Why are CSK and the IPL important to me?

04 April 2021

The IPL is here and the Chennai Super Kings are about to play their first game of the campaign. I have been waiting for the IPL to begin and watch the Kings in action. It is close to my heart and the three hours of cricket bring so much joy to me. But Why? 

Thanks to my parents, I have been a fan of various sports since childhood and like most Indians growing up in the 80's and 90's, Cricket was top of that list. Post-liberalization and the entry of satellite television gave access to European football which breathed new life into my sporting fandom. The opportunity to watch games weekly league was rhythmic compared to the oddly structured cricketing season. The betting scandal in the early 2000s made me distant with cricket and pushed me towards football. 

The football clubs of historic European cities Milan, Munich, Barcelona, Madrid, London made it all the more exotic. It was no longer about just about the game, it gave a lens to view foreign culture with a perspective. Arsenal under Arsene Wenger were the perfect combination and I became an ardent fan of the club. Waking up at 1 am to watch Champions League games with little concern for the university lecture or the work day ahead became quite normal. Arsenal matches were of the highest priority and would plan family time, friends and other activities around it. I had never been to London but there was a sense of bonding with Arsenal fans around the world. 

Fast forward to 2016, I landed in the UK to do my MBA at Cranfield University. The first weekend in the UK, I travelled to London and visited the Emirates Stadium. I still remember my heart pounding as I stood outside the arena close to Bergkamp's statue. I even got a chance to see Ozil and Sanchez combine to destroy Chelsea, life couldn't get any better than this. I had gone thrice to the Emirates by the time I graduated in Sep 2017. 

My family moved over to the UK in Jan 2018 which involved actions and chores to support their settling down and feeling at home. Suddenly I was no longer a student with a tourist mentality but a husband and a father making the rest of the family at home. It was in 2018 that CSK made a comeback from their 2 year hiatus. As time passed by the irony of missing home and helping the family be at home needed that release. The Chennai Super Kings provided that tribal affiliation and rekindled my love for the city. 

CSK won the 2018 edition and came close in 2019 but they look like a spent force going forward. Despite that Chennai is Chennai and Whistle Podu is here to stay. 

Day 4 naples

A slow start after a good sleep. Naples was a shocker initially , nothing like the Western European advanced city one would presume. Garbage all over, beggars , bad roads, traffic , noisy ....

Good reasons why most tourists avoid ......but Naples is Italy at its seductive best, the warmth of the people , the bustling street life, the noise and the humane feeling is second to none when compared to an European city.


Naples used to be a part of the kingdom of two Sicily and was ruled by German, French, Spanish, Norman rulers through its history and only through cunning was Naples captured by the Italian Risorgimento . One can still feel the distrust Neapolitans have for the northerners and its best exhibited during the football match between Napoli and the old lady juventus. Milanese and the northerners consider Naples to be shabby and less cultured whereas Naples was the biggest city of Italy in the 1860s.

We decided to explore the city in a more casual manner than the usual touristy museum landmark style and touched down on via tribunali one of the three arterial roads of ancient Naples along with vicaria  Vecchia and apostoli. The via tribunali houses the street hawkers, doll makers, cafes, pizza houses - one can say the soul of Neapolitan life. The first stop of the day was in a pizza restaurant and I must admit truly Naples is the home of the best pizzas.

We turned round the corner to visit the famed veiled Christ at museo Capella sansevero, it's a private exhibition holding probably one of the most magnificent artistic pieces of Christian Europe, one could be easily misled to lift the veil covering Christ and i would place it beside pieta at the Vatican. It also holds some more gems and this museum is not to be missed.


After the visual treat of the San severo, we walked on to another of Naples treasure trove , the Naples archeological museum which houses the artifacts and relics from the excavation done at Pompeii and Herculaneum . For someone who had been to Pompeii before I was waiting to see the original excavated items. The mosaics were simply breathtaking considering the effort and the attention to detail and the one of Alexander v darius caught my attention.

After immersing ourselves for a couple of hours in the rich treasures of Farnese gallery and the best of Naples we took a train to Via Toledo, the chic shopping street leading to the Neapolitan riviera.
The shopping street had the usual suspects from Gucci to Armani to Benetton and we skipped them all. We stopped to have a shot of cappuccino and sfogliatella which is a pastry native to the campania region.

