Jeetendra and Leena Chandavarkar, the ‘dhal gayaa din’ pair, had the most unlikely connection with Indian badminton all these years. That was till Mohammed Azharuddin turned up his collar, looked right and left,  and, realising that he had luxury cars and watches and Parliament membership, decided that he wanted to head the Badminton Association of India (BAI).

Wristiness, the cornerstone of Azhar’s game, is fundamental to badminton as well. But that is the only connection between the two. Lack of common background in itself is not a deal-breaker. There is the odd prominent sports administrator who played a different game in his prime. Jean Gachassin, president of the French Tennis Federation, was a rugby player of repute. But Azharuddin has a blot on his reputation. He has been banned for life by the Indian cricket board for his involvement in match-fixing.

It is unlikely that Azharuddin will become BAI president. In fact, as this is being written, the BAI has termed his proposal ‘invalid’. But assuming he did, and if a badminton player were to fix matches, what credibility would Azhar have to penalise that player?

Besides, badminton is in relatively good health. In February, the sport found a sponsor, Premier Brands, for an amount of Rs 7.5 crore and a period of three years. Saina Nehwal is a star with a world ranking of No 6. Aditi Mutatkar, at No 33, is the second Indian in the women’s top 50. The men’s top 50 features five Indians—Chetan Anand, Arvind Bhat, P Kashyap, Anup Sridhar and Anand Pawar.  They have a qualified man as national coach—P Gopi Chand, the 2001 All England champion. 

In fact, the badminton fraternity seems happy with VK Verma, the current president. A former player says, “The sponsorship deal, Gopi’s appointment as coach and the competent performance of players are feathers in Verma’s cap. He may not have been a sportsman himself like Azhar, but has years of experience as an administrator.”

As often happens in India, political aspirations are likely behind Azharuddin’s new-found interest in badminton. Azharuddin is a Congress MP from Moradabad. Heading a sports federation boosts clout as well as image. It also opens up opportunities for career growth and self-promotion. But everyone has opposed Azhar’s whim. That is how it should be.

Have an iPhone? Here’s how to turn it into a food processor so you can go forth and gourmandise. The  great chefs of America have just shared their favourite iPhone Apps. Some are no use to us. Like OpenTable  and Zagat To Go, which lets you make a reservation at leading restaurants… in the US. But the others are ones you should go forth and mine. With Big Oven, Kitchen Calculator and Epicurious, you can walk into the kitchen unencumbered by books and just stare into your fridge. Punch in whatever you have, turn on the gas and go, go, go, flipping from centigrade to Fahrenheit.  That’s what we call show and cook.

When Shiv Sena Executive President Uddhav Thackeray, an avid photographer, decided to bring out a book, he got the party’s in-house publisher, Subhash Desai of Prabhodankar Printers, to put together all his aerial pictures of Maharashtra’s forts and other structures. When the coffee table glossy, Maharashtra Desha, came out, the politician in him won over the photographer. So while the Marathi version of the book costs Rs 100, so that the Sena core constituency of Marathi manoos is appeased, the English version of the same book is priced at a whopping Rs 4,500. It’s hard to see how anyone’s going to buy the latter, but then that’s not really Uddhav’s problem, is it?

Obesity can kill. We know that, but this bird did not. A visitor to a park in Sydney saw a kookaburra bird being chased by dogs. But this bird was so obese it could not fly away. Taking pity on the bird, the passerby took it to the Sydney zoo. The zoo put her on a strict diet and exercise regimen and the bird is now flying again. The bird’s diet, like that of many in the park where people barbeque, included bits of sausages. Wonder what the result is on people who eat the sausages whole.

After sweeping the Left out of power in municipal polls in many parts of West Bengal, Trinamool Congress Chief Mamata Banerjee has constituted jumbo committees to advise and oversee the functioning of the civic boards in the municipal bodies it has won. She announced a 19-member advisory committee for Salt Lake, while a 76-member committee will advise the Mayor-in-Council in Kolkata. The advisors are mostly singers, painters, academics, ex-bureaucrats, industrialists, lawyers, doctors and journalists, most of whom didn’t have a clue they would be named. 

However, many have lost no time in announcing their pet schemes. Like renowned danseuse Amala Shankar, who has said that the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) will set up dance schools for orphans. And actress and animal lover Debashree Roy, who wants the civic body to stop harassing street dogs, and a singer who’d have music taught to street children in KMC-run schools. Then, a painter wants all pavements cleared of encroachers before he raises an army of amateur painters to beautify the walls! Prominent among the persons in the panels for Salt Lake and Kolkata are singers Nachiketa and Anup Ghoshal, artists Suvaprasanna and Jogen Choudhury, filmmaker Sandip Ray, theatre directors Bibhas Chakraborty and Bratya Basu, quizmaster Derek O’Brien and cricket administrator Jagmohan Dalmiya. 

Realising that such a large body of advisors is unwieldy, Mamata has formed a core committee of advisors for the KMC, headed by ex-Mayor Subrata Mukherjee, to liaise between the main body of advisors and Mayor-in-Council members. Trinamool councillors aren’t amused. With so many advisors breathing down their necks, they would be virtually powerless to do anything on their own.