Windies’ Cricket

This week was a happy one for me as a lover of cricket and an ever enthusiastic supporter of the once mighty West Indian Team. I don’t know why I started liking players of this cricketing team but I just love their occasional comebacks and adventures, like the one Chanderpaul did recently. There are 2 main reasons for me to like the players of this miserable team. The first reason is they often lose matches at the last minutes after being at a comfortable winning position for most of the time (Eg. 1996 worldcup semifinal against Australia) I still find it very hard to accept the result of that game! The second reason is they make adventures when others think that it is quite impossible to happen(Eg. Lara’s 400 in reviving his lost record of 375 which he had lost to Hayden before, their historic win against Australia in Antigua test etc). And most of the time, these adventures come up once they’ve won the series already or they’ve lost it already, when they are free from external pressure arising due to the results. I too exactly have this mindset most of the time in whatever I do. I cannot bring out the best in me for something called a contest or a competition, and even if I can, I won’t do it. May be, it is this similarity that attracted me towards Windies’ cricket. Anyway I’m not as unpredictable as this team But this is the first time when some adventure has helped the result to be in favour of Windies. A hearty thanks to Chanderpaul for that!
After Lara retired, I had a feeling that this team was just going to get wiped out from cricket but now I think I was terribly wrong! It’s just a matter of more players like Gayle, Chanderpaul and Bravo getting into the team and play their natural game. I’m not saying that they are going to revive their past glory but I just believe they are still capable of doing it. Even if they don’t do that, neither me nor anyone is going to bother. But still, I would love watching them play their own cricket with their own unpredictability because that is the real nature of the game. It is sad that some people are trying to spoil the nature of the game by trying to do business and make money out of it, in the form of ICL and IPL. Believe me, hard hitting alone is not cricket and won’t stay in the run! Imagine a scene where Sachin or some other cricketer is in the middle of the ground, screaming “Are you not entertained? Are you not, entertained? !” (Remember Gladiator ?) after hitting some fours and sixes in an ICL or IPL match. I think that situation is quite possible in coming years!

An Unwilling Eye-Witness

Today I was an eye-witness to an incident which I would have never liked to see or would never like to see again. It was around 20:45 hours when I was returning home after having dinner at Adyar Anandha Bhavan at Indiranagar. My friend was also with me and we were walking down the 100 foot road to reach our house in Kodihalli. When we came near Café Coffee Day, it was buzzing with people happily spending yet another sunday night. But outside the shop, the road was very silent. There was no traffic at that time and the lighting was also very dim. A girl was walking alone on the other road towards Indiranagar. Suddenly we heard a freaking scream from her! For a moment, I didn’t realize that it was a scream for help but thought she was generally making a noise. But when I turned back, I actually saw a robber running towards her from the back. Before even we could cross the road, he just snatched her bag, ran fast and sat on a bike which was a few steps away, with a person on it, ready set to go. Though she was tensed and couldn’t act, she ran and managed to get a grip on his shirt when he sat on the bike . But because of the pull when the bike started, she fell with her face hitting the road. It all happened in a flash of time. I tried to note the bike number but it flew away into darkness before even I could read it. People from cafe day rushed to help her [ although | as ] everything was over.
Inside me, there was more a feel of shock rather than a feel of sympathy for the girl. I was not a hero to fly and catch those robbers. In the end, I was no more than an unwilling eye-witness. I know I’m not going to get a sleep today. Why am I seeing things around me which I never wish to see? Why some people are like this? Why are they inventing their happiness by making others’ life miserable?