The Match that None Remembers

Prabuddha Neogi

Talk about the 1983 cricket world cup and a train of nostalgia flood the Indian fan’s mind. Emotions are mostly centred round the final against the mighty West Indies. Kapil Dev’s brilliant backward running catch to dismiss West Indies captain Viv Richards, Balwinder Singh Sandhu’s modest in-swinger crashing on to a dumbfounded Gordon Greenidge’s stumps, Sandip Patil’s quickfire 27 off 29 balls, and Mohinder Amarnath sprinting towards the dressing room after the victory to avoid being mobbed, are incidents that seemed happen yesterday.

The 1983 Indian world cup squad

While the match is perpetually etched in our memories, most of us have forgotten that India defeated the West Indies, not once, but twice in the 1983 world cup. The 23 June final was the second time. India beat the islanders in its very first match. It was the fourth game in the tournament, played at Manchester on 9 and 10 June, and was also perhaps the first instance where a one day international was spread over two days.

Rain and poor light delayed the start and West Indies, winning the toss, put India to bat to make full use of the damp conditions. Pace spearheads Malcolm Marshall and Michael Holding, dismissed openers Krishnamachari Srikkanth and Sunil Gavaskar rather cheaply for 19 and 14 respectively. Amarnath and Patil then steadied the innings, before Yashpal Sharma contributed with his match winning 89 off 120 balls. Roger Binny and Madan Lal also put in with some valuable runs. India finished with 262/8 in its quota of 60 overs, a score considered pretty healthy in those days.

West Indies, in reply, ended the day at 67/2 having lost the wickets of Greenidge and Desmond Haynes. Richards and Faoud Bacchus were not out on 12 and 3 respectively in 22 overs. They resumed batting next day and all their top order batsmen put up decent runs. Even though they kept losing wickets at regular intervals, the runs kept on coming till Binny caught Jeff Dujon off Sandhu with the score reading 107/5. West Indies lost the next four wickets for 50 runs with Larry Gomes, Marshall and Holding failing to reach double figures. Only Joel Garner managed to put up some resistance scoring 37 from 29 balls. In fact, his 71-run last wicket stand with Roberts was beginning to cause headaches in the Indian camp. But it was all over when Ravi Shastri, dismissed Garner, and pocketed his third wicket from the game. West Indies were all out for 228 in 54.1 overs and India won by a comfortable 34 runs.

It was only India’s second victory in all the world cups it played so far. But more importantly it was West Indies’ first ever world cup defeat. Every cricket analyst dubbed the result as a shock defeat for the defending champions, rather than a worthy Indian success. None could possibly foresee what was about to happen 15 days later at Lords. But India making the calypso masters bite the dust, was the first tell-tale signs of the arrival of a new world beater.

The match, surprisingly, has disappeared from larger collective memory. That it was not telecast live, could be a reason. There are no photographs of it either. No cricket enthusiast talks about it and the match remains confined only to record books. Even none of  Kapil’s Devils—as the 1983 Indian world cup team was fondly called—seems to recall the win which laid the foundation for greater glory.

Miles from Being Grownups

Prabuddha Neogi

Possibility of Virat Kohli pulling out of the upcoming Indian cricket team’s tour to Bangladesh, must have come as a bit of dampener to Bangladeshi cricket fans. Kohli has hinted that non-stop cricket is taking a toll on his fitness and he wants a reprieve from the rather insignificant tour where India is slated to play one Test and three one day internationals (ODIs). Rohit Sharma is expected to lead the team in Kohli’s absence. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is also likely to rest some other key players and give the fence sitters a chance. It could also be Yuvraj Singh and Virender Sehwag’s farewell series.

Rubel Hossain exults after dismissing Virat Kohli
in the World Cup quarterfinal

The Bangladeshi fan must have been gearing up for another Virat-Rubel duel. Rubel Hossain, Bangladesh’s bowling spearhead, had dismissed Kohli for a paltry three runs in that quarterfinal and went euphoric in his enjoyment. In fact, every Indian wicket was followed with loud celebrations. India’s 109 run win was an otherwise clinical finish, except the controversial Sharma not-out decision by umpire Aleem Dar. Sharma went on to score a match winning 137.

