Well, nice to be blogging after a really long time. A series of unfortunate events ensured that I never got down to writing one but one incident has changed all that hopefully forever.
For someone who has followed Indian cricket in all his living memory, being crowned the World Champion in cricket was indeed special for me. It wasn’t surprising to see my batchmates at IIM Calcutta bowing themselves before the God who was carried all over the ground by much younger shoulders and to whom this trophy was proudly dedicated. Most of us have witnessed Sachin taking India to victory on numerous occasions. When he won, India won on most occasions and so did most of us. Somewhere, the young Indian generation has been sold on Sachin for the right reasons as he taught us how to fight in times of adversity and more importantly, how to become the best in the world – a title we can proudly lay claim to as we graduate from India’s top business school!!
I always believed that our parents’ generation did not understand the gravity of success nor had the desire or will to win. Ofcourse, there are exceptions but by and large, India in the last century was as good as the Indian cricket team of yesteryears. You could always have the odd Kapil Dev, a trailblazer who set off to across the seas in search of his or her destiny and more often than not did India proud. However, that feeling was yet to sink into most who lived back in India. Today, Indians in India can imbue the feeling of being or atleast becoming a champion in their own right. It’s time to break the shackles of defeat and misery which hound us more mentally than materially and prevent us from becoming a champion. As in no other domain is there a greater need for a champion than in politics. On the day when India won the Cricket World Cup, an ex-union minister was chargesheeted in the 2G spectrum scam, a rare if not the first occasion in Indian political history. Hope when the younger generation gets into leadership roles, we will witness champions ruling our country instead of sore losers!!
A lot of people were quick to give credit to MSD for his spectacular captaincy and brilliant batting in the final. However, the seeds of yesterday’s victory were sown nearly a decade ago. I still remember March 15th, 2001 when India defeated Australia in Calcutta against all odds. 10 yrs hence, I believe that was a turning point not just for Indian cricket but for India as a whole. I guess a lot of Indians would have seen their personal fortunes fluctuating with that of the Indian cricket team, which is simply amazing. Perhaps, that is what brought them out to celebrate like crazy on the night of 2nd April, 2011 when India were crowned the world champions!!!
Might of the Pen 