Keep it straight!

This is a story of a usual cricket setting in Bombay with a 30 x 10 yards quadrangle for a playground and the residents of the buildings encompassing from three sides for spectators. While it was commonplace to see hours of cricket belted out in a days work in such a setting, it wasn't uncommon for "out of the fence" hits to be greeted with traditional Bombay slang (&%$*#) by the contemporary spectators. One such setting existed in Bhagirathi building in South Mumbai. A young Mumbai lad, like many other Mumbai lads, would visit his uncle in this not so uncommon setting. And like many other Mumbai lads, he had a liking for cricket. And like many other lads, he played in the three-way enclosed quadrangle. And as most individuals, he did not have a particular liking for slang. Hence like most "gully" lads would do, he played most of his cricketing shots down the length of the quadrangle into the only dimension not guarded by screaming residents. The only thing uncommon about this story was that the young Mumbai gully lad went on to be known as Sunil Manohar Gavaskar who was renowned, among other things, for his straight drives. God Bless the screaming spectators!!!!!!!

This story is based on hearsay but does make the rounds in the neighborhood I grew up in..

Received in an email from Advait Kantak