It’s almost a month since India lifted “The Cup” and the euphoria of the historic triumph has subsided a little (thanks to the IPL). The victory sparked wild celebrations across the country, even across continents it should be said as Indians world over rejoiced.

But it really begs the question, what is it about cricket that makes us go berserk? Why is it that an Indian victory in cricket seem to bring much more joy than does an Olympic gold medal (an arguable statement made and some may object to this)? As one of my clients joked to me, we have won the World Cup, what more do we need. It’s as if we have achieved the pinnacle of glory.

But have we? For a nation still considered to be developing, poverty rampant in most parts of the country, where people still starve to death, where scams are a daily headline, does a victory in a sport warrant such attention?

I would say yes and it’s exactly because of the above reasons does this victory mean so much to us. On April 2, on that memorable day in Mohali when we beat our arch rivals, on the day Yuvraj knelt down on the ground and let a war cry, we too felt our blood surging through our veins. No matter how many times we have heard our National Anthem, every time the anthem was played before the matches began, we stood in our seats and did the same. Just the sight of Sachin with his head held high on a victory lap around the Wankhede brought tears to our eyes. The entire country went to bed on that day (albeit a bit late after partying all night long) with a smile on their faces.  We forgot 2G scams, we forgot what our bosses might if he sees our incomplete project proposals, for those few hours we postponed our miseries. Cricket is the only sport that can unite a billion of us. I can’t imagine a roadside hawker grinning with joy because Saina Nehwal has just won the All England Badminton championship (no disrespect meant to her).  It’s cricket which fascinates us, maybe because we revel in celebrating joy, sharing our sorrows as a group. That’s how we have been brought up. A Diwali celebrated with 20 friends as a group is what makes us happy. Marriages are not a simple family affair but a long drawn 3 day celebration in themselves.

In exactly the same way, it’s when we watch cricket that we get together as one. Whether it’s a roadside TV shop or our neighborhood tea shop with radio commentary, or our office cafeteria with the match being broadcast, we watch as a group. And it is this which differentiates cricket from other sports in our country. For those 8 hours they play, we forgot everything else.  A Sachin straight drive or a Sehwag Upar Cut, an Indian victory gives us reason to rejoice as for us it’s our triumph, we as a country have won and not a team of 11 cricketers.

Thank You Team India for all those magic moments which we will remember and relive again and again again for generations to come. For us, this really is the Cup that counts.

Pradeep Srikant – WCC

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