Cricket crazy aficionados are famously known to be crazy about their idols and cricket legends and I am no exception. Being from the time of black & white TV and ‘Test’ cricket in whites, my all time favourites have been the classy Vishy and Dada Ganguly for offside elegance and the swashbuckling Farokh Engineer for a cavalier style (that’s now English team’s bazball brand and which Hitman and his boys also follow in the post Sehwag era ! ).

It was in the fitness of cricketing sense that a ‘Lifetime Achievement’ award was overdue for Engineer and this was duly conferred by the BCCI in the Naman Cricket Awards on 23^rd Jan. telecast on ‘Jio Cinema’. True to form, the former wicket-keeper dasher regaled the audience with funny anecdotes and was grace personified in showing his gratitude for the recognition.

However there was another ‘Life Achievement’ winner that evening, none other than the 1985 ‘Champion of Champions’ Ravi Shastri, the doughty all rounder who played for India in the 1980-90’s and later wore many hats as Head Coach of India Team & commentator extraordinaire with inimitable and ‘spirited’ articulation (pun intended) and his trademark exclamations.

For those who saw him play, if Shastri’s batting was built on anything it was solid defense that had him booed by crowds at times for it’s dourness yet he was a tough all rounder, a fighter and a man who could remain motivated. His bold attitude rubbed off on the Indian team buoyed by brilliance of Virat the batter, till his form dipped and the Indian team remained winless as far as World Cups went- last win famously came under Dhoni in 2011 !

Often in controversies for his candid remarks and a colourful life-style, Ravi Shastri has been a tall, imposing figure in Indian Cricket who stands out for sheer attitude and flamboyance. His speech after receiving the ‘Lifetime’ was a typical Shastri rhetoric that had the entire team applauding – he was motivating them to be spirited on the field and with ‘spirits’ in the evening ! For his eloquent nonchalance on stage, he was my ‘Man of the Evening’ !

Possibly for the season’s last time, Seizing on pleasant nip in the air,

Woefully every year winter was, A bit short, yet a wonderful affair,

Recalling our preps for cool climes, With childlike glee so exhilarating,

Coats, jackets, caps, hoodies kept, In trunks would start unfolding,

Soaking soft rays of a gentle Sun, That often played hide and seek,

With clouds that listlessly swam, Drifting off on a mountain peak,

Days short, hazy, windy & nippy, Long evenings curled in reading,

Afternoons were shopping time, Nights for solitude & star gazing,    

That kind of winter we all loved, Poets of old called it ‘celebration’

T’was time for wine, food, warmth, Of nature’s wonder & rejuvenation,   

Then there‘s scary version of winter, Morning fog gets everything nixed,

You don’t want life that’s so chilling, Delays, cancellations, things unfixed,

Yet let’s think if we had no winter, Would spring then be so wholesome

If there was no taste of adversity, Would the change be so welcome ?  

Somnath Sinha

We are all guilty of verbosity and of hyperboles stretched to extents that some words  ( Amazing, Awesome & so on !) have lost original shape (meaning), just like a cricket ball does after it’s been hit for many sixes ! Even in our early days elderly Bengali aunts said ‘daroon hoiche’ (it’s excellent) to a new dish, song, dance presented out by a youngster to make them happy ! Respect for our parents, elders, filial, family ties would make us sing their praises on celebratory occasions, all knew these were emotionally overstated.

One thing that our teachers taught us in school was to be clear, lucid and simple in our narration and avoid circumlocution (use of many words where fewer would do) and précis writing was part of that. If one used a structure of complex sounding words and terms but their essay delivered little to no sense, the English master would get irked &  cut marks. In those days grammar & structure mattered, now each can coin his own …

During our graduation days in the 1970s, ‘Fantastic’ was an all pervasive word used in conveying thoughts aptly. After an exam, my Dad asked my friend how it went and he said ‘Bahut Fantastic’ ! Following the next exam, Dad again accosted him with same query. My friend replied less confidently ‘Fantastic, but not that fantastic’ ! Dad had a hearty laugh, being old school and weaned on Queen’s vocabulary. But that was then. Now, ‘Legendary’ is being used for all artists that’s denigrating the really true greats !  

