Breakdancing bowler a sign of the times

I discover today that the young Indian quick bowler Sri Sreesanth is a former breakdancing champion. Now I’m no expert but to the best of my knowledge Sunil Gavaskar was not often seen ‘busting some moves on the dancefloor’. And Javagal Srinath, I’m reliably informed, was not a master of the Michael Jackson-style moonwalk.

Of course Sreesanth is a one-off but his breakdancing also seems a small sign of how the tide of globalisation is sweeping India, a country that at first glance seems to be becoming increasingly westernised.

On the roads, the old Hindustan Ambassador, the Indian version of the 1960s Morris Oxford, is seldom seen, replaced by nippy numbers from the Far East. In the big cities, the young middle-class guys and girls hang out in western bars, wear the latest western clothes and know eight times more about mobile phones and computers than a dunderhead like me. When Bill Gates recently planned a new so-called Hi-Tech City, he chose India.

Already call centres and IT firms in the UK are outsourcing work here, in search of better educated, better motivated staff. An economic revolution is underway and some day soon we in the west are really going to know about it.

On another note, here’s an update of my Blackie watch of yesterday … Well, he bowled a handful of overs that looked pretty tight from where I was sitting. OK, his first act in the field was to let an on-drive through his long barrier and whistle away for four. But then the ball bobbled didn’t it. And the sun was in his eyes. And …