The Dogs Bark, But..... The Caravan goes on....

Well when it comes to watching some Cricket involving India, particularly ODIs.... In the hostel TV room of course i am reminded of the above mentioned proverb.... THE DOGS BARK BUT THE CARAVAN GOES ON.... Let me explain a bit more in detail...

I was a bit surprised when i read a few days(or weeks..) back that the sub continent has one of the most educated crowds... That literally means people know the cricket they are watching... I was all the more surprised to see that the writer of the article wasn't some TOI dumbo but an accomplished cricketer- Bobby Simpson.... He had further written that Australia had one of the worst crowds... I don't know whether the things that he had written came directly from his brain.... I feel that the article was written more with money on mind rather than the actual thing that it had to contain....

Anyways my doubts regarding that article were confirmed ( actually yet again!!) in the hostel TV room... The 31st of March saw India taking on the English in Faridabad.... The English had put up a modest total of 226.... India were off to a very decent start with both Sehwag and Gambhir getting off to good starts.... India were 61 without loss at the end of 13 overs i think... Chasing 226... Thats a very comfortable way to chase against any team in the world... There were no murmurs of disapproval or anything of the negative sort going on within the TV Room... The opening duo were providing enough entertainment...

Then came the 1st wicket... Sehwag fell to a rather ordinary ball.... His poor form stretches longer... The TV Room goes bang with a bang "Oooooooooooooooooooo!!! Shit..... Salah.... Or something of that sort!!!"... A few balls later Gambhir commits suicide by playing a half hearted shot that no cricket lover would wish to see.... I dont think even the bowler would have seen the replay again!!! If some one gets out in that way there is a reason for the people to get angry... Thats what happens exactly in the TV Room.... Already a few of them are rising up from their seats... India are 70 for 2.... Still very much in the game...

Then the skipper goes in a rather awkward way... Tries to scamper for a non existent single... Run Out...India 72-3... It is here that i started feeling really let down by the people in the TV room.... The English bowlers were bowling a very tight line and length giving away very few opportunities for the batsmen to score runs... No wonder Dravid had scored just 5 runs of 23 balls and after the fall of Sehwag India had scored onl 17-18 runs in 8 or 9 overs.... Runs were coming at a premium... Dravid has been the mainstay of the team for a long time now... But once his wicket fell people actually REJOICED in the TV room... For the sole reason that he had been playing slowly... Not that he wanted to play in that manner...

What most people in India is action all the time... They want the batsmen to keep on scoring or the bowlers to keep on taking wickets... Which is possible only against a team like Kenya i suppose... One cant expect that to happen an English even if its a depleted one...

Then came the next blow.... Kaif comes in... Defends 5 balls solidly... Then gets lbw plumb in front to a ball that keeps pretty low... A ball he would have easily put away if it hadn't been for the uneven bounce of the pitch... Kaif too has been going through a lean patch of late... India are 80-4.... And suddenly the TV room is nearly empty... There are just 6-8 people watching the match.... And those people watching are the ones who make me really pissed off... They are the ones who act as though playing cricket is the easiest thing to do in the world... Though i have never seen them play cricket till now....

India are 80-4 as i said... The remaining people in the TV room are now actually supporting England... When India were 61-0 these were exactly the people who were shouting Go! India Go!! or something of that sort... And suddenly when India were down in the dumps they start calling for the heads of those who failed... Not that they are going to be dumped ...

This shows how poorly educated our supporters are( educated-- in terms of cricket!!)...They support India when we are going great guns... And desert them once they are in a disastrous situation... In local lingo people who score goals in both the sides of the field... :) And just think of that article written by Bobby Simpson... Recently even, MS Dhoni complained of lack of support to the team...

People dont realise that the present Indian team is going through a phase of rebuilding... They have lost Ganguly, Tendulkar and a lot of other senior players recently... But still they have performed very creditably at least in the ODIs... India have won their last 6 ODI's and 14 of the last 18... And they have won 14 ODI's in succession while chasing targets... Thats not a bad record at all... And as far as Tests are concerned... India have been putting a decent show... In the last 3 Test series' they have won 1, lost 1 and drawn 1...

Despite all these decent results there is always pressure on the team to perform... People want them to win all the time... Though they know very well that its not possible.... Still every time India lose people call for the players to be dropped... Such is the expectation that people have on the players...

And i am very concerned to see that though this state has been producing a huge chunk of the Indian fast bowlers in recent times, the knowledge of cricket in general is very poor... The main reason i got pissed off is because of people from this state... And one more thing i noticed was that most of the guyz changing sides where ones, who belong to the branch that Rocks!!!

No kidding guys... Dont worry MEN IN BLUE... The Dogs Bark... But the Caravan WILL MOVE ON!!!!

Kane and Abel

Kane and Abel by Jeffrey Archer was the 1st book i read after a barren spell in which i could touch nothing but academic stuff.... Started reading it on Saturday and finished reading it yesterday... This was my first read of a Jeffrey Archer book and there is no reason for me to stop reading his novels... Kane and Abel was a compelling read... You just cant stop turning the pages.... In short, its ADDICTIVE!!

Me being an amateur in the field of reading novels felt from the very beginning that it was one meant to be finished off as soon as possible... I hadn't heard of many favourable reviews of Archer's works but he's been a famous author nonetheless with his own share of controversies( I think he was sentenced to a reasonable term in jail!!) I started off as i had literally no other options left, except for an imperious 700 page book on World War II which had such a tiny font that it would have taken a few years for me to complete...

The book deals initially with the lives of the 2 protagonists, Kane and Abel, in their youth.... The book is divided into 7 parts if i remember right, with each part describing the events taking place in the lives of the protagonists in a particular time span... William Lowell Kane is born, son of millionaire parents who's family has been into banking since his grandpa's time... Abel is born in a village of Poland as Wladek Koskiewicz who loses his mom while giving birth and is fostered by a poor family... Both of them excel in studies and find very few rivals to compete with...

Life then changes drastically for Wladek who finds himself ruined after the devastation of Poland in World War I... He loses his friends, relatives and everyone he knows and is frisked away to a camp in Russia... He escapes from the camp with the help of a stranded doctor and makes his way to Turkey... In Turkey he's on the verge of death, but is saved by the British Embassy officials who then transfer him to the Polish Embassy...

All this time William Kane has had the luxury of spending quality time with his friends... He also makes a handsome sum of money through his shrewd investments... But his father also dies in the sinking of the Titanic... William is groomed as the heir to his father's bank and he rarely disappoints....

Abel meanwhile makes his way to the USA with the help of the Polish officials... He grows climbing up the ladder in the US...

What happened then?? What was the relation between Kane and Abel?? Is it a story about 2 friends who make it big in life?? Or is it a story that concerns a bitter rivalry???

All these are for u to read and find!!! As i said before this is a must read!!! Try to lay your hands on it whenever you get the opportunity!!!

A very poor entry... I know... I have been running outta ideas of late... So please do suggest a few ideas!!!