CRICKETING IN OUR MOHALLA

There is no word Mohalla in the english language but can be imported from the local vernacular to mean a closely clustered residential area with heterogenity in population and the possibility of many languages being spoken. The presence of many children palying around is a characteristic of such a place.

My father purchased for me a cricket bat some where in 1975 and it was a priced possession for me for many years. It cost Rs. 3.75 and was purchased from Rakhra sports - commercial street. It was a small bat apt for a 10 year old and it used to be in great demand with my friends both at school and in the neighbourhood and a darling to many eyes. My bat was a matter of discussion and cynosure at many levels. I dont know how I lost it. Some friends at school courted me into parting with it and I possibly lost track of it. It could have been kept in a musuem as I feel there is no other cricket bat in the entire history of cricketing that must have drawn so much attention from every one around and touching it for many was a rare sceptre. I dont know what was so magical of that bat of mine. It must be lying some where unnoticed in some house but I can recognise it even today if I were to catch a glance of it.

Every boy playing cricket in my Mohalla wanted to be in the Indian cricket team and nothing short. What a lofty goal and every one played the game sincerely and with utmost involvement befitting a world cup. One thing is sure. All that stood between them and the Indian cricket team were their parents who would encourage anything but cricket. Parents want their children to study and not play cricket. Of the many years of aspirations of many children and their prayers, we did send one person to the Indian squad in Venkatesh Prasad the fast bowler who used to live near our place. Venkatesh Prasad must remember he represents the aspirations of a vast genre of youngsters who wanted to play for the country. My mother used to care a damn for anything when it used to came to education of her children. She would disrupt our cricket matches coming straight into the feild and yelling at me and my brother to come home for lunch and reminding us of the exams few weeks ahead. What an embarassing thing. I had to convince her that all the academic work were in tandy and explained to her all the chapters I had learnt and only few chapters which I would be studying this evening. I had to request her to leave us alone so that the match could progress and we could win the match or whatsoever. This is the style in which my mother operated and may be for good. She used to leave after lot of grumbling and ado.

The bowler would take a run-up nothing less than that of Imran khan and a bowling action imagined and imitated from some world cricketer or an action of some key bowler seen in the pages of the newspaper. Some passers-by would comment of the high politics in the selection of cricket players because it was widely felt that this lad must be touring the west-indies this season. By mistake if this comment fell in to the ears of the bowler he even felt heartened and emboldened to stretch even more and give his utmost. One of the deliveries would hit the leg of the batsman and there was a huge appeal for an LBW. No one knew at that time what LBW actually meant. There were many versions and pictures. Some said if the ball hit the leg the batsman must be out for LBW because the literal translation of it means Leg before the wicket. Children studying in convent schools brought out their version of what it means. They said it means Legs before the wicket and the ball must strike both the legs and not one and the ball must stike below the knee and not above it. There was huge argument and many a matches were disrupted and sometimes cancelled midway because of the dispute of what LBW meant. Some elderly observers in the fringes would try to mediate at times and bring harmony among the warring sides taking some live case studies and convincing the lads. I get scared of these three alphabets LBW even to this day because sometimes matters were settled after a physical bout spreading first from between two people gradually towards the entire lot with blows and punches exchanged at random and few peace loving people like me running away fro the scene and watching the wrestling and boxing in the middle of the pitch. Gradually the wickets and bails would become weapons not to mention the bats. Enough is enough we got rid of LBW from our very scheme of things. This means getting a batsman out in our Mohalla even Andy Roberts cannot because along with the bat there was free use of the legs the choice depending on the level of desperation.

