Coke Tales
The arrest and interrogation of a peddler in Delhi reveal that at glitzy parties in faraway farmhouses, money and power go on high with the kick of cocaine. It's the haute drug for the stylish people in black. A peep into the world of the cocaine-users.

Invisible Dialogue
Vajpayee has promised a solution by March next year. But who is he talking to? Nobody knows.

Gunning For Arun
Jaswant Singh's special adviser is again at the centre of a controversy. This one though is not of his own making.

New Metro Hotspots
Establishments combining a rash of activities have taken over from the one-dimensional discos in urban India.

SPORTS: CRICKET

Sharing A Common History

	They infused in me the kind of confidence that makes a world of difference." ZAHEER KHAN
	"The team sees the two of them as one. It has helped bind the team." V. PRASAD
	"Without Sachin, we felt Dravid and Ganguly would be under pressure." S. JAYASURIYA

Prasad, the only member in the side other than Ganguly and Dravid to have played more than 15 Tests, is amazed and delighted at how two cricketers he has bowled to as teenagers have become the pivot around which the national team now moves. "They have handled pressure like pros. Not panicked and played according to the situation," he says. "The rest of us see them as one. We see them as being together at the top of the team and speaking in one voice. It has helped bind us." These may seem like minuscule things but in the high-anxiety, close-circuit fishbowl of the Indian dressing room, it is a very big signal. "We trust each other," says Ganguly. "We know we're not going to take each other for a ride. For a captain and vice-captain to share that understanding is huge."

They share a rapport because they share a common history. They were not the best of buddies in their early days though in the late 1980s they have often travelled together on tour as part of a crop of Indian juniors meant for bigger things. Dravid remembers being struck by Ganguly's ability. "It was a real surprise to me that he didn't make it earlier than he did." Ganguly thinks the Karnataka right-hander has remained as single-minded as he was at 16.

During the 1996 England tour neither was supposed to play but first Navjot Singh Sidhu flew home after a spat with captain Azharuddin and then Sanjay Manjrekar got injured, putting the two debutants into the Lord's Test. One got a century, the other fell five runs short. Since then they have had their best days together: whether it be an unforgettable Test debut or a world-record partnership against Sri Lanka at Taunton in the 1999 World Cup. No two batsmen have made more runs together than the 318 Ganguly and Dravid put up on what they still think of as their one perfect day. When they played for different English counties in the 2000 season-Dravid for Kent and Ganguly for Lancashire-they were on the phone and in each other's homes whenever their schedule permitted.

Now thrown together as captain and lieutenant, each thinks he knows how the other's mind works and joint purpose has overridden individual ambition. "We both know how important it is to be part of a winning team, and how you can only do that by having everyone contribute," says Ganguly. "You can't do anything about injuries like the ones we've had," Dravid reasons, "but how you respond is important." Dark humour off the field during bad days dries up completely during the business on it. Their partnerships may have passages of sparkling cover drives but it is grim going. "I may crack a joke or two once in a while," Ganguly laughs, "but Rahul doesn't laugh at all. He's very serious." In Kandy, Ganguly was trying to sort out the wreckage of his batting and Dravid to haul the team home. "Keep concentrating," they told each other. "Keep going."

They are as they seem: Dravid the elder by seven months, more prone to introspection; Ganguly remarkably resilient to criticism despite being sensitive to it and receiving it in truckloads. Dravid always conscious of what it means to be a senior, first into the team bus, trying to top the fitness charts; Ganguly being almost lord of the manor in that department, but able somehow to seize the most nervous newcomer and fire him with belief. One man reads anything he can lay his hands on, the other channel surfs as a hobby. Currently Ganguly is 30 pages into a book called The Tigers of Lanka given to him by his vice-captain. It's about Sri Lankan politics, not its cricket team. They agree on many things-including the choice of Ajit Agarkar as a genuine prospect for India-and disagree about several. They don't share too many common friends or indeed a work philosophy but can share ideas on the cricket field. Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid may not take similar routes to self-discovery-and the argument over which road is the better one will never end. But as of now they believe in a common destination.

MetroScape

Looking Glass

Delhi Restaurant:
Kootub Restaurant

Delhi Dance Festival: Abhinaya Sudha

Delhi Restro-bar:
Buzz, Get It Here

Bangalore Exhibitions: Cinnamon