I expected many great, once-in-a-lifetime experiences to come during my trip to India: riding camels in the desert, visiting the famous Taj Mahal, living for an extended period in a foreign country, etc. The once-in-a-lifetime experience I did not expect: watching the host country of the Cricket World Cup win the cup for its favorite sport while surrounded by screaming fans.
In case that was too vague, I will explain. I know that India is too diverse for generalizations, but this one almost works: Indians are almost all crazy about cricket. It has probably a greater following here than American Football has in the United States. This means that people in India were excited to see the country host the ICC Cricket World Cup this year, regardless of who wins. As for our group from Minnesota, we gathered at the only game in Kolkata, Ireland vs. South Africa in early March. It was a memorable experience, but a long match. I left before South Africa won, exhausted about five or six hours into the eight hour match.
Combining this excitement for cricket with the national pride that frequently goes into overdrive in reference to sports (and yes, this also applies to state, city, and school pride where applicable), the world cup was an unmistakeable part of India for over a month now. Stores sold jerseys, and fans were encouraged to "Bleed Blue" (India's team color). I first noticed that this was more than just a commercial event when India played its first match. Everyone followed the match in whatever way possible. And when India played England, I found out immediately upon entering the mall with friends. Hundreds of people stood in the central atrium to stare at the large screen. I don't think I have ever seen such numbers of people standing to watch a television screen. They filled all floors of the mall and cheered loudly for all great plays. I thought it an exciting atmosphere that I would not soon forget.
Then, India made it to the semi-final match against Pakistan. As everyone excitedly discussed the upcoming match, I likened it to the 1980 Winter Olympics hockey game between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. Both events postioned countries in the midst of political tensions against each other in a game that could not remain only about the athletic contest. People try to keep politics out of sports, but only cricket could make the Pakistani Prime Minister and the Indian Prime Minister sit in the same box for more than eight hours. My friend Kia and I returned to South City Mall to see the hundreds of people again squeezed into the atrium and along the railings to see the match, leaving empty stores save for employees tuned to the stores' televisions. It was a fantastic atmosphere, for cricket lovers and people watchers alike. I watched the second half of the match at the house with my host parents. It was a great ending, not a blow-out but clearly an Indian win, followed by loud celebrations on the streets well into the night.
And then there was the final match: India vs. Sri Lanka. Yes, we are talking WORLD cup even if the best performances came from teams in Asia. I watched with friends in a home before moving to City Centre, another shopping complex. At first, we stayed in a restaurant lounge that afforded a great view of the outdoor screen without requiring us to be cramped in a crowd. It was fun to watch the party-like reactions to great plays. But after dinner, we squeezed our way into probably the last space left in the crowd. Was that ever an experience! Every commercial break, music blared and people started Bollywood dancing. Fans screamed, "India, Jeetega!" (India will win), and every four or six (comparable to a homerun in baseball) brought a deafening thunder of excitement. Sure, we were overcrowded, hot, and dealing with limited visibility. It's all part of the experience.
It was in this electric atmosphere that I was fortunate enough to watch India sustain an incredible run rate to make up for a dismal offensive start. With one last blast into the crowd, India was officially the Cricket World Cup champions. City Centre erupted. Noise, dancing, hugging, cheering, and more for quite some time. Everyone wanted to shake hands and, in our case, welcome us to the country. Someone from a local news station pulled us aside to ask how it felt to experience this while surrounded by native Indians. Our response: unbelievable. I do not know if I have ever seen so much excitement in my life, and that's saying something. We couldn't even walk away from the shopping center as normal, because people insisted upon photos, dancing, and even dousing us in a healthy dose of leftover Holi colors (dry, thank goodness!).
Many people say that sports have a power to turn a group of people into a community. Well, on Saturday evening, all of India was a community sharing a common cause for celebration. I am lucky to have been able to see this, and even luckier that the community so willingly welcomed us to be a part of it all.
