The becoming of a nation

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Loads have been lauded on the Indian cricket team for conquering the world. To the many Indians, this has been a customary display of Indian nerves and fragility and the ultimate triumphing over emotions. A tied game with England, a heartbreak against SA, a gritty win to outclass the Aussies and the vindication of Pakistan...we watch cricket like we consume a bollywood flick and it is no surprise we demand the same codes of entertainment from a game like we do from a film. The songs, the poetry, the locales, the highlights and twilights, the cruises and the unexpected bends, the emergence of heroes and the conquering of villains and finally a happy ending. World Cup 2011 was just that or was it more...    

Parallel to the roller coaster journey of this tournament is the hint of the evolution of the Indian player. The involvement of corporate India, the proximity of the entertainment industry and the high handedness of the political machinery has ensured that 'performance' is the only key to survival.

Cricket in India is very demanding and it demands that the player understands his role and emerges triumphant at it. In many ways Indian cricket demands from its player (the indian male) a certain boldness that needs to asserted and dotted while traversing the map of glory. In fact, the world cup is revealing a cultural challenge for the masculine psyche. Look at  Zaheer, Sreesanth, Munaf, Bhajji and Yuvraj - they are all players expected to perform with the cricket ball, yet they are contrasting persona es. While there is a underlying sense of composure about Zaheer, Sreesanth is a fragmented self in conquest with demons within. As Munaf winds up in laziness, Bhajji is full of venom. Yuvraj the trickster exudes a celebrity self that is beyond the cricketing field. The batting department is full of another array of archetypes - Sehwag, Sachin, Gautam, Dhoni Raina - legends in their own right and men of thier own mind.

Where Indian cricket is different is in the existence of the boys within, while most sport is about clinical efficiency and conquering inconsitency, India feeds on emotion. Indian heroes cry and weep, blame and become, evolve and mature. The unpredictability is what makes us exciting. In India we do not win with genius and efficiency, we collide with our inner selves, we dodge fear, we manage expectation, we pray, we chant, we scream, we love our gods - all different kinds - Sachin the legend, Sehwag the gladiator, Gautam the warrior, Yuvraj the princely lover and Dhoni the sage and magician !

This is not just the world cup but this is the becoming of a nation that realizes its emotional weaknesses and has invested in overcoming it. Yet this is the nation that announces Spot Bonuses and pours into the streets, to clench fists and wave flags only to force themselves to believe that we can conquer the world if we can conquer ourselves.

     

    Cherish this !

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