Musings

We visited Pune last weekend. We drove on the 21 km long Atal Setu in the morning that further went upto Panvel and connected to the Mumbai Pune expressway. It was a smooth drive as compared to the usual Thane Belapur road which is heavy with traffic. We reached Pune in four hours with a half an hour halt for breakfast at khopoli. In the afternoon we went to Pavillion mall on the Senapati Bapat Marg which also houses PVR multiplex. We watched the movie Article 370. The movie is well made depicting the story behind the dismantling of Article 370 of the Constitution of India. The performances of Yami Gautam and Priya Mani are quite brilliant. It was good to see the marathi actor Vaibhav Tatwavadi playing an important role quite well. The role played by Kiran Karmarkar of the home minister is also quite superb. However, Arun Govil's depiction of the PM was not so convincing. The movie was engrossing and well directed. Next day we visited a show titled 'Van Gogh 360', showcasin...

A web series having above title is running on Netflix. There are seven episodes, each of approximately 55 minutes. It is a thrilling, fascinating, action packed series well worth watching. The main character is played by Evin Ahmad. She is an undercover agent in London, helping the police. She is well trained in fights, arms etc. She infiltrates a gang taking the name Kate and helps the police to bust it. She comes across Lena, a member of the gang, who has a little daughter by the name Harper. Lena carries Harper with her wherever she goes. Kate likes Harper and developes a genuine kinship with Lena. When the gang is busted by the police, Lena gets shot. Thinking that she is dead, Kate takes Harper with her. Kate feels that she is being used by the police and carries a grave risk to life. She flees London carrying Harper with her and settles down in Barcelona in Spain. She starts a new life with Jordi, a decent young man, and Harper. She tells him and Harper that she is  Harper's ...

India won the fifth and final test against England today at the scenic stadium at Dharamshala in Himachal Pradesh and won the series 4-1. The match was over in just three days. England won the toss and batted first on day 1. But they were skittled out for a paltry 218, thanks to a brilliant spell of spin bowling by Kuldeep Yadav. In spite of a superb spell initially by Bumrah, England openers managed to hang on and put up a solid partnership. It was broken when Kuldeep came on and Duncet was dismissed by an outstanding catch by Gill running backwards. Then Kuldeep foxed Pope to have him stumped. Root was deceived by Jadeja's incoming ball and Crawley was dislodged by Kuldeep of a delivery which sharply turned from off to leg. Ashwin took 4 wickets to finish off the lower order and England were bowled out for just 218. India made a solid start through openers Yashasvi and Rohit's century stand and were comfortably placed at the end of day 1. On the second day Rohit and Gill got ...

India wrapped up the test series against England today after a fascinating 4th test which India won by 5 wickets. The test saw many ups and downs. India were behind by almost 160-170 runs on day 2 with 7 wickets down. It looked as if England will get a big lead in the first innings. But a superb 90 by wicket keeper Dhruv Jurel, supported well By Kuldeep saw India finishing on 307, conceding a lead of only 46. India came back strongly in the second innings through their spinners Ashwin and Kuldeep to bowl out England for just 145. They needed 192 to win and made a good start at the end of day 3 scoring 40 runs without losing a wicket. Rohit (55) and Yashasvi (37) continued to bat aggressively today and India barely needed a 100 more when both the openers got out followed by Patidar for a duck. Gill was playing solidly at one end. But soon Jadeja and Sarfaraz were dismissed of successive balls and India were 120/5, still needing 72 to win. The match was delicately poised with England thr...

The 4th test between India and England got underway today at Ranchi. Eng won the toss and batted. But the morning session belonged to India as half the Eng side was back in the pavillion for just 112 runs. India fielded a new bowler Akash Deep. He had a dream debut dismissing first three batsmen. Deep bowled with pace, movement and perfect length. Jadeja and Ashwin chipped in with a wicket each and Eng went in for lunch looking at a first innings rout. But that was not to be. That's what makes this game so fascinating. Eng did not lose a single wicket in the afternoon session. Class batsman Joe Root supported by Ben Foakes built a partnership and pulled Eng out of trouble. Joe Root played a restrained innings and looked in no trouble. He is such a class player and makes batting look easy. He went on to get his 31st test hundred and remained unbeaten at the end of the day. Siraj got the wickets of Foakes and Hartley but Eng reached 302 at stumps with Root and Robinson at the crease....

For the upcoming fourth test between India and England, the spearhead of Indian attack Jasprit Bumrah, who has taken 17 wickets so far in the series, has been rested as part of his workload management. I am sure, the greatest Indian cricketer of all time, Kapil Dev, will find this amusing. Kapil played in more than 100 tests for India and led the bowling attack in a period when there was little support for him at the other end. The only test that he missed was when he was dropped as a disciplinary action taken for an irresponsible shot that he played in the previous test which cost India the match. He never missed a single test on the grounds of fitness. Today,  India's match winner is being rested in spite of being fully fit to manage his workload. Different times,  different rules. Ravindta Shenolikar

I have just returned from my morning walk. It was cool outside, though not so much inside the flat with all the windows closed. I don't walk briskly as advised by the doctors. Just fall into my stride while enjoying the beauty around the lake. Slowly the pace picks up. There is a nice place to sit in the garden beside the walkway, with a few benches arranged circularly and a roof at a convenient height. Usually there are some people in groups sitting there, but today it was vacant. So I went there after my walk and sat. It felt nice. The freedom of no work. Time not pressing hard. All the options to spend the day wide open. No targets, just be. However, we are so used to making plans, short or long term. Only then do we feel alive. We need to have a purpose all the time. While walking back, I was caught by the old habit and started making a few plans as usual. It gave me more energy and drive. The serene moment in the park was lost. Ravindra Shenolikar