If you are cricket lover, please do not fail to read this
Dear BCCI and the cricket Krazies of the country,
As you may have noticed I have not been invited to any of the public functions that are being held to felicitate the imperious team that is gluttonously gulping from the glittering cup.
Haven’t we been friends for a very long time — ‘very’ close friends for over 10 years, and friendly for nearly 20 — until it all went wrong between us from A to Zee. I know Mr Chandra would advise to simply ignore the snub, and I’m inclined to do that. But part of me worries. What if an invitation was actually sent to me and it got lost in transit or was stuck with the postal department like the Cup that got wedged in passage at the doors of Customs dept. I have lost so many things over the years in transit like my teeth-flashing smile.
The other part of me wonders, should I say something? Not (again) out of good manners (it wouldn't be — plus, how awkward), but in the context of our friendship, for me this is a huge deal. I know other people like Mr Dalmiya and Mr Shukla and Mr Srinivasan (of the ‘parent’ generation, which without doubt I would be in as well) who are invited, so the list is not limited to the godfather and his farmers. You must have surely noticed the majestic Clive Llyod at the presentation ceremony.
I'm feeling hurt, but more importantly, I don't know what to do now about this friendship. And I really don’t know how to be sport. And even if I manage to I surely can’t run 20 yards backwards to take that catch. So what do I do? Hold a “silent grudge” and watch the ball, standing at mid-wicket, go past me to the boundary. Act like nothing has happened? I tried hard to hide my emotions when I was on the panel of TV channel’s show. Several weeks ago it felt as if you had suddenly withdrawn without revealing any symptoms of doing so and when I asked around if anything was wrong or I had offended you in some way, the common refrain among you guys was ‘nothing’s amiss’ and that you were simply ‘busy planning the presentation’ along with ‘personal engagements’. I had simply requested a man to man talk and was ready to take on the reverse swing.
But you walked in the opposite direction from the bowling mark and the ball was declared dead. Leaving out the possibility that I have committed some offense, which I can't imagine, my only other possible conclusion is that you have deliberately excluding me for some unfathomable reason and don't give a damn how this makes me feel. After all, 1983 was only 28 years ago. So I have been battling these inner demons in me, which have formed an excruciating bitter knot within me that can’t be sweetened by the sugariest of gestures from Mr Pawar.
There are these questions that pop into your face like a ball bouncing from an under prepared wicket, which we are so famously capable of: Do I raise the issue only to explain that I am hurt, in deep suffering? Do I consider the friendship as null and void? Or do I take it for granted that there never was any friendship between us? Or should I return to my English speaking course — may be something is wrong there, the diction etc… Not that I haven’t revised my English after every World Cup final since 1983. They used to say Kapil da Jawab Nahin. But people close to me say ‘mere in sawalon ka bhi jawab nahin’.
But these questions surely lie on the outer fringes of the conceivable problems that a system of etiquette will generally be called upon to answer. Remember, people are fragile and incomplete. Not everybody gets the whole lunch. Some just get the roll, or some soup. In my case I haven’t got anything, not even my share of smile amongst all the partying. Now that the IPL is approaching I do see hell (Did I hear someone scream ICL?)
Yours truly
Kapil Paaji
(As imagined by Manoj Nair)
coutesy: The Economic Times
BHASKARAN19 said...
Yes, read it with deep sense of hurt, heavy heart - our BCCI bigwigs are all egoistic- does not know how to respect a Legend, sad indeed
coutesy: The Economic Times
BHASKARAN19 said...Yes, read it with deep sense of hurt, heavy heart - our BCCI bigwigs are all egoistic- does not know how to respect a Legend, sad indeed
In spite of BCCI being hugely politicized, it still happened; Dhoni’s men won the cup. Don’t know how. If it was hugely politicized and personally today, it was unorganized and again Kapil’s devils lifted the cup then. Both, in spite of the demons that lie beneath the system of governance in cricket.
But, is it true that Kapil paaji not seen around in any of the celebrations now after 28 years of long wait by the cricket fans ? Shame on Pawar and co. Time, men like Anna Hazare crop up to curb the demons in the BCCI. We all are humans and prone to errors in judgment and behavior but that cannot be a reason to ignore the achievements of individuals like Kapil. Even, the Modi of IPL deserves a nod(surely, I am not comparing the two). In spite of the game is being suspected to be partially controlled off the field, it still exhibits talent, hard work and excitement on the field. Let’s accept that and appreciate and award our players, present and the past. The politicians and other BCCI toupees can wait on the rest of the matters. Just like they slumber in Parliament since independence.