Date:25/09/2007 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/09/25/stories/2007092561250400.htm

Andhra Pradesh

Cricket mania grips them all

How does a news presenter become an expert in cricket? For our chaps, it’s simple. Paint the tricolour on the both the cheeks, rope in someone who knows something about cricket and start discussing with him. That would make a special programme on finals of the Twenty20 cricket.

It was indeed fun to watch this particular programme on a regional channel, as the news presenter with the tricolour on his face totally looking out of place while the expert struggled to give explanations to the rapidly fired queries.

If this was the case with a news channel, there was this fashion designer who was organising an exhibition on Monday and India and Pakistan were playing the crucial match. The designer was confident that women would visit her exhibition as men would be glued to the TV watching cricket. Tch tch!!! Whoever said women didn’t enjoy cricket?

The flavour of the season is certainly Lord Ganesha with the city wearing a festive look with colourful and attractively illuminated pandals in every nook and corner and surroundings reverberating with ‘mantras and bhajans’.

The inclement weather and potholed roads notwithstanding, the evenings are marked with procession of idols for immersion in Hussainsagar and other lakes amidst chanting of ‘Jai Ganesha’ by devotees.

Drawing as much attention as the Balapur Ganesh ‘laddu’ to be auctioned on Tuesday, the day of Nimajjanotsavam, is an interesting SMS doing rounds in the name of Lord Ganesha Himself in the last few days. The SMS touted as the Best Traffic advertisement goes like this: “Care for your head. Not everyone gets replacement like me. Wear a helmet.” Some ingenuity this! One can flout a cop’s order, but not a friendly caution ostensibly from the Lord Ganesha himself.

Organisers of Swayamvaram on behalf of ‘idontwantdowry.com’ had a taste of Indian punctuality on Sunday when most of the invitees failed to turn up even an hour after the scheduled time. Though the time was mentioned as 9 a.m., brides and grooms were coming in at their own leisure up to 11 a.m.

As it would be impossible to conduct match-making without a quorum, the organisers had to keep the few people who arrived on time entertained for two hours. They should have expected this kind of laid-back behaviour from Hyderabadis.

ABHIJIT DEV KUMAR, M.L. MELLY MAITREYI AND SWATHI. V