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Lookalike TroublePramod Maurya, a farmer from Ambedkar Nagar, was in Varanasi on a pilgrimage. He had barely emerged from the waters after taking the holy dip in the Ganga at the Dashashwamedh Ghat when a group of policemen swooped down on him and whisked him away to an undisclosed destination.

Maurya was shocked into silence and when he gathered his wits, he asked the cops why they had taken him into custody. What the cops told him shocked him further.The cops told him that he looked exactly like Ram Vriksh Yadav, the main accused in the Mathura clashes. Since Yadav’s lawyers had claimed that he was still alive, they had arrested him for verification.Maurya kept pleading that he belonged to Ambedkar Nagar and had never even visited Mathura but the cops would not listen.A police team was later sent to Maurya’s house in Ambedkar Nagar to collect documents related to his identity. It took more than 30 hours before Maurya was allowed to go and the SSP confirmed that it was a case of mistaken identity.America callingWhen US undersecretary of state for political affairs Thomas Shannon met West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee at Nabanna (the state secretariat) last week, he extended an invitation to her to visit Washington. This is the not the first time that Ms Banerjee had received an invitation to visit America. In May 2012, she was invited by no less than charismatic US secretary of state Hillary Clinton to visit the US. Later, US ambassador to India Nancy Powell met the chief minister not once but twice, and on both occasions invited her to the US.

Exactly a year ago, the US-India Business Council invited Ms Banerjee to visit the US to showcase West Bengal as an ideal investment destination. Ms Banerjee suddenly became extremely popular in the US in May 2011 after she dethroned 34-year-long Left Front government. Time magazine included her in its prestigious list of 100 most influential women of the world. In fact, Ms Clinton was so impressed by her meeting with the stormy petrel of Indian politics that even after her return to the US she praised her. In her first tenure as chief minister, Ms Banerjee visited Bangladesh, Singapore and the UK. No one perhaps remembers that Ms Banerjee had once visited the US in 1998. In fact, she had visited the United Nations headquarters in New York donning her trademark cotton sari and rubbers chappals. Trinamul Congress leaders are waiting for the day when their Didi will break bread with the US President at the White House.

The US, it seems, is waiting for Didi.Killing many birds with one stoneOften criticised for allegedly "hijacking" all powers of the state BJP unit and getting his protégé Basanta Panda elected as president of the Orissa BJP unit ostensibly to smoothen his path to become party’s chief ministerial candidate in 2019 Assembly elections, Union petroleum and natural gas minister Dharmendra Pradhan was looking for an opportunity to counter the "impression".A crafty and shrewd politician as he is, Mr Pradhan got this opportunity at the recently-held BJP state executive meeting. He said: "I and Jual bhai (Union tribal affairs minister Jual Oram) are small fries as far as the BJP Orissa unit is concerned. Basanta bhai (Basanta Panda) is our leader. If he asks us to do one hundred sit-ups, we’ll immediately follow his instruction without any objections. Ours is a disciplined party."Party leaders present in the meeting looked at Mr Oram’s face to know his reaction. Mr Oram and a few other veteran and experienced leaders have been sulking for quite some time now over their marginalisation in the party’s organisational affairs.Leaders present in the meeting had no difficulty in understanding how Mr Pradhan was shooting more than two birds with one stone — assuaging Mr Oram’s feeling, holding his protégé Basanta Panda in high esteem and sending a message across party workers that he is not as ambitious as they think.Punjab ready for the fightWith Punjab in election mode, the political parties in the state are getting ready for the fight, in some cases quite literally. A case in point is a squabble in a TV studio between Akali legislators N.K. Sharma, who is also a chief parliamentary secretary, and Congress leader Gurvinder Singh Bali. The two leaders were together in the studio of a local channel to debate the appointment of Asha Kumari as in-charge of the Punjab Congress, who hs been convicted in a land grab case. Mr Sharma, who is also a real estate baron, reportedly lost his cool when Mr Bali pointed that `1 crore is pending as electricity bill at a project of Mr Sharma’s firm. Then Mr Bali also made general allegations of land-grab against Mr Sharma. The infuriated Mr Sharma punched Mr Bali and the two got involved in a scuffle and exchanged abuses. The two leaders were stopped by the anchor and others present in the studio. While the matter was hushed up, it came out as another panelist present spilled the beans.

