In cricket’s shadow

•Your news title, What about us orphans is a heart wrenching one. The bitter lament of hockey stars that, compared to the welcome and financial bounty given to the victorious cricket team which has just returned from South Africa, gives one a vantage point to think deeply about the obsession of people with the game of cricket. Is it lack of genuine heroes in today’s society that pushes people to seek comfort in a cricket victory? Or is it because this gives an opportunity to people who are indolent to pass time in watching cricket matches on TV?

People old and young bunk their offices or colleges to witness cricket live, totally oblivious of anything else. The same people who are idolising cricketers now would be the first to pelt stones and burn their effigies after a defeat in an important match. Ajit Wadekar, Shahid Afridi and Younis Khan have all gone through this experience. Even the parents of today’s hero, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, must not have forgotten the unpleasant sight of their son’s effigy being burnt after the ignominious exit of India from the World Cup carnival just a few months ago.

— John Alexander

Nagpur

Too triumphal

•Our national tendency to swing from one emotional extreme to another seems all-pervasive. It was on full display for several days since September 24 when the Indian cricket team won the inaugural Twenty20 cricket final against Pakistan. The cliff-hanger match between the traditional rivals gave the feel of India snatching victory from the jaws of defeat; thus, the outcome appeared remarkable. But saturation coverage by the media, particularly TV, seemed to suggest that the nation had gone berserk. The showering of monetary and other rewards on the players — like a Porsche for Yuvaraj and one crore rupees for his six sixes in one over — seemed vulgar and bizarre.

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