At war for cricket
I have worked in private sector all along. I have no idea what it would be to be in a war scene or war like situation. I have seen curfew over en extended period of time in 1985 at Ahmedabad and was literally under house arrest unable to move out of our apartment building in 1992 in Kanpur for three weeks after the Babri Masjid was razed to ground. Those were tense days and they tell me how tense and terrible to be in the midst of war both for armed forces and the civilian population caught in the crossfire.
I am getting such a feeling now on the eve and during the one day cricket match between India and South Africa at Jaipur. There has been traffic checks in all important junctins for the last three days. Police forces including reserve battalions are all over the place. The ticket sale has not been too good what with so many level of checks of persons buying the tickets. The process was to be an entirely on line affair but was so slow that some tickets were diverted to over the counter sales. The identification proof to be produced at sale counter is more demanding than those required for obtaining one's passport !
The match was played yesterday. I had to go out last morning and returned home for lunch. The traffic was stopped for some time on the main road we were travelling on and was subsequently diverted to take a bylane. we were stopped on the diverted route too. I felt a bit ambitious. I felt the road was being cleared for the teams to proceed to the cricket stadium from their hotel. After the times of Mahatma Gandhi, Indian cricket players are the ony national heroes the country has produced ( those favourably inclined could add Amitabh Bachan and Shah Rukh Khan to this list of hallowed persons ) and I was not ashamed in being eager to get a glipse of these heavenly bodies. I realised that my ambition was misplaced as the road had been blocked for a cavalcade of police vehicles proceeding to the hotel for accompaying the team to the stadium.
There were traffic snarls all over and policemen who had not jogged for ages were running helter shelter with walkie talkies firmly pressed against their ears.
The Sawai Madhav Ssingh stadium popularly known as SMS Stadium had been converted into a veritable fortress. Cricket fans are crazy to watch the match under prison like conditions.
Is this sport, that too a gentleman's game ? What are we trying to prove ? Is it worthwhile pandering to the cricket crazy fans causing so much of trouble to the common public. It is very likely that none of the police stations in Jaipur would have helped the pubic in the matter of law and order during the week which went by. So we are literally "at war" for the sake of an international cricket match with a Central Minister as president of Rajasthan Cricket Association also playing along.
Sad, very sad.
I am getting such a feeling now on the eve and during the one day cricket match between India and South Africa at Jaipur. There has been traffic checks in all important junctins for the last three days. Police forces including reserve battalions are all over the place. The ticket sale has not been too good what with so many level of checks of persons buying the tickets. The process was to be an entirely on line affair but was so slow that some tickets were diverted to over the counter sales. The identification proof to be produced at sale counter is more demanding than those required for obtaining one's passport !
The match was played yesterday. I had to go out last morning and returned home for lunch. The traffic was stopped for some time on the main road we were travelling on and was subsequently diverted to take a bylane. we were stopped on the diverted route too. I felt a bit ambitious. I felt the road was being cleared for the teams to proceed to the cricket stadium from their hotel. After the times of Mahatma Gandhi, Indian cricket players are the ony national heroes the country has produced ( those favourably inclined could add Amitabh Bachan and Shah Rukh Khan to this list of hallowed persons ) and I was not ashamed in being eager to get a glipse of these heavenly bodies. I realised that my ambition was misplaced as the road had been blocked for a cavalcade of police vehicles proceeding to the hotel for accompaying the team to the stadium.
There were traffic snarls all over and policemen who had not jogged for ages were running helter shelter with walkie talkies firmly pressed against their ears.
The Sawai Madhav Ssingh stadium popularly known as SMS Stadium had been converted into a veritable fortress. Cricket fans are crazy to watch the match under prison like conditions.
Is this sport, that too a gentleman's game ? What are we trying to prove ? Is it worthwhile pandering to the cricket crazy fans causing so much of trouble to the common public. It is very likely that none of the police stations in Jaipur would have helped the pubic in the matter of law and order during the week which went by. So we are literally "at war" for the sake of an international cricket match with a Central Minister as president of Rajasthan Cricket Association also playing along.
Sad, very sad.
I remember waking up at 4 in the morning as a kid to watch India play in Australia-- I guess when it comes to cricket, all of us have done smth. crazy in our lives.. However, its disheartening to know that other games/ sports never find a similar audience in India.. Sachin's double century & India's series win have been all over the papers for a few days now..I wonder how many of us know abt. the on-going winter Olympics, or the Indian team members for in this year's hockey World Cup or the India team's schedule in this Davis Cup- the biggest ATP team event.. I dont remember any sport being so passionately followed as Cricket..Is this 'coz we are stil in love with the leagacy the English left behind??!!
ReplyDeleteIt is partly because of our past as well coporetaes who have pumped in money into cricket...it is money and politics...that is why one finds international mateched being played at odd locations...those associations cast their votes favouring one clique or the other...it is a favour being returned by playing matches at far off places...
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