Modi Ka Jalwaa - Season 3

If there was ever a requirement of a Multitasking gadget to feature a single person Lalit Modi would surely be one of the favorites to feature in it. While most of us shy away from problems Mr. Modi has made problem solving his favorite pastime. Like having a AESA radar (read - Active Electronically Scanned Array ) which tracks down multiple targets at the same time and even prioritizes on the most important one Mr. Modi not only finds solutions to the problems but even deals with them with a certain panache. He does not believe in defeat probably doesn't even understand what it means as he doesn't seems to face one. The “Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika” act last year or the “Tweeting Out” act of not holding a match in Hyderabad this season are examples of how the man truly has “Defeated” Defeat. He even ensured that the “Security Concerns” were proven false by plane loads of Cricketers arriving in India thus ensuring what Modi predicted was correct, “ the players' need the IPL more than the IPL needing the players”. Quite true, other than the cricket they get to groove with “Shilpa Shetty” or hugs from “Priety Zinta” and then there is the moolah. Paul Collingwood last year did nothing and got 1 million for it. Money for Nothing and …......

So as Yusuf Pathan smashed the hapless Mumbai de Munde suddenly “Aal Waaz Well” and no one seemed to miss any of the “Left Out Pakistani's”. The world Champions were omitted but soon the omission was judged to be a correct decision as Mr. Butt in one stroke “Omitted” most the Pakistani players from the national team.“Modi Ka Jalwaa Season 3” has begun well with Lead Players “Sachin” and “Dada” raking the most TRP's. Aal unfortunately is not well for the “Royal – Aussie” connection. The chances of the Royal's getting to the semi's are as slim as Shilpa Shetty's waist and her hyperbole (not to be confused with Halla Bol, but adds to it) statements of them coming good are as useless as the pain relieving capabilities of their co sponsor “Moov”. Kings X1 like their owner PZ needs a “Hit” pretty bad, the original “Punjab Da Puttar” Yuvraj has been displaced for the newer “Sanga” but the luck doesn't seem to change. The “Vada Pav” boys from Mumbai seems to have enough “Vada” (Read Beef) this time to make it to the final stages. But the thunder in them is not coming from “Pollard” but rather from a left handed “Dhoni” named “Saurabh Tiwari”. The “Super King” didn't look anything but super until “Dhoni” became the ultimate “Mad Max” and handed “Dada” his first loss of the season. Damm him now we would have to wait for 2 more matches in order to watch SRK dance. “Bond” seemed to be bonding in quite well at least till “Hayden” was present there after though he turned from “Daniel Craig” to “Timothy Dalton” all thanks to Mr. Mad Max “Dhoni”. The “Chargers” looked to be the best till Rohit Sharma decided to be Roger Federer, luckily CSK decided to treat their neighbors well and decided to conceded a match. Delhi again has had a decent start but “Dilshan” is still “Scooping” for runs and AB soon needs to “D”eliver. Karthick hasn't been“Called” as yet thus as usual the team looks to depend on “Viru”, “Nannes” and the ultimate “Sour Face”“Gambhir”. RCB got a “Royal” beating from KKR but “Mr. Lensman” ensured a “Happy Ugadi” serving a very RARE “Spicy Uthappa”.

Time we said something about the Commentators too, Ravi Shastri coined a few old phrases and made then sound new by shouting them out after every few lines he spoke. The sheer no of times he saw “Electricity” left the municipal corporation of Navi Mumbai baffled as they themselves have been unable to generate so much to solve the cities growing power shortage. He also ensured Modi was referred to with a different adjective every time his name was taken and put in extreme amount of stress to announce “Modi” was working overtime. And then we have Mr. Sidhu himself trying to web a words that would flummox the creator of Wren and Martin and Oxford Dictionary put together. Whilst Mbangwa and co try and find out what keeps the cheer girls going and the favorite song of Shane Bond , Arun Lal should surely be missing Rameez Raja. Alas there wont be any in fighting between them trying to prove each is wittier than the other at the cost of making us listen to garbolic balderdash. And if ever there was a prize for consistency among commentators it should go to LS and his “What a Player”. Poor LS his only claim to glory shall remain bowling to Sachin and accepting to be “Cannon Fodder” while the great man found out ways to conquer Warne. The fact he has seen so much of the great man I guess he just cant stop using the phrase.

