ಕ್ರಿಕೆಟಿಗೆ, ಪ್ರೀತಿಯಿಂದ - ಫಿಲ್ ಹ್ಯೂಸ್ ಸ್ಮರಣಾರ್ಥ ಕಪ್ - 2014

ನೆಡೆದು ಬಂದ ದಾರಿಯ ಮರೆಯದಿರು ಅನ್ನೊ ಸಾಲುಗಳನ್ನು ಎಷ್ಟು ಬಾರಿ ಕೇಳಿಲ್ಲ, ಅದನ್ನು ಕಾರ್ಯರೂಪಕ್ಕೆ ತರಲು ಶ್ರಮಿಸುತ್ತ, ಸಾಲು ಸಾಲಾಗಿ ಕಾರ್ಯಕ್ರಮಗಳನ್ನು ಏರ್ಪಡಿಸುತ್ತ ಹಾಗು ತಮ್ಮೆಲ್ಲರ ಕೈಯಿಂದ ಸಾದ್ಯವಾದಷ್ಟು ಕೊಡುಗೆ ನೀಡಿ ನಮ್ಮ ಹಳೆಯ ವಿದ್ಯಾರ್ಥಿಗಳ ಸಂಘ ಕೈಗೊಂಡ ಕೆಲಸಗಳೆಲ್ಲವೂ ಶ್ಲಾಘನೀಯ. ಸಾಕಷ್ಟು ಸಮಾನ ಮನಸ್ಕರ ಮತ್ತು ಸಹೃದಯಿಗಳ ಸಹಾಯದ ಹೊರೆತು ಇದೆಲ್ಲ ಸಾದ್ಯವಾಗಿರಲಿಕ್ಕಿಲ್ಲ. ಇತ್ತಿಚಿನ ದಿನಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ನಮ್ಮ ತಿಪಟೂರಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಕೈಗೊಂಡ ಹತ್ತು ಹಲವು ಉತ್ತಮ ಸಾಮಾಜಿಕ ಕಾರ್ಯಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಇದೂ ಒಂದು.

ಇನ್ನೂ ಎಚ್ಚು ಶ್ಲಾಘನೀಯವಾದಂತ ವಿಷಯ ಎಂದರೆ, ಈ ಬಾರಿ ನೆಡೆಯುವ ಕ್ರಿಕೆಟ್ ಪಂದ್ಯಾವಳಿಯನ್ನು ಫಿಲ್ ಹ್ಯೂಸ್ ಸ್ಮರಣಾರ್ಥ ಅಂತ ನೆಡೆಸಲು ಉದ್ದೇಷಿಸಿರುವುದು. ಸದ್ಯದ ಸ್ಥಿತಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಇದನ್ನು ಬಿಟ್ಟು ಬೇರೆ ಏನಾದ್ರು ಹೆಸರು ಇಡಬಹುದಿತ್ತ? ನನ್ನ ಪ್ರಕಾರ "ಇಲ್ಲ" ಹಾಗು ತುಂಬಾ ಜನ ಇದನ್ನು ನಿರಾಕರಿಸಲಾರರು. ಏನೇ ಆದರು ಫಿಲ್ ಒಬ್ಬ ಅಪ್ರತಿಮ ಕ್ರೀಡಾಪಟು, ಪ್ರತೀ ಬಾರಿ ಮೈದಾನಕ್ಕೆ ಇಳಿದಾಗ ಹೊರಾಡಿ ನಮ್ಮನೆಲ್ಲ ರಂಜಿಸಿ, ಕೊನೆಗೆ ಯಾರು ಎಣಿಸಿರದ ಒಂದು ಆಘಾತಕಾರಿ ಸಾವಿಗೆ ಶರಣಾದವ. ಫಿಲ್ ನ ಗೌರವಾರ್ಥ ಈತನ ಹೆಸರಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಈ ಬಾರಿಯ ಪಂದ್ಯಾವಳಿ ಆಯೋಜಿಸಿರುವುದು ಒಂದು ಒಳ್ಳೆ ನಿರ್ಧಾರ ಅನ್ನೊದ್ರಲ್ಲಿ ಎರಡು ಮಾತಿಲ್ಲ. ಫಿಲ್, ಉಜ್ವಲ ಭವಿಷ್ಯದಲ್ಲಿ ಒಬ್ಬ ಉತ್ತಮ ಹಾಗು ಎಲ್ಲರ ನೆನಪಿನಲ್ಲುಳಿಯುವಂತ ಕ್ರಿಕೆಟಿಗನಾಗುವ ಎಲ್ಲ ಲಕ್ಷಣಗಳನ್ನು ಹೊಂದಿದವನು ಆದರೆ ದೇವರ ಇಚ್ಛೆಯೇ ಬೇರೆ ಇತ್ತು. ಎಲ್ಲಾ ಒಳ್ಳೆಯ ಸಂಗತಿಗಳು ಒಂದು ದಿನ ಕೊನೆಗೊಳ್ಳಲೇಬೇಕು ಆದರೆ ಫಿಲ್ ನ ವಿಷಯದಲ್ಲಿ ಒಂದು ಮಹಾಪಯಣ ಆರಂಭದಲ್ಲೆ ಅಂತ್ಯಗೊಂಡ್ಡಿದ್ದು ವಿಷಾದನೀಯ. ಈ ಚಾಂಪಿಯನ್ನನ  ನೆನಪಿಗಾಗಿ ಈ ಪಂದ್ಯಾವಳಿಯನ್ನು ನಡೆಸಲು ಉದ್ದೇಶಿಸಿರುವುದು ಸ್ವಾಗತಾರ್ಹ.

ನಾವೆಲ್ಲ ಎರಡು ದಿನಗಳ ಮಟ್ಟಿಗೆ ನಮ್ಮ ದಿನನಿತ್ಯದ ಜಂಜಾಟಗಳನ್ನು ಬದಿಗಿಟ್ಟು ಒಂದೆಡೆ ಸೇರಿ ಆಡಿ, ನಕ್ಕು ನಲಿದು ಸಂತೋಷದ ಕ್ಷಣಗಳನ್ನು ಕಳೆಯಲು ಕ್ರಿಕೆಟ್ ಪಂದ್ಯಾವಳಿ ಒಂದು ಕಾರಣವಷ್ಟೆ. ಹಾಗೆಯೇ ನಾವು ಮತ್ತು ನಮ್ಮ ಹಳೆಯ ಗೆಳೆಯರೆಲ್ಲ ಒಂದೆಡೆ ಸೇರಿ ಹಲವು ವರ್ಷಗಳ ಹಿಂದಿನ ಸವಿ ನೆನಪುಗಳನ್ನೆಲ್ಲ ಮೆಲಕು ಹಾಕಲು ಒಂದು ಸುಸಂದರ್ಭ ಕೂಡ ಹೌದು. ಇದರ ಜೊತೆಗೆ ಕ್ರಿಕೆಟ್ ಕ್ಷೇತ್ರದಲ್ಲಿ ಸಾಧನೆ ಮಾಡಿರುವ ಸಾಧಕರಿಗೂ ಕೂಡ ಈ ಪಂದ್ಯಾವಳಿಗಳನ್ನು ಗೌರವಪೋರ್ವಕವಾಗಿ ಸಮರ್ಪಿಸುವುದು ಸಂಘದವರು ನಡೆಸಿಕೊಂಡು ಬಂದಿರುವ ಒಂದು ವಾಡಿಕೆ. ಕಳೆದ ಬಾರಿ ನಮ್ಮ ಭಾರತೀಯ ತಂಡದ ಮಾಜಿ ಹಾಗು ಸಜ್ಜನ ಕ್ರಿಕೆಟಿಗರಾದ ರಾಹುಲ್ ದ್ರಾವಿಡ್ ಮತ್ತು ಸಚಿನ್ ತೆಂಡೂಲ್ಕರ್ ಅವರ ಗೌರವಾರ್ಥ ನೆಡೆಸಲಾಗಿತು.  ಈ ಬಾರಿ ಮತ್ತೊಮ್ಮೆ ಮತ್ತೊಂದು ಪಂದ್ಯಾವಳಿ, ನಾವೆಲ್ಲ ಪ್ರೀತಿಸುವ ಕ್ರೀಡೆ, ಕ್ರಿಕೆಟ್ ಆಡುತ್ತ ಕೆಲವು ದಿನಗಳ ಕೆಳಗೆ ಮೈದಾನದಲೇ ಪ್ರಾಣತೆತ್ತ ಯುವ ಪ್ರತಿಭೆ, ಫಿಲ್ ಹ್ಯೂಸನ  ಹೆಸರಿನಲ್ಲಿ. ಇಂತಹ ಪಂದ್ಯಾವಳಿಗಳನ್ನು ಆಯೋಜಿಸಿ ಸಂಗ್ರಹಿಸಿದ ದೇಣಿಗೆಯನ್ನು ಸಾಮಾಜಿಕ ಸತ್ಕಾರ್ಯಗಳಿಗೆ ವಿನಿಯೋಗಿಸಲಾಗುತ್ತಿದೆ. ಭವಿಷ್ಯದ ಉತ್ತಮ ದೃಷ್ಟಿಕೋನವನ್ನು ಹೊಂದಿರುವ ಸಮಾನ ಮನಸ್ಕರ ಸಣ್ಣ ಗುಂಪು ಸಾದ್ಯವಾದಷ್ಟು ಹಳೆಯ ವಿದ್ಯಾರ್ಥಿಗಳನೆಲ್ಲ ಒಂದೆಡೆ ಸೇರಿಸಿ, ಒಗ್ಗೂಡಿಸಿ ಒಂದು ಕಾರ್ಯಾತ್ಮಕ ಶಕ್ತಿಯನ್ನಾಗಿಸಿ ಆರಂಭಿಸಿದ್ದೆ ಈ "ಹಳೆಯ ವಿದ್ಯಾರ್ಥಿಗಳ ಸಂಘ". ನಿಜ ಹೇಳಬೇಕೆಂದರೆ, ಇಂತಹ ಕಾರ್ಯಕ್ರಮಗಳ ಸಂಘಟಿತ ಯಶಸ್ಸು ಎಲ್ಲ ಸಮಾನ ಮನಸ್ಕರ ನಡುವೆ ಒಳ್ಳೆಯ ಬಾಂಧವ್ಯ ಬೆಳೆಸಿ, ಸಾಮಾಜಿಕ ಕಾಳಜಿ ವೃದ್ದಿಸಿ ತಮ್ಮ ವ್ಯಕ್ತಿವಿಕಾಸಕ್ಕೆ ಹಾಗು ತಾವು ಇಂದು ಜೀವನದಲ್ಲಿ ಏನನ್ನಾದರು ಸಾದಿಸಿದ್ದಲ್ಲಿ ಅದಕ್ಕೆ ಸಮಾಜದ ಪಾಲು ಕೂಡ ಮುಖ್ಯವಾದದ್ದು ಎಂದು ಅರಿವು ಮೂಡಿಸುತ್ತದೆ. ಇಂತಹ ಅರಿವುಗಳ ಸಂಗಮವೇ ಈ ಸಂಘದ ಬದ್ರ ಬುನಾದಿ ಹಾಗು ಆಗಿರುವ, ಮುಂದೆ ಆಗಲಿರುವ ಸತ್ಕಾರ್ಯಗಳಿಗೆ ಸ್ವಯಂಪ್ರೇರಿತ ಸಹಾಯ ಹಸ್ತ ಚಾಚಲು ಪ್ರೇರಣೆ. ಸಂಘ ಪ್ರಾರಂಭವಾಗಿ 3-4 ವರ್ಷಗಳಿಂದ ಅದರ ವತಿಯಿಂದ ಈಗಾಗಲೇ ಹತ್ತು ಹಲವು ಅರ್ಥಪೂರ್ಣ ಕಾರ್ಯಗಳು ಯಶಸ್ವಿಯಾಗಿ ಅನುಷ್ಟಾನಗೊಂಡಿರುವುದೆ ಇದಕ್ಕೆ ಸಾಕ್ಷಿ. ಇಂತಹ  ಯಶಸ್ಸಿಗೆ ಸಿಕ್ಕಂತಹ ಪ್ರತಿಕ್ರಿಯೆ ಕೂಡ ಅಷ್ಟೇ ಆಶದಾಯಕವಾಗಿದೆ. ಜನರು, ಸಂಘ ಸಂಸ್ಥೆಗಳು ಸ್ವಯಂಪ್ರೇರಿತರಾಗಿ ತಮ್ಮ ಕಡೆಯಿಂದ ಎಲ್ಲಾ ರೀತಿಯಾಗಿ ಸಾದ್ಯವಾದಷ್ಟು ಕೊಡುಗೆ ಕೊಡುತ್ತಾ ಬಂದಿದ್ದಾರೆ. ಕಳೆದ ಆಗಸ್ಟಿನಲ್ಲಿ ನಡೆದ ಪಂದ್ಯಾವಳಿಗೆ HDFC ಯಂತಹ ಬಹುರಾಷ್ಟ್ರೀಯ ಬ್ಯಾಂಕ್ ಸಂಸ್ಥೆಗಳು ಕೂಡ ಪ್ರಾಯೋಜಕತ್ವ ವಹಿಸಿದ್ದವು.

