What unites us?
Ecstasy and pain in their most extreme forms hold immense potential to unite people. I was witness to this last night when the Indian cricket team conquered the greatest heights the international competitive cricket – the World Cup.
After eight hours fraught with nerve wrecking ups and downs, captain courageous Dhoni finally sealed the deal with a massive six. And with that started, what I now believe, a great step towards achieving what no great oratorical speech or war or journalistic sting operation can do. Unite all and sundry and remind them that they are a part of this great country . We may have our problems off and on, but we are all one when it comes to cricket.
Within hours, practically the whole of Delhi had converged at India Gate to celebrate the victory. One overwhelming emotion had united expectant mothers, infants, octogenarians, young men and women and it was evident that they were there to party the night away. The cops, in their stupor, for once let it all pass in the hope that nothing bad could possibly happen now.
We were lucky to have got to the celebration well in advance as the traffic had become menacingly pleasant with shouts of Sachin Sachin, India India all around the place. It was truly a sight to behold. Roofs of cars were turned into dance floors for the toddlers, sun-roof cars carried the beacon of revelers as they trudged along the road shouting slogans. The last time I had seen such a traffic jam, I had only heard obscenities with all the drivers invoking each others mothers and sisters. Today was a pleasant surprise, It was almost as if they were loving getting caught in the traffic jam with absolutely no care in the world about who is in front and who is at the back. It was just time to party and party hard.
As I walked back to my car we discussed what had just happened. This sudden tsunami of elation that had swept the people of Delhi and in all likelihood all the other cities in the country. Did anyone possibly realize their demeanor and stopped to wonder that they are indeed capable of being good human beings with a deep sense of empathy that separates them from animals. What does it take for us to always keep this bonhomie alive? It is for surely unreasonable to rely on 11 men to get us a world cup every 4 years to maintain our civility. I hope this victory gave everybody some time to think and reflect on their behavior and understand that it really doesn’t take much to be an understanding and empathetic human being. What makes us a great country with spirited people is precisely something bigger than cricket. Cricket just reminds us that there is something even bigger within us that we should never let die and be good to each other.
After eight hours fraught with nerve wrecking ups and downs, captain courageous Dhoni finally sealed the deal with a massive six. And with that started, what I now believe, a great step towards achieving what no great oratorical speech or war or journalistic sting operation can do. Unite all and sundry and remind them that they are a part of this great country . We may have our problems off and on, but we are all one when it comes to cricket.
Within hours, practically the whole of Delhi had converged at India Gate to celebrate the victory. One overwhelming emotion had united expectant mothers, infants, octogenarians, young men and women and it was evident that they were there to party the night away. The cops, in their stupor, for once let it all pass in the hope that nothing bad could possibly happen now.
We were lucky to have got to the celebration well in advance as the traffic had become menacingly pleasant with shouts of Sachin Sachin, India India all around the place. It was truly a sight to behold. Roofs of cars were turned into dance floors for the toddlers, sun-roof cars carried the beacon of revelers as they trudged along the road shouting slogans. The last time I had seen such a traffic jam, I had only heard obscenities with all the drivers invoking each others mothers and sisters. Today was a pleasant surprise, It was almost as if they were loving getting caught in the traffic jam with absolutely no care in the world about who is in front and who is at the back. It was just time to party and party hard.
As I walked back to my car we discussed what had just happened. This sudden tsunami of elation that had swept the people of Delhi and in all likelihood all the other cities in the country. Did anyone possibly realize their demeanor and stopped to wonder that they are indeed capable of being good human beings with a deep sense of empathy that separates them from animals. What does it take for us to always keep this bonhomie alive? It is for surely unreasonable to rely on 11 men to get us a world cup every 4 years to maintain our civility. I hope this victory gave everybody some time to think and reflect on their behavior and understand that it really doesn’t take much to be an understanding and empathetic human being. What makes us a great country with spirited people is precisely something bigger than cricket. Cricket just reminds us that there is something even bigger within us that we should never let die and be good to each other.
posted by Saurabh at
2:13 AM
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