ICC Cricket Tournament in Fort Lauderdale, Florida

International Cricket Match Referee Devdas Govindjee, who is the official travel correspondent for this blog, is currently in the USA for the ICC Americas Division 1 Tournament in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Dev sent me the email below and I would love to share it with all my readers.

Greetings from Fort Lauderdale where the body clock has still not totally adjusted and proof of that is that it is now only 4.15 a.m on this Monday morning whilst back home in SA your weekis already well on it's way.

It seems like I have been here ages already- merely because in the 1 day that I had free ( Sat) I managed to have such a full day thanks to my special friend Mukie who drove down from his West Palm Beach home which is about an hour away and then proceeded to show me some wonderful sights in and around the Florida south regions- these are all already on fb and reflect the kindness shown to be- it makes one humbled and also brings a realisation of what the term true friendship really is.

Anyway, after the enjoyment of Sat it was down to work on Sunday with a breakfast meeting at 7 a.m and then a visit to the venues to do ground and facility inspection- thereafter meetings at 4.30 and 6.30 with the umpires, scorers and then the team managements respectively- the 5 teams participating all checked in during the course of the morning.

The meetings went well as did the stadium inspections and now today the tournament gets under way with a full programme of matches at both venues.

There will be a morning session which starts at 10 and then the pm matches get under way at 3.

This pattern of matches will continue all week until sunday and Monday next week has been set aside for any incompleted matches or additional matches that might be fixtured if need be.

I am really excited about getting the tournament officially started today because that is when I can start looking at all the various aspects which constitutes my being the tournament referee- the local offices for the Americas have extended my usual ICC brief by wanting my assistance and input into the structuring of their umpiring systems so it will mean taking notes and making recommendations as the tournament progressed.

It is still at times a "pinch yourself" moment when one pauses to realise that here I am heading a tournament for the ICC thousands of kilometres and across oceans from Port Elizabeth- those moments can become emotional ones but that would in my case again lead me down the path of memory lane and then i reflect on all those people who have over the years played a part ( does not matter how big or small that part was) in adding the necessary layers to mould a product that is now able to enjoy so many special moments- these people would range from my parents who brought me into a home where Sport was always played or a topic of conversation through to my schooldays and university years where sport formed the centre of my focus ( studies took a back seat most times!) .

Thereafter as club and provincial and national tournaments were played by me ( and this extends beyond cricket to tennis and table tennis and soccer) my mind flits through the countless team mates who I learnt from, captains who left indelible impressions on me, opponents who fought hard but never unfairly and always with mutual respect.

Then there would be family who needed to understand my nature and love for sport to accept hours away in training or at tournaments ( so whats changed?) knowing that there are always sacrifices to be made and at times casualties along the way and that the unstinting support is valued - 

and finally - friends who stood by you and gave support and then shared in either triumphs or disappointments - so there is a category for the reader of this to place himself or herself into and all I want to say is

thanks

"look on all with an equal eye"

always

dev

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Those were the good old days

This saturday that passed by my family and I attended my niece Juwairiyya's very first sports event hosted by her play school Kiddies campus.  The kids were excited the whole week about the event but as murphy's law would have it, on Saturday morning we all woke up early only to discover that  it was a rainy, chilly and miserable day for a sports event. Luckily, the event was indoors at the local recreational centre. Arriving at the venue, we were greeted by the staff of the school who were all engrossed in the final preparations for the event. Mothers, sisters, siblings, grand mothers and grand fathers, uncles and aunts were all out in full force to support and encourage the little ones. The kids participated in a variety of categories such as the hula hoop race, bean bag race, changing the baby's nappy race in partnership with all the mummies, the lipstick race and the scooter race as well. There was also a daddy's race where all the fathers were asked to participate in a race. Hot dogs, koeksisters, popcorn and a variety of other goodies were on sale at the tuck shop. All proceeds from the tuck shop was given to the school. At the end of the event everyone left the venue with a barbeque pack comprising of a delicious piece of chicken accompanied with a roll and potato salad. What I loved most about the event was the fact that irrespective of whether a child came out first or last, everyone received a medal and thus no one felt heart sore or discouraged.
Being at the event made me recall my school days and all the sports functions that I participated in. In high school I remember being a mascot at the annual sports day function. My mom had to sew a pretty white and yellow dress. Whilst I was never really a sports orientated person, I use to enjoy watching the others participate and tug of war was an activity that I loved being a part of. I was more academically inclined and acting in plays, public speaking, speech contests, debating and newspaper competitions was very much my forte and strong point. I remember dressing up like Tina Turner with a wig for a mock interview that we had to do and also dressing up like Sherlock Holmes for a one man show play. Mind you I still have the wig
and now and then we take it out of the cupboard and fool around with it. Oh well, those were the good old days...Don't know if the kids of tomorrow will be enjoying outdoor activities and being a part of plays and having clean innocent fun. Today's kids are technologically orientated with most of their time spent watching television or being deeply engrossed on their mobile phones and computers. Sadly, it is the same technology that has caused our youth to develop asocial personality disorders along with a lack of manners and respect. Gone are the days when kids use to play doll house doll house and pretend to cook meals, gone are the days when kids played 'ringa ringa rosie', gone are the days when kids played hopscotch and swing ball. How I wish for the days of my youth to return, if only I could turn back the hands of time!!!!!