Since it was late, we couldn't get into the San Carlo theatre , the oldest and grandest opera house in Europe , would love to get in there and watch a show once. Just beside it is the plebiscite square and the bibliotheca over looking the gorgeous bay of Naples. The walk along the boulevard of the bay of Naples is a serene experience with casual joggers, couples and tourists. Several castles are located along this stretch for obvious reasons during the medivel period.

We closed off the day with a dinner at one of the chic restaurants on the chiaia coast ........

Day 3

day 3 in Rome was a nice affair. Starting with catacombs of San Sebastián. We travelled outside the city walls to the appian way to reach the catacombs. It has been one of the highlights of the trip so far,. The catacombs were burial places just like modern day ones and Rome had several of them and these dates to 1st century ad.

Just like modern urban centres, real estate was expensive back then and people had a tough time finding space to bury their loved ones. In comparison to today's cities which have gone vertically upwards, the Roman towns went beneath to accommodate their sprawling megapolis needs. The Christian idea of burial than burning due to the faith in resurrection after judgement day is one retained by the abrahamical faiths. The catacombs had curators and coffin makers , interminably the coffin maker stamp was existent on all coffins - a precursor to the modern day sales tax.

Next on the list , st clement church which is built on the ancient order of Mithras. As Christianity became more accepted and also later the official religion, the pagan religions were trampled upon and one can see traces of ancient religions bring exterminated. Two levels of ancient churches and Mithrae.

Last stop in Rome before moving to Naples was the beautiful and majestic basilica of Lateran st. Giovanni . It has been the seat of the pope for a considerable period of time in history and also one of the pilgrim churches of Rome.

A beautiful cup of coffee and we are off to Naples, the bustling and sprightly southern city.

Roman holiday day 2

Day 2

After the tiring first day it's trips to Vatican and trastevere , our aching bodies needed some rest and we started the day at 11am.

The lan was to hit Ostia antica and the usual suspects of central storica of Rome including the pantheon and Navona.

The journey to Ostia antica took an hour and 15 minutes and the by the time we reached the small village we were hungry. Downing couple of pizzas took us an hour more than we anticipated. It was a new experience travel with a 11 month inquisitive baby.

Ostia used to be a sea port with the river Tiber flowing through it from Rome so it was used as a storage yard as well. The ruins and excavation is a sight for anyone interested in knowing how people loved 2000 yrs back. The baths are well preserved , hot water for the entire public, wow. Mosaic design for floors are so contemporary that it's awe inspiring . The Roman amphitheater is a engineering marvel with such acoustic accomplishment. The entire complex is supposed to be the biggest excavation site of Roman period. Our lives are merely a continuation of the past and it's absurd to think that time has stood still.

Going back to the city , we attempted to hit the beaten track of central historical district of Trevi, pantheon, piazza Navona , gothic church and campo d fiori . Since we started late we could visit only the Trevi and campo d fiori . We had coffee at Saint eustachio's supposedly the best coffee Rome had to offer. The cappuccino and tiramisu were divine to say the least.

Dinner was sumptuous calzone with ham n cheese.

Roman holiday

day 1

Tired after the long flight from chennai to Rome.

We saw the imposing Flavian amphitheatre or the more common name colosseum first up

It was interesting to see why it was built and the origins of the name coliseum

Leaving Constantine arch, we entered the palatine hill and the Roman forum. The once bustling city space of roma is all to see from basilicas , senate house, temples to deified emperors , markets.... It's a glorious sight ....the Roman columns are just colossal in size

We took a long walk along the Roman and imperial forum viewing the Trajan column up to piazza Venezia ... With beautiful view of the Risorgimento and Italian unification monument of vittorio Emmanuel 2 while waiting for the bus to take us to St. Peter square.

Lo behold the holiest place in the western world, St. Peter basilica...... The adornments and embellishments, the holy door and the baroqueness are stunning.