Sharma is no less a villain in Bangladesh than Kohli and they would bay for his blood in the upcoming series. The Bangladesh cricket fan is also peeved at the fact that BCCI is sending a second-string side, largely to show how inconsequential the series is. If speculations are to be believed, BCCI could rest Sharma as well, along with Ajinkya Rahane, Umesh Yadav and Ravichandran Ashwin. In that event, Suersh Raina may lead the team once again. India will also be without the services of coach Duncan Fletcher because his term is expiring in the interim. Ravi Shastri will return as the team director.   

This show of inconsequence won’t go down well with Bangladesh. It’s still a juvenile country where emotions precede pragmatism. So much so that Hasina, in a miserable portrayal of a bad loser, said that they were ‘made to lose’ in the World Cup. As if, Bangladesh would have won the match hands down, but for the umpiring blooper. India was quickly dubbed as the evil overlord of global cricket by the Bangladeshi media. Seminars, rallies, human chains and similar programmes were organised in the aftermath to press for ‘justice’.

Bangladesh has managed to win Tests only against Zimbabwe and the West Indies, both minnows now in international cricket. It has played seven Tests against India, losing six and drawing only one. The Bangladeshi fan is also irked at BCCI’s disinterest to host the Bangladesh team in a bilateral series. BCCI, truly, has said that an Indo-Bangla series in India will be an entirely loss making affair.

There was nothing great in Bangladesh making the quarterfinal cut in the World Cup. England was the only major team it defeated en route, the other two being Scotland and Afghanistan. There’s always an over-hype surrounding the team because of its sporadic successes against all the top tier teams. What Bangladesh needs to understand is that it must defeat the top teams regularly. And for that, it needs to plan long term. Short term gains won’t be of any good. They also need to emerge from the slam-bang T20 mode and stop hunting for conspiracy theories in every match they lose.     

The Other Puri

Debanjali Banerjee

The Bengali wanderlust, regardless of the innumerable travel spots coming up in the past few years, always had a penchant for some of the ageless favourites. Puri, undeniably, is one of them. So much so that Bengalis are often known to bump into their friends and relatives more frequently in Puri than back home in Kolkata. Staffs at some of the more popular hotels there speak Bengali more fluently than their native language. ‘Chal, du diner janya Puri ghure asi’ (let’s visit Puri for a couple of days), is a common phrase you get to hear in most Bengali homes.

Fishermen drying their nets on the Puri beach

Over the years that I have been visiting this coastal Odisha town, I never bothered to look beyond the sand, the waves, the puja at the Jagannath Temple and the ubiquitous jibhegoja (wrongly known to most people as khaja). My trips usually followed the annual exams and they brought a sense of freedom from the typical late night rummaging through science and history books.

The last time I visited Puri I really didn’t have to worry much about home. There was also nothing new to discover. I had already offered puja that morning and decided to take a walk on the beach in the afternoon. The waves were kissing my feet and I was lost in my thoughts when a voice abruptly brought me back to my senses. ‘Didi mala nebe? (sister, will you buy some garlands) an young girl asked. For those who haven’t visited Puri—I can only imagine how small that number will be—there is a small beach market which sits every evening. Traders—hawkers mostly—vend cheap souvenirs to tourists. Bags, key chains made from sea shells and garlands made of plastic beads are sold at whatever price you can successfully bargain.

‘No,’ I answered, trying to ignore the girl. But she was insistent. ‘Didi, just look at them. They are so pretty. Only Rs 30.’

‘No,’ I said again. ‘I don’t want to buy any.’

The girl kept following me, pressing me to buy the garlands. ‘Didi I didn’t sell a single garland today. If you buy two, I will give them for just Rs 50.’

