I’m not going to reveal whether I bowled the maiden over or whether the maiden bowled me.
Anyway, that aside, when I sought an appointment with Rahulji I was pleased to learn he was willing to spare some time. So I drove to 10 Janpath with my friend, fast-medium bowler R.P. Singh. Incidentally, he was born in Rae Bareli—Soniaji’s constituency—and that helped. And yes, Sakshi kept away since she does not think much of politicians and often quotes H.L. Mencken, the American satirist who once said “a good politician is quite unthinkable as an honest burglar.” Still, she feels netagiri is better than cricket although she prefers hotel management and a cup of tea to both.
But that apart, Rahul was indeed very warm although he was quick to point out that politics is not cricket. “A cricket ground is a flat piece of earth with some buildings around it,” he said quoting Richie Benaud. “But politics is a different ball game where you have to convince and confuse the people.” Well, that was indeed very deep insight (RP later told me he too was impressed). Incidentally, Rahul had read up about us on Wikipedia and knew that my birthday falls on July 7 and that RP was born on December 6 (Rahul was thoughtful enough to tell him that was the day the Beatles started recording Sgt Pepper). It is another matter that RP listens mostly to Bollywood remixes.
So, what of my future in politics? Well, I have left it all to Rahulji. As for my shaadi, I’m not going to reveal whether I bowled the maiden over or whether the maiden bowled me. I was to get married in October but it was advanced thanks to astrologer Vastu Venkatesh who felt July 4 was auspicious since it’s Independence Day...in America.
(As imagined by Ajith Pillai)