Soccer Punch!
"We'll teach you soccer in 5 mins" proclaims the headline on the sports page (thankfully not the front page!) lightening scores of hearts which have been palpitating in rhythm with the frenzied run-up to Germany 2006. Droopy-shouldered denizens of the Tavern called "Tendulkar's elbow", who's ritual chant is "Dravid, the Wall! What the heck is football?" can emerge in the sunshine with renewed confidence of having mastered the basics of the beautiful game. I must admit to catching the bug myself and spending those fruitful 5 minutes with the daily read.
Even my musical tastes have acquired a soccerly color: Ricky Martin's World Cup anthem "La Copa de la Vida" gets more airtime these days than Bon Jovi and U2. Not to be outdone, Vengaboyz have made a comeback with their masterpiece "Brazil" which brings a spring to my step and "We're going to Ibiza" adds fizz to the party! I find myself yelling 'Go Wanchope' or 'goal goal' or even 'go for it!' as football fever grips me firmly.
Well, you can't blame me for getting bitten by the soccer bug. If you saw all those images of football pooja in Kolkata where the black-and-white sphere is the subject of ardent worship and boys of all shapes and sizes getting football hair-dos, you would too! Nope, I am not kidding. If you want to get up, close and personal with soccermania, you need'nt fly to Germany-you'd get to see it on the streets of Kolkata, Cochin and even Bangalore and I am not just talking about rickshaw-walla street soccer matches!
Cutting away from all the frenzied media blitzkrieg, I have discovered the pure joy of watching a game of soccer on TV. The memories of those unruly football games played as a 12 year old on the neighborhood maidan are fresh again-the games where I used to be one of the only 2 girls on the team and had my share of face-to-face encounters with the ground beneath my feet! I can smell the earth again....
Even my musical tastes have acquired a soccerly color: Ricky Martin's World Cup anthem "La Copa de la Vida" gets more airtime these days than Bon Jovi and U2. Not to be outdone, Vengaboyz have made a comeback with their masterpiece "Brazil" which brings a spring to my step and "We're going to Ibiza" adds fizz to the party! I find myself yelling 'Go Wanchope' or 'goal goal' or even 'go for it!' as football fever grips me firmly.
Well, you can't blame me for getting bitten by the soccer bug. If you saw all those images of football pooja in Kolkata where the black-and-white sphere is the subject of ardent worship and boys of all shapes and sizes getting football hair-dos, you would too! Nope, I am not kidding. If you want to get up, close and personal with soccermania, you need'nt fly to Germany-you'd get to see it on the streets of Kolkata, Cochin and even Bangalore and I am not just talking about rickshaw-walla street soccer matches!
Cutting away from all the frenzied media blitzkrieg, I have discovered the pure joy of watching a game of soccer on TV. The memories of those unruly football games played as a 12 year old on the neighborhood maidan are fresh again-the games where I used to be one of the only 2 girls on the team and had my share of face-to-face encounters with the ground beneath my feet! I can smell the earth again....
posted by Starship Enterprise at 10:03 PM
10 Comments:
wow!succerpunched alright!why dont you try sending these to some magazine or some newspaper?im sure they'll appreciate your humour and style of writing,its very shobha de/bachchi karkaria/jug suraiyya..so basically you should send it to the times of india...you have a great chance.
besto!
DAMN! the last word sure gave away the identity of that blogger!
Hey Anon, thanks for the 5 star review...You'll sure get the first autographed copy of my book!
not bad, didn't think you were goin to update this place...:)
you are right about soccer mania in Kolkata though. I experienced it first hand in one of my sales stints in 2002 when every sale of coconut oil to the shopkeeper began with a discussion on Ronaldo and Rivaldo!
ya sweets!thats what jug and gang did...they wrote columns and published a book of the compilations.
keep writing...u r gifted...will be dippin in regularly.. :-)
A wonderful take on soccer! A game my nephews are mad about soccer and I got it from them.
Thanks Mridula..Aside from the fun in watching soccer, I do envy the absolutely heightened euphoria the player feels after homing that goal in...Do we ever experience that feeling in our day-to-day lives??
Starship, all I can remember as euphoria now a days is when I climb the highest point on a trek or come across an incredible view. Pretty lame in comparison but I live a small life :)
Mridula: Not all of us can be a Zidane or a Sharapova!:) I would'nt mind if Alonso got a two-seater though! ahh...what a satisfying flight of fantasy!
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