Sourav rushes to Kolkata, Dona moves to parents home
Srinivas Manda
damage-limitation exercise after the
excitement
created by his visit to Srikalahasti temple
in Chittoor
district of Andhra Pradesh, with film
actress Nagma.
Contacted on his mobile, Ganguly refused to
be
drawn into a conversation on the subject,
saying
only, “I will
talk to you once I reach Kolkata.”
Ganguly’s air-dash to his hometown has been
necessitated after media reports of a
romantic
liaison between him and Nagma. A number of
Tamil
Nadu newspapers carried front-page stories
about
Ganguly offering puja at the temple, 100 km
from
Chennai. The temple is usually visited by
soon-to-be
couples. The two performed and later took
the
blessing
of the temple priest.
Sourav neither confirmed nor denied the
incident but said he could be
contemplating
legal action against the newspapers
Sourav’s father, Chandidas Ganguly, said
the
incident never took place. “The photo
(published in
a Chennai daily) is a clever work of
manipulation.
Sourav’s face seems to have been
superimposed,”
he said.
Sourav neither confirmed nor denied the
incident but
said he could be contemplating legal action
against
the newspapers.
Meanwhile, his wife and childhood
sweetheart, Dona,
has shifted to her mother’s house. Asked
for her
reaction, she was quoted as saying tersely,
“Ask
them.”
Ganguly enjoys demi-god status in Kolkata
and
could win any favourites’ poll hands down.
Not at the
moment, though, as there is a sense of
betrayal
among the people on this issue. Newspapers
in this
city, that usually report anything to do
with the Indian
captain, have largely chosen to ignore the
issue.
Ganguly might not file a case and his
father’s
assertion
of a doctored photo does not carry water as
hundreds
of locals spotted the two at the temple.
The Indian
captain was even mobbed and had to
extricate
himself from the crowd.
Ganguly is to leave for Mumbai tomorrow
where a
camp of the Indian team, to be announced
tomorrow,
will be held for the forthcoming series
against
Australia. The first Test starts in Mumbai
on
February 27.
-------------------------------
What is the prince of Kolkata up to? Many cricketing
acquaintances of the Indian cricket captain
are
surprised about his fleeting change of his
loyalties.
Saurav Ganguly’s escapade at Srikalahasti,
the
pilgrim town about 60 kms from Tirupati,
has ripped
open another scandal across the country.
The
already drowning credentials of Indian
cricketers
following the match-fixing scandal, is
further eroded
with the fresh scandal surrounding the
chocolate
hero of Indian cricket, enacted on
February17, within
days of packing off wife Dona to Kolkata on
February15.
Whatever Saurav says to defend himself now
may
appear feeble and inconsequential before
the words
of the senior IAS (Indian Administrative
Services)
official, L V Subramanyam (vice-chairman of
the
Sports Authority of Andhra Pradesh - SAAP),
and its
former chairperson, P R Mohan. Both confirm
that
they went to the temple
on the intimation of the temple executive
officer that
a dignitary was visiting and had already
booked
the conducting of a Sarpadosham pooja. The
Kalahasti temple authorities were informed
of
the visit on February 15.
Almost everyone goes to Srikalahasti, the
abode of
Kalingeswara (serpant god), to ward off
evil spirits.
Invariably, it has to be a separate visit,
rather than a
visit after the darshan (sight) of Balaji
at Tirumala. It
is said that whoever makes such visit to
both
Tirumala and Kalahasti on a single day will
invite
Balaji’s wrath. It may be recalled that
former prime
minister H D Devegowda had visited both
deities on
a single day and his ministry did not last
for more
than three months after that.
The already drowning credentials of
Indian
cricketers following the match-fixing
scandal,
is further eroded with the fresh scandal
surrounding the chocolate hero of Indian
cricket
The Ganguly couple (Dona and Saurav)
visited the
Tirumala temple on Wednesday February14,
and
were received as dignitaries by temple
authorities.
