and had immediately gone to the dust bin outside by room , rummaged through the piles of garbage to find my pot of gold. To my surprise, the other guy too had taken the trouble of going there to the dust bin, but had found it empty and could not make out where it had been taken to, for dumping. The phone call to Vikas and action on his part had been done Just In Time .....

I requested Vikas to courier the roll from Lucknow to Kerala, but by then he had gone to UP and none of the couriers from his home town would deliver to my home town in Kerala. Subsequently, I requested him to courier the same to Bangalore, but he was not keeping well and could not do so. Further to this, I joined my induction program at Delhi and then was to spend 4 months at Bangalore. And it was finally, in mid-Jun that I received the courier containing the film roll - it had taken me close to 4 months to lay my hands on - kind of a treasure trail. And needless to say, I was trembling with excitement and tension - no photographer would have so eagerly gone to any studio to get his prints. The photos did indeed come out great ... especially the last photos of the campus, and my heartfelt thanks to Vikas for what he did more than 4 years back.

Then why this article now, one may ask. Well, I was cleaning my mailbox after all this while, and chanced upon this mail from Vikas, quoted above.