 

Spur Restaurant in Fordsburg, South Africa

A very big shout out, thumbs up, hats off and thank you to the staff and management at Spur Fordsburg for the incredible service and discount we received last night. Garlic bread topped with melted cheese, buttoned mushrooms accompanied with a delicious dip, chicken schnitzel and steak served with chips and delicious veggies filled up our tummies to our hearts content. In fact we were so hungry and the starters was so good that we gobbled it all up before I could even take a picture LOLOL. My niece JUJU (Juwairiyya) loves frequenting the restaurant because of the play area for the kids. Parents are afforded the opportunity to eat their meal in peace whilst specific staff are assigned to looking after the kids.
The owner happens to be an ardent facebook friend of mine and whilst we have never ever met in person, I have always received excellent service from both the Spur in Fordsburg as well as from the Debonairs situated in the Littlefalls area (the same owner). I had a pizza delivered all the way to my house even though my residential area is not a part of their delivery route.
I guess it pays to have loyal facebook friends doesn't it..On that note its time to hit the sack folks. I have another hectic, busy day tomorrow..Enjoy the week ahead . Keep it safe especially if you going to be on the road. We passed by two accident scenes last night. At the one scene a man was lying dead on the side of the road and at the second scene the chubb security vehicle was smashed so badly that the car is of course a write off..Let us all take the initiative towards keeping our roads accident free!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cupcake Hubby...:)))))))

" Hai Baghwaan, Kya zamaana aagaya (oh my God, What times have come?)" Savitri mumbled as she made her way through the front door of her beautifully furnished, opulent home. Huffing and puffing, she made her way to the black leather lazy boy massaging chair that was situated in the corner of the room adjacent to the sliding door that exited to the swimming pool and main entertainment area of the house. " Agnes, bring me a glass of water" she shouted. Savitri is a typical traditional Hindu lady who worked very hard for most of her life in her husbands laundromat and tailoring business. She made sure that all four sons became doctors abroad at a well known prestigious university.Two of her sons reside in the same neighbourhood a few doors away and Rushil and Keval married European women and settled in Paris. Savitri is short and stout in stature and not the tiniest of individuals around might I add. Despite being overweight, she chooses to wear trendy saris with matching accessories and high heel shoes but always fails to conceal the rolls and folds around her waist area. I always wondered why does she have to expose her ' Firestone tyres ' in public. Nonetheless she is a bright, bold and vivacious character who seems pretty comfortable in the skin that she is in and I guess doesn't really care about what the general public think about her. Her husband Rohan on the other hand is a meek, submissive individual in my opinion. He is a middle aged man and even after the grey hairs have set in there is no doubt that Rohan must have been a strikingly good looking handsome man in his heyday. Nowadays he is retired and spends most of his day taking walks around the neighbourhood, swimming and spending time with his grandchildren. He is a well groomed man always sporting trendy elegant athletic wear along with a designer watch. Rohan looks ten years younger than most men within his age category as he does spend a lot of time looking after himself in terms of eating the correct foods and visiting the gym regularly quite the opposite to his wife Savitri who spends most of her time at home cooking up a storm for her grandchildren and being involved with elaborate tea party afternoons with the elite women of the community. Rohan stares at his wife as she gulps down the glass of water.
" Savi, why don't you start going to the gym? It would be good for your health. You wouldn't feel so tired and out of breath.'
' No, No. What nonsense. I need to be at home cooking for the kids. Prakash and Aditya only like my hand food. You know how their wives are. Both my daughter in laws are so useless. All they know is fast food and take away.. No, no, my sons need wholesome, home made food. I wonder what my angrez (English) daughter in laws are feeding my poor babies in Paris. They must have lost so must of weight. Next week I will make pickles, chevra and other frozen items to take with us to Paris. Need to fatten them up again whilst we there.."

