Some Wounds Never Heal

The last week has been a slow drift for the Bharatiya population. I’ve seen the most depressed faces at work that no amount of Monday blues, office bullying and conspiracy can’t elicit. 

Two months upon a time, a happy Bharat stood shattered.

No, it was no terrorist attack or market crash. No, it was no natural calamity either. What had festered nearly 95% of Bharatiyas was the game of cricket.

Bharat’s cricket team, comprising perhaps of the world’s prosperous and most influential players, had yet again broken a promise. They lost the World Cup finals and miserably! Look at their body language in the photos and replays. You will see they didn’t care two hoots about the loss. The only one who looked unhappy was Rahul Dravid, ex-batsman, and current coach.

Bharat’s honourable head of the state visited the team in the dressing room and tried to lift their spirits. That is the only time you’ll see these cricketers look a teeny bit embarrassed.

It’s not the first time the team has let us down. Our players are scared of winning finals, or perhaps they are scared of getting into trouble with the match-fixers. Who knows? Possibly, there are traitors in the team who put money over the country. Who knows?

This country has given male cricket players

•     respect

•     ad endorsements

•     best facilities 

•     access to the best sports technology

 Yet they bring us down every time. 

The Bharatiya Women’s/Men’s Hockey Team, or for that matter, the Women’s Cricket Team, would have gotten us so many laurels over the years had they received the exposure and privileges that the Men’s Cricket Team does. 

Footballers like Baichung Bhutiya and Sunil Chettri never got the same opportunities. If there is a shift of focus from Men’s cricket to Hockey, Soccer/Football, Women’s Cricket, Kabaddi, and Kho-Kho, our sports in future can look so massive and successful. 

But Bharatiyas love tragedies. We are the Shakuntalas of Men’s Cricket (The Dushyants), Karns of our Cricket Hopes (The Kuntis)! It’s our love of cricket that eventually makes us hope again. 

And that is why our pain is epic! Because when the next World Cup arrives, the Men-in-blue spins us another disaster. 

The never-ending cycle ensures that the wounds of millions of Bharatiyas never heal. Yet, our PM Modi leads us from the front in continuing to believe in the game and the men of cricket! 

Yet our PM showered them with the love they didn’t deserve. I wish all had a heart as large as yours, PM Modi. Yes, we can still hope, but unlike you, we can’t forgive!