‘So you must like cricket, eh?’ people from England, from Australia, from South Africa, ask me when they find out that I am Indian. You need to see us to really know the answer to that, see us out on the streets in the afternoon heat, radiant faces shining through all the colours on this Sunday afternoon.
‘Cholun dada, aajkei to din’ (‘Come on brother, today’s the day for all this madness’). One of the guys comes out of the march running towards me as I stand leaning against my car, watching. I ask him what he does for a living. He never finished school, he says. His father died when he was thirteen and he had a mother and three sisters to support, so he found work as a household help. That was five years ago. Now he does odd jobs when he can get them – at a garage, washing cars in the neighbourhood, running errands for the clerks in a government office – but he hasn’t had one for a few weeks now. Where did he watch the game? On the tiny set in the local tea shop, packed into a square foot of space with ten of his friends, all of whom are now out with him on the street.
He smears my face with colour. ‘Could I borrow a cigarette from you?’ he asks. I fish out my packet, give him one, light one for myself and, with awkward dance steps, join their swelling procession.
Acknowledgements
The Calcutta Club swimming pool, where much of this book was written – at least in my head.
Fellow India fans – the true believers.
Tristan Jones, my editor. For that e-mail. And everything else thereafter.
Purabi and Dilip Bhattacharjee, my parents. For keeping the faith.
Chandrani, my wife, my best friend. For being there. For being you.
Thank you.
This ebook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.
Epub ISBN: 9781446484944
Version 1.0
www.randomhouse.co.uk
Published by Yellow Jersey Press 2006
2 4 6 8 10 9 7 5 3 1
Copyright © Soumya Bhattacharya 2006
Soumya Bhattacharya has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and
Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work
First published in Great Britain in 2006 by
Yellow Jersey Press
Yellow Jersey Press
Random House, 20 Vauxhall Bridge Road,
London SW1V 2SA
Random House Australia (Pty) Limited
20 Alfred Street, Milsons Point, Sydney,
New South Wales 2061, Australia
Random House New Zealand Limited
18 Poland Road, Glenfield,
Auckland 10, New Zealand
Random House (Pty) Limited
Isle of Houghton, Corner of Boundary Road & Carse O’Gowrie,
Houghton, 2198, South Africa
Random House Publishers India Private Limited
301 World Trade Tower, Hotel Intercontinental Grand Complex,
Barakhamba Lane, New Delhi 110 001, India
The Random House Group Limited Reg. No. 954009
www.randomhouse.co.uk
A CIP catalogue record for this book
is available from the British Library
EPUB ISBN 9781446484944
www.vintagelink.co.uk
You Must Like Cricket? Page 16