Delhi In September : Stuffy, Sultry And Sticky

September is thankfully the last of the trio of the most unbearable months in the nation's capital. It is hard to classify this month under any particular season, for it is nothing but a continuation of the seemingly unending spell of heat coupled with humidity. Residents of Delhi who survive three long months of dry summer followed by another three months of muggy summer wait eagerly for September to end, hoping to see some light at the end of the dark tunnel. It does rain at times, but not so much as it did in August. The cloud cover disappears and most of the times, the sun shines brightly, sometimes fiercely over weary Delhiites. The inhospitable weather comes as a rude shock to people visiting Delhi. The city is swelteringly stuffy with its trees looking lifeless and forlorn, for there is no breeze to rustle through their leaves and make them sway with happiness.

Photo by Prateek

The Mother's International School on Aurobindo Marg is an oasis of tranquillity amidst the rapidly growing urban stretches around it. Situated inside the serene Aurobindo Ashram premises, it is one of the most sought-after schools in Delhi. It is Teachers' Day and the 12th graders are decked up in colourful clothes. Girls in sarees and boys in ethnic Indian ensemble or other formals. It is their final year in school and they are playing the role of their teachers today, letting the real teachers go for an outing or a picnic. It is fun time for everybody as these young teachers 'teach' in classrooms mimicking their teachers, assume an air of authority occupying the hallowed offices of the principal and vice-principal, and enjoy an easy access to the staff rooms and other normally out-of-reach areas in the school. Surely a nice way to spend a day dedicated to teachers, marking the birthday of Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, our second President and a great teacher himself. Similar activities are taking place in schools across the city and the whole country. Students are showing their appreciation for their teachers by gifting flowers and cards to them.

While it is fun and games in the idyllic world of school kids, it is not the same in the real world outside. Businesses like jewellery, catering and real estate suffer a temporary slump as people are averse to making an important purchase or having an auspicious occasion like a wedding or an engagement during 'pitrupaksha'. It is a fortnight-long period of paying respect to one's ancestors. Some people observe specific rituals, others engage in charitable activities, while the rest don't really do anything. But a large number of people desist from making a big monetary transaction or having a celebration in the family, waiting patiently for this span, more commonly called 'shradh' in Delhi to pass.

The shradh fortnight ends and then begins a very auspicious interval of nine days and nine nights called 'navaratri'. The life of Lord Rama is enacted in 'Ramlilas' through the nine nights leading to Dussehra. Most of the action takes place in Old Delhi. Ramlila Maidan is of course well known, though maybe people know it now more as the venue of Anna Hazare's fast than as the ground where Ramlilas have been happening for years. All the grounds where a Ramlila takes place, are generally abuzz with activity much before the show starts. There is a carnival-like atmosphere with food stalls, toy stalls and fun rides for children. Ramlila is a kind of folk theatre, but it is keeping up with the changing times. Lav Kush Ramlila in Delhi has a countdown counter ticking on its website and promises online live webcast of the event as the drama unfolds.

Navaratri is also the time for worshipping the Goddess in her myriad forms. Devotees throng Her temples all over Delhi. Prominent among them are the Kalkaji Mandir in Okhla Industrial Area and the Aadya Katyayani Shaktipeeth popularly known as Chhatarpur Mandir on Gurgaon-Mehrauli Road. People wait patiently in long serpentine queues to get a darshan of the heavily decorated and bejewelled idol of the Goddess. My favourite temple is the little Kamakshi Temple situated on Aruna Asaf Ali Marg, bang opposite the Jawaharlal Nehru University gate. It belongs to the Kanchi Kamakoti Trust and is frequented mostly by the capital's Tamil population. It is lovely, has open areas on all the four sides and sports beautiful floral decoration around the idol. You may even chance upon some delicious lemon rice or spicy sundal if you happen to visit the temple when families take turns to distribute these goodies there.

Chittaranjan Park, Delhi's Bengali enclave is getting ready for the most awaited period of the year. The end of pitrupaksha brings Mahalaya, starting the countdown to the four most important days beginning with saptami. It is time to welcome, adore and worship Durga. It is the puja time...a time for new clothes, good food and holiday with family and friends.

Elsewhere in the country, Ganapati festival and Garba/Dandiya dances are on. But in Delhi, these celebrations are restricted to pockets where there is a concentration of Maharashtrian and Gujarati communities, not leaving their mark on the overall social/religious calendar of the city. People from all the Indian states live in Delhi and you meet a nice sprinkling of them at your school or work, but the geographical location of the city does lend it a distinct North Indian flavour, making saadi Dilli a vibrant, fun-loving metropolis.

