One Cup and One Billion Dreams - Only in India

I am not a cricket fan. AND in the part of the world I live - India - this IS a Big thing to say.

Living in the Mecca of cricket, all my life, I’ve really pondered hard to understand the psyche that goes behind this game.. And all the reasoning - logical and otherwise - has only stumped me out, Every Single Time.
So,, to say the least, I’ve found this whole play of a bat and a ball - a highly overrated sport and would be still going strong with this belief of mine,, HAD I not lived the day of 2nd April,2011.

I knew “cricket” in India was a religion.. I knew “cricket” in India was overtly highlighted and I knew "cricket" here was an unsaid mandate every sane Indian was expected to follow from birth. But, like exceptions in every breed, there was me - adding to a bunch of loonies - the disowned latter who failed to understand the thrill of this game!

And then came the morning of 2nd April,2011 which had a different air about it from its dawn. I still don't know WHAT had got into me that day?? And to think of it, the virus was in the air, infecting all...
As I picked a Blue to wear for the Big Day - and though I landed up wearing the Sri Lankan Blue(read:the goofy me;) I was in my heart ALL for the Cobalt team!! No tricolor painted on my face, no Sahara jersey tugged onto me and with for sure no money put at stake…, I , like an odd zillion Indians across the globe, was bleeding BLuE..I was catching the Final face off between India and Sri Lanka - how ever best I could!! Woooff!!

The Match - For the love of God, you can't explain to someone WHAT it feels when we have a Sehwag out at the God damn 2nd ball and “The GOD” (read:Sachin) following him!! We hadn't even settled down when missiles dropped at the bottom of everyone's belly, the sighs echoed and the prayers doubled up! Even God must have felt the jitters!! For even a cricket illiterate like me, I knew this match meant the World to us! We HAD to win it! It was not an Oscar, not a Nobel, but it was the World Cup!! (read:shouts)
I have never seen my country like this before! And I have never seen "me" like this too!! This domino effect had got me down into splits!!

Back to the game - We played an inning WORTH a World Cup Final. For anything more that I say will only understate the players’ brilliant display of work! The word's AWESOME!!!!! We WON THE WORLD CUP!!!! We became the World!! The Happiest Country in the World!!

Actually, it was not just a Win. It was not just a Victory. It was The Realization of a Dream. A Dream of a zillion souls together. A Dream bigger than any game, any war. A Dream whose fulfillment wrote a whole new chapter in history.

Yes, in the end, it is just a game of a bat and a ball. But, the eleven men in blue, cobalt blue - brought the whole nation to a standstill. And for the 2nd most populated country on the globe, THIS IS a BIG Thing!

I've read history,, heard of heroic tales,, watched war movies and witnessed a whole circus macabre on "patriotism"! But, to FEEL history being created IS something else for sure!
To feel life spring up past midnight..To feel flags waving at every corner..To feel strangers rejoicing with you...To feel tears shed for a win you didn't even contribute to..To feel jubilation, pride, happiness and To feel alive - all at once...This is THE FEELING I will pass down to my bloodline. This is THE FEELING I will reminisce sitting on a rocking chair. And This is THE FEELING that I will take back to my grave.

I didn't wrap the flag around my body, I didn't run on the roads carefree nor did I even honk at strangers passing by me..!!! But, as I watched a mother take her child to feel this moment,,as I heard drums thumping loud at 2am in the morning and as I felt a goosebump raising inside me, I felt patriotic for the f@#&% first time!!

"Thank You" can sometimes become a real short expression for someone who wants to say a lot in words and even more through emotions...

Yes, there are sports and there is an entire universe who may not even have heard of "cricket"..I am not a cricket fan, but, for now, I'm smitten by this game of a bat and a ball:):)

Word Count: 768
Emotions : Countless
For everything else,,, I still have a Master Card;P