For Gagan Jolly

It’s best to start at the end here: Gagan Jolly has declared.

Gagan Jolly, my cricket fix. The big guy with the big laugh, the runway t-shirts, the full back, at the back of the shop.

Gagan Jolly, my seasons' tickets, my getaway chat, my shut Hauz Khas market out option.

How well did I know Gagan Jolly: cricket introduced us, that’s how well I knew Gagan Jolly.

The big match was always on, on the little TV, in the corner, at Jolly Drycleaners.

Could have been a bed cover, a stray comment, a cricket friendship; not a test match, a T20, but it feels like the history of cricket.

It’s not Gagan Jolly, it feels like cricket just died.

And I scarcely knew him. We planned: a drive-down to Mohali, games in Delhi, a tennis ball match, beers.

And yeah, Bored Cricket Crazy Indians made him laugh like crazy. Just the name, don’t think he even saw the site, said he would, but the stock market was eating into his cricket.

Gagan Jolly, why I like talking cricket. But today, I just don’t know.


Gagan Jolly in Kurta Cricket, from Nov. 2007