Alone on M G Road

Alone on M G Road
New Indian Express

In a gently flowering garden on MG Road, stands a stoic Mahatma Gandhi. By just craning his neck, he can see the monstrous lights of the Chinnaswami Stadium, where Bangalore’s cricket fanatics gather to cheer home-grown cricketers like Anil Kumble and Rahul Dravid. He perhaps disbelievingly smiles at the roar that almost cracks up the stadium walls when the cricket heroes take a victory lap.

And maybe, he is thankful that the British left cricket behind. At least the game brings together the whole country in the absence of a Gandhi. Gandhi has a road named after him in Bangalore.

But in keeping with the times, the city has named a circle after Anil Kumble. And is madly in love with a Wall called Rahul Dravid. Not too long back in history, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi’s ideology defined India. Now, cricket patriots wearing the Tricolour on sponsored uniforms redefine nationalism. But then comes Munnabhai and infects us all with the fever of Gandhigiri. At least till the time young people get into a brawl over cricket match tickets, yet again.