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Monday, April 2, 2007

A colonial sport....finds takers among the Tibetan youth!

I couldn't control myself from having a good laugh at those people who inadvertently blurt out, 'How did our team play?', whenever there is an Indian match going on especially during the on going world cup cricket.

These second and third generation Tibetans, born and brought up in exile, have also acquired the love of this game from their host country.I wonder how this phenomenon came about!!

I find my younger brother as equally interested in the English premier league matches as he is with the fortunes of the Indian cricket team.These young teenagers all have their own favourite teams but everyone don't mind admittting their love and support for the Indian team and sometimes even referring to it as 'our team'.

Is it due to the excessive exposure given by the various news channels? I can't help but admire the power of this medium; since cricket is not in any Tibetan schools' co-curricular activities and moreover, we don't have a cricket culture in our community like the Indians. So,the only cause of this phenomenon can only be attributed to the 'Idiot box'.

Maybe there really is some magic in this game that attracts these teenagers towards this game. And this love for the game is not just limited to watching it but they also love playing it. Like football, you don't need a big ground and space to play it, even a small narrow alley is enough and you can play with just a bat and a ball. Maybe, they like the idea of hitting something..out of sight..and the harder you can hit, the better!!

I find small kids,who can't possibly understand all the rules of cricket, playing it with gusto-just with a ball and a bat-which can be of any material...ranging from plastic to wooden planks lying here and there!!!

Its so funny to see a sport that can arouse so extreme a feeling among all sections of the people! People maybe indifferent to all kinds of sports-be it football, basketball, hockey etc.-but when it comes to cricket they are very vocal about their views.' They either love it or hate it!' I have never heard people around me say they hate football,but I have heard many of them voice their anger at cricket, whenever it is mentioned. And at the same time, I have also seen passionate and diehard fans who don't mind staying up late at night even on a weekday just to watch India play or Australia and South Africa play. Love it or hate it..it seems no one can ignore it!!!

Tibet of yore was never a sports oriented country; so maybe we can look at this trend as a positive one. As it is said, A sound mind can only exist in a sound body.We can only hope that this growing craze for cricket among the Tibetan youth is not just limited to watching the sport and becoming a couch potato, but it also extends to playing it on the ground!

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