Why Cheat In A Marathon?
Here are 11 runners who cheated during a marathon. A typical case would be :
4. Skip Miles 13-23: Anthony Gaskell (London, 2010)
At the 2010 London Marathon, 69-year-old Anthony Gaskell smashed records when he crossed the finish line at 3:05:00. It was the fastest time on record for his 65+ age group. But upon closer analysis of his recorded statistics, it was discovered that Gaskell supposedly ran the second half of the race (13.1 miles) in less than an hour – an impossible feat for even a world champion. It turned out he forewent running the there-and-back portion of the course entirely, skipping miles 13 – 23. Gaskell would later claim he hurt himself and was simply trying to get to the finish to receive medical attention. Nonetheless, his honorary plaque and title were revoked.
Each of the 11 cases presented above, the cheat was caught with consummate easy. So why bother to cheat?
I know it’s easy to ask that question but I think the answers are always fairly complicated.I mean, running a marathon is a very big deal. Of those 11 cases, how many had run a marathon before and just wanted to finish and miscalculated and finished with fantastic times? I am not talking about the ones who either gave their chip away to another runner or just did not run at all. I am talking about the ones who were dedicated enough to make an attempt.
I have to confess that one I had a strong urge to cheat during my running as well. I did not do it, but almost did.
The run was the 30K Midsummer Night’s Run. The run was fairly grueling because the humidity was at around 85%. I was woefully unprepared for the run and went just because I had signed up for it. A crucial mistake I made was to switch from water to Gatorade for my run. I never have Gatorade. Ever. And my stomach rebelled. At the 26K mark, I had to go to the bathroom and I was in for almost 10 minutes. When I came out, I realised that the bathroom was at a juncture of a loop. I could have easily walked into the bathroom at the 26K mark and come out of the bathroom at the 28K mark. And that’s what I started to do and then the little voice in my head said”what the fuck are you doing?”. I did not bother trying to answer and I turned around to complete the loop from the 26K back to the 28K mark. And then at the end of the run, I puked my guts out!
Looking back my reasoning was not to aim for the best time in the run. I was already doing awful. My reasons to cheat was to finish the run as soon as possible. But thankfully the Jiminy Cricket inside me was able to convince me that it was moronic to try and cheat. I mean, what for! So that I can tell the world I finished the run 10 minutes earlier than I actually did?
My Top 10 Albums Of 2011
Here we go! I always look forward to these kinds of posts.
10) Hey Rosetta (Seeds)
One of the most intelligent bands from Canada. Their songs are a remarkable blend of grunge, strings and melodies. Songs are a little too long but each one carries a build up that’s hard not to rock out on.
9) Feist (Metals)
Saw her live with Broken Social Scene and what a fantastic performer! Totally rocked the crowd with her songs from The Reminder. And that’s what I was worried about. Feist would be remembered by that one album. But she proved me wrong. Metals is an excellent follow up album! There are no outstanding singles like 1234 but the whole sound is amazingly lush and quite pleasing to the ears.
8) Fucked Up (David Comes To Life)
This album is a concept album and runs for 1 and a half hours! Needless to say that you need quite a few listens before the blazing guitars and the screaming start to make some sense. However, once you get over that “hump”, the wait is totally worth it. Amazing album!
7) Yuck (Yuck)
I hear influences of Yo La Tengo and Sonic Youth in this album. What drew me to this album was the emotion in the songs. And the hooks in all the songs were quite hard to miss. A band worth watching in the future.
6) The Black Keys (El Camino)
Finally an album from the Keys which does not have a single slow song!! Even the slow starting Black Submarines blasts out midway. Excellent work. I am going to see them at the Air Canada Center in March next year!!
5) TV On The Radio (Nine Types Of Light)
Another excellent album from TOTR. These guys never seem to cease to amaze me. Although this album is not as powerful as their previous work, but it’s good enough for year’s top 10!