At last the main question of who would win ? Should be Delhi looking at the “Rich and Enriching” recourses they have, Mumbai too have a quite strong team but then this time I guess the favorites are RCB and KKR. They should win for the clear amount of entertainment they bring on to the screen. Memories of the 1^st match of IPL season 1 are still fresh when in reply to Mcullum's blitzkrieg RCB sent Wasin Jaffer and Rahul Dravid as openers while Sunil Joshi padded up to be the pinch hitter. That audacity alone should have resulted in SRK accepting defeat to Mallya bowing down in full rather face the consequences of watching Jaffer and Dravid bat. KKR had 11 captains in the field and a Joker as a coach in the last edition and along with Sir Paul KKR too had bid for the most expensive bench warmer with “Mortaza”, sadly he was played for the last match where Rohit Sharma took him be “Practice” for hitting sixes. We still have not got to see a glimpse of an ear flopping Agarkar get hit for repeated sixes and then giving expressions as if he didnt bowl the delivery. For RCB there is “Robbie” who would find ways to get out and then stand in the middle of the pitch with an expression of a man lost in his own house.

But at the end I am all but a humble Bengali stuck in kannada land and would hope “Dada” would inspire KKR to rise, scratching his hair and biting all that is left of his nails. Sorry Mr. VM even though I am very loyal to the beer from your brewery my “Bheto Bangali” attitude comes to the forefront in this case.

Joy Baba Fhelunath …. Oops sorry Joy Baba Sauravnath

Dear Dada

According to SRK dancing time aint arrived and according to Dada they have had enough “Dancing Around” for the past 2 years. After halting the Chargers “Charge” and giving the RCB a “Royal” beating Dada seems to be in a no nonsense mood till his team is safely through to the final stages. According to SRK KKR has promises to keep but then is it the promises that is driving KKR ? They drove right into the wall in the 1^st edition and all around during the 2^nd , much due to a “Buchananism” drive shaft. The real force to drive them was treated as a mere outsider last year but then on Friday night, though, it was time for the Dada-show again.

The start was a “knightmare”, Dada fished once again and even though Oawis and Angelo managed to put up 160 Gilchrist looked to finish the match in double quick time. Despair for everyone in KKR as all the smiles vanished and it was time enough for Saurav to put back his Dada mask. Suddenly as if ordering school boys around his arms flailed like a windmill, the voice rose above the din and the brows burrowed in determination he moved his resources with the skill and panache of a hardened general and then from the very dins of despair he stopped the Chargers charge 13 runs far from victory. Dada was back and along with him was his “Dadagiri”, as usual he got fined for slow overate and voicing his dissent but then who cared. The 1^st match of the 3^rd edition of IPL and Dada ensured a purely stellar show. As usual he did not do much himself restricting himself only to the ordering around but the that is him, mesmerically brilliant in doing so. Next match in home turf and for a change Eden’s lights didn’t fail and Dada made mincemeat out of Jumbo's RCB.

The match looked KKR's right from the beginning. Robin Utthapa looked as useless as he was last year, Eoin Morgan just realized why the British should refrain from playing the “Reverse Sweep” especially in Edens and a particular “Dhael Ston” got hammered by A certain Manoj Tiwari who until a few days ago was more looking like a Halwai from Bangalore' s Tewari brothers. While Hodge helped himself to a 50, Dada found himself totally unable to rotate the strike when suddenly he rolled back the years and sent “Ston” into the stands with the shot of the match.

