Whispering Shadow

Nearly 60 of us stood through the last hour of the match, chanting the favourite slogans of Mumbaikars - "Ganpati Bappa Moriya", "Jo bole so nihal", "Vande Mataram'- but as we inched closer to the finish line, there was only one word on our mind - "Indyeahhhhhhhhh". The crescendo grew louder with every additional run scored. And then it happened. We erupted into a roar, jumping, clapping, hugging whoever stood next to us. Some of us were shouting, others had tears in their eyes - emotions of all types were witness in the moments that followed. The most heartening moments of the day were yet to come. We decided to hit the streets. The whole suburb was heading in one direction, to one celebration. Apart from Ganpati celebration, rarely have 5000 people gathered to dance on the streets to the Nashik dhol. Never have I witnessed a parade of fans, stranger to one another, sitting atop cars, screaming to each other as if they have had a bond of decades....

I spent the early hours of my Sunday morning hunting for tickets to watch Jaane Tu... Ya Jaane Na. Note that I have said early hours of MY Sunday morning, which actually wasn't very early, well close to mid-day. I called every helpline possible but the only response I got was "This number is busy. Please call again later." in the oh-so-highly monotonous voice (High time they give the prerecorded messages a revamp). Since I couldn't get through most multiplexes, I thought of booking the tickets online, but as luck would have it, my net refused to work. I even tried a single screen theatre, the B-grade kinds and he tells me the only show for which tickets are available is the current show of which 25 minutes are over! The tickets for the next show were being sold in black, for two and a half times their price (100 bucks is day-light robbery for a theatre of its class). After some deliberation, we lost all hope of watching the movie. Nonetheless, we decided we'll boo...

Yesterday, I found out how it is to be completely transported a different world. No sounds from the street. No phone calls. No thoughts of the impending exam. Just pure exhilaration, the kinds which you cannot see on your television set but only feel in the stands. I am talking of the T20 spectacle between Chennai and Mumbai which I witnessed recently. Before the match, I was confused which team to support. As far as cricket went, I knew my loyalty was with the Indian team but I had not yet made up my mind among the teams in the Indian Premier league. At the venue I realised I didn't have much of a choice. From the moment I stepped in to the end of the match, the crowd was only supporting one team - The Mumbai Indians. The Chennai Superkings were lost for support. I have been to a cricket match before but the T20 atmosphere was electric. Even before the match started the music kept the crowd going. The dhols and cheerleaders added to the fervor.People had started filling in th...

I always had respect for the Australian cricket team’s game until I witnessed what they did in Sydney. The match was memorable for a lot of reasons- some right, most wrong. For the first time, we also saw the Aussie sportsmanship being replaced by such a strong thirst for a win that they stooped down to shameful levels. The arrogance of the world champions has driven the spirit of healthy competition out of them. They were quite shocked with India’s response in the first innings because they had not faced opposition in the last 15 matches they played. They resorted to unacceptable measures on and off the field. Whoever goes to the match referee for on-field sledging? The Aussies don’t even have the right to, because their team is the fore-runner when it comes to playing on-field word games. People who watch the telecast from their homes are not blind to not see the number of times the lips of their players shape to say the f-word. I don’t even think Bhajji called Symonds a monkey. Even...