There are some days in life that sneak up on you like the first rains after a long dry season and leave you feeling just as rejuvenated. April 2nd 2011. It was one such day in the lives of many Indians. It was just another Saturday in every aspect but for the fact that India won the cricket world cup.
I was caught by the cricket bug in childhood itself just as almost every other Indian kid. Playing some gully cricket to watching test matches between exams were a big part of my life till adulthood took charge. A few lost matches, a match-fixing scandal, a bad season, a busy schedule, physical distances and the call of duty had all played a part in estranging me from the entire euphoria of the 2011 World cup. It would have seemed like a complete remission in medical terms but then it took only one grand victory over Australia and Pakistan and a place in the finals for me to be showing symptoms of the bug all over again... :)
I was hooked on to the final match. It was a great day but then there have been other such great days earlier. Will we actually repeat history as it had happened nearly three decades ago or will it be a recap of events much closer in time... ? Despite these fears, I couldn't resist waking up early to watch the match on a weak internet connection. The scenes from the match kept drifting in and out of my computer like the curtains on my window but then this was a match I couldn't have stopped watching. And so I valiantly sat there garnering information from two different websites and trying to keep my nails intact as they were keeping pace with the tension in the game. It was a comfortable victory as things turned out but then Indian cricket is famous for its roller coaster rides. And just when you thought that all was well and under control, one could feel a tug on the carpet beneath your feet as the opposition tried to sneak in. And this would just prompt complete attention and stunned silence to the game. And there I was sitting in front of my computer screen, trying multiple websites for a live feed and looking for some good quality telecast as my brain swung from hope to euphoria to disappointment to ecstasy.
The end of this long story of course is not unknown to anyone who cares to look up the news once in a while because though cricket is not the biggest game in the world, it has a fair share of its followers. To put it in the mildest terms, India won the match with a bang and the entire country of 1.2 billion erupted. It is just a game but the influence of this game and its grip on the Indian social structure and psyche is difficult to estimate till you see such historic days. Even sitting 8000 miles away with a few facebook updates and a glimpse on the bbc news, i knew that it was a momentous day and that the entire country would have behaved like it were stoned with Tequilla. There were celebrations on the streets, rituals and functions, rallies and processions as if all the problems of this emerging "developing" nation were solved in one single swoop by acquiring the magic of the world cup. I am sure everyone was filled with a sense of pride, respect, joy and nationality. You dont expect anything less from a nation where cricket and religion as equals in attention seeking.
And through all this, somewhere, halfway across the world, I was sitting watching this day as if it were just another dream. I wished I could scream just to share my happiness (but then you don't expect your American, Chinese and Japanese neighbors to understand your sentiments about cricket) and so I sat there in silence watching the joy and pride on a million faces. I wanted to celebrate but here i was struggling to even watch the celebrations (the internet really seemed to follow murphy's law because it would decide to take a break at all the crucial moments in the match).
Even with the nationalistic sentiments surging through my mind, in those few moments, i realized one thing for certain. They were right when they said that happiness grows when you share it and is incomplete when you can't. For some reason, I had never accepted this idiom and its value. Why would you think that joys are never complete until you share them....? After all, they are so few and far in between that when you find them you should be happy irrespective of who is around you or not. But on this day amidst all the euphoria that I was witnessing, i had learnt a lesson. I had understood the words I had heard forever and i could feel their true import. My joy too felt incomplete till i could rejoice with the other. See the smiles that wouldn't fade. Till I could hear the drums in the distance and the screams in the streets and smell the sweets from the kitchen.
It remained a dream till i heard some Indians chatting in the bus about India's performance. Till I heard those facebook comments and saw those pictures of glorious celebrations. It was a landmark and will be remembered for a long time to come. And though I was a witness to it, somewhere deep inside, I know i was nowhere near to experiencing it.
Nonethless, it was a day I wish to remember for days and years to come and it came with a wonderful lesson too.
And since for me a picture says what a thousand words can, I have included some pictures of that landmark day when history was drafted by 11 men and witnessed by 1.2 billion...