Delhi In August : Under A Canopy Of Clouds

It is a rain-swept morning. The city has been under a canopy of clouds for some days. The downpour has been steady through most of the previous night. The streets are waterlogged. School kids decked in colourful raincoats or covered under huge umbrellas walk to their bus stops braving the rains. Some of them march cautiously, some playfully while others step deliberately into the puddles that have appeared as a result of the incessant rains. When a car passes over a puddle, dirty water gets splashed onto them, much to the disgust of their mothers, who are walking them to their bus stops.

Across the street, sweet shops have extended their premises occupying the sidewalk, their makeshift shelves almost spilling onto the road. The temporary extensions are covered with tarpaulin sheets to protect them from rain and sun. Rakshabandhan is around the corner and sweets are going to be in great demand. Markets are flooded with rakhis, shiny ornamental threads that sisters tie around the wrists of their brothers as a symbol of mutual love, both wishing for each other's well-being. Shops selling women's merchandise are vying for buyers' attention by announcing discount sales, as brothers will be looking for suitable gifts for their sisters to mark Rakshabandhan.

The capital is geared up to celebrate the Independence Day in a big way. Security alerts are issued. Reports about security being 'beefed up' start appearing in the newspapers. Motorists buy miniature flags from sellers at traffic signals and adorn their dashboards with them. The area around the Red Fort is spruced up. The stage is set for the Prime Minister's address from the 'ramparts' of this historic castle overlooking the Yamuna. Ramparts...every year I come across this word only in the context of the Independence Day. Never have I seen or heard it being used anywhere else! Those watching the Prime Minister's address on the television can see people sitting in the foreground of the Red Fort fanning themselves with paper fans. Delhi is unbelievably hot and humid in spite of the rains. Short spells of rain do not bring any respite. Unless it rains continuously for a long time, there is no chance of cooling down.

The holy month of Ramzan has begun. Believers abstain from food and drink each day from sunrise to sunset during this month. Everyday, sehri (the time to start the fast) and iftar (the time to end it) hours appear in the newspapers. Iftar parties are thrown in the evenings by Delhi's political bigwigs. At the end of the month, it is celebration time on the day of the Ramzan Id. All the mosques wear a festive look. Thousands congregate for prayers at the Jama Masjid, the 17th century grand mosque in Old Delhi. They present a beautiful picture sitting down in the courtyard in neat rows and kneeling in obeisance.

Pragati Maidan, the huge expanse of exhibition grounds along Mathura Road is hosting the Delhi Book Fair. The crowds are moderate on weekdays. On weekends, hordes of book lovers descend on the venue. For some, it is a family picnic. Browse in the air-conditioned halls, eat at one of the numerous food stalls, catch a movie at Shakuntalam before heading home late in the evening. The parking lots next to the Supreme Court get filled very quickly. Maybe it is a good idea to use public transport, especially on weekends.

 All over the city, temples are decorated with lights and flowers to celebrate Janmashtami, birth anniversary of Lord Krishna. Some put up tableaux depicting various events-- from his birth at the stroke of midnight in a prison in Mathura till the slaying of his evil uncle Kansa. Festivities, keertans and bhajans continue late into the night. Birla Mandir in Central Delhi and ISKCON temple in East of Kailash are the main hubs of activity. Devotees throng these places, some planning to spend the whole day there. Religious processions are taken out, pandals are erected outside temples to provide shelter to the visitors, prasad is distributed and cultural programs are organized days before the festival.

The humid and damp weather does not dampen the spirits of Delhiites. So what if washed clothes don't dry properly, so what if roads are submerged under knee-deep water, so what if your domestic help does not turn up because it has been raining, so what if 'low-lying' areas get flooded as a result of heavy rains, so what if the mercury hasn't moved from where it was in July? Patriotic ballads and Rakshabandhan songs blare from FM radios and loudspeakers erected in neighbourhoods. Sweets are relished, holidays are planned around long weekends and families get together for celebrations. After all, they don't call it 'Dilli Dilwaalon ki'  for nothing!

