My husband caught me deep in thought the other day.“What are you thinking about so deeply?” he asked.“About an alliance,” I replied.“For whom — for the BJP or for the Congress?”“Neither. I was thinking of an Indo-Pak alliance.”“An Indo-Pak alliance? For what? Against whom?”“Against the rest of the world — in cricket.”“Oh, a cricketing alliance.”“Yes, just think of a team that has the awesome Indian batting line-up and the swinging Pakistani bowlers. We could rule the cricketing world.”“That we could. Or maybe you don’t have to look for alliance partners from across the border. Our own politicians can step in to help.”“Politics and cricket? How does that tie-up?”“Very easily. Talk about the art of swing! Look at the unabashed speed with which our politicians swing in and out of alliances. They make the ‘Sultan of Swing’ look pathetic in comparison.”“You have a point there, I must say. In swing and out swing. But what about ‘reverse swing’? Shouldn’t we learn that from the Pakistanis?”“Not at all. Haven’t you noticed how quick our politicians are at it? If a party suffers early reverses, the trend can be ‘swung back’ at any given point of time.”“So that is what you mean by early reverse swing and late swing. Not bad at all. And what about spin?”“That’s simple. Just get the political spin-doctors to do their bit. They can lend a spin to anything.”“Quite right, quite right.”“And look how professional these politicians are. They switch sides depending on which way the wind blows. So bowlers can take advantage of that factor, too.”“Amazing.”“Yes, and as they are always in the ‘running’, they could help us improve our running between wickets.”“True. Lastly, what about the sweep shot? We need to work on that.”“That can all change with the poll results. We can always ask the candidate who makes a ‘clean sweep’ at the hustings to do their bit for our team.”“Well! All I can say is that I am swept off my feet by your arguments!”My husband had the last word as usual: “Now ours is what I call a ‘Feel Good’ alliance!”
