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Pakistani at Kali’s door
HT Correspondent
Kolkata, March 14, 2005|15:51 IST
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The Kalighat temple resonated with slogans never heard before in the Hindu neighbourhood: Pakistan Zindabad and Danish Kaneria Zindabad. The 24-year-old Pakistani cricketer, the only Hindu in the team, prayed at the temple on Monday afternoon.
Dressed in a sky blue shirt and a pair of faded jeans, the six-foot leg-spinner was greeted with warmth and bonhomie.
Word of Kaneria’s arrival reached Kalighat before he did. People thronged the lane leading to the main temple. Devotees finished off their offerings in a hurry, so that they wouldn’t miss the cricketer.
When Kaneria did enter the temple compound, escorted by the police, he was whisked away by sebaits. The garbha griha, where the centuries-old Kali idol stands, was cleared of others.
As he came out after offering puja, Kaneria was greeted with camera flashes and a frantic crowd. While being taken back to the car, Kaneria said that he had always wanted to visit the Kalighat temple.
“I am a devout Hindu and often visit temples, wherever I go. Even in Chandigarh, I visited a local Shiva temple. Before coming to India, a lot of my friends and elders insisted that given a chance, I should not miss visiting this temple. I have been told that this temple has special powers. Today I offered prayers for my wife, daughter, parents and other team members,” he said.
Sebait Paresh Tripathi, who helped Kaneria offer his prayers, said that the Pakistani player enjoyed his visit to the temple. “He was very happy that he could visit the temple. He said that if the goddess was not willing, he could never have en able to come here. He promised that he would return to the temple on his next visit to the city,” Tripathi said.
The Pakistani cricketer, also known as Nani-Danny, told Tripathi that he was confident of a good performance in the second Test. After all, he has the blessings from the goddess.
Fashion & charity
Other cricketers were busy too, though not with prayers. Shahid Afridi went for a haircut at Habib’s at Ho Chi Minh Sarani, while players from both teams auctioned cricket gear for the aid of tsunami victims.
At Habib’s, Afridi not only trimmed his hair but also availed of some beauty services. The handsome spinner’s presence electrified women shoppers, who rushed towards him and swelled the already large crowd on the last day of a seasonal clearance sale. Afridi managed to evade the fans.
At Taj Bengal, the first half of the auction raised over Rs 2 lakh. Izamam-ul Haq, Afridi, Salman Butt, and Md Sami represented Pakistan, while Irfan Pathan, Lakshmipathi Balaji and Harbhajan Singh were the Indians present at the auction, organised by Together We Will.
In the dressing room, Dinesh Karthik and his teammates enjoyed a box of treats. An online friend, Umar L. Aziz, had asked his relatives in Kolkata to send a box of Bengali sweets. Umar, a UK resident, has a Bengali mother.