25 December,2015 08:32 AM IST | | Clayton Murzello, Dipanjan Sinha and Dhara Vora
The city — sliced, diced and served with a dash of sauce
Coat and bowled
Pic/Nimesh Dave
Cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar seems to have taken a fancy to a blazer at the opening of a fashion store in a suburban mall.
It's just not cricket
Former India wicketkeeper Syed Kirmani will soon receive the BCCI Colonel CK Nayudu Lifetime Achievement award. The Bangalore-based stumper thoroughly deserves the honour for his contribution to Indian cricket (88 Tests, 2759 runs, 198 dismissals), but the diarist has enough reason to disagree with the timing.
Syed Kirmani, Farokh Engineer. Pics/Sameer Markande, Suresh KK
Wasn't Kirmani an understudy to Farokh Engineer? Didn't Engineer get picked for two Rest of the World teams in 1970 and 1971-72? A few years before that, Engineer fell short of only six runs to become the first Indian batsman to score a Test hundred before lunch against Garry Sobers' West Indians in 1967. Doubtless, Engineer deserves the CK Nayudu honour before the much-loved Kiri.
Daily Dossier reiterates that there is no intention to take credit away from Kirmani, but there should be some order in merit. The BCCI's press release mentions Kirmani kept to the famous spin quarter (Bedi, Chandrasekhar, Prasanna and Venkataraghavan), but Engineer, kept well to them as well in the first half of their careers - from 1966-67 to 1974-75.
Yesterday, when mid-day broke the news to Engineer through a phone call to his United Kingdom home, he appeared shattered. "I am happy for my buddy Kiri, but I would be lying if I said I am not disappointed. I am very disappointed because there should have been some importance given to seniority. It feels awful when you get ignored by your country like this."
Cricket teaches one to accept the umpire's decision and Engineer, like an old-fashioned cricketer, will do so. Hopefully, his chance will come next year. Unless the BCCI reckons Engineer does not deserve their lifetime award. And that would be a travesty. Every living Indian player, save Engineer and S Abid Ali in the famous 1971 Oval Test playing XI against England, has received the BCCI lifetime achievement award. Surely, that victory counts for something.
News track
Recently, a man was discussing news in a Marathi newspaper with disinterested co-passengers on a Borivili-bound train. His cause for anguish was the IS and how it had brainwashed a 16-year-old girl, who was later rescued by the Anti Terror Squad. Perhaps misreading the news analyst's line of thought, a young man joined in with a smile and said, "Boko Haram had also abducted Hindus." Pat came the snub, "Read more and comment less. IS is not just about religion." Our train analyst clearly does not entertain ignorance.
My father's son
Pic/Bipin Kokate
Legendary singer Mohammed Rafi's son, Shahid at the launch of a book on the icon by Sujata Dev at a bookstore in South Mumbai last evening.
All I want for Christmas is...
A helicopter ride! And the folks at UberCHOPPER might fulfill your wish. The company has tied up with Droom to offer an aerial tour of the city.
Log on to the Uber app between 10 am and 12 noon today, and send a request. If you get connected, you and a friend will be picked up from your location to the airfield for a 150-minute chopper ride. The fare (including the ride to and from the airfield) is '4,999.
Toying with sex
Here is some news from inside India's bedrooms. An increasing number of men in Bihar are keen on enhancing performance in bed and are investing in enhancers, residents of Kerala are very careful about protection; women in Agartala are sex toy enthusiasts while some men in Gujarat are sex game devotees.
These are findings of a research by ThatsPersonal.com, an online sex toys and products store. The study also suggests that the country has seen a paradigm shift with changing attitudes to sexual wellness and intimate products and many more people are now buying them.
It says that the Indian adult market was worth Rs 2,500 crore in 2015, and is estimated to grow to Rs 10,000 crore in 2020. It has seen unique customers from over 961 Indian cities and towns. Navaratri is time for brisk business, that we understand. However, there is a major dip in business during March. Can someone explain that?