I looked at the girl. She wasn’t a day more than 10 and was standing there with a huge bag of garlands and many of them hanging from her hands. She was dark and sun burnt, had waist length hair that wasn’t brushed for years, and wore a smelly soiled printed cotton frock. Her chappals were repaired well over the final time.

‘What’s your name?’ I asked.

‘Mala,’ she replied.

I wondered at the relevance of the name with her choice of career. ‘How old are you?’ I asked.

‘Eight,’ she said, hesitating for a moment.

‘Do you go to school?’

‘No didi.’

‘Why not?’

‘My mother doesn’t allow.’ I noticed the frustration in her voice.

‘Really, why?’

‘We don’t have the money.’

‘Why, what does your father do?’

‘He is no more. He is dead. Only my mother earns by cleaning utensils there,’ she said, pointing to the hotel on the road adjacent to the beach, where I had my lunch barely a couple of hours ago.

‘Do you have any brother or sister?’

‘Yes, an elder brother. He works at the same restaurant. He cleans tables”

I was silent for a few seconds.

‘Didi please buy a garland,’ she was growing impatient now.

‘But I don’t have any money with me. I left the purse in my hotel room.’

The look on her face made me sad. Disappointed, she was about to leave, when my mother came down screaming. ‘Where were you? I told you to inform me before you go out.’

‘Can you lend me 50 bucks?” I said, ignoring her complain.

‘Why,’ she asked, as is typical with all mothers. The reason for taking the money always came first rather than the urgency.

‘I want to buy these garlands.”

My mother looked confused. She knew how much I loathed these fake garlands. Nonetheless, she gave me the money. I bought two garlands from Mala. Her eyes glistened with happiness having made the bauni (first sale of the day). She made off quickly hunting for other customers.

‘Listen, I am going to Swargadwar. Need to finish some shopping. You come soon,” my mother said and panted back the way to the road.

I continued walking on the beach. Everywhere I looked, I found hundreds of Malas trying to sell their stuff to tourists. Some refused them politely, some ignored, while many others rudely shooed them away. ‘Shala, kothao shanti nei. Chhutiteo dor-daam’ (Hell, there’s no peace anywhere. You have to face bargaining even while holidaying), I heard someone saying.

Sparkling beach, religious abode, jibhegoja or whatever, Puri appeared to me just like any other town of my country. It was all about what you wanted to see. The vicious circle of poverty lay threadbare ever since tourists started visiting this place. And in all likelihood, every visitor offering donations of little or no purpose to Jagannath, will remain conveniently unaware of Mala and her ilk. 

Headed for Another Cold War?

Aitrayee Sarkar

The fight was all about life; all about the struggle for existence.  The controversial 2 November election was all about Donetsk and Luhansk returning to ballot from bullet. Both the eastern Ukraine provinces had declared themselves as self-proclaimed states in the Federal State of Novorossiya, which is largely controlled by Russia supported rebels. Moscow, expectedly, lent credence to the election, while the European Union (EU), the US and the West opposed it. They claimed that Moscow’s support will not only infringe the Minsk Protocol, but would also fuel the violence already raging for months.

Counting of votes after the 2 November election

Moscow, earlier this year, sent its army to east Ukraine to capture large tracts of land. Its action was followed by the Kiev revolt. The result was direct clashes with the Ukraine armed forces, supported by the US and the West. Over 4,000 people unofficially died in the clashes and thousands others were rendered homeless. A large part of Ukraine is now under a humanitarian crisis and international experts believe that the situation is unprecedented since the days of the Cold War which could trigger fresh animosity between Russia and the West  

The Ukraine crisis is seeded in the disintegration of the Soviet Union in 1991. Kiev always had to look towards Moscow and Washington for assistance, courtesy its weak foreign and monetary policy. The country could never take sovereign and independent decisions. Nestled between Russia and the rest of Europe, Ukraine was also never allowed to decide its policies. Kiev increasingly failed to exploit its enviable mineral resources like coal and natural gas. The domestic companies were no match for the American and European MNCs. The country was also divided in terms of popular mindset. While the western part was more inclined to the West, the Russian speaking eastern part expressed solidarity with Moscow. The situation was already volatile and the explosion happened when the then president Viktor Yanukovych singularly scrapped an agreement with the EU. The revolt which started in Kiev, soon spread to other parts of the country. Disastrous results followed when Yanukovych applied force to cull the rebellion. The president, cornered from all sides, fled the country and Ukraine was up for grabs.