While SRK wont be dancing Anandabazar Patrika & The Telegraph for certain would as these two wins would mean more articles on our beloved Dada which in turn would mean more sales. Dada even after remaining out of top flight cricket is still an enigma, the proof of which came when even after the numerous attempts of the DJ at Edens to get the crowd to chant “Korbo Lorbo Jeetbo Re” all they did chant was “Dada, Dada”. The crowd I guess knows that their beloved Dada does not believe in “Korbo Lorbo Jeetbo Re”, for him its “Bolbo, Korbi Jeetbi Re” (Do only as I say and you shall win).

So Thank You Dada and hope later in the series we get a glimpse of how God would play an Off Drive

Thank you Pranab Babu

Pranab Babu must be a happy man, last time around PC's superb oratory skills had left both us and the opposition spellbound, many considering the fact that that it was the best budget ever presented. But then the stock market crashed . The markets went up by 300 points this time and kept risen at 175 when it closed. Pranab Babu thus must be very pleased. Yes the opposition walked out and the contents of the budget are likely to make much of us happy but still the market rallied to some expectation which all of us failed to see. Pranab Babu often has been labeled boring and was expected to deliver a budget which was supposed to be low on both form and substance. But then as if giving out free “Rosogullas” during a famine he probably delivered one of the most most pronounced budgets when compared to ones in the past decade.

The budget did not look spectacular, but it was never meant to be so. It was only when one saw Pranoy Roy dissect it that it looked so. This was a more a workman like Rahul Dravid carving out a win than Yuvraj blasting 6 sixes. For starters the Stimulus measures initiated by the Finance Ministry wasnt being round upped but only partially wound up and an increase in excise duties by 2 percent. The fiscal deficits were supposed be be reined in (a welcome change than just passing it on every year). And even though the opposition walked out on the announcement of increasing of fuel prices but the actual hike by Re 1 excellent news for the market, in accordance to speculation it was supposed to go up quite significantly. The direct tax announcement was also something to cheer about but then the picture does not look that rosy when one looks into it in detail..

The contents of the budget does not necessarily make everyone happy, the “Mango People” would be hit by the price rise of petrol and increase in the service charge for domestic air travel. Pranab Babu expects a GDP of 9% per annum and the budget he says is geared to do that. Tall claims one may say as inflation is around 8% and food inflation is around 17%. Putting these into consideration we would require a growth rate in actuals of around 20% in order to have a actual GDP of 9%. then there is the big question of actual growth of Rural Infrastructure which is supposed to get 25% of the total funds set aside for for Infrastructural Development. Such was promised before but then there are mass farmer suicides and the no of poor keeps on getting increased every year. But then for all the budgets which have been passed every year keeping in mind the to be coming vote banks for the next general election this one would stand out. It would stand out for being simple and not merely promising stuff like a politician on a election warp. It addresses the most simplistic and basic issues a finance ministry needs to address, maintain GDP growth, remove the fiscal deficit and ensuring the delivery machinery to reach these targets are running smooth.

Personally for me the best part of the budget was the news of new banking licenses, many of us have often been harassed for simple stuff and an hours job max has often been a month long wait. While the Private banks refused to let go of money and slapped false charges the Public Sector largely lethargic ever worked. We as a society have come a long way since the days of Priya Tendulkar to hauling public figures for gross negligence. But then nothing is done in case of a bank even if it is their fault.

The fault largely remains with us as we are too damm lazy but the new rule of “Licensing” might just allows a few “Lazybones” to take up issues.

So Thank You Pranab Babu for a “Boring and quite Uninteresting Budget” and while you may take a well earned break and sample “Macher Jhol” here's hoping what you did present rallies the country to heights as it did the stock market.

No Sur in Mile Sur any more

Instilling a sense of Pride ,Nationalism and Patriotism in a diverse country as India without getting jingoistic and biased is a huge challenge. In a multicultural and linguistic country as India its very hard to find find one tune that fits to all. Mile Sur, in its humble way, did it in 1988. Developed by the “Lok Seva Sanchar Parishad” and promoted jointly by “The Ministry of Information” & “Doordarshan”, back then Indian sole TV broadcaster. The song was written by Piyush Pandey, then an Account Manager and presently the Executive Chairman and Creative Head of Ogilvy and Mather, India. The song was composed by Ashok Patki and the conception of the project was by Suresh Mullick and recorded by a group of people from all walks of life, including popular Indian musicians, sports persons, movie stars, etc.

