I Love this Game

I am lucky.... i am one lucky lucky guy ... how else would you explain this:


2.30 pm yesterday.... me sitting in front of my computer in office, checking out cricinfo.com , cursing my luck that i am sitting in front of my dumb computer and not watching the game... India Vs. Australia... probably Sachin's last One Day at Mumbai.. and ask any cricket aficionado and he will tell you... how big an occassion that is...

Suddenly, i hear a flutter behind me , Its my boss... Damn.. I shut down all the windows ... My boss strides towards me with a sense of purpose... does he know i managed to open cricinfo in office???

and then the Magic Words " Rahul, wanna see the match today???"

for once i couldnt believe my ears... Is he Joking??? Surely!

I take the bait .." Yeah!! Of course... who doesnt!"

and then he fiddles in his pocket.. and out come two tickets ... i blink my eyes in disbelief... is this real???

Ten minutes... thats all it took for me to shut down my computer... get out of office.. and reach wankhede... ( yes.. my office is stone's throw away from the stadium)

My friend was already there waiting for me ( He told his boss he had to pick up a friend from the airport.. old excuse... but works every single time! )

the next seven hours i had the ball of my life.. a part of the screaming 50,000 odd fans cramped inside the stadium... it was well worth it...

The roar in the stadium when Sachin came into bat.. was something you gotta see to believe ... the pressure was unbelievable..and yet this little fellow has been doing it for the last 18 years of his life...

I have been a cricket fan since childhood... i love this game... my hands itch to bat when i see kids playing in azad maidan... but i have other things to do... sitting in front of computer every day and working on some stupid office crap... for example....

But when i see the passion this game invokes in all of us.. the joy, the sadness... the extreme reactions... i know that for all of this... this more than a mere game... some say its a religion...

I say its my life :)

and btw... we won.... and it was the perfect icing on the cake....