Ten Toys We CAn Make - Home Made Toys We Have Forgotten!

As I look at the toys being advertised, the shops being crowded, the rush for popular toys, I am reminded of the toys we had when we were younger. Toys were so simple then. Do children really play with all the toys they wish for? Why do they mess around with glue, clay and colours when the latest gizmo occupies pride of place on their table? Isn't it just part guilt, part affection, part "keeping up with the Joneses" that make us give them the latest and the best, year after year. How would you and by transference the child feel should a $100 Toy break in a day?

Children love simple stuff. However they are hardly exposed to simple joys these days! I am listing here some toys every child will love. You would enjoy making them, getting your hands dirty or getting them from the store. They are replaceable but most of all they are FUN. Kids from 2-7 years will enjoy them. And sadly most of them have been forgotten.

A Wireless Set - Just a piece of string with cardboard boards at the end for earphones (maybe you can do it better!)

Marbles - Oh, the joys of playing with marbles!

Stitching a new dress by hand - not with the sewing machine.

Kites

Water Colour

A Clay Set - Try digging the clay from the yard, making shapes and then putting it on the stove to fire it!

Plastic spoons (generally found in formula milk)

Collectibles like bookmarks, stamps, labels, pencil stubs

A Homemade Book of Quotations

Picture frame

Little boxes, bottles to play stack, or glued to form monuments or just mess around with!

Paper planes, Boats!

I remember clearly two sets of precious toys I had in my childhood that I never tired of - one a little doll not more than 6 inches in height and another a clay kitchen set. I guess they are too frugal for today - but we could still make a start and bring simplicity back to our children's lives!

Anil Kumble - India's Greatest Cricketer

The retirement of Jumbo comes as a shock to me (well not really, considering the way he has been hounded the past month). And my admiration for the man goes up by one more notch. Here's why. He is the captain of the team, in the midst of a winning series against the World's No. 1 team. The next team India would play is England at home. Tailor made for Anil Kumble, right? Jumbo doesn't think so. Without any dramatics, long farewells, emotional press conferences, he just says - thats it. That's Anil Kumble for you. That's Jumbo - a man with a jumbo sized heart and humility and very little ego or drama. He didnt play well, he quit since he wasn't getting any younger at 38.

But he doesnt lack in emotion, he just doesn't care to wear it on the field. Look at the venue, where he decides to announce his retirement. Feroze Shah Kotla - the venue where he has taken 10 wickets in an innings.

Many may not agree with me here, but I would rate Jumbo among the Top 5 bowlers ever and the Best Cricketer India has produced. Let me just state a few statistics to establish my claim. I am not talking of his unique spirit here in bowling with a broken jaw, a bandaged finger, of the statesmanship shown on India's last tour of Australia. All these together would catapult him into the best cricketer ever league!

Anil Kumble has 619 wickets in a career spanning 18 years in a highly competitive sport like cricket! Remember the careers of talented spinners Sivaramakrishnan, Hirwani, Maninder Singh, Venkatapathy Raju? Of course you remember them! They are all over TV and in the selection committees! Now you understand where Kumble stands! He was definitely never touted as talented as any of them! He just quietly played 18 years, took 619 wickets over 132 Tests and spun India to victory after victory at home and abroad!

Its not just the longevity of his career that makes him the greatest ever Indian cricketer. Heard of someone called Shane Warne? Joking. Shane Warne is treated at par with a legend in Australia. There is no doubt of his standing in Australia or World Cricket. Look at his statistics. Warne has 708 wickets from 145 Tests. Mightily impressive, wouldnt you say? Of course it is! Now look at Anil Kumble's statistics. 619 wickets from 132 Tests. Just 89 less wickets from 13 less Tests!

Kumble is a legend not just for the length of his career or the wickets he has taken. Its for the wins he has given India. And its not just at home. Of course at home Anil Kumble was the King. But he was instrumental in many of India's memorable wins abroad after 2002, wins at Headingley, Adelaide, Multan and Kingston. He took 20 wickets at Australia to be the highest wicket taker there in the last tour to Oz. Winning 43 of the 118 he played, he was undoubtedly India's greatest match-winner. Before 2002, he never had a score to bowl to abroad. Its only after 2002 after Rahul Dravid started his golden run, Kumble could bowl his bouncers and googly with aplomb. And the results were for all to see. Here are some of Kumble's match winning statistics.