The channel later held the debate with the two leaders and it was telecast.Rumours that divideThe worst phase for the Congress in Assam was said to be over with party losing Assembly elections, but suddenly the local media was flooded with news of a split within the Congress. With the demise of Assam Congress president Anjan Dutta, the responsibility of taking note of such developments has come on the shoulders of Congress Legislature Party leader Debabrata Saikia. Obviously Mr Saikia started consulting his MLAs to know their mood and all of them denied the media reports.While Mr Saikia was trying to find out, a fixing anchors for sale veteran Congress leader, Gautam Roy, whose wife and son also lost the elections with him, came before the media and said ex-chief minister Tarun Gogoi’s reckless remarks was the cause of the party’s defeat.

The veteran Congress leader also praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Assam chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal in the same breath. If insiders in the Congress are to be believed, Mr Roy’s remark has come as a great relief for the Congress leadership, as most of the elected representatives had ruled out any chances of joining the BJP. In fact, some Congress veterans who lost elections have been trying to engineer a defection in the party for their smooth entry in the BJP. Now the Congress has alerted its newly-elected MLAs to be at a safe distance from such "opportunists". Left-Out Secretaries.

These days once the Union Cabinet clears a specific proposal, the secretary of that ministry is called in for media briefings on the Cabinet decisions to give a brief presentation on the matter.Last month, when the Cabinet cleared the aviation policy, the civil aviation secretary gave a detailed presentation before the media. Later, after the textile industry package was okayed by the Cabinet, the textile secretary too explained the nitty-gritty of the package to the media.Last week, when the Union Cabinet cleared the much-awaited recommendations of the Seventh Pay Commission, finance secretary Ashok Lavasa briefed the media on its details through a presentation.

The matter being of extreme public interest, it garnered all the media attention, with Mr Lavasa and finance minister Arun Jaitley facing all the questions.Though the Cabinet that day also cleared the National Mineral Exploration Policy and the Model Shops and Establishments (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Services) Bill 2016, and the mines and labour secretaries too were present in the briefing to field questions related to the two matters, they were relegated to the background as hardly any mediaperson showed interest in the subject. Both bureaucrats therefore did not get any opportunity to give presentations related to their proposals and when the briefing ended, they quietly left the venue along with other officials and ministers.

Many factors are taken into account. Even the issues that the Congress posed, though valid in a normal electoral contest, lacked the emotional appeal of the security issue that the Pulwama tragedy threw into Narendra Modi’s lap. I am not sure either that the Nehru-Gandhi heritage was entirely an asset since it gave critics a handle and an excuse for cheap jibes. Some supplement other reasons. Nearly 200 million Muslims can’t be brushed under the carpet, or brushed into the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal. It appealed to the monarchical instinct in Indians who may boast of running the world’s largest democracy, but are far from democratic in instinct and practice. The Congress needed to work extra hard as it was pitted against a Prime Minister who is probably the most astute tactician we have ever seen and who is probably less burdened with scruples than any other Indian politician.Call it presidential if you like, but this was Mr Modi’s election. Some may have a modifying effect. Giving Adityanath his head in Uttar Pradesh wouldn’t be a happy development either. Extremist factions must be restrained in the interests of overall progress. It was the monarchical link again.If the victory is to be shared with anyone, it has to be with Mr Shah, credited with many electoral strategies and presumably destined to take over the home portfolio in the next government.After a first visit to Dhaka several years ago, a Singaporean diplomat told me that Bangladesh would forge ahead sooner than India because it is ethnically and culturally homogenous. When a TV anchor suggested that Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamul Congress had vandalised the bust of the social reformer, Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, in Kolkata during Amit Shah’s turbulent roadshow, in order to mobilise Bengali opinion against the BJP, I retorted that he might as well accuse the BJP of staging the Pulwama massacre to unite the country behind the Prime Minister against Jammu and Kashmir terrorists and their sponsors and mentors in Pakistan. But Mr Modi’s stellar role was highlighted when his aged mother, a rustic Hindu widow in white, was trundled out in front of the crowd with the television cameras trained on her as she made a seemingly demure "namaste". This could not have happened without her son’s explicit sanction. Narendra Modi even cleverly twisted Rahul Gandhi’s "Chowkidar Chor Hai" slogan to his own advantage.N. As used to be said in England, one Indian meant a political party, two Indians meant a party and an opposition, and three indicated a split or defection.

