All of India is in a state of frenzy over the past couple of weeks. The cricket world cup was on ... it just got over, but more on that later. Miraculously almost, Indins found that their team was on the verge of reaching hallowed ground - the finals. And war was declared when it was found that the team India had to vanquish on the battlefield was none other than arch rivals Pakistan. We went back to the days around Independence, the riots that followed partition, the war of 1948, the 1965 battles, the creation of Bangladesh and India's role in that, Musharraf and the Kargil War of 1999, the continuing miltancy that rages on in the Valley. And now the enemy was near. And the battlefield was designated as the Mohali Stadium. Prime Ministers were in attendance, seven tiered security was in place, in fact there was talk of fighter jets flying over the city to prevent any arial attack. The cricket crazy (and mindless) Indian fan was lathi charged looking for that elusive ticket. Finally after all was said and done, India beat Pakistan and entered the finals of the World Cup. Who cared if India won or not, India had beaten Pakistan and that was that. The cup be damned.
If the political, military and diplomatic problems between the two countries could have been solved through one cricket match, life would have been so much simpler. Forty odd thousand rooting fans in the stadium, a billion or so baying for blood, as twenty two gladiators fight it out in the middle, two with wooden sticks, one charging in like a raging bull all set to hurl a five and a half ounce round piece of leather, while a dozen other look on for the outcome that would settle all rows once and for all. The winner takes Kashmir. Hmmm, life could have been so simple.
I think there is a case in history where a war was averted through a football match, the winner of the match would be the winner of the military dispute. Anyway, I am digressing.
India reached the final, like all Indians had prayed for, like all the bookies had predicted, and like ESPN STAR had hoped. And then by jove, they thrash the Lankans after giving eveyone lumps in their throats and mini heart attacks all around. Sehwag gone second ball of the match for a duck. Sachin, the God, sent back with a peach of a delivery. No hundredth hundred for the Master. At 32 for 2, it seemed that all was over. But then the match could not finished so early. What about all the commercials that were to run through the next 75 odd overs. Gambhir and Kohli stabilised the ship and Dhoni came and finished it all off with a captain's knock. India won, Lord Rama had triumphed over Ravana. History was rewritten and it was a slap in the face to everyone who ever doubted that the Ramayan was based in myth and fiction. Here was proof, Dhoni in his role as Rama had once again vanquished the Lankan demons. And legends were born.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India took centre stage and immediately announced a crore of rupees (a little less than US$ 250,000) to each member of the team. I believe Dhoni is being conferred a Jharkhand Ratna. I am sure a slew of other gifts - monetary and otherwise - will follow. Why, I read a Facebook post that suggested Dhoni should stand for Prime Minister.
Now to my point, the one I want to make but cannot find the words for. It was and will continue to be just a game. Maybe I am wrong, but a game is a game is game. Someone wins and someone loses. And this is cricket. And everyone agrees that the real contests of the world begin from the quarter final stage, when the big guns play against each other. But there are only about half a dozen countries in the world that play the game and deserve to be in the BIG league. Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, England, India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan. Am I missing some countries here? Bangladesh? Kenya? Zimbabwe? Netherlands? Canada?
The 2011 Census is just out. We have added 181 million people to the population inthe last decade. That is more than the current population of Pakistan. We add more than the population of Australia every year. Many of our smaller states have a larger population than all of Sri Lanka. We of 1.2 billion people are proud to have picked up a cup after a wait of 28 years. Is it something to be proud of or are we missing a trick here? The sheer might of numbers would suggest that there is talent lying behind every corner in the country. But who needs individual talent? We are happy to usurp the glory that others strive hard for. OK, even if the Indian team has won the World Cup after 28 years and after competing against half a dozen countries, it still had to be done. Kudos to the team. What I am questioning is, what are we individuals have so much to gloat about? Is it because we lack icons that we have to lay the glory of others on our own mantlepiece and usurp it as if it were our own?
To be honest, there are so few icons that we can be proud of. Sachin Tendulkar is one the greatest that has played the game. It is not his fault that he chose to excel in a game that is played by so few countries. He did and he is great. But why ignore other icons? Why not allow the same space to them? Is Saina Nehwal any less? To my mind Sania Mirza is more hype than substance, though she had her chances at glory. Somdev Devvarman is going great guns. Dhanraj Pillai never got the rcognition that he deserved so much. And hockey was once to Indians what cricket is today. I still remember the Test match in Delhi when Geoffrey Boycott crossed 8,032 runs to become the highest run scorer. The stadium was empty because there was an India versus Pakistan hockey match going on in Delhi that afternoon. People streamed out of the Ferozeshah Kotla ground and headed for Shivaji Stadium to watch that match.
Cricket has taken over our collective psyche and to be fair, it is one thing that does bind the country together. Corruption, scams, and political incompetence have two maybe more sides defencing one action or the other. Cynicism abounds. But when there is a cricket match going on, it is Chak De India around the country with Vande Mataram being sung in the stadium by people interlocking their arms and waving the Indian tricolour. True, nothing binds this country stronger than a game of cricket ... well, a game of cricket where Indian is winning. We are just as quick to banish the heroes into the wilderness at the slightest loss of form, or God forbid at a loss to Pakistan. Remember someone called Chetan Sharma? He still rues the time of day when he bowled that last ball of that last over to Javed Miandad. With that glorious six, a promising career ended. Today even political parties are wary of soliciting his support because of the memories that the name Chetan Sharma brings up. One unfortunate ball that got hit for a six could ruin the fortunes of a person or a party trying to run a country. How ironic.
All I want to say is can we rise above ourselves and be happy at someone's achievements, but be man enough to emulate the achievements and not just rest on the laurels that others have gained for themselves. A gripe I have about my country cousins from Bengal. So few have risen beyond the fact that they come from the same land that gave birth to Rabindranath Tagore and Satyajit Ray. So what if I have done nothing, I come from the land of Geetanjali and Pather Panchali. That is my claim to fame.
Let us rise above ourselves and better each other in whatever field we choose for ourselves. Be happy for the glory of others, but strive for personal glory. That is what will make India great. The other day I was reading as book and I think there was a quote from Nehru who mentioned a few years after Independence, "We have created an India, now we need to create some Indians." India is shining, now let us Indians rise up and shine. Give others the opportunity to gloat over your achievements, instead of just being happy at gloating over someone else's achievement, however glorious they may be. It is still someone else's achievement. On the day of judgement, each of us should be able to look int he mirror and say, "I did my bit."
