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Breakfast with Santa~ Banta

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Date: 2003-6-30

So Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix releases and sells 1.2 lakh copies in India alone.

A footballer gets sold for a whopping $41.3 million. Our cricketers are denied the spoils of the World Cup owed to them.

And Im far, far away from all the action in the little old town of Manali. Away from money, materialism and a mobile network! Its wonderful to live life without a care.

But, hey, who says Im not getting some action of my own. Like my high-powered breakfast meeting the other morning with Santa and Banta Singh!

So I wake up to these two little Sardarji boys, Santa and Banta, in their India T-shirts, who knock on my door and say, Mandira didi, aap ke saath humein photo khichwani hai

I desperately want to decline, but these chaps are so cute and so bright-eyed and bushy-tailed at 7 in the morning that I have to say yes.

With his widest grin to camera, Banta asks me, Hamari team ko World Cup ki jeet ke paise mil gaye ki nahi? Yeh sab woh Ehsan Mani kar raha hai. Hamne Pakistan ko jo haraya tha. Woh hamare team ki jeet se jalta hai...

I try to explain to them the story of the contract issue, but in vain. They cant see beyond the fact that ever since Mr Manis arrival things have gone wrong for hamari team.

Santa and Banta drag me to the dining hall, luring me with ande ki bhurji and paranthas. While waiting for our gourmet fare, Santa says, Didi aapko pata hai, woh Bhajji bhaiyya hai na, woh hamare Ludhiane ke hain.

Hamare padosi hain. Pata hai didi, unki ungli bilkul theek nahi hai. Maine hi unse kaha tha ki bhaiyya Sachin bhaiyya ki taraha aap bhi apna operation karva hi lo.

Good idea, I tell him, but a forlorn Banta adds, Bechare Bhajji bhaiyya ko pehli baar county khelne ka mauka mila aur ungli ne phansa diya naa...

Santa and Banta are extremely well-informed, I thought. With my new-found cricket-related status (and to include myself in their conversation!) I ask them what they thought about the impending Australia-Bangladesh series.

The ande ki bhurji and paranthas had arrived, and through several mouthfuls Santa emphatically stated, Yeh sab runs aur averages badhane aur record todne ke liye ho raha hai.

Otherwise why would the sabse best team play the sabse worst? Hainji didi? Aap hi bataiye?

Absolutely flummoxed by the extent of their cricketing knowledge, I ask Santa and Banta how they know so much.

Hum buddhu thodi hain! Par humari chhodiye, apni bataiye. Aap World Cup mein itne chhote chhote baniyan kyon pehan rahin thi?

As I sat there dumbfounded, I thought to myself, with Santa and Banta sitting across me, the joke was on me!