Monday, July 17, 2006

Stumped!

Cricket commentary

“And it’s a FOUR... touch of outswing... supremely timed... to the extra cover boundary... he opened the face so well... hardly appeared to hit the ball yet it flew across the turf...”

I’d gotten used to hearing those words over and over again... sometimes loud, sometimes cackled. I’d gotten used to being completely ignored or getting single-syllable replies (if I’m lucky) from people ogling at TV screens. And this goes on for 5 days at a stretch sometimes!

I’d gotten used to cricketers jumping out at me from magazines and newspapers and selling me everything from cars to mixed-fruit jams to the very shirts on their backs! It’s a world where the duck is not something on the menu, the slip is more than an undergarment and the the third man has nothing to with a kinky love affair!

I don’t hate cricket... hate is too strong a word... but I am not crazy about it either. Sure, I watch a match or two, shake my fist at the screen once in a while, clap a bit and nibble at my nail during the last couple of overs. But, if I don’t watch a cricket match ever again... I wouldn’t complain either.

This confession of mine has often been hazardous to my well-being and I have had to face the consequences of opening my big mouth. I have been shunned, declared a pariah and one person in particular (who carried Sachin Tendulkar’s cricket stats in his wallet) said that it was immoral of me!

I’m now in a land where cricket is still an insect and my morality isn’t questioned over the lack of match viewing. I thought there would be less madness.

But the cricket-lover species here is incredible. I can understand downloading videos of matches and looking at photographs... but when they’re staring at numbers on an online scorecard all day and still call it exciting... that’s just taking it over the edge! I now have to get used to being completely ignored by people refreshing the webpage on their computer screens!

-----------------------------------------------

Apparently this frustration has gone on pretty long...

Here’s something I wrote at age 12...

I find Cricket
a very funny game..
but everyone goes crazy
at the mention of its name !

The bowler starts the show
by throwing a ball at the bat
the batsman flips it into the air
the one who gets it yells "Howzzat!"

The batsman tries to defend
three wooden sticks.
and if he hits the ball too hard
everyone shouts aloud "Six !"

The Umpire has no job
other than waving his hand.
but the players obey only him
and none other on land.

I wonder whether I will
ever understand this game.
but everyone goes crazy
at the mention of its name !

10 comments:

Vithal said...

ya .. feel u on the cricket thing.. u feel like thakur in sholay with a bunch of cricket-crazy ppl around you.. u can't do nothing! just watch and smile

Anonymous said...

cricket is a sport. So people will be interested or maybe even fanatic abt it.You ve to accept that cricket does bind india together..watever it is. The public bcomes one in support for their team. Cricket breaks barriers. The same people who draw swords against each other come 2gether in support for india. Cricket in India is more secular than the Govt in India. It runs in ppl's blood. So no harm in that!!

sunshine said...

vithal: nice analogy! watch and smile is what i'm good at :)

anon: great to know u think of cricket as such a bonding material.. keep up the cricket craziness.. just don't harm me in the process :)

Sheeba said...

I totally relate to the words of the poem there! :) Good one!

sunshine said...

glad to know u feel that way, rationale... was written a looong time ago..

upsilamba said...

ah! and may I ask how the football world cup days were like?

sunshine said...

Omg! Someone mentioned Ballack and unfortunately I didn't know who that was. Unspeakable humiliation followed!

Born a Libran said...

Well, cricket is more than a game in India - some people consider to be like a religion (at least they behave that way when we win a lot)...

Swapna said...

Ha... That was good. :)

sunshine said...

@libran - i have no issues with others being crazy.. unless i'm hit by the repercussions of the craziness!

@swapna - glad u liked it :)