Five Pandavas and Lord Krishna

I followed the news of the temporary dismantling of the IHF with glee. Atleast, the Gill-Jyothikumaran duo is no longer in the saddle at IHF.

But few thoughts crossed my mind!

- That this should not be a case of one-upmanship. This is an excellent opportunity for us to look at Indian hockey with a fresh perspective and it is upto the five Pandavas (Sher Khan, Iqbal, Ajitpal, Dhanraj, and Kumar) to rescue the Draupadi—Indian hockey—under the able guidance of Lord-Krishna-incarnate Kalmadi.

- That Kalmadi would do well to take BCCI's help (for whatever it is worth) —Lalit Modi—to take up the mantle ship of IHF. It will need someone like a Dalmiya or a Modi (I am not their fans, but I give credit to where it belongs) to use their magic wands and resuscitate Indian hockey.

- That this is an opportunity hockey lovers across the globe have been waiting for. They (includes yours truly as well) have been waiting for India to do justice to the talent and be a hockey superpower again. The five Pandavas and the Lord will do well not to let go of this opportunity. It's now or never time for Indian hockey!

- That hockey lovers, like myself, must be patient with the new dispensation as it will take a while to stem the rot that has plagued Indian hockey. Probably they may not succeed, but at least they will try their best—knowing the way they played the game!

Bambai Ka Babu

I watched Bambai Ka Babu on DVD last night. For the uninitiated, this is a classic from the sixties starring the evergreen Dev Anand and the beautiful Suchitra Sen. The movie was directed by Raj Khosla and there are some wonderful songs tuned by Dada Burman. Raj Khosla started his career under Guru Dutt and went on to make movies such as CID, Kaala Paani, Woh Kaun Thi, Mera Saaya, Do Raaste, and Mera Gaon Mera Desh—an impressive body of work!

Bambai Ka Babu is a story of a thief who runs away from the city to a remote village up north where he enters a household as their long lost son, Kundan. Matters complicate when on one hand he falls in love with the daughter of the house, Maya and on the other hand has to make arrangements for 'his sister's' impending marriage.

Khosla, the mature director comes to the fore—there are scenes where Kundan, the son displays 'affection' on Maya, the daughter, which she brushes off—so maturely handled. Even when she comes to know that he is not the son and that he loves her, she realizes that she has a job in hand to inform her folks about his real motives—I thought the director could have fallen into the familiar trap of showing her reciprocating his feelings and clear the muddle—that he doesn't, shows his maturity. Even the climactic song, Chal Ri Sajani is so beautifully shot with the two looking at each other—she is in bridal finery and he is in bandage after recovering the family jewellery from his former 'employer'—both wanting to reach out to the other and communicate—in her case, it's huge regard for his job of recovering the family silver but in his case, it's the feeling of love lost!

The last exchange between the two is riveting stuff!
He: When you were part of the household, I was an outsider. And now when you are going away, I am part of the household!
She: You came to commit fraud in the house. Now, you are part of a bigger fraud. In this fraud, everyone is happy—mother, father, you and me!

Coming to the music, Dada Burman is at his versatile best—he has composed some amazing Punjabi folk-based numbers, Dekhne Mein Bhola and Pawan Chale To. Who can forget the amazing Deewana Mastana? The next time I get to the hills, I am sure to feel the song echoing in my ears. I have spoken enough about the climactic song, Chal Ri Sajani.

Why don’t we make such movies anymore?

The Indian 'Say No to Drugs' League!!

I watched ten minutes of the Indian Pensioner's League(IPL)—sorry any league that has Pollock, McGrath, Warne, and Gilchrist can only be a pensioner's game—that is not the point.

The IPL began with huge fanfare on Friday evening—so they say. I cannot see myself watching a T20 game—I am a sucker for the longer version—I enjoy moments like the Ishant Sharma spell to Ponting and the Sidebottom spell to Tendulkar and T20 doesn’t offer me such moments. I kept myself away from it until a close friend messaged me about McCullum's knock. Anyways, I was driving to the airport to see off my brother and his family. That night over and the next morning, I wake up to front-page photographs of Shahrukh Khan and his son cheering for his team. May be I am missing something.

Come Saturday afternoon/evening, I was caught up with something else that I totally missed the matches. I was once again woken up the next morning by newspaper items suggesting that for the second straight day, the matches have been a sellout. Wow, that must be something!

Therefore, I decided to catch up some IPL action on Sunday. Somebody told me that Arun Lal and Sivaramakrishnan were on the panel of commentators—I decided to “mute” the sound—my views on them are clear—they are the modern-day versions of Kader Khan - Shakti Kapoor combination. The wicket was a shocker and the cricket was even more pedestrian. Come on, the world's most talented cricketers were on display, so proclaimed Lalit Modi! The cricket on display reminded me of those Suniel Shetty XI versus Sachin Tendulkar XI —obviously this was better than those 'Say No to Drugs' matches—only just.

