CRICKET & CROCHET

Two hours into the game and Pakistan's still at bat... and it's like there's a strike here in India (ie the streets are empty). It's sweltering both in Pakistan and in this here near-empty Internet Cafe -- where the server just went down. Sweat is dripping down the right side of my neck, ugh. Some days you are just *ready* to come home. But nothing can top watching the match at Aunty's cool, mint green living/dining room, while eating oota (meals). Except maybe watching the soaps there. When I left the Kaveri an hour ago the lobby was full of fat dhoti guys leaning back and showing off their bellies, watching the game. India's playing the role of the Cubs today (ie getting its ass kicked -- nearly all of their best bowlers are out, due to injuries). This is indeed the first time they've played Pakistan in 14 years.....

This morning Prashanth came over, asking to use my digital camera for his fill-um class. He came back an hour later; apparently class had been canceled. Then we got into an intricate discussion of cricket vs baseball, complete with drawings and charades . The Hex also filled in a few details on the game. Here's what I learned (Remember -- most of this comes from Prashanth and there's, like, a *huge* language barrier):


-Opening Bowler = Starting Pitcher
-Next Spell Bowler=Relief Pitcher
-Fault = Foul
-Wicket=Goal
-Batsman=Batter
-Run Out = Go Outside the Baseline
-No Ball = High / Wild Pitch
-Gule or First Slip=Kind of like the Short Stop
-3rd Slip=Sort of Like Short Center
-Scrizd(?)=Batter's Box/Pitcher's Mound
-Half Side Fielder=Right Fielder
-Leg Side Fielder=Left Fielder
-Long Fielder=Outfielder
-LBW=Leg Before Wicket -- in which the batter defends the wicket with his body (hence the gloves and shin guards) and counts as an out.


-The announcers (lisping-Aussies) switch off every half hour
-There are 11 guys on each team
-Pakistan's bowlers are *really* good-looking and their uniforms (green with lime green) are really cool too
-Pakistan is sponsored by Pepsi
-An Over is kind of like an inning but is really confusing; each one has six balls or something; they play 600 (300 each) balls per match
-India star mid-lineup batsman Vangipurappu Laxman (who's recovering from a knee injury) recently married one of his relatives
-There are 10 outs per Over or something
-There's only one bowler for 10 overs
-There are 50 overs for one match for each side (for a total of 100)
-There's only one bowler for 10 overs (there can be five to ten bowlers in an International One Day Match, which can go on for hours and hours)
-Pitches include fastball, spin and legbreaker
-The opening batsman is the best one (and along with the second in line can end up batting, like, the whole game)
-In addition to hitting, the Batsman has to defend the wicket (those three sticks/goal; if the ball hits one of 'em, he's out)
-The batsman wears giant gloves so his fingers don't get broken by the bowler's superfast, one-bounce pitch
-If the batsman hits the ball inside some circle, he scores four runs
-If it goes outside the circle ("outta the park") he scores six
-India's best batsman, Sachin, is just over five feet tall
-In the last game India won by five runs; the score was in the 300's
-Cricket is played primarily in Britain and its former colonies (US excluded)
-If you haven't seen Lagaan, run out and rent it.


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Y-O-G-A, YOGA

Oh yeah so I did finally go to yoga Monday and came up from backbend without a problem -- even after a week off I could still do it, which probably means I haven't been faking it this whole time. I practiced today and came up again with relative ease but did not feel too hot afterwords (dizzy, nauseated) and again spent plenty of time in bed, recuperating....Now I plan to go back to the Kaveri and if there's a seat I'll drink some mango juice, work on the hat I'm crocheting (black on black) and watch the game -- er, match -- with the Dhoti Guys (no TV's in the rooms, just roaches). Coming Soon: Yoga Stupid Pt II, with Shala Protocol (hmmm, maybe *that's* my new Indian name).....