After 28 years, the World Cup has come home to India and all who witnessed this great triumph will remember it forever! Even people like me, who fall in the tiny niche that doesn’t really follow the game. Nothing unites India & her people better than this colonial game – not religion nor language nor culture nor intellect and definitely not politics.
In fact, politics has sought to divide our incredibly diverse country further & further on real and imagined differences in religion, caste, communities, etc. Cricket can overcome even this delusion as portrayed by this SMS, which has been circulating since the match –
"Dear Raj Thackeray,
A Chandigarh lad, a Jharkhand captain and a Delhi boy won the world cup for us and dedicated it to a Marathi legend.
Your regional hatred has failed.
Jai Ho!!"
And apart from obvious nationalistic pride, there was so much that inspired in the last few moments of the match and the ultimate victory. The stress-free attitude of captain Dhoni, the faith & teamwork of the entire team, their willingness to share the credit & glory....the sheer joy that was instantly felt by 1.2 billion people. Equally inspiring was the grace with which the Sri Lankan team accepted the defeat despite their brilliant performance in the match and indeed, the whole tournament.
While many deplore ‘cricket mania’ on the subcontinent and try to steer us towards more serious issues, I wish we could hold onto the unity & team spirit engendered by the world cup in addressing them. Our problem may be easily resolved – my or your problem may never be. And if the sport makes for better attitudes and inspires us to unite & forget petty differences, cricket ki jai ho!
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