They spent almost an hour and were given
prasadam and honoured with a shawl by the
temple
joint executive officer. They were also
shown the
automated kitchen where laddus were made.
Temple
sources say that Nagma was not anywhere
around
on the scene that day. However, she was
very close
to Chennai, shooting in a Telugu film by
Dasari
Narayan Rao.
The Nagma-Saurav affair has not been very
discreet. The dusky starlet who hit the
banners in
Tollywood against Nagarjuna has been
running
around Saurav for almost one and half
years. She
keeps calling him on a special cellphone
she
presented him for the anniversary of their
affair last
November. Film industry sources claim that
sometimes Saurav took late evening flights
out of
Mumbai to meet her in Hyderabad or
Bangalore on
pre-arranged dates. Unlike Sangeeta Bijlani
(who
flaunted Azharuddin as her boyfriend) Nagma
was
very discreet and even the room was booked
only in
her name by the film producers.
Besides their much publicised London
shopping mall
visit, both had been in and out of
Mauritius (on a
special flight of the liquor baron Mallya)
and also
have been personal guests of a famous art
collector
and industrial magnate of Chennai. Nagma
has
plans to build a house in Hyderabad.
Although she
lives in a bungalow presented to her by
former
boyfriend and filmstar, Nagarjuna, she has
bought
3000 sq yards in the Jubilee Hills area and
is
planning a house with a swimming pool, as
well a
cricket practice net zone. “The plot faces
a
lake and is very close to M F Hussein’s new
art
gallery,” says a film critic.
According to Kalahasti temple authorities,
the VIP
couple came as pilgrims. Many bystanders
did
recognise Nagma, as she has acted against
Nagarjuna and Balakrishna in several films,
but very
few identified Saurav in his black glasses.
However,
some youth and the SAAP authorities, who
were
there, received them
and conducted them into the temple. They
were
allocated a space for conducting the pooja
and have
a darshan of the main deity, Sri Kaleswara.
“Niether did we ask about the presence of
Nagma,
nor they did they offer an explanation. The
film
actress was silent throughout, except for
whispering
in Saurav’s ears about the size of dakshina
(offering) to the poojaris,”
says an SAAP official.
A pujari of the temple says that he asked
the couple
their gotram. Saurav gave his gotram as
Sandilya
and Nagma did not say anything. “Hence, I
offered
prayers as that of the Saurav Ganguly
couple. This
kind of poojas has to be performed by the
couple
only and not friends or other partners.
Since nobody
corrected me, I continued and named them as
couple and also gave them garlands to
wear,” he
adds.
Asked when they contacted the temple, he
said a
film producer, now a Telugu Desam Party
legislator,
Doraiswamy, had approached him to be
available for
conducting the pooja on Saturday. Saurav
Ganguly,
Nagma, and two other women (Nagma’s sisters
-
Rohini and Jyotika) came in a grey-coloured
Honda
City, along with an Armada, which carried
their
security and personal assistants. The area
was
cordoned off till the pooja was over. No
mediapersons or photographers were allowed
inside
and even the temple photographer was
directed to
keep his cameras away. “All the temple
staff,
including the photographer, were paid Rs
1000 as
gifts after the pooja,” claims an assistant
to the
priest who
conducted the pooja.
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ravik...@nospam.com
looks like Ganguly is turning out to be a gora version
of kambli in marital life too :-)
</kidding>
RK-
Srinivas says...
Andrew Dunford
Personally I saw only white space - perhaps wiser heads than I can help?
Oh hang on, I've just seen a '666' in there.
Andrew
"Srinivas Manda" <sri...@telocity.com> wrote in message
news:3A92D70E...@telocity.com...
T.A.Ghosh
specially not when he has to captaining india against world champion
aussies. we all have bit of romance here and there, why can't he have one.
let him relax guys and think about the BIIIIIIGGG match
Srinivas Manda <sri...@telocity.com> wrote in message
news:3A92D70E...@telocity.com...