The Cricket Craze

Seated in the library of the archi block of SPA I was trying hard to concentrate on the book in hand. An amazing book, titled townscape was today putting me off to sleep. Probably I over ate the Greenpeace pulao and raita for lunch. While I was about to go for an afternoon siesta on the dining table the librarian announced "shayad ek wicket gir gaya". With an astonished look I wondered how he knew that, only to realize that one could clearly hear the roars and the Mexican waves of the Indian supporters at the Firozshah Kothla ground - the venue for the first India v/s England one day - which I wanted to watch desperately. Since then my ear muscles were constantly strained only to catch the slightest variation in the decibel levels in the air from which I could guess the match position. With the book in the hand I was imagining being inside the stadium lost among the thousands cheering and screaming to glory. The thought was relieving and this situation continued for an hour till the librarian announced once again "shayad India jeet gaya". On that note I left the library and managed to get a bus instantly that would take me straight to my hostel room where I could check the detailed score card over the internet. I entered the first hostel gate which is a longer route but I enjoy walking that path since it takes me through the residential clusters where very often I see young boys and girls playing which gives me a great pleasure. I become a participant in this drama by kicking the ball or catching it if it happens to come on my way. To my amazement a group of kids were playing cricket in one of the courtyards today, and the young batsman hit the ball straight in my direction as if the intention was to relieve my thirst for the cricket match. I caught the ball in a spurt and returned it to the bowler, receiving their acknowledgements I passed the scene only to be treated for another one. What a good day it has been so far. Right now I am seating in front of the computer with the score card open on the rediff website...