About Cricket, not Football!

In its intensity, its passion and its sheer scale, Indian cricket is probably rivalled only by Football. It’s no wonder really that Indian fans of the game call it their religion. One can also be forgiven for mistaking it as our national sport instead of field hockey! While my family and friends are ardent followers of cricket, I’m really more of an indulgent bystander. However, I also believe that if a sport can unite people across languages and borders and inspire feelings of national pride and passion, then we definitely need more of it!

My all-time favorite cricket memory is not about a match I watched, but a movie involving the sport. Several years ago, we watched the Hindi film, Lagaan in Chennai (notorious for its parochial pride and belief that India is divided into Chennai and the rest of India, conveniently called North India!) Set in the period of British dominion in the Indian subcontinent, the movie revolved around a small draught-stricken village exploited by high taxes. When the inhabitants of the village voice their protest, they are challenged to a game of cricket by the arrogant English commanding officer. If they won, they could avoid paying taxes for three years, but if they lost, they would need to pay thrice the tax due.

Learning the alien game and playing for a result that would give them the much-needed respite, the villagers’ travails unfolded on screen and found immediate empathy with the rapt audience. Every turn and twist in the movie was lauded and the final match reached a palpable crescendo, as though it were a live game! Never before had I witnessed such intense mass emotions and it seemed like every single person in that audience had only one life goal—to win the ruddy match! And when the villagers finally won, I kid you not; the entire theatre rose up on its feet and danced in joy!

Now stop to think: this was in Chennai where Hindi doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue easily! Was it the profound understanding that the game represented all human life in microcosm that struck such a strong chord? Kudos to the film’s makers for conveying the essence of sport in such a fine manner!

Summer Lights

They say, like air-conditioning, suntans, and chilled beer, fireflies are a sign of summer. I had to wait all these years, though to find out the part about fireflies! It was only on my birthday this May that I was introduced to their mystical allure.

Ensconced with family in this quaint little place in Lonavala (it was Toffee’s first ever night out), it was a lovely time. Having devoured dinner and some delish mango chiffon cake, we congregated on the patio that overlooked the valley. The view even during the day had been interesting with green trimmed hills and sun cast shadows. But at night it was the sky that dominated with its trillion glittering stars. The heavens seemed to reach all the way down as we noticed intermittent flickers from the garden below too. Was somebody flashing mirrors at the sky? On closer inspection, it seemed as if a carpet of twinkling lights was spread out in front of us. This was my first glimpse of fireflies and their fluorescent glow. What a spectacular birthday treat!

So enamored was I that we returned again some weeks later to see them. This time there weren’t as many, probably because it had rained earlier in the week. Standing in what seemed like an enchanted forest, we were mesmerized. The tree beneath which we stood was festooned with tiny, sparkling fairy lights with some strewn on the grass below in casual fashion. We tried taking pictures, but the magical scene before us will be etched in my memory forever. No photograph could ever do full justice.

They say fireflies are disappearing—another sign of our fast urbanization—and future generations may not see their sparkle on summer nights. I am just so glad that I was lucky enough to see them and witness their summer waltz.