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Fans had to be E&T specialists to survive at the Brabourne Stadium on Saturday 20 OCT, 2007. The ears had to be strong to withstand raucous cheering and blaring music. The throat had to have the capacity to holler for more than three hours.

It was worth the effort. India defeated Australia by seven wickets in ‘the one-off Twenty20 international, the first in India.

Gautam Gambhir, whose 75 had laid the foundation for India’s win over Pakistan in the World Twenty20 final just about a month ago, was the guiding light again. His 63 and the second wicket stand of 82 in 52 balls with the in-form Robin Uthappa were responsible in India’s victory.

A tip of the hat is also due to Harbhajan Singh. His introduction in the seventh over of the Australian innings stemmed the run flow. The off spinner gave away only 17 in his four overs and also sent back the dangerous Matthew Hayden.

The venue, resplendent in flood lights, came alive well before Australia won the toss and elected to bat. Queues stretched about half a kilometre or more from the entry points at the ground. Inside, the DJ’s console belted out Indian and international hits. The cheerleaders and the football-style benches for teams and coaches to sit on, as seen in the World Twenty20 in South Africa, were back.

Among the 25,000 or so in the stadium were Deepika Padukone, a guest of Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, and Shahrukh Khan

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India, needing 167 to win, started their chase in perilous fashion. Virender Sehwag, making a comeback into the side after being out due to injury, departed (as usual)in the· third over having made just five.

But though India lost a wicket early, they were scoring well. Gambhir, the silent assassin, had started his assault even before Sehwag got out, smacking Nathan Bracken for two boundaries in the second over. When Uthappa joined him, the runs started to come in more freely.

The fifth over gave the first strong sense that this was India’s day. Brett Lee, who had got Sehwag and has been Australia’s strike bowler throughout the tour, surrendered twenty runs. Gambhir tucked him to fine-leg for four on the first ball. On the second, he played to cover point; Michael Clarke fielded and threw left-handed at the non-striker’s end.

The ball missed the stumps. Worse, Stuart Clark at mid-on let it slip from between his legs and to the boundary. Five runs to India, slump of the shoulders for Australia. Two more fours, this time from Uthappa, completed Lee’s, and Australia’s misery.

Gambhir and Uthappa could not stay till the end. But that gave the crowds a chance to see a few Yuvraj Singh specials. The timer par excellence struck three sixers. Captain Dhoni finished it in style with a six over square leg against Lee to set off noisy celebrations.

Earlier, Australia started well and, well, not so well. They smacked as many as 12 in the first over, all with successive boundaries. But they also lost the man who got them - Adam Gilchrist. RP Singh bowled him with a Yorker. Middle stump fell like Sonny Liston did against Muhammad Ali.

History repeats itself, I know; but that soon! Usually it is for the next generation. Only in 1998, onions (and their ‘gold’ prices) caused a downfall of a popular government. What is happening to power in Delhi? Onions and their escalating prices every now and then are giving the governments the headaches rather frequently now.

And hey, there are already enough tears in common man’s eyes nowadays; do we need onions here! We must go into the root cause of this - the root of onions! Or the government should announce on a national broadcast that onions are not good for health and people should consume less of them - save onions like save water/petrol. Onions have vanished from the platters of salad bars that happily dwell on healthy cauliflower & co. now. You cannot argue with restaurant owners because green salad on their menu had always-been silent on onions; they never promised onions! The banquets booked for parties have been demanding Rs 10 per head more and their explanation is not illogical, ‘the rate was agreed upon before the onion hike, and the guests are expected to eat onions more - as never before’

There should be ‘onionex’ on the lines of ’sensex’ on a daily basis. I also like onions too much – TDS- three times a day; that my ‘interactors’ do not like the smell is a different matter. Now I have to carry them, one onion in each pocket, whatever that means and howsoever clumsy/revealing it may look, with a knife in my back-pocket-so that I can eat them with foods of my choice anywhere.

Then my wife applied her (available) mind and unknowingly tried to help her husband giving him an idea, “you carry peeled off bulbs of onions wrapped in foil instead of those round bodies” she suggested. I took her advice for a change. But then the whole of ME was smelling of onions; I had to announce every time - that this was a new perfume on the shelves with a vegetable fragrance!

Onionism has given a new agenda to Shiv Sena in Maharashtra “No onions from Pakistan”: because we don’t want to change our roots. Some people are not serving onions to their guests and politely say, “We want to practise Navratras for some more time”. There have already been some reports of ransacking and robbing of onion stores. I remember when TV serials like Ramayana and Mahabharata were extremely popular, the invitation cards for marriages/receptions read, “Phere Mahabharata ke Baad” giving ample time to the guests to witness ‘both’ Mahabharatas! Now the cards will have, “Please bring/arrange your own onions, thank you”. And some invitation cards alongwith sweet boxes will have some carefully wrapped onions.

Tears are good for eyes, these are no crocodile tears; you’ve to believe an eye surgeon. And I must give you advice - an apple a day keeps the doctor away. An onion a day keeps everybody away.