Rohan simply nods his head and continues reading the newspaper. " Hey, did you see the newspaper Savi? Renukha's daughter in law, Latika is in the paper. She is now promoted to being the head of Baragwanath hospital. I am sure her husband and family must be so proud of her." Rohan looks at Savi with sheer delight and happiness showing on his face.
" Yes, I just came from their house." Savi replied.
" I wanted to visit Nandi Bhen after her operation. Hai Bhagwaan. Latika was sitting in front of the television doing her nails whilst her husband Ramesh was cooking dinner and trying to feed baby Simran at the same time. He said he was helping his wife as she was tired and exhausted after attending a day of meetings.What a sissy boy that Rohan is. What a shameless woman to make her husband slog in the kitchen whilst she sits like a rani in front of the television'
"Savi, zamana badalgaya. Times have changed. Let the kids lead their own lives." Rohan replied to Savitri in an irritated tone.
Savitri was really not in the mood of listening to Rohan's long sermon which she has become quite accustomed to hearing in recent times so she quickly decided to get up and make her way towards the kitchen. Just then the phone rings.

Does the above scenario paint a very familiar picture to you? I am sure it does. Within the Arab and Indian communities in general, the women are meant to cook, clean and take care of all the household domesticated chores. Our grandparents were brought up with an old school of thought whereby the women were meant to slave away for their husbands. Take for example in our household, dad is the youngest of 7 brothers and hence he was very spoiled by his mom. Naturally, when he got married he expected the same kind of vip treatment from my mother. Hence, to this day my mom has taken care of all the household and domesticated chores without dad having to worry about anything. With none of the men in our home having a keen interest in assisting with household tasks, mom was very impressed with our guest from Pakistan, Jamal who assisted mom in the kitchen a few days ago by making all the rotis for dinner. Naturally, when dad and my brother walked into the house they were quite surprised to find him rolling out the rotis in the kitchen. A strange phenomenon for them I guess, they simply walked past the kitchen with a huge smile on their faces.

I don't know where this idea or notion stems from that it is the duty of a woman to take care of household chores. Even from a religious perspective a woman is not obliged to be solely responsible for household and domestic chores. Rather a woman carries out these duties out of love and affection for her husband and kids.The Prophet Muhammed (saw) set a universal example for all men by assisting his wives with domestic and household related chores. Whilst it is very difficult to change the mindset of our parents and grandparents, I think that the mothers of today should try implementing changes within their homes. Both sexes should be treated alike.Boys should also be given domestic household chores to carry out like ironing, washing the dishes and even assisting in cooking simple meals. These skills would definitely assist them in creating a life of marital bliss years down the line. A husband who assists his wife with domestic related tasks creates an environment of sharing and caring. It is only natural that any wife who has a supportive partner would love her husband in return and go out of her way to fulfill his needs and desires thereby creating a heavenly home environment. As Mary Kay Blakely once said," If my sons are to become the kind of men our daughters would be pleased to live among, attention to domestic details is critical. The hostilities that arise over housework...are crushing the daughters of my generation....Change takes time, but men's continued obliviousness to home responsibilities is causing women everywhere to expire of trivialities." And on that sweet note I now present you with a picture of beautiful tempting cupcakes that were baked by a friend of mine who resides in South Africa. He is a doctor with a tremendous passion for cooking and baking. The woman he marries will definitely be one lucky soul. That's for sure.