Life, Zindagi And More

Call it male bonding, love and relationships in modern times, friendship or romance, Zoya Akhtar's latest offering 'Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara' (ZNMD) is a film that has all this and more. It is a mainstream film made for the masses, but it manages to strike a chord with the viewers in its own sweet and refreshing way. These days, when the lifespan of a film is very short, it is hard to catch the attention of viewers, let alone make an impression on them. We seem to have forgotten that a normal, commercial film can be meaningful, what with the bevy of inane movies being released every week. ZNMD differs from them in many ways. It is not rollickingly funny, but it has its funny moments. It does not portray stark reality in an unflattering way, but it mirrors contemporary urban Indians very plausibly. It is not preachy, but it gets its message across in a light-hearted manner. In short, Zoya Akhtar has achieved a fine balance. Her film holds you with a firm grip and takes you along on a trip literally and metaphorically. While the literal bit takes place through scenic locales of Spain, the metaphorical journey takes you through the emotional worlds of its characters.

And what an array of wonderful characters brought to life on screen by the talented cast! 'Restraint' seems to be the keyword in making this film. Nothing is larger than life here. The situations and the characters are picked from the upper class urban reality around us. There is no crime, no abusive language, no melodrama, no cheap thrills and no vulgarity. ZNMD has shown that it is possible to make an entertaining film without these staples that usually go into the making of a masala movie. Even Katrina Kaif's appeal is used with a lot of economy, elevating her to the status of an actress than that of a mere glamour doll.

It is Katrina who gets to dispense the premier message of the film: live for the moment, live today as if there is no tomorrow. And she does it not through hollow words, but with her acts. She lives her message while portraying the persona of a free-spirited young woman. And that is why it is so easy for Hrithik Roshan to not only accept it, but to adapt himself to live according to her philosophy. But it is not Hrithik's story alone. The stories of Abhay Deol and Farhan Akhtar are interwoven nicely, making it a homogeneous, free-flowing narrative.

ZNMD has reduced the gulf between small budget, arty, serious cinema and big budget, commercial cinema considerably. Kudos to the Akhtar siblings for presenting a neat package to discerning audiences. A well-written script, good storytelling, superior performances and technical mastery have gone hand in hand to make the film a success. Of course there are some flaws, but they are not major and can be ignored. Moreover, this is not meant to be a review of the film. Umpteen reviews have appeared in the newspapers, magazines and on the net. These are just my impressions of the movie and what I liked about it.

Delhi In July : A Test Of Tolerance

Delhi is a city of distinct seasons. It has a different look and a different feel in each season. Naturally, weather is a very important topic of conversation for Delhiites. Year in and year out, they say the same things to one another and feel sad or happy about the weather. Having spent a major part of my life in Delhi, I have experienced the agony and the ecstasy of the Delhi weather. I am trying to put together a collage of the various faces of Delhi in different seasons. I may do it month by month or I may club a couple of months together. First in the series is the month of July.

It is hard to say which is the cruellest month in Delhi (for there are many), but July will certainly qualify to be one of the top contenders. The high temperatures along with high humidity levels are enough to test the tolerance and patience of the toughest of tough people. If you are outdoors, the hot sun saps your energy in no time. If indoors, the sweat makes you sticky and miserable. The fan whirring overhead is of little help. But life does go on. In fact, schools reopen after summer holidays in the first week of July. Your freshly bathed little one who went to school wearing a clean uniform in the morning, returns home with damp hair, sweaty wet shirt and smelly socks. The water in the poor kid's water bottle is over. It is quite an effort to carry the heavy backpack. There is an odd umbrella or raincoat too. The kid goes back to school again the next day and comes back in a dishevelled state, and the same ordeal continues the day after the next day and the day after that. July always seems to be very long. There are 31 days and no extra holidays as no major festival or national holiday falls in this month.

To make up for this gloomy scene, nature does throw in some goodies even in this inhospitable month. When you step out in the evening, it is still hot, but at least the sun is not blazing ferociously above you. You walk a little and a pleasant whiff of corn on the cob being roasted on a makeshift fire by the streetside greets you. If you care for one, the seller dabs it with fresh lemon and tangy spices and hands it over to you. Roasted corn on the cob tastes best on a rainy day when it has just stopped raining and the poor seller is struggling to keep the roadside fire going. Pay him more than he asks for and the smile on his face will make the whole experience worth a lot more.

Elsewhere in the market, luscious plums have arrived. The dark red or blackish red fruit is sometimes covered with a dusty white coating. Bring home some plums, wash them and bite into their soft flesh. If you are lucky, you may chance upon a deliciously sweet fruit. But you are equally likely to find a tart one. Sweet or tart, plums are a treat, especially because they are seasonal and it is hard to find them at other times of the year.

