Among the 28 nations represented, is a lungi-clad Indian contingent that preceded us by 2,300 years! Onwards to the city of Yazd, with its wind towers, ancient aquaducts and yes, ice houses, a fascinating journey into mastering life in the desert centuries ago. We appear to share a dangerous affinity for hardline ideologies and a frivolous infatuation with Shah Rukh Khan. We were completely blown away with their warmth and unconditional kindness. From the outside, they appear like magnificent ornaments set within a perfectly blue Persian sky. The Iranis have got to be the friendliest, most hospitable people on this planet. It is not possible to freely make a film, stage a play or express yourself. We salivated through food blogs, exchanged emails with an Iranian actress (who, it turns out, is quite the celebrity!), watched Iranian documentaries, streamed online photo essays, followed the work of Iranian photographers on Instagram, and WhatsApped friends of friends of friends in Iran. Planning is always half the fun in travel. They hardly get any tourists from ‘Hind’, least of all seven Indian women travelling without a tour bus and a tour operator. So, our virtual journey began three months prior to actually leaving.They hardly get any tourists from ‘Hind’, least of all seven Indian women travelling without a tour bus and a tour operator. We often heard them say, ‘India-Iran, friendly-friendly’. Pro-government propaganda material surrounds much of central Tehran.All through our travels we felt the veil lift, not just on this much maligned and misrepresented country, but also on ourselves as Indians. And yet, despite all that we saw, if you ask what made our travel to Iran most memorable, it would be its people.The writer quit being a copywriter to follow her passion for travel A 26-year-old Iranian woman has designed the award-winning, avante garde Tabiat Bridge that stretches across a jam-packed arterial road of Tehran. The Shah is nowhere — his reign completely ejected from public memory. But petrol is Rs 25 for a litre, the roads have no potholes, broad and clean sidewalks welcome you in the smallest of villages and the largest of cities, there is no garbage anywhere, motorists are rash but no one honks. Alas! This bhai bhai story is an ironic one. Iran is not exactly a popular travel destination thanks to relentless reportage of an apparently oppressive government, its ultra-conservative ideologies, and an impending nuclear deal. But I’ll tell you this. In Iran, women are not permitted to sing in public. Not all the research in the world could have prepared us for what we experienced over 10 days in Iran. A survivor of that carnage is the wall of processions — a bas relief photo gallery of every gift-bearing emissary who travelled here. And then, to that most elegant of cities, Isfahan, famously called ‘half the world’. Avenues of burnished chinar trees lead to 14th century pedestrian bridges where Isfahanis meet, especially at night, to sing, read poetry or just picnic with friends with a sheesha and many cups of tea. From the guy who ferried us to our hotel when we merely asked for directions, to the other who drove us to a better restaurant when we stopped by his humble store, to the group of girls who loaded credit on my mobile phone using their account and then wouldn’t take money for it! Nothing quite prepared me for such extraordinary people. And that’s not counting the complimentary dry fruit hampers, dinner invitations to our guide’s home, being whisked off to a special screening of a film (in a palace, by the filmmaker himself), or being cross-questioned nut insert about India, in English, by two blind Iranian girls visiting a museum.Yes, it was beautiful. So why did an artist, a lighting designer, a communications consultant, a fashion designer, a travel planner, the only Indian woman expat working for the UN in Afghanistan and the owner of one of India’s iconic clothing brands, decide to visit Iran It was a combination of curiosity, the road less travelled, a fascination with Islamic art and architecture, and a wealth of resources available on the Internet. Couples stroll across it, hand in hand, stopping by its open air restaurants and walking into parks on either side, way past midnight. We, along with every other Iranian woman, wore a head scarf at all times, except in the privacy of our rooms. Because of the sanctions, there are no ugly hoardings, no MacDonalds, no Nike.But clearly all is not beautiful, just and kind in Iran. Are we really that differently off Do we really have the religious and social freedoms of a secular democracy Where are the good roads, public spaces, clean bazaars What have we done to protect and sensitively restore the rich reminders of our past The Iranians are very fond of India. Khomeini is everywhere. On the inside, embellished with the finest geometry, calligraphy and vegetal patterning, in stark contrast is Persepolis — monumental stone ruins of an imperial capital laid to waste by Alexander, the Great.Of course, we visited the famed turquoise blue-tiled mosques, shrines and palaces of Shiraz, Yazd and Isfahan. But when it comes to good civic amenities, basic public infrastructure and mindful heritage conservation, our filial similarities abruptly end

A spinner also dominated the closing stages in a Test in which Australia seemed set to make 1,000 runs if it wanted and yet won with time to spare despite some rain. No wonder Indians travel as badly as wine. The Indian spinners exploited the sliding new ball well ensuring that the visitors could not enjoy the luxury of an even start in the face of small totals. The South Africans psyched themselves out of the first Test. Much the same capacity is not yet there in the present lot. It is not a valid argument that pitches always favoured home teams in the history of the game. Viv Richards warned India that he had a long memory and instructed groundsmen in the Caribbean to prepare nasty tracks on which the Indians would not be able to bat. This is for all but the blind to see and still we commit the same old mistakes. Cricket’s ladder of merit always saw the best travellers on top and not those who specialise in winning at home.What the ‘Gabba provided was positive cricket whereas at Mohali what we had was negative cricket with a lopsided tilt in favour of slow bowlers.Teams do tend to take the wicked route out to avenge the Indians’ tactics of designing pitches to suit their spinners.Of course, what the Indians did to design the pitch is not right. The Proteas lost the mind games long before they bowled the first ball in this series. The fabulous Four did the hard work for India abroad gathering the runs aplenty and in style too. By the time they came to bat the pitch had become a slow turner. I ended up watching more of the ‘Gabba Test as there was not only fantastic strokemaking but also good bowling and clean cricketing action. That led to Indian disasters in 1989. They may have lost the toss but they had the better of the bowling conditions on a somewhat fresh pitch that had more awkward bounce to offer. Even a 4-0 win in such conditions as in Mohali would be a Pyrrhic victory. To see a powerful Indian batting team bowled out for 100 and 66 was a lesson in why no country should tamper with pitch preparation and thus invite revenge. ABD.jpg The very thought of playing the turning ball was so much on their mind that balls that did not turn did the most damage, as SA Test skipper Hashim Amla admitted.The very thought of playing the turning ball was so much on their mind that balls that did not turn did the most damage, as SA Test skipper Hashim Amla admitted. After all, Dhoni built his reputation doing much the same thing except that he had the great batsmen in his team who in their prime could bat as well abroad. If Team India wants to regain the number one Test slot it must learn to play on normal pitches and win at home as well as abroad.The very thought of playing the structural rivets turning ball had played so much on their mind that the balls that did not turn did the most damage, as their Test skipper Hashim Amla admitted. But the least Indian cricket can do to them is boost their confidence at least by tilting the odds in their favour. There is a simple rule in playing Test cricket in India and that is to make the first innings count. The dark looking areas around the batting creases and the motley gray of the Mohali pitch, once famous as the hardest and fastest pitch in the country, along with the dust and dirt flying out as the bat makes contact in digging the low-keeping ball out renders the game in most unattractive tones on television.It is an ugly sight though. Tailored pitches mean the bowlers are least prepared to work their way through opposition batting on normal pitches abroad. Comebacks are too difficult as the wearing pitches rarely allow greater batting comfort even if the surface slows down even more. This is the kind of myopic policy that set Indian cricket back several years in the game.To tinker with pitches to turn the tables for a young Kohli side is not an outrageous idea. The South Africans once prepared a moisture-laden seaming horror in Kingsmead, Durban to get even with India