ಸಂಘದ ಮೊತ್ತಮೊದಲ ಹಾಗು ಎಲ್ಲರಿಗೂ ಗೋಚರಿಸುವಂತಹ ಕೆಲಸವೆಂದರೆ GBHS ಶಾಲೆಯ ದುರಸ್ತಿ ಕಾರ್ಯ. 1924ರಲ್ಲಿ ಬ್ರಿಟೀಷರು ಸ್ಥಾಪಿಸಿದ ಈ ಶಾಲೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಕಾಣುವಂತಹ ಸುಧಾರಣೆಗಳನ್ನೂ ಕಂಡು ಹಲವು ವರ್ಷಗಳೇ ಆಗಿದ್ದವು. ಶಾಲೆಯ ಅಗತ್ಯ ಮೂಲಭೂತ ವ್ಯವಸ್ಥೆಗಳ ಅಪೂರ್ಣತೆ ಮತ್ತು ಕೆಲವು ಕಡೆ ಶಿಥಿಲಗೊಂಡ ಕಟ್ಟಡದ ಸ್ಥಿತಿಯನ್ನು ಗ್ರಹಿಸಿ, ಸಂಘವು ಎಲ್ಲಾ ಹಳೆಯ ವಿದ್ಯಾರ್ಥಿಗಳನ್ನು ಆಹ್ವಾನಿಸಿ ಒಂದು ಸಂವಾದವನ್ನು/ಸಭೆಯನ್ನು ಏರ್ಪಡಿಸಿದ ನಂತರ ಶಾಲೆಯ ಆಡಳಿತವರ್ಗದ ಜೊತೆ ಚರ್ಚಿಸಿ ಸಂಘದ ಕಡೆಯಿಂದ ಕೈಗೊಳ್ಳಬಹುದಾದಂತಹ ಶಾಲಾಭಿವೃದಿ ಕಾರ್ಯಗಳ ಒಂದು ಪಟ್ಟಿ ಸಿದ್ದಪಡಿಸಿಕೊಂಡಿತು. ಅದರಲ್ಲಿ ಮುಖ್ಯವಾದವುಗಳೆಂದರೆ ಶಾಲೆಗೆ ಹೊಸ ಕಟ್ಟಡಗಳನ್ನು ಕಟ್ಟಿಸುವಲ್ಲಿ ಸಹಕರಿಸಿದ್ದು, ಹೊಸ ಬೋರ್ಡುಗಳನ್ನು ಮಾಡಿಸಿದ್ದು, ಗೋಡೆಗಳಿಗೆ ಸುಣ್ಣಬಣ್ಣದ ಲೇಪನ, ನೆಲದ ದುರಸ್ತಿ ಕಾರ್ಯ, ಮೇಲ್ಚಾವಣಿಯ ದುರಸ್ತಿ ಕಾರ್ಯ ಹಾಗು ಇನ್ನೂ ಹತ್ತು ಹಲವು ಜನೋಪಯೋಗಿ ಕೆಲಸಗಳನ್ನು ಅನುಷ್ಟಾನಗೊಳ್ಳಿಸಿದ್ದು. ಶಾಲಾ ಮೈದಾನದ ಸುತ್ತ ಕೆಲವು ಕಡೆ ಆಗಿನ ಶಾಸಕರ ಸಹಾಯದಿಂದ ಗೋಡೆಗಳನ್ನು ಕಟ್ಟಿಸಲಾಯಿತು. ಶಾಲೆಗೆ ಒಂದು ಬೋರೆವೆಲ್ ಕೊರೆಸಿ ಶಾಶ್ವತವಾದ ಕುಡಿಯುವ  ನೀರಿನ ವ್ಯವಸ್ತೆಯನ್ನು ಮಾಡುವ ಯೋಜನೆ ಕೂಡ ಸಂಘದ ಮುಂದಿದೆ, ಸ್ಥಳೀಯ ಸರ್ಕಾರಿ ಆಡಳಿತ ಸಂಸ್ಥೆಗಳ ಸಹಯೋಗದಿಂದ ಸದ್ಯದಲ್ಲೇ  ನೆರವೇರುವುದರಲ್ಲಿದೆ. ಮುಂದಿನ ದಿನಗಳಲ್ಲಿ GBHS ಮಾದರಿಯಲ್ಲೇ ಸರ್ಕಾರಿ ಬಾಲಕೀಯರ ಶಾಲೆಯ ಅಭಿವೃದ್ದಿಯನ್ನೂ ಕೂಡ ಮಾಡುವ ಯೋಜನೆ ಸಂಘ ಹೊಂದಿದೆ. ಸಂಘವು ಇನ್ನೂ ಹಲವು ಜನಪರ ಕಾರ್ಯಗಳಿಗೆ ತನ್ನ ಸೇವೆ ಒದಗಿಸುತ್ತದೆ. ಇತ್ತೀಚಿನ ಒಂದು ಉದಾಹರಣೆ ಕೊಡುವುದಾದರೆ - ಖುಷಿ ಅನ್ನುವ ಒಂದು ಸಣ್ಣ ಹುಡುಗಿಯ ಬೆನ್ನಿನ ವಿಚಿತ್ರ ಕಾಯಿಲೆಗೆ ಆಪರೇಷನ್ ಮಾಡಿಸಲು ಹುಡುಗಿಯ ಪೋಷಕರು ಆರ್ಥಿಕ ಬಿಕ್ಕಟ್ಟಿನ್ನು ಎದುರಿಸುತ್ತಿರುವಾಗ, ಸಂಘವು ತನ್ನ ಕಡೆ ಇಂದ 12000 ಸಾವಿರ ರೂಪಾಯಿಗಳನ್ನು ಸಹಾಯದ ರೂಪದಲ್ಲಿ ನೀಡಿ ಸಹಕರಿಸಿತ್ತು. ಇನ್ನು ಹತ್ತು ಹಲವು ಕಾರ್ಯಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ತನ್ನ ಸಹಾಯ ಹಸ್ತ ಚಾಚಿದೆ ಮತ್ತೆ ಭವಿಷ್ಯದಲ್ಲಿ ಕೂಡ ಹಲವು ಯೋಜನೆಗಳನ್ನು ಕಾರ್ಯರೂಪಕ್ಕೆ ತರುವ ಇರಾದೆ ಹೊಂದಿದೆ. "ನಮ್ಮೆಲ್ಲರ ಒಗ್ಗಟ್ಟು, ಉತ್ತಮ ಸಮಾಜಕ್ಕಾಗಿ" ಅನ್ನೂ ದ್ಯೇಯವನ್ನು ಸಂಘವು ಆರಂಭದಿಂದಲೂ ಪ್ರತಿಪಾದಿಸುತ್ತ ಬಂದಿದೆ ಮತ್ತೆ ಮುಂದೆಯೂ ಕೂಡ ಇದೇ ಪಥದಲ್ಲೇ ನಡೆಯುವ ವಿಶ್ವಾಸ ಹೊಂದಿದೆ.

ಸಂಘದ ಈ ಎಲ್ಲಾ ಸ್ಪೂರ್ತಿದಾಯಕ ಕಾರ್ಯಗಳು ಬೇರೆ ಬೇರೆ ವಿದ್ಯಾಸಂಸ್ಥೆಯ ಹಳೆಯ ವಿದ್ಯಾರ್ಥಿಗಳು ತಮ್ಮದೇ ಆದ ಸಂಘಗಳನ್ನು ಕಟ್ಟಿ ಅಭಿವೃದ್ದಿ ಕಾರ್ಯಗಳನ್ನು ಮಾಡಲು ಪ್ರೇರೇಪಿಸಿದೆ. ಇತ್ತೀಚಿನ ವರ್ಷಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಸಂಘದ ಉತ್ತಮ ಕೆಲಸಗಳು ತಂದಿರುವ ಬದಲಾವಣೆಗಳ ಪರಿಣಾಮ ಇದು.

ಫಿಲ್ ಹ್ಯುಗಸ್ ನ ನಿಧನದ ಅತ್ಯಂತ ದುರದೃಷ್ಟಕರ ಘಟನೆಯ  ಹಿನ್ನಲೆಯಲ್ಲಿ, ಅವನ ಕುರಿತಾದ ಕೆಲವು ಸಂಗತಿಗಳನ್ನು ಇಲ್ಲಿ ನೆನೆಯಲು ಇಚ್ಚಿಸುತ್ತೆನೆ. ಆಸ್ಟೇಲಿಯಾದ ಕ್ರಿಕೆಟ್ ತಂಡದಲ್ಲಿ ಸ್ಥಾನ ಪಡೆಯುವುದು ವ್ಯಕ್ತಿಯೊಬ್ಬನ ಜೀವನದ ಬಹುದೊಡ್ಡ ಸಾಧನೆ ಇದ್ದಂತೆ, ಅಷ್ಟಿದೆ ಅಲ್ಲಿನ ಅಸಂಖ್ಯ ಪ್ರತಿಭಾನ್ವಿತ ಆಟಗಾರರ ನಡುವಿನ ಆರೋಗ್ಯಕರ ಪೈಪೋಟಿ. ಇಂತಹ ಪರಿಸ್ಥಿತಿ ಎಷ್ಟೋ ಬಾರಿ ಆಯ್ಕೆಗಾರರಿಗೆ ತಲೆ ನೋವಾಗಿ ಪರಿಣಮಿಸಿದೆ.  ಇನ್ನೊಂದು ಮುಖ್ಯವಾಗಿ ಗಮನಿಸಬೇಕಾದ ಅಂಶವೆಂದರೆ, ಅಲ್ಲಿ ಯಾವುದೇ ಆಟಗಾರ ಆಸ್ಟ್ರೇಲಿಯಾ ತಂಡವನ್ನು ಪ್ರತಿನಿಧಿಸುವ ಮುನ್ನ ದೇಶಿಯ ಕ್ರಿಕೆಟಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಸಾಕಷ್ಟು ಅನುಭವ ಹೊಂದಿ ನಂತರ ಅಂತರರಾಷ್ಟ್ರೀಯ ತಂಡದಲ್ಲಿ ಸ್ಥಾನ ಪಡೆದರೆ ಹಿಂದಿರುಗಿ ನೋಡುವುದೇ ಇಲ್ಲ. ನೀವು ಮ್ಯಾಥಿವ್ ಹೇಡನ್, ಆಡಮ್ ಗಿಲ್ ಕ್ರಿಸ್ಟ್, ಡ್ಯಾರೆನ್ ಲೆಹ್ಮನ್, ಮೈಕ್ ಹಸ್ಸಿ ಮತ್ತೆ 90ರ ಉತ್ತರಾರ್ಧದ ನಂತರ ಆಸ್ಟ್ರೇಲಿಯಾ ತಂಡವನ್ನು ಪ್ರತಿನಿಧಿಸಿದ ಇನ್ನು ಹಲವು ಆಟಗಾರರನ್ನು ಗಮನಿಸಿದರೆ, ಅವರೆಲ್ಲ ತಮ್ಮ 20ರ ವಯಸ್ಸಿನ ಉತ್ತರಾರ್ಧದಲ್ಲೇ ಅಂತರರಾಷ್ಟ್ರಿಯ ಕ್ರಿಕೆಟಿಗೆ ಪಾದಾರ್ಪಣೆ ಮಾಡಿದ್ದು. ಆದರೆ ಪಾಂಟಿಂಗ್ , ಕ್ಲಾರ್ಕ್  ರಂತಹ  ಕೆಲವೇ ಕೆಲವು ಅಪ್ರತಿಮ ಪ್ರತಿಭಾನ್ವಿತ ಆಟಗಾರು ಮಾತ್ರ ತಮ್ಮ ಚಿಕ್ಕ ವಯಸ್ಸಿನಲ್ಲೇ ಸ್ತಾನ ಗಿಟ್ಟಿಸಿಕೊಂಡವರು. ದೇಶಿಯ ಕ್ರಿಕೆಟಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಅತ್ಯುತ್ತಮ ಪ್ರದರ್ಶನದ ತರುವಾಯ ತನ್ನ ಇಪ್ಪತರ ಹರೆಯದಲ್ಲೇ ಆಸ್ಟ್ರೇಲಿಯಾ ತಂಡದಲ್ಲಿ ಸ್ಥಾನ ಪಡೆದ ಫಿಲ್ ಕೂಡ ಇದೇ ಸಾಲಿಗೆ ಸೇರುತ್ತಾನೆ.

ತನ್ನ ಇಪ್ಪತ್ತರ ವಯಸ್ಸಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಬಲಿಷ್ಠ ಸೌತ್ ಆಫ್ರಿಕಾ ತಂಡದ ವಿರುದ್ದ 2009 ರಲ್ಲಿ ಪಾದಾರ್ಪಣೆ ಮಾಡಿದ ಫಿಲ್ ಮೊದಲನೇಯ ಇನ್ನಿಂಗ್ಸಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಎದುರಿಸಿದ ನಾಲ್ಕು ಎಸೆತಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಗಳಿಸಿದ್ದು ಶೂನ್ಯ. ಆದರೆ ಇದೆ ಟೆಸ್ಟ್  ಸರಣಿಯ ಎರಡನೇ ಪಂದ್ಯ ಇತಿಹಾಸದ ಪುಟದಲ್ಲಿ ಅಚ್ಚಳಿಯದಂತೆ ಉಳಿಯುವಂತಹುದು . ಮೊದಲ ಇನ್ನಿಂಗ್ಸ್ ನಲ್ಲಿ, ತೊಂಬತ್ತರ 90ರ ಆಸುಪಾಸಿನಲ್ಲಿದ್ದಾಗ ಎರಡು ಭರ್ಜರಿ ಸಿಕ್ಸರ್ ಗಳನ್ನು ಎತ್ತಿ ಶತಕ ಪೂರೈಸಿದ ಫಿಲ್, ಅದು ಸಾಲದೆಂಬಂತೆ ಎರಡನೇ ಇನ್ನಿಂಗ್ಸ್ ನಲ್ಲಿ ಕೂಡ ಮತ್ತೊಂದು ಶತಕ ದಾಖಲಿಸಿ ಅಂತಿಮವಾಗಿ ಆಸ್ಟ್ರೇಲಿಯಾ ತಂಡಕ್ಕೆ 175 ರನ್ ಗಳ ಜಯ ತಂದು ಕೊಡುವಲ್ಲಿ ಪ್ರಮುಖ ಪಾತ್ರವಹಿಸಿದ. ಒಂದೇ ಪಂದ್ಯದಲ್ಲಿ ಎರಡು ಶತಕಗಳನ್ನು ದಾಖಲಿಸಿದ ಅತ್ಯಂತ ಕಿರಿಯ ಆಟಗಾರನೆಂಬ ವಿಶ್ವದಾಖಲೆಗೂ ಪಾತ್ರನಾದ. ಇಂತಹ ಒಂದು ಪ್ರತಿಭೆಯನ್ನು ಇಡೀ ಕ್ರಿಕೆಟ್ ಸಮುದಾಯವು "ಈತ ಆಸ್ಟ್ರೇಲಿಯಾ ಕ್ರಿಕೆಟ್ ಇತಿಹಾಸದಲ್ಲಿ ಅತ್ಯಂತ ವಿಶಿಷ್ಟ ಸ್ತಾನವನ್ನು ಅಲಂಕರಿಸುತ್ತಾನೆ" ಎಂದು ಹೆಮ್ಮಯಿಂದ ಸ್ವಾಗತಿಸಿತು.

