Ajith Nair

It was worth the 47 day wait. As barmy army, swami army and the mystery around Bob Woolmer’s demise faded into the background, one man rose, literally after the Ashes. It’s been a long time since one saw massacre on the cricket field. There’s been enough talk around it when the practitioners of the art, or the scythe if I may call it that, walked out to bat. But few delivered, and even if they did it was against minnows and bowlers who wouldn’t qualify to bowl at the Aussie nets mostly. One man waited, accumulating all his aggressive instincts only to unleash it at the biggest spectacle of all modern day cricket. He picked the big occasion, as had his skipper in the earlier edition, to create an indelible aura around himself. And how. As the big man Viv said, at one stage it looked like a benefit match. A word or two on the Lankan obituary. Making Hayden look like a spectator, Gilly sent the Lankans on a leather hunt of their lifetime. Starting off with Vaas, Gilly had the Lankans guar...

I grew up in a Govt. colony in Mumbai. This meant that I had the luxury of a lot of things that were absent in the city outside campus. One of these was the footpath. Right since I was a toddler, I was instructed to keep to the footpath, lest I get in the path of a ‘speeding’ Fiat (that’s an oxymoron). That might sound funny, but the inherent message was clear, steer clear of the motorist. In a city where cars outnumber themselves everyday, it’s become a challenge to find a footpath. Most of you might have noticed this but its worth reiterating. 1. Footpaths do exist. Just that above them also exist a layer called hawkers. This layer is more permanent than pedestrian aspirations and difficult to remove. 2. Footpaths do exist. Just that above them frequently is a mosaic of human excreta, with some dog poo thrown in between. Nearby slums can’t do their bit on the highway can they and there’s nowhere else to go. 3. Footpaths do exist. Just that often the BMC or MTNL or MMRDA or such body ...

Arjuna (Rahul) looked at the Kauravas (BCCI members) standing in front of him on the battlefield and said “ Oh Krishna! how will I fight my own bosses ” Krishna (Chappell), his charioteer, assumed his Vishwarupa and exclaimed “ It is all about The Process Arjuna ” Saying this he removed his laptop and made a 10 min PowerPoint presentation on The Process. Bheema (Sachin), wielding his MRF mace and standing next to the chariot exclaimed “ Chaila Krishna ….I don’t like the animation …and moreover this doesn’t not have an exclusive section devoted to me ” Krishna looked at him benignly and said “ O great wielder of the MRF Mace willow…your days of being invincible are numbered…there stands between you and your destiny nothing but the hand of god ” Bheema, started biting his nail and staring away into the distance…he ignored his cell phone as a couple of sponsors tried contacting him Enter Yudishtira (Saurav), eldest of the lot, who looked at the PowerPoint presentation through his glasses....