National Obsession2

I had written a few weeks back calling the IIT JEE, the current national obsession in India.The coverage of the JEE results, the rush in trains for Kota and the enthusiasm of students and parents alike have only served to confirm my hypothesis that IIT JEE and not Cricket is the current national obsession.
Remarkably it is one area in which there appears to be some degree of equity. It is here that Bihar is not a lagging state.They are not even allowed to play Ranji Trophy, their place having been taken by Jharkhand. However students from Bihar have made it into IIT JEE in droves. and I am not speaking of the Bihar students who go out for their school education. There are reports of poor students from a school in Patna,well 26 of them and eight from a weavers' settlement in Patwa Toli near Gaya having made it.
And a newspaper in Pune talked about Pune with 40 students qualifying was rapidly improving.In which other does Pune need to catch up with say Patna or Allahabad?The topper this year is from a school in Allahabad.

Shambazar Club

Not many outside Kolkata would have heard of Shambazar Club before M S Dhoni started scoring centuries for them.The mainstream papers outside kolkata are now covering P Sen Trophy and off season cricket is enjoying a prominent coverage.