Viruses hate alcohol

Last Tuesday morning when I entered my workplace, after going through the rotating turnstile, the next stop was the temperature check by a device put near the entrance, a new set up post Covid. As I passed through, the scanner talked loud and clear - "Your temperature is normal" displaying my body temperature of 97.6°F. After settling down at my desk, as usual I grabbed my morning cuppa Coffee. It felt soothing to my slightly itchy throat.

Soon I had this odd feeling of my throat getting sore and starting to itch more. By noontime I could sense coming down with something. This is not uncommon at this time of the year, the beginning of flu season. Post lunch I sneezed couple of times as my nostrils started to get warmer and wetter, as my breathing was beginning to give my nose a burning sensation. My spine, knees and slowly my entire body started aching badly.

Rather than hanging around and spreading my infection to the slim workforce on a Thanksgiving week and putting the rest of my coworkers at risk, I took rest of the days off and headed back home. Skipping my usual afternoon walk, I told my wife make a "Kada Chai" (strong tea) boiled with a liberal dosage of ginger slices and black pepper. It certainly was soothing to my aching throat. But the relief was temporary as it began to get worse.

Fortunately the next day was the day before Thanksgiving, a short day at work from home. I was feeling weak and tired, so took an afternoon siesta. By evening I was starting to get chills all over my body. It prompted me to gulp down Extra Strength Tylenol and retire early to bed. Normally I get up around 6 AM in the morning. But on this Thanksgiving day,  a holiday here, when I opened my eyes it was already 9 O'clock in the morning. My entire body from tip to toe was hurting like hell. I told my wife - "My voice sounds like our legendary singer Saigal". She replied sarcastically - "To me it sounds more like the course croak of a Bull Frog on a rainy summer night". We ordered some hot Thai food for dinner, which felt good to my tasteless taste bud.

The first thing I did after getting up on this Thanksgiving morning was do a Covid test using my home test kit. Thankfully it came negative. But flu like symptoms persisted, though I have already taken the seasonal flu shot weeks ago. I continued to lie on bed like a horizontal version Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, the legendary medieval time  preacher in Odisha and Bengal during the Bhakti movement. After a frugal lunch of hot chicken soup and lightly toasted bread I took a long afternoon nap on Thanksgiving day, thanks to the drowsy extra strength Tylenol. 

On Thanksgiving evening the feeling was horrible. Never felt like this for a long time. I was constantly getting chills and flu like symptoms. After excusing my wife and son for dinner, I went on sleep on an empty stomach. The next day, the day following Thanksgiving was hardly any better. The virus continued to torment me. It was a challenge for me to walk barely 30 feet to the mailbox on Friday afternoon to fetch mails as my legs refused oblige. The flu like symptoms won't relent. I was feeling hungry but hardly left with any energy or desire to eat. I drank hot ginger, black pepper tea which made me feel a little better after all. Yet it barely helped as the relief was temporary. By evening it was again starting to get worse.

I read somewhere that Viruses hate Alcohol. So I poured myself two stiff, large pegs of Vodka. My wife made me a double egg Omlete with freshly plucked chopped red chillies still growing in my backyard with cilantro on top. I washed the hot Omlete down with the sharp tasting Vodka. Alcohol shrugged off my jaded nerves. I slumped on bed to fade into deep slumber.

I woke up Saturday morning fresh and refreshed, feeling a whole lot better. I was still sneezing and coughing, but the worst seemed to be over. The body ache and weakness had reduced to a manageable level by not making me feel any worse. What various medications couldn't do, couple of Vodka shots could. No wonder viruses hate alcohol.

Bodyline series

 As the semifinals are ready to begin in this Cricket World Cup campaign in few hours, today it is worth remembering Harold Larwood on his birthday today, his tryst with the famous or rather infamous Bodyline series of 1932-33 nearby 80 years ago. The English bowler of the day, bowling at an estimated blistering speed of 90-100 mph, which was considered very high those days totally decimated his Australian opponents. Today happens to be his 119th birthday.

But more importantly he was accused of bowling bouncers on the leg side targeting the body of the batsmen, especially at his opponent star batsman Sir Donald  Bradman, a thorn on the English side. For the first time in the history of cricket, a new term was coined - "BODYLINE".

Larwood created havoc in the Australian dressing room when he managed to break the skull of one of their batsmen and injuring several others. He was widely blamed for his unsportsmanlike conduct but had no regret, ascribing his action to following the orders of his wily skipper Douglas Jardine, the protagonist of this idea of Bodyline bowling well within the rules of cricket. The captain defended his tactics, proclaiming that he was too well within the rules laid out in cricket those days - a gentleman's game where aggression was an alien notion.

Needless to say England won the series Down Under. But more importantly, it managed to put a spanner into the wheels of Bradman's juggernaut. The famous Australian who till then scored runs at an average of 100 plus, could manage only a 56 for average in that series, quite unlikely of him.

Many from our generation might remember the TV serial based on the same series, aptly named as BODYLINE and shown on DOORDARSHAN, the only TV channel available in India in the year 1987. This controversial strategy adopted by the English captain Jardine was very unpopular, though well within the rules of the game. It was probably the first blotch in the gentleman's game, which until that point was lily white like the flannels worn by the cricketers.

The English team also had an Indian batsman (India was a British colony at that time) named Nawab of Pataudi Sr., an useful cricketer who incidentally scored a century in that series. I starkly remember a scene where Ashok Banthia playing Nawab Pataudi gets emotional in front of his captain Jardine, "Now Sun must be setting in my motherland India" to which his captain responded - "Sun never sets over the British Empire". It was true during that time. Alas, gone are those days of British glory. Ironically it was the same English who initiated Bodyline bowling to curb Bradman, after being battered by the battery of West Indian and Australian fast bowlers introduced the rule to restrict the number of bouncers per over.

