Ganguly wins and the incestuous media.

Chappell might have fired the first salvo, and like the German WWII Battleship, the Bismarck he tasted early success, but sunk in his final quest. But Ganguly regrouped, played the media in a manner that made the Stephen's imbroglio seem innocuous (Heck, what is one stupid snobbish Delhi college compared to the de facto national sport of a billion-odd people). But now the BCCI has decided to act and gagged the lot of them. And told Ganguly and Chappell to kiss and make up. I don't think that the two of them will be having rocking make-up sex somehow! However, I do still believe while Chappell is good for Indian cricket, Ganguly has to perform. Because Bengali parochialism can only protect you so far (Ganguly was seen coming out of the BCCI meeting clucthing a copy of the Ananda Bazaar Patrika). Final Score Ganguly : 1, Chappell : 0.5, Indian Cricket : -2.
Though that said, when my mother, step-Dad and brother were rushing down to Calcutta for my grandfathers funeral, they were also stuck with Ganguly when their Air Sahara flight got canned (I was already in Cal). So the four of them spent a lot of time in the airport, yakking in Bangla about life and parents waiting for their Jet Airways flight. And they all told me what a sweet person the guy was. As a result of which I have a Ganguly autograph (and a proper one at that, not just a crooked line) on the back of a boarding card. Wonder if it'll fetch any moolah on eBay?
Swati left a comment on a previous post mentioning the incestuous nature of the Indian Media. Sorry, but I was in splits reading that. This is by far and away the most incestuous profession in the country. Of course, there is Vir Sanghvi and his ex, Malavika (who spells her name with a double 'g' for vaastu reasons I assume). Vir spent the last year planning the launch of HT Bombay and Malavika along with Gautam Adhikari planned the launch of DNA Bombay. While Vir might have the telly shows, and is the more high-profile journo, despite the hoardings of Malavika all over the city, DNA seems to have won the battle of the new papers in Bombay. Which again proves that marketing is all important. Anyway, Vir has gone on to other women journalists since then and I am unclear on his ex-wife's status.
But that is only possibly one of the more high-profile ones. Not quite, because the biggest drama which was of Shakespearean tragediesque levels was the implosion at one of India's largest news magazines. Here, the two top journalists were in love with the same woman, who incidentally was also a journalist (of the wine and cheese variety) in another high-profile publication. This one not only devastated the publication concerned, where the number two had to leave (with his marriage intact it must be said) and so did many of his friends who were all brilliant writers. But, this tragedy also got caught up with the security agencies, the owner of one of India's largest mobile operators (who it is said disclosed cellphone records under duress) and the CEO of one of India's most admired companies (a Bangalore based IT firm) who was alledged to be also having an affair with the same woman. To make things funnier, it also reached the highest echelons of government - with the then Deputy PM being forced to intercede in the matter. This is top-notch gossip in Delhi (actually all of India) for the rich and powerful for weeks on end, with twists, turns and couple of stalkers thrown in for good measure. It made Bollywood stories of sex and sleaze seem childish in comparison.
Then there are cases of husbands and wives working in the same media organisation, though sleeping with different people. How some journalists, married and claiming to be powerful are dumped by their wives for other journalists making them into perverse intern snatchers. I can write a novella on all this and it will make Sidney Sheldon seem tame. Seriously.
But then again, I shouldn't be the one doing much of the talking. Closer to home things are equally funny - my Mom seperated from one senior journalist (and thank god for that) only to marry another. And my Dad ended up marrying a journalist too. In a way, I guess it was in my fate to become a journalist too. God knows what'll happen to me, I don't want to marry a journalist. Maybe, its a good idea not to get married at all (for some time). But then again, it is worth being a journalist for gossip factor alone.
I should really not be writing all this on the blog!