July 13, 2002:
A monsoon evening in Pune - my birthplace and the place where I spent the first near-22 years of my life.
The occasion:
The Natwest series final - India vs England - a match that would later come to be recognized as one of the greatest matches of all times. For the moment though, it is just another final - the 9th (or 10th) in a row that India are choking. After a routine hammering in the field, in which they allow the opponents to score 325, India are given a good start by captain Ganguly and Sehwag but as usual there is a collapse and as usual Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar fails on the big occasion. As usual, a hero-worshipping nation switches off it's TV sets as one and go out to watch the movies. The story of how Mohammad Kaif's family switched off the TV just as thier son walked in and went out to see Devdas is stuff of legend. I take the middle ground - although I keep the TV on I lose hope and promptly fall off to sleep on the sofa. By the time I wake up Yuvraj and Kaif are still going and India need 80-odd to win in 70-odd balls - what happens next is written in golden letters in the history of Indian cricket.
May 08, 2005:
A spring evening in Iowa City - the place where I have spent the better part of the last 2 years of my life.
The Occasion:
It has been gloomy all day and only now has the sun threatened to make a cameo appearance. I have an exam in 3 days time and am graduating in under a week. There is a whole future out there waiting to be explored - but for the moment I'm just bored of studying as usual and need something to relax my mind with.
Out comes the DVD from the messy interiors of my drawer - the DVD of the same aforementioned, now-immortal game of cricket. This time however I enjoy every run England score and even every look of anguish on the faces of the Indian fielders. Hindsight is a wonderful gift. Once again, I marvel at the big shots played by Ganguly and tear my hand as to how the same person who can look so royal at times also look so pedestrian so often these days ?? I smirk with contempt and disdain and quiet satisfaction at the atrocious shot Tendulkar plays to get clean bowled off the bowling of that great English spinner Ashley Giles - and then, would you believe it - on my bed in the hall, I doze off again. Sunday evenings do that to me sometimes - but the sheer timing is amazing - if you thought that was all, there is more to come, once again when I wake up India need 80-0dd to win off 70-balls. And once again I cheer as Mohammad Kaif takes India to victory. What a Deja-vu !!!
Anyway, I should take a moment here to mention that I am not a completely idiotic sleeper gloating over what I have missed in my sleep - I have of course watched that amazing partnership several times over !!!
Suddenly, I begin to pine for another glorious sunny day at Lord's, hosting another memorable game of cricket - a game in which one does not have to feel contempt for every run the batsman scores or pity every time the bowler is taken for runs (as was the case in the recent India Pakistan series) - a game in which Ganguly is the Lord not a beggar hunting for every run that can come his way and overall a game in which India shows the desire and guts to pull off a great chase (all ingredients missing recently)
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