Communication forms a vital part specially in the service industry like banking where I got my career. I recall one letter by an officer to the concerned Authority for his transfer in which he began with ‘Respected Sri (Boss Surname) ji, Namaskar’ to convey his deep reverence. Even he’d requested to ‘Dear Sir’, HR Dept’s answer would still be the same. We learnt in service, being polite to seniors was Ok, but showing ‘bhakti’ was a fine art !   

Talking big was always part of promotional sales pitch but the print and social media as well as eloquent TV anchors and sports commentators have perfected the art of making everything sound grandiose and spectacular. Recently an English channels conferred on SRK the ‘Indian of the Year’ award with huge fanfare. The King said ‘I’m not that, I’m Indian for all Ages’ in Bollywood Badshah-like, over-the-top bravado to instant ‘taalis’ !

In all this, Cricket cannot be left behind – after singing paeans on the ‘God of Cricket’ Sachin till he retired, commentators cannot stop eulogizing King Kohli, so much so that he lost his form for almost 2 years. A refreshing change was Geoff Boycott calling Dada Ganguly ‘Prince of Kolkata’ in his heydays. Ravi Shastri leads the off-field drama with his ‘tracer bullet’ comments. Ballistic Sidhu had once said ‘Ball is hit high, it’s might kiss the air hostess in flight in the skies’. Truly, we are the greatest, as far as verbiage goes.              

One icon’s name that constantly came up during our growing up years from our Dad’s repertoire of music, films and literary pursuits, was that of late Kundan Lal Saigal, who had passed away on 18^th January in 1947 at the astonishingly young age of 43. Today, after many decades we would have loved to spend this day chatting with our Dad of many splendored facets of legendary singer he always reverentially called ‘Saigal Sahab’!

As young children, we found it difficult to fathom his fascination for such a strong nasal voice and style which we felt was on a slow side ! Later we learnt that Saigal’s distinctive singing was revered and idolised by the legends of our generation of post-independence era of playback-singing such as Lata, Kishore, Rafi and Mukesh. They have like devout followers, also sung their own versions of the famous Saigal songs from the 1930-40’s.

In the 1970s, like our whole generation of youth, I’d become an ardent fan of Kishore da’s awesome singing prowess and I’ve read that surprisingly Kishore had initially come to Mumbai not to become a singer/actor but to meet his idol K L Saigal ! While slowly Dad had converted us to becoming avid followers of Saigal’s incomparable timbre and heart-wrenching songs (‘Dukh Ke Ab Din..’ from his classic 1935 film ‘Devdas’, ‘So Ja Rajkumari..’, ‘Preet Mein Hai..’ and so many immortal songs), Dad too became a loyal  Kishore fan, yet his refrain was ‘Kishore’s best songs have that soulful Saigal quality..’.

With years behind me, I find myself unable to croon any of the musical hits of today, for genre of that old-world melody has changed. We can now well understand Dad’s passion for the effortless grace, feel and poignancy that Saigal Sahab’s singing evoked in an era where stories were woven around romance & serenity of literary classics and technology and speed hadn’t completely possessed lives of people all around, old and young alike !

An aspect we also identify with was the appreciation for all things beautifully sublime – romance was once all about poetry, words & music. It’s said Saigal with his demeanour & mellifluous voice was a gallant ‘ladies man’ too. Dad was convinced that the man and his voice were both surreal.  As Saigal himself sang ‘Main Kya Janoo Kya Jadoo Hain…’

Friends say there’s a surfeit of cricket being played all across and attracts undue attention to the detriment of other sports. Some would say it ranks third after political news and films in terms of our preoccupation and cricket anchors who are aplenty, remind us that it’s a religion in India. Cricket lovers of the vintage variety will argue that there’s never too much of a good thing and some can watch classics again and again like First Tied Test of 1960 between West Indies and Aussies or the 1983 Lord’s WC Win and Dhoni’s six to nail the 2011 WC in Wankhede Mumbai !

In the latest of brilliant sports films that have been made on the game of cricket, I was pleasantly surprised to find on ‘Jio Cinema’, a less talked about but nevertheless utterly engrossing true cricket story. Titled ‘Bandon Mein Tha Dum’, it is a documentary series which follows the Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test series of 2020-21 which resulted in India stunningly defeating Australia at their home turf of Gabba, where they hadn’t lost a test match in 32 years !

