.A popular local football player, 11-year old Saud had miraculous figures of 5/54 in his first outing on the field.With consistent performances, Saud could feature in the Mumbai team in the coming years.The 15-year old travels one and a half hours everyday from his house in Mulund to his school, Al-Barkaat in Kurla, biding his time reading cricket books. The left-arm spinner proved to be a terror for his opposition as he picked up 45 wickets in nine matches of the competition. Soon his elder brother realised Saud’s talent and ensured that he joined Excel Cricket Academy in Mulund.

His school team lifted the trophy on Wednesday, where he had magical figures of five for 54 against Swami Vivekananda School in the final.Until four years ago, Saud was never much into cricket. By the time he is home, he is worn out and the same drill continues every day. However, Saud wakes up every morning with the same zeal, which reflects in his performances.Saeed treated his son’s decision to switch to cricket as a childish impulse and asked him to take a day or two to decide.One of the many disadvantages about Mumbai is the distances one has to travel.

But it was just four years ago that he switched to cricket from football. “One day, after a football match, Saud came crying to me and told me that football was getting too tiring for him. He said that it is a big game and if I try to do extra, it might backfire,” said the spinner after the match. But the obstinate Saud stuck to decision of pursuing cricket, even though his father was not fully convinced. While he plays as a bowler for Al-Barkaat, he turns out as a batsman for Canara Vijaya Bank in the ‘E’ division of the Kanga League. The left-arm spinner leaves his house early in the morning to find a less-crowded train for school and returns in the night after his cricket practice. “He was stubborn, so I took him to all the grounds in the city where people practice cricket to show him how many Automotive molds Suppliers players want to pursue the game in Mumbai and how hard it is to break into the sport suddenly,” he said.

“Lambi race ka ghoda hai,” says Saeed, hoping to see his son in the Mumbai kit in the coming years. The left-arm spinner proved to be a terror for his opposition as he picked up 45 wickets in nine matches of the competition. Growing up around dining table discussions that involve cricket, Saud Mansoori was a revelation when he turned out for the 2017-18 edition of the Harris Shield cricket tournament.“He picked up the bat and ball pretty late and we knew that it would be tough for him to play in the big league.Saud’s cricket journey began with him playing with his elder brother with coloured plastic balls, like every middle-class Indian kid before escalating to this level. His coach Vishal Jain, who still trains Saud, focussed on playing him as a bowler because of his being left-handed.

But I have seen him work hard over the years,” expresses his father, teary-eyed. In fact, he was a popular face in local football tournaments in Mulund, reveals his father, Saeed Mansoori. I asked him what he wanted to do, and then he said he wants to play cricket like his elder brother,” recalls his father, as he refreshes Saud’s cricketing achievements in his mind. “My coach told me to not be under any sort of pressure.Saud, who turns 16 in February, is one the few players who bowls to Mumbai’s Ranji batsmen in the nets prior to the matches, discloses his father

Poetry, travelogues, stories, memoirs, photographs and a lot more make it a feel-good melange.K.The medico-turned-filmmaker says. If there is a tale women want to tell about their lives, many may open with, ‘Once upon a time.Pennadayalangal is a testimony to their interest and passion that flow through diverse streams. On the sidelines of World Environment Day, the page ran a Beat the Plastic Waste campaign telling its members to post write-ups, photographs or selfie videos to tackle the menace in the way one can. What came on the spot became subject for the visuals. What we thought was nearly impossible, came out really well,” smiles Aparna.““Members of the early group parted ways, shuffled and reshuffled to what is seen today as Agneya and FTGT.

“Many of us wanted to be part of a film and act. “Many of us wanted to be part of a film and act. Future has more in store, like blood donation and hair donation,” says Smitha looking forward to covering the many more miles. Just two weeks were left to put things in place.From an exhibitionThe less than a month-old page of Agneya shows the grit with which they tackle problems worth the press of a panic button. Then came a time when many of them united on social media, exchanging thoughts, ideas, and stories with each other. I shot the visuals in my mobile camera and worked without a script.The medico-turned-filmmaker says., an Ayurveda physician, is busy with the last-minute works on the visuals she had canned over the past few weeks before its goes through some fine chopping at the hands of an editor girl in Dubai. May 28 was World Menstrual Hygiene Day for us to set focus on that. A section of them formed Agneya, a special Facebook collective, which is a beehive of everything from short films, documentaries and charity ventures.

Somewhere in the past, they were all something other than the wives, mothers, working women and homemakers they are today’.On the occasion of the launch of Pennadayalangal in Kochi, they danced, sang, sashayed down the ramp, put up their creative works before others and had one jolly good time of their lifetime. People have different tastes and want to do things accordingly.. More brainstorming led to the making our first short film. The team split, forming one for writers and another for authors and entrepreneurs. There was more to come.. Our cinema/theatre company evolved from a small conversation in the group. They themselves got amazed by the women who gathered to form Agneya.. Where on earth it’s going to be released remains to be seen!The team split, forming one for writers and another for authors and entrepreneurs.Smitha Vinod, group admin, speaks about the present China Changan Eado Instrument Panel Body Factory and future of the Agneya. Pennadayalangal was not promoting existing writers only.

Beauty queens at Agneya eventTheir first global creative product is in the offing — a documentary. “There are around 12K members worldwide. For editing, it goes to the editor, one of our members in Dubai,” says Aparna. Working with the Department of Agriculture, she too was keeping a low profile of her Mohiniyattom stint. From there comes out the yet-to-be-titled documentary on Menstrual Hygiene, probably in another week. Some of the admins were abroad while this event happened in Kochi. Knowingly or unknowingly, those talents got swept under the carpet giving way for newer priorities and roles. We found out first-time writers and given them a chance to express their thoughts into words. It became one large group on Facebook, with its tributaries criss-crossing the world. Many were dancing again after doing it in their late teens or early twenties. At Manjeri, Dr Aparna P. Two books, penned by the Malayali women group ‘From the Granite Top’ (FTGT) were out in two years’ time — Njangalude Adukkala Pusthakam and Pennadayalangal