It’s been ONE really long month for me. It’s no secret that I don’t like cricket that much, and for the Cricket World Cup 2007 to stretch on and on (and on and on…) for more than 42 days has been nightmare. I even a description of cricket in a article writing skill in my recent English Monday test at school which my teacher found highly amusing (and thus, inappropriate for the Boards, which basically means she didn’t give me high marks in that section). Here goes:
After all, what’s so fascinating about 13 boffins trampling grass for hours and hours on end under a blistering sun, only for the motion of a small red ball?
There was more, including a ‘commercial break’ in my article, which the teacher found funny, and thus deserving less marks.
In fact (and boy am I gonna get lynched for this), I was pretty delighted when India was knocked out of the WC, because the hysteria would have been too much to bear if they’d progressed any further. I’m NOT against any sport (soccer anyone?), but all I see around me is cricket, cricket and more cricket. The nerds of our class (that means everyone, except me and a few others), who don’t even know one bloody English band’s name, or crap, have never seen an English movie (or for that matter, even Hindi movies), keep playing cricket with frigging PAPER BALLS in class! :p Yuck! And whenever I step out of my house for some fresh air, I get disgusted to so MANY folks playing cricket in the neighborhood park. Which, along with my attraction to civilized world of broadband Internet, partly explains where I got the inspiration to maintain my shape (that is, round) from.
I mean, there are so MANY groups, and so many people all the time, playing nothing but cricket day and night. It saturates our mind space, ad space, TV space, book space, World Space (satellite radio) and who knows what else! I understand that people like it, BUT WHY IGNORE OTHER SPORTS! Yes, people are fanatical about sports, but then there’s always a balance. Take USA – there are considerable sections of public interested in NHL, NFL, NBA, baseball, Indy races, F1, soccer and so much more. Take England, they’ve got sections of public following cricket AND soccer. And India? Hardly any other sport gets any attention!
BTW, the Nike India cricket ad is one of the high points of this year’s WC campaign. NOT because of the cricket, but because it captures the fanaticism for cricket in India wonderfully. And also because the shots are so complex – take a look and you’ll understand that it must have taken many takes, as the camera positions are switched continuously, yet the crew / equipment is not (very) visible. Made by Abhineo Deo, it was shot on a set! Indeed, this ad is really amazing!
I’m glad the WC will be OVER soon.
