It was a little after 8.30 on Saturday morning (23rd October). The A. I. D. banner was flapping gently in the morning breeze. Volunteers were busy tying up banners and setting up tables and chairs. Players from Martin’s Maniacs and the Alpharetta Tigers were warming up…It was that time of the year again! The Association for India’s Development’s (A.I.D.) third annual cricket fundraiser was all set to begin! Jointly organized by the Atlanta Cricket Club, the Cricket for India ’04 is the largest fund-raiser for A.I.D. Atlanta, an organization that supports community-based grassroots development projects in India.
Thirty teams were registered for the tournament. In a limited version of the limited overs game, each team comprised of 8 players and each game was played for 8 overs. That did little to detract from the passion and fervor that characterize Indian cricket! Spread over two weekends, thirteen Games were played on the 23rd and fifteen on the 30th of October.
For those of us playing and watching cricket on the two days, the weather could not have been better. Just the right amount of breeze and sunshine to make a game of cricket quite delectable! Two teams - Team Tennessee and the Greenville Cricket Club- braved weekend traffic and drove all the way from Chattanooga and Greenville, to participate in the tournament.
The teams represented a great diversity of age - GT Playboys was an all grad student team; the Campbell Cricket Club had school students and A.I.D. I team took the prize for gender diversity - it fielded the lone female representation in the tournament!
The crowd of spectators was equally diverse –tiny-tot cricketers-in-the-making running around on the edges of the field or straining to reach out of their strollers to Mami’s in colorful chiffons and cottons cheering for their sons to high school students screaming “Go, Harsh!” waving pompoms (well, not really…but pompoms or not, their enthusiasm definitely got more people to watch their game!)
 

Winners-GT Playboys 1	Runners-Up - Alpharetta Monsters 1

The GT Playboys won Cricket for India ’04 by successfully chasing a target of 52 runs in 6.5 overs. The Alpharetta Monsters put up a spirited display and took home the runners up trophy. Awards were also given out for individual performances. Vijay Narayanan from the GT Playboys was adjudged the Man of the Tournament, Man of the Finals and the Best Bowler. Nimir of the Playboys again, won the Best Batsman award, while Shyam Rele of the Alpharetta Monsters was adjudged best fielder and Hammad from Sabri Falcons, the best fielder.

The tournament would not have been possible without the sponsorship of Madras Saravana Bhavan, MJ Travels, Krisbi Travels, Global Mall, Andy’s Indian Grill, Singh Courier Services, Poona Restaurant and the Rialto Center for the Performing Arts. Nandu and his team of enthusiastic volunteers from the Atlanta Cricket Club did an amazing job of dedicating time and effort in planning and orchestrating the entire tournament.
All funds collected in this tournament will support several projects that A.I.D.-Atlanta is involved in currently, described in detail at the website: http://www.aidindia.org/atlanta/projects.shtml.

The Association for India's Development, founded in 1991, is a voluntary non-profit organization committed to promoting sustainable, equitable and just development in India, by working with grassroots organizations and movements in India. A.I.D. supports and initiates efforts in various interconnected spheres such as education, livelihoods, natural resources, health, women's empowerment and social justice.
Over the past 12 years A.I.D. has grown to 40 chapters globally with 36 chapters in the USA. AID currently supports more than 100 projects in 15 Indian states with the primary source of funding being donations in the US. AID has four Jeevan Saathis (full time volunteers) working in India and many volunteers working full time over extended periods of time ranging from six months to over a year.

Bhasha Tribal Academy-learning in progress.
One of many projects that A.I.D. Atlanta supports is Bhasha which is a research and documentation centre that has been working towards preserving tribal heritage and history in the states of Gujarat, Rajasthan, Maharashtra and West Bengal.
Bhasha is helping tribal communities by setting up rural development centers that cater to the socio-economic needs of the tribes. It also offers diploma and doctoral programs in tribal studies through its Tribal Academy. A.I.D. Atlanta’s support goes towards supporting the construction efforts of the NGO’s tribal academy.

All funds collected in this tournament will support several projects that AID-Atlanta is involved in currently, described in detail at the website: http://www.aidindia.org/atlanta/projects.shtml . While AID-Atlanta has been extremely successful in its activities, there is always room for more efforts towards grassroots development in India. You can contribute too, by volunteering your time and your generous donations, in helping us bring justice, equality and basic dignity of life to the underprivileged millions in India.

Please visit http://aidindia.org/index.html  and http://atlanta.aidindia.org/  for more information about A.I.D. and A.I.D. Atlanta.