 ಈತನ ಲೆಗ್ ಸೈಡ್ ಕಡೆಗಿನ ಆಟ ಅತ್ಯಂತ ಆಕರ್ಷಕವಾಗಿರುತ್ತಿತ್ತು ಅದರಲ್ಲೂ ಅಪ್ಪರ್ ಕಟ್ ಹಾಗು ಫ್ಲ್ಯಾಷಿ ಕಟ್ ಗಿಲ್ ಕ್ರಿಸ್ಟನ ಆಟ ಹೊಲುವಂತಿತ್ತು. ಈತ ಸ್ಪಿನ್ ಬೌಲಿಂಗ್ ಕೂಡ ತುಂಬಾ ಚೆನ್ನಾಗಿ ಆಡುತ್ತಿದ್ದ. ಮೊದಲು ಆರಂಭಿಕ ಬ್ಯಾಟ್ಸಮನ್ ಆಗಿ ಶುರು ಮಾಡಿ ನಂತರದ ದಿನಗಳಲ್ಲಿ 5 ಅಥವಾ 6ನೇ ಕ್ರಮಾಂಕದಲ್ಲಿ ಬ್ಯಾಟಿಂಗ್ ಆಡಲು ಬರುತ್ತಿದ್ದ. ಮತ್ತೊಂದು ನೆನಪಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಉಳಿಯುವ ಇವನ ಇನ್ನಿಂಗ್ಸ್ ಎಂದರೆ 2013ರ ಇಂಗ್ಲೆಂಡ್ ವಿರುಧ್ಧದ ಅಷೆಸ್ ಸರಣಿಯ ಎರಡನೇ ಟೆಸ್ಟ್ ಪಂದ್ಯ. ಆ ಪಂದ್ಯದಲ್ಲಿ, ಆಸ್ಟ್ರೇಲಿಯಾದ ಸ್ಕೋರ್ 117-9 ಇದ್ದಾಗ ಅಂದಿನ ಪಂದ್ಯದಲ್ಲಿ ಪಾದಾರ್ಪಣೆ ಮಾಡಿದ 20ರ ಹರೆಯದ ಆಷ್ಟನ್ ಆಗರ್ ಜೊತೆಗೂಡಿ 10ನೇ ವಿಕೆಟ್ ಗೆ  ಸೇರಿಸಿದ 183 ರನ್ ಗಳಲ್ಲಿ, ಆಷ್ಟನ್ ಆಗರ್ 98 ಹಾಗು ಫಿಲ್ 81* ನೆನಪಿನ್ನಳುಯುವಂತದ್ದು. ಆಸ್ಟ್ರೇಲಿಯಾ ಈ ಪಂದ್ಯ ಸೋತರೂ ಕೂಡ, ಈ ಅದ್ಬುತ ಇನ್ನಿಂಗ್ಸ್ ನ ಮೂಲಕ ಫಿಲ್ ಎಲ್ಲರ ಹೃದಯ ಗೆದ್ದನು.

ಇವನ ಸಾವಿನ ಸುದ್ದಿ ಕೇಳಿ, ಇವನನ್ನು ಒಬ್ಬ ಆಸ್ಟ್ರೇಲಿಯನ್ ಆಗಿ ನೋಡದೆಯೆ ನಮ್ಮಲ್ಲೇ ಒಬ್ಬ ಕ್ರೀಡಾಪಟು ನಮ್ಮನಗಲಿದ ಭಾವದಿಂದ ನೋಡಲಾಗುತ್ತಿದೆ. ಒಬ್ಬ ಆಸ್ಟ್ರೇಲಿಯನ್ ಆಗಿರಲಿ ಅಥವ ಶ್ರೀಲಂಕನ್ ಆಗಿರಲಿ ಅಥವ ಪಾಕಿಸ್ತಾನಿ ಅಥವ ಬೇರೆ ಯಾರೇ ಆಗಿರಲಿ, ಇಂತಹ ಅಕಾಲಿಕ ದುರ್ಘಟನೆ ಸಂಭವಿಸಿದಾಗ ನಮ್ಮೆಲ್ಲರ ಹೃದಯ ತುಂಬಿ ಬರುತ್ತದೆ. ಇವನು ಅಗಲಿದಾಗ ಇಡೀ ಕ್ರಿಕೆಟ್ ಸಮುದಾಯವೇ ದುಃಖದ ಮಾಡುವಲ್ಲಿ ಮುಳುಗಿದ್ದೆ ಇದಕ್ಕೆ ಸಾಕ್ಷಿ. ಪ್ರತಿಯೊಬ್ಬ ಕ್ರಿಕೆಟಿಗನೂ ಮೈದಾನದಲ್ಲಿ, ಮೈದಾನದ ಹೊರಗೂ ಗೌರವ ಸೂಚಿಸಿದ. ಬಹುಷಃ ಇಂತಹ ಸಂಗತಿಗಳೇ ಎಲ್ಲಾ ಕ್ರಿಕೆಟಿಗರನ್ನು ಒಗ್ಗೂಡಿಸೋದು, ಎಲ್ಲಾ ಕ್ರಿಕೆಟ್ ದೇಶಗಳನ್ನೂ ಒಗ್ಗೂಡಿಸೋದು ಮತ್ತೆ ನಾವೆಲ್ಲಾ ಒಗ್ಗೋಡಿ ತುಂಬಲಾರದ ನಷ್ಟದ  ಪಾಲುದಾರರಾಗೋದು.

ಕೊನೆಯದಾಗಿ, ಈ ಬಾರಿಯ "ಫಿಲ್ ಹ್ಯೂಸ್ ಸ್ಮರಣಾರ್ಥ" ಕ್ರಿಕೆಟ್ ಪಂದ್ಯಾವಳಿ ಯಶಸ್ವಿಯಾಗಲಿ ಹಾಗೂ ಇಷ್ಟು ವರ್ಷ ಸಂಘಕ್ಕೆ ಸಿಕ್ಕಿರುವ ಸಹಯೋಗ ಇನ್ನು ಮುಂದೆಯೂ ಸಿಗಲಿ ಎಂದು ಆಶಿಸೋಣ.

ಶಶಿ ಕಿರಣ್ ಎಸ್. ಎಸ್. 

To cricket, with love.. Phil Hughes memorial cup 2014

It’s heartening to witness the series of events the old boys association has been organizing for the social cause and also contributing to the society in whatever way it could with the help of lot of like-minded people around. Without doubt this is one of the best thing which has happened in recent times for Namma Tiptur.

What is really more heartening to see is naming the tournament as “Phillip Hughes memorial cup”, couldn’t there be any other better name to think of at this very moment?? I would say NO and not many would deny this. After all he is a sportsman, battled every time he entered the cricket field and entertained us all the while he played and had one of the shocking death ever on the cricket field. Naming the tournament after him is really a nice way of showing gratitude to the champion. Phil Hughes was slated to be the master of the game in the bright future he was destined to but god had other plans for this young bloke. Like they say every good thing in this world should come to an end, but in Phil’s case it came to an end soon after a great journey had just taken off. It’s very welcoming decision to host this tournament in the memory of this champ.

Here is yet another event this time, paying tribute to the hero, who died on the field while playing the game we all love. Cricket tournament for 2 days is just a reason or an excuse for many of us to have happy and healthy get together forgetting all our daily woes. This is also a nice occasion where everybody can meet all their old friends and to re-live the good old memories with some good laugh. At the same time paying tribute to the players has been followed as a culture here, last year tournament was organized to pay tribute to 2 extra ordinary gentlemen of Indian cricket, Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar. This year it is in the name of Phil Hughes, who passed away recently. Funds raised as part of such events are used for noble causes. On a serious note, such events helps us to create a great bonding among the like-minded people which helps in long term to give back something to the society, which made us what we are today. We already see lot of notable and yet meaningful contributions from the association ever since this was formed 3-4 years ago. It all started with few like-minded people forming an association, getting together lot of old boys into a workable force, having a great vision for the future. Response received for such a cause was immense and soon people started contributing in whatever way possible by each of them. 

First of its visible work was renovating the GBHS school, for years this 1924 British built school had not seen much of the developments. The situation of the basic infrastructure was not so pleasing, hence the workforce comprising of old students of the school had setup a meeting and had discussions with school management and came forward to contribute for the betterment of the school facilities. As a result, school has got new boards, tiles of the floors have been replaced, walls were painted and roof tiles were replaced and many such heartening developments were done in this historic school. School field was like wide open and now with the help of the then MLA, walls have been built around. Plan is to have the permanent water source for school exclusively by getting a bore well drilled in the campus, which should materialize in near future with some nice co-operation from the local governing bodies. In future there is also a plan to renovate the Govt girls’ high school on the similar lines. Association also join hands in helping the people who are in genuine need. To mention one of the recent instances, there is this girl Kushi, who had to undergo a surgery for the progressive disorientation of the spinal cord, whose family had some serious financial crunch to have this done. Association members came forward and contributed around 12K for such noble cause. There are many more such contributions done by this association and has planned many more for the near future. “Together we all, better will be the society” has been the motto ever since it was established and it would be always. 

This has motivated many other old boys studied in different schools to have their own associations and conducting such events and contributing to the society. Such has been the effect of the changes this association has brought in recent years.

In the hindsight of the very unfortunate event of Phil’s demise, few things which stands out for me about him are as follows. Breaking into the team like Australia is like one of the greatest achievement in one’s life, such is the situation there in Australia with so much of talent around, selectors have hard time always. One more noticeable thing of Aussies is, every player who comes into the team is very well seasoned in the domestic level and then he comes to international arena and doesn’t turn back from there on. If you look at Mike Hussy, Matthew Hayden, Adam Gilchrist, Darren Lehman and many more who have played cricket for Australia after late 90s, have started their international career only in their late 20s. This only says about the stiff competition in their domestic circuit. Only few like Ponting, Clarke are fortunate enough to get chance in their early ages. Like the saying goes - “Fortune favors the brave”, you got to be an extraordinary exciting talent for that. Phil was one among those fortunate players who got chance as early as at the age of 20 with some impressive and matured show in the Australian domestic arena. 

He made his debut at the age of 20 against mighty South Africans in 2009, very first innings of his test career was 4 ball duck, the one to be forgotten like a bad dream. Second test of the series was something stays in the history of world cricket forever, he scores a century in the first innings by hitting 2 daring sixes in the nervous 90 and yet another century in the second innings as well, result is Australia win the match by 175 runs and a new hero was born. He is the youngest ever to score centuries in both the innings of a test match and whole cricket fraternity welcomed him announcing “he will always occupy a special place in Australia's Test history” and rightly he has. 

He was very impressive with the shots he played when he was given width outside off and he really played well against the spin attack (remember he was brought back to the Australian squad for the Indian tour 2013 where it helped spinners), most notable shot was his upper cut and flashy cuts he played much like Gilchrist and Lehman. He started off as an opener but later part of the career he was sent down the order at no.5 or 6. Unforgettable innings was the one he played along with the debutant Aston agar, aged 20, for the 10th wicket against England during Ashes 2013. Australia were 117-9 and these 2 put on with the record 10th wicket partnership of 183 runs where Phil remained not out on 81* and Agar got out for 98. Though Australia lost this test match, Phil won the heart of millions for his brave innings.

Hearing to his death, he is not seen just as an Australian cricketer, but he is seen as a sportsman whom we know as much as the one who lived in our locality. Be it an Australian or Srilankan or Pakistani or an Englishman or whoever he is, our heart goes out when such tragic things happen. That is what we witnessed when this lad left us, whole of the cricketing world was mourning. Every cricketer paid tribute on and off the field. Probably only such things get all cricketers together, cricketing nations together and all of us together to share the burden of a great loss to the world cricket. 

As a final note, let’s wish this “Phil Hughes Memorial” tournament be a successful one and may association be showered with same amount of kind support it has been receiving ever since it was established.

- Shashi Kiran S S

To cricket, with love.. Sehwag: A success story

On the occasion of Sehwag playing his 100th test, here is a quick write up of what I know following him for years..

"If the ball has to be hit, it should be hit no second thought"

What it takes to be good batsmen? A good technique,  good hand-eye co-ordination, good high backlift, good foot movement? To an extent yes, but to be Virender Sehwag, along with this you need to have no fear in your bones and be highly instinctive and think like “its sport after all and not end of life, just go and enjoy the game the way you enjoy a mouth-watering meal” and what kind of pitch you are batting and which bowler you are facing should be least mattered.  This unique lad has in a way, wrote the how-to-play-cricket in his own way and quite opposite to the breed of conventional cricketers India has produced, who are busy breaking their head thinking how to survive fast or spin bowling at the middle and then facing few overs, getting settled, then start opening up and value their wicket the way they do their life. Viru is always a different in this aspect, sometimes criticized for not valuing his wicket but that the way he plays and we will only see his batting going weak if we try to enforce him to play defensive cricket, he should free-flow like the way he has been. Being an attacking batsmen, opening the batting in all forms of the game and playing in all of them in a same way like there is no difference between tests, ODIs and T20s, not needing to adapt to each format and yet being successful and scoring loads of runs is quite a challenge. I think Gilchrist and Sehwag are 2 cricketers I have seen, are the ones who doesn’t even care what the situation of the game, what kind of pitch it is, who the bowler is? Rule of their game is “just hit the ball if it has to be hit, don’t think too much”. What an entertainers they are? If not an exaggeration, who literally thinks “no point in scoring 1s and 2s, 4s and 6s should be the minimum you should look for”. These chaps take the game away from the opposition in a matter of 4-5 overs with some quick slaughtering. They are very clean hitters of the cricket ball and they really enjoy the sound comes out of the meat of their bat when they hit a boundary or six, won’t they? Also are natural stroke players and never appear to be fluke and play proper copy book cricketing shots making them look so simple.

Least we knew about Sehwag when he first played for India in 1998 at the age of 20 in Mohali against touring Pakistan side, being in the 30 probable list for WC 1999, he disappointed with score of 1 with bat and with bowling he went for 34 of his 3 overs and that’s the end of his first and short phase with Int’l cricket. Scoring some good runs in coming Ranji season he was back in the side in end of 2000, being a lower middle order batsmen and an off-spin bowler he was not so successful in his intial days until he played some 15 odd ODIs. But as a matter of fact, Tendulkar was injured and Sehwag was asked to open the innings which he never did earlier, he took it as a challenge and in must win game against New Zealand in Colombo in 2001, he scored 60-ball-100, before to this he opened in Bengaluru against Aussies scoring quick 54 and taking 3 wickets which unearthed the abundant talent of future Indian cricket and today he is 99 tests old and which is by all means a very successful story.

Someone like Sehwag who goes by his instinct, just thinks to hit the ball for a six or a boundary. I vividly remember his first century on his debut test match against South Africa, whom till then people thought is fit for only short formats but he proved them all wrong by scoring free-flowing hundred comprising of those classy cover drives, shots of the pads, hooks shots of the bouncy ball and you list them. Many thought he would not last for 10 tests if he played like this, but he played like that for next 99 tests scoring 8448 runs, averages over 50 and has scored 23 hundreds which includes 2 triple and 4 double hundreds, more importantly he has wonderful conversion rate. 23 centuries and 32 half-centuries says it all. Staggering stats is it?

