Kolkata Knight Riders and Punjab Kings – film stars own these two teams of TATA IPL 2022

The glamour quotient is high for two teams of TATA IPL 2022. The first of these is the Kolkata Knight Riders owned by the Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan. It won the trophy twice in 2012 and 2014. The other team is Punjab Kings owned by Preity Zinta. Her team has not yet won any trophy even though they did get chances and they could rewrite history in 2022.


The squad of Kolkata Knight Riders has its share of tried and tested players. Shreyas Iyer is the new captain. Ajinkya Rahane, Aaron Finch, Sam Billings (wk), Sunil Narine, Andre Russell, Venkatesh Iyer, Pat Cummins, Varun Chakravarthy, Umesh Yadav, Nitish Rana and Rinku Singh, There are some new players in the KKR squad.

As far as Punjab Kings squad goes, Mayank Agarwal is the captain. Along with him, there will be Shikhar Dhawan, Ishan Porell, Kagiso Rabada, Rahul Chahar. Liam Livingstone, Jonny Bairstow (wk), Arshdeep Singh. This team also has its share of newcomers who could turn the tables.


Popular stories on this and related sites –

Street food rules the roost, regular food joints must innovate to survive

Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings - top two teams of TATA IPL 2022

Prince William and Kate on a week’s visit to Belize to mark the Queen's Platinum Jubilee

Owners of the 10 teams in TATA IPL 2022

Tidbits of the 15th edition of TATA IPL 2022

A cat has nine lives, I have many more – 4

A cat has nine lives, I have many more – 3

A cat has nine lives, I have many more – 2

A cat has nine lives, I have many more – 1

Old age home for senior citizens

KEEP WATCHING THIS SPACE FOR MORE ON IPL2022

Politicians have high jacked inauguration of the Durga Puja

Durga Puja is a festival of four days but, inauguration is a major event that sets the ball rolling. Who inaugurates a puja is a major indication of how popular the specific puja would be. Once upon a time, this responsibility was that of a senior person of the community – he could be an author or a singer or musician or even a film star. In those days, such individuals were respected and held in high esteem. They drew crowds.
But, times have changed.
Over a period of time, the concept of ‘baroari’ puja has undergone a sea change, thanks to the direct involvement of political bigwigs. Whether it is the north or the south, the popularity is in direct proportion to money power and muscle power. Yes, there are committees who go from one pandal to another to see for themselves and judge the arrangements. And, the electronic media give them more than adequate coverage to ensure crowds.

The inauguration programs that once used to be solemn affairs have now become a mad rush to get in the frame of the camera – and, for political leaders to make a point. Politicians have high jacked inaugurations - they always have an eye on the ballot box and all their activities revolve around the ‘desire of the masses’. The ‘desire’ is usually one that is their own and thrust upon the public who have to swallow it, whether they like it or not. They do not have any choice – they have to either go with the tide or be left stranded on the sidelines.
And – the latest craze is the awards given by the sponsors. These awards in the form of ‘stars’ like ‘star’, ‘mega star’, ‘super star’ and ‘blockbuster’ draw the crowds and the competition is tough. It is a challenge for the organizers to hold on to a ‘star’ year after year. (to be continued …)
(Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org)

Some more interesting links -

Fossils and eggshells of baby dinosaurs found in Gobi Desert

Parama Island flyover adds to traffic jams in Kolkata – made one-way

Future of street foods in Delhi bleak - Delhi bans cooking on roads


Arnold Schwarzenegger could play in Rajinikanth-starrer 'Enthiran 2'

Emma Roberts and her horror-comedy series "Scream Queens"

India is one of 81 countries vying for Best Foreign Film in the 88th Academy Awards


Despite US airstrikes, ISIS still makes £300-million a year from oil

Syrian gang caught trying to smuggle 20-tonnes of cannabis worth £150million into Europe

US airdrops 50-tons of ammunition for M-16s and AK-47 to Syrian fighters


Durga Puja in Kolkata housing complexes

Durga Puja and cultural programs

The pandal hoppers of Kolkata

Growing up days – coffee at College Street Coffee House

The Coffee House at College Street, located in the vicinity of Calcutta University and Presidency College, was the well-known meeting ground for Bengali intellectuals of the 1960s – its regular patrons came from the fields of politics and of arts and aspiring poets would recite their poems aloud in the near holy coffee joint.

From film stars to movie directors and authors to politicians, everyone who mattered in Bengal of the sixties made it a habit to be a part of the Coffee House. Some of them were already established in their fields while others were trying to get a toehold in the highly stiff competition to climb the ladder of success.
There were two parts of the Coffee House – the upper floor was known as the House of Lords and the lower floor was the House of Commons.
The ever courteous waiters, dressed in white, flitted from table to table collecting orders and serving the patrons – but, one section of the patrons would not bother to order either a cup of coffee or even some snacks. They would be busy in arguments with others and, at times, their voices would cross normal decibel levels and draw the attention of others.

The legendary singer Manna Dey sang a song on ‘Coffee House’ and the adda for which it was famous. Incidentally, adda was and still is something unique to Bengalis because it is all about total involvement of all participants to voice his or her opinion on the subject, it could be any subject under the sun. (to be continued …)