The Authoritative Calvin and Hobbes - Bill Watterson

I ordered a Calvin and Hobbes book for myself a couple of months ago and it has been the greatest value in terms of giving me laughs and a fun time. Watching the young lonely kid with a fertile imagination and his pet toy tiger Hobbes for company as he navigate his fears and his boredom is simply brilliant. 

I loved his constant threat to his dad that his rating as a dad might fall and he needs to give his kid more concessions to climb the ratings, his troubling the only girl in his neighborhood Susie, his lying to teachers and parents that Hobbes did all the mischief, his conversations with Hobbes who seems to get the better of him each time.

 Lovely. Best investment in a long time.

Why I am an Atheist - Bhagat Singh

I was at MR Books buying comics for my sister when I saw this slim book and picked it up. It is Bhagat Singh's (September 27, 1907-March 23, 1931) essay on why he is an atheist. It is written at a time when he is facing death by hanging for the murder of policemen John Saunders and Channan Singh and the symbolic bombing of unoccupied seats of the Central Legislative Assembly in Delhi. Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev Thapar and Shivaram Rajuguru, members of HSRA (Hindustan Socialist Republican Association) were hanged, based on the testimony of a HSRA member Hansraj Vohra. The three revolutionaries were hanged at Lahore jail, their bodies chopped to pieces, cremated and ashes dropped in the Sutlej river. Bhagat Singh became a cult figure as a 23 year old revolutionary who gave his life for his motherland.

Reading the book, which has other writings by Bhagat Singh - letters to his fellow revolutionaries Sukhdev and Rajguru, his father, petitions, messages to students and young revolutionaries, reveals his mind. Though born into a family with normal religious leanings, and schooled at DAV School where he learned mantras, his views changed as he entered National College, Lahore, and joined the Revolutionary Party. He read books by Bakunin, Lenin, Marx, Trotsky, Nirlamba Swamy on Marxism, Communism, Common Sense, to improve his knowledge and his views on God changed. As a fiery young man he believed in being real and uncompromising and believing in himself than relying on abstract ideas such as God. In his defence of why he is an atheist, he writes with candor and honesty in this essay.

He wonders at the very beginning that many might think his stand is based on pride or vanity. He agrees that people call his a dictator, inflexible with his views, a boaster and a sceptic. He says that pride and vanity are not connected to belief in God or Godly beliefs. A man who is proud of being an atheist and who has vanity of being an atheist, believes in the concept of God - whereas he does not. He fully rejects the idea of God. He says he needs no opiate to meet his end, has no selfish motive to believe in the idea of God so he purges his sins or gets a reward of paradise. He would rather listen to cold blooded reason - 'Instead of developing the ideas and experiments of ancient thinkers, thus providing ourselves with the ideological weapon for the future struggle, lethargic, idle, fanatical as we are - we cling to orthodox religion and in this way reduce human awakening to a stagnant pool'. He also says 'It's necessary for every person who stands for progress to criticise every tenet of old beliefs.' Words that ring true even today after a century.

He has questions - why did God create a world where there is no peace, why did he create man when we know all's not well in God's kingdom, a hoax that snatched the power of reason. He says that the Puranas are but fairy tales. He is against casteism, brahmanism, believes that religion is the creation of the privileged classes to usurp power and riches. Where is God when the British are ruling he asks. He quotes Upton Sinclair who wrote 'only make a man a firm believer in the immortality of soul, then rob him of all that he possesses. He will willingly help you in the process'. 

Bhagat Singh calls out 'the dirty alliance between religious preachers and possessors of power brought the boon of prisons, gallows, knouts and above all, such theories for mankind.' He also says that 'man created God in his imagination when he realised his weaknesses, limitations and shortcomings.' He urges others to face adversaries with courage and valour, even on the gallows and says he will not change his beliefs as the date of his death nears. And he did not.

Even in jail he wrote letters asking for books - Militarism by Karl Liebnecht, Why Men fight (Russel), Civil War in France (Marx), Land Revolution in Russia, Spy (Upton Sinclair), Let Wing Communism and such. 

