Aamcha Rahul

First up, let me admit that this post is partly born out of the frustration that after Tendulkar, no cricketer from Mumbai has really made waves at the national level. This post is a grudging admission of the fact that the Center of Gravity of the Indian batting line-up is gradually moving northwards, what with Sehwag going great guns, Kaif and Yuvraj breathing down the necks of Ganguly and Laxman, and Shikhar Dhawan and M S Dhoni also scheduled to make an entry.

Once upon a time, Mumbai used to be the cradle of Indian batting, but no more. And that hurts. Hence this post.

But what is this post and why is its title "Aamcha Rahul"?

Because hardly anyone seems to know that Dravid is a Maharashtrian!

Yes, he is a pure Maharashtrian, i.e his Dad's marathi, and his mom's marathi. Heck, even his wife's Maharashtrian. He just grew up in Bangalore.

I have often told this to people, and have been faced with scorn.

"How can he be marathi, they ask. He is obviously South Indian. Dravid....Dravidian....dravid munnetra kazhagham....", they all go.

To all these people, let me say that 'Dravid' as a surname is found only amongs Maharashtrians. Don't ask me why, but its the truth. In fact when Rahul made waves on the national level and became a heart-throb, it was easy for girls in Bangalore to call him up, because they were the only Dravids in the Bangalore telephone directory. This is something he himself said in an interview.

Ergo, Rahul Dravid is Maharashtrian. So is Tendulkar. So two of the top four Indian batsmen are still Marathi. Nyanyanyanyanyanya!

....the blogger stops nyanya-ing as he is reminded of Mumbai's defeat at the hands of Punjab in the Ranji Trophy Semis, and starts sobbing.