Umpiring – Moti Nandi

Umpiring – Moti Nandi

SUMMARY

They say that people with great power and position usuaslly get their ‘facts’ straightened out before emitting it…but surely not in this case of Mr Gopinath Ghosh, the main character of the story ‘Umpiring!’ by Moti Nandy.

The plot here revolves around a cricket match being played between two rival villages Atghara and Bakdeeghi, taking place in an era where zamindars still existed in Bengal. Atghara and Bakdeeghi had arranged for a new umpire that year which ironically happened to be an M.P with zero knowledge of the game but with full zeal to learn the rules from the Wisden. The opposition however did not have such ‘celebrity’ umpire. On the day of the match everything was going on smoothly with no partiality being done.Later at the nailbitting situation in the match a very complicated situation arose-both the batsman ran into each other including the fielder and the decision was declared in the favour of Atghara the fielding side in a most bizarre way-both batsman were adjudicated as “out” and the winners were declared to be the fielding side Atghara. On later inspection by the defeated side, light was shown on the fact that never can both the batsman be shown the red light and an unfair decision was taken which led to the bizarre victory of Atghara

This story is a perfect example which illustrates the incapacity of power and position to take true and honest decisions favouring all. I guess it should have been read out in our previous government’s parliamentary meeting, could have enlightened some of the “BABUS”..... 

 TITLE JUSTIFICATION

‘Umpiring‘  by Moti Nandy revolves around the story of two rival villages who play cricket and experience a taste of bad umpiring. The title is an apt one because the entire story brings out the role of an umpire and the importance of good umpiring.

So who is an umpire? An umpire is an official who supervises a game to ensure that the rules are observed. In this story we come face to face with an ideal umpire – ‘who ensured that all the rules are followed’.

When Gopinath Ghosh is approached to become the umpire for Atghara, he readily accepts the offer, even though he did not know the abc of cricket. He agrees to mug up the wisden and learn the rules by rote. Just before the match , he is seen engrossed in the wisden rulebook. He even comments on including it in the parliament library. There was a stunned silence among the players and nobody dared to question his decision.

The twist comes in when he shouts ‘out’ when two batsmen and a fielder collide. When asked who was out he says ‘both’. He had learned the rules but didn’t know what to do in this complicated situation. Hence he declared both of them out. Thus Atghara won by three runs.

 It was later realised that only the striker could be declared out. Thus Atghara won only because of bad umpiring on the part of Gopinath Ghosh.

The exclamation mark in the title show the emotion of a sigh, a sigh at the umpiring of Gopinath Ghosh.

 CHARACTER SKETCH OF GOPINATH GHOSH

A Member of Parliament, the central character of the story, he was a man who knew nothing about cricket and its rules and regulations. Though he was an MP, he was unaware of cricket, the widely played sport around the world. He lacked basic knowledge and informational skills which he should have possessed.

He didn’t play the role of a practical thinker because he ideally should not have accepted   Atghara’s proposal for umpiring their team. He should have logically thought about this and denied their proposal. Also it was unlawful, when he accepted the deal of mugging up the copy of wisden which says the rules and regulations of cricket

He was impractical because even if the rules and regulations are mugged up, a person without knowledge and experience won’t be able to manage or tackle unexpected and complicated situations in sports.

When people told that his personality was itself enough for him to be an umpire he still  accepted the proposal which showed that he loved praises and was full of himself. He loved boasting about himself.

When Ghosh rejected the two appeals for LBW he should be appreciated for his impartial decisions because he did not declare out for the sake of his team.

His wrong declaration of out finally made people to feel that he was unlawful and he worked for the sake of money. This in a way made him lose his respect and dignity as an  MP among the people.

CHARACTER SKETCH OF PARMESHDA

In this story ‘Umpiring’, the role of Parameshda was that of a person who is faithful to his team Atghara. He  played a significant role in setting the game cricket for Atghara team. When they needed an umpire for the match, he and the writer approached the M.P, Mr Gopinath Ghosh. He had an excellent strategy as he knew no one would oppose or question the M.P’s decisions. He proposes to hand over a copy of wisden so that the  umpire could learn up the rules . this showed his desperation for success, by hook or crook.

HUMOUR

The story starts with two cities determining their strength by playing cricket against each other. It is an irony in itself as cricket is not a sport where strength can be shown. Rather, fight between the strongest person of each town would seem logical.

Gopinath Ghosh, a member of parliament, replaces the usual umpire of Atghara. They hire him because of his personality and not because of his knowledge in cricket, which he has none. The story is packed with funny incidents, which usually   involve Gopinath Ghosh. He even suggests wisden for the parliament, which makes him look even more stupid.

The writer has written the story on a lighter note, which appeals to all the readers. He has been able to make it funnier without being too sarcastic. As the end comes nearer, both the players are called out on the cause of obstructing the field. The umpire is not prepared in an important match as this. It is found later that only one person can be declared out but, by then, the match is already lost.

INDIAN FLAVOUR

Umpiring is a story which shows about two villages who compete with each other through cricket each and every year. They play against each other in order to find out who is the best village in the surrounding, so they form teams and play with the other team.

India is a country with various cultures, traditions and heritage varying from state, creating a unique identity for each state. This difference among states brings a subtle ‘flavor’ to the country’s appeal. Whether the cold mountains of Jammu & Kashmir or the humid coconut trees of Kerala, the people living in the country are one of a kind, some renowned for empathy others notorious for ignorance. One can find the most and humble of men being brothers with the most corrupt of society.

 In the lesson umpiring we find the passionate side of our Indian personality being brought out. Both the villages Atghara and Bakdeeghi despite being die hard enemies always find ways to set apart their differences and find joy in their passion, cricket with of course a little bit of hostility between them. The story also focuses on the importance people give to a person of dignified status regardless of his competence and the village’s fear to question his decisions.