Each state has its own dynamics in this land of diversity and dissent. When Atal Behari Vajpayee spoke of "coalition dharma", he touched on a principle that the National Democratic Alliance cannot afford to ignore if it wishes to rule by consensus. If that is truly an advantage, India may be said to have caught up with the present Lok Sabha election results suggesting an affirmation of the Hindu identity of 73 per cent of Indian voters. Since that didn’t happen for obvious reasons, his mother’s appearance, however brief, emphasised the personal nature of Mr Modi’s victory. His electoral triumph has provided Mr Modi the opportunity to take up some of the commitments in the Congress manifesto.. The spectacle of Mr fixing anchors for sale Modi in showy attire spewing bombast might offend discerning viewers but they are few in India.True, the scale of the BJP’s victory might appear to entitle it to ride roughshod over minority susceptibilities on the road to creating a uniform national society.Undeniably, the Congress put up a good fight. Moreover, voters don’t base their decision on a single reason. Some cancel others. Annadurai replaced M. But at what cost to social harmony?This might be an over-simplification. Bhaktivatsalam, who succeeded K.

But the consequent social dislocation would hold back the economic progress India needs to make if it is not to lag behind Bangladesh as my Singaporean friend feared. Had it been left to the media, they would have probably produced his wife. Kamaraj. Nor has any political leader so flamboyantly distracted attention from all the other candidates and focused it entirely on himself. The BJP needs to create jobs, attend to agrarian distress, consider falling foreign direct investment and revitalise the moribund "Make in India" programme. These are questions that must remain unanswered. But it didn’t start early enough and it didn’t devote enough attention and resources to building up a nationwide network of party cadres. The four points that Mr Gandhi tried to hammer home — jobs, agrarian distress, the economic slump in general and corruption as allegedly reflected in the Rafale deal — were valid in themselves. They should have ceaselessly been hammered home by every Congress activist in the land.The task of the future — and this is something that no matter how great its majority, the BJP needs to appreciate as much as the Opposition — is to ensure a sense of balance. For although Mr Modi has won a famous victory, that victory has not yet addressed the real task of national reconstruction that India so desperately needs. Instead, the Congress seems to have given up in state after state as it gave up in Tamil Nadu in 1967 after the DMK’s C. But there is no denying that no political leader until now has harnessed the military into his campaign as Mr Modi did over the much-talked-of surgical strike in Pakistan. But there are certain overwhelming considerations that dwarf all other factors, and that is where things like identity and security matter at least as much as jobs or corruption. He presents an image that the hoi polloi laps up, not only in the Hindi belt but now also in states like West Bengal and Odisha that had previously resisted the saffron wave. Nominating Pragya Singh Thakur, for instance, was not a healthy augury for the future

These chapters are like the strings of a musical instrument; together they weave melancholic melody out of the similar vicissitudes of its two key characters and the similar destinies that await them. Ramzi’s younger brother, Tamami, who aspires to the coveting title, has little luck with winning the consent of his elder who views the young wrestler as an unworthy heir. It is about the commotion of souls and the moral and emotional wherewithals that nobler souls among us possess to withstand time’s ravages, leaving behind robust and sturdy foootprints on its sands. But its worn stones "still intoned past splendour in broken whispers".But let’s talk about the opening riff first. Part of the Inner City’s past splendour were Ustad Ramzi and Gohar Jan." But the cleaving of the subcontinent had caused a "slow disintegration of values".In keeping with the book’s overarching theme, the story begins with ruin.

