Well very honestly, "India-cricket-world cup" is not a very new thing in trend, it's an age old (yet ever-young) trio. I might not be good at cricket stats, I am no expert, and I might not be a hard-core cricket fan. But I am a fan of India... And I know one thing that history repeats itself. India has found herself many times on winning/losing sides in important matches like this... and from a historical perspective, it's all stale business. But I witnessed something new today, like never before...
It's a thumb-rule of this world (or at least this country) to worship the "rising sun"... And we, the Indians would be too pragmatic if we say that we don't feel bad at all on losing. Yes, we do, just like any other human being... So we have been criticising our heroes, praising them, pelting stones at their houses over decades as a herd of over 1.25 billion people. But I saw something different today...
As usual, there was a whole bunch of Kangaroo-supporting Indians, who took pride and termed themselves as rational (and perhaps the most accurate analysts in the world [in a game which is one of the most unpredictable ones]). More than sad, they were proud that their predictions were proved true. (No offence, but I hate you guys on that front - It's serious business when I talk about India - at least show some patriotism).
There was yet another bunch of so-called "fans" (a huge one) who swore Indian cricketers (and their girlfriends) in every possible manner. These critics have been, and will always be there. In the wake of social media, these jokes went viral in no time. (Again, no offence, we all felt bad, but be a sport [at least when you are trying to support a "sport"]).
And then I saw a bunch of people, third of the kind... not so huge in magnitude (but larger than ever before), who acted differently... They too were emotional, they were also sad, but they showed respect to the team. They didn't give up on their own heroes. They did spread messages on social media, counteracting to those huge chunk of cheap jokes on our cricketers.
I have seen sportsmen shaking hands after losing a game, but witnessed such a large group of crazy fans doing so (of course, virtually) for the very first time... I have seen people calling them traitors when they lose (and gods when they win)... But I saw (although a handful of) people saying "It's OK, after all it's just a game" for the very first time...
As a not-so-big-fan of cricket, but a big fan of India, I felt a rare pride. Rare because in the country where crimes and social issues often make us feel ashamed and disgusted, the feeling of people still having sense of humanity is a rare reassurance... period
Photo credits: www.menstennisforums.com
It's a thumb-rule of this world (or at least this country) to worship the "rising sun"... And we, the Indians would be too pragmatic if we say that we don't feel bad at all on losing. Yes, we do, just like any other human being... So we have been criticising our heroes, praising them, pelting stones at their houses over decades as a herd of over 1.25 billion people. But I saw something different today...
As usual, there was a whole bunch of Kangaroo-supporting Indians, who took pride and termed themselves as rational (and perhaps the most accurate analysts in the world [in a game which is one of the most unpredictable ones]). More than sad, they were proud that their predictions were proved true. (No offence, but I hate you guys on that front - It's serious business when I talk about India - at least show some patriotism).
There was yet another bunch of so-called "fans" (a huge one) who swore Indian cricketers (and their girlfriends) in every possible manner. These critics have been, and will always be there. In the wake of social media, these jokes went viral in no time. (Again, no offence, we all felt bad, but be a sport [at least when you are trying to support a "sport"]).
And then I saw a bunch of people, third of the kind... not so huge in magnitude (but larger than ever before), who acted differently... They too were emotional, they were also sad, but they showed respect to the team. They didn't give up on their own heroes. They did spread messages on social media, counteracting to those huge chunk of cheap jokes on our cricketers.
I have seen sportsmen shaking hands after losing a game, but witnessed such a large group of crazy fans doing so (of course, virtually) for the very first time... I have seen people calling them traitors when they lose (and gods when they win)... But I saw (although a handful of) people saying "It's OK, after all it's just a game" for the very first time...
As a not-so-big-fan of cricket, but a big fan of India, I felt a rare pride. Rare because in the country where crimes and social issues often make us feel ashamed and disgusted, the feeling of people still having sense of humanity is a rare reassurance... period
