Gundappa Vishwanath's Autobiography

 There were many gentlemen cricketers in that era, which I had the good fortune to grow up watching. Vishy was one of them. Though he was not as big a star as perhaps Gavaskar or Tendulkar (later), he had a personality which stood out. Also known as the man of Cuts and Square-cuts, his autobiography is full of humility for all the well-known personalities of his era. 

This includes anecdotes about Jaisimha, Pataudi, Man Singh (administrator), Polly Umrigar, Vijay Manjrekar, and of course, Prasanna, Chandrasekhar, and Wadekar. Pataudi held a special place in his heart, as he was "spotted" by the former captain when he made a double hundred in a Ranji Trophy match, and nurtured into the Indian team. Full of unknown tidbits about the 1971 twin tours of West Indies and England which turned the course of India's cricketing fortunes, and much more. Well-narrated, and a must read for anyone who loves cricket and wants to know about the pre-Rahul Dravid gentle cricketer from Bangalore.

Anopheles and Me- A Conversation

 My winged friend, a female mosquito called Anopheles, had not visited in a long time. I asked her, "Were you quarantined?"

"What's that?" she asked.

"It's when you get sick, and other people-sorry, mosquitoes- are in danger of catching that sickness from you. They isolate you and don't let you mingle." I said.

"No chance, buddy. We have wings, in case you haven't noticed," she pointed out.

I had to agree that she did, and we didn't. Seemed like no one could lock up a mosquito as easily as we could lock down humans. That gave me some perspective on crime and punishment too.

"We have this pandemic, and we have lockdowns and quarantines, and we work from home." I continued my explanation.

"We could never work from home, unless it was your home," she said cheerfully. I understood, immediately, though not cheerfully.

"Election fever seems to be on," she observed. "It's as bad as malarial fever," I told her my view. "But IPL fever is even worse," I added.

"You mean that travesty of the Gentleman's Game?" she caught on at once.

"What gentlemen?" I asked. "The last recognised gentleman is now rebranded as Indiranagar ka gunda," I said, explaining what admen had done to Mr. Dravid of Indiranagar.

"Well, things change, you know, and not always for good." She was philosophical. 

I said, "Sure they do. A pandemic need not occur in your lifetime, but one did. Before this we only had to tackle mosquito--borne or water-borne diseases, mostly. Now, it's we who are the carriers, and maybe inventors..as if wars and gun laws weren't bad enough.." I trailed off.

"Hey, cheer up, you survived so far, didn't you? I'm sure you will get over this. Humans do, most of the time, I have observed." She was quite perceptive, like a good friend, and understood I needed cheering up. So I thanked her for her kind words, and extracted a promise to meet again, soon, before saying goodbye.