The Talkative Man speaks
<--Added on 8/22/08 for migration to TPB -->
Friday, December 30, 2005
  Rajan Bala, Raju Bharatan and Ramachandra Guha
Although brought up reading the cricket writers produced by Sportstar and Sportsworld in my childhood days, there is a splendid trio of raconteurs who have a very special place in my heart. They have deeply enriched my appreciation of the game and in particular its unsung heroes.

All 3 had Tamil roots(not that it matters) but spent their careers outside the state. What endears the triumvirate to me is a certain flair and style in their writing that goes beyond institutionalized streams of thought. They don't have the attitude of sucking up to their state players like most Indian journos. I guess it's hard to describe to which state the three had their loyalties, their domiciled state being different from the place of nativity. Probably not being attached to a newspaper gives them this freedom. And finally, nobody covered the Indian cricketers of the Fifties and Sixties like these three have done.

Bala was the first I stumbled upon, during the 1990 tour of New Zealand, when his book "All the Beautiful Boys" hit the stands. It was only in 1999 that I could grab that book. By then I was aware that he was the only hack who had covered both the Pakistan and Windies tours of 1982-83(R.Mohan returned after the Pakistan tour). There's no really doubt about the fact that Bala has a terrific understanding of the technical intricacies of the game, in fact the best you will
ever see. Razor sharp in grasping the nuances, he was often sought by the lesser players for technical feedback and corrections. There was also a subtle hint in his interviews that he resented the influence of R.Mohan in the BCCI and in the cricket-crazy south. I am really surprised that currently the duo work together for The Asian Age.

It was on Day 1 of the Nov 1994 Bombay Test that I came to know of Bharatan, as he debuted for the The Hindu's Saturday's Sports Special. I was naturally attracted to his vividly nostalgic bent of mind and his amazing aptitude for recalling dates of matches and balls faced by so-and-so in such-a-such game. And oh, his puns delighted me no end, "Sip by Pepsip the Sachinks in the armour were seen", "The Iyengarrulous Kris Srikkanth", "The act of the man did jar"(reference to Barry Jarman the match referee). Raju had a nose for exposing intriguing plots. His eyewitness accounts of the 1952 English tour were fascinating. I used to collecting all his newspaper pieces and ultimately made a web page for his writings. Somewhere I had made a Word Document containing 101 of his articles, a lengthy pun-fest interspersed with stats. Raju is also a fine repository of Hindi film music, being a big fan of Asha, RD Burman and Naushad. I think he spent a few years with Filmfare as well.

Guha's name was a misnomer and having read a bit of Raju Mukherji, I mistook him for a Bengali. It was well after I had finished 2 of his books that I had some clue about his antecedents. His vibrant and rich vocabulary and his fluent engaging style captivated me in no time. Guha had the thirst of the seeker and the diligence of the surgeon. No doubt about it, he is definitely the first Indian cricket scholar. Spin and Other Turns was a delightful read where there are some not-to-be forgotten incidents - His eager longing to see a Gavaskar hundred, partly fructifying when he got a ticket to Day 1 of the 1980 Pongal Test, Sunny finishing the day at 92 not out. The next day, he was on the Coromandel Express and while stopping at Vijayawada station, heard the announcement over the radio that Sunny had moved on to an unbeaten 166. Then there is his confession of how Vishy's masterly 222 against England brought his heart back to cricket after a 3 year hiatus in pursuit of communism.

Strange that although TN has produced excellent cricket writers by the dozen, we are yet to produce one decent cricketer of international class(Ramesh is probably the best of all, the rest were quite ordinary and even lucky).
 
Comments:
Very true indeed. I love Bharatan and Guha too. Bharatan is a sort of Richie Benaud of Indian Cricet. He has been following the game for 50 years but his enthusiasm never dwindles!

Looking for more entries from yourself too :)
 
Pl send me the contact no of Mr Bharatan.
Thanks
Francis H D'Sa
 
Great reading about Mr Bharatan after so many years. We worked together at the Illustrated Weekly of India. Tremendous knowledge of the game and Indian film and classical music too.
They dont make them like him anymore.
 
Rajan Bala is in coma in bangalore brain dead say some. please pray for him and his family.
pradeep vijayakar, his fan
 
Very sorry to hear about Rajan Bala.
I shall pray for him.
Pradeep can you help me out with the contact no of Raju Bharatan ??

Thanks

Francis
 
Sadly Rajan Bala is no more.
 
You'll get Raju at 9819084480. Rajan was an institution. RIP.
 
Rajan Bala passed away in Bangalore. As an incisive and analytical writer, he simply had no peers. It is a very sad day indeed and I'm sure avid cricket fans will remember him with warmth and reverence.
 
Bala was my cricket coach in the early 80s along with the then retired BS Chandra. I can vouch that there was not a man who knew the game better. He had an encyclopedic knowledge of both cricket and soccer.
 
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