Yeah, that’s right, we’re crazy!

Yesterday was truly remarkable – not because India won a cricket tournament (I agree, that has been a rare occurrence in recent times…); not because it was a resurgent young Indian team sans all the stars and pillars and what-nots (there have been such false starts in the past as well); not because we literally steam-rolled all opposition throughout our journey to the finals (of course, it did help that we batted first on every single occasion); also not because it was another thrilling India-Pakistan encounter with a nail-biting finish, as every single one of them are… it was remarkable for me, because thousands of miles away, in a foreign country, I was watching the exciting match, in all but a tiny slot of the mosaic pattern of channels on the TV screen (the subscription rates for cricket channels in this country are incredible!), the commentary on at full volume, jumping up and down, shouting and cheering at every wicket, with a bunch of equally cricket-crazy roomies and neighbors.

When I think back, it was a wonderful feeling, we were in the throes of agony when Bhajji and Sreesanth got thrashed for sixers and the match-equation changed drastically. And we were ecstatic when Misbah played that last atrocious shot which Sreesanth held on to and India finally won. It was a much repeated story, we’d lost the initial advantage and looked like we’d go down once again as it happens so often with Indo-Pak crunch matches. If Misbah had pulled that one off, the story would’ve been different. But the bottom-line is, we won. It almost seemed like India was destined to win this one, looking at their performance from the beginning 🙂

To top it all, today in office, the Indian guys amongst the employees here at the client location, had gotten a cake (complete with the Indian flag too!) and there was a small celebration. It was the first ever time all the Indians in the office here – irrespective of them being employees or consultants, had got together to celebrate for a common cause. As someone aptly said, cricket is not a sport; it’s a religion. It binds us all together, no matter where and what soil we are on! 🙂

Way to go, guys! keep it coming! 😀