Guru with Number 10.5 @ MANU

First of all, I have to make a confession. I am well and truly a novice when it comes to Soccer/Footer/Football whatever you call it. My knowledge about the sport lasts only as much as Milkha Singh's understanding about Chess or Anand's knowhow about the complexities of Athletics. To add to that, my performance in Soccer has been equivalent to the amount of goals scored by Sachin in Hockey and runs scored by Dhanraj for Indian Cricket. Albeit being such a connoisseur, Manchester United Stadium Tour was the first thing I did when I landed in Manchester during the last long weekend. After all, I must admit, I stay amidst Soccer maniacs and have never been able to insulate myself. Did I have an option?

After having done the tour myself, I would vehemently advocate it for any sport enthusiast, even if you are not a MANU fan. There are three main parts of the tour. First is the tour of the MANU Museum which takes you through the rich history of the Club that is on its way to its Centenary Celebration next year. Second and the most exciting part is the guided Stadium tour. The guide takes you not only thorough the spectator area to have a look at the stadium but also showcases the illustrious MANU dressing room, the players dug out area giving insights into the match day rituals. The guide also parades you though the players entrance to the ground with a similar music in the background. Throughout the tour you can afford to hallucinate as if you are a top league Soccer player, if not a star. I did just that as seen in the photo below:

Yours Truly!!! Can we say Guru with No. 10.5 playing for MANU?

The most exciting thing during the tour was that there were a lot of school boys touring MANU in groups. No wonder MANU catches these guys right in their teens.

Schoolboys on a MANU tour. Wonderful!!!

MANU catches 'em young. This young?

Third and last part of the tour was the MANU Mega store where you can purchase balls, players' jourseys and other souvenirs if you like. Even if you don't, it's very much worthwhile to have to look at the whole merchandise and the amount of business that has been generated out of a single club. Given the Indian population strength and the IPL fan following world over, do not be surprized if one of the present IPL teams becomes pseudo MANU of the IPL in a decade or two. I won't be surprized for sure...

Update: Vinod Kambli And Sachin Tendulkar

Actually, I started the previous blog after reading the controversial news that Kambli has stated that Tendulkar could have done a bit more for him to elongate his career. But, as I had to prepare for a weekend trip to Manchester and around, I could not pen down all the thoughts and hence this is an update to the previous post.

Whatever Kambli believes, I believe that Tendulkar did all he could not only for Kambli but also for a lot of Bombay cricketers who otherwise did not particularly deserve to be in the National team. And, may be, just may be, that's the reason why Tendulkar failed miserably as the captain of the Indian team. Count on the Bombay players that played for India under Tendulkar's captaincy during various periods:

1. Sameer Dighe
2. Jatin Paranjape
3. Sairaj Bahutule
4. Nilesh Kulkarni
5. Hrishikesh Kanitkar (played for Pune)
6. Abey Kuruvilla
7. Vinod Kambli
8. Ajit Agarkar

The last three without doubt had a some potential but first five must have generated a lot of debate amongst selection committee time and again and any captain would have found it difficult to persist with. But, Tendulkar did. He persisted with many of them and many times for longer periods than justified and didn't he pay the prize?

Quite the contrary, it was Dada who was really unbiased when it came to National team selection and supported the talent over region all the time. He vehemently supported and offered the most required confidence to Yuvraj, Muhammad Kaif, Harbhajan etc. during their budding days. He brutally dumped Deep DasGupta, his home team Bengal wicket keeper and forced Dravid to don the gloves in ODIs. Dravid made most of the opportunity and the move tremendously improved the balance of the ODI side offering Dada the flexibility to field a specialist batsman or bowler depending upon the pitch conditions. The results started showing in. The team that was ridiculous to watch in the 90s became the most progressive team after the scandalous match fixing episode and credit must go to Dada, the best Indian Captain ever, to lead the country with aplomb during those troubled times.

Probably, Dada really valued the value of the India cap and truly believed that the country cap should never be tendered as a favor. It must be earned. Kambli: Hope you realize this sooner and stop finding scapegoats to your self destruction. Nobody but you would have helped yourself out...

Vinod Kambli And Sachin Tendulkar

Since they shared a record 664 runs partnership in Harris Shield semifinal against St. Xaviers in 1988, Sachin Tendulkar (326) and Vinod Kambli (349) gripped the attention of entire Bombay and soon entire India. While one went on to become the greatest batsman ever in the history of the game, the other has always been an enigma of what he could have been. While one could justify all his talent with aplomb the world over the other remained an unfulfilled talent forever. While one remained away from controversies most of his career, the other kept finding ways and means to create controversies one after the other. Here are two grapevines about these two which will throw some light on their characters.

