London: The last few weeks in London have been all about sports — with football, cricket and tennis happening at the same time. For those who couldn’t make it to the live arenas, pubs had set up special screens and were overflowing.
Even I got inveigled into viewing a match at the Lord’s cricket ground. Ironically, this follows another historic match I had attended recently in Mumbai — Sachin Tendulkar’s last innings at the Wankhede Stadium. Much to our delight here at Lord’s last week was the Little Master. Elegant as ever, Tendulkar was hitting fours and sixes effortlessly. Obviously he had come out of retirement for this very special Marylebone Cricket Club versus the Rest of the World match, celebrating 200 years of the Lord’s cricket ground.
Even the formidable weather held back respectfully. Despite the lowering clouds and threatening grey skies, there was only one disruptive shower. And thanks to our hosts, Lord and Lady Parekh, we sat luxuriously in our box, eating and drinking while the teams led by Tendulkar and Shane Warne slogged it out on the field.
I must admit that we all cheered most vehemently for Yuvraj Singh. What a hero! Despite his bout with cancer, he has retained both his stamina as well as the passion for the game.
Not only did he respond to the encouraging crowds by doing a little Bhangra every now and then, he also scored a valiant century. His side did not win, but at the end of the day a match like this is held to celebrate the spirit of the game, which Yuvraj showed plenty. If one gets to watch a match that includes legends such as Brian Lara, perhaps a non-follower like me too can become a cricket addict!
Meanwhile, one celebrity who has begun to show a huge dislike for intrusive media is George Clooney. After coming up with hundreds of rules for the media over his impending wedding to the beautiful and bright Amal Alamuddin, Clooney has taken umbrage with the Daily Mail for (falsely) insinuating that his mother-in-law-to-be was against the marriage. Oh dear. The Daily Mail had quoted unnamed sources saying that Amal’s mother was upset because Clooney is not a Druze, the community that Amal’s father apparently belongs to. Though the newspaper has retracted the article, Clooney is not pacified.
If this man wants to join politics don’t you think he will have to learn to take media barbs with a little more patience? There will be many more fireworks ahead unless Clooney stops treating these misdemeanours with so much “gravity”, if you can forgive a bad pun!
Recently at a function in London I happened to overhear two “leading lights” of Indian origin — who regularly dine out on their anti-Narendra Modi stance — hotly debate the possibility of their being banned from India.
While nothing of this sort has even remotely crossed the current Indian government’s mind, it did not prevent the two from rather delightedly discussing their “impending martyrdom”.
It was a hilarious exchange as both explained the kinds of things they had called the newly elected Indian Prime Minister and then followed each statement with the caveat — “and so I am sure I will never be allowed back.” Or “I am sure I will be thrown out.” This conversation was perhaps meant for the edification of well meaning Brits, who might get swayed by these spurious claims of possible victimisation.
To their immense disappointment, no one in India has taken the slightest note of their statements. All that they want is publicity and to their dismay they are being ignored. So even I will not name them because their self-obsession is exhausting and to my immense relief it seems India has moved on. I do hope the future lies in building consensus and not in endless confrontation.
And perhaps it was with this idea of consensus building that the Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, and the foreign secretary, William Hague, went to India to announce among other things that they wanted a statue of Mahatma Gandhi installed at Westminster Square. It is a proud moment when a great Indian is recognised by another country.
The day Gandhi stands near Mandela and Churchill, the historical irony will not be lost. On the contrary, India must welcome this move as the country takes its place amongst the more powerful nations of the world.
And why would Mahatma Gandhi not have wanted to be immortalised at Parliament Square?
He had learnt his early politics in England whilst studying law and later used some of those very techniques to fight the British.
Kishwar Desai is an award-winning author