The idea was to come up with a concept which would bring the diverse music and stars together in a film that could be an anthem. It was supposed to bring 13 languages and regions into one piece that was harmonious to both the eye and ear. The magical score was achieved by teaming Louis Banks and the late P Vaidyanothan while Kailash Surendranath from Ogilvy Films somehow managed to shoot the video aligning 30 busy people across 20 different locations.

The success of the video however cannot be measured, its been ages since Doordarshan stopped showing it but a random search on Google or Youtube would show how immensly popular “Mile Sur” really was. Its success was followed by ad films such as “Baje Sargam” and the one which had popular sports persons across the country running with a torch. The recent ad films by DD have been pretty horrible to say the least but then they were not trying to recreate a legacy which Zoom has and I must say have failed miserably. It integrates nothing, is too long, got too many people from the same field and isnt very pleasing to listen either. What were Zoom trying to portray ? A Ganjee ad with Salman Khan in it. One of my favorite parts in the original “Mile Sur” was the one shot in the Calcutta Metro had Mrinal Sen, Sunil Gangopadhyay, P K Banerjee, Arun Lal walking out from the Metro onto a station. Bengal then was known for its intellectuals and showed in a small glimpse of itself writers, film makers, singers and sports persons. The new one portrays Prosenjit and Rituparna the so called “Hit Jodi” of a quite unwatchable “Tollywood”. Couldn't we have Amartya Sen instead !!! If it was singers one wanted then even “Ajoy Chakrovorty or Rashid Khan could have been portrayed.

Another very impacting image from the old video was the way the 3 superheros back then (Amitabh Bacchan, Mithun & Vinod Khanna) stood shoulder to shoulder for a particular frame. Getting the current crop of hero's together would I guess result in a nuclear fission putting both US and Russia's nuclear arms to shame. And as usual the north east has been left out again. Would it have been so hard to at least include Mary Kom (im sure none from Zoom even knows who she is). Instead we have a certain Shilpa Shetty. For what ? Getting kissed by Richard Gere or being racially abused at big Brother.

They dumped Cricket out but then what about Hockey, a nation integration video with out the national sport ??? (I have a Bollywood jingle for it) “It happens onlee in India”. Leslie Cladius you have another reason to be proud.

PS. - The original “Mile Sur” came out on DD the locally available broadcaster thus allowing the masses to view it, Zoom being a paid channel I guess wants to limit the crap to all those who choose to view, thank GOD for that.

Medal For Dishonour

"Kanoon Ke Haath Bahut Lambe Hoote Hain". A much publicized dialogue during the Bollywood days of 1970's and 80's. It symbolized the fact that law did catch up with you, escape was not an option as one day the "Prodigal Son" of a much "Beaten Up Mother" would arrive to confront the villain and kill him much to the weeping joys of his Mom and Wife / Finance. But then the time taken, unlike the movie which is limited to 3 hours and Vijay (The Son) transforms to ACP in no time and justice prevails (Minus the romanticism), by the Police Force in India takes an average of 10 years to bring someone to justice. The case of the SPS Rathore, who in 1990 sexually molested a 14-year-old girl, Ruchika, took 20 years to get solved. And if that wasn't shameful enough the perpetrator of this crime gets a jail sentence of six months and a 1,000 rupee fine. He leaves the court smiling, saying he will appeal. And I am not even counting the years of mental and physical torture borne by the family over the 20 years done by Rathore to keep a seal on his misdoings.

