Howazzat!!!

It was a fine morning in November, when I woke up to the chirping of birds out in my garden. I welcomed the day with a smile on my lips which traveled to my eye and became a sparkle. It was one of those perfect days when I preferred to do my kind of things. My mood compelled me to sip on hot cocoa and sway to the tunes of Kenny –G and his saxophone. I was mesmerized in my arcadia that everything outside of it seemed oblivious to me. The music from my mp3 player tingled my senses and lulled me into a deep trance. Then, it happened. Just as the waves hit the sea side rock with a fury and rage unknown, I heard the jarring and shrill voice of Harsha Bhogle, praising Sachin for the four he hit. I peeked out from my abode to see my entire family engrossed in watching a cricket match. To my surprise, my kid brother who had a “severe” stomach ache in the morning, was staring at the screen of the TV with his tongue hanging out, salivating furiously at Sachin’s super shot. My brother’s stomach was such a conditional entity, which got upset only for school and homework, but was perfectly fine for a cricket match. My father also took leave from work as he suddenly had a bout of imaginary sickness. (His mobile was switched off and the rest of the household had practiced their dialogues in case of a call from his office. Now I know where the son takes after his father). My mom was neutral to any kind of television activity. She simply watched whatever played on the idiot box. I sometimes wonder if the Formula 1 racing and the sensex reports on NDTV made any sense to her. Television time for her would be a time where she would perform all the miscellaneous chores; making garlands for her puja, cutting vegetables etc. So, even now I saw her sitting in a weird stone like silence, her hands busily working on the sweater for my dad. So, there was my family, as if under a spell of cricket.


It was not only my family, but many other homes in India where you could witness a similar scene. In actuality, cricket is a game in which there is a 160gm ball, a wooden bat, 6 wooden rods, 4 smaller versions of wooden rods, and two teams of 11 players each, either throwing a ball or hitting it with a bat. Sorry, if I sounded very unceremonious in describing the tools of a much hyped game called “cricket”. I sometimes wonder, why do we have hockey as our National game? (Any ideas?).

Everyone in India is so much influenced by cricket, that you can see small little Kapil Devs and Sachins, in every street, playing with so much vigor. It’s fun to watch the youngsters play the game with such passion. It is their passion and perseverance that I salute to, but not the game. In test match seasons and world cup seasons, cricket is the hot topic of discussion at workplaces, morning walks, at the gym, over a cup of coffee. Cricket is prevalent to that extent in air that, even cricket non-lovers, like me can’t help but hear about it from every other person and acquaintance. I definitely appreciate the sporting spirit, which I feel, is lacking in us. A game must be enjoyed and it must be a sort of learning experience for both the teams. It is a simple fact that when two teams play one has to win and the other lose. I don’t know why we oversee this simple logic and take the loss or the victory so personally that we either garland the players and call them God or stone their houses. After all, they are human and this is just a game, for Pete’s sake!!

If the match is an India- Pakistan one, then god bless both the countries. Everyone in both the countries, stick to their TV sets and pray to all the possible Gods for their county’s victory. People in Pakistan converge for extra prayers in the mosque and the women in India chant holy verses while counting the beads of their “jap mala”. I don’t know if the same people took out even a minute to pray for the soldiers at Kargil during the time of war. A few years, ago this cricket craze evolved into a fanatism which took the shape of violent brutality. Thanks to the match fixing that the wave of fanatism has now lulled. It so hopeless and such a pitiable state of blind devotion towards cricket we have that we sometimes miss out certain vital things in life. The dad just mutters an insignificant “nice” to a little girl who is longing for appreciation for the drawing she made. The wife is disappointed with her husband, as he speaks to her only during commercial breaks during the match. I don’t mean to sound anti-cricket. All I have to say that Cricket is just a game; attach only the required amount of importance to it.

I know there will be several cricket fans out there reading my blog, muttering curses beneath their breath. All I have to say to them is that, maintain the sporting spirit, this is just my point of view!!