Walking along the chilly w.ind, we reach trastevere , the Roman city side of working class. The Santa Maria church built on 23 Roman columns and the apse featuring a glittering Christ.

Dinner was a sumptuous Roman affair with meat broth, lentil soup and rabbit in vinegar sauce.

Can Arsenal bounce back ?

This was not the classic attacking and free flowing football but definetely the most intense game of the season so far. Highflying Arsenal came up against floundering Manchester United at Old Trafford and the build up to the game was mind blowing.

The theatre of dreams have been a jinxed place for the Gunners with the recent 8-2 drubbing being the most humiliating result for Arsene Wenger during his illustrious career. This time it was different as the Gunners were on top of the table and had just beaten Liverpool and a strong Dortmund side. The gunners boast the best midfield of the league with Ozil, Cazorla, Arteta, Ramsey and Wilshere and must have hoped that much of the game would be played in the way they wanted i.e crisp and fast football.

The red devils started with a high pressing game and the gunners were pressurized into making small errors in passing and positioning which were absent in their previous games and it showed the nervousness of the Arsenal players. Ozil and Ramsey were poor beyond any words and were playing well below their normal levels, Cazorla tried hard to get into the game but could not as well. The red devils had one clear strategy and were executing it well, block Arsenal from playing in their style, Rooney was their most industrious player and he was the one who created the goal. The first half was a tactical battle between Moyes and Wenger and the former Everton man was winning but the second half was different. Arsenal started playing well and enjoyed 65% of the possession but without many clearcut chances. The introduction of Gnabry provided some width and pace and all Arsenal fans must have wondered what would have been if Walcott and Podolski played.

By all means this was a competitive match and the decider came from a set piece and Arsenal fans must not put their heads down. After a long time we have a team which can battle and win matches, but it would be wonderful if Arsene signed a more accomplished striker, Giroud is playing well but just not at the level of rooney or Van persie. Ozil must start making more effort when things are not going his way, he just disappeared from the game on many occasions and was marked by Rooney though towards the second half he started making runs and finding space.

After the break hopefully we will have Walcott to speed up the play and bring some width and keep playing good football.

Arsenal's resurgence

Its funny that on the opening day of the premier league the whole world was out to get Wenger's head and after 3 months and 10 league games normalcy has been restored with "Arsene Knows". Considering the final third of last season and this season until now, the Aston Villa game looks like a clear aberration, Wenger's men have lost 1 in 20 games played in the corresponding period. Arsenal fans were getting impatient and have been without a trophy for 8 long years and the media comments passed by the club's management that any top player could be signed now. These factors culminated in the unanimous call for Wenger's ouster and few would have doubted that it was the right thing to do.

In came Mathieu Flamini and a certain Madridista Mesut Ozil (yeah u heard it right) and the whole dynamic changed, Ozil assisted with almost his first touch for the club and Flamini was bossing the midfield area like no one since another popular french man Patrick Vieira. Suddenly Arsenal were on the back of 5 straight wins and a dominating win over Rafa's Napoli, when Man utd and city were stumbling. As it stands Arsenal are top of the table 5 points clear off Chelsea.

It is easy to forget that unlike City, Utd and chelsea who are all in transition due to new management and arrival of new players, Arsenal had the sagacious Wenger in control and at the back of a stupendous run towards the end of the previous season. This was also the first season in a long time that Arsenal did not sell their best players which was a huge step in itself, look at Spurs who have splashed 100 Mn and are yet to forge a winning combination. Arsenal's young team have such cohesiveness which is hard to match and this has contributed significantly to Arsenal's stellar showing this season. Barring Ozil and Flamini the rest of the bunch have been playing together for quite some time now.

Flamini and Arteta make a fine pairing while Cazorla, Ramsey, Ozil, Rosicky give them creative impetus and my word Giroud has improved leaps and bounds, his holding capacity and build up play has exceeded all expectations. As the top teams slowly settle and gel, we would know whether Arsenal's rise is a fluke or are they genuine title contenders.  Ozil has raised the level of game play to another level while Ramsey has been simply superb. I hope Arsene Wenger is proved right by Arsenal winning the league and building another set of invincibles as I expect City, united and chelsea to come out all guns blazing soon.