Rumi Nations

Article first published as  A Match that Merits a Different Language  on Technorati. Cricket is a rather obscure game that’s favored mostly by countries that were once part of the British Empire. It’s quite easy in fact to list out ALL the nations of the world where cricket is played with some seriousness: England, Australia, New Zealand, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, West Indies, South Africa. That list tells you everything. Cricket is played in England and a couple of other nations where the English migrated to. And it’s played in the Indian subcontinent. For some odd reasons that are clearly beyond my ability to understand, cricket has become a national passion in India. And India has a great historical rivalry with Pakistan. India and Pakistan have gone to war thrice and wars being messy affairs, the countries are trying hard to avoid another battle. Cricket therefore offers the opportunity to wage a war by proxy. The World Cup of cricket is ...

The recent revelations and controversy surrounding Mr. Berlusconi 's exploits involving young females certainly proves that the Italian PM can defeat the French Prez. and do so convincingly. The media frenzy surrounding Sarkozy 's wedding to Carla Bruni must have a rather frustrating experience for the billionaire PM and media tycoon. After all, what has Sarkozy got that Berlusconi doesn't have? The French President might retire to a modest home somewhere in France while the Italian PM can afford to retire to the fanciest villa/chateau anywhere in Europe — or, indeed, he can buy the most fabulous place to stay in the South of France which would be beyond the modest incomes of Sarkozy. So, the PM decided to out-do the Prez. at his own game — if the Prez. could boast of a famous model as his wife, the PM could persuade a bevy of models to be his guests . . . I wonder when Indian politicians will be able to compete with global politicians on this particular index . . . not t...