In all my daydreams about my little sonny growing up, I never imagined this particular pitfall.
Riju is a cricket fan. Fair enough, in the country of Sachin. I'm a bit of a follower, too. Problem is, Riju is an IPL fanatic and his Team are the Kolkata Knight Riders. This is the franchise's 4th year and all three previous years, KKR has been at the bottom of the table. One would've thought that was enough to put one off KKR, but not my son. He's still very much a KKR person. And therein lies my problem.
Every time the Knights play, I must play the paramedic-cum-counsellor role. Comforting a traumatised pre-teen while predicting bright futures and hiding away the breakables surreptitiously is no mean task, mind you. And the bunch of losers make my task even more difficult. This year, just when things were going smoothly with three wins in a row, they had to go and lose the next two games. Pall of gloom at home, immediately.
These days, my mornings are spent crystal-ball gazing. Newspapers arrive; Riju's the first one to get to them; and then the dreaded announcement, made in a tone befitting the calamity: "KKR has slipped down one more place on the League table."
"Have they, dear?"
"Today, if the Royal Challengers win, they'll slip further down." [Voice nearly inaudible]
"Don't worry, honey, KKR won't slip further." [As if!]
"You sure, Mum-mum?" [Heart-breakingly hopeful]
"Of course! They'll play the Semis this year, I tell you." [They'd better!]
"Then, they can't lose a single game from now on..." [slight note of disbelief]
"And they won't." I close the argument with Nostradamus-like flourish, and send up a little prayer myself.
All through this conversation, I'm aware that the moment KKR lose another tie (and that's often enough, believe me!), Riju will turn on me furiously, holding me to my prophecy. And apart from cursing my stupidity, I'll have no way out. Try explaining to a fan that sports is all about participating (as opposed to, winning), and you'll know why I do what I do. Those hopeful eyes, clinging to every single word of my wild prophecy, just make it seem so right at that moment. Never mind my surging blood pressure the next game night.
3 comments:
Alive and kicking! Mum's the word!
write. more.
@Jaggo and Monjima: Wish I could conquer my lethargy oftener. The subject is so rich, and the experiences so myriad that it's a shame not to record these.
Anyway, this is what Dhiman had to say after reading the post (since he's technologically challenged, so am posting the comment on his behalf):
My commiserations. I understand the psychology of being part of such a brood: one which is rarely happy. Show me any fan who is always delirious about his or her team and I will show you the sun on a night sky. Seeing him go through this is like revisiting Fever Pitch annually for the 7 IPL weeks. The post sums it up beautifully.
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