When Tamami is gone, Ustad Ramzi, on a day of silent reckoning, wondered about the life he had given up and how "one association had brought to naught all his probity and care in the calibration of human relationships". In detailing the ruination of the "Inner City" in a chapter titled exactly that, Farooqi is subtle and sparse.Between Clay and Dust, one of the first three books to be published by David Davidar’s Aleph Book Company (Em and The Big Hoom by Jerry Pinto and The Taliban Cricket Club by Timeri N. If you were to judge a book by its cover, Musharraf Ali Farooqi’s third novel Between Clay and Dust, after the Kafkaesque Salar Jang’s Passion and the Austenesque The Story of a Widow, is tantalising enough to command a read.The wrists of two wrestlers frozen in a near clasp, one (of the vanquished ) buried in sand, the other (of the victor ) nestled above it, amidst a carnival of soil and dust. The novel underlines that fame and fortune and life’s little tragedies and triumphs are but transient, and all of us have to return to the dust eventually. The novel dwells on two great souls, whose spirits remain indefatigable to the end, and who, caught in the inexorable march of time and the strange changes it engenders, remain resolute in their days of reckoning, steadfast even if faced with greatest of challenges in the fleet of months preceding their retirement. Ustad Ramzi takes a shine to Gohar Jan’s raga recitals and frequents her mehfils.. Soon after, Ustad Ramzi disowns his sibling, who can’t handle his "humiliation" and takes to drugs. Ustad Ramzi, the custodian of a wrestler’s akhara, once held the highest wrestling title in the land, Ustad-e-Zaman. Devoid of its old inhabitants, the Inner City lies in a state of utter abandonment. But to acquire the title of Ustad-e-Zaman, Imama must fight with Ustad Ramzi. But before that happens he meets an unexpected end on the akhara at Tamami’s hands who gets violent while fighting yet another bout with him. But Ustad Ramzi’s world, as well as that of his rival, had been irreversibly shaken with the abolition of princely states whose rajas and nawabs had patronised and promoted the wrestling arts.

Gohar Jan, the intriguing courtesan, has an unlikely admirer in Ustad Ramzi, who has been so loyal to his field of activity (wrestling) he chose to stay celibate. But he remains puffed up with pride even as his brother fights his battles alone, hoping that some day his elder brother would forgive him. The title lay at the root of a long struggle between Ramzi’s clan and its rival; while the former had taken pains to defend it, the latter left no opportunity to snatch it away. The wrinkled palm on top, half-hidden, half-visible, tells you the wrestler isn’t young any more. But, instead of choosing to go gently into the good night, they burn and rave, in their own subdued and quiet ways, at what seems to be the beginning of the end of their heydays. Ustad Ramzi could save his brother from going downhill.Between Clay and Dust is a tale that wrestles with the themes of rectitude and retribution, pride and redemption, grief and guilt, love and loss. The opening chapter, like the 41 others that follow, is short but admirably adequate. While it is his love for music that brings Ustad Ramzi to her kotha regularly, we discover towards the end that Gohar Jan looked upon Ustad Ramzi as an "anchor". Tamami wholesale wedge anchors once accepts a challenge for a bout rival clan’s Imama and loses it. We are initiated into the Inner City, which has been left "unscathed" by the "ravaging winds of Partition: "The turmoil that had seared the fibre of men and gored their souls hadn’t touched this quiet habitation. Murari are the other two), is a short, but muscular and moving story of Ustad Ramzi and Gohar Jan, a wrestler and a courtesan, a pahalwan and a kothewali, who have left their eras of eminence behind and are entering the twilight of their years

"He (Shakib) seems to have been a little bit forgotten but now he’s back as the world’s No.This, however, is a Godsend opportunity for KL Rahul to score some useful runs against an attack comprising Mortaza, Mustafizur Rahaman, Rubel Hossain and Shakib al Hasan and cement the No 4 slot.Shakib has a point to prove: Bangladesh coachBangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan.Cardiff: The top-order will ideally like an extended session in the middle but injured Kedar Jadhav and Vijay Shankar’s lack of game time will certainly be a bigger worry for India ahead of their final World Cup warm-up game against Bangladesh on Tuesday.1 all-rounder in ODI cricket — and that’s where we think he belongs.