The "Holy Grail" of justice in India is a 150 year old penal system which till the unfortunate incident of Ruchika had no account of child molestation crimes. The system presently is being reviewed. Thanks to the huge media outcry regarding the 6 month jail sentence and 1000 buck fine the government has finally shaken up the system and seems to have agreed that hooligans such as Rathore belongs to the dungeons and are not meant to roam around in normal civilian surroundings. What is also a refreshing change is the CPAC (Central Police Awards Committee) have announced that Rathore and scums like him would get stripped of their Distinguished Service Medals. But then justice for Ruchikas family comes late. This should have been done way back in 1990 which would have allowed a 14 year old to live a normal life. Instead the mounting psychological trauma led her to commit suicide. Stripping Rathore of a medal now wont do any deed to the already beaten up morale of Ruchikas family.

For that matter even Rathore isnt completely to blame. The system allowed Rathore to find loopholes and having found out such he merely twisted the case around. Rathore successfully managed to use his official position to escape from punishment. He used his connections in the political system to cover his dirty tracks and harass Ruchikas family to an extent that they had to flee to Panchkula. In some way the Taliban is better than us when it comes to serving out justice. If Rathore was to commit such an act in Afghanistan he would be promptly marched to a public place where his "Genitals" would be chopped off. I doubt he would be stoned to death a "Living Example" would create more terror. The IPC unfortunately serves up ZERO terror and MAXIMUM tolerance. "Priyadarshini Matoo" , "Jessica Lall" are all standing examples of the uselessness of the IPC to convey terror. In light of Hard Irony the "Rich and Influential" pose as perpetrators of injustice and it is their terror that kills a many precious life and shatter the generations of victims who plea for justice. The terrifying P's , Police, Politician & Public Servant nexus is so strong these days that not even the higher echelons of the judicial system dare to touch them.

Like Rathore and the System even the society is much to blame. In Ruchikas case especially the school instead of lending moral support framed false allegations of late payment of fees. The school actively plotted against Ruchika. The official reason for her expulsion was non-payment of fees. The school had actually refused to accept her fees. No notice was given to Ruchika for non-payment of fees, as is the school's normal procedure. The school's brochure stated that non-payment of fees can only lead to being disallowed to take exams. Then seeing is burden of lies toppling the school came up with another allegation of "Indiscipline". For Rathores lawyers this was a god sent gift as they very well used it to question the poor girls character. God help the students passing out of the forsaken place. For the Jessica Lall case too there were people who changed statements more number of times than a chameleon would have changed colours all its life.

There has been talks about reviewing the judicial system in order to see that repeated miscarriages of justice such as Ruchika's and Jessica Lall's does not happen again. What we really need to review is the weaknesses and perversities in the laws which govern our country. What also lacks is the will of the state and the support of the society, once that lacuna is plugged the guilty will be punished.

"Hamara Bajaj"

Try asking an average Indian about the origins of a Scooter. Though the correct answer would be Western Europe most Indians would reply Saying "Bajaj". That is how synonymous "Bajaj" become with the term motor Scooters. For generations, people referred to scooters as Bajaj. At its peak they were the symbol of ultimate acquisition. People would wait 6 months to an year for a Bajaj scooter, sometimes paying twice the market price to jump the queue. More often than not, prospective In-laws would ask the bride's family for a "Bajaj" in dowry. Many a girls would have fallen to the charms of the Oh-so-handsome guy who rode the Bajaj. They provided the perfect means of transportation for an average family, 2 adults and 3 minors. Men cared more about their Bajaj scooters than they care about their shiny cars. Learning how to ride them granted boys passage into manhood, and of course the title of the random errand guy around the house.


Some of the credit for Bajaj becoming such a symbol should certainly go to Lintas (Lowe - Lintas) now. A sort of a Benchmark campaign it symbolized the new face of India. "Hamara Bajaj" - the term encompassed a huge target audience . Whether the consumer or not it did lead to a very strong association with India. "Hamara Bharat" for once took a back seat for the whole country was overwhelmed by "Hamara Bajaj". Hamara Bajaj was a symbol of an India that was emerging of people that were traditional and yet modern, of a social idea called India that which was un parallel. If John Abraham is the poster boy for bikes, Amol Palekar on his way to the ration shop was the abiding scooter role model.