The Kambli
This story was narrated by my classmate Samir, who himself was a prolific batsman in the Bombay cricket circuit. This was the time when Kambli was the shining star of Bombay and Colonel (Dilip Vengsarkar) was the fading star of Indian cricket. Not to mention that there was competition between the two for the middle order slot in the Indian team. Being a seasoned test player, Vengsarkar enjoyed a VIP treatment and it seems as per the tradition all test players have reserved seats for them in the CCI (or other place I am not so sure now) pavilion (or restaurant I do not remember either) and as a protocol nobody should occupy these seats in their presence. After having occupied his sacred seat for a while Vengsarkar went out to talk to somebody and the grapevine is that Kambli went and occupied the same seat on purpose. Upon his return, Vengsarkar asked Kambli to get up from his place and confident Kambli responded, "Boss, I am sure. I will sit here and there also."

The Tendlya
This incidence was described by eminent local journalist Dwaraknath Sanjhagiri in one of the Ganesh festival programs in Dombivli. Tendulkar was playing in an exhibition game with all big stars like Gavaskar, Vengsarkar, Kapil and many more. At the start of an innings, Gavaskar was taking guard with Tendlya at the non-strikers end, Kapil was bowling and Vengsarkar was fielding at mid-off. Kapil bowled a good delivery foxing Gavaskar and there was a huge lbw shout. As Umpire judged it as not out, Vengsarkar asked Sachin while picking up the ball, "काय रे तेंडल्या, आउट होता का?" To which Tendlya said "काही बघीतले नाही यार!" (I did not see proporly boss!) Even a street boy in Bombay knew that Gavaskar and Vengsarkar do not go all that well together and pleasing one would mean alienating the other. The best deal was to remain away from these controversies and as per the Journo Mr. tendlya had that maturity to keep himself away from the controversies right from that tender age.

Unfortunately, Kambli completely lacked this attitude and did not remain focussed on his batting. While Tendlya went on the symbolize all 3Ds, Kambli scored a duck in all of them. Some stories are ironic and Kambli's is certainly one of them.

Day 6 @ Wimbledon 2009

An Ace: If you have been lucky to get the autographs' of Becker and Stich on your debut at Wimbledon Centre Court, you should be happy as if you have scored an ace.

The Game: If you see that you have secured very good seats just opposite the chair umpire so that you can literally breathe the players, you should be esctatic as if you have won a rare game.


The Set: If you have seen the top tennis stars like Venus Williams, Andy Roddick and the brit sensation Andy Murry live displaying their skills throughout the day, you have reason to believe that you have just won a crucial set.


The Match: The presence of Martina Navratilova in the Centre court royal box is a good enough reason to be feeling lucky as if she is around just to award you the match winning cheque.


The Championship: If you witness the centre court roof closing towards the end of the day for the first time during the match days in Wimbledon history, it's like you have been triumphant winning yourself The Championship....hahaha!!!

Boris Becker being interviewed for television

Martina Navratilova in the Centre Court Royal Box. Can you spot?

Venus Williams serving on Centre Court

The Day 6 @ Wimbledon 2009 for us was scripted as described above and it was clearly one of the most memorable days for all four of us. Venus Williams and Andy Murray had easy victories over their lesser known opponents but the match between Andy Roddick and Jurgen Melzer was one of the very good tennis matches with both players matching each other shot by shot. While the entire audiance was in favor of Roddick, probably only me and Vaidehi in the stadium were supporting Melzer screaming "Come on Jurgen!!!" point after point, throughout the match. All we wanted was a five setter but Melzer did not listen and true to his reputation remained the best player on the tour to have not yet reached the Quarter Finals of a major tournament.

Andy Roddick playing against Jurgen Melzer


Andy Murray with a huge fan following @ Wimbledon


Electrified Henmen Hill getting ready for Andy Murray game

Roddick proved to be the sensation of Wimbledon 2009. I wished he should have won the marathon fifth set against Federer in te finals and I would have loved to see him crowned as a Wimbledon champion. Then, we would have seen a Wimbledon champion playing live @ Wimbledon. Unfortunately, tennis does not have any draws otherwise the finale could aptly be called a draw. But, sometimes sport is cruel and clearly it was so during this time.

