My Dear Lab

My dear Lab,  

These days are tricky. The weather was cold or rainy or both for the last five months in Chicago. All was well. Everyone was happy to be in. Everyone was grateful to escape the outside. Now it is changing. The sun is bright. The air is warm. I am no longer comfortable in my jacket. It is such a big problem. I could carry so much stuff in its pockets. People have come out. They look happy. They make too much noise in the quad. The snow is gone. The skate boards are out. The bicycles too. Time for more accidents, I guess. I hear that the leaves will be back soon. The flowers will be blooming as well. The winds from the lake will once again be pleasing, they say. But who wants fresh air! Picnic on the beach! Water scooters! Night cruises! Jobless morons! They watch the blue sky with flakes of white clouds. They bathe in the sunlight. They go on long drives in convertibles. They enjoy hikes in the mountains. They camp in the woods. I wonder who pays these people! Thank God not everyone is like them. There are still good and hard-working persons left. We don’t waste our time in such fruitless activities. Still, as I said, it gets tricky these days. With so many worthless people around, I get distracted. That is where you come in, my dearest sweet lab. You stand rock solid against the outside stupidity. You have no windows. You do not let the sun rays in. You do not let me have a feel of time. You guard the views of the sky, the trees and above all, the people having fun. You are my messiah. I love you.

Cricket and Others

Known for its hot weather, hot food and hot women; no wonder India does not care about the winter sports. Well, any sports for that matter. Cricket? Well, that is almost a religion now. In the pie chart representing the effect of sports in India, I am pretty sure there will be only two classes; cricket and others. It is nothing new. We have more or less accepted the fact that this is the only game where we can command some respect. Then what makes me complain about the winter sports? When the national game of hockey is in shambles, I could hardly complain about skiing. However, there is a reason.

Did you know that India had 3 athletes in the winter Olympics held in Vancouver this year? Well, when you were busy watching the India-South Africa series, they were representing India in a global sports event. True, it is not really a priority for India. But would you let your athletes go to a stage like that without a uniform? Yes, they did not get even a uniform from the Indian government. The responsibility was taken up by local Indian crowd in Canada to supply them the uniform and raise funds for the contingent as reported by BBC and the Canadian media. Did you get to hear about it in the Indian media? If you did, please let me know.

Today all the money for sports in India is in cricket. Over a billion people going crazy over it obviously gives the corporate sector, which holds the money, the right reasons to sponsor cricket. Parties are thrown in the honor of the cricketers, awards announced and temples built. BCCI did a good job on sales and marketing capitalizing on the situation and went on to become the richest sports body in the world (F1, soccer, NBA all included). The achievement of cricket is commendable. But what about the ‘others’? The question has been put for quite some time now. Obviously BCCI won’t do anything. Neither will the corporate sector. The sports ministry, I do not know. The burden of moving politics is huge. I was wondering if the cricketers, who are getting paid in millions, will realize the value of the other sports. What if they appreciate the effort of their fellow-athletes who are in no way lesser in passion and dedication; but suffer because they chose the wrong sports in the wrong country? I guess they could do something about it. The nation watches them and follows them. Their lead could be crucial. They being the Gods of the religion of cricket probably should share responsibilities beyond their own field.