20/20....next best thing since krackjack 50/50?

Aahh…the familiar feeling of anticipation, excitement, restlessness. The occasion is none other than the Indian Pakistan clash and in a match no less than the 20/20 finals! Though not a great cricket buff myself(not since the Indian team went bust in late 90’s), I could not help getting swept up in the futile pursuit. The new format seemed to be an answer to my own thoughts. After all, who has the patience of sitting and watching back to back 50 overs of the gentleman’s sport intersped leisurely with advertisements/gaps after every over, every wicket, every boundary, every case of ‘third umpire’ and what not! A 20 overs might just be bearable. However even having considered all this, the finals were the first time I finally got to break my ‘sanyas’ from cricket. And guess what? Here I was sitting in Digital Electronics lab wreaking my head trying to find a fault in a mod-3 down counter, when somebody comes and announces “FSC 20/20 finals convo mein dikha rahe hai!!’
FSC = film screening committee
Convo = convocation hall, dats where convocation’s held(hah) and many other such irrelevant events.
Well well isn’t this a surprise, fsc doing some noble work after all. Ok, so we quit the lab a little early and go to convo to get some good seats. We are a little early, 5 pm, match’s not till 5:30, nothing to do but sit. Yawn. Working in digital lab always makes me sleepy, it’s a mystery yet to be solved. People start piling up in scores and its not much time before covo’s packed…Toss, India won.'

…

Ah, the match’s finally started. India batting. 12 runs in first over. Hmm…this might be interesting after all! But soon the first wicket falls. The match’s intensity suddenly drops. Couple of more overs. Runrates down from 12 to 7.something(the term has a new meaning since joining college). Yawn. A couple of more overs, a couple of wickets, some more runs………………….

YEAHHHH! I wake with a start. Seems I had dozed of the last 6 overs..an amazing feat considering I am sitting upright and the packed hall’s roaring with yells. someone must have hit a boundary or something…the bastard. I finally come to a conclusion this is not the best place to sleep and start wading my way though the seats and set for the hostel.

Reach hostel. More shouting. Jobless ppl sitting in common room(one with a 70” TV inside) avoiding all the zillion things they should rather be doing. I make my way up the long steps to my room dear room. Rooms locked, roomie must be in common room. Fortunately its not one of the days when I have forgotten the keys. I walk inside and realize I am not that sleepy anymore. I sit on the comp for a while, but soon decide I am sleepy again. So I just lie down and let the sweet enamor of sleep consume me.

...

YEAH!!!!!!!! I awake with a start. What this time? I have been sleeping for a little over 1.5 hours. The sounds coming from the adjacent hostel….jobless ppl piling in its common room too(which by some complex 3D geometrical principles is closer to my room than my own hostel’s common room). Guess India must have won! Now dats something I guess warrants cheering. Soon my roomie and a couple of other jobless guys come over and start chatting over how India seems to have won from the hairraising finale(I guess when India is considered, even a match with Bangladesh and Kenya is hairraising until its over). I listen to them patiently trying to figure out exactly what I had been dreaming just when I woke up…

A little while later, I get a call from home, thats Ranchi people, hometown of the venerable MR. M.S.D H O N I. and for records…hes lives just a couple of blocks away from me(can anyone imagine how else could I be so enthusiastic about the sport?!). well, its dad, reporting live from the roads of ranchi(hes out for an evening walk). Seems hundreds of jobless people have come up to Mr. Dhoni’s residence for only-god-know-what(I do hope they realize Mahendra isn’t inside, or they would be terribly disappointed), to just cheer probably(I could hear some boo-booing form the phone).. noble of them.

Guess noones getting much sleep tonight….


So here ends my adventure of the night when India won its 2nd world cup after almost 25 years. I congratulate u all...and Thank you for bearing with me. I know it was a monumental task, and I am proud of you all.