An Unusual Quirky Tale

This is during the time when Brabourne Stadium was in its heyday by way of having
International test matches and Ranji Trophy etc.
 
The Brabourne stadium used to be Mumbai's first-choice ground for hosting international fixtures till 1973. But when Bombay Cricket Association came up with the Wankhede stadium, Brabourne started losing out on the big games and had to be content playing host to first class matches.

The first Test match played at the Brabourne was between India and West Indies in 1948-49. The stadium went on to host seventeen Tests before the eventual fallout with the Bombay Cricket Association in 1973. After a lull of 13 long years, international cricket returned to Brabourne in 1989 when Pakistan played Australia in a one day international.
Owner: Cricket Club of India
First Test: India v West Indies - Dec 9-13, 1948
First ODI Australia v Pakistan - October 23, 1989

Milestones at Brabourne Stadium:
The highest Test total at the Brabourne Stadium is 629/6 declared by West Indies against India in the 1948-49.
The lowest Test total at the Brabourne Stadium is 88 by India against New Zealand in 1964-65.
The best bowling figure in a Test is 11-235 by B.S. Chandrasekhar against West Indies in 1966-67.

This tale is during one of the ongoing Int'l test matches being played at this stadium.. My aunt lives next to
 CCI club and being members always got season's tickets for the cricket games and the seats were in the Pavilion.
During the matches, they sort of had an open house where family and friends could drop in at will and watch the
games from their balcony or from the roof or if tickets were free and available, then those could be used as well.

My sisters and myself had lots n lots of fun bunking college and going to the games.  In those days, the
important stars used to be the cricketers and the actors were persona non grata and in order to get some
attention, these stars would strut about in really garish colors or outrageous clothes vying for attention
with the cricketers.  I remember a slim Shashi Kapoor wearing loud pink pants and walking on the grounds to
draw some attention. Stars were a dime a dozen but people hardly paid any heed during test matches.

My most memorable memory vignette is when my brother-in-law would visit from north and he always had
tickets for the matches but we had to sit in the stands.  The stands itself were a lot of fun and the
crowds would sing in unison waving their arms in alignment etc.  The funniest thing was the banana skin
fights- One stand would throw banana skins at the other altogether in a sort of symmetry- like a yellow-
greeny shower of skins and then the receiving stand would reciprocate with equal vigor and a good time was had by all.  Those were happy uncomplicated days when there was no greed, no match fixing and no dirty politics.  The Game of Cricket was the ultimate winner.

Now in those days a three-in one (stereo-cum-cassette cum reel to reel) was a prized possession and my cousin
brother had just procured that from the local black market.  It so happened whilst everyone was at the games and
the servants were in the kitchen; a petty thief walked in boldly and took off with this 3-in-one.  When my coz came home he noticed the loss at once but everyone was at a loss to explain what happened.  However, no one
wished to take panga with any local sakharams(cops) and waste time at the police station. 

A week had passed after this incident.  Then one day the doorbell rang and standing outside was Mumbai’s
finest Sakharam (cop) holding on to a young man who was shabbily dressed and who was holding the 3-in-one!!
The cop asked if this boom box belonged to him and my coz after examining said yes but was flabbergasted as to
how the cop came to know it was his.  Then sakharamji explained that this thief had been nabbed whilst
stealing in another high rise building and then the cops raided his place and confiscated all the loot.
On further questioning they found out that he had stolen this 3-in-one from this building, hence they
had come to return it and to also request that in future they should make a COMPLAINT TO THE POLICE
IN CASE THERE IS A THEFT IN THE LOCAL AREA ETC. ETC.

Hence, the moral of the story is that if a certain thing truly belongs to you, then it will come back
no matter what!!! - It will come home to roost