He is the one who never changes the way he bats to please somebody, to recall an instance when he was batting on 294 in Multan test against Pakistan, Sachin was batting at the non-striker's end walked towards Sehwag and told to him “ill kick your ass if you go and hit a six now, try to be patient and score 300”, he said this because Sehwag had already hit a six when he was on 194 to reach 200. But “who cares?” says Sehwag and very next ball he hit it for six to reach 300. Sachin would have banged his head for his waste of advice and had to only go and congratulate himJ. He sees even a very good length ball as a bad ball and smashes it over the mid-on or mid-off or straight over the bowler head or over the slip fielder for a boundary or a six. I remember once he said when he scored 294 in Mumbai against Srilanka in 2008, “at dressing room other players said that I was hitting even the good balls, but I was hitting only the bad balls” how does it matter to him whether it is a good or a bad ball who makes batting look so simple and yet beautiful sight to watch against any fearsome bowling attack?. He still holds the record of scoring more number of runs in a day, 284 runs in a day against Srilanka in Mumbai, 2009 shows what a brutal batsmen he is.

In a way Indian batting and bowling in test and ODI evolved after Ganguly took over the captaincy in 2000, with a good solid bunch of Dravid, Tendulkar, Laxman, Kumble, Zaheer, Yuvraj, Harbhajan,Srinath and Sehwag. Sehwag played a very important role as a opener when India was in search of a solid opener in tests after trying the likes of S Ramesh, Sameer dighe, Deepdas gupta, Shivsundar Das, Aakash chopra, Sanjay Bangar where most of them disappointed (Aakash and Bangar to an extent helped for good cause). Sehwag always evolved around Dravid, Tendulkar, Laxman (3,4 and 5) where they provided Sehwag the luxury of playing attacking cricket and they playing the watchful game which includes more of conventional style of test cricket being defensive and guarding the wicket. His 2nd most partnership runs comes with Dravid (first is Gambhir), 2 completely different players in terms of temperament and mental strengths. It’s like rock music and classical music played in the unison and yet one doesn’t interrupt other and audience enjoying both. It should be noted that in an era where India grown as a world class team under a regime of Ganguly, starts which Sehwag gave played a vital part. He off course redefined the opening batting in test matches; none played it the way he played in world test cricket earlier.

What disappoints is, in his first tours abroad against England, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand he was very impressive and later tours against the same teams are equally depressing. Outside sub-continent he is still the weak link barring his initial tours. He averages over 62 in subcontinent and around 30 in foreign soil. As a matter of fact he has not scored any century outside subcontinent since 2008, which is more than 4 years. I think, it’s just matter of time and as a fan of Viru I hope and wish and he will come good next time when we tour abroad. Big thing in due and he won’t disappoint, would he?

Viru, is an inspiration for himself in many ways, he looks up his game and corrects and improvises on it. Like he mentioned last week, before the start of first test against England he was criticized by media and people for his lack of form and he didn’t try anything new by adapting his batting style or the way he bats. Instead he looked back to the video clips of his past 11 centuries and inspired by them and next morning he comes and smashes the ball all over the park and scored a quick hundred which created a solid basement for the eventual India’s win. If you look at his centuries, if he starts scoring runs, he only scores big but nothing else. 16 of his 23 centuries have been more than 140 and out of which 2 triple and 4 double centuries. Once he starts, you cant stop him. Gilchrist is one of them.

With Viru playing his 100th test match today, lets congratulate and wish him all the best and hope he makes this occasion even more big and memorable by scoring some big runs and still what is due from Viru is, scoring runs abroad and help India winning the series abroad which we have not seen many from Sehwag yet.  But now the gravity lies on 100th test.  - Shashi Kiran S S

To cricket, with love.. Down the memory lane...:)

Its been long time I have written something so I thought I would write something which cant be forgotten in Indian cricket history. Talking about 2 moments, one the best moment in Indian cricket and the other the worst moment i must say, which occurred in the same week.. I was school going kid of age 12 when the below matches took place and had to bunk the class to watch semifinals, which I remember like it happened yesterday. - Shashi Kiran

It was in 1996 in the month of March when India had to face SL in WC semifinals in Calcutta (now Kolkata) after beating Pakistan in quarter finals few days (Saturday March 9th (if I am not wrong)) before in Bengaluru. What a match that was in BengaLuru starting with Sidhu firing all the cylinders to score those valuable 93 after losing Sachin, couple of boundaries towards covers of Mustaq Ahmed from Sidhu was amazing. And let's not forget the little cameo from Jadega at the end of the innings by smacking the ball all over the park to such an extent that in one single over he scored around 26 runs of Waqar and those sixes of reverse swinging yorkers were treat to watch :)... India end up making some valuable 280+ runs on the board... enough to defend? Yes infact there was a sigh of relief on the faces of Indian team which lasted only till the Pakistan innings started. Sohail and Anwar started attacking right from the very first ball and scored some 83 runs of first 10 overs. Srinath fooled Anwar with a slower one who ended up hitting the ball straight up in the air and kumble taking a good catch at midwicket. So far it was all Pakistan’s way and whole stadium was as silent as a sleeping child and then they erupted with huge roar when Anwar fell and for I believe the noise didn’t cease till the match was over. Next wicket was of sohail's which will remain in the mind of cricket fans for a very long time in the history of cricket. It was delivery from Prasad which was in good length and gave enough width well outside the off stump which any left hander would love to hit, so did Sohail after dancing down the track hammering towards the square boundary for a four. Then he gestured prasad which literally meant "this is what you expect from me and go and fetch the ball", Prasad had to just return back only to send down the next ball which was a leg cutter, which Sohail made complete mess out of it by exposing all the stumps trying to hit towards off side and before he could realize, timber behind him was already uprooted and Prasad erupted and was fuming and showed the way to Sohail in a anger and it was treat to watch (nevertheless Prasad was fined for this gesture later):) as rightly said by Wasim (akram) bhai, this was in fact the turning point of the match where Pakistan was placed really well scoring at over 7 runs per over with loss of 1 wicket and needing little more than 5 per over and more importantly they had very good middle order with likes of Ijaz ahmed, Salim malik, miandad, inzamam, latif. Had Sohail not showed that aggression and attitude it wouldn't have created such pressure and didn’t allow India to come back to the game at all. Why on earth Sohail wanted that drama when he had played such a beautiful innings? If continued it would have been a cake walk for Pakistan. Well when all the god's in India were conspiring for India's win, who can stop it? :).

Next few overs made Pakistan to put on breaks on their scoring rate and as a result required run rate went up. Ijaz and Inzamam fell quickly scoring few runs and wasting some balls. I must say it was Miandad and Malik who spoiled the Pakistan’s party by wasting too many balls unnecessarily which created too much of pressure and in the mean time India took a good control of the match. Latif looked threatening with some lusty blows of Raju, but ended up getting stumped by Mongia of raju.

It was all over for Pakistan here and India had to complete the formality of completing the quota of 50 overs. India eventually won by some 38-39 runs. Sidhu was the man of the match and I vividly remember that it was Devegowda, who was the CM of Karnataka then who handed over the MOM trophy to Sidhu :).

Well next one would never erase from our minds for long time for wrong reasons unlike the above one. It was on Thursday, March 13th (what a number-13?) semifinals between India and Sri Lanka and never in anybody's dream it would have appeared that it would be a worst day in Indian cricket. Azhar, then the Indian captain won the toss and much to everybody's surprise he chose to field first rather than opting to bat and pile up some good total and defending it, given that India was not well known for chasing batting second during those days. Since there was some movement which helped bowlers initially he had to go with that option and rightly he did. First over of the match was a dream over for India and rest of the match was very dim and at the end it was curtains to India's show in WC :(... well let's come back to first over, as usual Srinath opened for India and with the opening pair like Kuluwitharana and Jayasurya well known for their exploit during first 15 overs it was challenge for any bowling side to stop them. Because this pair had shown the world throughout the world cup on how to exploit the fielding restrictions in first 15 overs and it played major role in their world cup triumph that year. very second ball of the Innings, Kaluwitharana was down the wicket and tried to smash Srinath over deep gully but end up giving a simple catch to manjrekar at third man and atmosphere was electrifying in the stadium and endless celebrations on and off the field and 4th ball of the same over Jayasurya tried a similar shot as Kaluwitharana and this time he found Prasad at third man. It was dream moment with 2 dangerous batsmen getting out in very first over. Full praises for Azhar for choosing to bowl first from all ends. But srilanka had Gurusinha, Mahanama, De silva, Ranatunga, Tilakaratne in the middle order which looked too dangerous a gang to thrash any opponent. Even Gurusinha didn’t last long and within a few minutes’ co-hosts and guests in India were already 3 wickets down for 30 odd runs with De Silva looking very strong and positive at other end. As a kid I always wanted to see India’s batting so I would want them to have enough runs to score and I was wondering “what if srilanka gets out within 100 runs? Oh no! There won’t be any fun watching India batting, at least Indian team needs some runs to score, let Lanka score few more runs”, how innocent it was of me :). Well, talking about Aravinda, he never looked bogged down with wickets falling at other end. He literally smashed Kumble into pieces by hitting all over the park. Having scored some 60+ runs, he had hit some 13-14 boundaries. He kept SL run rate intact. Fall of him brought in Ranatunga who joined with Mahanama and scored the runs freely in singles and twos. I must say its India’s relax mood made SL to come back to the game, India never seemed like putting pressure after 3 quick wickets in the beginning. Mahanama reached his fifty and was retired hurt and was taken out in the stretcher. As usual Ranatunga was hanging around at one end and as expected and as he did always he took a help runner which made his life easy further with Tilakaratne at the other end took pressure of him by rotating strike. Having lost 3 quick wickets in the beginning the way they came back, thanks to Arvinda de Silva for his aggressive cricket and free scoring runs, was amazing. Vaas playing a little cameo at the end SL reached a decent score of some 250+.

Well well well, now when India came out to bat somewhat there was some nervousness seen on the faces of India batsmen. Why not? After all it was a big game, semi finals. Much was expected from Sidhu with the form he was against Pakistan days before, but he was out for single digit score giving catch to Jaysurya in covers of Chamidna Vaas. Then came Manjrekar (whom I admired as a kid) who hanged around with Tendulkar and in fact it was good partnership of some 90 runs. Seeing Tendulkar and Manjrekar batting together is a treat to watch with similar stature, similar batting techniques and similar helmet and pads they wore, it was difficult to differentiate who's who sometimes :).. Sachin came down the track and misread the ball of jaysurya completely and quick work by Kaluwitharana behind the stumps made Sachin short of crease when the score was 98 and it was 98-2 then.

Azhar walked in swinging his head either way like he always did and he faced few balls and was “Duck” out caught and bowled of Dharmasena. All hell let loose from now on. 99-3 was the score read on the board. Kambli came in and after 3-4 runs Manjrekar tried for a paddle sweep of Jayasurya and missing the ball which went and disturbed the wooden sticks behind him and he was bowled and had to walk out. Score was 100+ for 4. Now here they sent their new found pinch hitter Srinath and god knows why do they wanted to send him, he came and tried to hit the ball as if he was facing the 49th over and in too much excitement he went for an unneccary 3rd run and found himself short of crease and walked back, it was 5 for 110. Next one was Jadega, who never looked he was here to play cricket with his lethargic looks. It was like an action reply of Manjrekar's wicket, tried for a paddle sweep before he could realize what is happening he was bowled out. Jayasurya again doing the trick for SL, though he was out cheaply that afternoon, he compensated with ball that night claiming 3 important wickets of Tendulkar, manjrekar and jadeja. India was 6 down here with hopeless situation. Score was 115-6. With Mongia and Ashish kapoor also falling cheaply score was 120-8 from 98-1. By this time crowd was already turning violent and lighting papers with fire all over and throwing bottles on to the field. Match was stopped and started twice, but when a bottle was hit to a fielder fielding at deep mid wicket, match had to come to halt and all players went back to pavilion and I was already almost into the tears sitting on the floor in front of the TV set dragging my knees towards my chest with my both the hands witnessing Kumble and Kambli walking out. Seeing Kambli walking out crying looks similar to the sight of a kid crying after getting nicely beaten by teacher in cane for not doing homework. I couldn’t control and had to roll out the tears :(..

I had a serious urge of killing Clive Lloyd, who was the match referee who declared the match was abandoned and declared sri lanka winners.

Could he not have restarted the match from the beginning next day? I kept on wondering and even today I wonder:).

Worst day of Indian cricket as I said, if remembered today makes one feel disheartened.