Photos:
In another note, I have another batch of photos online. I have finally caught up for the most part, including everything post-Sundarbans through the end of March. This means that it does include many photos from the colorful holiday Holi. Actually, it's not too many photos this time. Take a look at them HERE.
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| Fans at South City Mall |
In case that was too vague, I will explain. I know that India is too diverse for generalizations, but this one almost works: Indians are almost all crazy about cricket. It has probably a greater following here than American Football has in the United States. This means that people in India were excited to see the country host the ICC Cricket World Cup this year, regardless of who wins. As for our group from Minnesota, we gathered at the only game in Kolkata, Ireland vs. South Africa in early March. It was a memorable experience, but a long match. I left before South Africa won, exhausted about five or six hours into the eight hour match.
Combining this excitement for cricket with the national pride that frequently goes into overdrive in reference to sports (and yes, this also applies to state, city, and school pride where applicable), the world cup was an unmistakeable part of India for over a month now. Stores sold jerseys, and fans were encouraged to "Bleed Blue" (India's team color). I first noticed that this was more than just a commercial event when India played its first match. Everyone followed the match in whatever way possible. And when India played England, I found out immediately upon entering the mall with friends. Hundreds of people stood in the central atrium to stare at the large screen. I don't think I have ever seen such numbers of people standing to watch a television screen. They filled all floors of the mall and cheered loudly for all great plays. I thought it an exciting atmosphere that I would not soon forget.
Then, India made it to the semi-final match against Pakistan. As everyone excitedly discussed the upcoming match, I likened it to the 1980 Winter Olympics hockey game between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. Both events postioned countries in the midst of political tensions against each other in a game that could not remain only about the athletic contest. People try to keep politics out of sports, but only cricket could make the Pakistani Prime Minister and the Indian Prime Minister sit in the same box for more than eight hours. My friend Kia and I returned to South City Mall to see the hundreds of people again squeezed into the atrium and along the railings to see the match, leaving empty stores save for employees tuned to the stores' televisions. It was a fantastic atmosphere, for cricket lovers and people watchers alike. I watched the second half of the match at the house with my host parents. It was a great ending, not a blow-out but clearly an Indian win, followed by loud celebrations on the streets well into the night.
And then there was the final match: India vs. Sri Lanka. Yes, we are talking WORLD cup even if the best performances came from teams in Asia. I watched with friends in a home before moving to City Centre, another shopping complex. At first, we stayed in a restaurant lounge that afforded a great view of the outdoor screen without requiring us to be cramped in a crowd. It was fun to watch the party-like reactions to great plays. But after dinner, we squeezed our way into probably the last space left in the crowd. Was that ever an experience! Every commercial break, music blared and people started Bollywood dancing. Fans screamed, "India, Jeetega!" (India will win), and every four or six (comparable to a homerun in baseball) brought a deafening thunder of excitement. Sure, we were overcrowded, hot, and dealing with limited visibility. It's all part of the experience.
It was in this electric atmosphere that I was fortunate enough to watch India sustain an incredible run rate to make up for a dismal offensive start. With one last blast into the crowd, India was officially the Cricket World Cup champions. City Centre erupted. Noise, dancing, hugging, cheering, and more for quite some time. Everyone wanted to shake hands and, in our case, welcome us to the country. Someone from a local news station pulled us aside to ask how it felt to experience this while surrounded by native Indians. Our response: unbelievable. I do not know if I have ever seen so much excitement in my life, and that's saying something. We couldn't even walk away from the shopping center as normal, because people insisted upon photos, dancing, and even dousing us in a healthy dose of leftover Holi colors (dry, thank goodness!).
Many people say that sports have a power to turn a group of people into a community. Well, on Saturday evening, all of India was a community sharing a common cause for celebration. I am lucky to have been able to see this, and even luckier that the community so willingly welcomed us to be a part of it all.
Photos:
In another note, I have another batch of photos online. I have finally caught up for the most part, including everything post-Sundarbans through the end of March. This means that it does include many photos from the colorful holiday Holi. Actually, it's not too many photos this time. Take a look at them HERE.
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