An extraordinary league of Gentlemen

The IIMB Sports legacy thrives on the foundations of Passion, Courage and Honour. So when the opportunity to deliver on a social front arrived this year, that so noble Vikasana, as always led from the front. However, this time they were not alone.

This semester has seen the Sports Council involved in a variety of pleasantly different activities and this was just another chance to add a new dimension to our personality. So it fell upon the IIMB cricket team to help the Indian Blind Cricket prepare for their scheduled tour of England in a fortnight’s time. As we later found out, we should have been prepared too.

Posters and high profile publicity have never been the Sports Council’s forte, but this time though, the posters were out in full flow with the highlight being IIMB CRICKET TEAM- Needs no introduction. Mid term examinations and a bit of complacency made sure the IIMB team had no practice whatsoever, (the game would be played with blind cricket rules- plastic noisy ball, underarm bowling, etc.) a fact that surely had a significant implication on the turn of events on match day.

Match Day: Sunday, August 1, 2010.

Friendship’s Day brought no surprises. There were very few sitting on the grassy banks of the beautiful IIMB cricket ground. Sunday mornings aren’t the best crowd pullers here but those who did fight the late night sleep syndrome were thoroughly entertained, at least for half the match.

The IIMB team captain was found explaining the rules of the game to his team mates just before the match, some however didn’t quite understand until they faced the music. The IIMB captain won the toss and decided to field first. (Should have batted though. We could easily have had two full matches with our batting prowess.) But let’s not dwell on what could have been. Instead let’s look back at what turned out to be a day to remember for everyone (for different reasons obviously).

Naveen C was given the task of wiping off the opponents with his screaming underarmers but the batsman on strike had other ideas. The first ball went for a huge six over cover and that just set the tone for the onslaught that followed. The batsman, Prakash, had a great day with the bat (I guess our ordinary “underarm” bowling not helping) and scored a mammoth century that propelled their score to over 200. More than 60% of their runs came in boundaries including two massive, unbelievable sixes (both off the same bowler, any guesses???).

The chase was expectedly going to be tough and some really fast underarm bowling didn’t help the IIMB openers’ cause, both of them falling cheaply. Prakash showed why he was such a huge asset to the Indian team with some extraordinary work with the gloves, getting two batsmen stumped. Extraordinary (how else would you describe a completely blind man throwing to the stumps perfectly every single time with only the keeper’s voice for direction) fielding got the better of Popo who thought he could sneak in a couple of runs. The IIMB captain, Shini Patel tried his best to apply himself to the situation and get accustomed to sweep (literally) batting but his best efforts help the team escape an embarrassing loss. The team however took the whole thing in a lighter vein (kudos to all of us) and admitted that they had been beaten but in a different ball game altogether. Handshakes, smiles and group photos followed to cap off a memorable time on the wonderful occasion of Friendship Day. We wish the Indian Blind Cricket team the very best for their tour of England and for the World Cup next year and hope they come again for another match. Hopefully this time we will be better prepared to sweep and under swing. Cheers!!!

Experience of a different kind

There was this one particular sign board on the way down to Siliguri from Darjeeling that read,

“It is better to be late, Mr. Sharma than to be Late Mr. Sharma”.

Every single time I get onto an auto in Kolkata, I only wish the autowallah has seen something similar. Now I may sound over the edge with this one but trust me, this is one experience that can only be felt in good old Kolkata.

I have travelled quite a lot (courtesy Dad taking me around every year) in the southern part of our country and hence have been to most of the major cities there- Chennai, Hyderabad, etc. and of course my home town for the past four years- Bengalooroo. But nowhere have I seen a transport system as unique as the one in Kolkata. Autos in Bangalore would be taxis here and vice versa.

I have been here for a month now, working as a summer intern and I believe one month is decent amount of time for understanding a place better. I came with certain beliefs about Bengalis, the corporate world and Kolkata. The first two, as expected were mostly right but I must say Kolkata has offered things I had never expected, and right at the top of that list is travel.

I’ll leave the best for the end. Let’s start with the Metro rail. Very cheap, Swift, Good frequency of service but always crowded. I barely managed to force myself into a metro yesterday morning. I was late for office and this was the fastest way. I had experienced the rush previously but yesterday it was literally crazy. More than a thousand people were squeezed in together so tight I couldn’t even expand my lungs completely. And do you know what the irritating part is (I found it really funny though)? People were asking me to move aside, so that they could pass through. I looked around and then looked back at them. They didn’t say anything else, embarrassed by the stupidity of their impossible request. But on the brighter side, I tried to find an alternative way of getting to office today and guess what? It is easier and faster. Thank God!

Back to our Autowallahs. I know from my experiences in Bangalore that they are a rare breed. A community who leave their fear of death at home (and perhaps their intelligence and common sense too) and ride like there’s no tomorrow. The fiercest of them, however, live here, in Kolkata because nothing has ever scared me the way every auto ride here does. Perhaps it’s the fear of falling off the front seat (where 4 people impossibly cramp in), or the disc brake styled stops they take from unauto like speed but whatever it may be, travelling in Kolkata is definitely an experience of a different kind.