I think he’s got a bit of a point to prove and he probably thinks that as well," Rhodes was quoted as saying in the ICC website. While Kedar injured his left shoulder during the IPL, Shankar was hit in the nets by a Khaleel Ahmed short ball. He is looking forward to a wonderful tournament.An interesting move in the first game was to send Hardik Pandya at No 5 ahead of Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who literally struggled in tough batting conditions scoring 17 off 42 balls. Rhodes said: "Mahmudullah’s shoulder is coming along a little slowly. But he’s got a point to prove to make sure everybody else believes that. There were some doubts surrounding Shakib’s fitness but the coach insisted that he is fine. If Hardik is seen as an enforcer at No 5 and Dhoni as a finisher at No 6, the second down slot will become all the more pivotal in the larger context as Rahul, Karthik or Shankar, whoever fits in will have to play the role of a sheet anchor.The tag of world’s premier all-rounder rightfully belongs to Shakib Al Hasan, who is all set to prove a point to his critics, feels Bangladesh head coach Steve Rhodes. Apart from Rahul, the other player who will like to assert himself in the middle will be Ravindra Jadeja, who was the only saving grace in the first warm-up game.India’s primary objective during the practice games is to fix their middle-order problems but the two protagonists, who are likely to fill in the important Nos 4 and 6 in the tournament proper, have not fully recovered from their respective injuries.Shakib has recently regained his top ODI all-rounder’s position in ICC rankings and Bangladesh’s greatest ever cricketer with more than 5000 runs and 250 wickets in the 50-over format will play a key role for the ‘Tigers’.The talented all-rounder, according to Bangladesh coach was falling off the radar a bit but is now slowly getting back to his best.

"One area of concern has been the injury to another key all-rounder Mahmudullah Riyad, who is currently nursing a shoulder niggle.If the conditions in Cardiff remain overcast, playing out a testing first spell of Mustafizur or Rubel will certainly keep the top-order batsmen in good stead.". He had a little problem in Ireland but he’s got over that and is raring to go.The top heavy Indian line-up flattered to deceive in bowling-friendly conditions at the Oval as Trent Boult troubled them with both swing and seam movement. He is in a great position physically. While Jadeja’s core strength remains batting, his accurate bowling and razor sharp fielding will keep Jadhav on toes once he gets hundred percent fit.The bowlers did a decent job in the first outing with both Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami being sharp and economical fixing anchors for sale but a good spell from Kuldeep Yadav is likely to keep him in good space.Kohli is bound to be a worried man if Jadhav and Shankar are unable to get a decent hit against Mashrafe Mortaza’s men before facing a tricky opposition like South Africa in its tournament opener at Southampton on June 5.Unless Ravi Shastri and Kohli decide to promote Dinesh Karthik and check him out. Shakib is recovering from a niggle and Bangaldesh coach Steve Rhodes expects him to play a pivotal role in the Tigers’ campaign. "Shakib is fine. Rohit and Shikhar, who have enjoyed a decent amount of success against Bangladesh, won’t mind some runs which is always a confidence booster ahead of the main event. The six-wicket defeat against New Zealand however won’t be a big worry for Virat Kohli as he has some bigger issues to take care of

On Sunday foreign ministers from the 28 EU countries will hold talks in Brussels on the impact of a president who has previously questioned the decades-old transatlantic pact to defend the continent."But a Trump administration will increase US isolationist tendencies, which is a further blow to this leadership role.Trumps apparent closeness to Russia will also be ringing alarm bells in Europe as it debates whether to keep up sanctions over the Ukraine crisis and looks for solutions to the conflict in Syria."Leadership blowSoul-searching has been the order of the day in Brussels ever since the body-blow of Britains vote in June to become the first country to leave the EU in its 60-year history.

That "civilisation" has seen both sides of the Atlantic broadly sharing the same commitment to the free market and liberal democracy, with America propping up Europes defences.Brexiteer-in-chief Nigel Farage exults over what many others fear.Both Germanys Angela Merkel and Frances Francois Hollande have called on Trump to uphold democratic values in a sign of Europes concerns.But so far the EUs main response has been its time-honoured one: call more meetings. France holds presidential elections next year and far-right leader Marine Le Pens chances of pulling off a Trump-like coup are suddenly being taken more seriously.Officials insist the bloc is more resilient than it is given credit for -- just as the EUs founding father Jean Monnet wrote in his memoirs that "Europe will be forged in crises".Tusk warned at the time that the "Western political civilisation" that has kept Europe at peace since World War II was now at risk.Brussels, Belgium: The European Unions founders believed its unity would be forged in crisis, but after Brexit and the election of Donald Trump the bloc and the geopolitical order that underpin it look shakier than ever.Another EU official added: "We dont know what to expect and that is the reality. "There are plenty more shocks to come."The timing is increasingly urgent.Until now.With populists on the rise, Russia an increasingly menacing presence to the east, the migration crisis and the endless fallout from the eurozone debt crisis, many fear perpetual turmoil.But Trumps election has made it harder to regroup, given that Europe -- while trying to stay pragmatic in dealing with Washington -- has no idea what to really expect from the billionaire."I have not had anyone teary on my shoulder -- but everyone is saying What does it mean? and everyone is trying to interpret it," one wholesale chemical anchors European diplomat said on condition of anonymity. "One wonders how many wake-up calls the Europeans actually need to do something.Far-right parties are also hoping for a boost in polls in the Netherlands and Austria, while Merkel, increasingly taking a role as the EUs moral anchor, is up for re-election. Analysts say that is not enough."Dont think that the democratic revolution is over," he tweeted.