Later in the evening, I stepped out with my wife to go to a neighborhood Cafe Coffee Day outlet for a post-dinner chai. People were on the streets—all along I was led to believe by the media and Modi that people would be engrossed in a Mumbai Indians match, something like the India-Pakistan match at Centurion on the Mahashivaratri day of 2003—I was fooled by Modi and his PR machinery! I must point out that there were (many) more TV sets blaring even during the Perth Test match than last evening. When we reached the CCD outlet, the match was being shown LIVE on the TV set—nobody was watching—people were in their own converstaions rather than bother about Harbhajan bowling to Boucher (I hope to have got it correctly, ignorant ass that I am).

My wife, the better half that she is, asked me in an Alec Smart-ish tone, "Why don't they put on MTV? Atleast, people will watch some music videos." I had no ready answer. My mind went back to those days when industrialists donated money to charities in exchange of some governmental favors. Probably, this time around, and in a deregulated economy, the industrialists (Sharukh and Preity included) are loosening their purse strings and investing in their own version of 'Say No to Drugs' matches, probably some tax rebate, somewhere!

I returned home to watch some EPL action to look for similarities between the IPL and the EPL (we were told by Shri Modi that the IPL would be on the lines of the EPL). My wife, the Alec Smart, tells me that EPL is sport and IPL is not. I got my answer.

Is Anyone at Cricket Center Listening?

Another Test series ended. The series was drawn 1-1. Some said it was a fair result, considering that the two teams are well matched. May be. May be not. But, there were few disturbing thoughts.

- That we chose to play a Test series in India after March 15 was shocking. Who at BCCI does the scheduling? Where do you play a Test match? Chennai, Ahmedabad, and Kanpur! Dare M/S Niranjan Shah & Co. to go on a walk (even for 10 minutes) during the day in these cities around this time of the year! How can you expect people to throng the stadiums? How can you expect the players be on the ball all the time in this oppressive heat? If the players are not playing at their best, how do you expect TV viewers to watch these matches? Ideally, as someone had pointed out, Test matches in India must be played between October and February—the weather is good, the spectators will line up both at the stadium as well as close to their TVs. The players will relish the weather and there will be some good cricket played. Is anyone at Cricket Center listening?

- That the Test series was not broadcast live on radio was shocking. Working professionals like me who wanted to follow the game had nothing to turn to. I can't think of cricket fans in some remote corner of this land. The Board talks about taking the game to all parts of the country. Can someone tell me how? Besides, did anyone watch the coverage on Neo Sports? Pathetic, I must say. The feed is terrible and the commentator-duo of Arun Lal and L Sivaramakrishnan is the modern-day avatar of Kader Khan-Shakti Kapoor! The pictures are jarring, to say the least. Who in the Board is responsible for this farce? Is anyone at Cricket Center listening?

- That Dhoni paid Rs.10,000/- to the curator at the Green Park after the match was baffling. When the media broke the story, the Board official clarified that this was a usual practice where the captains tipped the ground staff. Why? Isn't the curator paid by the host association? Surely, he looks after the surface for the whole season- not just one solitary Test match. Maybe, the host association doesn't feel like having a pitch laid out for the whole season. No wonder, the standards at the domestic level are pathetic. Ideally, every association in India must have a qualified curator on its rolls that needn't be tipped after every win. Is anyone at Cricket Center listening?

- That our batsman saw the color green on the Motera wicket and ran as fast they could to the pavilion. The innings folded up for 76, two hours after it started on the first morning. Somebody said we won Test matches at Perth, Kingston, Trent Bridge, and Jo'burg in the last two years - all bowler-friendly (fast-bowling-friendly) conditions. However, you have these conditions in India, the same vaunted line-up flounders. Why? I don't have an answer! Similar to "Why is water liquid?” I read reports about the players being more involved in the IPL build-up than preparation for the series. If that is true, then the Board should be taken to task-because the players were obviously do their bit of promotion at the behest of some senior Board members. Is anyone at Cricket Center listening?

- That there are few players whose Test career is on the line. Wasim Jaffer has played six Test matches with just a solitary fifty. He must be told to go." Yuvraj must be told that he is the Most Valuable Player in the ODI format, but he is a no-no in the longer version. Irfan Pathan bowls like one-day bowler in Test matches—125 kmph, mixes things up, sticks to a line and length- therefore he is largely ineffective. Can our selectors drop these guys from the Test arena? No, they will continue to pick these players based on some past glory. Worse, like the aam aadmi, they can't separate performances between the two formats. That makes me wonder—Is anyone at Cricket Center listening?

- That Test cricket is a boutique product. It must be nurtured and taken care of like the Mughal Gardens. The curators of the Mughal Gardens look at several issues - right flowers, right environment, right audience, etc. Similarly, the curators of Test cricket in India—BCCI—must also think on these lines—right venues, right wickets, right spectators, right season, etc. It is not impossible for this Board? If M/S Pawar and Modi invested 25% of their time and effort on Test cricket (25% of the time and effort which they’re investing in IPL), cricket followers will have such a wonderful product. But then, is anyone at Cricket Center listening?