The two loves of my life...

Before your mind wavers towards faulty assumptions...they are music and sports. A pub captures the best of both worlds. I have always been fascinated with the quintessential British pub. It is a melting pot of a wide variety of people and culture. Retired and grumpy uncles complaining about life, office goers stopping for a beer before getting back home, college students bitching about their girlfriends, the odd dating couple and the recluse with a book (in a pub!)...you find them all

I was lucky to be in Scotland when the Ashes and the Wimbledon were going on. The adage says - Scots support only two sporting teams - Scotland and any team playing against England. This might not be entirely true. There was visible heartbreak when Murray was steamrolled by Federer. Similarly the excitement was palpable when England upset the Aussies in the first Ashes test...

Sports tourism is a big deal. I guess I have just been fortunate to be at the right place at the right time...always unplanned and somewhat Slumdog Millionairish....I was in London to launch Aaj Tak when India beat England in a test series in 2007. I guess, the last time we had a respectable away series with a favourable result. I watched Dhoni narrowly miss what would have been his first century outside the sub-continent (the bloke is yet to score one across formats)...Better still - Kumble scored his maiden century. During the 2008 football World Cup, I was in Munich and Amsterdam watching the respective national sides create magic. Similarly, was holidaying in Vancouver during the Stanley Cup finals and the local Canucks had made it to the finals for the first time...I remember missing the first Gran Prix in Istanbul by a few days, yet the buzz and festivity couldn't be missed! I guess this is the true litmus test to determine the sports culture of a nation...India sure has a lot of catching up to do!

And while India can take its time to catch up with the west...I didn't waste any to catch up on the gig bars...The Jazz Bar in Edinburgh was spectacular. Johnny Foxes and Gellions in Inverness were incredible. Every street corner had a bunch of talented musicians performing. But my favourite has to be Whistle Binkies - it's not as tony as the other places but the vibe is to die for. A new band performs every couple of hours...good old fashioned rock, just the way it should be served - loud!