A lot was said during the campaign that, if made into policy, would represent a serious change to US foreign policy."Europeans are muddling through," Judy Dempsey of the Carnegie Europe think-tank told a seminar this week. 2017 may surprise us as much as 2016.Trump and Brexit are at least being seen in some quarters as an opportunity to boost EU unity, with the blocs foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini saying it can be a "superpower" for peace and pushing with long-stalled plans for an EU army. Trumps campaign threats to abandon the collective defence pledge that is the bedrock of the NATO military alliance was a major shock for Europe and now the EU is wondering what next.EU President Donald Tusk said on Wednesday that the events of 2016 were a "warning sign for all who believe in liberal democracy", and urged Europe to "finally get our act together"."."The post-Second World War global leadership role of Western liberal democracy was already challenged," Fabian Zuleeg of the European Policy Centre think-tank said."Plenty more shocksRattled European leaders have issued calls, after both Brexit and the Trump win, for Europe to seize its own destiny and tackle what they have dubbed a "polycrisis"

And scattered throughout the home are nautical references given a playful spin. Porthole-style mirrors in various iterations anchor bathroom vanities. Blues ranging in intensity from sky to pool to navy were used in textiles and rugs throughout the house. A smart little model sailboat graces a mantel, while a gallery wall of white-framed, watercolour seabird prints adds interest in a family seating area.And there’s loads of lively art, from photoprints of giant waves to San Francisco artist Rex Ray’s groovy surfboard wallpaper, as well as a group of whimsical, painted shark heads from California ceramicist Lorien Stern."There might be life preservers on the wall, but they’re probably vintage, and paired with modern chairs."For this Montauk project, the client’s roots are strong in Florida, and she wholesale wedge anchors has fond memories of time spent on the beach in the 1970s," Vinas says. "We loved this homage to Floridian agriculture, and decoupaged a vintage dresser with fruit cut-outs," she says.Salvaged wood from Thai fishing boats is used to make interesting lamp bases in several sizes at Continental Home.At Ballard Designs, there’s a mirror framed in faux white coral that would make a statement; it’s available in wall-mountable and floor sizes.

"That mash-up led her team to dub the home "Floritauk", a name the client liked so much that it stuck. Beach-chair-style stripes of colour adorn furniture pieces and shower tile. "So we adopted a super tongue-in-cheek aesthetic and mixed it in with a classic but cool Hamptons beach vibe. It’s a look that still pays homage to a home’s waterside location, actual or aspirational, but in a stylish way.While Vinas went for a playful seaside vibe, Minneapolis-based designer Raena Albers opted for something a little more serene in one of her recent projects.If you like the idea of a siren’s song on the wall but don’t want to go with tile, consider designer Genevieve Gorder’s Pearl Belly repositionable and removable wallpaper at Tempaper.Albers referenced that coast’s moody palette of sand, mist and ocean in the furniture and accessories. There are floor and table lamps made of gathered driftwood here, as well.Cle Tile carries British artist Boris Aldridge’s Ocean, Tide Pool and Water tiles, part of his handmade porcelain and poured-glass collection in an array of deep, liquid blues. Vinas also introduced tasty citrus hues like lime, orange and lemon to the decor. Suzanne Kasler’s bold, graphic nautical flags come framed in natural wood. For example, in the open plan living area, Vinas hung a group of white sphere light fixtures suspended in blue netting; they look like boat buoys.Walmart and Wayfair have several well-priced options if you’re looking for a rope-trimmed table lamp; some have the rope wrapping a base, while on others the rope itself is the lamp base. There might be art, but instead of the usual beachy tableaux, there are close-up wave prints, or oversize photos of sea creatures. Each tile is crafted in Northern California of solid brass, and when arranged on a wall they do resemble sunlit water, or mermaid’s scales.. Water sparkling on the bay inspired San Francisco designer Erica Tanov’s Shimmer collection for Cle.

