While March/April 2004 for Christians is Lenten season--the 40 days of fasting and abstinence (not all observe this in letter and spirit). Students appear for the SSC & Higher secondary school examination and college examination Candidates all political parties and Independent ones too track the dusty roads byelanes amidst sweltering summer heat to make it to the 543 seats in Parliament. ---- Cricket now a post Independence " religion" of nearly half a billion Indians is being played on Pakistan soil after over 14 years for 40 days in March/April 2004 . Already the Press has run riot with reams and reams of newsprint giving details of "kababs " Islamic way of life the ethnic sporadic squables between the Shias and Sunnis and the unprecedented 24 hour top class security provided to the "most honoured guests" --the Indian Cricket Team.
Thus one can expect only "talk cricket , eat cricket and live cricket" notwithstanding the" India shining" and "feel good " hype on poll eve and there will be "oohs and aahs " & " I told you so " or "that Tendulkar should have done this" or "that and Ganguly misfired his calculations etc etc". Bets will be clinched" and for once the Indian beggar on the street will forget his only single or no meal syndrome for he too like others will be glued to the idiot box on streets and partake in conversation on nothing but cricket .Work will suffer at least in the Government departments, but who cares, after the DA bonanza as a parting gift of the NDA government and in any case the Government servant accustomed to a guaranteed salary without accountability works (or if I may say, visits his desk in the office ) for no more than 120 days per annum (excluding leave holidays and no transport or strikes and bandhs) Whether it is Ten Sports or Doordarshan which promise live coverage or mobile phones or SMS messages the babble of tongues that will be lashing giving comments by cricketers past, present et al and the multi dollar advertisements that will be interrupting our live coverages or the audio cover-up of the game, it will be just cricket all the way. But will happen if Pakistan wins well you will witness a muted silence as if nothing has happened no talk no comment just discreet mourning while both the audiovisual and print media will offer their "expert versions" raking up statistics and histrionics to justify the defeat. What happens if India wins. Then it will be "Dipawali " and "Holi" re-lived again joy and merry making the atmosphere will turn pungent with tons and tons of fireworks, sweet meats "peddas" would be distributed , the cash registers will swell and jingle in the bars and starred hotels (showing live coverage on TV screens ). But there is a rider too the ugly side of cricket --- the excitement enthusiasm and joy will be such that the minorities (read Moslems) will be provoked beyond a point to swear by their loyalty to this country and they will be chided if they do not succumb to such provocations because they i.e Pakistan (read Moslems) are defeated on their own home turf. Can one expect a Saurav Ganguly or a Tendulkar and others to perform under the fear of a bullet or the high expectations of some Indians for whom cricket is a new found Religion? Have those that threatened matches Indo - Pak matches on Indian soil eaten a humble pie . Is the Indo Pak cricket series timed only as a ploy for appeasement of the Moslems post Gujarat riots by the BJP until the ballot is cast? How can any one read sincerity in our 79 year old ageing partially disable Atal ji's message to the Indian team on their departure to Pakistan "to not only win the match, but win the hearts" when in the name of "cross border terrorism" and the "religion of Cricket" it has all along bred hatred and rancour for the Moslems post Independence, and even in the 21st century? And lets hope that there are no riots of a communal nature and what else. Lets keep our fingers crossed. For none can expect CRICKET to heal the hatred and animosity that has been instilled in young minds all along by some of the upper castes of the majority community. Godfrey J I Gonsalves Borda Margao Goa India [EMAIL PROTECTED] ________________________________________________________________________ Yahoo! India Insurance Special: Be informed on the best policies, services, tools and more. Go to: http://in.insurance.yahoo.com/licspecial/index.html ########################################################################## # Send submissions for Goanet to [EMAIL PROTECTED] # # PLEASE remember to stay on-topic (related to Goa), and avoid top-posts # # More details on Goanet at http://joingoanet.shorturl.com/ # # Please keep your discussion/tone polite, to reflect respect to others # ##########################################################################
