Or should it read "To a Nation obsessed with cricket"!. No... that would sound like a Tribute post.
Or, given the magnanimity of the situation - Sachin missing his 100th 100! - which is an even worse a tragedy to this country than the loss of Kishen to Maoists or lives of 1000s of people that get lost in Didiland due to train derailments (who anyway die in this country one way or other or would anyway die sooner or later!) - or should I say, given the gravity of the situation? it may sound like the opening phrases of an Epitaph! Or should it read, "Against the backdrop of a nation where cricket is more fundamental to this nation..." or even better! Where a Sachin's century at Wankhede or Brabourne is more fundamental to some (who are more fundamentally Mumbaikars than Yorkshire men are more Yorkshire than the Terriers, Pugs and Pollicles) than if it came at Kotla or at Kolkata... who cares if India follows on or wipes the lead!
Btw, prayers were aplenty both in the ground as well as on tweets, sms', fb wall posts (where the country these days communicate more than in real time) that India PROBABLY MUST FOLLOW ON because SACHIN GETS ANOTHER GO AT 100TH 100! Gods Zounds and Odd and Ends! We have inexplicably and irredeemably morphed into this self-obsessed Frankeinsteins (or is it Chitti now?) who are bothered more about personal achievements and self-interests that take primacy to bigger pictures! You get the picture? There is a whole album behind this!
We have essentially come to accept the culture of coercion, exhortation and do or die philosophy! Survive or sink? And what of the meek inheriting the earth? And what of the adages that celebrate the beauty of god's creation where the best and the worst co-exist and goodness gets its validity from the existence of badness! To put things in perspective... we have lost our perspective as well as perspicacity! We are just about data, facts, statistics, cups, victories, woes, failures, suicides... This is the India FDIs are made of!
There was a time when the west came here for other things! They don't need to come here anymore because we have become one! Anyway... coming back to where we started.... Kohli is from Delhi, playing for Bangalore and India... Ashwin is from Chennai playing for India and they are still playing to save the invaluable follow-on millions of cricket watchers pray should happen so Sachin shall score his century in Mumbai! And I just now even heard a few shouts (INDEEEEYAAAA... INDIA!) Anyway... sanity has been restored after a moment of cliched deafening silence that followed the heartbreak that Sachin's out at 94 gave! I mean... these guys are not only after runs, but are playing in a way Test Cricket is known to be played. Leaving the right balls out, pricing their wicket than the streaky 4 that can take us through the nervous 90s! You price your wicket... that's what happens when you play for your nation, to save your nation!
Oh, but what about the million voices that say, "we've anyway already won the series 2-0, who cares!" Is it alright to have won the series 2-1 at the end of the series? People from the culture of win or die, answer, please!
Or, given the magnanimity of the situation - Sachin missing his 100th 100! - which is an even worse a tragedy to this country than the loss of Kishen to Maoists or lives of 1000s of people that get lost in Didiland due to train derailments (who anyway die in this country one way or other or would anyway die sooner or later!) - or should I say, given the gravity of the situation? it may sound like the opening phrases of an Epitaph! Or should it read, "Against the backdrop of a nation where cricket is more fundamental to this nation..." or even better! Where a Sachin's century at Wankhede or Brabourne is more fundamental to some (who are more fundamentally Mumbaikars than Yorkshire men are more Yorkshire than the Terriers, Pugs and Pollicles) than if it came at Kotla or at Kolkata... who cares if India follows on or wipes the lead!
Btw, prayers were aplenty both in the ground as well as on tweets, sms', fb wall posts (where the country these days communicate more than in real time) that India PROBABLY MUST FOLLOW ON because SACHIN GETS ANOTHER GO AT 100TH 100! Gods Zounds and Odd and Ends! We have inexplicably and irredeemably morphed into this self-obsessed Frankeinsteins (or is it Chitti now?) who are bothered more about personal achievements and self-interests that take primacy to bigger pictures! You get the picture? There is a whole album behind this!
We have essentially come to accept the culture of coercion, exhortation and do or die philosophy! Survive or sink? And what of the meek inheriting the earth? And what of the adages that celebrate the beauty of god's creation where the best and the worst co-exist and goodness gets its validity from the existence of badness! To put things in perspective... we have lost our perspective as well as perspicacity! We are just about data, facts, statistics, cups, victories, woes, failures, suicides... This is the India FDIs are made of!
There was a time when the west came here for other things! They don't need to come here anymore because we have become one! Anyway... coming back to where we started.... Kohli is from Delhi, playing for Bangalore and India... Ashwin is from Chennai playing for India and they are still playing to save the invaluable follow-on millions of cricket watchers pray should happen so Sachin shall score his century in Mumbai! And I just now even heard a few shouts (INDEEEEYAAAA... INDIA!) Anyway... sanity has been restored after a moment of cliched deafening silence that followed the heartbreak that Sachin's out at 94 gave! I mean... these guys are not only after runs, but are playing in a way Test Cricket is known to be played. Leaving the right balls out, pricing their wicket than the streaky 4 that can take us through the nervous 90s! You price your wicket... that's what happens when you play for your nation, to save your nation!
Oh, but what about the million voices that say, "we've anyway already won the series 2-0, who cares!" Is it alright to have won the series 2-1 at the end of the series? People from the culture of win or die, answer, please!
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1 comment:
Dr. KK!
I recall the discussion we were having on your fb wall before being obstructed by a barrage of bouncers, beamers and all manner of not unplayable, but pointless deliveries, from the fans of you-know-who.
Whenever I visit your blog, I wonder what inspires me more - the steadfastness and clarity of your stands in an increasingly rudderless world, or the fine prose you employ to get your ideas across? Of course, visiting your blog also makes me nostalgic.
That's enough of me for now I guess. Have linked your blog to mine again! Will visit when you write :)
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