Interested you would quickly ask what’s the cast like.Well it has our very vintage cricket heroes, Ajinkya Rahane, Ravichandran Ashwin, Cheteshwar Pujara, Rishabh Pant, Hanuma Vihari, Mohammed Siraj of  India, Coach Paddy Upton and the Aussies Tim Paine and Pat Cummins. Directed by the superb Neeraj Pandey (of the Special Ops 1 & 1.5 Series) and with the entire narrative told with telling effect by actor Jimmy Shergill, this is a real thriller in its own genre !

For the uninitiated , on the 2020-21, four-Tests tour ‘Down Under’, led by Virat Kohli, India badly lost the First Test after a batting collapse where the entire side was bundled out for a paltry 36 and all round humiliation followed thereafter. Virat returned to India for the birth of his child, Rahane took over reins of a battered side. What transpired thereafter makes the story of India’s  ‘Men in White’ who led India’s biggest triumph in Test history..an impossible 3-2 series win facing all odds including lockdowns, innumerable injuries and a hostile Aussie attack.

What’s most fascinating are the insights in to what was on their minds and psyche battling the toughest challenges as shared in interviews with amazing clarity and sincerity by champions like Ajinkya Rahane courageously leading fight back with a century, his Vice-Capt the indomitable Pujara, astute planner Ashwin, master-blaster Pant and rookie pacer Md.Siraj and even Aussies shared grudging admiration for the way the Indians responded with sheer grit and courage.

One will be hooked with this four-part series that encapsulates the tension, the excitement of the four thrilling Test matches, the mind games, behind-the-scenes footage and candid narratives from the cricketers, coaches, and journalists involved. But for die-hard romantics, what lingers are memories of two great Test players, Rahane & Pujara, now not in reckoning and forgotten !

Apart from powerful, thought provoking films that appear on the OTT platforms off and on, we lately saw two talk shows that were not only sweet & heart-warming but made of ’sterner stuff’ !

The first  one that completely bowled us over was ‘India Today’s’ prime time one hour interview cum heart to heart chat with India’s exemplary, iconic power couple Narayan & Sudha Murthy, occasioned by the fascinating book ‘An Uncommon Love’ by Chitra Banerji Divakaruni  on their early life and times. The first thing that strikes one is that there’s no attempt to exude power and hubris considering their phenomenal personal successes and standing (including being in-laws to PM of UK) and stress on values like humility, gratitude, integrity, complete devotion to work !

In what should be a lesson for couples of all ages, they insist that their union is a partnership, both have equally important roles to play in their lives together. Two brilliant individuals with their own ethos, one an idealist, the other a pragmatist, so there’s complementarity rather than conflict. The humorist, writer in Sudha Murthy comes up with many gems in the conversation. On the point as to the very qualified Sudha, making the huge sacrifice for the family by not entering Infosys professionally, Murthy shared that he had once suggested that Sudha could even run the company while he’d manage the kids/household. To this Sudha’s rejoinder was ‘I know I could run his company, but could he manage the home and children ?’

The other show was another episode of the current season of famed ‘Koffee with Karan’ where the Karan the fluent anchor is in conversation with two adored actresses of their era, Neetu Kapoor and Zeenat Aman, retired veterans now away from the arc lights but very much a part of the filmy nostalgia of  70-80’s generation. So what was special here apart from the usual lively banter, rapid fire rounds and hamper in the end ? It had to do with revelation that was Zeenat.

For her fans, ‘Zeenie Baby’ as the tabloids then named her, was bold, westernized, glam avatar of the quintessential Bollywood ‘Pavitra like Ganga’ heroines, bringing radical shift as ‘Jassie’ in her first ‘Hare Rama Hare Krishna’ and wowing the masses with ‘Aap Jaise Koi..’ in ‘Qurbani & doing a peppy Shirley Mclaine act in ‘Manoranjan’ backing these with high octave histrionics in serious films like ‘Insaaf Ka Tarazu’ and ‘Satyam Shivam Sunderam’ and giving numerous hits. With this was her media-hyped high-end life-style, the controversies, alliances & relationships !

In K-with-K show, Zeenat now 72, counters that image created of her, with candid articulation and quiet dignity, asserting her individual choices and not regretful of the knocks life gave her. There is warmth and humour in her recalling funny anecdotes from her illustrious career, fondly reminiscing co-stars but no trace of rancor against a system constantly seeking moral validation. We felt  Zeenat was grace personified and deserved the ‘Koffee hamper’ for just being so real !       