4) The Chemical Brothers (Hanna)
This is probably the first I have put in a soundtrack on top 10. Well, it helps that the soundtrack was by one group only. I remember watching the movie and being completely mesmerised by the music in the background. It just fit in so well with the scenes. It’s mostly instrumental which means that without watching the movie, the music is meaningless.
3) Beirut (The Rip Tide)
Solid album from Beirut. Songs are seamlessly sewn together with the melodies packed on more melodies. Wonderful album and one of the few albums that my wife and daughter liked on first listen! Rarely happens.
2) Bry Webb (Provider)
After disbanding (?) the hard rocking The Constantine, Bryan Webb came out with this folk rock album inspired partly by the birth of his child. The album is a complete anti-thesis of what we have come to expect from Bryan which is why this album works so well. It’s got one of the best ‘growing old’ song I have ever heard (Ex Punks). He also provided back vocals on Feist’s album. Looks like everything he touches will turn to gold!
1) Yellow Ostrich (The Mistress)
Why I find this the outstanding album of the year is because it is so strange! I mean, how can album be haunting and catchy? Low key and bombastic. That’s how I would describe it.
To Hate Is To Be Patriotic
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New Canadians will be required to remove veils before swearing the oath of citizenship, Jason Kenney, the minister of citizenship and immigration announced on Monday.
Mr. Kenney said he had heard concern from citizenship judges that some Muslim women wearing face-covering garments may not actually be reciting the oath when taking part in the ceremony.
“They told me last month that it’s a fairly common problem. Every week, in every region of the country, we’re dealing with situations where applicants arrive with a veil on,” Mr. Kenney said. “Frankly, I found it bizarre that the rules allowed people to take the oath with a veil on.”
In recent years, the face-covering garments worn by some Muslim women have come under increasing scrutiny, as governments and courts have wrangled over when women should be allowed to cover their faces.
Mr. Kenney, who made the announcement in Montreal, dismissed questions of religious freedom.
“When Muslim women do the Haj (pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia) they’re required not to wear a veil. They’re required to show their face,” he said. “The idea this is a religious requirement I do not accept.”
Additionally, Canadian law takes precedence over religious edict, Mr. Kenney said. He also announced measures to boost language testing for new immigrants.
Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.
So far the headline and the articles I have read are “no veils allowed during the OATH CEREMONY”. Why? After the identities have been verified, the due process of citizenship is done, why is it truly necessary for a “no veil” policy?
I have been to a citizenship ceremony. It’s a CEREMONY. Nothing really happens there except your name is called and you are handed your
citizenship certificate and you may get your photograph taken with the judge. There are usually 300 people at the ceremony. Do we need ceremony monitors to ensure all the 300 people are reciting the oath? If saying the oath is so important, may I suggest that we recite the oath individually in front of the judge? That would make far more sense. But the armchair patriots want to throw up a tantrum over the fact that some from the crowd of 300 or so are not reciting the oath hence they are not Canadians! Absolute crock!
It’s this kind of stupid jingoism by the Tories that makes me cringe.
The #Occupy Movement
I am not part of the occupy movement. I do not go out in the camps, I do not write letters to my MP(s), I do not sit in protest in Bay Street, I do not approach random people and demand that they hear me.
However, I am part of the conversation about the movement.
The movement to me represents a sign of discontent by the masses (including me) about the natural order of the system as defined by capital. The small number of people deciding on what role everyone has to play is bound to crash and burn. This message is not lost on white collared workers like me. The disparity in North America between the rich and the poor, not as horrible as it is in the third world country, cannot be scoffed away in this continent. Anyway, working in a bank that keeps declaring losses every quarter is bound to affect my job as well. How much longer before I am trolling the roads for a job while the executive class lives off my taxes?
The attraction to the movement also stems from the reaction of the powers that be. “Health and safety concerns”, the main stream media’s parroting of the politician’s line of attack. And once the camps have been closed, FUCK YEAHs from these parrots suggests that the movement is over. Far from it.
The dysfunctional system in place in North America, favours the massively rich at the expense of the rest (the poor and the middle class) is too strong a message to be ignored.
Let’s begin!
