India Insight

Here’s some more news that we found in the Indian press over the weekend and would like to share with you. Rather than present stories of great national importance, we would like to highlight some of the items that you are less likely to see in world news reports. Any opinions that the author might express are surely beneath contempt, and are not necessarily those of Thomson Reuters.

Tennis pro Maria Sharapova visited India. Gushing ensued. “The 25-year-old, here to announce her partnership with UK-based real estate company Homestead, sported an infectious smile throughout the interaction even though the lensmen could not get to focus enough of capturing the blonde beauty. ‘Well, it is just the hair and make-up you know. I don’t wake up looking like this,’ quipped Sharapova when a scribe called her pretty. Here only for a day, Sharapova said food and culture was something she would take back from India. ‘I arrived last night and asked the chef what should I try of the Indian food. I had a dosa which tasted really nice. I wanted to have this great Indian experience. There is so much energy in the city, I have been in some quiet areas recently, resting. I really like the culture and people. You all have been really welcoming.’” Final score: love-love. (NDTV)

Mulayam Singh Yadav’s interests spread wider than wrestling or politics. He is also a lover of poetry. “For more than 35 minutes, Mulayam Yadav analysed the content of the book, ‘Yatharth ke Aas Pas’, written by a Congress leader, Chandra Prakash Rai. “This collection of poems on some very sensitive issues like girls, female foeticide, loneliness, loss of faith and other human emotions must be read by everyone,” he said. (The Indian Express)

Starbucks pays its workers a mere 25 pence an hour at its new India stores, below the country’s official living wage, according to The Mirror. “Under Indian law, restaurant, hotel and cafe owners are only required to pay their staff 17p an hour, or £6 a month. But the Indian “living wage” – the amount people need to eat, drink and pay the bills – is set at 67p an hour. When our investigators visited the Mumbai Starbucks they found cleaners were earning just 25p an hour – about £2 a day. And even the baristas who serve coffee were being paid only 56p an hour, less than £5 for a day’s work.” Starbucks declined to comment. (The Mirror)

You can get a bigger payday from being trapped in an elevator. Mumbai’s Ambassador hotel is paying 200,000 rupees ($3,657) to six guests who were trapped in one of its elevators for two hours — 18 years ago. The hotel argued that it did not bear responsibility for the trapped guests, who used the facilities at their own risk, and also argued that the elevator operator had not maintained the lifts properly. Otis Elevator Co argued that indeed it had, and had urged the hotel to shut down the elevators for three weeks for maintenance.(CNN-IBN)

Indian cricket has always been blamed for persisting with players on account of reputation — and in some cases experience. But the way Rohit Sharma, who currently lacks both, was handed game after game on the recently concluded tour of Sri Lanka shows a new trend emerging — one that of selecting players on the basis of “unrealised potential”.

Rohit may have it in him to succeed at the highest level but the Indian team management must decide how many is too many, for now at least, especially with Manoj Tiwary and Ajinkya Rahane waiting in the wings.

Rohit had a wretched run against Sri Lanka, scoring just 13 runs in five matches, the least by a recognised Indian batsman in a series of five matches or more. He was late on the ball, had his feet anchored to the crease — signs of a batsman short on form and confidence.

In cricket, and in life, a perfect end is a rarity.

Even Don Bradman was bereft of it. Yet a not-so-perfect ending cannot deny a few sportsmen their legitimate place in the sun. South Africa’s wicket-keeper Mark Boucher is one such cricketer.

His remarkably long international career, of almost 15 years, was tragically snuffed out when he was hit in the eye by a bail in a warm-up match against Somerset on July 9 during the ongoing England tour. He was only one short of 1,000 victims — an unheard of feat in the 145 years of international cricket history.

Agonisingly short of a milestone, just like Bradman who could not score the four runs in his final innings to sign off with a perfect test average of 100.

So it’s just a matter of time, according to media reports, before Sachin Tendulkar swaps his India jersey for starched white and walks into the Rajya Sabha.

While the clamour was growing to honour him with the Bharat Ratna, the country’s highest civilian award, few expected him to be nominated to the upper house.

That too when he is not yet done with cricket.

Tendulkar’s meeting with Congress president Sonia Gandhi at her residence on Thursday was probably the early inkling of a new innings and by afternoon, political parties were falling over each other to congratulate him.

Yuvraj Singh has finally found a way to make sure the hair gel lying unused in his cupboard is not completely wasted.

The Punjab cricketer, known for experimenting with hairdos, has gone completely bald following chemotherapy sessions in his battle against cancer.

In his absence, Yuvraj’s former India captain Sourav Ganguly is leading Pune in this year’s Indian Premier League and the 39-year-old provided what could be the lasting memory of IPL5 after castling Delhi’s Kevin Pietersen at Ferozeshah Kotla on April 21.

The upcoming session of the Indian Premier League (IPL), India’s glamour-packed cricket tournament, will see a sartorial anomaly come to life — cheerleaders wrapped in saris.

Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan’s IPL team, the Kolkata Knight Riders, has decided to cover their cheerleaders in one of the most traditional Indian outfits — a marked departure from their 2008 wardrobe when a lot of skin, from midriff to thighs, was on display.

All these sari-clad cheerleaders would be “local hires” and will dance to classical Bengali music in between boundaries and fall of wickets. The team management is of the opinion this will help connect with Bengali cricket fans and improve ticket sales.

Virender Sehwag has registered the highest individual score (219 runs) in 50-over cricket, blasting seven sixes and 25 fours during his 149-ball stay to light up Indore’s Holkar Cricket Stadium.

Playing his 240th one-day international, the 33-year-old right-handed batsman overtook compatriot Sachin Tendulkar, a player he was often compared to early in his career.

Here’s your chance to congratulate Sehwag. Post your messages in the comments below.

Never far from controversy in his playing days, Shoaib Akhtar has kicked up quite a storm in India with his autobiography “Controversially Yours”, questioning the integrity of most players he came across.

And one of them happens to be India’s favourite son Sachin Tendulkar, owner of virtually all batting records worth owning but still not a match-winner in Shoaib’s book.

Also, the “Rawalpindi Express” claims Tendulkar, at one stage, was mortally scared of his raw pace.

Going by this Mumbai Mirror report, the world’s richest cricket board has two of the most silver-tongued player-turned-commentators on its payroll to spread its agenda.

The report claims the Indian cricket board (BCCI) pays former captains Sunil Gavaskar and Ravi Shastri 3.6 crore rupees each year to defend its stance, often debatable, on controversial issues like the Decision Review System (DRS).

According to the report, no channel can broadcast an international match on Indian soil if the commentary team does not include the Mumbai duo, who have served BCCI in various capacities.

It’s rare for politicians to be of one mind in the world’s biggest and arguably the noisiest democracy.

The government is about to tweak guidelines to make sportspersons (read Sachin Tendulkar) eligible for India’s highest civilian award — the Bharat Ratna.

That too without a murmur of protest from main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which otherwise has made life difficult for the Manmohan Singh-led government on various corruption scandals.