In December 1928, Bhagat Singh and Rajguru shot dead John Saunders a junior British officer mistaking him for James Scott, a Superintendent of Police on whose order to lathi charge protesters resulted in injuries and later death of Lala Lajpat Rai. Bhagat Singh and Rajguru escaped on bicycles after shooting John Saunders while Chandrashekhar Azad, their accomplice shot dead policeman Channan Singh who was giving them chase. Hiding in a safe house for a couple of days the duo left for Calcutta under disguise, taking along with them a wife and child of another revolutionary to provide cover. They evaded detection and reached Calcutta. It was only in April 1929 when Bhagat Singh and Bhatukeshwar Dutt went to the Central Legislative Assembly in Delhi and threw a symbolic bomb into the unoccupied portion, threw leaflets and shouted slogans and courted arrest were they found to be involved in the earlier murder. In court Bhagat Singh defended himself.

In prison Bhagat Singh went on hunger strike along with another revolutionary Jatin Das protesting against poor prison conditions. Das died after 63 days of hunger strike and Bhagat Singh carried on his strike for 116 days. He was carried into court as he had become weak. At some point he refused to attend court until the conditions were met - the court went ahead and held the hearings in his absence and sentenced him to the gallows ex parte. 

At no stage did Bhagat Singh seek lenience from the court and all his petitions were only to clarify his position. He wrote to his father asking him not to plead lenience for him as it is against his principles and portrays him as a weak man begging for his life. He writes to Sukhdev not to entertain thoughts of suicide which would be seen as a weakness. He was not a fan of Gandhi's policies of non-violence - not that he encouraged violence - he valued human life but felt that symbolic gestures are important for the bigger cause. At all times he was fiercely patriotic, committed to equality among people, against casteism, for the working class, for women - every single progressive idea you see today. All this in a life of 23 years.

It was a very enlightening read.              

Cricket Dreamer - An Anonymous Blog by a Cricket Fan

I am very obsessed with numbers and I believe any number we come across has a  connection with how we live. As a kid, my dad introduced me to the cricket score board through 'The Hindu'. 

I was around 7 years old. India was touring England and was getting beaten black and blue. Still the scores stuck with me. 

https://www.cricinfo.com/series/india-tour-of-england-1974-62274/england-vs-india-1st-test-63125/full-scorecard

Then I started playing gully cricket. I had and have very bad hand-eye coordination and was awful at batting. All I could do was defend. Later on I could play square cut or even a square drive as playing square of the wicket gives a little more time. So I took to bowling, but then could not generate pace. Though, I tried spin, I could not turn the ball. I tried right arm, wrist leg spin and left arm finger spin. All in all, I was a “ Ravi Shastri” , turning  the ball once rarely. My uncle who was a doctor and played cricket in Medical College told me importance of length and line. Overpitch can be driven at will and also lifted out in the stands. Short pitch gives time and hence has no use even if the ball turns square. Good length is good but variations are essential but I had no tangible surprise element. I was a bad runner, a horrible catcher (bad hand eye coordination) and hence useless at fielding. In my opinion, one must enjoy fielding to play cricket at higher levels or else one cannot sustain playing cricket. Ask Azhar, Dravid or Jadeja. Working on fielding elongates the career and lets the cricketer to hone batting or bowling skills or both. At the end, I became a Cricket Dreamer, far from reality. 

Those were the days of Cricket Commentary. We need to applaud the Commentators skill at the craft. They were able to inculcate interest for the fans and with their spell, make the listeners enhance the imagination and make me the Dreamer. 

India’s win over West Indies in 1976 is one of the first Tests which made me dream about cricket. The fourth Innings comeback. Gavaskar’s 102, Vishy’s hundred and Mohinder’s 85. The spinners wove their magic and India won. Back then, the test was played in West Indies and hence the commentary was all through the night. My Uncle and Dad listened late into the night and I stayed up as much as possible. Early morning two young  neighbors in their early 20s told us that they stayed all througg and India won. May be they were returning back to their homes to catch some sleep. We heard the commentary rerun!

https://www.cricinfo.com/series/india-tour-of-west-indies-1975-76-62314/west-indies-vs-india-3rd-test-63161/full-scorecard

Kapil Dev arrived! Which coincided with the end of the Spin quartret. The test series in Pakistan. The commentator stated that in one of the firsts for Indian Cricket, Sadiq Mohammed asked for helmet to face Kapil’s pace. The beginning of India as a sustained fast bowling nation!  Sarfraz Nawaz and Imran Khan were  establishing themselves as the Fast bowlers. Should the credit of invention of reverse swing go to Sarfraz?  I reluctantly and grudgingly resented Pakistan fast bowlers dominance. The commentator was applauding Musthaq’s captaincy and Bedi’s team was rolled over. Over the years I developed respect for fast bowlers emerging from Pakistan thru Wasim Akram, Waqar and others. But still Kapil reigned supreme. There can be Sachin, Sunil, Dhoni, Kohli or Vaibhav but Kapil had the greatest influence in India’s cricket. 

