R I P Bishen Singh Bedi
It is really painful to know the demise of our legendary and greatest left arm spinner Bishan Singh Bedi. He alongwith Erappalli Prasanna, Venkatraman and Chandrashekhar made up the celebrated spin quartet who dominated Indian cricket in the 1970s. Of course they had the best close-in fielders, Eknath Solkar. Venkatraman, Ajit Wadekar and Abid Ali, whose catching helped them to achieve rare victories during the seventies.
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When Bedi retired in 1979 with 266 wickets to his credit, he was the highest wicket taker for India. After that he was an able administrator. He was known for his fearless and outspoken views, during and after his playing days. He was never afraid to call a spade a spade. I feel our cricket team should win the 2023 World Cup in honour of Bedi’s contribution to Indian cricket. May his soul rest in peace.
N Mahadevan, Chennai
A cricketer with passion
Legendary left-arm spinner Bishan Singh Bedi’s demise comes as a big shock and his passing away is an irreparable loss to the world of cricket. From the bylanes of Amritsar to the Indian cricket team, Bedi forged his way into cricketing folklore by becoming a part of the famed spin quartet, which was a revolution of sorts in India’s spin bowling history. While Bedi was known as the magician of left-arm spin bowling, who could make the ball hold or hurry at will, as it traversed the winding arcs in the air, he was equally well known for his benignity and was a human being par excellence.
Ten years ago, when I had the opportunity to interact with Bedi for a few minutes during his address at the Nani Palkhivala Memorial Lecture in Chennai, the bowling genius was candid in his views about the IPL and said he totally disliked it as he felt that it tampers with the purity of the game, and made no bones about expressing his disapproval of the shenanigans associated with it. Bedi remains an esteemed figure in Indian cricket, celebrated for his artistry, and for his unflinching passion and dedication towards the game.
Ranganathan Sivakumar, Chennai
A legend with a spine
The cricketing world will of course recollect Bishan Singh Bedi as a great bowler; but I will always remember him as that rarest of rare Indian possessing a thing named spine along with principles, ethics, humanity and conscience.
So the upright Bedi had succeeded in promptly directing the DDCA to remove his name from the stand of Feroze Shah Kotla when it was renamed ‘Arun Jaitley stadium’. Indeed only a man of strong moral selfless character can take this stand! What a contrast to the Who’s Who of the sporting or glamorous world who religiously act sycophant to the political class to pursue self-interest!
Bedi also didn’t hesitate to condemn the utter lack of compassion in the politicians who had enforced the sudden and complete lockdown in 2020. He had also dared to question the dubious coronavirus related statistics which pathetically lacked minimum norms of honesty and transparency.
Kajal Chatterjee, Kolkata
Powerful exponent of Cricket
The death of Indian cricket stalwart Bishan Singh Bedi has saddened the sports fraternity. Bedi, EAS Prasanna, BS Chandrasekhar, and S Venkataraghavan formed the famous Indian spin quartet in the 60s and 70s. Regarded as one of the best left-arm spinners to play the game, Bedi teased and tormented the batters with his skill, artistry, and guile, scalping 266 wickets in 67 Tests. He also tasted success as captain, leading the country to six Test victories, including in the West Indies and Australia. His legacy will live on!
N J Ravi Chander, Bengaluru
Hidden gems of ‘Wards and Vaddos’
Once again I would like to appreciate this noble initiative undertaken by O Heraldo to portray the immense talents hidden in the wards and vaddos of Goa. Good as it goes, the hard work put in by the team members –Nilankur Das, Myola Joanes, Christanand Pednekar and Erwin Fonseca is worth it.
It’s soothing to read about Allwyn Siqueira pertaining to his green haven, and how he’s an inspiration to the neighbours nearby. His efforts also create a great impetus for the balance of our ecosystem. However, Fidoll’s compassion for unwanted blind dogs/missing limb cats speaks volumes about her unconditional love and care towards these creatures. Furthermore, industrious Rivona women didn’t lag behind in transforming the barren land into a Marigold miracle. Last but not the least, we have Poornima who has soaked herself in trendy clay art, which is highly appreciated.
Quite fascinating! Thanks to the team for the vivid pictures provided to us about these precious gems of Goa. Keep up the good work!
Joseph Savio De Souza, Candolim
Develop detachable speed breakers
Every time a VIP or VVIP visits a State for some occasions, the speed breakers and rumblers along their travel routes are removed. The construction and removal of these structures lead to wastage of citizens’ money and resources, but it is good for the contractors. When these obstacles are removed, the signboards remain in place for days and this confuses the motorists, till new speed breakers and rumblers are installed. Perhaps within a few days again these would be removed, ad infinitum, ad nauseum. Road and civil engineers could develop detachable and portable speed breakers and rumblers made from thick foam and rubber which could be rolled onto the required place along the roads. These painted speed impediments could be held in place by heavy duty nuts and bolts and can be uninstalled when the need arises. This could help the State’s exchequer from wastage of
finance and materials.
Sridhar D’Iyer, Caranzalem
Emission-induced higher precipitation
If global warming was not happening, then the melting of the ice caps in the Arctic region and Antarctica would have been as per normal temperature rises at these places during the warmer days. However, due to emission of greenhouse gases the heat of the sun is trapped in the denser polluted atmosphere which retains higher amounts of heat and is caused due to emissions of carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides, methane, sulphur dioxide and carbon monoxide as a consequence of burning of fossil fuels which leads to higher temperatures and thus increasing amounts of melting ice at the poles.
This cycle of heating is a vicious cycle which then leads to higher sea levels and submergence of low lying areas. Greater the volume of water and higher the temperature, it in turn leads to higher rates of evaporation, higher levels of humidity and therefore greater degrees of precipitation on reaching of dew point that causes excessive flooding. This pattern has and is happening globally. The polar regions are not insulated from global warming. The use of fossil fuels have to be drastically reduced.
Elvidio Miranda, Panjim
