Embarassment of ditches

This is my blogchalk:
India, Bangalore, Parangipalya (Papaya Village), Hindi, Vivek, Male, 26-30, Cricket, Photography.

Kandy has one of the most picturesque grounds in the cricket world, even if it is but owned by a college. When Pakistan toured Sri Lanka in March and April, they were scheduled to play here, which can surely hold no more than 10,000 (if that isn't an exaggeration in itself). Still, whoever walked into the stadium (they don't cram into Test cricket in Lanka), must have been to support the departure of one of their most celebrated stars, Sanath Jayasuriya. The match at times looked of secondary importance as Jayasuriya was feted, praised and bade farewell in the most respectable manner. So much so that even the giant screen carried a farewell message repeatedly, throughout the match. In a manner of speaking, this meant Jayasuriya got more screen space than the Man of the Match, Mohd. Asif. After all, the opener had chosen to quit by his own accord, or so everyone thought.
One might remember Asantha de Mel as a past World Cup participant who managed to get 5-wkt haul in the tournament in 1983. He is now a selector and one of the first things he did after getting the job was to re-instate Jayasuriya claiming he was pushed out of the team contrary to popular belief. This not only made all those involved in the sending-off party at Kandy stupid, it also threw Sri Lankan cricket into further turmoil. The situation now is such that the team management doesn't want him, but the administration, to score a few cheap points over their predecessors, have made Jayasuriya a pawn.
The worst affected is neither Sri Lankan cricket nor the viewing public, but the man in question himself. There couldn't have been a humiliation greater than this for this once-phenomenal blaster. Now, the past looks so far back that he might as well recall those days with sepia-tinted flashbacks. This is not how a player of his calibre is treated, at least not when, his younger replacements aren't setting the English grounds on fire. If he was asked to quit, the decision should have stayed. Since it was reversed, he should have played. Now, he is no man's land, pale, surely, with embarassment.

Help Libraries

Many are worried that Bangalore will lose its beautiful greenery and balanced climate because of the IT explosion. They needn't waste their time as the city has already shed its past for a glitzier era of lights and money. However, carelessness of the past and the burst of television in the '90s has certainly affected one of our valued heritages: government-run libraries.
As a child I remember going to the City Central Library in search of comics and detective novels. All I got were torn Tinkles and discoloured Tintins.
This was in the early '90s when satellite TV was just about making an entry into Bangalore. It wasn't long before I stopped visiting these libraries.
Believing that the City Central Library would cater to changed tastes, I visited it again after a few years, and this time as a collegian. Yet again, it was disappointing to find that there were hardly any good books on the shelves that once would surely have hosted the giants of literature.
Even when you managed to lay hands on an outstanding work, it would be soiled, torn or mutilated.
Years later I visited yet another library, this time near my workplace. I went in to get a membership without having a look at the collection, which was well stocked with bound books. The person in charge looked askance at me, and almost with pity told me to first have a look at the books there.
I complied and thanked him silently as it wasn't to be third time lucky for me. I saw the same imprints of mediocrity in this relatively new branch. There were books aplenty and in good shape too, but most were obscure and, I guessed, were of average quality.
My disappointment with the library is not a complaint against the people who run it. It's not as if these libraries don't get good books. They perhaps receive more top-quality books than private libraries do. But with the low membership fee and deposit, they are sitting ducks for educated thieves. Such is the pervasiveness of thievery in public libraries that the deed has an almost heroic ring to it.
With so many software companies making hay here, can't our IT czars adopt our public libraries, nourish and maintain them? We should safeguard books in the interest of honest readers and keep keep track of every book borrowed. Then my fourth visit to the City Central Library might prove fruitful, yet.

http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/mp/2005/09/12/stories/2005091201980400.htm