London: Pollyamma the Parrot, India's answer to the Oracle Octopus, has predicted that this time India will be the country bagging the largest amount of medals in the upcoming Commonwealth Games, causing quite a stir in Times Square.
An astonished spokesman for the Stiff Upper Lip Sporting Forum told the Beeb, Britain's most popular Broadcaster that there was absolutely no truth in that the Parrot had inside information. "The bird's daft," he said, pointing out that India's mystic abilities were a thing of the past ever since they loaned out the Maharishi to the Beatles in the sizzling Sixties. The British Tea-leaf Readers' Association have come up with a mixed bag of results, generally indicating that a Scottish win is imminent, provided that the games are held at all.
The Pollyamma Prediction has sent waves of Ecstasy racing through the veins of the Athletic Association of India. "Aha, the Winds of Change", sang a senior member of the Bangalore Barefoot Bungyjumpers Board, when news came through that the Kiwis are contemplating staying away. Hosting the commonwealth Games is the best thing that has ever happened to India.
"Prediction? Prediction my grey donkey!" bawled the Secretary general of the Rationalist Sportsmen Union in Calcutta. "That Parrot should go for a dope test. Everybody knows that if the New Zealanders stay away, the Aussies will follow, and the Canadians would rather canoe in Alaska. The Pakis are too busy swimming through the floods, the Sri Lankans are sore about the Tigers. The US of A hasn't even bothered to join the Commonwealth, so who's left standing?
"Don't you worry about a shortage of Medals at the Games. The way things are going; there'll probably be more medals than competitors. More than enough medals to go around, and maybe even a few unused ones to spare that could be picked up at a discount from the local flea market later," said an enthusiastic member of the organizing committee.
