Never.....Again....

It Was Never The Same.....

Smoke Billowing, tyres I followed,

No last sightings! My throat swallowed.

Roses mourned the departure! Gave up the fragrance,

I too saw more nights, darkness became banal -night dawned on hence.

Memories are fickle, they change like water,

The heart ink is still fresh; it fails to better the blotter.

What festoons is a chasm, a valley of thorns and fire,

Mind still laughs at the bleeding heart, ignores the satire.

Again to start! Again to build! Fight! Regain!!

Alas! It was never the same again.

It will never be the same again.

Reflexes slow, still courteous, bowed to the will easy,

Senses got the biggest blow, all numb and queasy.

Time chooses its moments now, a telltale of lost grounds,

The seed you nurtured hides somewhere rotten beneath the earthly mounds.

You had to leave someday, a simmering doubt told me yonder,

But why leave a garden of heaven, the manner ripped me asunder.

Groggy eyes, belying saunter, the mornings stopped fresh and dewy,

Evenings tell the glory of sun descending, cadence now adamant and blowy.

Again to start! Again to build! Again to tame! Lots to gain!!

Alas! It was never the same again.

It will never be the same again.

Numbness from pain cleaves the way for order,

Feeling normality throb again, sanity claws back from the border.

Being busy bee helps alleviate, distracts the gnaw of the old,

Iron hearted I`ve become, my soul! For dimes I went and sold.

Clutching gorged heart in one hand and a firm quill in the other,

I roam fearlessly in the world`s ether, no longer a fool`s fodder.

Throwing caution, I wander from one stone to another,

No one was rigid as you; pity welled in them too, seeing this stumbling dodder.

Again to destroy! Again to maim!!

Alas! It was never the same again.

It will never be the same again.

"Club-bing The Nation"

 

A towering hit! A white orb flies in the orbit! Elation!!Euphoria!!! And pure ecstasy...

28 years of wait gets over in an instant. A dream of a nation, heartfelt wish of every marketer and hero strapped common man`s prayers, all fulfilled and answered. The marquee cup is ours. The talisman of everlasting fame, adulation and heroism returns!

                                                   Wait! Is the world cup over? Of course it is...I saw the six, I saw the victory lap, the ceremony, the cup...even did a jig on the street caught in the unbridled joy. But why then I can still see a sea of people wanting to get into the stadia. My friend gets into my ear. Oh is it? The IPL?Now what is it?...My friend uses expletives which I would find hard to mention .Now, now mind your language here gentleman! agreed I don`t know about this new brand of the gentlemen`s game, but I still follow tests and ODI`s...I hear a muted response...what...I am old fashioned? Grrrr...

                                          I am sad. I feel pathetically rueful. Not because the game is being slowly midgeted to fit the 20 over coffin hinged and bolted with precious metals.Nope.Hardly my concern. Not because my favorite players are playing with one leg, a broken finger, a sore back..No..No..That what heroes are...unyielding to pain. Neither it is because of the defection of players from boards to play in IPL,or players refusing to report to international duties. Buck matters!!Neither the chaotic sea of money,power,corruption,commercialization deters my spirit that itself is changing its colour from being pearly white to that of an obnoxious green. Having no loyalties, I cheer for all. What bothers me the most in and about the 'much advertised-thrill laden-run feast-bowler`s backyard-cricket killer' IPL is that it offers too less monetary incentive for the players.

                      You read the above line (if you still are here) correctly. Is it not? the players after getting through the auction hammer, take home 'only' what 28-54 lacks per wicket or about 5 lacks per run 'only’. Gross injustice for players who best their aching bodies, restless souls and perform to the billing after all the hullabaloo over the busy annual schedule. They defy odds! They make the packed international schedule appear nonchalantly easy. It’s all too natural to pick up few niggles and one or two injuries along the way. But they play with pain for two months and what they get? Few crores?okay,agreed the life is full or rather overflowing with glamour(blame that lass and the blog!), you have a chance to make it to the national squad(easy for you if playing in the same club with the national skipper!).But are these perks enough for these superhumans?Nah!!

                                               I don`t like the West Indies! I think the place has lost its importance and relevance! So what if we haven`t won a series there since long. What if none of our players boast of a record worth mentioning on the 'once terror-now genial ‘pitches of the Windies.Cakewalk is the word. World Champions Vs Caribbean Minnows. No match. We might end up loosing a few games here and there, so what? England series is where the focus is and should be. Obviously less important than IPL but no doubt more important than West Indies. Let the stars nurse their scars. Pardon them O countrymen if they don`t perform. I beg you to consider their rustiness once they take the field after sharpening their skills in front of studio camera lens.Completey in contrast to one another,Tiredness,rustiness,injury scare are the three words in Indian cricket which are not only the most banal placebos for underperforming, yet in a strange way players switch between them so beautifully, that they seem to complement one another rather embarrassingly.

                                

       But I don`t get enough of cricket. After nearly 3 months of world cup and IPL,I want more.3-4 cricket channels dishing out nonstop cricket 24*7 isn`t enough. I eat,drink,sleep cricket but I miss it during my work. The impact of the sport wanes, but who cares about quality, quantity rules the roost. More runs needed?...make the blades thicker..boundaries shorter. Need more money in the game?...stuff advertisements between balls...invent an ill timed  timeout. More matches?...get more teams. No one can touch or match us. We can make them play according to us. We will create a window that will shrink the game to our great nation only. We are power.

I have power too! Power to watch nonstop raining sixes and fours. Apetite for miscued fours, edgy sixes and swirling dropped catches. I cheer for misfieldings,dropped catches ,missed stumpings.Hungry for runs,I cheer the bludgeoning big buy.

                         Well, none of my 'busy-ness' to talk about the beloved sport. I am no longer old fashioned, stopped watching test cricket! I only watch cricket. I only play cricket.I neither watch nor play other sports.I am a common man, I know nothing about a certain Somdev or a certain Saina or someone called Vishy. Not my fault, is it?everytime an event of other sport is on air, cricket is also there. Choice between the two, bah…easy.Olympics,hockey,athletics,archery,wrestling ,chess?….not in my sporting vocabulary.

When cricket is there who longer cares!!!

Heard that there will be t-20 tournament in my colony also. Will watch that too. What better things I have to do?