India has a chance now to take the revenge and hope they would rightly do so :)

ಹಳ್ಳಿಯ ಚಿತ್ರಗಳು - ಭಾಗ ಒಂದು

ತೇಜಸ್ವಿಯವರ ಅದ್ಭುತ ಸಾಹಿತ್ಯ ಕಲಾಸೃಷ್ಟಿ ಹಾಗು ಗ್ರಾಮೀಣ ಬದುಕಿನ ಕಥೆಗಳನ್ನು ಸಾರುವ ಎಸ್. ಎಲ್. ಭೈರಪ್ಪನವರ "ಗೃಹಭಂಗ", "ಸಾಕ್ಷಿ", "ತಬಲ್ಲಿ ನೀನಾದೆ ಮಗನೆ", "ದಾಟು" ಮತ್ತಿನಿತರ ಕಾದಂಬರಿಗಳಿಂದ ಸ್ಪೂರ್ತಿ ಪಡೆದು ಬರೆಯುವುದಕ್ಕೆ ಮಾಡಿರುವ ಒಂದು ಸಣ್ಣ ಪ್ರಯತ್ನ. ಇದೊಂದು ಕಥೆಯಲ್ಲ, ಯಾವುದೇ ಕಥವಸ್ತುವನ್ನು ಒಳಗೊಂಡಿಲ್ಲ, ಹಳ್ಳಿ ಚಿತ್ರಗಳನ್ನು ತೋರಿಸುವ ಒಂದು ಪ್ರಯತ್ನ ಅಷ್ಟೆ. ಎಲ್ಲ ಪಾತ್ರಗಳು ಮತ್ತು ಕಥೆಗಳು ಕೇವಲ ಕಾಲ್ಪನಿಕ, ಕೆಲವು ಊರಿನ ಹೆಸರುಗಳು, ವ್ಯಕ್ತಿಗಳ ಹೆಸರುಗಳನ್ನು ಸ್ವಾಭಾವಿಕವಾಗಿರಲೆಂದು ಗೊತ್ತಿರುವ ಕೆಲವು ಊರುಗಳ ಮತ್ತು ವ್ಯಕ್ತಿಗಳ ಹೆಸರುಗಳನ್ನು ಬಳಸಲಾಗಿದೆ. ತಿಪಟೂರಲ್ಲಿ ಹುಟ್ಟಿ ಸುತ್ತಮುತ್ತಲ ಹಳ್ಳಿಗಳನ್ನು ನಾನು ನೋಡುತ್ತಾ ಬೆಳೆದ ಕಾರಣದಿಂದ ಈ ಸೀಮೆಯನ್ನೆ ಹಾರಿಸಿದ್ದೆನೆ. ಕೆಲವು ಬೈಗಳುಗಳನ್ನು ಕೂಡ ಸ್ವಭಾವಿಕವಾಗಿರಲೆಂದು ಹಳ್ಳಿ ಭಾಷೆಯನ್ನು ಯೆತೆಚ್ಹವಾಗಿ ಉಪಯೊಗಿಸಿದ್ದೆನೆ.ತಪ್ಪಿರುವುದು ಸಹಜ, ಇದ್ದರೆ ಕ್ಷಮಿಸಬೇಕು :-) - ಶಶಿಕಿರಣ್ ಎಸ್ ಎಸ್

ಶಿವಪುರ, ತುಮಕೂರು ಜಿಲ್ಲೆ, ತಿಪಟೂರು ತಾಲೂಕು, ನೊಣವಿನಕೆರೆ ಹೋಬಳಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಬರುವ ಒಂದು ದೊಡ್ಡ ಗ್ರಾಮ. ಈ ಊರಲ್ಲಿ ಬ್ರಾಹ್ಮಣ, ಒಕ್ಕಲಿಗ, ಲಿಂಗಾಯತ, ಕುರುಬ, ಕುಂಬಾರ, ಹರಿಜನ, ಗಿರಿಜನ, ಮುಸಲ್ಮಾನ, ಒಂದ್ದಿಬ್ಬರು ಕ್ರಿಸ್ತರು ಈಗೆ ಎಲ್ಲಾ ಮತಸ್ತರು ಸಹಬಾಳ್ವೆಯಿಂದ ಜೀವನ ನೆಡೆಸುತಿದ್ದ ಒಂದು ಸುಂದರ ಗ್ರಾಮ. ಹಳ್ಳಿ ಅಂದಮೆಲೆ ಸಣ್ಣ ಪುಟ್ಟ ಹಗೆ-ದ್ವೇಷಗಳು ಇದ್ದೆ ಇದ್ದವು ಅಂತ ಬೇರೆ ಹೇಳಬೇಕಿಲ್ಲ. ಇಲ್ಲಿನ ಜೀವನ ಶೈಲಿಯು ಸ್ವತಂತ್ರಪೂರ್ವ ಮತ್ತು ನಂತರದ ದಿನಗಳುವು, ಅಂದರೆ ಸರಿ ಸುಮಾರು 1935-1940ರ ನಂತರ ಕಂಡುಬರುವ ಅಥವಾ ನೆಡೆದಿರಬಹುದಾದ ಸಂಗತಿಗಳು.

ಇದು ಒಂದು 500 ಮನೆ ಗ್ರಾಮ ಅಂದರೆ ಆಗಿನ ಕಾಲಕ್ಕೆ ಒಂದು ದೊಡ್ಡ ಗ್ರಾಮೆವೇ ಸರಿ, ಪ್ರಮುಖವಾಗಿ ರೈತಾಪಿ ಜನಸಂಖ್ಯೆಯನ್ನೆ ಒಳಗೊಂಡ ಒಂದು ಸುಭೀಕ್ಷ ಗ್ರಾಮವೆಂದರೆ ತಪ್ಪಾಗಲಾರದು. ಎಲ್ಲಾ ರೀತಿಯ ಮಳೆಗಾಲ, ನೆರೆ, ಬರಗಾಲ, ಸುಖ-ದುಖಃ, ಕ್ಷಾಮ, ಶಾಂತಿ-ನೆಮ್ಮದಿಯಿಂದ ಕೂಡಿದ ಹತ್ತಾರು ತಲೆಮಾರುಗಳನ್ನು ಕಂಡಿರುವ ಒಂದು ಊರು.

ಊರಿನ ಉದ್ದಕ್ಕೂ ಹರಡಿಕೊಂಡಿರುವ ಕೆರೆ, ಕೆರೆಯ ಆಚೆಯ ದಡಕ್ಕೆ ಉದ್ದಕ್ಕೂ ಸಾಗಿರುವ ಕೆರೆಯ ಏರಿ ಕೋಡಿಯೊಂದಿಗೆ ಕೊನೆಗೊಳ್ಳುತ್ತದೆ, ಕೆರೆಯ ಹಿಂದೆ ಶಿವಪುರದ ಜನರದೆ ತೆಂಗಿನ ತೊಟಗಳು ಮತ್ತೆ ಬತ್ತ-ಕಬ್ಬು ಬೆಳೆಯುವ ಗದ್ದೆಗಳು. ಅದರಾಚೆಗೆ ಮಲ್ಲಸಂದ್ರ, ಬೋಚಿಹಳ್ಳಿಯೆನ್ನುವ ಗ್ರಾಮಗಳು. ಊರ ಮುಂದೆ ಪೂರ್ವಾಭಿಮುಖವಾಗಿ ಹಾಗು ಕೆರೆಗೆ ಎದಿರುಗೊಳ್ಳುತ್ತಾ ಗ್ರಾಮದೇವತೆಯಾದ ಕೆಂಪಮ್ಮ ದೇವರ ಗುಡಿ, ಗುಡಿಯಮುಂದೆ ಒಂದು ದೊಡ್ಡ ಆಲದ ಮರದ ಒಂದು ಹಳ್ಳಿಕಟ್ಟೆ ಕೆರೆಗೆ ಹೊಂದಿಕೊಂಡಂತೆ. ಇದೇ ಊರಿನ ಜನರ ಮಾತಿನ ತೀಟೆ ತೀರಿಸಿಕೊಳ್ಳುವ ವೇದಿಕೆ, ನ್ಯಾಯ ಸ್ಥಾನ, ಮಕ್ಕಳ ಕಣ್ಣಾಮುಚ್ಹಾಲೆಯಾಡುವ ಜಾಗ ಹಾಗು ಮಲಗಿ ನಿದ್ರೆ ಮಾಡುವವರಿಗೆ ನೆಮ್ಮದಿಯ ತಾಣ. ಹೀಗೆ ಹಲವು ರೀತಿಯ ಉಪಯೊಗಿ ಕಟ್ಟೆ. ಹಳ್ಳಿಕಟ್ಟೆಯ ಬಲಕ್ಕೆ ತೇರಿನ ಮನೆ, ಗ್ರಾಮ ದೇವತೆ ಕೆಂಪಮ್ಮನ ಜಾತ್ರೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ತೊಳೆದು ಅಲಂಕರಿಸಿ ಅಮ್ಮನ ಮೆರವಣಿಗೆಗೆ ಅಣಿ ಮಾಡಿ ಸುತ್ತೂರ ಜನರೆಲ್ಲ ಪೂಜೆ ಮಾಡಿಸಿ ತೇರೆಳೆದು ಬಾಳೆಹಣ್ಣು ಹೊಡೆದು ಅಂಬು ಆರಿಸಿ ಜಾತ್ರೆ ಕೊನೆಗೊಂಡಮೇಲೆ ಮುಂದಿನ ಜಾತ್ರೆಯವರೆಗೆ ವಿಶ್ರಮಿಸುವ ತೇರಿನ ಸ್ಥಳ. ಇದು ತುಂಬ ದೊಡ್ಡ ತೇರೇನಲ್ಲ, ಇದ್ದಿದ್ದರಲ್ಲೆ ಚಿಕ್ಕದಾಗಿ ಚೊಕ್ಕವಾಗಿ ಪೂರ್ತಿ ಕಪ್ಪು ಮರದಿಂದ ತಯಾರಿಸಿರುವಂತದ್ದು, ಒಳಗಿಂದ ಮತ್ತು ಹೊರಗಿಂದ ಮರದ ಹಲಗೆಗಳಿಂದ ಕೂಡಿಸಿ ಚೌಕಾಕಾರದಲ್ಲಿ ನಾಲ್ಕು ಮೂಲೆಗಳು ಬರುವಂತೆ ಮಾಡಲಾಗಿದೆ, ಹೊರಗಿನ ಮೈಯನ್ನು ಬಳ್ಳೀ ತಿರುವುಗಳನ್ನು ಒಳಗೊಂಡ ಚಿತ್ತಾರಗಳಿಂದ ಕೆತ್ತಲಾಗಿದೆ. ಅದರ ಮೇಲೆ ದೇವರನ್ನು ಕೂರಿಸುವ ಜಾಗ, ಆ ಜಾಗವನ್ನು ರಕ್ಷಿಸಲ್ಲೆನ್ನುವಂತೆ ನಾಲ್ಕು ಮೂಲೆಗೂ ಮರದ ಕಂಬಗಳು, ಅವುಗಳ ಆಧಾರದ ಮೆಲೆ ಒಂದು ಸುಂದರ ಗೋಪುರ. ಊರಿನ ಮಕ್ಕಳು ಸಂಜೆ ಹೊತ್ತಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಕಣ್ಣಮುಚ್ಚಾಲೆ ಆಡುವಾಗ ಇಲ್ಲಿ ಬಂದು ಅವಿತುಕೊಳ್ಳುವುದು ಉಂಟು. ಆಮ್ಮನ ಗುಡಿಯ ಎಡಭಾಗದ ಕೊನೆಯ ಮುಂಭಾಗಕ್ಕೆ ದಕ್ಷಿಣಾಭಿಮುಖವಾಗಿ ಎಲ್ಲಾ ಹಳ್ಳಿಗಳ ಪ್ರತೀತಿಯಂತೆ ಆಂಜುನೆಯಸ್ವಾಮಿ ಗುಡಿ ಇದೆ. ಈ ಗುಡಿಯ ಎಡಭಾಗಕ್ಕೆ ಕೆರೆಯ ಉದ್ದಕ್ಕೂ ಓಡುವ ರಸ್ತೆ, ಹಾಗೆ ಸಾಗಿದರೆ ಊರು ದಾಟಿ ಕುರುಬರಹಳ್ಳಿ, ಲಿಂಗದಳ್ಳಿಗೆ ಹೋಗುವ ಮಾರ್ಗ ಹಿಡಿಯಬಹುದು. ಊರ ಆಚೆಗೆ ಕೆರೆಯ ದಡದಲ್ಲಿ ಈಶ್ವರಸ್ವಾಮಿಯ ಗುಡಿ ಮತ್ತು ಅದರ ಮುಂದ್ದೊಂದ್ದು ಕಲ್ಲು ಬಸವಣ್ಣನ ವಿಗ್ರಹ, ಪಕ್ಕದಲ್ಲೆ ಒಂದು ಬಿಲ್ವಪತ್ರೆ ಮರ ಇದೆ ಅಂತ ಪ್ರತ್ಯೇಕವಾಗಿ ಹೇಳಬೇಕಾಗಿಲ್ಲ. ಅಲ್ಲೆ ಪಕ್ಕದಲ್ಲಿ ಒಂದು ಸಣ್ಣ ಸಿಹಿ ನೀರನ ಕಲ್ಯಾಣಿ, ಊರಿನ ಉತ್ತರ ಭಾಗದ ಕೇರಿಯ ಸವರ್ಣಿಯರು ಇಲ್ಲಿಂದಲೆ ಮನೆಗೆ ಕುಡಿಯುವ ನೀರನ್ನು ಕೊಂಡೊಯುತ್ತಾರೆ. ಅದರ ಮುಂದೆ ಒಂದು ದೊಡ್ಡ ವಂಗೆ, ಬೇವು, ಇನ್ನಿತರ ಬೃಹದ್ದಾಕಾರದ ಮರಗಳಿಂದ ಆವರಿಸಲ್ಪಟ್ಟ ತೋಪು. ಅದೆ ಸುತ್ತು ಹತ್ತಾರು ಹಳ್ಳಿ ಸೇರುವ ಪ್ರತೀ ಬುಧುವಾರ ನೆಡೆಯುವ ಸಂತೆ ಮಾಳ.

ಶ್ಯಾನುಭೋಗ ಶಂಕರಣ್ಣನವರು ಊರಿಗೆ ಆ ಕಾಲಕ್ಕೆ ವಿಧ್ವಾನ್ ವ್ಯಕ್ತಿ, ನೋಡಲು ಎತ್ತರವಾದ ಮೈತುಂಬಿದ ಆಳು. ಮೆಟ್ರಿಕ್ ತನಕ ಓದಿ ಪಾಸಗಿದ್ದವರು. ಸರ್ಕಾರಿ ಕೆಲಸ ಸಿಗುವ ಅವಕಾಶವಿದ್ದರು ಶ್ಯಾನುಭೋಗ ಶಾಮಣ್ಣನವರ ಒಬ್ಬರೆ ಮಗನಾದ್ದರಿಂದ ಅವರ ಮರಣಾನಂತರ ಅವರ ಉತ್ತರಾಧಿಕಾರಿಯಿಲ್ಲದ ಕಾರಣ ಪಾರಂಪರಿಯವಾಗಿ ಬಂದ ವೃತ್ತಿಯನ್ನು ಬಿಡಲು ಅವರಿಗೆ ಇಷ್ಟ ಇರಲಿಲ್ಲ. ಮತ್ತು ಊಳಲು-ಬೆಳೆಯಲು ಧಿಮ್ಮಗೆ 8 ಎಕ್ಕರೆ ಹೊಲ, 10 ಎಕ್ಕರೆ ಕೆರೆ ಹಿಂಬದಿಯ ಆಬಾದಿನ ಗದ್ದೆ, 300 ಗಿಡಗಳ ತೆಂಗಿನ ತೋಟ ಇದ್ದಿದ್ದರಿಂದ ಅವರು ಶಿವಪುರದಲ್ಲೆ ಸುತ್ತು 10-15 ಹಳ್ಳಿಯ ಕಂದಾಯ ವಸೂಲಿ, ಕಾತೆ-ಪಾಣಿ ಬರೆಯುತ್ತ ಮತ್ತು ಸಂಬಂದ್ಧಪಟ್ಟ ಕೆಲಸಗಳನ್ನು ನೋಡಿಕೊಳುತ್ತ ನೆಮ್ಮದಿಯಿಂದ ಇರುವ ಸಮಾಧಾನಕ್ಕೆ ಶರಣಾಗಿದ್ದರು ಜೊತೆಗೆ ರೈತರಿಂದ ಕಾಯಿ, ರಾಗಿ, ಬತ್ತ, ಬೇಳೆ-ಕಾಳುಗಳು ಶಾನುಭೋಗರೆನ್ನುವ ಗೌರವಕ್ಕೆ ಕಂದಾಯ ರಶೀದಿ ಬರೆಯುವ ಸಮಯದಲ್ಲಿ ಮತ್ತೆ ಸುಗ್ಗಿಯ ಕಾಲದಲ್ಲಿ ಕಾಣಿಕೆಯಾಗಿ ಇವರ ಮನೆಗೆ ಬಂದು ಸೇರುತ್ತಿದ್ದವು. ತಾಯಿ, ಪತ್ನಿ, ಊರಿನ ಶಾಲೆಯಲ್ಲೆ ಓದುತಿದ್ದ ಒಬ್ಬ ಮಗ ಮತ್ತೆ ಒಬ್ಬಳು ಮಗಳಿಂದ ಕೂಡಿದ ತುಂಬಿದ ಕುಟುಂಬ. ಊರಿನ ಇವರ ಆಪ್ತವಲಯದಲ್ಲಿ ಮುಖ್ಯವಾಗಿ ಇದ್ದವರು ಪಟೇಲ್ ದುಂಡೇಗೌಡ್ರು, ದಿಣ್ಣೆಮನೆ ಶಿವಪ್ಪನವರು, ಗುಡಿಗೌಡರಾದ ಹೊನ್ನಪ್ಪ.

