An Unexpected Experience...!!!

April 2nd 2011 – Grand finale of the cricket world cup 2011

 
Sri Lanka was to play against India in the commercial capital of India - Mumbai. Being an Indian and a cricket lover, this was possibly one helluva event in her life! To see her country sweat it out in the final step towards the Ultimate Cup, called for all her time and attention...

‘Maddening’ was the fact that she couldn’t avoid the circumstances barring the lover (read ‘she’) from watching this love of hers (read ‘final match of the cricket world cup 2011’)...! A nightmare in sleep this was; something she could have never thought of; a complete ‘no-no’ situation in reality...Situation being she ‘not witnessing’ this event!

She had a late morning flight from Bangalore to the King City of India - New Delhi. She landed on the runway of Delhi. Proud Capital of India it is, where her feet were! The breeze was new, the smell was new and new was the feel! It was 12:00 pm then. The cricket finale was to start at 2:30 pm and she had a train to catch at 4:30 pm. She was to head to the city of the divine nectar - the city of Amritsar in the state of Punjab.


A trip planned well in advance this was...Planned way before the World Cup even saw its start! Half-headed about everything, she could hardly connect herself to the city she otherwise loved; Delhi it was which moved not a tiny cell in her, then...Having had her lunch at the airport, she set for the next little pocket of this journey – Delhi airport to the New Delhi railway station.

She was more than happy as she was on the way to meet one of her closest friends but as the needle struck closer to the start of the grand finale, she saw all her zeal going down with the very fact that she was gonna MISS ‘the’ MATCH! Strange is how human mind works - When one factor of excitement happens and the other doesn’t, you tend to be pulled down by the one that doesn’t...!!!

She wished she hadn’t been travelling that day. Nevertheless, knowing there can’t be anything she could do about it, she gave up on it with a sigh (read ‘sniff’)...She reached the New Delhi railway station as early as 3:00 pm to board her train that was scheduled to depart at 4:30pm. The minute she got off the cab and stepped into the station, she felt a breeze of ‘thrill’...In front of her was a huge screen telecasting ‘The MATCH’ live! She was thrilled, the extent of it being immeasurable!!!

Having got a considerable control over her thrill, she then looked around for the first time, just to notice a thick crowd all around. She wondered how she missed noticing this before...?!!! By the time she realized that she had no answer to this query sprouting up, she saw herself seated comfortably on her suitcase, amidst the crowd! This was the level of importance this MATCH held in her senses! “This is one EXPERIENCE of a life-time”, she thought!

She was watching the match ardently, not bothered about anything around. When the advertisements occupied the screen, her eyes surveyed the place till their enveloping vicinity...Instantly realizing the fact that the ratio of ladies to men was ‘almost negligible’ and she was actually contributing to making it ‘almost negligible’, which would have otherwise been ‘absolutely negligible’. It was tough for her to believe that she was the only lady, in that thick a crowd but anyway, not that she cared a damn!

All of a sudden her concentration was disrupted. It was an announcement of the arrival of ‘Shatabdi’ – the train she was to board to make her move to Amritsar. Alas! She took her luggage and looked at the screen one last time, to check the score and was ready to make a move. The friction was high but she saw herself moving, surpassing all. In the next few minutes, she had boarded the train and sat comfortably, yet feeling uncomfortable...

The only thing that could keep her company now was her little phone, she thought. She reached for her hand-bag which had the little one in it...To her surprise; she saw 9 unread messages and the phone’s personal message to her read, ‘no space for new messages’. Immediately, digging into her cell phone, she started reading through them all. They were the match updates from her dear ones. Her lips now felt a mighty curve. Her fingers started running through the keypad happily, pacing up with the words her mind had, as a reply to these! Her entire journey, she was blessed with the updates almost live; so descriptive that she had nearly forgotten, she was getting them all just in words...

She was immersed in this verbal display of cricket when she got a call from her friend who she was on her way to meet. The excitement in her friend’s voice excited her all the more. It was only now, that she felt everything was just so perfect! She had ‘watching the match’ and ‘meeting her dear one’, both in her kitty! :-) They hung up in a bit and she got back to what was the call of time. Living through this match, was a journey through happiness, resentment, excitement, worry, tension & anxiety – a well balanced compound made up of all these elements. The match got real close and this bit of her journey got even closer to its end.

She got off the train after reaching Amritsar. She met her friend who was there to pick her up along with her husband. She then caught up with her friend’s husband who was as insanely excited about the match as she was. They were certainly more bothered of the last 2 overs of the match that were left, than anything else on Earth. They quickly jumped into the car which saw a quick start. He zoomed the car like a bullet. She was happily narrating the score as and when her cell beeped, enjoying the psychic speed...While her friend, least bothered about the match, had her heart in hand ‘coz of the psychic speed.

They reached home in a jiffy, all thanks to the dude! As soon as they reached, the family was seen in front of the television set, all excited about the very obvious. They joined and the rest is history. They saw India win through this lovely sporty battle and it was the first time she saw India win the World Cup. It was absolutely captivating,;a feeling she could possibly never express to the real extent. In simple words, she had a blast!!! :-)

World Cup coming Home after 28 years!!! A HUGE success in the books of Indian history it was...To be a distant spectator of this event through the variety of modes, was an experience extremely pleasant and one she had least expected...!

What she felt so miserable about initially, was what gave birth to this special occurrence in her life which in turn gave birth to this piece of work of mine....Had she been at home watching the match (which was otherwise most probable to happen), she would have missed out on this variety that made this experience of hers so ‘exquisite’!


Somebody has so rightly said; “Whatever happens, happens for the good...!”

-     Ahi (Writer of her first story)