Today at times, one feels like ‘Purane Zamane Ke Dressers’ observing the very bold, ill-fitting, multi-colored attires & often mismatched outfits that the millennial wears in total defiance of conventional dressing norms. We possibly have no idea of the modern styles that are in vogue.

Going many decades back to what gentlemen of the 1960-70s (meaning our Dad’s and Uncles) wore- were also fashionable in keeping with their idols (famous actors, sportsmen, celebrities). Sartorial elegance as in dark suits and tie, marked their attires be it Hollywood stars Cary Grant and Gregory Peck or our own Dadamoni & Dilip Kumar. Even in those days, Dev Anand charted his own style, bold checks, large collars, scarves, bottle green trousers and orange pullovers with bright caps were testimony to the gay, youthful image he created ! 

School discipline ensured that we wore crisp, clean uniforms and shoes were polished. We inherited a rich legacy that said ‘Clothes should make one appear cultured and presentable in society’. It wasn’t to fit into any fashion trends but to look good and feel confident in your ability to know what to wear. We were taught that one didn’t have to be affluent to dress decently. A cleverly maintained wardrobe meant taking good care of the clothes you had and saving because one wouldn’t buy clothes that one can’t reuse for other outfits.

Underlined were certain features like properly matching the shirt and tie/scarf with colour of blazer/jacket/suit and choosing muted colours that were suitable to one’s general appearance. Maybe that’s why Corporate Executives, CEOs and Senators are always seen in dark suits, white or light blue shirts and gray/blue ties ! In India, our leaders go for traditional kurtas & jackets !

Being a Bengali brought up in Lucknow, I loved how my Dad expertly tied the ‘dhoti’ Bengali style and wore it with a spotless white kurta when he attended family weddings and functions. Except when I got married, I haven’t tried wearing a dhoti but adore kurtas. Traditional Indian kurtas are made for the hot Indian climate and in their many avtaars look classy and regal. I’ve few friends who only wear the kurta-pyjama ensemble, when not at work ! As one said ‘Clothes and manners don’t make a man but when he is made, they greatly improve his appearance ! 

It’s a fast-track, health conscious world we live in, where things move rapid fire – in fact most of us (at least those who still can) are running for something. The last time I had participated in the Mumbai Marathon few years ago, the obvious tag line was ‘Run’ ! But few keen runners were  quoted saying ‘I’m running for my Son/Daughter/Friends/Greener Society/Good Roads etc etc.’ Few showed bravado & said ‘For it’s challenge’, none dared to be funny &  say ‘…from the wife’ ! Senior citizens were allowed another version of running – ‘brisk walking amidst lots of cheering’. 

In the Mumbai megacity and other metros, most people seem to be literally ‘running’ all the time to scamper from one metro/local train/bus/auto and reach their destinations in time. The management gurus have a theory for rookies that in their profession ‘they must hit the ground running’ to pace with grueling work demands and won’t be given time to settle down. For those who’re in jobs ‘you’ve to keep running to remain in the same place’ or lose out to brighter guys !

If this ‘running’ business make new-age heads swirl, spare a thought for the upwardly mobile, young working parents, running to keep up with the activities of their school-going children and their preferred extra curriculum chosen from sports, dancing, music, swimming, dramatics and so on, extra classes and/or coaching and home-tasks, done or be supervised by the parents. As &  when they’re teen-agers, it’s running around various elite institutes for their higher education ! Not to forget the constant ‘running’ of the house, with all its multi-tasking and managerial skills.  

Moving on, we seniors still nurse the romance of ‘running around the trees’ of the quintessential Bollywood films of the 1960s-80s, where the hero wooed the leading lady by crooning a breezy song against the ethereally beautiful ‘Kashmir’ backdrop. Anything beyond that was disapproved by the Censors. In reality, as students in 70s, we’d be found in classrooms or playfields but our more intrepid peers did a fair bit of ‘chasing’ & ‘dating’, much to our awe and respect for them !

Times have dramatically changed and nothing really surprises but recently there was a first in the realm of  ‘running’. In the past, grooms used to ride horses to their weddings, but now we’ve had Nupur Shikhare a fitness trainer & superstar Aamir Khan’s son-in-law who chose a unique approach. He jogged 8 kms from Santcruz to Bandra in Mumbai to marry the love of his life, Ira Khan. As celebrity clips & pictures have shown, the impetuous groom wore the jogger’s outfit, comprising of singlet & shorts while performing the marriage ceremony and then danced with gay abandon, but following the ceremony he donned an appropriate outfit to meet the paparazzi.