Bajaj with help of its landmark product helped capture the complex reality of the existence of India. If we try making the Indian Middle class into a product chances are it would be as the Bajaj Scooter. t had space to squeeze in a full family, a place to carry vegetables, a dickey to store sundry needs of the family- in short, it seemed safe because it catered to the all those stable, worldly things that made a man a "responsible" person. In days Hero Honda was coming out with "Fill it and Shut it Bikes" the scooter with its all covered up blandness , smaller wheel size and zero masculine ambitions carried around an so called "Air of Safety" . It had to be kicked incessantly, aggressive at first gradually pleadingly, it had to be tilted in the middle of the road for allowing the fuel to start flowing, the spark plug needed more cleaning than a Lee En field Rifle. But then for the middle class, living such frugal lives that even buying a fridge occasioned family summits , buying a scooter was the realization of a fantasy and "Bajaj" allowed "Middle India" to live this fantasy. Though being Restrained, repressed it meant mobility. It made shopping, getting to work, dropping children off at school and visiting relatives possible. Moreover, its price was, with some tightening of belts, just about within their reach.


With the advent of India's economic boom in the mid-1990s, the lifestyle of the middle class changed beyond recognition. With money to spend for the first time in decades, the old austerity went, replaced by a culture of consumerism and instant gratification. Scooters began to look like relics of a bygone era of deprivation. Bajaj was one of the casualties of the new prosperity though not for long as the success of the Pulsar has been good if not comparable to the heights of the Chetak. But then for most of the Indian middle class who did use the scooter celebrated the functionality of motorized mobility. At a time when we coped with scarcity with heartbreaking dignity, the Bajaj scooter was our imperfect solution. With the Bajaj scooter gone, we have lost a vital part of our connection with our sense of our own middle class-ness. It is not just Hamara Bajaj that is gone, but a reference point to our idealized way of life that is no more.

Sehwag - Version 2.0

Over the years since Sehwag has been playing cricket and the onces I have spent lapping it up the best way to enjoy Sehwag's brilliance is not to expect anything from him at all. But then that is the beauty of Sehwag's brilliance that we expect him to score of every opportunity. We expect him to be that “Rampaging Marauder” every time he walks out to bat. According to Dhoni Sehwag has got the “license to thrill”. Leave behind the 20/20 or the ODI formats, Sehwags strike rate in tests is above 70, he averages 53 in all tests played till date and right now he is by far the most “prolific BIG match player” in cricket right now (his scores are a proof to that). What is far more outstanding is none of his big hundreds are against any minnows. Australia, New Zealand, South Africa his appetite for runs comes mostly against the big teams.

He has dismantled Ntini, Pollock and Kallis on Debut, slammed a certain Ajanta Mendis to submission (currently dropped due to lack of form), a few years back he belted 2 hundred in the “Grassy Banks” in New Zealand where our esteemed BIG FOUR could not even manage 4 altogether. His form went away in the mid of 2007 and thus subsequently dropped but then he came back against the Australians in Australia He grappled at first looking more like a “Delhi Halwai” but the runs came. He missed, got beat, hit but still managed some good scores. And then suddenly like having a enhanced “Quad Core” processor out came Sehwag Version 2.0. The appetite for runs were as big as ever but along with it came a calm head. Its hard for him to shed his “Marauding Pirate” image but this new one wasn't like the image of a “Mocambo Khush Hua” types, this image was more of the slick, uber cool “Jonney Depp” ones.

Purists will argue about the fact of his greatness. He smiles when he misses a ball, laughs when he mis hits and is completely unconcerned whether he gets out on 0 or 293. Where is the anguish of a missed opportunity slipped by ? Rather once out he seems to eager to get back to the dressing room as if there are “Jalebis” beckoning. Where is that “Thrall or even Whiff” of so called “Greatness” ?

