I would never call myself a cricket fanatic or the kinds who would spend sleepless nights to watch a cricket match. I have always just been sufficiently interested in the game, more so for the hunky-dory men of various teams than for the love of the game itself. But the year that saw the birth of the baap of all cricket leagues, the IPL, was the turning point in enlightening me with my true passion for the much ado cricket! I know, as an Indian, I’m supposed to be naturally in love with it, worship it, and literally live by it. And I guess it was really the IPL that managed to evoke the ‘Indian-ness’ in me.
I can barely recall what the agony, ambush and exhilaration during the previous seasons were but the IPL season 3 sure did make itself memorable for me! It was the evening of April 17th2010, when the ‘God’ (read Sachin Tendulkar) was going to brighten the Bangalore skies with his starry limelight and aura. Unlike the many maniacal people in my life who bow down to the man for their weirdly funny reasons, I hold an extremely high degree of respect and honour for his rigor and undying attitude on the pitch. Nevertheless, I was being loyal to the city that feeds me bread and butter so RCB was simply my take, obviously. I was just waiting to shout, cheer, go mad with the crowd and just have some good innocent fun.
My cousin and I sped in our flashy red i10, with more than enough time for the match to start, but just to dwell in the merriment, keep our spirits high and not miss a single moment of our much awaited evening out. I still remember we were waiting in the painstaking city traffic when we heard a big boom near the gate right in front of us. Yes, as expected, people ran haywire, some in panic and others in horror, before our diligent city cops rushed in for timely action and rescue. I was in the car, my terrified eyes glued to the window and my half reddish nose patched against it, and then it struck me that, wow, I had just witnessed a live blast! I’m probably making this sound like some cheesy joke but what I experienced that moment was nothing close to one. It was plain hard truth, a live tragedy happening in front of my eyes. It’s quite funny how our perception over things changes in matter of seconds. I remember watching such attacks and blasts on news channels being covered with all the recent updates of what’s in and what’s out and wondering what it must be like to really be there at one of those spots. And voila…here I was facing this live, and not through an idiot box!
It’s shocking to see what ‘Cricket’ actually does to us Indians (on a happy note!). The minute I entered the stadium and grabbed my seat, I knew right there that the 40,000 something Indians packed inside the M. Chinnaswamy stadium didn’t really care much about the tragedy/mishap that they saw outside. It was clear, they were here to shout, cheer and have fun, just like me! This is something I LOVE about us Indians. Nothing in this big bad world deters us from our most passionate things, even a bomb blast! The game between RCB and MI started with delay but still grabbed as much attention as expected. Amidst all the beautiful red and blue flags swaying end-to-end, there was noise (the kinds that don’t annoy you), some boo-ing, and lots of loud shrill whistling that kept the players on the field going strong.
And then by some magical stroke of luck, I met Mr. Sunil Gavaskar! Thinking back now, I feel so thankful for just being there at the stadium that evening amidst all the crappy things happening around. The short rendezvous with the man himself was quite an event for me besides sharing camera space with him. My excitement knew no bounds and it was super evident on my facials as well. I showed every trace of happiness that my body could handle and it didn’t matter if the man in front of me thought I was absolutely spastic! I knew this was my moment and I was all out to bask in it. The match closed in favour of MI, who displayed utmost brilliance on the field. My evening was a delight any which way, for all the crazy incidents that the real God threw at me!
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