My Dear Sania

As the match between Venus and her Spanish opponent Suarez Navarro became one sided, we headed to check the other courts on the venue. We could see all desis supporting Indian sensation Sania Mirza in her doubles endeavor. No offense, but my impression about Sania Mirza as a tennis player has been that she thinks as if she has the forehand of Venus Williams, back hand of Serena Williams and looks of Ana Kournikova. This time on the court in person, I found her pretty languid and a touch nonchalant as well, may be because her Chinese partner was suffering from a backache and clearly they were on their way to end up on a loosing side. She was full of confidence though and on an indicidual basis could very well have been the best player of the four. Along with Bhupati, she also won the mixed doubles match on the same day. We missed that match but this particular match was an excellent opportunity for Guru - The Photographer and photographer was not at all prepared to trash it.

Sania Mirza playing doubles on Wimbledon grounds

Sania Mirza serving on Wimbledon grounds

Last Five Balls
Last summer, I had the Roland Garros 2008 tennis ball as a souvenir and this time i wanted to be sure that I get the Wimbledon 2009 balls to add to my collection. I was not allowed to leave my seat because of the breathtaking play by Melzer and Roddick and I left the seat only during the initial games of the third set. As I approached the counter ~4pm there was a huge queue for the used Wimbledon balls. I reached the counter with excitement screaming "Two, I want two. Give me two. Can I have two boxes.......please". The lady at the counter must have been the most patient Brit. She said, "Please do not get excited Sir. All I have left with are one box and two separate balls and it will cost you 5GBPs." I got calmed down and enquired,"Is there going to be another sale of the Wimbledon balls" and she responded,"No Sir, These are the last set of balls we have for the day. There will not be any other sale scheduled for the day." Lucky, quite lucky!!! I could buy the last five Wimbledon 2009 balls, who knows Federer might have touched one of those...

Queuing @ Wimbledon

Fortunes swing often and more often they swing catching you off guard. As Federer could not control his emotions during the Finals of Australian open, I was crying at my fate too. Our efforts to secure the tickets of 2009 Wimbledon were done and dusted as we were not at all lucky getting the tickets through Wimbledon ballots. Soon after, the first come first serve farce by French Open Organizers provided very few tickets for general public and that left us with no option but to enjoy the action on TV. While TV is a fantastic medium to witness exciting action happening all over the world sitting in your dressing room, I believe live action has its own excitement. The electric ambiance that an event of the magnitude of Grand slams, World Cups and Olympics create is unparalleled and there is no substitute to missing any of these whenever wherever accessible. The events at the start of the year 2009 meant we have no tickets for accessible grand slams and there is no possibility to watch the live tennis action.

Scenario changed quite rapidly as we were planning for the T20 WC games. Initial plan was to watch India live in action during the league games, then we confirmed that T20 final falls a weekend before the start of the Wimbledon. Dr. Bond suggested me to make a 9 day UK trip to enjoy both these events in succession. I thought we were being greedy but I did (had to) oblige. But, how about Wimbledon tickets? We could get T20 WC tickets but getting tickets for the most popular grand slam would be impossible, specially towards the end stages. Resourceful Mr. Millionaire as usual had information on his finger tips and informed that there are a few tickets (500 each for Center, Court 1 and court 2) sold every day at the Wimbledon gates. A few of his colleagues (Sameer et. al. whom we met @ Wimbledon) go to Wimbledon every year using these tickets. Tickets being in a huge demand, they usually stand in a queue for a day or so and get to see center court games quite often. That's encouraging but being in a queue...you are sure, in a queue for a day?

The Queue
If there is one word that I hate, I loathe, I distaste, I despise the most is "Queue", which is unfortunately ubiquitous all through our lives. Right before coming to life, our parents have to register themselves at the hospital and they end up in a queue. So, since our birth we are genetically trained to be in a queue and we studiously obey it all thorough our lives. You go to post a registered letter*, a queue is waiting for you. Go to pay a bill*, you have to be a part of queue. Medical check-up and a good looking nurse in a harsh voice sounds, "please be in a queue". School/College admissions are no different when one has to fight tooth and nail in a queue to access decent education. You only witness an extended queue as you are ready to enter a job market. I don't have to publish my views when it comes to Indian marriages but trust me this is no different. After all the living, when the body calls it a day to rest in peace forever, it's ends up in a queue at the cemetery. Why then we add more queues to our lives? But at times, there are no options...

