Ep 54: 81 Bits and Pieces with Sidvee

Do you remember that day, many decades ago? Travel back in time. What do you see?
Do you see that young, handsome kid with short, curly hair and a straight bat, performing magic in the middle? He's defending the danger balls solidly, covering his stumps when the angle is threatening, and shredding the bad balls - rock, paper, scissors. The entire city has come to watch him play. There are three times as many people outside the ground, as there are inside, trying to get in. Some of them are finding their way in over the fences, hoisted ludicrously in human-sized drums and buckets, pulled over the walls by their friends already inside. On the far side of the ground, there is a prison, separated from the field by a sturdy wall with peepholes. And on the other side of the wall, convicts are squinting through the holes to catch a glimpse of the action. Watching him play is the only solace in the miserable lives of these hapless souls, scoffed at as pariahs in their own land. The jailer's son in watching too, inspired. Who knows - one day, it could be his turn. Have we heard his story before? The streets outside the ground are teeming with action, of a different kind. Hospitable hawkers eager to please, selling nuts, perfumes, guns and everything else under the sun. The light is fading. The crowd doesn't want the action to cease - they are burning newspapers to illuminate the ground and help the batter see better! Sights never seen on a cricket ground before. The kid is on 99, and smashes one more away, a glorious shot to complete a glorious 100! The radio commentator, in his brilliant blue tie, goes silent. Not because he's lost for words, but he's filled with emotions. He's wearing a tie that no one will get to see, and he's forming those words in his mind, words that perhaps no one will get to hear. But they are his words, and they will forever be his. One day, someone will chronicle the story again, in a manner befitting its magnificence. A story that everyone thought they already knew, but one they will discover anew and be filled with wonder...
Trust us, the above lines will make more sense once you listen to this episode :-) Join us on a wonderful journey alongside the incomparable Siddhartha Vaidyanathan, journalist, writer, podcaster and chronicler non-pareil.
Follow us on social media:
Bits and Pieces: https://twitter.com/bnp_cricket
Sidvee: https://twitter.com/sidvee
PGK: https://twitter.com/peegeekay
Chops: https://twitter.com/el_chopernos
Mohan: https://twitter.com/mohank
Nitin: https://twitter.com/knittins
Bits and Pieces of Sidvee's oeuvre:
1. On Sachin Tendulkar’s retirement: https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/siddhartha-vaidyanathan-growing-up-with-sachin-598402
2. On Sachin Tendulkar and the question of clutch: https://sidveeblogs.wordpress.com/2011/03/29/tendulkar-and-the-clutch-question/
3. On bidding goodbye to VVS Laxman: https://sidveeblogs.wordpress.com/2012/08/19/goodbye-vvs/
4. On Rahul Dravid’s mastery of the struggle: https://sidveeblogs.wordpress.com/2011/06/23/dravid-and-the-mastery-of-the-struggle/
5. On David Murray: https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/stayin-alive-251875
6. On the West Indian rebel cricketers of the 80s: https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/the-unforgiven-286356
7. On Peshawar beyond the cricket: https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/a-law-unto-itself-607113?platform=amp
8. On the colour at the Antigua Recreation Ground: https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/the-arg-s-colourful-presence-lives-on-607800?platform=amp
9. Sidvee's podcast: https://www.81allout.com/subscribe-to-our-podcast/
10. Sidvee's publishing company: https://www.81allout.com/2021/11/17/war-minus-the-shooting-the-revival-of-a-cricket-classic/