Not common

Image Courtesy: Google


“Stop it that’s too much”, is what I often grew up hearing as I have this habit of getting carried away. And thank God for that! Atleast there was somebody to draw the line when it was enough.
I realize it more often than now when I see this whole circus of the Common Wealth Games in Delhi ensuring a prime location in every newspaper or news channel. First of all whoever decided to host the CWG game needs to be given a “Thank You” note with a statutory warning of “Not using his/her brain again otherwise the whole nation may die of shame.”
Second of all the organizers deserve a much round of applause for their outstanding service to the nation by pocketing huge sum of the hard earned tax payers money. Probably a ‘Shaurya Chakra’ would do justice to them for being so brave and unashamed about the whole thing. So much so that when one of the foot bridge fell even before any of us got a chance to set our feet there, the only response was “Hey, chill guys! Such minor setbacks are bound to happen in such big events”.
The accusations from a host of other countries displaying their loud public displeasure about the cleanliness and inadequacy of the state of affairs in CWG village too doesn’t seem to have any impact on the who’s-who our nation. And why should it be? Most of them chose to go deaf when it is not of interest to them.
Our last hope is the heavy rains hitting the north region that is posing some serious flood thread all across the region. Even nature is playing a spoilt sport here. Probably it is God’s way of saying, “Stop now. That’s too much”.

Not everything can be fixed

(Picture courtesy Google)

Life came to a standstill on the eve of any cricket match during my growing up days. Classes dropped and offices missed depending upon the situation of our team in the series. And whenever we won, the celebrations too ecstatic to describe. Would you believe me if I say that my not-so friendly vegetable vendor who otherwise would not even let you open your mouth to haggle, generously distributed free brinjals on the our victory against the cross border neighbour not known for its friendly ways?
Even my household was no different. All other mundane chores like cooking, cleaning, mopping would get finished before the start of the match. And if it happened to be on an off day, even better. Lunch would be timed as per the schedule of the player’s lunch time, tea time or the advertisement time. Any refreshment demand apart from these timings would be met with blank looks or better sheer indifference. So engrossed we got in the match sometimes that we just forgot to blink. Even the sanest ones would simply lose logic and insist upon sitting at the same place without moving an eyelid because Sachin has been hitting well ever since you sat at that place. All your nature’s call can wait, they would argue. Because what is more important you or the nation?
Such was the fever that everyone had an expert advice to give in between the overs. So what if you haven’t held a bat in your entire lifetime? Or couldn’t make out a no ball from a wide? Yet as an Indian we did have the birthright to comment on anything and everything that you could think off. While the not so interested ones would cheer for the better looking players each time they were onscreen, without a clue of which teams were playing.
Now times have changed. For better or worse, no points for guessing. No more we feel the need to spend sleepless night over a match because God knows what’s behind? Only the players can tell whether it’s fixed or not. And even if a player gives his best, the mind screams, “Could there be more than what meets the eye?”
Pray not because it is cricket that is always on the losing side. The palpitation in the crucial overs will be missed. The continuous chanting of prayers to see your team win will be skipped. The memories of those heroic innings by some brave player when it mattered the most will fade. And guys, that is something which just can’t be fixed.