Mediocre Treadmill Run Ends Up Hurting Poor Moi
So this weekend we (wife, me and the lil_brat) ended up at Niagara Fallsview Hilton Hotel & Suites. The wife, who is fast becoming a GroupOn, WagJag & XYZ online coupon queen found this deal and we all took a mini vacation.
Overall I was not very impressed. I mean it was a good change from the daily grind but for the money we spent, it was quite ho hum. The lil_brat’s favourite was the pool, hands down! She and I spent at least 1 hour in it. Playing, swimming, splashing…….and lil_brat joined me in it. Before the swimming we took part in a winery tour at Hillebrand winery. The tour was really interesting mostly due to the guide but also due to the fact that the lil_brat kept it entertaining for us (and all others in the group). At one point when we all circled the guide as he was about to demonstrate how to taste wines, he asked who here knows how to taste wines. No one raised their hands except for the lil_brat! Everyone was laughing away while we were mortified!! Great tour but expensive wine. Since she has accompanied us to a few wine tasting/tours, she is well versed with the ins and outs of playing with the wine.
Anyway, I ran on the treadmill for a 5 K but somehow ended up injuring myself which I can only attribute to the different shoes I was using. I am familiar with this injury. A sharp pain on my left side of my knees which will go away after a few days. Am limping right now but hope to recover soon!
Test Run
7km run after the Scotiabank marathon last week. Not a bad run overall. I was basically trying out my legs and they seem fine even though I had an ache in my IT band. Lots of rolling with the foam in the next few days. Got the treadmill fixed so looking forward to putting in some KMs every now and then.
>Listened to the new Coldplay album and so far I like what I am hearing even though it seems repetitive (compared to their previous music). But I guess that’s the beauty of Coldplay. Lovely melodies all around and they always manage to throw in great guitar lines and lyrics.
Me And My Stupid Ego
My running schedule this year included, a half marathon in Feb, a full in May, a 30K in August and a full in Oct. Each of these runs represented it’s own problems and I could not give 100% on the day of the respective runs. Reasons varied from running in slush in Feb, to IT band problems (excessive training) and no strength (severe lack of training). I know it’s silly of me to focus on the time but I am a very egoistical person (in some matters :)) and I want to prove that I have it in me to improve my pace and be as good as my peers.
Therefore, I have decided to focus on distance rather than pace. Next year I am aiming to run a 50k. Have not decided which one but I will. To help me reach my goal, I will need to put in at least 40k every week until my “true” training begins. What does that entail? Lots of time on the dreadmill during winter months (hello gym!!) and at least one LSD on the weekends. This will put pressure on the home front (wife not a enthusiastic supporter of my running) and my on line activities (I love to wake up early in the morning and just surf the net).
We will see how it goes. Wis me luck!
Why I Love Google…..
….I keep trying to remind myself that Google is another corporation that is in the business of making money but then they go ahead and do a little thing like this on my birthday, I slip ;)
Miscellaneous Stuff
A timely reminder of our place in this universe :
What a beautiful shot! This is a picture from the craft Juno on it’s 5 year journey to Jupiter where it will explore how the planets were formed, amongst other tests. Carl Sagan’s words come through loud and clear :
Right Wingers Come In All Forms
The group demanding an end to Muslim Friday prayers at a Toronto school is militantly anti-Sikh and anti-Muslim.
Canadian Hindu Advocacy’s director Ron Banerjee has said: “In its entire history, Islam, the Islamic civilization has invented and contributed less to human advancement than a pack of donkeys.”
He wants to “fight the Islamization of our society” and, lately, of the Toronto District School Board (TDSB). He’s demanding that Valley Park Middle School in Flemingdon Park stop giving space to Muslim students in the cafeteria after lunch on Fridays.
He does not live in the area but claims to have “received many complaints from terrified Hindu students and parents (who) felt that the TDSB was so thoroughly infected with Islamist sympathies that they would suffer consequences for speaking up.”
He does not say how many parents complained. Nor does he identify them. When I asked him that by email, and also inquired how many members his organization has and who funds it, he did not respond.