The captains of the teams did exactly what was done in international matches. Rubbing the ball on the thighs vehemently before it was presented to the bowler.This he did relegiously for every delivery and advising the bowler how to bowl. To become a captain in our place you must be better than others in cricketing jargon. You must have a rough idea of what backward-short-leg means. It was very often not the position mentioned in cricketing annals. That doesnt matter. He used to always set three slips and a gully because the commentators of international matches start out with the refrain "three slips and a gully". Our captains forgot that they were playing with a soft ball and three slips and a gully were a wanton wastage of resources. Time and again there were many gaps in the feilding freely used to get runs by the batsmen but this pious norm was not to be broken. Not to forget the umpires. People who were not selected to play are chosen at random to become umpires. Some were keen to do this job using six peices of small pebbles to count the number of deliveries the bowler was bowling.This used to be the most dangerous job because the umpires cannot be totally impartial and must be moderately partisan. Be it with run-outs or caught-behinds or what-so-ever. Our umpires largely relied on public opinion in the way they went about their jobs. Many -a-times the umpire had his index finger lifted signalling an "out" only to back down when he sensed fury from some quarter.

But our place was unique for one thing. The scorers decide who should win the match. Five and five need not be ten at our place- it can be fifteen. Very often hooligans usurped the scorers job and decided before-hand who should be the winner. There was no disputing with them by the very nature of their persona and many a tale of their exploits going the rounds. If any team wants to win a match they must make a veiled representation to the scorers about their desires and incur their soft-corner. Ultimately this is what mattered and you simply cannot remove the scorers who operated at our place as in the absence of their co-operation no match can be played that reaches some logical ends.

CRICKETING AND BANGALORE

Any sketch of Bangalore is incomplete without a discussion of Cricket. Once cricket happenned to be a favourite past time here. The difference between cricket during the 70's and the game now is that the excitement of cricket today ends in a quick surge-thanks to one day cricket and 20-20 matches unlike during the bygone era where it used to be a long drawn affair for five days. Many matches dilly-dally between becoming a draw to one of victory. The uncertainty was enthralling both to a connosieur of the game and the layman alike.

Television comes into Bangalore somewhere in the early 1980's which means in the 60's and 70's the luxury of watching a match from the home did not exist. There used to be a commentary of the match on the radio and from bus stands to offices to households almost every one had a small transistor radio clasped tight to the ears following discreetly every single word being said by the commentator. There used to be exciting moments when yelling s of the crowd at the venue would shroud the voice of the commentator and the whole world would come to a standstill to know if Gavaskar was caught in the boundary or the ball has gone for a six.

The Chinnaswamy stadium of the KSCA used to be the venue for international cricket matches in Bangalore and this stadium is very close to the cubbon park and the only stadium tuned to world standards in the city.

Bangalore as a city has contributed many cricketers to the world arena and some of them distinguished themselves. Cricket has changed a lot during the past decades from being a gentleman's game to just any other game with the present day fury with which it is played reminds someone of boxing or fencing. The skills and strategies and administration has changed drastically over the years and it is anything but gentle. My prediction some where is that the mantle of Cricket would pass from people in the metros to children growing in the smaller towns because their life-style inculcates the kind of aggression needed badly by the cricketing world.

B S Chandrashekar; Gundappa Vishwanath; Syed Kirmani; Erapalli Prasanna ; Rahul Dravid ; Anil Kumble; Venkatesh Prasad are cricketing greats that can be attributed to Bangalore. Each of them made dazzling contributions. Syed Kirmani whom I met on some occassions was the finest wicket keeper the world produced at our times. Alan Knot, Wasim Bari are few other wicker keepers who come to my mind. Farookh Engineer used to keep wickets for India before Kirmani. Many of these players have excelled at international cricketing venues and the careers of some of them came to an abrupt end though lot of the game was still left in them . I have missed out Roger Binny who also used to be a good player getting Zaheer Abbas of Pakistan clean bowled at one instance. The only cricket match I watched live incidentally was not in Bangalore but at Calicut(Kozhikode) in 1983 when the Ranji trophy match between Kerala and Karnataka was being played and happenned to see Roger Binny there and once more much later on M G Road. I might have missed out some recent players because I have stopped following the game astutely as I did before. That Bangalore has provided many players to the World is by itself a testimony of its special status in World affairs.

