Caribbean’s last tango

The curtains will come down on Cricket World Cup 2007 tomorrow in Barbados. When I watch the finals, my mind will no doubt travel back to 1952

The curtains will come down on Cricket World Cup 2007 tomorrow in Barbados. When I watch the finals, my mind will no doubt travel back to 1952, when our cruiser, the H.M.S.Devonshire, dropped anchor in that magnificent harbour. Cricket was not such a craze then, but I vividly remember Barbados for two reasons — its pristine blue waters and its magical flying fish.

I also remember the islands of Trinidad and Tobago, where India was bumped off the World Cup series by Sri Lanka this time. It was in its harbour — Port of Spain — that our training cruiser carrying 250 cadets from the Commonwealth was received with great fanfare. I remember the calypso, ‘Rum and Coca Cola’, was all the rage at that time, made popular by the Andrews sisters. Rupert Grant, known for professional reasons as Lord Invader, wrote the song, inspired by the US navy which had become all too visible in these parts. American sailors coming ashore were known to spend freely. Hence the final words of the song, “Looking for the Yankee ‘dollah’/ to rhyme with the Cola!”

But I also remember the heart-warming fashion in which the 40 of us from India and Pakistan (there was one from Ceylon too) were received by the large Indian community. They treated us to a barbeque on Caracas Beach, said to be among the longest in the world.

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Our Caribbean cruise took us to so many of those exotic islands — St Kitts, Jamaica, St Vincent, Granada, Antigua, Guyana — now household names as venues for World Cup matches. Since cricket has been the theme song for these past few weeks, let me end on a little known story about the legendary Sir Garfield Sobers.

In the fifties, he had come to India with the Windies team, which was to play a Services Eleven in Poona. The West Indies players, accommodated in the NDA, were fascinated by the way naval cadet, Captain Amarjeet Singh Toor, tied his turban. Gary requested him to tie one on his head too, complete with the NDA crest. Then at the commandant’s reception, he went up to General Habibbullah, clicked his heels and smartly saluted him saying, “Cadet Sobers Singh, Sir.” He then took off the turban and added, “Good evening, General,” to the accompaniment of laughter all around.