“Frankly, I don’t believe what he says,” principal Nick Stefanoff says. “I’ve not had a single complaint from any non-Muslim parents. We have dozens of Hindu students and we have a great relationship with them and their parents. When the Indian cricket team played Sri Lanka in the World Cup final (in April in Mumbai), Hindu and Muslim kids came to the school at 4 a.m. to watch it together. They had a great time.”
So, as you can gather, some students who on Fridays, instead of going to a local mosque, use the school canteen to pray. This is being done so that they avoid missing out on classes.
I am afraid that’s a big effing no!
If a student (or his/her parents) think that praying is more important than attending the classes, then please by all means go ahead and pray. But you cannot use a school for religious purposes. Period.
Now, regarding this person, Ron Banerjee who bought this whole issue to light. Haroon Siddiqui is bang on target when describing Banerjee and his activities. A racist to the core and one who proudly wears it on his sleeve. This guy is one of those low life parasites who has probably too much time on his hands and not enough distractions. Sounds like a typical mind set of a delusional right wing politics of India.
Mumbai Attacked, Again
Another day, another attack.
Another mindless bombing, innocent people dying.
It’s become the circle of life in Mumbai. I wonder how much can that city take before the psychosis of living with the fear that a bomb could go off next to you drives people over the edge. Already there are statements appearing on the web that border on mob mentality where you go where ever your anger leads you. Here are what some of my close friends are posting on their wall on Facebook :
ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. Time to get up and take control. If you agree let’s make this a movement. Hang that Kasab (Pakistani Islamic terrorist who was involved in the 2008 Mumbai attacks) or I am not paying taxes to the government for them to sit and feed the man who injured the soul of Mumbai!! An appeal KILL THAT KASAB OR CHANGE THE GOVERNMENT!!
I understand you are angry and upset but I do not understand how killing Kasab will stop terrorism? Once Kasab is dead will the terrorists just stop? It did not happen when US go Osama Bin Laden so why would it work in this case?
And if the person is saying that we should hang Kasab because he is guilty and the government is just dithering by not hanging him right away, then I have to ask, do you want to be like the terrorists? In other words do you want to take Kasab in the back and shoot him just like the terrorists do or do you want to go through a process that are entrenched in a democratic society. Yes, they can be slow but that’s why it’s called a due process. Leave no stone unturned. That’s how you fight terrorism.
I have been very disappointed by the response to this later attack from fellow desis (some of them are my very friends). There have been shouts across the board for more security. What does that mean? Do you want an Orwellian police state? Do you want to be told what you can do each moment you step out?
If yes, then may I suggest you try North Korea.
I was also disappointed with the response to the bombing by the authourities. I mean, I do not expect them to have a police presence at every corner (I would hate that kind of society). My problem is that I saw pictures of injured being carried in the back of delivery vans, injured lying about with no professional help, no fire men, nothing. WTF! I thought after repeatedly being bombed, the authourities would have learned by now how to RESPOND to a bombing even if they cannot PREVENT one.
And the media. Oh my god! What is wrong with the desi media? The hyperventilating reportage from the scene of the blast with no concern for the privacy of the victims and their loved ones makes me want to puke.
I have no idea how to end this post on a positive note because there is nothing positive about this tragedy. It’s happened before and it will happen again.
The Technology In My Life
In our household, we have the following items:
1) iPod
2) 3 Laptops
3) 1 netbook
4) Phone
5) iPhone
6) Play Station 2
7) Wii
8) Xbox
9) Runner’s GPS (Garmin 305)
10) GPS
My family (yes, that includes my 7 year old) ask why I think I need a new gadget in my life (more on the gadget later), I decided to explore the technology in my life.
So let me explain each and everyone one of the items on the list above.
1) iPod : This is basically as useful to me as my right hand. I am a big music fan and I need to listen to music during all my activities (except when I am reading), in fact I am listening to music right now! The iPod really comes in handy during my long runs. I listen to podcasts, new music and books so needless to say without an iPod I feel naked.