There must be many international cricketers who would have Bangalore stored fondly some where in their minds either for having got their centuries or for having won some match. Cricketing greats like Garfield Sobers also must have played in the city but I was too young to figure out things. But one cricketer comes live to my mind who should fondly remember Bangalore and that must be Clive Lloyd of West Indies and the setting is the test match between India and West Indies in 1974. MAK Pataudi was the Indian Captain. Clive Lloyd made more than 200 runs at that test. One of his shots; the ball shot over the stadium and fell on M G Road hurting a passer-by if gossip is to be believed. I think we lost that test and Brijesh Patel another bangalore based cricketer scored 76.

Today the growth of internet and television may be veering youngsters away from playing cricket and many natural players of the game may become a thing of the past. With Film stars and business people owning cricket teams players may become a race horse with a jockey and the task cut out to them in the future would be to race well and better just to stay in the game. W G Grace should be amused.

KAMMARAN NAMBIAR ALIAS MUHHAMED AYAZ KHAN ALIAS HYAT SAHIB

Some where in history is hidden a character whom not many have heard of but has his roots basically in our part of the world. The life and times of this man may not be directly linked to bangalore of today but it still seems relevant to me.

This is the story of a small boy who was forcibly brought from cannanore district to Sriranga pattana by Hyder ali during one of his expeditions only to later grow into a formidable ally of the ruler and then face misfortune in the hands of Tipu and the British establishment. From historical studies I understand that Hyder Ali had an ability to make use of people and their talents well , the secret behind his succesful military conquests.

The name of the boy was Kammaran nambiar and could be some relative of mine if some data is to be beleived. What the lad basically did at Srirangapattana is not clear but he gradually grew into becoming a very important confidant of Hyder. Hyder Ali renamed the boy Md. Ayaz Khan and there after he is known as Ayaz khan. Ayaz khan was illiterate and so was Hyder. To my mind it seems Ayaz was a good military strategist and Hyder Ali implemented the strategies and was in constant consultation with Ayaz in the battle feilds.

As a reward for the many succesful military conquests Ayaz Khan was made governor of Bidnur today I think called Nagara in Shimoga. Bidnur is also called bendore and bidurur which literally translates into the "Land of bamboo". Initially Ayaz was offered a larger county for Governorship namely Chitradurg but Ayaz politely refused for reasons unknown to be later given Bidnur.

Hyder Ali suddenly dies in Chitoor in present day Andhra Pradesh at the age of 60 reversing the fortunes of Ayaz. He is replaced as Governor by Tipu - the information of which reaches him in advance. Ayaz khan hands over his kingdom and wealth to General mathews of the British possibly for safe keeping. In a surprise military conquest Tipu Sultan retakes the bidnur fort and takes Gen Mathews prisoner and later has the general killed. Tipu was thirsting for the blood of Ayaz but could not lay hands on him possibly because the British provided him some kind of a safe haven somewhere in Bombay.

The only connection I possibly think ayaz would have had with bangalore is that he must have passed through the city if at all during the various military conquests with Hyder. I have got to like Hyder Ali for the affection he showered on Ayaz and the trust he put in him not to the liking of many people around.

It must be pointed out that the combine of Hyder Ali and Tippu Sultan over looked a very vast empire by any standards covering the coasts of kerala from palghat to mangalore stretching nothwards into almost the midst of modern day karnataka state and south towards a sizeable chunk of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. Though the empire did not last for more than 40 years due to incessant conflict head-on with British forces and their allies. Bangalore must have been a key place of reckoning for them for various reasons both as a tranit point and as a point of residence at times.