Central Delhi, or more specifically, the area around India Gate has a large number of jamun trees lining its sidewalks. Come July, the sidewalks turn purple as they get covered with jamuns that fall off the trees. These trees were planted at the time of the planning and building of Central Delhi. So they are old and yield a lot of fruit. The trees are leased to contractors who manage their produce. Urchins who are spending a quiet afternoon under the trees feast on whatever they can get out of the fallen jamuns. Another attraction for them is to see if they can jump into the Boat Club lake for a cool dip on a hot and muggy afternoon.

The swim in the Boat Club waters provides temporary relief. It is still very hot although the dust storms that are so characteristic of the Delhi summer have stopped. But the rain Gods are not yet smiling on the capital. Some days dawn bright and clear with absolutely no trace of a cloud. Newspapers and television screens tell you that it is raining cats and dogs in Mumbai and you long to go there. But you are in Delhi, where the afternoon is frighteningly still. On some days, the same stillness envelopes Delhi through the evening and the night. But on some rare days, the city gets drenched with a sudden evening shower and the setting sun appears again on the skyline. That is precisely the time to get out of the house and enjoy the best Delhi can offer under given circumstances.

A Trip Down Gastronomy Lane

It is an old-fashioned, nondescript narrow street in Indore, just like any other in several towns and cities across India. But what sets it apart from the rest is the extraordinary culinary experience that is on offer here. The less-than-one- kilometre stretch that starts from behind the Rajwada--a stunningly beautiful mansion belonging to the Holkar dynasty, survived only by its facade today--exists in the densely packed, old part of the city; characterized by little lanes criss-crossing each other. These lanes are home to a variety of bazaars, where both sides of the lane are lined with shops selling pots and pans, fabrics and sarees, stationery and jewellery. So there is a Bartan bazaar, a Cloth Market, a Khajuri bazaar and a Sarafa.

Sarafa was originally meant to be a jewellery market. When the jewellers shut shop for the day, the savoury and sweet makers took over and set their wares up on the platforms outside the closed shops. Well, that must have been how the present Sarafa came into being. Now the jewellery shops and eateries sit side by side, all vying for the customers' attention through the day (and night in case of the eateries). The food outlets are open during the day, but they really come alive in the evening.

My earliest memories of visiting the Sarafa are with a dear uncle (Shantaram Kaka) on his bicycle. I remember going there as a little girl with him and being treated to my favourite samosa from the Samosa Corner, along with other things. We did this routine very often and it is still fresh in my memory four decades later. The shop exists at the same place and is in the same condition even today. I make it a point to go there at least once whenever I am in Indore. The crispy triangles stuffed with spicy potato filling are served piping hot, fresh from the pan, with two chutneys--a green one made with coriander leaves and chillies and a brown one made with tamarind. You stand on the street outside the tiny stall, place your order and the guy places a hot samosa on a piece of newspaper, makes a dent in it,  fills the depression caused by the dent with the hot and tangy chutneys and hands the concoction to you. When you bite into this offering, all your taste buds come alive and the samosa disappears leaving a zesty aftertaste in your mouth.

Just across the street is another establishment, Vijay Chaat House. Their USP is something called patties. The credit for introducing this delicacy goes to the owners of this eatery. Most people in Indore refer to it as 'paytis' and are most probably unaware that patties is the plural form of a patty. These are balls where the stuffing is made of coconut along with some spices, and the coating is made of potato. They are then deep fried and served hot with chutneys. The owners seem to be a big family of several brothers, all of them having a fair complexion and dressed in spotless white kurtas. When I went to this place last month, I saw a fair-skinned young lad in his early twenties, sporting the familiar white kurta, busy frying a big batch of matar patties, a variant where the coconut is replaced by peas. Ah, the next generation has joined the family business! As he takes the fresh batch out of the frying pan, it is lapped up by eager customers waiting on the street. No stale or refried food anywhere in the sarafa. The big kadahis are out there for everyone to see, along with platters full of freshly moulded balls, ready to be fried.
 

Further down the street is an outlet of repute specializing in dahivada and bhutte ka kees. It is simply known by the last name of the owner--Joshi. People flock here for the giant dahivada that is large enough for a mini-meal. Deep fried vadas have been softened by dipping them in water and then squeezing them. They are heaped in a big container. When you place an order, the person serving them tosses a vada high up in the air, catches it with great elan, puts it in a bowl, douses it with delectable dahi,  tops it with some spices and chutneys, and presents this absolutely irresistible, melt-in-the-mouth dish to you. The dahi in the vada soothes you while the spices tease you, making the vada-eating a roller-coaster-like experience.