2) Laptop #1 : My Windows 7 laptop is my workhorse. It’s the one where I run my web server, stores my photographs, acts as my entertainment centre and acts as my education centre.
3) Laptop #2 : My wife’s Mac book. It’s my wife’s workhorse. It’s the one she always uses for her minimal internet usage.
4) Laptop #3 : My old laptop. This is the one I use for experimentation. Although the last time I switched it on was about a month ago, I install everything and anything on it. I have Ubuntu and Vista. It’s a super slow machine but it helps the learning process.
5) Netbook : This one was purchased for my daughter. We were getting into dangerous territory when my daughter started using laptops. She would either borrow mine or my wife’s when we wanted to use it at the same time. As a pre-empt exercise, I bought a netbook for my daughter. Although I use it most of the time on my commute as a learning tool. I am practising MySQL and PHP on it at the moment.
6) Play Station 2 : Oh man!! The fun times I have had with this electronic piece! I remember staying up till 4am playing games :), all before my daughter was born!! Since her birth in 2003, I have not spent more than a few hours on the device. Time to sell it.
7) Wii : My daughter’s entertainment centre. She uses it regularly. In fact I have to cajole and threaten her to get off the Wii because she spends an inordinately long time on it. This is a keeper for the moment.
8) Xbox : Borrowed it from my friend to play Halo a few times. But ever since he upgraded to Xbox 360, he told me to keep it along with the games (apparently, Xbox games will not work with Xbox 360. How stupid is that???). But I have played it to my hearts’ content and it is now time to get rid of it.
9) Runners’ GPS : The reason why I cannot spend too much time on video games is mostly my daughter takes up my time and I have started running. I need to balance out my time so I decided it’s best to focus on what keeps me healthy (for the time being ;D ). This is a great piece of equipment and gives great data in real time! I have used it on my occasions including my first marathon run.
10) GPS : Well, this is a given. Everyone needs this to save arguments with your ‘better half’ when driving in a new part of the town.
So when we started to discuss about the iPad (the new gadget), I could not counter any argument put up by my family as to why I needed it. And I agree, for the moment, the iPad is basically an idiot laptop. Not of much use if you have all the above.
FOR THE MOMENT!!
Hmmmm……but what about a kindle?
Skeptics = Religious????
Here is what I see when I try and go to the site : Skeptics Guide To The Universe at my work place. I think Steve Novella will blow a fuse when he sees this :)
Sometimes People Are Just Assholes
Here is a news item sure to boil your blood. This is an example (horrifying pictures in the article, not for the squeamish) of why it’s become so easy to hate people with authority :
“BHAJANPURA, AN obscure village of Forbesganj town in Araria, one of the most backward districts of Bihar, has unwittingly become the epicentre of communal politics. On 3 June, police bullets and atrocities took four lives, including an seven-month-old baby, a pregnant woman and an injured man, who was heinously stomped to death. In a statement that makes a mockery of the irrefutable evidence against them, the police are justifying the killings as an act of “self-defence”. The silence of the Nitish Kumar government is also raising several uncomfortable questions especially since all four people killed in the firing on 3 June belong to a minority community.
The residents of Bhajanpura could never have imagined their demand for a road could take such a tragic turn. The brutality of the police emerged in a blood-curdling video of a cop, Sunil Kumar Yadav, literally jumping on a prostrate and injured man, pummelling him to death. This two-minute long video footage is so disturbing that one shudders to think of those who saw it with their own eyes. Fatkan Ansari, father of the deceased Mustafa, breaks down while talking to TEHELKA. “Who killed him? Why was he killed? How was he killed? What do I tell you? This will not bring back my son,” is all he can mutter, before lapsing into silence.”
And yes. There was a video. And yes the police man actually jumped on an injured man’s face killing him. And yes, the jumping and kicking lasted for 2 minutes. Not sure why the police had this need to pummel another human being to death. I think the police faced some amount of resistance (in the form of uppity language from the villagers or something to that affect) had to come back with “who’s the boss now” attitude which somehow culminated with them stomping another human being to death.
