Everything feels good with a win on the plate
T he food served at our Eden Gardens dressing-room is simply fantastic. And I have the backing of my foreign colleagues on this assessment. Yellow daal, grilled chicken and fish all are a foodie’s delight. But I realised this only after our win against Kings XI Punjab.
It is not as if I wasn’t having food before or the chef changed mid-way but it’s the same old thing with me. Everything seems so much better after a victory, including the Paturi (fish with mustard baked in banana leaf) that these guys cook for us in the dressing room. I had four portions on Friday night and so far my stomach has behaved as if I had curd rice.
It’s all about switching off between games. I’ve heard a lot of players saying they switch off after a game but it’s only partially true.
I feel it’s impossible to switch off completely in professional sports, you do it but only in patches. Like, I was completely switched off by the time I was having my second Paturi but was back on while watching the repeat telecast of our game.
GOOD MORNING
I was completely switched off on Saturday morning and was watching ponds from the window of my hotel room in Kolkata. Morning seemed calm and optimistic. The sequence of green grass and lotus ponds under blue skies seemed like an expression on canvas. Suddenly the picture had an intruder. It was Debabrata Das and I switched on again.
We call him Dasi. He is a quiet individual who would be generally sitting alone answering quiz questions on his phone or i-pad. The moment I saw him I was reminded of his kitbag on which he has written with a marker “my power house”. There is no story to it except perhaps that Dasi wants to be in a positive frame of mind. I asked him the reason and he just gave me that typical smile. Thinking of Das’s Power House, my mind was running again.
We’ve just reached Chennai. The new airport looks good. Our airport consistency is amazing. I can understand that governments are trying to welcome foreigners for investments. But sadly state- of-the-art airports are only a part of the jigsaw. The complete picture also includes the respect we have for each other, especially women. Farhan Akhtar raised the issue through MARD. I hope the real issue doesn’t get stuck in the twirl of the moustache. Let’s see.
By the way, Dasi has another message on his pads. It says, “Don’t ever touch me.” There is a story there, will tell you later.