But then Sehwag doesn't walk out the the pitch in chase of greatness. His idea of playing cricket is plain and simple. The “Game Dekho, Balla Ghoomao” strategy might be mind boggling to others but then Sehwag choose to succeed in his own terms rather follow any coaching manual. He chooses to to be a dominator and tries to induce a fear factor in the mind of the bowlers. Only he can make Shoiab Akhtar reduced to bowling gentle medium pace, last week Murali came down from world class to club class in no time. Another fact about Sehwag is that he is a game changer. England learn t harsh lessons last year and Sri Lanka in the recently concluded series. Sehwag could have easily scored a decent hundred and remained not out but then this is not what you expect from a man who hits his first 3 deliveries of a new tour for sixes. Of course there would be failures and his way of domination might result in throwing his wicket away, but then that is Sehwag and there is no better reason or rationale behind it. Responsibility and Sehwag seldom go hand in hand but then with such a game changer amidst the team why burden him with “Responsibility”.

Any of Sehwag's innings are always characterized by the words “destructive”, “explosive” etc. but then what we miss to see and express is that Sehwag is a true genius. The Nawab of Najafgarh is probably the best batsman in the world today. Sorry Grame Smith you may disagree with a certain AB to showcase but then AB does not even come close to Sehwag in mind of the the audacious shot making concerned and leave alone the fact of being a game changer. The only player right now who could get near to Sehwag on comparison is Kevin Pieterson but then he needs to keep his mind on cricket rather than concentrating dancing with his model wife. Yes there has been shades of Flintoffs brilliance in the summer of 2005 sadly his knee gave away (Briton needs to shed its chubby image), Ponting has been brilliant all summer, winter even spring but still I place Sehwag above all for the sheer audacity of his stroke play. He might not be a languid Sachin or a flowing Laxman, he might not be as consistent as Ponting nor would he have the grit or determination of Dravid. But then the above names are virtual gods in the field, their technique immaculate their back lift perfect concentration not wavering even once. Sehwag on the other hand would walk down to the pitch as if taking a stroll in Najafgarh, he would play his shots as if swatting flies. Sehwag makes batting look SIMPLE. He dismantles bowling attacks with the ease of ordering pizza. 30 minutes is all it takes, for the pizza to arrive or for Sehwag to finish off a match. More over the millions of fans who cry out his name can symbolize themselves to being more Sehwag than Sachin or Ponting. Ridiculous it might seem but Sehwags way of playing cricket is much like the “Gully Cricket” played in the sub continent. There is no need of footwork a decent hand eye co ordination would do, with 5 overs to play for hit is all one can do and bowlers who are they, they are there so that we can belt the ball. What Sehwag has in abundance is the gift of perfect hand eye co ordination not to mention a very still head too. But what is even more surprising is the power he generates. Creaming the ball is not meant for Sehwag he bludgeons it. The message is clear, Balls are meant to be put in the STANDS.

In Flow or not Sehwag does not allow one to expect it. He just plays audacious shots, very often ludicrous ones too, but at the heart of them you will find a unique quality: felicity and there lies his greatness. Sachin wont miss a delivery and then try reverse sweeping the next one beside the keeper, Sehwag just might. And then suddenly against the run of play he might just get out meekly at a half volley or a full toss. A few days back at the verge of history he popped a catch back to Murali and just walked away. A lesser person would have played it safe but then that was Sehwag, “Aaj Nahin to Phir Kabhi”.

If Sehwag Version 1.0 was brilliant, Sehwag Version 2 has been simply mesmeric. But then this is only possible as his team supports him in his way of going about with his style of batting. Asking Sehwag to cut down on taking risks and be more responsible is like having James Bond drink Haywards 5000 instead of Dom Perigion 53 and making him drive a Fiat Padmini rather an Aston Martin.

So for the sake of the millions who flock the grounds and cram in front of 14 inch TV sets to get a glimpse of one more audacious shot let Sehwag play the way he knows the best, his team knows and understands this let us give him the space too. Let him wander off unconcerned if he gets out at 0 or misses an opportunity to book his name in history, he is best paying this way and deserves all the right to do so.