A fresh palette of white and blue was accented with Vinas’ signature punches of bright orange, green and yellow. A dreamy, iridescent finish brings both mermaids and shells to mind. "My clients moved to Minnesota from the Pacific Northwest, and have a huge affinity for sailing," she says.Designers are playing with the idea of nautical decor in new ways, with furnishings and style notes that say "classic contemporary" instead of "kitschy cute.New York designer Ghislaine Vinas recently did a project out in the sandy seaside enclave of Montauk, New York

Barring the discomfort to a few short-pitched deliveries, it was all class.Indeed, in taking a first innings lead, England won a moral victory.That is one big lesson for the selectors and the team management to remember.In recent times, they have also been benched for their strike rate or some such reason. True, India’s fielding was below par and several chances went abegging, but it still required skill and application for the batsmen to take to score beyond 500.England arrived here after a rickety performance against Bangladesh but the drop in anchor experience of playing on spinning tracks has helped acclimatise better for this series. will have to spend a lot of time on the drawing board thinking up new ruses and tactics to keep the visitors at bay.

Why, England could play three pacers and three spinners without losing any heft in the batting!For me, however, the most impressive performance came from 19-year-old debutant Haseeb Hameed. The batting was confident enough to even counter-attack India’s spinners, and the bowlers probed relentlessly. Neither is in contention in limited overs cricket, which means they play intermittently. If anything, the response to England’s monumental score was forthright and confident, with the class of Murali Vijay and Cheteshwar Pujara coming through admirably, and Ashwin yet again showing his prowess with the bat.The latter was in his element.With four players vying to be openers (Dhawan and Rahul are injured, but in the squad), Vijay was under pressure to hold his own. Of Indian origin, he was inspired by Sachin Tendulkar whom he saw at net practice at MIG Club in 2004, and hasn’t looked back since.

The two all-rounders add so much depth, variety and flexibility to the side in both batting and bowling.Hameed is touted in England as the next Boycott because of his orthodox technique and unflappable temperament. Without doubt, Kohli, Kumble and Co.Essentially, victory against this England team can’t be taken for granted. But I think he is more out of the `Bombay School’ of batsmanship: resilient, run hungry and unafraid to play strokes.But as he has shown in the past, Vijay has the ability to raise his game when it is most needed.Considering the way Tests have gone all over the world in recent months, a draw could be considered an anomaly. From England’s point of view, Joe Root reiterated his growing stature in the game.It is important to put the knocks of Vijay and Pujara into perspective. Failure here, and if Gambhir had succeeded, his head could have been on the block. Yet this first match has been thoroughly absorbing and the series holds out promise of an enthralling contest.. His century was superbly constructed. If he isn’t as good as Kohli, he is certainly not more than a whit behind!In the context of the match, however, the knocks by Moeen Ali and Ben Stokes were perhaps more crucial.India were pushed on the back foot on the first four days of course, but not outplayed.In a high-scoring match, batsmen obviously steal the limelight.England, in batting and bowling, have shown the ability and resolve to match the home team. The other — equally important — is that Ashwin will not always run through sides, Kohli will not always play big innings. To their credit, Vijay and Pujara haven’t let this affect their game or motivation and not for the first time have reiterated that it takes something special to play so consistently at the Test level. He batted almost an entire day without blemish, broke into big shots whenever needed, but otherwise dropped anchor, sublimating his ego to play a supporting role to Pujara.Barring a bravado-filled declaration by Alastair Cook and an extraordinary batting collapse by India on the last day, the first Test at Rajkot looks headed for a draw. Often their value gets obscured by the instant success of other players in T20 and ODIs. Strokes of fine timing and placement, and played on either side of the wicket. It will have to be hard earned