My other favourite here is bhutte ka kees which can be loosely translated as corn-upma, though I must admit that it is a very tame term and does not convey the attributes of this preparation with the respect it deserves. It is served with a topping of freshly squeezed lemon juice, a very special Rajasthani spice called jeeravan and fresh green coriander leaves. The moment you take a spoonful of this delightful stuff into your mouth, a melange of slightly sweet, sour, hot and salty tastes hits you, turning it into an 'Aha' moment.

Then there is spicy sabudane kee khichadi, kachoris stuffed with daal or potato or peas or corn, each variety having its own fan club, aloo tikiyas fried in ghee, served with only chutneys or chhole, fried garadu ( a type of yam) in winters, daal-baafla (a Marwari speciality), and a whole lot more.


Foodies with a sweet tooth can indulge too. There are several delicacies to choose from. But sweets are not my priority when I go to the sarafa. Among the popular sweets are gulab jamuns, jalebis served with hot milk, rabdi (thick evaporated milk), gajar ka halwa (in winters), kulfi and shikanji ( a very rich preparation with evaporated milk and dry fruits) along with a host of barfis and laddoos. People are seen relishing these until late into the night. I have not been to these shops early in the morning, but I am told that jalebis with hot milk are favoured by many for breakfast too!

Most of the eating in the sarafa takes place while standing in the congested street, with vehicles and pedestrians passing by, and hot fumes from the frying making the air even hotter. For those who cannot stand the heat and the dust, an alternative exists in the newer part of the city. Called Chhappan Dukaan, it is a market with 56 shops, where many of the sarafa eateries have opened an outlet. One can enjoy the sarafa specialities in a cleaner environment there. It is a fine place and I have gone there several times, but once a sarafa loyalist, always a sarafa loyalist! For me, a trip to Indore is not complete without a visit to my dear old sarafa.

Map Your World!

Photo by Google

My son Prateek just returned from Google Asia-Pacific Geo Community Summit held in Singapore. He has been a regular contributor to Google Map Maker. Google acknowledges the support of its most active contributors by inviting them to such conferences. Two years ago, Prateek had been to one in Bangalore. Both Bangalore and Singapore summits have been pleasant experiences for him. He has written a piece about the Singapore conference. I am happy to share it here.

Let me start with what Map Maker ( www.google.com/mapmaker ) is. Basically, it is like an editable version of Google Maps. Everyone is editing a single, global, public map, and not their own private maps. Data from Map Maker is copied over into Google Maps, so a lot of the data you see in Google Maps is actually contributed by individuals, and not obtained from a commercial mapping source. Map Maker has been particularly useful in mapping countries where good commercial data did not exist. Map Maker is useful in mapping disaster-hit areas too. This is of great help during rescue operations.

It was a joint conference for Map Maker, Panoramio (a site where people upload geolocated photos, which are then displayed in Google Maps, and which complement the street view), and 3D modellers (people who model 3D buildings, again shown in street view). I was there for Map Maker and so were most of the other participants. Though we communicate with each other over forums and bug trackers, meeting in person was very different and much more satisfying. We were a nice mix of people of different ages, pursuing different professions and belonging to diverse countries such as India, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Laos, Cambodia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Bangladesh, Iran, Indonesia, Japan, Saudi Arabia and Australia. Some of the organisers had come all the way from Google headquarters in Mountain View, California.

The venue of the event was Resorts World on Sentosa Island, a touristy place in the south of Singapore. Sentosa Island seems to have some sort of special status, for example there are entry fees to enter Sentosa by any mode of transport (walking, monorail, bus, taxi, personal car, and cable car), and transport inside Sentosa is free.

The conference began on 30th March afternoon/evening, with a river cruise through the central business district. The riverfront was very well-maintained. Here one could actually see the river, walk along it, etc - as opposed to the many years of living in Delhi where the Yamuna seems to exist only "in the abstract", an entity that one sees on maps and occasionally crosses on bridges without actually seeing any water. The India-Pakistan match began when we were on the cruise, and we could hear a lot of cheering from the nearby cafes/restaurants. It was interesting to see that Indians and Pakistanis were asking each other about the score. Once when the cheering got very loud, I called home and came to know that Sehwag had hit five fours in an over. The cruise was followed by an early dinner at a semi-open-air restaurant close to the riverfront. The organisers asked if they could get the match on the TVs there, but that was not possible.

