As anticipated, the political masters of Pakistan have finally directed its national cricket team to lift the boycott and play India on 15 February, 2026, as scheduled in Colombo . The Masters must've thought the money at stake is too lucrative to continue indulging in such kind of grumpy politics. Of course, they had imposed some pre-conditions that included making the 'handshake' a mandatory protocol, but the ICC looked the other way. So, the PCB takes it as protecting the 'spirit of cricket'. The Indian cricket board , the sponsors, the TV channels and millions of fans who do not necessarily mix patriotism with sports, if it's cricket in particular, must be deliriously ecstatic that all the revenues and hype and excitement shall be there for harvest thr oughout the ICC Men's T20 World Cup-2026 , co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka . Most of the Indians fans must also be ecstatic to have their heroes go on vanquishing the enemy neighbor and humiliating t...
A close relative who is a teacher in a high school told me recently that he gave up the responsibility of looking after the free midday meal scheme implemented in his school due to rampant corruption. He lamented that the quality provisions supplied to the school found their way to the homes and kitchens of various members of the staff almost regularly and the leftovers were left for providing meals to the students—many of whom are poor and needy. This has been the universal picture in the largest ‘dysfunctional democracy called India. Here the corrupt human hyenas are not satisfied with the leftovers, but devour away the main chunks. We have seen in this country how the fodder for animals gets siphoned off for the quick buck. The corrupt ‘human’ hyenas do not even spare the ‘human’ kids who have done them no harm at all. Right, in this great country there has never been any dearth of good and suitably targeted schemes, but at the implementation level always the hyenas muck it up in a ...