Mumbai Diary page: Sunday shorts

Sunny Sachin in Crowersquos nestIt seems dream teams only make news in India when the cricket personalities making them omit our greats Remember the flak umpire Dicky Bird got last year when he didnrsquot have Sachin Tendulkar in his alltime Test XISachin Tendulkar and Sunil GavaskarNow New Zealandrsquos iconic batsman Martin Crowe has come up with an impressive study on ESPN Cricinfo website and picked his best XIIndian cricket lovers herersquos some good news His XI includes Sunil Gavaskar and Sachin TendulkarCrowersquos team is similar to Richie Benaudrsquos dream team which the Australian cricket legend compiled a decade ago Like Crowe Benaud had the two Indian batting greats in his listHeat hits the roof While the city scorched at 40degC on Friday these schoolgirls reach for the sunroof of their car to make the most of the stray breeze PicSayed Sameer Abedi Benaud also had Pakistanrsquos Imran Khan and Englandrsquos S F Barnes to accompany Dennis Lillee in the fast bowling section as against Crowersquos choice of Malcolm Marshall and Wasim AkramThe Kiwi wasnrsquot as brave as Benaud who included Barnes without watching any footage of the bowler who claimed 189 wickets in only 27 Tests 1643 from 1901 to 1914Maximum city The 19dayold infantrsquos family has been inundated with donations for the surgery which will hopefully save her lifeCrowersquos XI Jack Hobbs Sunil Gavaskar Don Bradman Sachin Tendulkar Viv Richards Garry Sobers Adam Gilchrist Shane Warne Dennis Lillee Malcolm Marshall and Wasim AkramBenaudrsquos XI Hobbs Gavaskar Bradman Richards Tendulkar Sobers Imran Gilchrist Warne Lillee and SF BarnesCycle of errorsDiscrepancies in Election ID cards are a common phenomenon in India and this diarist is perhaps one of the several thousand voters suffering from an identity crisis With the general elections around it was thought to be prudent to approach the authorities to rectify the mistakes in the voters ID After accurately filling the form and completing all formalities the diarist was hopeful that the new ID card would be errorfree But that was not to be While the initial error was corrected where the first name of the diarist was wrongly spelt the authorities took it upon themselves to reduce the age of the diarist and even change the address This is the second time the diarist had applied for corrections It makes one wonder that if this cycle will ever endSame old Roads in Navi Mumbai are illmaintainedTeen heroThe city definitely has a big heart It was evident once again after midday reported about a 19dayold infant in need of money for a lifesaving surgery Money poured in from all parts of the city and state But one donor stood out A senior doctor at the hospital where the girl is being treated tells us that a teenage boy called him up ldquoHe said he had saved some money to buy himself a mobile phone but would now want to donate that money for the girl When I told him we had enough money to save the baby he insisted that we take at least some of his money for her post operative carerdquo said the doctor With such boys and girls showing us the way Mumbai and indeed India still has hopeNew town old rubbish For some inexplicable reason Mumbaikars tend to believe that Navi Mumbai is a jazzier more organised town compared to the mainland Itrsquos only when they cross the Vashi Creek that they realise how similar the satellite town is to their own area Yes there are more parks and the railway stations look smarter But the roads are just as bad A young woman who frequently visits the socalled planned city had this to say ldquoTherersquos hardly anything new about Navi Mumbai Same old problems same old rubbishrdquo Ouch