Career Statistics Here

For me some of the greatest Kumble moments were his leading the side to win at Perth (India were supposed to be blown aaway there!), his century at Oval (Murali and Warne havent got one!), his ten wicket haul versus Pakistan at Delhi, his playing with a bandaged broken jaw at West Indies...

For me he is real God of Indian cricket!

My Grandparent's House - A Ghost Story

(This is purely a work of fiction - any resemblance to any story, place or person is maybe intentional, maybe not!)

This incident happened to my father’s friend, Chandu Da. He had been to our ancestral home at Puri, a popular destination for Bengalis. Father had suggested he stay at our empty place during his trip there. The house had been occupied by my uncle (father’s cousin) until his death, recently. My father, his four brothers and their family always went there on holidays and special occasions like Rath-Yatra.

Let me just describe the house. Its on the outskirts of Puri. Having been built some centuries ago, it stood, a grand house amidst a huge coconut grove . It must have been the only property of its kind in the locality not having fallen prey to real-estate developers. The caretaker stayed with his family in a small out-house. The house itself was built traditionally with rooms around a central courtyard and an encircling verandah. My uncle’s room was the one occupying the central place. It had a huge bed, a rickety ancient easy-chair, an old fashioned bookcase. There was a faded portrait of my uncle’s when he was young (it was painted after his graduation, as was the norm in those days). Over the bookcase were his specs, which no one had the heart to remove, and an old wall clock, the kind which had a pendulum. There was a closed window facing the adjacent room and another opening outside into the grove.

This was Chandu Da’s story…

He returned home late, after work, dinner and some time on the beach. It was quite a distance from the gate to the house. Chandu da was immersed in his own thoughts when suddenly he became aware of the silence of the night. There was very little moon. The coconut trees swayed and there was the faint smell of the gangaseuli, a local flower. Feeling rattled by the eerie silence, he hurried into the house. He fumbled with the lights, then switched them on. By that time, after his walk through the empty grove, he was already uneasy with little idea what was in store for him that night. He thought of waking Raghu, the caretaker, but could not think of a reason, since he had already had his dinner and had asked the man not to wait up for him.

After washing up, Chandu da settled down to read in bed. He had retrieved some book from my uncle's bookcase. My uncle was a war aficionado and there were literally hundreds of books on World War 2, 1971 Bangladesh war and more. Chandu da stayed awake for some time aware of the squeaking of rats, rustling of coconut leaves and maybe an odd creaking noise. The uneasy feeling, which had assailed him since he came in, became overwhelming. He got up and closed the window. The only noise was the old Grandfather clock ticking and the pendulum swaying like in movies. Suddenly the portrait of Uncle seemed to take on a lifelike aspect. Not being able to tolerate it any more and feeling exceedingly foolish for feeling so terrified, Chandu da switched off the lights and tried to go to sleep.

The noise of the rats wouldn’t let him sleep. He could distinctly see one huge member of the species go up the clock. It happened such that after some time he became conscious only of the rats. They refused to go away. He felt their whisperings in his ears, their squeaks, their scurrying, all with increasing clarity. He must have dozed off then, for he dreamt of huge rats, my uncle, father, the coconut grove all in a kaleidoscopic medley. When he woke up next, he felt a tugging at his trousers and the first thing he thought he saw, was my uncle sitting on the easy chair at the foot of the bed. He shouted. Then he realized, it was just a rat, a huge one, on the easy chair. The one, which must have tugged at his trousers. The rat refused to budge. Chandu da must have dozed off again, for he again dreamt of my uncle gazing at him from the easy chair. He woke up. The rat was still there at his feet. He chanced to look up at the portrait. He saw the stern face of uncle there. He then looked back at the rat and started. There was the same stern face. Looking back and forth from the portrait to the rat he kept seeing the uncanny resemblance, then gradually before his eyes, there was my uncle sitting directly in front of him on the easy chair – appraising him. Chandu da fainted. That was how the housekeeper found him when he let himself into the house early the next morning...

Well, we couldn’t make much of this incident. It was our house and our uncle. He was a kind man, when alive. Maybe, that was his way of keeping an eye on the house and strangers? Anyways, guests these days always sleep in the guest room, only the family go into Uncle’s room and they have no problem other than a feeling of warmth and happiness and being home…