तुझको चलना होगा... तुझको चलना होगा...

मैं जब भी यहाँ आता हूँ... यहाँ पर घंटों बैठा रहता हूँ, और देखता रहता हूँ इस नदी के बहते हुवे पानी को... यह चौड़ा पहाड़ और दो किनारे जो हमेशा एक दूसरे से उतनी ही दूर

... यह मांझी... यह कश्ती... और यह लहरों पे लहराता हुवा नाचता हुवा गीत...

मैं जब भी इस गीत को सुनता हूँ ... तो मुझे ऐसे लगता है जैसे मेरा इनके साथ एक बहुत पुराना मेल है... जैसे इस धारा के साथ मुझे भी कहीं और जाना है...

कहीं दूर जाना है... जैसे मुझे भी किसी नाव का इंतेज़ार है... किसी माझी की ज़रूरत होती है |

A jumbo leap over the Mumbai cricketers’ support Yojana

Anil Kumble’s appointment as Indian cricket team’s head coach is not just an overwhelming recognition of the genial cricketer and his abilities but a refreshing change from extending the dole to Mumbai cricketers in general and Ravi Shastri in particular.

While much is being written all across the media about the credentials of Anil Kumble and how he is the deserving candidate, I shift focus to why Ravi Shastri did not deserve the job.

The cricketer-turned-manager-turned-commentator-turned-Director had a long enough association with Indian cricket and it is simply time to put his clichéd commentary to rest too.

Yes, Mumbai has won 41 of the 82 Ranji Trophy championships. 70 of the 285 Indian Test cricketers have represented Mumbai in the National championships. Mumbai cricketers have served well and have contributed enormously to Indian cricket, but then so too has Indian cricket administration (read as BCCI) served these cricketers for life.

Post their cricket playing days for the country, many a Mumbai cricketer has went on to make huge career (and of course enormous money too) in various capacities of the game - from Cricket coach, to administrator to selector to commentator. They have been endlessly supported in their quest for monetary benefits. Not that they didn't toil in their roles, but then it is quite surprising that Mumbai gets pride of place in selection for any plum post.

Until Jagmohan Dalmiya and subsequently N Srinivasan took over the reins of Indian cricket administration, it was always the Mumbaikars who called the shots, even while the Bindras were at the helm of affairs!

Some Mumbaikars who had a longer than deserving innings in public view through their cricket associations much after they retired from playing were/are Ajit Wadekar, Ashok Mankad, Chandrakant Pandit, Chandu Borde, Dilip Vengsarkar, Lalchand Rajput, Pravin Amre, Sandeep Patil, Ravi Shastri, Sanjay Manjrekar, Sunil Gavaskar. The last three have been the prime beneficiaries of the Mumbai cricketers’ eternal support Yojana. 

While at this, the time has come to rethink the commentary contract of the two ‘Kars’ too, the legendary Sunny needs to hang his ties and the irritable Sanjay needs to explore roles in Marathi cinema.

Hope, in the near future, Rahul Dravid joins his state-mate in mentoring the national team to continued glory. Meanwhile Indian Cricket is sure to see some achche din ahead. 

Kudos Anil.

----------------------------------------------------- Disclaimer----------------------------------------------------

I am a Big fan of Mumbai City and its cricketers Dilip Vengsarkar and Sachin Tendulkar, but not the appeasement of the retired players!

Pics courtesy: World Wide Web.

On second thought…

Sharath Dev was turning 30 in a month and his parents were eager to see him married soon, they felt it was already late. He had a plum job in the technology sphere with a good salary and owned an apartment in the high profile IT residential corridor, most of his childhood mates were married and settled with a family of their own. Proposals were sought and match making was in progress. One such prospective bride's parents found Sharath a suitable match for their convent educated daughter, who had her own fashion design studio.

All things seemed perfect and then the girl's father Raghav took time out from his Central Govt duties and travelled to the tech company to meet Sharath's employers. He made discreet enquiries about his future son-in-law with the receptionist, the HR executive, the security guard and also the parking assistant. Raghav was more or less convinced, but for the little bit of information of Sharath's partying habits everything seemed fine.

Sushil just completed his post graduation in management following his civil engineering and was busy scouting for a placement in an infrastructure company, he had given an interview a week back and was excited about the thought of working with a start-up. His weekend plans were to meet a few friends in the industry to make enquiries about his soon-to-be employer’s credentials. On receiving the offer and almost having decided to take it up, Sushil was advised by his father to meet Surinder, a senior executive in a competitor infra company. Surinder spoke at length to his friend Raghav's son, leaving the young man quite perplexed.

Mohan was a manager at one the branches of India’s largest private banks, an independent thinker and a social media buff. With the recent appraisal and the salary hike he was keen to buy a sedan for his family, well he and his wife Shruti, also a banker – with a National bank, lived on the other end of the city to Mohan’s parents’ residence. The couple had made up their mind to buy a Japanese car, well almost. Neha, Shruti’s college mate, advised her to speak to Kishore, who was a happy owner of an Indian SUV.

Kishore was a popular cricketer turned real estate agent, known for his penchant for latest gadgets among other things. He was quite a gentleman in the business, making money out of sensible and honest advice to his clients. Recently Kishore celebrated the launch of his new venture and the next day bought a smart phone in an instant, he picked up an expensive android and was checking out the features when a middle aged man shrugged at his choice and suggested to go for the upgraded variant of an iconic American brand. Kishore did not regret the choice he was influenced to make, albeit he consulted the showroom salesman before splurging. He seemed to recognize Mohan, with his sharp features that resembled the man in the mobile shop, he didn’t take long to place Surinder’s son. Soon the choice of car was made!

Shruti thanked Neha and promised to make it to her best friend’s wedding the next month without fail, her fiancé smiled. The duo drove in their SUV to the Lebanese restaurant for a quiet dinner. They both loved Mexican food, but the place they originally planned to eat at was too crowded, and the online App suggested Lebanese. While they were skeptical about the spread, the chance call from Deeksha, and the validation from her made the evening quite memorable for the soon-to-be married young couple.

Deeksha spent an hour everyday calling friends and random people from her friends’ shared database to tele-market her new offerings at the boutique, that call she made to a dining-out Neha was just the one before she called an elderly man Vinay Dev. While the man was not keen about modern designer apparel, he had a worry of his own, he casually asked her if she knew any urologists in her directory. Vinay found Dr Ravindra the right specialist to concur with about his septuagenarian father’s reports for an impending surgery, he was overwhelmed by the referral and wished to thank the young lady, but neither knew her name nor her contact number, which he lost through the numerous call notes. 

Chandra Dev, a retired military man, was ailing but extremely overjoyed today, he had just overheard his daughter-in-law speaking on the phone - a confirmation call about his grandson’s engagement. Vinay walked in, touched his father’s feet and told him he will have a painless surgery much before his son Sharath tied the knot with Deeksha.

Next week, Raghav and his wife went to invite the Inder brothers for their daughter’s wedding. The older Inder brother was not at home, he was busy operating on an ex army officer that day.

A month later, the young Dev couple were going on their honeymoon and it was Sushil’s first day at work, at the office entrance stood his boss’ gleaming new SUV.

We all live a life well connected through a Second Opinion! 

Disclaimer: All characters and incidents in the story are a figment of imagination, any resemblance to anybody living or dead is purely coincidental