Then came Dilip Doshi and Shivlal Yadav. Both good spinners who held the fort so that  I can continue dreaming with Kapil as the Idol. Who can forget his first century and if my memory serves right, he launched with a 6! Those were the days, when Gavaskar , Vengsarkar or most batsmen slowed the scoring to a crawl once they reached 80s!

I remember Vishy was different! India’s test victory in Melbourne with a 5 wicket spell from Kapil who had fever, a dream ball from Ghavri to dismiss Greg Chappell! 

https://www.cricinfo.com/series/india-tour-of-australia-1980-81-62293/australia-vs-india-3rd-test-63281/full-scorecard

Sandeep Patil came with the reputation as a fast scorer! His 176 in Sydney. We took a High School trip to Nagarjuna Sagar in ninth grade and the bus broke down. It was supposed to be a day trip, but the bus broke down. Thus the bus came back to the school in the midnight and we stayed back at the School. We came home early the morning, Sandeep scored his 176! In the next, England series, Sandeep scored 6 fours of Bob Willis 7 ball over. Still remember, the commentator describing his Tennis shot to make the mark!

https://www.cricinfo.com/series/india-tour-of-england-1982-62277/england-vs-india-2nd-test-63315/full-scorecard

Dilip Doshi was a rank bad fielder. At one point the commentator mentioned that Captain Gavaskar stomped on his feet in angst when Doshi guided a ball to boundary.  This kindled my imagination and from the time, I did not like bad fielders. Over time, I disliked Shastri more as he was a bad fielder and even more as a preacher when he doned the commentator’s hat.

Mohinder’s series in Pakistan and West Indies with his 5 centuries stood apart as an exemplary player of pace. I think Kapil’s 72 of 38 balls in the one day against the Mighty West Indies laid the foundation for 83 World Cup. India won the one day behind Sunny’s 90 but Kapil’s innings was truly a masterpiece and may have given him the confidence for the 175 innings in World Cup against Zimbabwe.

https://www.cricinfo.com/series/india-tour-of-west-indies-1982-83-62309/west-indies-vs-india-2nd-odi-64209/full-scorecard

I got to say listening to Commentary made me to imagine and become a Dreamer at Cricket. In fact, I would dream about the Super fast bowlers and the 20 per over batting. I was far from reality then and today those are a reality. The Commentators played their part to make me the Dreamer at Cricket.

Acts of Love - Friendship

And what better than to walk together with friends talking random things, hands over each other's shoulders, laughing. 

Lovely. Have a great life kids. 

The Great Tamasha - James Astill

It's a 2013 book but it's title was still intriguing enough as was the byline - 'Cricket, Corruption and the Turbulent Rise of Modern India'. James Astill, an award winning journalist, was the political editor of The Economist and was stationed in Delhi for a few years which he used we'll to write this book. Vinod picked it up for me (and it picked itself as I browsed through a few books before I left for my train journey).

Astill begins the story right at the beginning when cricket in India started thanks to the English. The years when the English educated princes played and ruled, the Pentangulars where teams played as Hindu, Muslim, Parsi, English teams, the incorporation of the Ranji Trophy, India being inducted as a Test playing nation (with some of the princes wanting to play and lead), partition and a free India and so on. Though there was not much patronage from the state, the game caught the fancy of the population and grew, mostly in the richer sections of the society and as Astill makes a point, the upper classes mainly. Interestingly though, the Palwankar brothers who were Dalits, actually played for India, the Hindus, and the eldest Palwankar actually led the Hindu team to victory, leading men liked CK Nayudu, who scored a hundred and won the game against the British. After Independence though, Dalit representation has been low and though I am unsure of the numbers Astill quoted (he named only Dodda Ganesh), fact is that it may look improbable to have a Dalit lead many teams in India.