ಪಟೇಲ್ ದುಂಡೇಗೌಡ್ರು ಊರಿನ ನ್ಯಾಯ ತೀರ್ಮಾನ, ಜೊತೆಗೆ ಶ್ಯಾನುಭೋಗರ ಕಂದಾಯ ವಸುಲಿ ಸಮಯದಲ್ಲಿ ಸಹಾಯ ಮತ್ತಿನಿತರ ಗ್ರಾಮಕ್ಕೆ ಸಂಬಂಧಪಟ್ಟ ಕೆಲಸದ ಮೇಲ್ವಿಚಾರಣೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಯಾವತ್ತು ಕೂಡ ಮುಂದು, ಊರಿನ ಹಿರಿಯರು ಕೂಡ. ಭಾರಿ ಕುಳ ಅನ್ನುವುದರಲ್ಲಿ ಸಂದೆಹವಿಲ್ಲ, 1000ಕ್ಕು ಮಿಕ್ಕಿದ ತೆಂಗಿನ ತೋಟ, ಬತ್ತ ಕಬ್ಬು ಬೆಳೆಯಲು 50 ಎಕ್ಕರೆ ಗದ್ದೆ, 60 ಎಕ್ಕರೆ ಹೊಲ, ಕಬ್ಬರೆಯಲು ಕೆರೆಯ ಹಿಂದಿನ ತಮ್ಮ ಸ್ವಂತದ್ದೆ ಆಲೆ ಮನೆ. 70-80 ಚದರದ ಒಂದು ಭವ್ಯವಾದ ಮನೆ, ಅಷ್ಟೆ ವಿಸ್ತಾರವಾದ ಮನೆ ಸುತ್ತಲ ಪ್ರಾಂಗಣ. ತಕ್ಕಮಟ್ಟಿಗೆ ಧಾನಧರ್ಮ ಮಾಡಿಕೊಂಡು ಬಂದ ಮನೆತನ.

ದಿಣ್ಣೆಮನೆ ಶಿವಪ್ಪನವರು, ಇವರ ಮನೆ ಊರಿನ ಏತ್ತರದಲ್ಲಿ ಇದ್ದಿದ್ರಿಂದ ಇವರ ಮನೆಯವರನ್ನು ದಿಣ್ಣೆಮನೆ ಮನೆಯವರು ಅಂತ ಕರೆಯುವ ವಾಡಿಕೆಯಾಗಿತ್ತು ಹಾಗೆ ಇವರನ್ನು ದಿಣ್ಣೆಮನೆ ಶಿವಪ್ಪ ಅಂತನೆ ಕರಿಯೊವ್ರು, ಇವರ ಮನೆಯ ಇತರರನ್ನು ಕೂಡ "ದಿಣ್ಣೆಮನೆ ಕಲ್ಲೆಶ", "ದಿಣ್ಣೆಮನೆ ಗಂಗಣ್ಣ" ಅಂತ ಕರಿತಿದ್ರು. ಕಲ್ಲೇಶ, ಗಂಗಣ್ಣ ಶಿವಪ್ಪನವರ ಮಕ್ಕಳು. ಪಿತ್ರಾರ್ಜಿತವಾಗಿ ಬಂದಿದ್ದ, ಪಟೇಲ್ ದುಂಡೆಗೌಡರ ಸಮಕ್ಕು ಇರುವ, ಜಮೀನಿನ ವಾರುಸ್ದಾರರು ಕೂಡ. ಇದೇ ರೀತಿಯಲ್ಲಿ, ಕೊನೆಮನೆ ಕಲ್ಲಪ್ಪ, ಮೇಗಲುಮನೆ ಚಿಕ್ಕಲಿಂಗಣ್ಣ, ಹಣ್ಣಿನಮನೆ ಶಿವಬಸಪ್ಪ, ಬೀದಿಮನೆ ತಿಮ್ಮೇಗೌಡ್ರು ಅಂತ ಒಂದಲ್ಲ ಒಂದು ಕಾರಣದಿಂದ ಪ್ರತಿಮನೆಯವರನ್ನು ಒಂದಲ್ಲ ಒಂದು ಹೆಸರಿಂದ ಸಂಬೋದಿಸುವುದು ಈ ಗ್ರಾಮದಲ್ಲಿ ಕಂಡುಬರುವ ಒಂದು ಅಂಶ.

ಗುಡಿಗೌಡ ಹೊನ್ನಪ್ಪನವರು ಊರಿನ ಕೆಂಪಮ್ಮ ದೇವಸ್ತಾನದ ಮೇಲ್ವಿಚಾರಣೆ ನೋಡಿಕೊಳ್ಳುತಿರುವವರು, ಪಾರಂಪರಿಯವಾಗಿ ಬಂದಿರುವ ಅಧಿಕಾರ. ಇವರ ಮನೆಯವರನ್ನು ದಿಣ್ಣೇಮನೆ ಮನೆಯವ್ರು ಅನ್ನೊ ಹಾಗೆ ಗುಡಿಗೌಡ್ರು ಮನೆಯವ್ರು ಅಂತ ಕರಿತಿದ್ದ ಪ್ರತೀತಿ ಇತ್ತು. ಜಾತ್ರೆ, ಅಮ್ಮನ ಉತ್ಸವದ ಸಮಯದ ಹೊರೆತು ಇನ್ನಿತರ ದಿನಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಅಮ್ಮನ ಒಡವೆ, ದೇವಸ್ಥಾನದ ಅಮುಲ್ಯವಾದ ಪಾತ್ರೆ ಪಗಡೆಗಳು ಇವರ ಮನೆಯಲ್ಲಿದ್ದ ದೇವಸ್ಥಾನಕ್ಕೆ ಸೇರಿದ್ದ ಕಬ್ಬಿಣ್ಣದ ಕಜಾನೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಇರುತ್ತಿದವು.

ಹಳ್ಳಿಯ ವಿವರಣೆ ಇಷ್ಟು ಸಾಕು, ಮತ್ತಷ್ಟು ವ್ಯಕ್ತಿಗಳ ಮತ್ತು ಊರಿನ ವಿವರಗಳನ್ನು ಸಾಂಧರ್ಭಿಕ ಅವಶ್ಯಕತೆಗೆ ತಕಂತ್ತೆ ವಿವರಿಸುತ್ತ ಹೋಗುತ್ತೆನೆ.

ಸಂಜೆ 4 ಗಂಟೆ ಸುಮಾರಿಗೆ ಪಟೇಲ್ ದುಂಡೆಗೌಡ್ರು, ದಿಣ್ಣೆಮನೆ ಶಿವಪ್ಪನವರು, ಗುಡಿಗೌಡ್ರ ಹೊನ್ನಪ್ಪ ಮತ್ತೆ ಶಾನುಭೋಗ್ ಶಂಕರಣ್ಣನವರು ಊರ ಮುಂದಿನ ಕಟ್ಟೆಯ ಮೇಲೆ ದೇಶಾವಾರಿ ಮಾತನಡುತ್ತ ಕುಳಿತಿರಲು ಶಾನುಭೋಗರು ಮಾತು ತೆಗೆದರು

