Cricket mania in India. Also the kid who has been bursting crackers since a month!

The Indian team is to play the first one day cricket international at Rajkot tomorrow. The media is abuzz about who came when, who ate what and what not! Why this craziness about cricket players? Cricket is played (well) by about six countries in the world, India included. It is not that cricket is a truly international game like say, soccer. Even if India wins the cricket world cup, it has to defeat only five other teams. What is the big deal in that? But try telling that cricket crazy Indians. "Indians on top in cricket", screamed a headline in a reputed daily the other day. Give me a break!


There is one five year kid in the building who has been bursting crackers since Dussehra. Diwali is gone. Almost 15 days have gone since. But the kid religiously bursts crackers everyday in the evening. Not crackers, 'bombs' is the stuff he lights up every evening. And he gives me a headache! My only hope is that this bombings will stop once the kid's school opens on coming Monday. The kid is a ladlaa of a nouveau rich family who made riches in recant years selling sanitary ware. The family thinks the kid is so very smart, bursting all those bombs since a month. It is more like a prestige issue for them. "Our kid bursts costly bombs. We can afford them, see." that seems to be the mentality. All the residents of the building have got very vulgar in their choice of 'gaalis',but to no avail. And who the hell has heard of the Supreme Court judgement that says that crackers can only be burst till ten in the evening? The kid comes out with his bag of bombs every evening after dinner. At ten thirty.

Revenge of the monkeys

"Aussie louts throw egg at Murali, teammates"- HINDUSTAN TIMES

Soon after Monkeygate — or Maa ki gate, if you will — comes news that does nothing for Australia’s image. Late on Thursday night, men in Hobart threw eggs at a group of Sri Lankans, including Muttiah Muralitharan. A Lankan selector walking with them was hit in the face by an egg.

Bhajji just said 'bandar'( according to me). These guys are worse. Spreading bird flu by throwing eggs.

Shriyan Samararatne, the Lanka team manager, told HT, “Our guys (four of them) were walking back to the hotel when somebody threw an egg from a car at them.” He wouldn’t say who the egg was intended for, saying the car was being driven fast and perhaps the people in it “were drunk”. But Murali’s was easily the most recognisable face in the group.

It was aimed at poor Murali. They did not like him for going past Warne.

CA’s Peter Young said police were looking into the matter. “We understand that on their way back to the hotel on Thursday evening in Hobart, a few members of the Sri Lankan team were abused by some local youths,” said Young. “One of them threw something at them.

Remember the fuss the Aussies made in Vadodara and Mumbai?

“It’s regrettable and CA condemns it... Ricky Ponting has made an appeal to the public to treat visiting players with the respect they deserve.”

Start with yourself first. Bhashan baazi later please.

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