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...
Yes, I have two fathers and it's not a joke. My father by birth, Amulya Kumar Chakravarty was an author and translator of world epics. He translated Homer's Odyssey and Illiad, and Virgil's Aeneid into Assamese. These great books are milestones in Assamese literature. And he was a great friend of mine. I lost him in 1991, but he continues to live with us. My father by marriage, Bibekananda Bhattacharya was a great musician, composer and tabla player. From the fifties he had been accompanying legendary artistes on tabla, composing great songs including film music and doing scholarly research in music. IAnd he was a great friend of mine. I lost him in 2007, but he continues to live with us. I consider myself very fortunate to have two such great father friends and unfortunate to lose them both--well, physically.