Why?
Is power so intoxicating that people will use it to justify any illegal activity by those in power? I guess so. This was demonstrated during the G20 summit here in Toronto where the police, normally a highly regarded law enforcement agency, went ape shit for a period of 4 days when they were given unprecedented power to arrest whomsoever they felt like in the name of security.
This case is disturbing mostly because there is an element of communal violence by police against minorities who also happened to be poor opposing the rich politicians. And then the public has the temerity to ask why is there terrorism in India.
Add to the fact that there is video evidence you have to wonder how many such cases have escaped scrutiny because there was no evidence? This is India we are talking about. The police there, with blessings from the politicians, have and will go to depths of in-humanity again and again. I can only hope the fucking mainstream media pays some attention to this problem.
My Baby!
Here’s my baby singing Celin Dion’s famous song. Yes, I do wish it was some other song but what the heck. Music is music!
Holy Spiderman!!
Who ever thought of this needs to be presented with the highest medal in India :)
Reasons why North America is screwed.
I know that in these award shows contestants pander to their audience especially the judges (who in turn pander to the television audience) but that’s no reason to be such a fucking moron. How can you be such a creationist and still stand amongst the finalists? Kudos to the 2 (out of 51!!!) girls who were all out for science. Quite a few said “both sides should have equal”. I hate fence sitters!
(Edit : And I believe one of the two ultimately won the contest.)
Conversations On Death With A 7 Year Old or How I Owe One To J K Rowling
Sometimes I think it’s too early to go into deep conversations with Rhea. She is still too young to comprehend irony, sarcasm and “what if…” scenarios. Which is why when the other day as we were driving past a cemetery and she asked “papa and mama, can I ask a question? I know that Christians and Muslims bury their dead. What do Hindus do?”
I knew right away that this conversation is going to places where we all would get very uncomfortable. I could have easily ended it with some nonchalant answer about this or that but I disagree with that kind of thought. So, I decided to take the plunge.
“Rhea, in Hinduism we cremate the dead”
To which she asks : “What’s cremation?”
There was no way getting around this – “Rhea, that’s when the dead body is laid out on wood and set on fire.”
The next few moments were crucial cause I could see that the information was sinking in and I knew what her next question would be…so I pre-empted it.
“Don’t be scared baby, the person is dead and does not feel a thing.”
This message took a little while to explain cause she had difficulty in comprehending that the person is gone and all that’s left is just the body. So the conversation went to what happens to the person after death. My reply was straightforward : “Nothing baby, when the person dies there is no “after”.”
This did not settle well with her and my wife told her about souls. Thankfully she started with “Some people believe……” And I tried to expand on the conversation but we could see it’s not making sense to her at all. And we left the conversation pending.
And I did not help matters when she asked me what was going to happen to me when I die. I should have just given her sound bites instead of saying “baby, after my organs are donated to people who need them, I will be cremated too.”
“WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOUR ORGANS WILL BE REMOVED FROM YOUR BODY??? YOU ARE FREAKING ME OUT”
Oh boy, took me forever to calm her down!
This happened a few weeks ago and in the meanwhile, she caught Harry Potter bug. She has watched the first two movies and has been insisting I get the book for her. We have been discussing the movie in detail including the deaths in the movies. I think she is a little more receptive to a broader discussion and I will be using the movie heavily for examples.
Thanks Ms. Rowling
When Cricket Is More Than Just Cricket
So India wins the world cup! When MS Dhoni hit the final shot for a 6, I was amongst those who were cheering and dancing because India has come perilously close to winning a once before but failed. And the way this match swung from Sri Lanka to India like a pendulum was enough to give me a good cardio without lifting a finger!
I had begun this post last week and being the lazy guy I am I could not finish it before the world cup final. Anyway, here is the actual post :
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From the comedic annals of Andy Zaltzman.
The most-watched cricket match in the history of the known universe prompted probably the biggest single celebration of a victory in terms of the total number of people shouting “yippee” (or variants thereof) that sport has ever generated.
