Friday 20 February 2015

Hale and hearty


Today cardiologist C.G. Bahuleyan reviewed the condition of my heart and said: "Remarkable!"

Pumping perfect, pulse rate 62... All other parameters good.

The picture shows us Press Club Heroes just before the start of our match against Asianet Cable Vision at the annual Press Club Cricket Tournament day before yesterday. I am the white beard in the front row with the cricket bat on his lap. The other team members are the tigers of the journalist's profession here.

I opened the bowling for our team sending down two well-directed overs. My line and length were as perfect as always. Didn't get any wicket, but conceded only nine runs. I was the second most economical bowler in our team.

I also contributed four runs off two balls. A cameo, they all said. The first ball I faced was dispatched off the back foot through the cover for a boundary. The second ball I stepped out and lifted clean over the long on boundary. But the wind was blowing in from the opposite direction and blew the ball back for a fielder to catch me on the boundary line.

Chasing, our team scored 60 runs in the allotted eight overs and lost the match by just one run. The highlight our innings was a 31-run knock by Ajayan (beaming from the middle of the second row). It was heart-stopper of a match, said everyone who had the good fortune to watch it. The result hung in the balance till the last ball.

Amrita TV, a young team with the players' average age 27, won the trophy for the third consecutive year this time. The Press Club Heroes, whose average age is 47, was knocked out of the tournament in the league stage itself but you can be sure we will be back with a bang next year. We were known as Kapil's devils once upon a time. They still talk about my whirlwind 96 way back in 2001, a five-wicket haul in one over the same year by Shyam (the bespectacled player sitting just behind me) and a tumbling catch by Prasannan (the bearded man at the right end of the spectrum gesticulating with his hands as though to say he would like to put himself in quotes)...

That catch off the last ball of the match in deep third-man in the year of our Lord 1999 led to the only tied match in the history of this tournament. Prasannan had the sun in his eyes. Still, tumbling all over, he caught the ball on third or fourth attempt.

...One must admit that, over the years, we all have slowed down a bit. But we propose to work on it and give a better account of ourselves next year.

My next health review is in August.

*****


8 comments:

Bimal said...

Venuji,
So happy to read the good news.
Was worried when I heard about your health from Smitha Pylee at Hindu desk.

sn edasseril said...

Good news. Thanks to Dr. Bahuleyan and team

P. Venugopal said...

Bimal, in fine fettle, as you read in this piece.
And Annans, thanks to Dr. Bahuleyan and his team, Roy and Jayan who rushed me to hospital and you and Ambi who acted promptly. Everything clicked, like the 1983 World Cup!!!

Meera's World said...

I saw only the small thumb impression of the picture and thought a group of Santa's!!!!!! Double clicking showed the picture clear and the faces of heroes:). Glad to know you are doing well,I'm in jalandhur,its cold here and day before yesterday we had hail storm at night...I always wish rain and snow should come without coldness:)

P. Venugopal said...

rain and snow without coldness!!! one was trying to imagine how it would be! ha ha ha!!!
time flies. it was only the other day you were a child and now you are already a santa. when you see it over the full span, you understand it is all the same; there has been no change. i get a queer feeling when i see it like that. you exist for ever, just as you are!

Meera's World said...

All Maya;). To enjoy snow either you need to be inside the comforts of your home,or snow shouldn't have coldness. until I experienced honestly I never thought how severe the cold feeling is. But enjoyed a lot sitting on the couch with a cup of hot chocolate watching snow falling softly... yes. It was yesterday I was a child,now my son is an adult!!!! But I still feel like a child most times;)

P. Venugopal said...

one remembers a trekking expedition deep into the Periyar Tiger Reserve in early 1990's, five of us friends camping for the night over a rock raising over a stream. we slept around a fire. It was the month of december and the night was so chill that, as one snuggled close to the fire, the side facing the fire would feel scorched while the other side would freeze. I had to keep shifting the position of my body all through the sleepless night.

i had no sleeping bag. my friend victor george asked me to try joining him in his sleeping bag. but it was meant for one and could not accommodate us together. several minutes later, seeing my discomfort, he tried to force me to take turns inside the sleeping bag...

that was one occasion i experienced the real discomfort of freezing cold...

Victor George, ace photographer, naturalist and a great human being, died in 2001 while taking pictures of a landslide.

Meera's World said...

True,here also the part of body closer to heater is unnaturally hot and the other side fingers turns numb.no centralized heating system ,
I very well remember the name victor George and the way he passed away.even though not from your part of the world(journalists/media), I remember feeling the loss,trying to accept the fact that i'll I never see that name under the pictures!! Such losses affects even people like us....