An important purpose (the primary purpose?) of the conference was to get the Google people and the users to meet and interact with each other, and this did happen on the first day, although there was no "formal" conference activity with projectors and screens and microphones etc.

Other than the Google employees working on Map Maker etc, there were many other younger "volunteers" representing Google who accompanied us on the bus/boat rides, ensured that everyone is informed of the plan, supplied water bottles and umbrellas and stuff, and were generally looking after everyone. This  was one big difference between being at a conference like this and being just a tourist.

On 31st there was a talk by Google's "Geo Evangelist", followed by a discussion with Map Maker engineers. These discussions with the developers about the features, bugs, etc were the most interesting part of the conference for me. There were also many other topics of discussion, like building the Map Maker community, organising mapping parties, mapping from mobile devices, using GPS devices, using Map Maker for mapping disaster-affected areas, and other more technical topics.

In the evening we visited Google's office in Singapore. It is mainly a sales/marketing office. So we just looked around and took some photos. After an early dinner by the poolside, I went to roam around on Sentosa Island. It had gotten dark, and I was surprised to find that the beaches were deserted. I was expecting to see at least some people there given that Sentosa is popular with tourists. I rode a Segway ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Segway_PT ). It was quite interesting!

Photos by Prateek

On 1st morning we had another discussion with the Map Maker engineers, and several  unstructured "unconference" sessions, where people discussed in smaller groups.The Googlers were very interested in interacting with the users and listening to their feedback.

My Cup Runneth Over With Joy

We will continue to exult in the afterglow of the World Cup victory. The gleaming cup will provide us with happiness for years to come. It is amazing how a simple game that requires minimum gear and is played in practically every street in India, can unite the nation in a way that no other glue can.

On Saturday, when India and Sri Lanka were making history on the cricket ground in Mumbai, every Indian heart was beating for Dhoni and his boys. It did not matter whether you lived in India or left the Indian shores generations ago to make a new life elsewhere. If you called yourself Indian, you longed to see the Cup in the Indian skipper's hands. Whether you were Mukesh Ambani sitting in the VIP enclosure at the Wankhede stadium, or a daily wage earner eking out a living in some remote village, you yearned to see India win that evening. From toddlers barely out of their prams to grandparents confined to their wheelchairs, everybody dreamt of the Cup.

On that fateful night in Mumbai, when the captain hit the winning stroke, the thud was echoed in billions of hearts across the globe. What followed was sheer madness. People ran out on the streets in celebration. There was complete chaos. It was an emotional moment for a land that had been waiting for this conquest for a long time. And when it did happen, people had tears of joy in their eyes and lumps in their throats.

What is it that makes cricket so popular as to transcend all barriers of class, caste, gender, age and language ? Its reach is widespread and its connect with the masses phenomenal. But that does not make it any less classy either. And therein lies the magic of cricket, a game that is the darling of not just India, but the entire subcontinent.

When your TV screen fills with images of a handful of strapping men who are epitomes of strength, stamina and fitness, you feel elated. Middle-aged men with paunches, balding and toothless seniors, obese males who are forced to stay indoors because of the nature of their work, students who are too tied up with their studies to go out and get a breath of fresh air, ageing women with bad backs and painful knees, homemakers who are wedded to their chores...almost all of us get a certain pleasure watching these men run, jump, stretch and fall on the ground playing the great game of cricket.

Perhaps we enjoy seeing them do things that we could not do because of other compulsions. After all how many of us get a chance to lead such an outdoorsy life? Maybe we fulfil our wishes through them, just like parents do through their children. We take pride in their achievements because they are real heroes. We are aware of the hurdles they had to cross and the stiff competition they had to face before reaching where they are today. We know that each one of them has put in years of hard work while pursuing the game. We love them, we admire them, we dote on them because they are powerful icons of hope. They bring a lot of cheer to the people of a country that is generally starved of good news.

And who would not be happy to see their side steadily climbing the ladder of success, vanquishing legendary teams that were considered great at one time? That is precisely what happened and as India took on Sri Lanka in the finals, a nation waited with bated breath. If we jumped with joy when they inched towards victory, we fell silent when the other side seemed to dominate the game. No other entity is capable of having a hold over the collective mood of the nation as cricket is.

That is why we need cricket. It is a symbol of our oneness.