For some strange reason, I have never been able to stand cricket. Maybe it is because I have never played it. Even now, I can multi task (close my eyes and text message, sleep while having a two-way conversation, eat-read-watch the television while tuning my mum’s yells out for doing the same, etc) speak six languages, stand on my head, dress up in under 2 minutes (it made my friend Anhait wonder if I was really from Venus) and finish shopping for a new wardrobe in half a day; BUT I simply cannot bowl. I tried once, and the boys in my flat wouldn’t stop laughing about for an entire week. So I gave up.
I was very active in sports through school and college. Athletics, volley ball, basket ball, kho-kho, even kabbadi for that matter- been there, played them all; in absolute pro level that too. Even girls foot ball! Yeah, it exists in India too. I played that at the zonal level in college. I like to blow my own trumpet once in a while. It feels good.
So I have forever been comfortable with, erm, the games that involve balls with greater diameters. Like foot ball, volley ball, hand ball and basket ball. As they get smaller, I lose interest in them. So that explains why I steer clear from tennis, TT, squash- and cricket. But of late, cricket seems interesting. Is it because of the cricketer? :P (wink*)
The IPL fever was soaring, and I had no idea about even the number of teams that played in it. I was cheerfully hatching away at home- the blissful pre-job days. Last week, my bro got his hands on a couple of tickets, and very strangely, he insisted on me coming along. It was a Mumbai Indians Vs Chennai Super Kings match. I said ok, only because:
1. I was assuming Mumbai Indians was owned by Shah Rukh and was all for it. I agreed to accompany my brother ONLY to catch a glimpse of SRK.
2. I wanted to see for myself what all this fuss about Murali Vijay was. The Miss Universe ’09 (or was it the Miss World ’09?) considers him ‘very hot’, apparently.
3. I wanted to look at the cheer leaders!!! I am straight.
So last Tuesday, we drive up to Chepauk Stadium. The match was to start at 8.00 pm. We reached there by 8.00 only to see this long long long queue. It was 8.40 when we actually entered. Murali was out by then. Then I crane my neck out searching for SRK. No sight. Then I ask my bro, ‘Shah Rukh is not here?’
Blank stare.
‘Why should he be here?’
‘Isn’t this his team?’
He advised me to keep my mouth shut before people bodily threw me out for being so supremely knowledgeable and reverential about the game.
Atleast I got to watch the cheer leaders. All the boys I knew were cooing about them all the time. It was fun. Especially watching them dance to manmada rasa, pokkiri pongal and other Vijay beats.
I was not sure who to cheer for, because Mumbai is where i was born, and would mostly be where I would start on my first job; but Chennai is like, MY city!! Like Sandya says- Mumbai gave me life, but Chennai is my life. She actually came up with something very jin-chak, I just can’t remember it now. So I decided to cheer for who ever looked like winning. I wouldn’t feel sad later, that way, you see.
It was CSK from the start. And the crowd looked like they would rip anybody who cheered for Mumbai, anyway. And I ended up having so much FUN! It was like unleashing myself of everything diplomatic. My brother was pretty cool with me yelling alongside him, and we were shouting and moving to the beats, jumping and thumping, shamelessly - all decency forgotten, for a few hours. We just needed a reason to yell. And it felt good!
So we would yell when somebody caught the ball, we would yell when another gave a wide, another yell when the fielders trapped the ball before it rolled toward the boundary- madness you might say. But it was fun :- )
I think every Indian ought to go watch a match at least once in his lifetime. Watch it with people who wouldn’t mind putting up with that hidden crazed- alter ego of yours. I was so sure it would be such a bore, but I loved every second of it.
And I spotted Simbu :D I love the guy, after VTV. Blush*
3 comments:
Well well well !!!!
Hope we can go to a match one day, and don't get posted too far away !!!! (will miss you so :( ) already do.
Glad you had so much fun ... I never could see much point in cricket, and all the hype made abt it. Oops , nobody hit me !!! I'm supposed to be a good bowler though, in the match we had, "oru overla moonu wicket aduthaen machan :P
The first paragraph somehow makes sense to me - maybe because I cant stand in front of the mirror for more than 10mins.
WOW macha! Finally you figured out that SRK is the rightful owner of KKR and not MI. :D And mumbai can be the city of birth, but the heart beats for Chennai- Besi, pondy bazar and the likes!
Yes, I think Murli Vijay is konjam cute (shameless as usual), and CSK ROCK!! :D :D
Bro-sister bondngs rock macha! No matter how much we fight with them, its fun to scream your lungs out or share ice creams.
And YaaaaY! You witnessed your first cricket match! Now please declare that you are a die hard CSK supporter and say "Chennai Super Kings ku Periya Whistle Podu" :D
hehehe hahaha, this post has made my day. too bad today csk lost to dd, but mi is on top so i am khush ! any ways i dont think y u would bother but still had a laugh riot reading this post of yours :)
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