World Cup 2011 - wrap up

Oh there are lots of happening around, and I just could not catch it all here. So thought of writing a mixed post of all the hoopla around world cup 2011....yes the same we won couple of weeks back [Looks like long past thing isn't it?] the moment Dhoni hit that last Six [the shot that he kept in his safety vault for at least 3 years now] I thought of writing an open letter to him. I have been hating Dhoni ever since he became a captain of Indian Cricket team, but on 2nd April he was awesome...or in Erik Cartman's word SOOOPER OSSUM. Let's accept for once Dhoni was great captain ON THAT DAY [LOOK, I did Sangakkara here!]
We hardly realize that Srilanka has always been our little jealous neighbors and beating them in World Cup finals was real treat. We won the world cup by winning over Australia, Pakistan and Srilanka....that's just honey to the ears,
Sadly there wasn't much out of stadium drama, however Shahid Afridi did provide our NEGATIVE MEDIA ample MATERIAL to run their special reports on "AFRIDI NE UGALA JEHAR". OK, Afridi we may not have big hearts as you people, but we have 2 world cups :P Period!
The best match for me was obviously the tie between India and England, the best finish was England Vs Ireland [Totally unexpected and the climax was real fun, proves again that how much we love underdogs winning the match], India Pak was obviously a cracker and thankfully it did not dispoint it's fans. New Zealand and RSA chocked again, England's dream run ended up as a nightmare in Srilanka, and the downfall of Australia is confirmed yet again.
It's strange but none of us felt bad when Virat Kohli said that we won this cup for Sachin, mind you! not for the country but for him. We all agree, because he is worth it. Pathan gave his best performance by lifting Sachin on his shoulder all by himself and gave a him victory lap....something that we all will remember....Thanks Kohli   for not taking off his pads and standing in pavilion for rest of the match. [Yes, we all did our tiny superstitious deeds for India to lift the cup]
On 3rd Morning it was great feeling to wake up as a world champions.....woa!!...Nothing much to say, because already a lot has been said and done. To all the Indians and Indian Cricket lovers...congratulations!

When someone wish to end corruption...Finally!!

hazaaro.n Khvaahishe.n aisii ki har Khvaaish pe dam nikale

bahut nikale mere armaa.N lekin phir bhii kam nikale

There are thousands of ambitions that each such wish could consume my life

My desires , and I experience them all intensely, aren’t enough for this one lifetime.

Guest Post: Patriotism; Nationalism; Sport

Yet another guest post, This time from Tuhin - Argumentative as ever; Indian by birth; Australian by nature. And for me an asshole by all means...anyways as he says about himself  "i'm a brilliant writer..... dil se likhta hun... when i actually get excited to write about something..." here is something straight from his heart.

Nationalist Jingoism disgusts me. While I can understand and identify with the feeling of patriotism, and often find myself feeling patriotic towards two countries that I have been (or am) a citizen of; I try my best to not get carried away in the nationalistic fervour that grips each nation every so often. I'd rather assess the goods and the bads, the pluses and the minuses of a country in a rational manner, and be disturbingly blunt in talking about them. 

Those close to me will know this wasn't always the case. Just ask Abhijit about the countless hours spent discussing Gandhi, Baabri Masjid, Mumbai Riots, Godhra and every other event that happened in India between 1990 and 2004. More often than not, I along with almost everyone else but Abhijit used to be on the extremist end of the argument. Abhijit being the self appointed voice of rationalism (then again, he's always been a psuedo-intellectual, and acts as such)!  Looking back, those were great arguments to sharpen ones persuasive skills, and gathering the ability to debate an issue without conceding your point of view, however pointless the debate might be. Always a good corporate skill to have :D 

The reason for this post? I found myself oddly divided while watching a cricket match last week, and yet, felt feelings of jingoistic fervour yesterday, which I promise myself I seldom will. 

24th March 2011; India v Australia; Ahmedabad : Never before has a cricket game had me so divided within myself as this one. Being a big fan of Tendulkar, I've been waiting for this world cup ever since the final was announced to be held in Mumbai. Watching SRT lift the World Cup in front of his home crowd will be a moment to savour for years to come. Yet, as a fan of the Australian cricket side since before I became an Australian; it was not possible to wish that they lose. One of the two teams had to lose that day, and my only wish was, whoever wins that game better go on to win the damn World Cup.

I've always enjoyed the intensity, the aggression (and yes, the arrogance), thekhadoospana; with which the Australians play their cricket. I've been a fan of that side when they were steamrolling opponents, and I'll continue to support them when they are down and out. God knows my support for the Australian side has given myself, Abhijit and Sumit many a moments to sledge each other to kingdom come. As much as I am a fan of the Australian side, I don't really have a favourite player (save for, perhaps, Steve Waugh - but that has a lot more to do with his persona - both on and off the field - than his cricketing skills and technique). 