"ಪಟೇಲ್ರೆ, ಹೊಸ ವಿಸ್ಯ ಗೊತ್ತ ನಿಮ್ಗೆ?"
"ಎನ್ ಶಾನ್ಬೊಗಪ್ಪ ಅದು, ನೀ ಹೇಳಿದ್ರೆ ತಿಳಿತೈತಪ್ಪ" ಅಂತ ಪಟೇಲರೆನ್ನಲು.
"ಈಟ್ ದಿನುತಂಕ್ಕ ಸರ್ಕಾರ್ದೊರು ಬರೀ ಜಮಿನೀನ ಮೆಲೆ ಕಂದಾಯ ವಸುಲಿ ಮಾಡ್ತಿದ್ರು, ನಾವು ಎಷ್ಟು ಬೆಳ್ಕಂಡ್ರು ಯಾರು ಏನು ಕೇಳ್ತಿರ್ಲಿಲ್ಲ. ಇನ್ಮೆಲೆ ನಾವು ಬೆಳೆಯೊ ಬೆಳೆನುವೆ ಅಂದಾಜು ಮಾಡಿ ಅದುಕ್ಕು ಕಂದಾಯ ಕಟ್ಟಬೇಕಂತೆ, ಹೋದ್ ಸೋಮವಾರ ತಿಪಟೂರ್ಗೆ ಹೋಗಿದ್ನಲ್ಲ ಕೊಬ್ರಿ ಹಾಕ್ಯಂಡು, ಅವಗ ನೊಣವಿನಕೆರೆ ಶೇಕ್ದಾರರು ಮತ್ತೆ ನಾನುವೆ ತಾಶಿಲ್ದಾರುನ ಕಾಣವ ಅಂತ ಹೊಗಿದ್ವು ಈ ವರ್ಷದ ಕಂದಾಯದ ಲೆಕ್ಕ-ಬಾಬಯ್ತು ಕೊಟ್ಟುಬರೊಣ ಅಂತ, ಆವಗ ಈ ಹೊಸ ರೂಲ್ಸ್ನ ಮೈಸೊರು ಸರ್ಕಾರದವ್ರು ಮಾಡವ್ರೆ ಈ ವರ್ಷದಿಂದಲೆ ಜಾರಿ ಅಂತವ ಹೇಳಿದ್ರು. ಇಗಳಿ ಅದ್ರ ಪತ್ರವ, ೧೦ ಪಲ್ಲ ರಾಗಿಗೆ 12 ಆಣೆ ಕಂದಾಯ, 10 ಪಲ್ಲ ಬತ್ತುಕ್ಕೆ 16 ಆಣೆ, ಹಿಂಗೆಯ ತೆಂಗು, ಕಬ್ಬು ಎಲ್ಲದುಕ್ಕುವೆ ಅಂದಾಜು ಮಾಡಿ ವಸುಲಿ ಮಾಡ್ಬೇಕು ಇನ್ಮೆಲೆ, ಗೋಮಳುಕ್ಕಾದ್ರೆ ಏನು ಇಲ್ಲ" ಅಂತ ಶಾನುಭೋಗರು ಸೂಚನಾಪತ್ರವನ್ನು ಕೈಯಲ್ಲಿ ಹಿಡಿದು ಒಂದೆರಡು ಹೊಸ ನಿಯಮಗಳನ್ನು ಓದಿ ಹೇಳಿದರು.
"ಈಗೊಳ್ಳೆ ಪಜೀತಿ ಬಂತ್ತಲ ಶಾನ್ಬೋಗಪ್ಪ, ಅದ್ಯಾಕ್ ಇದ್ಕಿದ್ದಂಗೆ ಈ ಹೊಸ ರುಲೀಸ್ನ ಮಡ್ಗವ್ರೆ ಸರ್ಕಾರದವ್ರು?" ಗುಡಿಗೌಡ್ರ ಹೊನ್ನಪ್ಪ ಮಾತು ತೆಗೆದ್ರು ದಿಗುಲು ಗೊಂಡವರಂತೆ.
"ನಂಗು ಮೊದ್ಲು ಗೊತ್ತಗ್ಲಿಲ್ಲ, ಅಮೇಲೆ ಅಲ್ಲಿಗೆ ಬಂದ ಲಾಯೆರ್ ಶಂಕರಲಿಂಗಪ್ಪನವ್ರು ಹೇಳಿದ್ರು ಅದೆನೋ ಯುರೋಪ್ನಾಗೆ ಯುದ್ಧ ನೆಡಿತ ಅದೆ ಅಂತೆ, ಅದುಕ್ಕೆ ನಮ್ಮ ಹಿಂದುಸ್ಥಾನನ ಆಳುತ್ತ ಅವ್ರಲ್ಲ ಇಂಗ್ಲಿಷ್ನೊವ್ರು, ಮೈಸೂರು ಸರ್ಕಾರದ ಮುಖೇನ ಚಂದ ವಸೂಲಿ ಮಾಡ್ತಾವ್ರಂತೆ ಯುದ್ಧದ ಕರ್ಚಿಗೆ ಅಂತ ಹೇಳ್ತಿದ್ರು, ಇದ್ರು ಇರಬೈದು ಅಂತ ನಾನ್ ಬಂದೆ"
"ಎಲಾ ಕದಿಮ್ನನ್ಮಕ್ಳನ್ ತಗಂಬಂದು, ಈ ಇಂಗ್ಲೀಷ್ನೊವ್ರಿಗೆ ತಿನ್ನಕ್ಕೆ ಕಂಡೊರ್ ಮನೆ ಗಂಟೇ ಬೇಕ?, ನಾವು ಕಷ್ಟ ಪಟ್ಟು ಹಗಲು-ರಾತ್ರಿ ಗೇಯಿಮೆ ಮಾಡಿ ದುಡಿಯೋದು ಅಮೆಲೆ ಇವ್ರು ಬೂಟು ಪ್ಯಾಂಟು ಹಾಕ್ಯಂಡು ಲಲ್ಲೆ ಒಡ್ಕಂಡು ಯುದ್ಧ ಮಾಡಕ್ಕೆ ನಾವು ದುಡ್ಡು ಕೊಡೋದು, ನೊಡ್ರಪ್ಪ ಎಂಗೈತೆ ಈ ಇಂಗ್ಲೀಷ್ ಮುಂಡೆಗಂಡ್ರ ಯೊಗ್ತಿ? ಈ ಕಳ್ನನ್ ಮಕ್ಳು ಗೆದ್ದಾರ ಗೆಲ್ಲಲಿ, ಸೊತಾರ ಸೋಲಲಿ ನಮ್ಗೇನು ನಯಾಪೈಸದ್ ಉಪ್ಯೋಗ ಇಲ್ಲ, ಶೊಕೀಲಾಲ್ ನನ್ಮಕ್ಳುನ್ನ ಎಕ್ಕಡದಾಗೆ ಹೊಡೆದು ಹೊಡುಸ್ಬೆಕು ಇವರ ಜನ್ಮಕ್ಕೆ ಇಷ್ಟು ಬೆಂಕಿ ಹಾಕ" ಅಂತ ದಿಣ್ಣೆಮನೆ ಶಿವಪ್ಪನವರು ಒಂದೆರಡು ರೋಷದ ನುಡಿಗಳನ್ನು ತಮಗೆ ತೊಚಿದಂತೆ ಆಡಿದರು.
"ಆದುಕ್ಕೆ ಅಲುವ್ರೆ, ಗಾಂಧೀಜಿ ಜೊತೆ ಲಕ್ಷಾಂತರ ಜನ ದೇಶದಲೆಲ್ಲೆ ಹೊರಟ ಮಾಡ್ತಿರದು? ಭಾರತ ಬಿಟ್ಟು ತೊಲಗಿ ಅಂತವ. ತಿಪ್ಟುರಿಗೆ ಹೋದಾಗ ಕೊಲ್ಟ್ ತಾವ ಪೇಪರ್ ನಾಗೆ ಓದಿದ್ದೆ, ಬ್ರಿಟೀಶ್ ಪೋಲಿಸ್ನವ್ರು ನಮ್ಮೋರ್ನೆಲ್ಲ ಜೈಲ್ ಹಾಕ್ತಾವ್ರಂತೆ" ಶಾನಭೋಗರು ದೇಶದ ವಿದ್ಯಾಮನಗಳ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಒಂದೆರಡು ಮಾತು ಹೇಳಿದ್ರು.
"ಇವಜ್ಜ ಮಾಡ್ತಿರೋದು ನ್ಯಾಯ ಶಾನ್ಬೋಗ್ರೆ, ನಾನು ಪಪೆರ್ ನಾಗೆ ಈ ವಯ್ಯನ ಪಟ ನೋಡಿದ್ದೆ ನಮ್ಮ ಕೊಪ್ರಿ ಮಂಡಿ ಸಾಹುಕಾರ್ ಜಯಣ್ಣಾರ ಅಂಗ್ಡಿಲಿ ಹೊದ್ ತಿಂಗ್ಲು ತಿಪ್ಟೂರಿಗೆ ಕೊಪ್ರಿ ತಗಂಡು ಹೋದಾಗ. ಒಂದು ಪಂಚೆ, ಕೈಲಿ ಒಂದು ಕೋಲು ಇಟ್ಕಂಡು ಎಟೋಂದು ಜನ ಅಂತ ಈ ಅಜ್ಜುನಿಂದೆ, ಅಂಗ್ಡೀಲಿ ಇದ್ದೋರೆಲ್ಲ ಹೊಗ್ಳಿ ಮಾತಾಡ್ಕಂತಿದ್ರು. ನಾನು ಈವಜ್ಜುಂಗೆ ಯಾಕ್ ಬೇಕಪ್ಪ ಈ ಮುದಿ ವಯಸ್ಸಲ್ಲಿ ಸತ್ಯಾಗ್ರಹ, ಉಪ್ವಾಸ ಎಲ್ಲ ಮನ್ಲಿ ರೊಟ್ಟಿ-ಪಟ್ಟಿ ಉಂಡ್ಕಂಡು, ಮುದ್ದೆ ಹೊಡಿತ ಮೊಮ್ಮೊಕ್ಲುನ್ನ ಆಡಿಸ್ಕಂಡು ಹಣ್ಣು-ಹಂಪ್ಲು ತಿಂದ್ಕಂಡು ಅರಾಮಾಗಿ ಇರದ್ಬಿಟ್ಟು ಅಂತ ಅಂದ್ಕಂಡು ಬಂದೆ. ನೀನು ಇವತ್ತು ಹೊಸ ರುಲೀಸ್ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಹೇಳಿದ್ಮೆಲೆ ಈ ವಜ್ಜ ಮಾಡ್ತಿರದೆ ಸೈ ಅಂತ ಅನ್ನುಸ್ತ ಅದೆ. ಗಾಂಧೀಜಿಗೆ ಜಯ ಸಿಗ್ಲಪ್ಪ, ನಮ್ಗೆ ಬಿಡುಗಡೆ ಸಿಕ್ಕಿದಂಗಾಗುತ್ತೆ ಈ ಮುಂಡೆಮಕ್ಳು ಇಂಗ್ಲಿಷ್ನೊವ್ರಿಂದ" ಅಂತ ದಿಣ್ಣೆಮನೆ ಶಿವಪ್ಪನವ್ರು ಎದುರಿಗಿದ್ದ ಅಮ್ಮನ ಗುಡಿಗೆ ಕೈ ಮುಗಿದರು.
"ಸರಿ ಶಾನ್ಬೋಗಪ್ಪ, ಮುಂದೆ ಎಂಗಪ್ಪ ಮಾಡದೀಗ? ಎಲ್ಲರುವೆ ಬೆಳೆಯೊ ಬೆಲೆ-ಕಾಳು, ದಿನ್ಸಿ ಧಾನ್ಯ ಎಲ್ಲಾದುಕ್ಕುವೆ ಕಂದಾಯ ಕಟ್ಲೇ ಬೇಕ?" ಅಂತ ಪಟೇಲರು ಮಾತನ್ನು ಹೊಸ ಕಂದಾಯದ ನಿಯಮದ ಕಡೆಗೆ ಎಳೆದರು.
"ಹೂ ಪಟೇಲ್ರೆ, ಸರ್ಕಾರದ್ ಆಘ್ನೆ ಅಂದ್ರೆ ಆಗೋತು, ಯಾರು ತಪ್ಪಂಗಿಲ್ಲ, ತಪ್ಪಿದ್ರೆ ಪೊಲಿಸ್ನಾರು ಬಂದು ತುಂಬ್ಕ್ಯಂಡು ಹೊಗ್ತಾರೆ. ನನ್ಗೆ ಇವಾಗ ಜಾಸ್ತಿ ಕೆಲ್ಸ, ಪ್ರತೀ ಒಬ್ರು ಎಷ್ಟು ಬೆಳ್ದವ್ರೆ ಅಂತ ಅವ್ರ ಜಮೀನಿನ ಅಂದಾಜ್ ಮೇಲೆ ಅದುಕ್ ತಕ್ಕಂಗೆ ಕಂದಾಯ ಹಾಕ್ಬೇಕು, ಈಟ್ ದಿನ್ ತಕ್ಕ ಇವೆಲ್ಲ ತಲೆ ನೋವಿರ್ಲಿಲ್ಲ." ಅವ್ರ ಪಜೀತಿ ತೋಡಿಕೊಂಡ್ರು, ಆದರು ಒಂದು ರೀತಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಶಾನಭೋಗರಿಗೆ ಇದರಿಂದ ಉಪಯೋಗವೆ ಅಗಿತ್ತು ಅನ್ನಿ ಯಾಕೇಂದ್ರೆ ಕಡಿಮೆ ಅಂದಾಜು ಮಾಡಿದ್ರೆ, ರೈತರಿಂದ ಕಾಣಿಕೆಯ ರೂಪದಲ್ಲಿ ಈಗ ಸಿಗುವುದಕಿಂತ ಹೆಚ್ಚು ಸಿಗುವ ಸಂಭವ ಇತ್ತು ಮತ್ತು ತಮ್ಮಗೆ ಇನ್ನಷ್ಟು ಜಾಸ್ತಿ ಅಧಿಕಾರ ಸಿಕ್ಕಿರುವ ಒಳಒಳಗೆ ಸಂತೋಷ ಬೇರೆ ಅನ್ನೋದನ್ನ ಬಿಡಿಸಿ ಹೇಳುವ ಅವಶ್ಯಕತೆ ಇಲ್ಲ.
"ನೀವೇಳದು ಸರೀನೆಯ, ಈ ಪೊಲಿಸ್ನೊರ್ ಕೈಗೆ ಸಿಕ್ಕ್ರೆ ರಕ್ತ ಈರಿಬಿಡ್ತಾರೆ ಕಣಪ್ಪ, ಅವ್ರ ಸಹವಾಸವೇ ಬೇಡ ಏನೊ ಉಪಾಯ್ವಾಗಿ ಬಗೆ ಹರಿಸ್ಕ್ಯಂಡು ಕಂದಾಯ ಕಟ್ಕ್ಯಂದು ಹೊಗಣ ಎಲ್ಲಾರುವೆ" ಅಂತ ಹೊನ್ನಪ್ಪನೊರು ವ್ಯಾವಹಾರಿಕಾವಾಗಿ ಶಾನಭೋಗ್ರಿಗೆ ಅರ್ಥ ಹಾಗುವ ಹಾಗೆ ಹೇಳಿ, ಶಾನುಭೋಗರಿಗೆ ಮತ್ತಷ್ಟು ಮನಸಂತೋಷ ಪಡುವಂತೆ ಮಾಡಿದರು.
"ಸರಿ ಪಟೇಲ್ರೆ, ಸಂಜೆ ಹೊತ್ತು ಮುಳ್ಗಿದ್ಮ್ಯಾಲೆ ಊರಿನ ಎಲ್ಲಾರ್ನು ಗುಡಿ ಅತ್ರ ಬರಕ್ಕೆ ಹೆಳ್ಬೆಕಲ್ರ, ಈ ಹೊಸ ರುಲೆಸ್ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಹೇಳೊಕ್ಕೆ" ಅಂತ ಶಾನಭೋಗ್ರು ಪಟೇಲ್ರತ್ರ ಒಂದು ಸಾರಿ ಕಣ್ಣಾಯಿಸಿದರು.
ಪಟೇಲ್ ಗುಂಡೇಗೌಡ್ರು ಕುಲವಾಡಿ ಮಾಯನ್ನ ಕರೆಸಿ "ಲೇ ಮಾಯ, ಊರೊಳಿಕೆಲ್ಲ ಹೊಗಿ ಇವತ್ ಸಂಜಿಗೆ ಎಲ್ಲಾರುವೆ ಅಮ್ಮನ ಗುಡಿತಾವ, ಮನಿಗೆ ಒಂದೊಂದು ಹಾಳಂತೆ ಬರ್ಲೆಬೆಕಂತೆ, ಶಾನ್ಭೊಗ್ರುವೆ ಪಟೇಲ್ರುವೆ ಆಘ್ನೆ ಮಾಡವ್ರೆ ಅಂತ ತಮ್ಟೆ ಬಡ್ಕಂದು ಸಾರ್ಕ್ಯಂಡು ಬಾ ಹೊಗ್ಲ"
ಮಾಯ ಕುತುಹಲದಿಂದ "ಯಾಕ್ ಬುದ್ದಿ, ಏನ್ ಇಸ್ಯ?"
ಪಕ್ಕದಲ್ಲೆ ಮೊದಲೆ ರೋಷದಲ್ಲಿದ್ದ ಶಿವಪ್ನೊವ್ರು, "ಲೆಯ್ ಮುಚ್ಕಂಡು ಹೇಳಿದ್ ಕೆಲ್ಸ ಮಾಡೋಗ್ಲ, ಇಲ್ದವೆಲ್ಲ ಪುಲಾರ ಯಾಕ್ ನಿಂಗೆ, ಲಾಯ್ರಿ ಪಾಯಿಂಟ್ ಮಡುಗ್ತಾವ್ನೆ. ಯಾಕೆ, ಏನು ಅಂತ ಕೆಳ್ತಾವ್ನೆ ಬಾಂಚದ್ ತಗಂಬಂದು" ಅನ್ನುತ್ತ ಅಲ್ಲೆ ಇದ್ದ ಹೊನ್ನಪ್ನೊವು, ಶಾನ್ಭೋಗರು ಮತ್ತೆ ಪಟೇಲರ ಕಡೆ "ಅಲುವ್ರ?" ಅನ್ನುವಂತೆ ನೋಡಿದರು, ಎಲ್ಲಾರು ಸಮ್ಮತಿಸಿದರು ಕೂಡ.


ಮಾಯ ತನಗೆ ಆದ ಮರ್ಯಾದಿಗೆ ಕಂಗೆಡದೆ ತಮಟೆ ತರಲು ತನ್ನ ಮನೆ ಕಡೆಗೆ ಬಿರುಬಿರನೆ ಹೆಜ್ಜೆ ಹಾಕುತ್ತ ನೆಡೆದ.
ಮುಂದುವರೆಯುವುದು.......

Hubli fast passenger at 10:10 PM.............

