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...
I often wonder why customers always target the vegetables vendors for bargaining and saving a few cents. Maybe because it is of everyday use, but the savings, if any, hardly amount to anything. This is relevant for India where markets are mostly traditional. That day I went to the market on a few errands. First I wanted to buy sweets for Diwali and went to the most famous shop of the locality. There was a huge crowd there and as I inched closer to the counter I saw one customer with a countenance oozing opulence really monopolizing it. He was buying a wide variety of sweets in big quantities. I decided to run away to another shop because of the fact that I wanted to buy just 250 grams of one variety! After the customary purchase I went to the vegetable vendor for a few more items. As I was finishing the man oozing opulence approached the same vendor and started bargaining! For an item priced 30 bucks a kilo he announced,’ I’ll give 20 bucks because I’ll buy two and half kilos!’ Th...