The cricket did not match up to the pre-match hype. This was inevitable. The only way it could have done so was if Virender Sehwag had scored a 25-ball century, Sachin Tendulkar had posted his 100th India 100 before being carried away into the skies in a flaming chariot, Kamran Akmal had taken a series of sensational one- and no-handed catches, Asad Shafiq had run into a phone-box, whizzed round at high speed and emerged as an at-his-peak Garfield Sobers in a superman outfit with a Pakistan passport in hand, hammered his team to the brink of victory, before Virat Kohli came steaming in like Dennis Lillee’s pet wildebeest and obliterated the Pakistan tail with a blood-curdling barrage of 100mph yorkers, bouncers and googlies, before with four needed off the last ball Saeed Ajmal danced down the wicket to Zaheer Khan and reverse-cover-drove him off one knee in the air towards a diving Ashish Nehra on the boundary who caught the ball in the tips of his fingers to prevent it going for 6 before a passing kestrel pecked it out of his hands and dropped it on the ground in front of Manmohan Singh and Yousuf Raza Gilani who then ceremonially tied their feet together and jointly kicked it over the boundary rope for the tying runs, before saying “No-one deserves to lose this match,” then holding hands and launching into a rousing rendition of ‘Love Lift Us Up Where We Belong’ while the Mohali crowd harmoniously crooned backing vocals and all cuddled effigies of Inzamam-ul-Haq.
Hilarious stuff by Andy! And he is absolutely right. Indian players had much less to do with the win than Pakistan players. No, that sounds silly. Let’s put it this way, Indian players were disciplined in their approach to the game and Pakistani players were…….well, god knows. They had no reason to be as bad as they were. Anyway, as an Indian, it’s high time the team wins another world cup. Sri Lanka, you are going down!!!
This match got me thinking about the stature of cricket in India. As has been mentioned countless number of times, cricket in India is not a sport, but a religion. A religion that encompasses all other religions i.e. it does not matter what religion was forced on you by your parents, the religion of cricket will welcome you regardless!
So why is that? Why is a sport that only about 40% of world follows has such a grip on only a few of the nations? Why is it a religion?
As a fragmented and diverse society, it’s hard to find commonalities between 1.2 billion people. I mean India has 22 official languages!!, all the main religions of the world (including a proportionally high number of religious nut jobs), different political aspirations (communist party of India actually takes part in the democratic process) and an endemic corruption that eats away at the soul of the country.
However, there is one thing that brings out the boisterous patriotic versions of ourselves. Cricket!! Well, war against Pakistan AND Cricket which as you will discover are one and the same thing for Indians (and I suspect for Pakistanis).
So what is about this sport that at the utterance of the word “Cricket” all south Asians become passionate debaters regarding the genius of a Tendulkar square cover drive, a Shoaib Akhtar Yorker and ferociousness of Muralitharan’s spin?
In current context, it’s easy to see the why cricket is so loved by the youth. Cricket is a sport where true rags to riches stories can be played out. MS Dhoni, Virendra Shewag who were poor (although not by the abysmal poverty standards of India) went on to become super wealthy. It’s also a sport where individual performances can assure lifelong devotion by fans and which youth does not want that?
And over the years cricket has morphed into proxy battles. It has become a proxy for war in case of India-Pakistan matches. It’s become a proxy for pride in India-Australia matches and it’s become a proxy for traditionalism in case of Australia-England matches (Ashes trophy).
But to a casual observer it is obvious that cricket is a lot more than just cricket in South Asia. Why?
Let’s study this further.
The first thing that comes to mind is the simplicity of the rules of cricket. Despite the fact that I have to bang my head against the desk after trying to explain to my north American friends the rules of cricket, they are astonishingly simple. There is a bat and there is a ball. The objective of the game is to make runs (run between the two wickets (bases)) while making sure you do not let the ball strike the wicket or that you do not balloon the ball to the opposing player. Of course, there are numerous sub-rules but these are the main ones.