People have been talking much about our Britain inherited railways for years and it will be in years to come, about its origin in India to its bottomless pit which routes our sins to ground ;-)…Well let’s not hang around much talked, being talked and will be talked topic till the last bacteria dies on this earth….What provoked me to write this blog? Did I ask this question before I start this? “No” is the answer…I just thought of writing a blog and first thing came to my mind was train and I said “yes why not?”, after all this was (is) part of my life and it is not an exaggeration to say this….;-)Well here I go…………..It was 8 PM on Friday in the month of march when I left office signing off yet another hectic week at work…… well now the time was to rejoice thinking about the weekend and “which movie to watch?” “Who all to meet over the weekend”, “what time we shall go to sridari’s churmuri stall on Saturday evening”, “who is coming to tiptur this weekend?”, “Going to ganga’s daba with boys wouldn’t be a bad idea though?” all these wonderful thoughts would cross my mind as I travel from e-city to majestic in our dignified Infy bus, listening to old melodies in my better half (I-pod) with my eyes glued into a novel (“God of small things” by Arundathi roy if I remember it correctly)… It would take quiet a toll on me by the time I reach majestic after squeezing through our renowned Namma Bengaluru traffic… it was 9:15 PM by the time I reached railway station and bought my tickets after standing in queue for 15 minutes listening to “Aanewala pal jaanewala hai”, “Dilbar mere kab thak mujhe” ,“Gulabi ankhaen, jo teri dekkhi” and many more followed, witnessing all those innumerable happenings around me like, people rushing and running with their baggage to catch the train… A lady standing in a queue tucked with a baby on her one side and carrying a bag on her other side, enquiring the police man over there for the right time,platform and train which would take her to the place she had bought ticket for and in turn police guiding her…. and at the same time he found someone quarreling at the front line while buying tickets and he appeared there to nullify the heated up situation… As I passed through the first platform to take the over bridge to reach10th platform from where Hubli past passenger which starts at 10:10 PM, I stopped at a shop to buy a water bottle and ordered one and as I stood there with my legs crossed and right hand resting on the counter of the shop, turned my head to left and found a group of youth, speaking in Hindi. One of them was leaving back home I guess (could make out from the baggage he had along with him) and rest of them hugging and cheering gud bye and those feel good factors you get see when someone seeing off their dear ones… but one girl among them was filled with tears and emotion in her eyes and I guess maybe she was his best friend or may be little more than that… Highly emotional scene to witness at a crowded station and I was already started scripting some story (love) in my mind… well I was back to my senses when shopkeeper snapped the bottle on the counter and said to me in a high pitch “dus rupyaa sir” (see the kannada fate in our railway station ;-( ), I realized that I stopped here to buy water bottle and paid him the money, without uttering a word I took the bottle and vanished through the crowd over the bridge to reach 10th platform... as it was already 9:40 PM, I said to myself “oh my god, train would have already come to platform and seats wouldn’t left vacant” and I hurried a bit and reached the platform and stood under the over bridge (where actually general bogeys (last 2 of the train) would come and stand) and much to my surprise train was not there in the platform yet, quite opposite to its historical facts…I felt relaxed and by this time, my better half (I-pod) was singing “Zindagi pyar ka geet hai, jise har dil ko ghaana pade ga….” and I hummed along with her and as I walked down the platform to see if there are any pretty girls so that I can just eye at them till the train comes ;-)… Unfortunately I didn’t find any girls but I found cheti (Chethan) coming from other end of the platform carrying 2 bagages, one in each hand and a bagpack, it was much evident to say that he parked his bike and bought his ticket from back gate (counter near 8th platform) and he looked tired… As he came closer he identified me and asked in surprise “buddhi (he used to call his friends), you also in this train today??, train hasn’t come yet?”, when I confirmed him that it isn’t, he replied “ I thought I would miss it, normally this train is on time but ivattu ee nan maklu ge yenagiddio”, both of us cursed the railway department for couple of mins as if we are always perfect in life and continued our discussions on stock investments which he had made recently and he gave all this gyan about stocks and shares which was always useful… as we both started walking towards the over bridge, we saw Shari (Sharath), Govinda (Naveen) and Gandsi (Santosh) standing there and we too joined them (ours was always a gang and used to travel together always, though some were missing that day).. With in 2 minutes train arrived and we tried our best to get the seats, but much to our embarrasment and misfortune all of us didn’t get the seats in general bogey to sit.... we started contemplating on getting into the reservation bogey and bribing the ticket collector with 125 rs for 5 of us (this was our regular trick when travelling in crowded train as we knew that there would be lots of empty seats available in reservation bogeys)…We got into the reservation bogey, when TC came there and asked us about reservation tickets, Govinda said to him in a low pitch and slow paced voice “Sir, we would get down in Tiptur and you can come near Kardi station” and made some kind of ishaara (some kind of mutual understanding we maintained with these TCs), TC gave a smile and went ahead to next compartment…. As the train started, TC again came to us and asked us to sleep in berths if we want (as there were so many berths left vacant) and assured us that he would come and wake us up when Kardi station comes (station a little before Tiptur)… we all cracked some jokes and had chat for some 15-20 mins and slept by taking a berth each… Chethi and I took the lower berth, remaining 3 took upper ones… as everyone slept, I was still awake as normally I don’t sleep while travelling in the train… I put on my I-pod and switched off all the lights expect the one over my berth, raied the window and opened a novel and started reading it.... since it was almost end of winter and start of summer and more over it was a full moon day, cool breeze was heartening and I felt relaxed as enjoyed my reading and listening to my girl friend (I-Pod), after all it makes me feel like a heaven after whole week of tiring hectic schedule, what else you could ask out of your life??... train took its pace as it left chickbanawar station and I was by this time listening to “Oh maajire…..” and list followed by “Dil aaj shaayar hai….”, “Yadoon ki barat…”, “Meri soni, meri tamanna…”, “Musafir yaaro, na ghar hai na thikana…” and many more kishore da, lata ji and rafi saab’s songs… as I enjoyed this ambience, Train arrived at Tumkur station and I saw chai walas shouting “chai chai”, policemen patrolling on the platform, people getting down and getting in... Govinda woke up and looked at his watch and said “11:30 already” and asked me peeping out of his berth (above mine) “Tumkura maga?” and I said “yes”, and he slept again and before he slept he said “Kardi bandaga wake us up” antha… Train took up its pace more from Tumkur and as Ammasandra station arrived I looked out through the window to see the cement factory glowing with the yellowish white lights... I felt like going and stand near the door for quite a while and did so… By now Enrique’s “Bailamos……..” was being played in my I-Pod and let me confess that it used to make me feel heaven on earth to stand near the train door putting my head out and cool breeze ruffling my hairs (I used leave my hair long then) with train rushing at a speed of around 70-80 km/hr and listeing to “Bailamos….” which was in perfect sync with the speed of train (Which is a very fast paced beautiful song, sung by Enrique), my god one should feel it………… just awesome experience……… I enjoyed my solitude with dark outside, light inside for sometime... as I closed the door and was coming back to my berth, TC arrived and woke up others and grinned at us said “Kardi banthu, next stop is tiptur”… all of us got down and sat on lower berth taking our luggages in our hand, TC sat diagonally opposite to us and we realized he is there here to collect his part of money and Chethi gave him 125 Rs and he was asking for 25 more and Chethi spoke to him in a convincing voice, “Sir, 2 years inda ide train alli barthivi, we always pay this much only, yen sir nimge gottalla” then he got convinced and chuckled at us and put 125 rs to his pocket and started speaking about current affairs in politics and cricket and some other things till Tiptur station arrived and we said him good bye and got down… As cheti’s house was next to railway station he went to his house by walk and remaining 4 of us hired an auto Gandsi sat in front seat along side of driver as he would be the first person to get down and rest 3 of us sat in back seat and auto set off... as we passed by Pai hotel circle we saw big hoarding of Duniya film putting over there, Govida asked “Maga Ganesha theatre alli Duniya haakidare… Beligge maadihalli hotel (small hotel in outskirts of tiptur) alli sigona, amele sanje Duniya film ge hogana, yenanthira?” Shari and I said “yes” in unison. When I reached our house it was 1 AM and my mom opened the door and started cribbing “Ayyo ondh gante agide aagle, beligge yeddu barokke agthirlilwa??, ninge yar thane helokke agutte” and served me dinner and I changed cloths and finished my dinner and started searching for that day’s news paper (as my mom used to hide it from me as I wouldn’t sleep and have dinner if I start reading news paper), finally somehow I used to find it and start reading it for one hour (again gyan from mom to keep the paper aside and sleep as it was already late)… but I never listen to that and would sleep only after completely reading cinema ranjane (prajavani suppliment on Fridays ;-))… finally life would come to halt till Saturday morning as I switched off the lights and go to deep sleep…… ;-)....

My review of music of GaaLipata :-)

Here goes my review of the GaaLipata Album, worth buying the album.

Disclaimer:Everything written below is based purely on my personal view and anything which confronts with the opinion of anyone of you, then my sincere appologies for the same. J

1. Minchaagi neenu baralu: (Lyric: Jayantha Kaykani, singer: Sonu Nigam)

This is again a song which perfectly suits Sonu’s voice, which is well verse in expressing the emotions and manifestation of the feelings in soothing manner. This is again an ideal song for Sonu. One of the beautiful lyrics written by Jayanth kaykani in recent times. Some lines are really touching like “Virahada bege sudalu, yedeyalli besige kala”, “Naa ninna kanasige chandhaDhaaranu, chandha baaki needalu bande baruvenu…” and “Naa nera hrudayada varadigaaranu, ninna nodidha kshanadali, maathe marevenu…” Ee reeTiya tharKakke nilukada Saahithya bareyuva Kaykaniyavarige full marks, innu coming to the composition of the tune of this song, as you listen it for the first time no wonder you would feel it somewhat same like “Anisutide” tune, may be Harikrishna couldn’t resist to blend the lyrics with the soothing “Anisutide” tune which was trend setter early 2007 and unknowingly he has composed by picking some strings from “Anisutide” tune… anyways, you can call it as an improved version of “Anisutide” tune. Vocal chorus used by Harikrishna as the song nearing to the climax has added much more richness to the song. And coming to the Kannada Uchharane of Sonu, he has given his 100% to sing his best and he has lot improved this time except one or two instances, but they are negligible, but all you can expect from non-kannadiga is not anything more than this. So 10/10 to Sonu. Overall I can give 4/5 for this song.

2. Nadhimdhim tana: (Lyric: Yograj Bhatt, singer: Chitra)

This is my personal favorite in this movie. Yograj Bhat has himself penned the lyrics for this number and he is at his best as a lyricist, who had also written lyrics for “Mungaru Maleye…” and I personally rate that lyric (Mungaru maleye…) as “One of my favorite filmi lyrics”. Coming to this song, Bhattaru (Yograj) ondu hudugiya preethiya bhavaanegaLannu, sundara saahithyada moolaka sundaravaagi thorsiddare andre taPpagalaradu… Chitra’s (“AmruthaVarshini” & “ChandraMukhi PraanaSaki” fame) classical voice is at her best in recent times. We should also be aware of the very fact that not every singer can sing this classical influenced kind of songs, which are difficult to sing. Super variations in the tempo and versatile expressions are all you can notice in Chitra’s tone. Chitra’s voice is a perfect match to this song as it needs classical touch into it and she deserves the credit for giving the needed touch. Modala sala neevu E haadannu kelidare, you will find that Harikrishna has some influence of “Jiya chale (dil se)” tunes and has given similar kind of tune. And the way he has used the instruments, vocal chorus and everything of his part of work needs an appreciation. Some lines are really catchy like “Thaakita tharakita yennutide E hRudaya mrudanGa, suNdara maaNasa saroVaradalli Prema taRanga” and “Premada sarigama Swara-Thaalada koLadalli, Haadutha theladutha, jwara herisuva maLeyalli” and few other lines.

My rating goes like 4.5/5.

3. Kavithe kavithe: (Lyric: Hrudayashiva, singer: Vijay Prakash)

Luckily I didn’t notice any influence of past tunes on Harikrishna while composing tune for this number… J Lyrics is again a contribution from HrudayaShiva and in his own typical style. When you listen to this song, Bhaavathireka Vyaktapadiso ondu mouna tumbida manada gEethe antha bhaavisuvudaralli yeRadu maaThilla… Very slow and sleep time song you can say and new singer (I think so, coz I have heard his name only very recently) Vijay Prakash has sung this song very well and am not such an expert to judge anyone’s voice, but as a common person I like his variations and emotion filled tone and I hope so as you all. Lets wish Vijay Prakash all the very best for his future. Few lines I found intresting are “Nannedeya goodalli kavitheGala santhe, oh Olave nee tanda haadige naa sOthe”, “AvaLu Baralu manadalli padagalade chilume” and “Mugila hegala meleri thelutide hRudaya, madila huduki yede baagilige banto pranaya”. So over all this is good song. We can give 4/5.

4. Aakasha Iste yakidio?? (Title track): (Lyric: Jayantha Kaykani, singer: Tippu, Kunal Ganjawala)

Jayanth Kaykaniyavaru barediruva E geetheya Saahithya ondu reethiyalli Young generation song which makes you to groove to the music when you listen to this number, which totally differs from the 3 songs which are listed above. Here Kaykani also proves that he can not only write those emotional lyrics but also the lyrics which suit the party number as well. Kunal Ganjawala and Tippu have sung the song in a tone to sync the music perfectly to make it a perfect dance number, may be this song may rule the stages of the school, college fests and other cultural events in the days later in the year. The catchy voice in this song is of Chaitra’s (“Huduga Huduga” fame), though she has not spelt out any lyric in this song, “Nannai nana nai” from her tone in the beginning of the song and also in between the lines is just awesome and extract all the attention and made the song more colorful. Nothing to tell about the lyrics, here its all about the music in this song more than lyrics, but “YES” lyrics is equally good.

May be we can give 3.75/5.

5. Ondesamane Nittusiru: (Lyric: Yograj Bhatt, singer: Sonu Nigam)

This song is a sad version of “Minchaagi Neenu Baralu” but this time the lyric contribution from Yograj Bhattru. The lyric is much evident to prove the “Saahithya Shrimanthike” of Yograj bhat. E haadina keluvu saalugaluanthu, kandithavaaGalu nimma prashamse ge paathra aaguvudaralli sandehavilla…Every word of the lyric will take you to the emotion filled world and Sonu’s voice has made the song more appealing to the emotional persons and Kudos to Yograj for writing such a good lyrics. Each line is very nicely written and especially the line which goes like this à“Thumbi thuLuko kangaLali, karaguthide kanasina baNNa” is really touching and also “Honganasina chaadaralli mullina haasigayali malagi,yatanege mugulnage baralu, kanna hani summane hoNagi, avaLannu japisuvude olave?” is also very touching. Coming to Sonu’s Kannada uccharane, here in some places you can see him missing the “hottakSharaGaLu” and some “Kaagunitha” mistakes otherwise its ok. Music bagge yenu heluvudilla yakendre this has the same music as that of “Minchaagi neenu baralu” with little slow pace.

4/5 is what we can give.

6. Aaha bidiru Bombe: (Lyric: Jayantha Kaykani, singers:Udit Narayan,Anuradha Sriram)

This song is sung by Udit Narayan and Anuradha Sriram, lyrics by Jayantha Kaykani. When you have heard the name of Udit narayan, you would have thought that this song is kind of “Jhink chak” type of song antha, Jthat means a song which is full of maja and masti in it… “Nenanipa jaathreyali haledu naa, kanasina kannadiya kollale” is just the glimpse of the lyrics which you can notice which is sung in a masti way and remaining part of the song also goes in the same manner. Tune for this is song is also sounds good when heard along with the lyrics. May be you can call it as a dance number as well. Time pass song in short for now and may be it has got some added value to the story in the movie for sure.

Rating goes like 3.5/5 for this song.

So over all around ~4/5 is what I can personally rate this album.