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The Dilli-Mumbai trash-talking session yesterday was pretty good fun, I have to say. I hope it never gets to Yankees-RedSox levels because that's just downright idiotic. But there are enough differences between the two cricketing cultures that some trash-talk is necessary and desirable. Unity in Diversity as our Founding Pitajis used to say. Without that diversity, we'd be some boringly homogeneous unit like, say, New Zealand. (No offence intended to Kiwis; I love you all very much; its just that I can't get excited about North Island-South Island rivalries).
So, in the interests of full disclosure, why don't Dilliwallahs and Mumbaiwallahs tell us all what is so distinctive and wonderful about their respective cricketing cultures? Lets get right down to the level of the respective language. Not just the gaalis but the distinctive cricketing terms. Here is one linguistic offering from me.
In Delhi University, back in the 1980s, a common term for a bowler for reducing a batsman to a quivering mess was Uski to lassi nikaldi. I loved this one; it conjured up visions of a brutal fast bowler shoving a batsman into those large brass pots I used to see in the Lajpat Nagar market and then energetically whirling the wooden handle that stuck out, till the froth formed over the drink. Poor batsman, turned into a swirling, watery yogurtish mess.
Tons more; and in a city like Mumbai, where four languages are the minimum for any self-respecting Mumbaikar, there should be tons to share. Speak up.