The second thing about cricket is that you really do not require any special equipment to play the game. All you need is a bat (which would and has been substituted by an instrument that every single Indian house hold called Thapi. Thapi is small cricket bat like piece that is commonly used to beat the clothes when washing them), a ball (a simple cheap tennis ball would do) and some eager participants. The game can be played in streets, school playground, your living room, etc. The location does not really
matter as long as you are willing to play the game. However, in case of tennis, you need a racquet and hockey requires hockey sticks without which the game is unplayable.
The next thing about cricket is that along with hockey, was imported to India by the British in the 18th century (football was introduced to India quite late). If you look at all the cricket playing nations, all those countries that were ruled by the British play cricket. The anomaly being USA which I think rejected cricket because the expats did not want to ape anything British (edit : my theory. Moreover, USA managed to kick the Britishers out long before any of the cricket playing countries and that might be a factor).
Note too the fact that Hockey and cricket were amongst the first sport activities that were introduced to the subcontinent that had rules and regulations which could not be broken under any circumstances (hence the term ”The Gentleman’s Game”). This must have held some appeal to the educated South Asians who took to the game as there was no concept of organized sports in South Asia before the British came.
Another reason South Asians took to the game (edit : I am sure will upset a lot of my fellow desis) is that our ancestors (especially the educated ones) wanted to ape the rulers of India, at everything they did. Mannerisms, education facilities, sports, style of governance, the English language etc. All these features were eagerly adopted by the upper class before the nationalist movement began which then began to filter to the lower class who wanted to ape their masters and so on and so forth.
(Edit: The next point is pure conjecture and circumstantial so please take it with a grain of salt).
The sport of cricket and field hockey started to gain popularity amongst the masses sometime earlier in the 20th century and when the British allowed Hindu and Muslim teams to play in Bombay against their teams and that’s when, I am sure, that an element of nationalism began to creep into the game. If that’s true, then each game post 1920s would be us-against-them games. And this not only drives the passions of the cricketeers but also the spectators.
The game continued to grow leaps and bounds in South Asia as we unshackled ourselves from the colonial past. And the wars and animosity between countries of South Asia began to rear their heads in each game and that streak of political gamesmanship is a a high pitch and shows no signs of slowing down.
Which is why the game between Pakistan and India was hyped to the point of absurdity. If you read the Facebook messages between Pakistan and Indian supporters I swear it was almost like the supporters were going to play the match instead of the actual teams!! This kind of passion is dangerous as well because it can easily boil over to mob violence which is so common in South Asia. I mean, if India had lost the match to Pakistan, the notion that the cricketeers would be harmed is not to be put aside.
The best way to diffuse that kind of tension would be to hold more matches between the “warring” countries. That way the next match would be a ho-hum affair and the passions would not flair up like they do now.
So what’s next?
My main concern is the utter lack of support by the public for other sports. India is a country with 1.2 billion people yet the sporting prowess of this country is : pathetic! There are flashes here or there like recently Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupati have just become the number 1 again in the double tennis (yet the news cycle was swamped by cricket); Vijendra Singh in boxing continues to win titles (but not the avid following he craves for and so richly deserves).
Why?
The reason I think it is so because cricket is heavily subsidized by the government and privatized (i.e. it is flush with corporate money) whereas the other sports are heavily bureaucratized (i.e. laden with government indifference, ineptitude and corruption). However, if the corporations are to fund other sports there has to be a paradigm shift in public’s attitude towards every non-cricket sport. At the moment in the eyes of the public every non-cricket sport comes forth every 4 years when the Olympics are on. That is when the public bemoans on the utter lack of performance of the athletes of the second largest nation in the world (vis-à-vis population).
Of course, the public forgets to keep the pressure on after the games are over and the athletes and the authorities involved have no reason to continue the sport. Which is why so many athletes who show promise are waylaid to the side after a few years of stellar performance.
A lot of re-think is required in a country’s upper echelons of power but unfortunately, because of other more pressing problems, sports in India (at least) will always start and stop with Cricket.
