It’s not cricket, is it now?

Enough said about how we should be ignoring cricket and giving more attention to other sport because Dhoni and co performed so dismally in the ongoing T20 World Cup. We all know that’s never going to happen. Nobody is going to put aside the years and years of fanatical adulation for ‘the gentleman’s game’ and suddenly switch to adoring another sport. No matter how many wins in other arenas we chart up (no matter even that the Indian ladies’ wins in this gentleman’s game go unnoticed and unsung for the most part).

In fact the way we’re going on spluttering indignance at Dhoni’s blaming IPL parties for bad form, instead of concentrating on applauding achievements by other sportspersons (chess wizard Vishwanathan Anand, the Indian hockey team in Malaysia) highlights this very paradox — we’re still devoting mindspace and eyeballs to cricket’s loss instead of unrestrainedly jubilating in a chess victory or a difficult hockey gain (the team won against Oz after 7 years). The entertainment world held itself meekly in check, making sure no major movies or television shows were put out during the course of the IPL. After it ended, everyone knew the dates of the commencement of the T20 World Cup. Compare that to awareness of schedules of any other game. More often than not, it’ll come a poor second. Pop quiz: When do the Commonwealth Games begin? How many know the month or date?

Do we even care that they’re being hosted in the capital and Shera the Royal Bengal tiger (thankfully unextinct yet) is mascot? Get the drift? No matter how badly the boys in blue play, no matter how shoddy their form or ungentlemanlike their excuses, they’ll always be top-of-the-mind. That won’t change, doesn’t matter how fervently we vow, after each disaster performance, that it must. Because only in India is cricket worshipped so, that a cricketer’s entry on Twitter makes for front page news. Do we know if Vishy Anand, World Champion in chess for the fourth time, is on any social networking site yet? The point is, do we care to know?

In all this talk of sport, here’s one that I re-learned
recently. It’s called ‘running race’, and it involves bounding all over the house pretending I can’t run faster than my three-year-old daughter who wins most times and receives an imaginary prize. Parents who are having to entertain their younger offspring as summer vacations stretch on, will empathise. I’m not complaining one bit, though — in fact, I would recommend it for all those with young ones. Our oft-sedentary lifestyles can do with the exercise, and I cannot think of a more effective stress buster to chase away the lethargy of the maddening mid- May heat.

And as the Cannes Film Fest gets underway, the spotlight shifts from sport to showbiz. Check out our Bollywood hotties as they regale the red carpet en masse!