Jardine didn't live very long and died of cancer in 1955. Larwood lived longer, dying in 1995. Jardine came to India, did some Tiger hunting and posed himself in pictures taken before a fallen tigers, a fad of the time high and mighty in India. He too died soon. Bradman lived much longer and missed the 100 batting average by a whisker - which he could have easily got but for his meager by his standards average of 56 in that famous BODYLINE series. Almost 100 years since, Cricket has come a long way from its origin England to India to its current epicenter India.

Money is the greatest leveller

 Money can be the greatest leveler. Even Communists, the champion hypocrites they are and who are known to protray frugality, have immense love for money.

Few years ago I volunteered to file Income Tax Returns for the lower income group organized by VITA (Volunteer Income Tax Assistance) of Goodwill, a local Charity Organization with tie up with IRS (Internal Revenue Services). It gave me immense pleasure of working for the community and the accompanied opportunity to interact with folks from different walks of life, not to mention the immense satisfaction from serving the Community.

During my chitchat with the Tax filers I often stumbled upon some interesting anecdotes. From the saga of a 95 year old lady, who as a teenager drove a Ford in the 1930s (then 90% of the American households had access to car) and how she flirted with her beau on telephone, a fancy gadget and the new kid in block (Americans then had 4 times more phones per person than the British, 6 times more than the Germans), to the story of an 18 year old kid, a first time tax file accompanied by his mother who never returned to her Indian husband after moving to the United States and settling down for good.

But nothing trumps this encounter. Money certainly can be a great leveler, the proof of which I saw in my own eyes. Like every tax season, one fine spring morning I was doing my Volunteer Tax Preparation for the low income people. A couple who were filing jointly, were seating across me as usual, while I prepared their taxes. As I was busy going through their documents, entering them on the IRS Website on the computer and asking them tax related question, I was frequently interrupted as the couple were busy bickering among themselves on some trivial matter.

Their verbal cat fight, a ritual amongst all married couples, was reaching its zenith. Nothing unusual, as every couple fight. The only exceptions probably could be Mrinalini Devi and her spiritual husband Sri Aurobindo of Aurville fame or Sri Ramakrishna Paramhans and his wife Sarada Devi. Otherwise those couples who say they never fight are certainly lying. Anyway, tax preparation needs utmost attention with zero scope for errors, so the couple's rambling was an irritating drag on my work.

My cup of patience was full. I was about to mildly reprimand them when all of a sudden their Refund Amount popped up on the screen. They were getting about $3,600 back which was a hefty sum proportionate to their income. I interrupted their bickering, announcing the Refund amount which is going to land up in their Bank Account in 2-3 weeks after I e-file their return. Their face suddenly glowed, words turned sweeter. The husband now started calling his wife Sweetie. The wife reciprocated with calling her hubby Honey. They high-fived and praised Good Lord for being graceful to them that morning. (Little they understood that it's their own money they are getting back from IRS who holds on to it for more than a year with 0% interest. But it's in human nature to get elated at the news of sudden, unexpected arrival of money). 

The animosity that existed between the squabbling couple a few moments ago was long gone. With a smiling face they warmly shook my hands and bid adieu. It was a heroic gesture to someone who had done nothing but was the bearer of the news of their tax return which they were entitled to anyway. I enjoyed my 2 minutes of fame, thanks to money which can certainly be a great leveler. Their reaction made me remember the good Ole rhyme :

"Money money money.

Brighter than sunshine,

Sweeter than Honey".

The timeout dismissal of Angelo Matthews

Today Sri Lankan player Angelo Matthews was given out for "Time Out" based upon the appeal by the Sakib Al Hasan, the Bangladesh team captain for the delay by the Lankan batsman for arriving at the crease due to a broken strap in his helmet. It was perhaps the first such decision in the history of international cricket. So shameful and unsportsmanlike of Bangladesh cricket team, though perfectly within the boundaries of the existing cricket rules. 

Rule vs Sportsmanship - a question which has plauged Cricket, known as a gentleman's game. Douglas Jardine was well within the rules when he instructed Larwood to bowl bouncers in the infamous Body line series. The purpose was to contain Don Bradman who had become a scourge for English cricket team. Jardine partially successful in his mission, considering Bradman who averaged more than 100 until then, ended up with an average of 56 something. That series was responsible for him to stay stuck at the average of 99.99. It was an unsportsmanlike gesture, but Jardine was well within the rules at that time when there was no restriction on bouncers to be bowled. 

Fast forward to 1981 when New Zealand was 6 runs away from victory with only 1 ball remaining. Greg Chappel, the Australian skipper instructed his younger brother to bown an underarm delivery to the hapless Kiwi batsman. Chappel was perfectly within the rules and Australian won the match and the triangular series. Kiwi press screamed next day - "Chappell's underarm stinks". A Kiwi company offered Chappell brothers free  deodorants for rest of their lives ! 

In 1980, during the Jubilee test match between England and India at Bombay, Kapil Dev was polishing off the English batsmen when Bob Taylor was given out caught behind. England was perhaps 5 wickets down for 50 something. Taylor complained to India's captain Vishwanath who called back Taylor to bat again. Botham who was at the other end scored a memorable century, later took 10 wickets to win the test for England. 

During the 1987 World Cup match against Pakistan, Abdul Qadir was feets away from the non-stricker end when bowler Courtney Walsh gently reminded him to get back into the crease. Walsh could easily ran Qadir out. This decision of Walsh cost West Indies the game and a place in the WC semifinals. 

It might have cost India the Jubilee test in 1980 and West Indies the World Cup in 1987, yet Vishwanath and Walsh will go down in history of cricket as epitomes of sportsmanship. Shame on you Bangladesh cricketers, hard luck Angelo Matthews.