In
2015 furious after South Africa piled on the agony by scoring 438 runs at
Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium against India, team director Ravi Shastri abused the
curator of the pitch Sudhir Naik, for
producing a wicket that offered hardly any assistance to the Indian spinners,
primarily. In a similar instance, in a
ODI, Sudhir Naik, the curator at
Wankhede Stadium, Sudhir Naik lodged a complaint against Ravi Shastri but later
agreed to withdraw his complaint against
India team director Ravi Shastri and bowling coach B Arun over their alleged
outbursts – it was reported that Mumbai Cricket Association vice-president
Dilip Vengsarkar had met with Naik and Shastri and advised both parties to
"bury the matter" that had come about as a result of a
"misunderstanding."
Sudhir
Naik had represented India [3 tests & 2 ODIs] (in 3 Tests 6 innings he
scored a 74 and 44) – debuted at Birmingham in that disastrous tour of 1974 and
played his last test at Calcutta against WI in Dec 1974. He
did well in Ranji scoring 2687 @ 40.10 with a double ton against Baroda. His name was mired after he reportedly caught
shop-lifting two pair of socks at M&S on the Oxford Street. He had led Bombay to an unexpected Ranji Trophy triumph
in 1970-71, a side depleted by star players away in India’s WI tour.
This
is no post on Cricket – we do stay in hotels on official tours and personal trips – you see – stationery
(paper, covers), pens, pencils, soaps,
shampoos, shower caps, spoons, shaving set, tooth brush, paste and more – some have the habit of stuffing
some goodies into their personal suitcases – might be tempting but we do not
know what's off-limits – some well informed hospitality sources say that among
things that are okay to take with you are- couple of chocolates, sugar packets,
shampoo, conditioner, body lotion, and
other bathroom amenities, bathroom slippers, stationery, logo pens, notepaper,
postcards, and envelopes that are left for your use and can be packed away for
later – but not cutleries, cups, pillow covers, towels or anything of such
nature ! [it is better not to take any of them ! – consume or use whatever is
required during stay but not take them away]
Leading
travel platform, ixigo’s info-commercial video on ‘Stuff you can take from
hotels’ went viral over the weekend in light of the recent
incident surrounding hotel etiquette. The video which was conceptualised and
produced in-house, showcases a useful guide for hotel guests on what they can
and cannot take from a hotel room in a humorous format. According to the
company, ixigo’s in-house research team discovered that a lot of travellers are
in a grey area when it comes to what's okay and what's off-limits to take home
from your hotel room. ixigo’s research with tarvellers and hotel partners alike
showed that guests often take towels, irons, hairdryers, cable boxes, clock
radios, blankets, paintings, ashtrays, TV remote controls and even pillows—all
of which are not meant to be removed from the rooms.
Moving
away, a web search on this led to a report in Outlook India on an embarrassing
incident in Jan 2018 involving a State
entourage. The report reads that the security staff at the luxury hotel in London
was in a dilemma. CCTV cameras were live streaming what appeared to be guests –
who were attending an official dinner at the conference hall – flicking
silverware from the large table around which they sat and stealthily stuffing
them into bags and purses placed on their laps.They debated whether they should
raise an alarm but they didn’t want to embarrass the dignitary in whose honour
the dinner had been thrown. Not only was she a VVIP guest at the hotel but she
was the chief minister of the Indian state of West Bengal who was in London on
an official tour. The other visitors seated around the large table included a
host of prominent citizens both from India and the UK and included politicians,
industrialists and journalists.
As
for the Indian scribes they were all senior editors, handpicked by their
organizations to accompany the CM on this very important tour. That they would
be polishing off the cutlery along with the delicacies served was quite
unthinkable, given that they were supposed to be the famed “conscience keepers”
and the “fourth pillar” of the thriving democracy that India is. But the CCTV
footage was rolling and it was clearly happening.Allegedly the first to pick a
set of dessert spoons off the table and into his pocket was a senior
journalist, a reporter with a respected Bengali newspaper. Confirming this to
Outlook, another senior journalist, the editor of another news publication, who
was part of the delegation, said that this particular reporter was a regular on
Banerjee’s foreign tours.
According
to some reports, several other scribes, who had noticed him, didn’t want to
miss out on the loot and followed suit perhaps erroneously thinking that they
would get away with it. That the hidden CCTV cameras were capturing their every
move didn’t occur to them. “Or they
possibly thought that the cameras wouldn’t be working anyway as is often the
case in Bengal,” quipped another member of the Bengali team of journalists,
clearly taking a dig at Bengal’s notorious infrastructural shortcomings.
After
much pondering the security staff decided to quietly inform the journalists
that they had been watching them and knew what they were doing and requested
them to put the stolen items back on the table. Most of them felt ashamed and
returned the silver. Only one gentleman
however apparently refused to admit that he had stolen anything and even dared
the staff to search his pockets. But what he didn’t realize however, according
to some reports, was that the CCTV cameras captured him putting all his loot
into the bag of another fellow journalist from Bengal hoping that he, instead
of himself, would be blamed.
That
was the point when the hotel had had enough and told him that he would be
reported to the police unless he cooperated. Eventually he confessed and was
let off after paying a fine of 50 pounds.
Though the newspaper house for which he works declined to comment on the
incident other than to say, as did one of its senior editors when contacted by
Outlook, “Yes, it’s true,” the news apparently spread like wildfire within the
Indian community in London.
According
an account by a Bengali journalist, this particular man has a “habit of
regularly pilfering cutlery and other goods from hotels during foreign tours
though this is the first time he got caught.” He goes to the extent of claiming
that this man “is a cheapskate who stays in economy hotels to save money but
reaches the star hotel of the CM so that he could partake of the free and
lavish breakfast served there.” Clearly though, he was not born with a silver
spoon in his mouth in the world of journalism, but had a knack for knowing how
to get it.
With
regards – S. Sampathkumar
31st
July 2019.
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