Chak De squad in govt hall of fame

They may not have won the World Cup like their celluloid counterparts in Chak De but a recent creditable performance in Australia earned the Indian women’s hockey team a meeting with the country’s top sports bureaucrat.

The 25-member squad, dressed in their navy blue jersey and deep blue skirt, trooped into Shastri Bhavan, home to several ministries, including the sports ministry, last week.

Sports secretary S.K. Arora had called the group to wish them luck for the crucial Olympics qualifiers in March-April, but the conversation veered towards the trip Down Under.

“He wished us luck and congratulated us for putting up a creditable performance in Australia. We lost but fought all the way. I think he was impressed,” one member of the squad said as she made her way out with others.

The team had played eight practice matches, including one against an all-male XI representing the Australian Capital Territory in Canberra. Like the Chak De girls, the team lost to the men but gave them some nervous moments.

Strike a chord with a website

Legendary classical singer M.S. Subbulakshmi spent an entire lifetime regaling audiences but did not have a website to her.

But Sudha Ragunathan might have hit a higher note with a portal that is possibly the first for a Carnatic singer.

The site, www.sudharagunathanfans.com, was set up recently with Jayanthi Srikanth, one of her ardent fans, running it.

Humbled by the gesture, Sudha, who learnt music from M.L. Vasanthakumari — one of the Carnatic music’s trinity, the other two being D.K. Pattammal and Subbulakshmi — said she dedicated the portal to her guru.

The website will go a long way in connecting Sudha’s fans from across the globe with her. The portal will also make it possible to webcast her programmes.

Fat chance for remedy

A Qatari military officer weighing almost two quintals believes he has a fat chance to find a cure in Mumbai.

Yousef Marzoog, who is suffering from umbilical hernia and has been advised an urgent operation, was admitted to Bombay Hospital last week but the surgery has been put off because the father of two could not afford to stump up the Rs 5-lakh bill.

The 44-year-old sergeant commandant with the Qatar Air Force consulted two renowned obesity surgeons about his 190-kg weight since arriving in Mumbai.

His bosses have warned him of a monthly fine of 2,000 Qatari riyals (Rs 21,747) if he does not reduce his weight. Marzoog draws a monthly salary of 18,000 Qatari riyals (Rs 195,723).

Dr M.M. Bhegani, senior surgeon at Bombay Hospital, said Marzoog was the heaviest person he would be operating on for hernia in his career.

“The operation date is yet undecided as he is a diabetic and has high blood pressure,” Bhegani said. The hernia problem is compounded by Marzoog’s excess weight.

Watermark

The capital was offered hope last week that water woes in many of its neighbourhoods might eventually be wiped out.

The government said 53 underground reservoirs will be commissioned by the next year and renewed its appeal to residents to conserve every drop of water they possibly could.

Chief minister Sheila Dikshit, laying the foundation of a 14.1-million-gallon reservoir last week, said the city has 28 such reservoirs now while 25 will have to be added in two years.

Mumbai: This Wednesday, shrug off your worries with Chinta Chhod Chintamani, a play about a family where the father thinks his progeny are standing at the threshold of ruin. The children think this is nothing but generation gap. The venue: Prithvi Theatre, Juhu. Time: 9pm. Call 26149546 for details.