I was caught by the cricket bug in childhood itself just as almost every other Indian kid. Playing some gully cricket to watching test matches between exams were a big part of my life till adulthood took charge. A few lost matches, a match-fixing scandal, a bad season, a busy schedule, physical distances and the call of duty had all played a part in estranging me from the entire euphoria of the 2011 World cup. It would have seemed like a complete remission in medical terms but then it took only one grand victory over Australia and Pakistan and a place in the finals for me to be showing symptoms of the bug all over again... :)
I was hooked on to the final match. It was a great day but then there have been other such great days earlier. Will we actually repeat history as it had happened nearly three decades ago or will it be a recap of events much closer in time... ? Despite these fears, I couldn't resist waking up early to watch the match on a weak internet connection. The scenes from the match kept drifting in and out of my computer like the curtains on my window but then this was a match I couldn't have stopped watching. And so I valiantly sat there garnering information from two different websites and trying to keep my nails intact as they were keeping pace with the tension in the game. It was a comfortable victory as things turned out but then Indian cricket is famous for its roller coaster rides. And just when you thought that all was well and under control, one could feel a tug on the carpet beneath your feet as the opposition tried to sneak in. And this would just prompt complete attention and stunned silence to the game. And there I was sitting in front of my computer screen, trying multiple websites for a live feed and looking for some good quality telecast as my brain swung from hope to euphoria to disappointment to ecstasy.
The end of this long story of course is not unknown to anyone who cares to look up the news once in a while because though cricket is not the biggest game in the world, it has a fair share of its followers. To put it in the mildest terms, India won the match with a bang and the entire country of 1.2 billion erupted. It is just a game but the influence of this game and its grip on the Indian social structure and psyche is difficult to estimate till you see such historic days. Even sitting 8000 miles away with a few facebook updates and a glimpse on the bbc news, i knew that it was a momentous day and that the entire country would have behaved like it were stoned with Tequilla. There were celebrations on the streets, rituals and functions, rallies and processions as if all the problems of this emerging "developing" nation were solved in one single swoop by acquiring the magic of the world cup. I am sure everyone was filled with a sense of pride, respect, joy and nationality. You dont expect anything less from a nation where cricket and religion as equals in attention seeking.
And through all this, somewhere, halfway across the world, I was sitting watching this day as if it were just another dream. I wished I could scream just to share my happiness (but then you don't expect your American, Chinese and Japanese neighbors to understand your sentiments about cricket) and so I sat there in silence watching the joy and pride on a million faces. I wanted to celebrate but here i was struggling to even watch the celebrations (the internet really seemed to follow murphy's law because it would decide to take a break at all the crucial moments in the match).
Even with the nationalistic sentiments surging through my mind, in those few moments, i realized one thing for certain. They were right when they said that happiness grows when you share it and is incomplete when you can't. For some reason, I had never accepted this idiom and its value. Why would you think that joys are never complete until you share them....? After all, they are so few and far in between that when you find them you should be happy irrespective of who is around you or not. But on this day amidst all the euphoria that I was witnessing, i had learnt a lesson. I had understood the words I had heard forever and i could feel their true import. My joy too felt incomplete till i could rejoice with the other. See the smiles that wouldn't fade. Till I could hear the drums in the distance and the screams in the streets and smell the sweets from the kitchen.
It remained a dream till i heard some Indians chatting in the bus about India's performance. Till I heard those facebook comments and saw those pictures of glorious celebrations. It was a landmark and will be remembered for a long time to come. And though I was a witness to it, somewhere deep inside, I know i was nowhere near to experiencing it.
Nonethless, it was a day I wish to remember for days and years to come and it came with a wonderful lesson too.
And since for me a picture says what a thousand words can, I have included some pictures of that landmark day when history was drafted by 11 men and witnessed by 1.2 billion...
1 comment:
Yay!! India won..
I am not really that hooked to sports, so I cannot empathize with you on neighbors not sharing the joy of winning :(
But I can understand the general sentiment - my non-Indian neighbors don't share my sense of exaltation with my Indian cooking either :D
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