Whenever people travel through Srirangapattana they should remind themselves that the ruins were once upon a time a enlivened citadel which was the capital of a large kingdom and the blood of many a people from distant lands have been shed in the many skirmishes to which history was witness. How sad that the travellers on the highway alongside this place do not care to take a second look at the fort and its environs. From scots through a distant land to english to french to marattas to muslim soldiers of nizam to wodeyars and many lands possibly not known Srirangapattana had them all. I happenned to visit Srirangapattana fort recently which looks like a modern day residential layout. There is a large era of history encapsulated in this place and not known to many and only to few who care. The stones and walls of this place have many a story to tell and possibly we do not understand their language a impossible handicap to overcome. Many a authentic story ly deeply hidden at this place which only few intelligent could possibly piece together through conjecture and assume they were true.

Ayaz Khan had some descendants who is beleived settled in Bombay. If any one has something more about this character Ayaz Khan alias Kammaran Nambiar from our place please communicate and I would like to know them better.

JAWAHARLAL NEHRU AND MODERN INDIA

What would be the link between Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and Bangalore. I see a distinct connection between Nehruvian policies and modern Bangalore.

I have met many people in life who do Nehru bashing...and few praise him and I personally find him worthy of praise. I think some where it is the good fortune of India to have had him as a Prime Minister for a considerable period of time where key progress was made. Nehru was far ahead of his times and a well educated scholar and brought this vision with vigour and vitality on the PM's job. He built solid foundations for India and his calibre was much beyond ordinary and many world leaders of his times. What could have a fledgling India asked for more than have such a leader of his stature.

Nehru was not parochial and was a very good planner. Planning was his forte and he had a team of dedicated leaders around him who implemented his plans. All the many public sectors that were established in bangalore owe in totality to his far reaching vision. The west was critical of our public sector concept but I feel a infant nation like ours had no other choice or alternative. And every public sector was built with formidable investments and on ultra modern lines. Scores of Indians who ferried themselves into this city with little or no education found respectable employment at these outfits. If anyone were to call India a developing or developed economy; its largely because of societal engineering that has happenned as a result of these organizations. We had something to bank upon and look up to. Many people learned their first lessons in business owing to these sectors- not to mention the small tea shops or petty shops that operated near the gates of these mammoth enterprises which gave sustenance and hope for many.

Nehru was not partisan or parochial because he found Bangalore to be an ideal breeding ground for such units and put many of them, here. Bangalore has become some kind of a server of utilities and services to the rest of the country and the world. That many of these sectors continue to thrive even to this day is a tribute to the independence of thinking and vision of our leaders who broke away from many accepted moulds of the past to mould a new format for themselves.

Thank you Panditji.....You did something unprecedented both in precept and practice. Modern Bangalore amidst all it growth and fanfare will not forget this modern leader of India.

VOLVO BUSES IN BANGALORE

The BTS called Bangalore Transport Service was renamed BMTC Bangalore Metropolitan Transport service somewhere in 2000. My earliest experiences with BTS is as a child say from around 1973. BTS services could be rated poor during this time with inadequate buses and huge rush of population and jam packed buses with the conductors finding it difficult to complete the job of issuing tickets. Every single bus stop was a scene of despair with families trying to get their act together of squeezing into a bus.
Some of the principal bus stands in bangalore were the Subhash nagar bus stand in Majestic near the city railway station; City Market bus stand; Shivajinagar bus station and Jayanagar bus stop at the 4th block.

With the opening of the ring roads and the many routes that were developed the situation seems to have eased considerably at present. The Kempe Gowda bus station seen at subash nagar must have come somewhere in the late 70's. It used to be a shallow valley were circus used to be held and I was witness to one such circus in the 70's.

The road -lines of Bangalore began to get illuminated with red coloured volvo buses from the year 2000 or so which caught the fancy of up-market residents.This has given the city a touch of glamour. The charges were exorbitant to start with on these buses but were rationalised later.

BMTC or (BTS) has developed and improved itself over the years. But it can be developed even further and defanitely efforts should be put in this direction.

DEMOGRAPHICS AND THE POPULATION OF BANGALORE

Bangalore has a distinct mix of people from different backgrounds.