The militia government that assumed power after Yanukovych fled, now wants the stamp of a popular mandate in its favour. But the 2 November election, sans any endorsement from the international community, is unlikely to get legitimacy. Alexander Zakharchenko took over as the chief executive of Donetsk. Petro Poroshenko, the Ukrainian president, denounced the results and warned of stern steps against the election.

A large section of those who voted, believe that their demand for independence is now stronger than before. It’s a fact nonetheless that Russia is now being increasingly cornered globally over the Ukraine issue. The EU and US embargos have hit the Russian economy hard.  Several parts of the country are beset with political instability. Ukraine too will feel the heat if the mineral rich south-east separates from the rest of the country. But the West, led by the US, would unlikely let go the resources. Whether Donetsk and Luhansk can ultimately enjoy their independence, is a million dollar question. With the US and Russia eager to extract their pound of flesh, it seems the region is headed for a neo Cold War. 

Gastronomic Adventures in Shillong

Debanjali Banerjee

Shillong, home of the Khasi, Jaintia and Garo tribes, is a marriage of dissimilar cultures living in harmony since ages. Nestled in the eastern Khasi hills, Shillong is blessed with a temperate climate, which attracts tourists by the herd, every season. And like all other towns spread across every nook and corner of India, the Meghalaya capital too has its own gastronomic identity, or the lack of it.

Pork curry is a delicacy in the North East

I landed in Shillong for the first time in 2006. The cab ride to the town from Paltan Bazaar in Guwahati took over four hours. The chaotic Paltan Bazaar, will remind you of Kolkata’s very own Koley Market in Sealdah, complete with a railway station, auto-rickshaw stand and transport to other parts of the town and beyond. Furtive glances greet you, courtesy your looks, clothes, luggage and the lost expression that has ‘tourist’ written all over it. Paltan Bazaar is also the biggest wholesale market in the whole of North East where you get fresh fruits and vegetables. The oranges and apples tasted different. They were bigger and sweeter than the ones you get in Kolkata. They were pure mountainous fruits with no artificial chemical or colour.

We stopped midway for lunch at what remotely resembled an eating joint. There were no better options available. The vegetable thali was the only menu and consisted of rice, daal, aloo bhaja, mixed vegetable and papad. The rice was as coarse as it could be, reminding you of the stuff eaten by the subjects of torturous zamindars in Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay novels. It was also a grim pointer to the depravity which is so common in the whole of North East. The aloo bhaja, cut in cubes, was dripping with oil and was a health freak’s worst nightmare. The daal was seasoned with sugar instead of salt. The mixed vegetable was the only decent item on the platter. But you can’t identify its ingredients because they were all grown locally. They couldn’t afford to bring the familiar ones from Paltan Bazaar because of the expenses involved. Food preferences of Bengalis, who also formed the bulk of tourists to Shillong as anywhere in India, were not much important to the locals. Anadi Ghosh, our cab driver, promised of ‘familiar’ (read better) food once we reached Shillong.

And he was right. You do get Bengali food in Shillong which is much better than the ones you get in other hill stations like Darjeeling, Kalimpong and others. I, for one, wanted to taste local cuisine and Ghosh took us to places that served the Indian (or Kolkata) version of Chinese. I was disappointed with the unavailability of cheap momos that you get in other nearby hill stations.

