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
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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
Nice one Hardik..
ReplyDeleteI had also seen people who were destroying cricketer's photos in public and showing their anger..these people are bloody fucking basterds..
Its game..and Cricketers tried their best to reach semifinals...Its not cup of tea to get world cup for two consecutive times nd reach to semifinal in this WC....these type of Non sense people showed their personal life anger on our cricketers and by doing these they lose their image only..
#Respect Team India#
Thanks Yash. But don't abuse those people.. Sometimes we are among those people.. We all just need to be more sensible with our actions while praising and criticising
DeleteNice vocabulary 😊
ReplyDeleteThanks Venkat :)
DeleteI have one question...will criticising our own team will get the cup to India?? A big NO...instead we should appreciate all other victories during this world cup..we should respect the sportsmanship..afterall its a game. Make their spirits high for the next time....
ReplyDeleteTrue Jyoti.. Thanks
DeleteWinning and losing are obverse and reverse of the same coin, which decides the fate of the game. More than blaming the players, we should try to get to the root cause of this debacle and to me, it was the toss. Even M.S. Dhoni expressed his wish of winning the toss and putting runs on the board. Unfortunately, luck was not on his side and consequently the odds got stacked against us at the crucial juncture of the tournament called the semifinal. We Indians should take pride in the fact that we at least reached a level, which could be touted as a final per se (leaving semi to the fate). The viewers should not pepetrate to vandalize and besmirch our national hero's. After all, they are human beings like us and not gods. No one plays to lose; certainly not at a point when the country's glory is at stake and a million hearts vehemently say," we won't give it back. Its time to turn the tables and chant the corollary that we would get it back". Very observant hardik. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for the expert review as always Vamshi :)
DeleteSo all the point which as you mention i am totally agreed.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your kind information.
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