On the other hand, Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar is and and will remain my favourite cricket, yet I rarely if ever get excited about the Indian Cricket Team. (The Khadoospana might also explain why I'll follow Mumbai in the Ranji trophy regardless of where I live!)

Delving deep into my own psyche, I feel the reason why I can be a fan of Australia and SRT to the same degree yet never bring myself to get excited about the Indian cricket team lies in the way Australian team as a whole, and SRT as an Individual, go about their game. They are accomplished, aggressive, play to win at all costs, and never take a backward step. This could also be a reason why every Australian wishes for Tendulkar to score a bucketload of runs every time India comes touring. The man is a delight to watch. And I count myself lucky to have watched him score 151* at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

The only time I will get excited about the Indian cricket team, is when they are playing Pakistan. And when that happens, I don't just want Pakistan to be defeated, but I want them to be destroyed, demolished and butchered (metaphorically, of course ;) or maybe not ;) )

30th March 2011, Mohali was when that opportunity presented itself. No other matchup in any sport anywhere gets my hackles rising as India facing off against Pakistan in a cricket match. Make that in the World Cup Semi-Final, and the intensity reaches a whole new level. It is the only occasion where I'll leave rationalism aside and become entirely jingoistic towards a country that I am not ashamed to criticize at other times. But this match up makes everything else irrelevant. Consider the two messages I received before and after the game from two friends who shall remain nameless.

Kangaroo ki maari hai; ab kutton ki baari hai

Indian cricket team has done what Indian intelligence couldn't. Prevent Pakistanis from going to Mumbai.

I guess that sums it up better than I ever could, what exactly this game means to millions. And the nervous tension that I felt the night before this game, is a good reason to believe that while I'll happily sing "Advance Australia Fair" for the rest of my life, I will, always, remain - just a little bit Indian.

Wahay Wahay

For the first time, I swear to god, for the first time I loved to hear Official ICC World Cup anthem . That song has been my ringtone for over a month now, but I simply hated it. It's the random craziness I carry with cricket that put it as my ringtone at first place.

So we won against Pakistan in World Cup Semi Finals to play against Srilanka in Mumbai for supposedly last world cup of Sachin Tendulkar where he possibly score his 100th International century to support India to win it's 2nd ODI World Cup after 28 years. You know what that means?? Ofcorse we all do!
A normal Indian lives his normal routine, he loves his movies and daily soaps, hates politicians and believe that Sachin is god. And go real crazy when his team do something like what they did last night. An average 15 minute travel from Madhapur to Gachibowli took us over an hour last night at 11:30 PM. There we saw approximately thousands of people on their bikes, cars, trucks, buses and simply shouting INDIA INDIA or SACHIN SACHIN. Makes you feel this one is special and really Huge!
I watched first half in Office on http://extracover.net where they were streaming match from a Pakistan's national channel, it's been fun watching ads from other side of the border...the most prominent was from HBL bank where the guy congratulates Pak team for reaching semi finals and says.."Hamare liye toh Finals yehi hain. Bass inko harana hain "...well tough luck dude.
Still loved the way Afridi carried his team, but now with all the conspiracy theories ON with Misbah's batting, Umar Gul's bowling and overall fielding efforts by Pak team, I still do not want it to take away even a minute of joy that we had last night.
It was one of those moments when nation comes to stand still and it was totally worth it!

24th March, Random Patriotism and Basic Problem

Yeah we won, won in style, won when it mattered and most importantly won against Australia. They are out and most probably we are here to say.
I screamed and screamed and screamed last night, it's a great feeling when you wake up in the morning and found that Australian are no more world champions, I am just so Happy!!!
The match; just the way it has to be....today my mailbox is flooded with typical Aussie jokes and SMSs are just not stopping. [Just the way it did not stop earlier with Nehra's maa - behen jokes]
We go crazy with cricket and takes it totally person...Yes we do! and We will.

Much ahead is Baap of all matches- The emotions will run high and general craziness will be taken over by random patriotism. I can actually imagine the FB status messages changing in minutes :)

Well in spite of all we still got the problems, Harbhajan Singh and MS Dhoni. I think Bhajji in team is like casting Amitabh Bhachhan in a movie for role of Ramu Kaka...only difference is Bhajji himself is being Ramu Kaka here...gawddammit even Munaf Patel has taken more wickets than him.
And the last but not the least our captain, who is just being a captain here! I think a good captain has to play good as well. Is he? is he?...no he isn't
If we get these 2 get going [at least now] there is nothing can stop us from being World Champion....and we shall be.....amen!!!

On Personal note: Nike's new BLEED BLUE campaign and Shahrukh's Ra-1 promo both sucked bigtime.