The next day, on my way to Cherrapunji, Ghosh appraised me of all that he knew about the eating habits in Shillong. The rich and affluent, who own hotels or land, live in bungalows on the outskirts of the city. They buy most of the fresh products that comes from Paltan Bazaar. Pork and crab are their favourites. The middle class owns small shops and cabs (the black and yellow Maruti 800). Beef stew and rice, the equivalent of the Bengali machher jhol and bhaat, is their staple. The poor, and you find them in overwhelming majority in the whole of North East, have the most interesting eating habits. Their everyday meal consists of rice with tea. Not the tea that we know of but more of a watery liquid which looks like green tea.  They season it with both salt and sugar and add honey if they can afford. Fresh honey, for the record, is available at the Cherrapunji Ramakrishna Mission. It’s not refined but is definitely delicious. On special occasions like weddings, they cook liver, intestines, bones and fat of the humble pig that elites won’t even buy for free.

Mawsynram, 65km from Shillong and reportedly the wettest place on earth, is one of the most gastronomically deprived places in India. Even a cup of tea is a luxury here and there’s only one tea shop near the Shiva temple. It tasted much like green tea and had a distinct honey flavour. It was refreshing nonetheless.

Will His Magic Last?

Prabuddha Neogi

Chotushkone, the Srijit Mukherji thriller, released some weeks back and has already turned out to be a major hit of the year. His earlier, Jaatishwar, which released in January, didn’t exactly set the cash registers ringing and could collect only `1.20 crore at the box office, against its budget of `4 crore. Chotushkone, on the other hand, has brought smiles to his producers—Reliance Entertainment—who weren’t exactly satisfied with the returns from Jaatishwar, despite the film creating at a roar at the 61st National Film Awards. 

(L-R) Goutam Ghose, Aparna Sen, Srijit Mukherji, Parambrata Chatterjee
and Chiranjit in a working still from Chotushkone

Urban audiences have crowded the theatres to watch Chotushkone—about four directors who come together to direct a film—involving four short stories. As always, the music has garnered rave reviews with Laganjita Chakraborty’s Basonto Ese Geche turning out to be the most favourite. Casing wise, the film is being touted as Chiranjeet Chakraborty’s rebirth. The veteran actor was roped in after Anjan Dutt walked out of the project, reportedly over creative differences with Srijit. Parambrata, too, has come up with a stellar performance as one of the three other directors

I have never missed a single Srijit film since his debut with Autograph and was the first among my peers to watch it. Over the years, the director has developed some signature styles that are found in all his films, like great music, superb dialogues and crisp editing.

But Srijit, bound by contractual obligations, seems to be in a tearing hurry to make films. He already has had six releases in four years and his seventh, Nirbak with Sushmita Sen, is scheduled for a 2015 release. He has also begun the pre-production for Rajkahini, expected to star Rituparna Sengupta, Bratya Basu and Supriya Devi in key roles. Even this film is to be released in 2015. At this pace, Srijit is likely to hit the creative roadblock soon, like his mentor Rituparno Ghosh. Readers would recall that Rituparno had made eight films between 2003 and 2008 and several of his later films didn’t befit the director’s talent. Mediocrity sets in when the non-conventional starts courting market demands and Srijit is walking that path.

Music, the hallmark of all Srijit films, has already begun to sound repetitive. The Srijit-Anupam combine has delivered in all films right from Baishe Srabon to Chotushkone, with the exception of Jaatishwar. Even Autograph’s music, if rumours are to be believed, was largely composed by Anupam. He always reserved his best for Srijit. The music, despite the chart topping Basonto Ese Geche, is typically Anupam. The tracks often sound strikingly similar to that of Baishe Srabon and Hemlock Society. The music director has to come up with fresh tunes if he wants to retain his popularity among the urban masses.

It’s time for Srijit, the talent powerhouse that he is, to venture out of the archetypical. He should also slow down and not go on a filmmaking spree. It reminds me of a famous dialogue from Satyajit Ray’s Nayak: ‘Amra mosai ekhono quality sambondhe conscious hote parini. Amader motto e hochhe to produce more and produce rubbish’ (that we are never conscious about the quality and over-production is our motto). Maybe the filmmaker should take a hiatus for a couple of years to get his creative juices flowing again. Srijit is undeniably one of the best things that have happened to the industry in a long time. Our expectations are huge and we will never want him to plunge into the average.