Cricket Fever

As the World Cup fixtures enter the quarter-final stage, cricketing craze among members has reached feverish pitch. Shekhawat-ji’s ongoing collection drive for the Sunday picnic has lost its importance in the face of mounting speculation on the outcome of league matches, various strategies of rival teams and of course, India’s prospects of making it to the final.
From Srichand Arora (right) to Bapu Rane to Bhaswati Bose to Ved Prakash Grover to Nahid Khan to Sitaram Hivarkar… everybody seems to be now on first-name terms with strange entities like Kevin O’Brien, Ross Taylor, Berend Westdijk and Ryan ten Doeschate. India having played or not, is immaterial. Every match is crucial for these cricket fanatics.
So Bapu Rane abruptly interrupts the exercises to enquire who’d be playing in the afternoon. Santosh Tyagi has been wanting to watch Tanu Weds Manu but cannot find anybody who would willingly “sacrifice” a match on TV to give her company. Sitaram-ji (below) had not been coming to the Garden for the past two days (because of water problems and a broken-down lift in his building). Today he showed up after the exercises, just to be able to discuss cricket with Rane and Sadanand Pawar – such is his obsession towards the game.
Meanwhile, members are talking in hushed tones on the following lines:
“Why is he so sullen? Why come to the Laughing Club when you cannot even smile?”
“Let him be. He wants to be left alone. He’ll come around on his own. It has happened earlier also.”
“It's his mood. He's terribly moody. He'd be fine, once the stock market goes up.”
“No, it's his ego. He wants others to bow down to his wishes. Why should we do so?”
“He's basically a good man, clean at heart -- just that he tends to make a big issue out of small things.” No prizes for guessing who the cause of so much puzzlement can be.
Renu Babani says:
What is up with the blog? Why is it getting so personal in regards to people's mannerism, moods, etc. This is not accepted, and should be stopped. Each one should be respected no matter what, and conversations in regards to anyone is not the reason we meet each morning. Criticism or sarcasm about individuals causes rifts and tends to distance the group. So, please, let us stop any finger pointing, or leave each one to their own. Let us enjoy our company when we meet and have fun!
--Renu
Big Laaf clarifies:
This blog is meant to be a daily log of whatever happens in the Garden -- taking the good with the bad. Only what is out in public space is recorded, and always with extreme caution such that no feelings are hurt. To be wearing blinkers when there is a real problem concerning our own kin would be dishonest and defeating the very purpose of this blog. Still, if there is a fear that this could cause a rift, the blog APOLOGISES unconditionally.
Renu Babani says:
Rest assured, no hard feelings, and the opinion written was due to the attachment we have as a family. Life is too short to sit and muse over who said what and why. Time to move on and let's enjoy the moment. Who has seen tomorrow?
--Renu