There's much history of Ranjitsinhji and how he accessed the throne of Jamnagar and his great skill at the game. Interestingly we also see how the BCCI has been operated by the powers that be, how state Associations (he chooses Saurashtra as the case in point where Mr Niranjan Shah rules and his son led the state side for a long time). How power has no accountability in sports in the Indian context. He meets Sharad Pawar (the only politician he noted who said Thank you to the person who got chai) and understands how power works at the BCCI and at ICC. He takes us through the transition from Doordarshan trying to control the telecast rights and free market forces coming in which brought big bucks to Indian cricket. He covers the deals with Worldtel, the rise of Sachin etc. We also meet a few bookies in Bombay who talk about how games are fixed and how best go into crores.

And when the IPL began in 2008, he details the story of how Lalit Modi pitched the idea in 1995 to the board which was brushed off, how then Subhash Chandra of Zee TV launched his ICL unsuccessfully, how Lalit Modi first got into Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association and then into Rajasthan and as Vice President of BCCI, pitched and launched the IPL in 2008. And then the way the league took off, the corruption and power broking, Modi's downfall and removal as IPL Commissioner, induction of teams such a Pune and Kerala and then their removal. The India Pakistan story is covered in depth as well as are the events surrounding it - the wars, the terrorist acts and so on.

Astill ends the book with Sachin's last Test and I am not sure why. What I did like was how he tried to connect with cricketers who have no way to aspire for a better life, the ones in Dharavi, in the fields of UP (he talks of Kamran Khan the Rajasthan Royals hero in the first season who went back to working in the fields - why didn't he meet him), his friends in Dharavi with whom he stays in the slum. That he talks to Priety Zinta, Amir Khan, Harsha Bhogle, Pujaras father, Mallya, Warne and a host of others is to be expected anyways. 

Lots of interesting stories, very interesting research, interviews, insights, connections. One gets the impression that he's definitely not happy with most things in India or Indian cricket, and he makes no bones about mentioning who runs it and why, the money that goes into it. Very few pass his approval - his friend Shashi from Dharavi gets a clean chit while most others are viewed with some suspicion. But that's his experience as he wonders at how Indians put cricketers on a pedestal whereas even in Pakistan someone like Shahid Afridi is treated like an ordinary citizen. He ends with how difficult it was to access Sachin Tendulkar who he does get to meet but does not get an interview on a rainy day in London.

Many interesting insights and research heavy so I had to read it slowly, much too slowly for my comfort. But it's in a good way. I wonder how this book would have been if it covered the years from 2013 to now. Good stuff. Thanks Vinod Bhai for picking it up for me.

Victory Song - Chitra Banerjee Divakurani

I find this slim children's book in Anjali's shelf and have been planning to read it for a while. Mainly because A's book shelf always always more interesting and then it is a Divakarani book. And it's slim.

It's 1939. The story is set in Shonu Gram in a farmer's house. Preparations are on for the marriage of his eldest daughter. The younger daughter Neela is the rebellious one. At the wedding feast a bunch of freedom fighters show up and ask the congregation to give up something for the cause. Encouraged by a baoul (who also teaches Neela how to sing 'Vande Mataram') the guests give up money and jewellery. Neela gives away her gold chain.

Neela's father leaves home to join the freedom movement and goes to Calcutta. One of the freedom fighters, a 16 year old called Samar, comes to hide at Neela's house after being injured. Neela goes to Calcutta to search for her father. With the help of Samar and other freedom fighters, she finds her injured father and has to somehow get home while escaping the police who are looking for them. Will she or won't she? Will she and Samar meet? And marry? 

It's a children's book so they make it home. She sings Vande Mataram as Samar leaves and he says he will come back. I'm sure that's good enough for a child to sleep happily at night. 

Can't believe I picked a book which has a theme of Vande Mataram at a time when there's so much discussion going on about it. Can't also believe that there's so much discussion going on between people who probably can use their time better in building the nation.

Something New - Pickleball

Akshar booked a Pickleball court for an hour after we realised that the table tennis table was not operational. Rakesh, Anjali, Akshar and me then drove to Hive a place which had several courts for Pickleball, Padel, box cricket etc.

It was a first for me and Anjali. The raquets are slightly bigger than TT raquets, the ball is plasticky, it makes a sound like a wooden raquet on a plastic ball, but it's rather manageable. Akshar said it's a geriatric sport.

Anyway even for geriatrics an hour of playing five games was slightly tiring. I think we stopped at the right time. Some tt techniques worked, some didn't, but I am learning. 

Nothing like playing a game. Need to go back to playing.