Football 2014 -- Has it finally arrived in india?

IPL, the pro kabaddi league, the IBL (Indian Badminton League)....is the paradigm finally begining to shift in the Indian Sporting fraternity?

I had promised myself when i wrote my first blog that my next 5 articles won't be on sport.. :) Well that promise has now gone for a toss. But then what are you gonna do really? Once a sport buff....I guess always a sports buff..

But the focus of attention for this blog of mine is the current flavor of the season football...

It is called the universal game but i am sure there are quite a few folks from the indian fraternity who would say otherwise. Well as you know their universe centers around cricket so no arguing with them.

But this year with the advent of the ISL i.e., the Indian Super League...i can see a future for the game in india...a final glimmer of hope.

I have been asked by many people in various forums regarding my favourite game and try as i may i could never say the word cricket. It's always been football. And finally given the chance to see some of our generations footballing heroes albeit a bit on the wee side of their age..has finally led me to believe that if not me, atleast my children would get to see some world stage matches on our own turf.

It literally has been pleasing to see the likes of Alessandro Del Piero, Nicholas Anelka, David James, Elano strut their stuff on indian soil and helping the young indian players grow their skills. I am even more surprised by the crowd turnout at these games. I was pleasently shocked to see sellout crowd's and the hooting and chanting, the stomping of the advertisement boards, the abusing all made me feel as if i was watching a football games with a few of my mates in one of the famed english football stadiums or rather a Man Utd vs Arsenal game for the purists :)

With the aunties, uncles and little be-spectacled kids amongst the crowd i could see the indian feel to the scheme of things. It made me believe in the true aura of this sport and what it can turn even the most novice spectator into.  It's encouraging to see indian football stars like nabi, subroto, bhutia and others playing on a level field with these superstarts and playing well. You never know come 2015 we might even find a few of them playing under the watchful eyes of say an Arsene Wenger.

Fingers crossed!!!!

Is Cricket an Indian Game?

Well. Whether you like it or not, my first blog is on cricket :) Albeit i feel it is my duty and responsibility, as an Indian, that i should write about cricket.

I truly believe when i say that cricket is an indian game. How else would you explain the brouhaha and frenzy of this game in india which is played between 13 players on the field at a time, with two muted but powerful figures in the middle (read umpires) whilst being surrounded and watched by thousands?

Why is it that the Indian conglomerate ever remains so passionate and emotional about this game while it is said in the archives of the gentleman's game that it was originally conceived in Britain? Has Lagaan not given us proof enough that Indians are born cricketers and do not even need to be properly educated or trained in the nitty-gritties of the game while they can go on to beat a highly established bunch of british cricketers (as in the movie)?

The fact remains that cricket has been injected into our veins right from the time we are born. I cannot imagine a day that goes without hearing something about cricket. It could be an 80 year old man discussing about the fielding performance of our indian bowlers with a bunch of young teenagers on a local train or a bunch of housewives discussing about SRT and his histionics while grocery shopping or colleagues rambling and deliberating about the Indian team's performance in the last match over a cup of afternoon tea.
The huge maidans, spread across states and small towns in India, with thousands of folks playing cricket just reiterates our blind passion for the game. The honesty, with which we curse our blessed cricketers when they fail and then praise (almost give them a GOD-like status!) when the succeed, gives a true reflection of the love-hate nature we share with the guts of this game.

I am not sure if purists would agree with me (and i seriously don't care!) when i say that cricket is that one thing that binds this huge nation of more than a billion people together. Throughout this country we celebrate a host of festivities. But nothing is celebrated like the carnival of cricket. That's when two sworn enemies, who cannot stand each other otherwise, sit together glued to the television awaiting the fate of the Indian cricket team in a tight match. Saas-bahu's forget their petty quarrels, hold each others hands and pray together for the mighty sachin to score a hundred. Or the one time when the almighty high-nosed boss sits with his juniors and cheers the indian team on!
Life stops in India when their team plays! That's the way it goes boss and there are no two ways about it!!

Sometimes I wonder if cricket was just another one of god's parlour tricks to test the human sentiments of passion,camaraderie and a sense of oneness... Salute to one of the most wonderful sport and its true fanatics, the ones the world calls INDIANS!