The largest queue I have ever been in my life was the queue for Balaji Darshan in Tirupati and I never knew a queue larger than this can ever exist. We had hiked the Tirumalla hill to find ourselves in an eight hour (and we were considered lucky) long queue for Balaji darshan. Most part of the queue, we were scraping thought caged gates with no room to stretch or move and shouting "Venkataramana Govinda.....Govinda!!!" to entertain ourselves. What we achieved at the end of it was the much revered glimpses of GOD Balaji which calmed all of us. Here we dream of having glimpses of demigod Federer displaying his skills @ the centre court and we were ready to be in a queue even for a day or may be more...

The Wimbledon Queue
Wimbledon queue was quite an aberration to the Balaji queue. Moreover, quite contrary to my expectations, queue in Wimbledon was fascinating. Rather, it was not a queue at all and should aptly be called Wimbledon Camping. All like minded tennis enthusiasts from all over the world coming to witness the tennis spectacle can camp and be assured Wimbledon tickets. Here there is no discrimination, no luck. It works purely on a first come first serve basis and for sure you get very good front row seats so that you can literally breathe the players. The entire day need not be wasted either as once you obtain your Queue Card and place for your tent, you are free to do whatever you like.

Disciplined Tents in the queue. Queue extends far and long....

Once, the tents are erected, it's time for drinks. Dr. Bond wants to have two??

Our Tent!!! Thanks to Mr. Millionaire's meticulous planning and Dr. Bonds moral support, we had everything perfect for the camping. Alas!!! a few (romantic) candles lighting the next tent did us all in. Next time onwards, that will be a new addition for camping

You can take the stroll of the Wimbledon town or engross yourselves in any kind of sports activities. There are a lot of people playing Cricket, Soccer, Table Tennis and tennis of course. Moreover, there is a lot of buzz around. TV crews coming around to interview fans and all. All in all it's a festive atmosphere to enjoy and savor for a long long time. So much so that you even go to Wimbledon only for camping. In fact, we could find some spectators addicted to it. The lady in the picture was attending her 32nd (you are reading right!!! Her Thirty second Wimbledon). She must have been in queue an average 3 times each Wimbledon.

Lady with the cap was in the queue next to us and it was her 32nd Wimbledon. Looked an ardent supporter of Murray with "Go Andy Go" written on her dress. I had to confess to her that it was my honor standing next to her @ Wimbledon

The Future Federer?? Kid with an amazing playing action

We did it!!!
As we started in a queue @ 10pm in the evening, our queue card no. was 1300+. It was quite sure that we would not have made it for the Federer on Centre court the next day. So, we settled down to watch Andy's (Roddick and Murray) at the centre court the following day. What did for the entire day? Apart from a small walk in the Wimbledon town and nearby courts, we spent the entire day playing cards. In the game, seasoned Bridge gurus (me and Amol) were brutally thumped by the new chelaas (Bond and Vaidehi) who were debuting in their Bridge. Half knowledge is certainly worse than no knowledge. We hope to have a revenge match soon...

Finally, as Federer (and Nadal) have experienced the change of fortunes during the last few months, I have also experienced my fortunes oscillating as if it were a roller coaster ride....hahaha. Although T20 WC was a huge disappointment, Wimbledon made up for all the losses. Given a chance, I would certainly be going for Wimbledon including Wimbledon Camping yet again. Hope you will add "Camping @ Wimbledon" in your "Things to do" list...

_______________________
* Only those who had been in a queue can imagine the value of e-mails and online bill payments. Sadly, my dad never does.

Miss India Juhi Chawla in London

"Janhavi, come over here" sounded a strange voice as we were heading back to the Victoria Coach station in London. Neither me not Mr. Millionaire noticed the famous personality as we were busy sharing last minute fundas on our way back. I had noticed the trendy shoes of the lady but fundas as usual took higher priority for me. After a while Amol sounded ecstatic saying, "अरे गुरया, बघितला का कोण आहे?....जूही चावला."(Guru, Did u see who she is? It's Juhi Chawla) As I watched back I became a bit more excited as well and found Mrs. Millionaire conversing with Juhi as if they were childhood mates. As I approached them I requested Juhi for photograph. Honestly, how often you will get an opportunity to shot (even a former) Miss India? That too, for some one you had bunked classes and went for a first day first shows? Vaidehi requested for an autograph almost at the same instance and Juhi looked baffled. Now, this situtation must not be entirely strange for her but as an astute actor she demonstrated a face showing "Please decide amongst yourself first and let me know what exactly you want." I suggested Vaidehi to join for the photograph. Here it is, the photograph of former Miss India and Bollywood actress Juhi and Mrs. Vaidehi Phalnikar though my lenses in London.

