WWC Finals

It has been a while since I watched a game of cricket in its entirety. But on Sunday, we managed to watch the Women’s World Cup Final which took place at Lords Cricket Ground (through TV of course). With India and England in the final, there was no way Mr M was gonna miss that, so I joined him. I was pleasantly surprised that this 50 over match did keep me engrossed and left me sad when India lost after getting that close to the target. They were doing pretty good with Raut doing her best, but we weren’t sure what happened to Mithali Raj during her run out and after that even though Kaur was doing her best to keep the momentum going, it was difficult for the batsman (or is there another term for women here???) because the batsman on the other end wasn’t keeping up. All in all, it was a good match and the better team won. I was also very happy to see a full stadium and popular Bollywood stars supporting the team. They also showed a piece about Rachael Heyhoe Flint who was a pioneer in the Women’s cricketing world. It was very interesting. I haven’t heard about her ever. Shows how little importance is given to women’s sports. Or may be I lost keeping track when I lost my interest in sports. Who knows! Thankfully, the weather also held up a bit. I was so worried because it had started to drizzle in our area and Lords wasn’t too far from our place. May be it was a sign of some bright moments in the future for women’s sports 😉

Raths and Rage

Yesterday we had been to the Rath Yatra organised by ISKCON in London. It started from Hyde Park and ended at Trafalgar Square. We were there until the raths crossed Picadilly. That itself took around 2 hours. It was my first time and the energy and the unity were astounding. I loved how everyone irrespective of caste, creed, nationality, colour, and race joined in what they believed and brought joy not only to themselves but also to the people who were watching them too.

At the same time, India-Pakistan match was going on. We heard a few of them talking about it on the way. By the time we were heading back home, we knew that it was a lost cause for India. We already have enough reasons to disrupt the peace and harmony of any place. We don’t need sports as a reason. The best team won. Sports is all about sportsmanship. No point showing your hurt by raging against the team who won. Whoever it might be. That’s so shameful. I was reminded of Hermione’s quotes when I read that news article.

“That’s the trouble with Quidditch,” said Hermione absentmindedly, once again bent over her Rune translation, “it creates all this bad feeling and tension between the Houses.”
She looked up to find her copy of Spellman’s Syllabary and caught Fred, George, and Harry looking at her with expressions of mingled disgust and incredulity on their faces.
“Well, it does!” she said impatiently. “It’s only a game isn’t it?”
“Hermione,” said Harry, shaking his head, “you’re good on feelings and stuff, but you just don’t understand about Quidditch.”
“Maybe not,” she said darkly, returning to her translation again, “but at least my happiness doesn’t depend on Ron’s goalkeeping ability.”

It is just a sport after all. 🙄

Champion Pistah Cricket(er) – Be ready to dance

If you are a follower of IPL (Indian Premier League) matches then you would know that for this year the official promo song is ‘Pistah’. No no…not the eating pista. This pistah (…see the extra ‘h’ at the end? That makes all the difference) refers to someone who thinks of themselves as a big shot (It’s a slang term from Chennai). Here is the official video of IPL 2016.

The original video of this song, shot for the Tamil and Malayalam movie ‘Neram’ (meaning Time), is one of my favorites because every time I hear it it makes me want to dance. The proper local kuthu dance that the South India is famous for. You should also try it sometimes. You can check out this video for some cool kuthu steps 😀

I am not sure how many of you actually saw Dwayne Bravo’s Champion dance after they won the recent World T20 Cup. It was amazing and fun to watch. If you have missed it by any chance, here it is. It feels so nice to see them enjoying after the win with their own song.

This is Dwayne Bravo’s song. Do you know that he writes music and has some music videos to his credit too? He is super cool, I say. Here is the original version of it. Now, after watching it, you should try and do that ‘Champion’ step without fail.

Now, let’s go…

Champion we are real Champion
don’t vex if your name not call
We have to leave time to bat some ball
We love Soca and Dancehall
We love cricket and Football
From ah dancing , ah my name your call
Champion, Champion

Earth Hour Dilemma

Tomorrow (19th March, Saturday) evening 8.30 to 9.30 pm is the designated Earth Hour. Every year we get an official email about what we should be doing and why we are doing it etc. Thankfully this year it is in the evening. Once it was during office hours during the lunch time which led to some funny moments. Dark corridors, people getting scared by colliding with someone from around the corner etc. It’s broad daylight you say. Well, not exactly when you are in a closed office space where the only light is from the tube lights or bulbs.

But this year’s Earth hour does come with its own share of a dilemma. You all know that cricket is a very important sport in India and World T20 matches are going on. Even though I don’t follow them anymore I know, from the advertisements, that there is an important match tomorrow (19th March, Saturday). Clash of the Titans – India vs Pakistan. It is always a very emotional game where these two countries are involved, thanks very much to the media hype that tries to gain more TRP ratings. And guess what, the match starts at 7.30 pm. Now I stopped watching that game, so I will be able to adhere the Earth hour (which I do every year) but what will the fans of cricket be doing? Lots of people are giving advises to share the screen and watch the match. But what about the stadium? Are they going to switch off the floodlights? Gonna be a tough decision.

Is it just about cricket ?

Yesterday was a big day in Indian Sports. India vs Australia World Cup semi final cricket match. No wonder the roads were empty, in spite of it being a week day and I had immense pleasure in driving through the streets with so less traffic and reaching office way earlier than I usually do during other week days. And to come to an office which was so empty that I could find my favorite parking spot empty…heavenly I say. Not to mention an empty wing with just a couple of people spread across the wide space. I go up to the cafeteria for a cup of coffee and what do I see? The meager amount of people in the office have managed to setup a projector and were relaying the cricket match in a huge white screen. No wonder all the floors were empty. In fact a meeting that was scheduled in the cafeteria was moved later to a conference room. The patriotism of people here….(sighs) I am sure none of them left to their work place until the match was done. And yes, India lost, with a huge margin too. That sucks. I used to be an avid fan but since last year, I have somehow lost interest. And cricket here is almost a religion. So we cannot expect anything less than this. And it isn’t just my organization. It was the same in all of my friend’s work places too. And not to mention the kind of word wars that went on between friends regarding the match, who will win, why people are crazy about cricket etc etc. It reminded me of Hermione’s dialogue with Harry and Co. Sometimes I wonder if it is just about cricket at all.

“That’s the trouble with Quidditch,” said Hermione absentmindedly, once again bent over her Rune translation, “it creates all this bad feeling and tension between the Houses.”
She looked up to find her copy of Spellman’s Syllabary and caught Fred, George, and Harry looking at her with expressions of mingled disgust and incredulity on their faces.
“Well, it does!” she said impatiently. “It’s only a game isn’t it?”
“Hermione,” said Harry, shaking his head, “you’re good on feelings and stuff, but you just don’t understand about Quidditch.”
“Maybe not,” she said darkly, returning to her translation again, “but at least my happiness doesn’t depend of Ron’s goalkeeping ability.”