MAGIC OF CRICKET

                                    MAGIC OF CRICKET

Few things unite India like cricket,bollywood,,politics and the big fat Indian wedding. What is it about cricket that has us tearing our hair out in consternation everytime a catch is floored or a run our opportunity goes abegging,roaring our lungs out with unbridled gusto everytime an Indian batsman either reaches the boundary or then clears it with consummate ease,appeal in unison with our bowlers at the faintest chance of eking out an opposition batsman's wicket and last but not the least break out into an impromptu jig every time our national team betters it's opponents,if you're seeking the right answer then kindly look up your friendly neighbourhood cricket fan.
Cricket has been a unifying force ever since India made it's maiden sojourn on the international cricket scene under the able stewardship of the indomitable Colonel C.K.Nayudu,we have spent sleepless nights in front of television screens whenever India is playing Australia or New Zealand at home sat up cheering our boys exploits well into the wee hours whenever we either play the Proteas or the English in their respective backyards,we conveniently bypass all artificial or man made distinctions between rich and poor, caste,sect and creed,language,region or last but not the least the divide as wide as the grand canyon that exists between vegetarians and non-vegetrarians and come out as one to celebrate on the streets every time our national team notches up an epochal triumph.
One of my earliest memory is that of my grandfather distributing baskets of motichoor laddoos when India notched up it's maiden and only Triumph till date in the 1983 Prudential World Cup,my grandfather was primarily a wrestling fan and far more well versed with the Dara Singh's and Randhawa's of this world rather than the Kapil Dev's, Jimmy Amarnath's,Sandeep Patil's and Roger Binny's of this world, yet I distinctly remember him waking up our neighbourhood mithai wala at the unearthly hour of one in the morning,placing a massive order for five basketfulls of motichoor laddoos and then parking himself in the shop till seven a.m.in the morning so that he could collect the delivery and subsequently distribute the laddoos to all and sundry with his own hands.
Another distinct memory uppermost in my mind is that of the sheer frenzy that enveloped Bangalore's streets when the Indian team notched up a memorable triumph against the arch enemies,namely the Pakistanis in the quarter finals of the 1996 cricket World Cup.One could well have been mistaken into thinking that India had at long last annexed the World Cup after a long and rather unseemly wait if the spontaneous celebrations that broke out in every nook and cranny of the garden city at fall of the last Pakistani wicket at around 10:45 p.m. were anything to go by. Yours truly headed for the safer and familiar shores of his home at around 12:30 p.m. after duly having filed all the relevant match related reports was stopped and fed sweets on atleast three separate occasions during the tumultuous ride of eleven-twelve kilometres between M.G.road and C.V.Raman Nagar where one used to reside during those intoxicating and heady days and only ended up reaching home after a good 55-60 minutes after having stepped out from the office.
The Indian cricket team embodies the very spirit of the Indian pathos of "UNITY IN DIVERSITY", the team more often than not comprises of Hindus,Sikhs,Muslims,Christians,Jats,Marathas,Iyers,Iyengars and Agarwals coming together with the common cause of uniting as one in the face of all odds thereby ensuring that India rises above the rest of the cricketing fraternity more often than not and this irrepresible spirit of unity in diversity is solely or then largely responsible for our having achieved the glorious heights of number one in the International Cricket Council's Test rankings and occupying the much coveted number two slot in the ICC's ODI rankings.
Why don't we then remain united everyday of our rather mundane,dull,dreary and rather menningless existences rather than wasting our precious time,energy,spleens and minds on quarelling with all and sundry on the flimsiest of pretexts,breaking off long standing relationships at slights more imagined than real,drawing artificial boundaries between ourselves on the rather silly grounds of caste,creed,religion,sect,language and economic status.Let's all resolve and take a pledge to take a leaf out of our cricket team's book and remain united in the face of unsurmountable odds thereby putting paid to the nefarious tendencies of the K.Chandrashekhar Rao's,Raj,Balashaeb and Udhhav Thackeray's,Vatal Nagaraj's,Syed Ahmed Shah Geelanis' and others of the same hues misplaced and rather heinous attempts at dividing us in order to stoke their own political fires.
Let's all stand united like the mighty Himalayas behind the Indian team no matter whatever the provocation render a resounding slap ion the face of the separatist elements that exist amidst us and begin praying to the almighty for India's World Cup after a rather lengthy interval of twenty eight years.JAI HIND, MERA BHARAT MAHAAN.
SUNDEEP CHOPRA.