Even the worst run is better than no run at all. We keep running for Ourselves & for Dear Life !

(The pic below is from my participation in the Mumbai Marathon, 2020)

IMHO (In My Humble Opinion), a major cultural contribution to netizens’ community has come from OTT medium, significantly diverse in content with the real-time actors (not stars),  vastly improving the cinematic experience. We suddenly have for viewing a ‘problem of plenty’ (like the battery of talented players available to our Team India thanks to the IPL !). Most of our evenings are spent in surfing through the big maze of OTT content on offer, all paid platforms (Netflix et al). Yes, we’ve been buffs from 70s when films were only screened in cinema halls.   

There are often long deliberations between us about new films that are most talked about in our groups and deserve our immediate attention. For us, the serious & arty are for weekdays, frothy ones for weekends and gory thrillers are restricted to late night male viewing, if at all to be seen. Recently, I disagreed to agree watching ‘Archies’ on Netflix. I later found it was quite cute ! On a more serious note, we were bowled over by some brilliant performances over the last year. Happily we didn’t miss any acclaimed as ‘top-class’ as far as Hindi films on OTT went. Also we couldn’t wait for ‘Sam Bahadur’ to appear on TV & loved watching ‘Big Sam’ on the big screen ! We understand that it’s now to be aired on Zee 5, having had a inspired run in the theatres.

We listed out ten best male lead performers on OTT (Hindi) we saw last year, that include both films & web-series, but with no disrespect to the incredible show put up by versatile actresses in women-centric films but that needs separate discussion for the variety of roles enacted by them.

1. Vikrant Massey in ‘12^th Fail’              2. Manoj Bajpai in ’Sirf Ek Banda Kafi Hai’  

3.   Jaideep Ahlawat in ‘Jaane Jaan’        4. Kay Kay Menon in ‘The Railwaymen’

5.   Abhishek Bachan in ‘Ghoomer’        6. Sanjay Mishra in ‘Vadh’

7.   Vishal Vashishtha in ‘Ghar Wapsi’   8. Jitendra Kumar in ‘Panchayat 2’

9.   Raghubir Yadav in ‘Panchayat 2’     10. Savinderpal Vicky in ‘Kohrra’

There are many other powerful roles that should make the cut but these appealed to our taste and genres we follow : satirical comedies, family dramas, social themes, adventures & thrillers. Friends may pick up some of the ones they missed so far. Happy viewing in the New Year !

Like every other time, stepping into the New Year is an intense exercise for Netizens (meaning we social media users !) in handling the hordes of virtual cards, messages and greetings that inundate the WA chats and the civil thing to do is promptly shoot off your own creations to all those well-wishers. The messaging traffic, however, in this surge is almost as strong as the one on the Express Highway to Lonavala on a weekend but more specifically, this New Year’s Eve !

‘Bon-homie’ spirit is so overwhelming that some send different posts or repeat earlier ones to the same person/s, some greet to remind ‘Remember me, I’m still alive’and some even post as a formality or in demi-official jargon, all to maintain ‘cordial’ connectivity. They come in droves – shiny, resplendent and adorned with bright stars, pics, emojis and carry pithy messages to mark the starting of fresh beginnings, renewed hope, looking ahead to the future. There’s a bit of repetition but there are also funny ones – ‘Eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we Diet ! ’ or ‘Live, laugh & enjoy my photo, it’s all free’ & those profound in thought ‘You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough’ and ‘In a world where you can be anything, be kind ! ’          

What’s so special that we go on this binge of wishing each other well ? New Year celebration is important for people for several reasons. It marks the beginning of a new year and provides an opportunity for reflection, setting new goals, and making resolutions. It also brings people together to celebrate, create new memories and look forward to the future. The celebratory  idea itself unites people in acknowledging the continuous journey through time. It’s like the chapter in a book that’s done with and we move on to next. Yet we go back to the earlier chapters also. 

Like all our dear friends and kith & kin, we received our share of ‘goodwill’ wishes that pray for a better tomorrow for us. Yet at our age, we must have something special to say (no advice !) to our gen-next and the millennial. ‘We wish that you do well in what you love and enjoy doing  because money and fame will follow, but first let’s all try to become fine human-beings !’