If I was India A coach or manager I would have left Vaibhav Suryavanshi out for this game v AFG. Only to let him know that’s it’s not OK to get physical on the field. Whatever the provocations.
Reliving history. A trip down the history lane.
As a son in 1989, I made the customary graduation day walk on the stage and my father watched. And in 2026 my son Mohammed Emad Gani Lone made the customary graduation day walk on the stage and I watched. Last year my other son Mohammed Adnan Gani Lone made the same walk.
As we grow older, we reminisce and romanticise those younger days of youth. And as we raise our sons and daughters we realise the sacrifices that our fathers and mothers rendered while raising us. We become true sons and daughters, when we become parents.
Today as Emad walked on the stage, I felt it was me walking on the stage. And I was searching for my father, in the crowds. I could not find him. And I had to be content being a father.
And then it dawned on me. Fathers may die but fatherhood never dies. Fatherhood is a rare constant across generations. And that defines the circularness of life
One of the saddest parts of UPSC preparation:
You start treating friendship like a distraction. Until one day you realize human connection was the thing keeping you “SANE”.