India What???

No, I am not a Rabid, crazy cricket fan. Yes, I am proud that India won. And this is probably going to be the only world cup victory we Indians are going to see for the next 25 years. Or maybe until another "chak de" is made. Is It?

Victory was supposed to be sweet for me. But alas, it was short lived. All thanks to my niece. Let me explain here. So, no one was watching the game at home, until I walked in and turned on the TV. I started screaming and panicking every time the Paki's hit Sreesanth beyond the stands. I died a million times that day. I swore that my children will not watch cricket if India lost the game. And after umpteen prayers, and NLP practices, India won. And everyone were ecstatic. I call my brother and we were both way too happy!

All until my niece came sat next to me. And my cousin asked " Do you think this was a fixed one?" I grinned and said " HELL no!" So, my niece looks and me and asked the dreadful " What is a 'fixed' match?" I winced and explained it to her. She was thoughtful for a while. And she asked " Like Chak De?" I grinned and said "yea!" And I mentioned something about "traitor". She went " Who is a traitor?" I explained. She then asked " were Indian players involved in match fixing?" I thought and said "Yeah." She asked "who" and I said " You know, Mohammed Azharuddin!" She looked at me like I had 3 heads or something. She asked " WHO?" I was in disbelief. I mean, whats with these kids! They don't know him?? There were a million thoughts in my head about kids, Current affairs, news and everything allied. She suddenly smiled. And I was relieved. Then she got up, and as a parting shot " He was a player from YOUR generation, right?" My jaws hit the floor. So, this is what it feels like to be old. I was in pain for some time and thought of my brother and how many times I have hurled it at him... Man, I din know that it felt like a punch in your stomach.

I Feel equally clueless about the new players. I grew up when Sachin was a rookie, Kapil Dev was playing, Shastri was still groovy, Boon was on, Crowe was heading NZ, Akram and Imran Khan were swinging the Paki's ahead... I mean, who would have thought that silly boys like Ajit Agarkar will play? Times have changed... Cricketing times... I hate to admit that my brother was right all along... No matter what, Azhar is the most stylish batsman.