Sudhakar Jagdish
(pic: courtesy --cricinfo.com)
Shocked, startled and provoked were the initial reactions to find the Pakistan cricket team coach Bob Woolmer dead in Jamaica, where his team of three years and the 1992 champions had to make a 'humiliating' exit from the World Cup.
The reactions then changed to grief and then to remorse for we- a subcontinent of cricket frenzied nation have killed the person with whom we even never had any physical contact.
As Bob is dead, people of the two countries of this part of the world have to realise that we have pushed the excitement of cricket to a much farther limit, where it is no more a sport but an obsession in all wrong connotations.
Cricket in India and Pakistan has transformed from a national sporting passion to an individual violent psychotropic obsession that fails to differentiate between a game and a war.
As you read this, some light on Bob's death may have been already shed. It could be anything – a drug overdose, to Bob's failure to withstand the agony of defeat (or fear of public humiliation in Pakistan) or it could be even a conspired murder to prevent him from exposing the 'dirty politics' of Pakistan Cricket Board.
Whatever it may be, there is only one underlying fact that it points to –Cricket is no more a holy grail, but has changed to an unholy one.
If hours before bob's death or we could say it like this: Hours after Pakistan's defeat at the hands of Ireland, if a former Pakistan player tells an Indian news channel, "knives are out in Pakistan against Inzamam (Pakistan skipper) and Woolmer", one could realise , where the murderers besieged.
Within us
Bob's death is a tragic reminder and a wake up call for everyone to realise: Lets play the game of cricket.
Not the likes of hoarse cries that our Hindi news channels shout – Zimmedar kaun? (Who is Responsible?), after they found India lose its opening match against Bangladesh.
Media, however deflect criticisms against it saying, "People are passionate to know about cricket and cricketers, and hence they hog our frontpage and prime time".
They knowingly do not recognise their own role in whipping up the frenzy by writing and telecasting all stupid things and creating a mania, which finally turns a fan into a fanatic.
Finally, we are caught in a vicious circle of whipping up the bitter frenzied cricket cream and then getting served with it.
The degree of our fanaticism can be gauged from the fact that a news channel runs programme titled 'Cricket Controversies', that shows how we each one of us love to analyse, criticise, gossip and also give advise about all 'wrong things' that happen in the cricketing world.
Players in media have still to realise that media carries a double-edged dagger whenever they come close to you.
If it could shower pleasantries outnumbering your contributions and holding you in high esteem, the next moment it could brutally shred you in piece; little realizing the harm it has already done to the sport.
Cricket, like any other sport, began with a simple objective of infusing amusement and happiness in our life and taking a time off from regular monotony.
No one even in his or her wildest dreams would have ever thought of a game becoming 'larger than life' – a fact that has surfaced with the unfortunate demise of Bob.
This madness now has become a potent drug for people of the two warring nations to turn them impotent.
Keeping the cricket bat in hour hands would be a better idea than keeping it on our head. Playing cricket, rather than discussing it, would be far better idea to spend a Sunday afternoon.
Having written that, just watch our hands; it's already red with Bob's blood.
The reactions then changed to grief and then to remorse for we- a subcontinent of cricket frenzied nation have killed the person with whom we even never had any physical contact.
As Bob is dead, people of the two countries of this part of the world have to realise that we have pushed the excitement of cricket to a much farther limit, where it is no more a sport but an obsession in all wrong connotations.
Cricket in India and Pakistan has transformed from a national sporting passion to an individual violent psychotropic obsession that fails to differentiate between a game and a war.
As you read this, some light on Bob's death may have been already shed. It could be anything – a drug overdose, to Bob's failure to withstand the agony of defeat (or fear of public humiliation in Pakistan) or it could be even a conspired murder to prevent him from exposing the 'dirty politics' of Pakistan Cricket Board.
Whatever it may be, there is only one underlying fact that it points to –Cricket is no more a holy grail, but has changed to an unholy one.
If hours before bob's death or we could say it like this: Hours after Pakistan's defeat at the hands of Ireland, if a former Pakistan player tells an Indian news channel, "knives are out in Pakistan against Inzamam (Pakistan skipper) and Woolmer", one could realise , where the murderers besieged.
Within us
Bob's death is a tragic reminder and a wake up call for everyone to realise: Lets play the game of cricket.
Not the likes of hoarse cries that our Hindi news channels shout – Zimmedar kaun? (Who is Responsible?), after they found India lose its opening match against Bangladesh.
Media, however deflect criticisms against it saying, "People are passionate to know about cricket and cricketers, and hence they hog our frontpage and prime time".
They knowingly do not recognise their own role in whipping up the frenzy by writing and telecasting all stupid things and creating a mania, which finally turns a fan into a fanatic.
Finally, we are caught in a vicious circle of whipping up the bitter frenzied cricket cream and then getting served with it.
The degree of our fanaticism can be gauged from the fact that a news channel runs programme titled 'Cricket Controversies', that shows how we each one of us love to analyse, criticise, gossip and also give advise about all 'wrong things' that happen in the cricketing world.
Players in media have still to realise that media carries a double-edged dagger whenever they come close to you.
If it could shower pleasantries outnumbering your contributions and holding you in high esteem, the next moment it could brutally shred you in piece; little realizing the harm it has already done to the sport.
Cricket, like any other sport, began with a simple objective of infusing amusement and happiness in our life and taking a time off from regular monotony.
No one even in his or her wildest dreams would have ever thought of a game becoming 'larger than life' – a fact that has surfaced with the unfortunate demise of Bob.
This madness now has become a potent drug for people of the two warring nations to turn them impotent.
Keeping the cricket bat in hour hands would be a better idea than keeping it on our head. Playing cricket, rather than discussing it, would be far better idea to spend a Sunday afternoon.
Having written that, just watch our hands; it's already red with Bob's blood.
1 comment:
आप बिल्कुल ठीक सोचते हैं। जैसे धर्म की आग में कई बार हमारा देश झुलसा है वैसे ही किक्रेट को भी धर्म सरीखा बना दिया गया है और इसकी आग में खेल भावना झुलस रही है। वैसे भी धर्म अफीम के समान होता है...
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