Mrs. Vaidehi Phalnikar and Former Miss India and
Bollywood actress Juhi Chawla

Apparently, Vaidehi recognized Juhi by not looking at her in the first place. As she heard the word "Janhavi", she thought it might/must be Juhi and then looked at her only to confirm. Sounds too much to believe but for someone who remembers Juhi's dougher is called Janhavi and has the entire family history by heart, you have to bow. I bow. Listening to Juhi's entire family story I only remembered that Juhi got married to an Industrialist named Jay Mehta. Rest of it was too much of an information for me. Cache overflowed...

Autographs of Boris Becker and Michael Stich during Wimbledon 2009

If you have met me in my school days and queried about my favorite tennis player, I would have had no second thought to answer, "It's none other than Boris Becker". I enjoyed everything about him. His demeanor on court was electric. Eyes with white lids demonstrated self confidence and eagerness to win. The only player employing somersaults on the net while returning the ball, he would fight tooth and nail till the last moment. He was no doubt my favorite. I really really enjoyed his commitment, never say die attitude. Predominantly a serve and volley player, he was equally strong from the baseline to make a perfect tennis player. Prior to my departure to Wimbledon 2009 if you would have even hinted me that I would get the glimpses of Boris Becker I would have treated you with nuts, chocolates, cream or whatever you ever wished. Better still, I would have sponsored your Wimbledon trip.

As soon as we entered the Centre Court, I could not only see him from close quarters but could obtain his autograph. Not only him, I could also get Michael Stich on the same paper, one next to the other. Do remember, Boris Becker and Michael Stich played in the Wimbledon Single's Finale in 1991. In 2009, we captured them standing across the courts again. This time broadcasting for different channels in Wimbledon. I am extremely enthralled to have these autographs. Simply an outstanding Souvenir to cherish...

Becker's first autograph pictured below was comparatively easy to obtain as I just had to be a part of the herd waiting (~20 mins) for his interview to be over. I was lucky to be the first or second to be signed by him. Being greedy, I put forward another paper for Mr and Mrs. Millionaire. Becker was very clever as he completely ignored me signing almost every paper in the vicinity. I realized I had to do something different. So, instead of the paper, I did put forward a Wimbledon 2009 brand new ball after a while and I patiently waited till he finished signing for all his fans. He looked at me again suggesting I have not understood his hidden message. Our eyes locked and I probably had the most imploring look ever as I mumbled, "Please Sir". I exulted in disbelief as soon as he signed the ball. If you want to have the sight of the ball, you are most welcome.

Autograph of Boris Becker

Michael Stich on the same paper

Mrs. Millionaire did obtain Becker's autograph on their queue card outside the Centre Court. But, it's a story she should narrate...

Dr. Bond was at his adamant best stating that he is above all these stupid (fanatic) fantacies of collecting autographs. To state the least, he is certainly willing to take time off to sign for his admirers. Anybody in queue?

Wimbledon 2009 Queue Card and Day 6 Ticket

I have Queued @ Wimbledon 2009: One in the queue for
2 nights and a day certainly has a right to boast about it

Wimbledon 2009 Queue Card: When we started out Queue No. was 1300+. So, we decide to skip the Federer's game and chose to queue for the following day. Queue Nos. improved to a phenomenal 32-35. It was an achievement in itself not only because we were assured of getting high in demand Centre Court tickets but also considering the queue extended to 2500+ later in the evening.

Wimbledon 2009 Centre Court Band:
You get this wrist band as you enter the Wimbledon gates. There are 500 tickets for Centre court and 500 each for Court No. 1 and 2 respectively. Every court will have a band of different color.

Wimbledon 2009 Day 6 Ticket: Passport to enjoy some stalwarts in action on Wimbledon Centre Court. We watched famous Venus Williams, Andy Roddick and Andy Murray. The match between Andy Roddick and Jurgen Melzer was a top class tennis game, I will never ever forget. Sitting opposite to the chair umpire we could really really hear and feel players breath during the crunch points. A truly unforgettable experience for sure...

Tickets of Anand Versus Kramnik Chess World Championship 2008 in Bonn

Ticket of Game 8: was a draw with Anand having tougher times.

Ticket of Game 9: Kramnik showed why he is such a gem snatching a miraculous draw out of defeat against Anand

Roland Garros 2008 Ladies Grand Finale Ticket

French Open Ladies Grand Finale: A memorable souvenir that enabled witnessing French Open Ladies Grand Finale @ Roland Garros in 2008. Ana Ivanovic won against Dinara Safina quite ruthlessly in 2 straight sets 6-4, 6-3.