Before British habitation Bangalore must have been some kind of a forest with ferns, shrubs and trees much abound with cobra snakes. Most of these snakes took shelter in the crevices of rocks that lay close to the many lakes and water bodies. The terrain of this place made it easy to create cachment basins for water which is characteristic of bangalore largely because of the land which had a symmetric and regular distriburion of crests and troughs. In the seige of srirangappatanam in the fourth mysore war the madras front was one faction of the british army mobilised from madras to the battle front in srirangapattana describe their 250 mile journey from madras to mysore as one through forests. The marching troops must have passed through bangalore at that time which must have been a forested land and not very significant as a place but for some bsic support in the form of food and temporary hangout for the troops.

What made bangalore an interesting place for the British would be a moot question. Possibly they were looking for an alternative to madras or a support center for the government in Madras and bangalore being fairly not very distant from madras chose it as a settling ground. They set up a cantonment here possibly to store ammunition and thence came many officers and their dependants to this place. This must have happenned not earlier than 1900 in full measure in my opinion. So officially the modern city of Bangalore could be a barely 100 years and more in vintage.

What makes bangalore different from many other cities is its dichotomous heterogenity. Upto the Bangalore cantonment was in the hands of British and the area further in the hands of the mysore maharajah and this city even to this day is yet to come to terms with this inheritance. The british controlled bangalore had a large tamil population brought to this place by their masters for various kinds of vocations and jobs. The mysore controlled bangalore had a distinct mysorean flavour and possibly the local population indulged in business of various kinds for survival. What a distinct contrast. Kannada was possibly the most spoken language in the mysore part while tamil became some kind of a defacto language in the other part. These two parts of bangalore have very distinct culture which is getting smoothened today by large scope for acculturation among the growing up generation today.

Something very significant about the populace today in bangalore is that no single tag or description fits well to describe the population and any such effort would become even more cumbersome in the days to come. One significant event in this dimension is the large influx of students from Northern India into Bangalore in search of education from the 1970's which began to intensify even further in the 1990's when jobs became plentiful for the youth in this city and such events will dictate and have a large scale bearing on the population of Bangalore of the future.

NLSIU ( National Law School of India University Bangalore)

NLSIU stands for National law School of India University. I spent two years here as a student of law from 2006-2008. I liked the place and the legal education given through lectures. 

There were some good teachers at the law school. Mr. Sairam Bhat who used to teach Contract law; Mr. Chauhan who used to teach environment law and Mr. M P P Pillai who used to teach Company law. I think Mr. Chauhan passed away somewhere in 2009.

I must make special mention of Dr. Chauhan who used to teach environmental law. He had served in the ministry of environment and forests before joining nlsiu. He used to be a very very dedicated teacher and used to teach environmental law with a high degree of involvement and enthusiasm. It is a tragedy we lost him so early. I think something must be done by the nlsiu to honour his memory and dedication towards spirited teaching. He sent me some ppt presentations regarding environmental law which I have preserved .

What impressed me the most at nlsiu is the library which has an axcellent design and also the lawns and the buildings , not to forget the small canteen in the main building and the bright young students who frolick merrily walking up and down the campus walk-ways.

Some people do not know how to reach NLSIU. From the bangalore railway station it is not very far. Take the taxi or rickshaw and follow the mysore road and the next important mile-stone being the raja rajeshwari arch and the gopalan arcade. Ahead you find the Bangalore University gate. Drive through the gate into the straight road until you see the psychology department to the right. Turn to the right at this junction and as you go ahead you see the department of environmental science of the bangalore University to the right and the road leading to a dead end. Turn left here and a few meters away you encounter a main road. Turn right here and keep straight through the winding roads and you rach the national law school. If you reach the new bangalore airport ask for Nagarabhavi circle near Vijayanagar which would be the pivots to reach the law school.

The culture at this institute is largely western and is co-educational and dont be surprised if you see boys and girls embrace; this is the culture here and a largely accepted one.