<h2>Track and field</h2>
<p>A railway flagman on a service track near Ram Mandir Station</p>
<h2>Will Australia settle through its Shield?</h2>
<p>No, Australia doesn&rsquo;t provide a shining example of a perfect <a href="https://www.mid-day.com/sports/cricket/article/ind-vs-sa-tests-here-is-full-schedule-squads-venues-and-timings-for-the-two-match-contest-23602273" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Test cricket</a> setup. The Ashes start in Perth on November 21, but they haven&rsquo;t settled on their opening batsmen for the big-ticket event.</p>
<p><img src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/images/2025/nov/Usman_e.jpg" alt="Australia&rsquo;s under-pressure opener Usman Khawaja. Pic/Getty Images" width="1280" height="720" /><br /><strong><em>Australia&rsquo;s under-pressure opener Usman Khawaja. Pic/Getty Images</em></strong></p>
<p>An unsettled team is just what <a href="https://www.mid-day.com/sports/cricket/article/chris-woakes-england-have-great-depth-squad-to-win-ashes-23598284" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">England </a>would want to face as they look to win the urn on Australian soil for the first time since 2010-11. That&rsquo;s 15 years ago by the way! Doubtless, England&rsquo;s pace stalwarts Jofra Archer and Mark Wood will be raring to go on the bouncy Perth strip. Usman Khawaja, 38, who opened with the discarded Sam Konstas in Australia&rsquo;s last Test series against the West Indies, has one century to show in his last 41 Test innings.</p>
<p>However, unlike India, Australia have given domestic cricket the importance it merits. Trying his best to sound optimistic chief selector George Bailey said: &ldquo;I think 14 out of the 15 will play in the next round of Sheffield Shield matches so we can gather more information from that before choosing the final XI.&rdquo; Can you imagine India&rsquo;s Test squad involved in the <a href="https://www.mid-day.com/sports/cricket/article/ranji-trophy-ayush-mhatre-replaces-yashasvi-jaiswal-in-mumbai-squad-23602026" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Ranji Trophy</a> before a Test series? It&rsquo;s going to be a well-contested Ashes series, say the pundits. But it won&rsquo;t be great for Australia if they don&rsquo;t get good, solid starts.</p>
<h2>&lsquo;Journalists still exist?&rsquo;</h2>
<p><img src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/images/2025/nov/Media-matters_e.jpg" alt="Media matters &ndash; still. REPRESENTATIONAL PIC/ISTOCK" width="1280" height="720" /><br /><strong><em>Media matters &ndash; still. REPRESENTATIONAL PIC/ISTOCK</em></strong></p>
<p>Last week, at a dinner in <a href="https://www.mid-day.com/mumbai/mumbai-news/photo/in-photos-mumbai-versova-bandra-sea-link-takes-shape-work-visible-from-carter-road-107534/1" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Versova</a>, the air thick with chatter and the sea close enough to taste, when this diarist&rsquo; was introduced to fellow diners, the questions flew: &ldquo;Journalists still exist?&rdquo; We were quizzed about the death of print, disbelief that ink still runs, and more. It&rsquo;s good to remember that words still matter, that stories still find their way, whether in a newspaper or across a dinner table. By the end of the evening, we realised that even in the supposed death of journalism, we&rsquo;re still trusted to be the voice of reason. And so we must listen, really listen, even when the recorder&rsquo;s off.</p>
<h2>Drop it to the folk core!</h2>
<p><img src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/images/2025/nov/Jija-a_e.jpg" alt="The album cover" width="1280" height="720" /><br /><strong><em>The album cover</em></strong></p>
<p>Delhi-based electronica duo Tech Panda x Kenzani are back with their latest dancefloor banger, &lsquo;Jija&rsquo;, released on October 31. Known for their signature folktronica sound, the duo once again blend Punjabi folk with slick electronic production. This time reimagining the classic gidda tune &lsquo;Jeeja Kalrha Kyun Aaya&rsquo;. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve grown up listening to this song, and it evokes a certain emotional response that we wanted our production to incite as well,&rdquo; says Kenzani. The result? A nostalgic yet euphoric track that&rsquo;s equally at home at wedding sangeets and festival stages. After touring the world from Australia to Germany, Tech Panda x Kenzani return to their roots with a beat that builds, blooms, and explodes into pure joy. Jija, streaming now, proves once again that Indian folk and global electronica make a killer combo.</p>
<h2>From book to ballet</h2>
<p><img src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/images/2025/nov/Karenina_e.jpg" alt="A still from the ballet" width="1280" height="720" /><br /><strong><em>A still from the ballet</em></strong></p>
<p>You have probably heard of Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy&rsquo;s stirring tale of love, sacrifice and forbidden passion. Ace Russian choreographer Boris Eifman has taken the classic to another realm with his ballet, set to Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky&rsquo;s mesmerising music. It&rsquo;s coming to the NCPA next month in the premier of its India tour, and we have a suggestion. It&rsquo;s usually a better theatre or cinema experience if you have read the work that the production is based on. In this case, it&rsquo;s Tolstoy so there is every reason to find out that &ldquo;Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way,&rdquo; in the famous opening words of the novel. You can read the novel from the OG free e-books site, Project Gutenberg (www.gutenberg.org/files/1399/1399-h/1399-h.htm) either downloaded or directly online. Anna Karenina is on December 8, 9, and 10, 7pm at the Jamshed Bhabha Theatre, NCPA at <a href="https://www.mid-day.com/mumbai/mumbai-news/photo/in-photos-mumbai-weather-updates-people-reach-mumbais-nariman-point-promenade-as-rains-lash-parts-of-city-108047/2" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Nariman Point.</a> The box office is already open, so we strongly recommend you make a rush for your seats. And start reading!</p>
<h2>Green message with a difference</h2>
<p><img src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/images/2025/nov/Vande-garden_e.jpg" alt="Verdant and wise" width="1280" height="720" /><br /><strong><em>Verdant and wise</em></strong></p>
<p>Call it the &ldquo;lawn&rdquo; of a new era, or dawn actually. In an innovative way of commemorating 150 years of the national song Vande Mataram, the Garden Department of R Central Ward mowed &ldquo;Vande Mataram&rdquo; on the ground at the <a href="https://www.mid-day.com/mumbai/mumbai-news/article/mumbai-petitioners-reject-bmcs-new-pigeon-feeding-spots-23602038" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation</a>&rsquo;s Pramod Mahajan Manoranjan Maidan in Chikuwadi, Borivli West. Assistant Superintendent of Gardens Janardan Mane said, &ldquo;This took approximately two days and was done with a lawn mower. The idea is to commemorate it in a green and pleasant way.&rdquo; Here&rsquo;s to history and health walking together.</p>

No, Australia doesn’t provide a shining example of a perfect Test cricket setup. The Ashes start in Perth on November 21, but they haven’t settled on opener

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