Monty Panesar made his England debut in India in 2006. His grandparents, who lived in Ludhiana, were eager to see him play. They were especially curious about the left-arm spin he was famous for. His grandfather Hari Singh said, “He’s a bowler and we are more keen to see him bowl. His batting will no doubt come in the later order.”

Three years on, the situation has changed. It is Monty the Batsman who is the star. Panesar’s entertaining, but gutsy survival as the last man in the first Test in Cardiff was the turning point of the series that England won 2-1. Yes, at the Oval in the decisive Test, there was Stuart Broad’s spell, Jonathan Trott’s hundred on debut and the Flintoff slingshot throw to run Ricky Ponting out. But if not for Panesar braving 35 balls, 35 bullets, England would not have been in contention in the first place.

India have been a crick in the Australian neck for over a decade. In 1998, Sachin Tendulkar gave Shane Warne nightmares with assaults on his leg spin. Even canfuls of baked beans and Vegemite could not help Warne. In 2001, VVS Laxman’s 281 changed his initials forever from ‘Vangipurappu Venkata Sai’ to ‘Very Very Special’. Rahul Dravid was a barrier that the Kangaroos could never leap over. Sourav Ganguly wormed into their heads with his gamesmanship. Now another man with an Indian connection—Mudhsuden Singh Panesar, the first Sardar to play for England—has filled up their urn of woe. That too with an unlikely weapon. Panesar defeating the Aussies with a bat was like a robber pulling off a bank heist with a rolling pin.

There are innings when the number of deliveries faced is more important than the number of runs scored, and Panesar’s was such an innings. Thirty-one of the 35 balls he faced were dot balls. The runs were important, agreed. Without them, England would not have overtaken the Australian score and made them bat again, thus buying more time. But this was a situation where the primary objective was survival.

Australia and India are the two bullies of cricket. Australia for their cricketing might and arrogance, and India for their money. Other nations like to see them lose. Australia have fallen. India should not. For that, they must learn from the Panesar example and make their tail-enders spend more time batting. Even for bowlers, cricket is a batsman’s game.

The Catholic Church in Kerala is offering financial incentives to augment the number of its believers. Church-run hospitals in the state have decided to charge a mere Rs 10,000 instead of the usual Rs 40,000 from Catholic women wishing to reverse their tubectomy or recanalisation. The bishops hope a significant number of the faithful will now rethink their fallopian tubes. This comes as the latest in a series of exhortions by the church asking its members to go forth and multiply. Reason: Kerala’s Catholic population is declining due to emigration, abroad and to other states. The size of Christian families is also shrinking, thanks to family planning. Last year, the church scuttled a state family planning bill intended to fine families Rs 10,000 if they had a third child. The bill also planned to deny such families free education and treatment in government hospitals.

Among the many things that get politicians into a twist during election season, the model code of conduct ranks at the very top. In Maharashtra, where elections are set to be announced, politicians are running helter skelter to get files cleared before the model code comes into force. Secretaries, personal assistants, ministers, MLAs can all be seen, sprinting with files through the Mantralaya, the state government headquarters, usually a picture of idle calm.

The staff canteen located within Mantralaya premises is spilling over with visitors who have come to get their files cleared. On the other hand, employee visits to the canteen have dwindled because they are all, you guessed it, clearing files. There are serpentine queues in front of offices of ministers and bureaucrats but locating anyone has become almost impossible.

“The Chief Minister and his ministers are clearing files without even reading them,” says Nitin Gadkari, BJP state president.

For all those who hero worship mega philanthropists like Bill Gates and Bono and have rued our paltry bank balances, here’s some good news. The Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) has recently introduced a one-of-its-kind master’s degree in philanthropy. And the first batch of 15 students has already begun training with NGOs in Delhi.

“We have observed that activities in NGOs are not properly channelised. It is for this reason that we started the course in July this year,” says Dr Devendra Kumar Choudhry, pro vice-chancellor, IGNOU.

The students of the course are being trained to be practical and not preachy. There isn’t much theory involved; in fact 70 per cent of the course module requires students to be out in the field.

So now, charity doesn’t just begin at home. You can learn it at school too. So Messrs Gates and Buffett, are you listening?