The Hindu : Reporter's Diary: Cricket crazy or shock?

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Mar 23, 2004

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Reporter's Diary: Cricket crazy or shock?

Call it a casualty of the Indo-Pak one-day series, day matches from 9.30 a.m. to 5 p.m. are seriously affecting normal works, even minor ones like repairing a fuse box.

Sample this. It's 11 a.m. on a match day. A locality in the city suddenly finds itself sweating in the scorching heat as a nearby fuse box decides to take a break, after a little bit of hissing and sparking. A couple of disgruntled residents call up the `power Gods' on 1912, dubbed the `helpline.'

Sure, the response is polite: "Our people will be there to help you in less than 30 minutes." The wait starts. Thirty minutes. One hour. Another call. "They haven't come so far? Please check up after 10 minutes, I'll remind them."

The wait continues. The residents decide to go to the local Discom office where a person sitting on the veranda checks out their complaint number and then calls out a name, that of the repair expert, who saunters out of the office, seriously listens to the complaint and then says in the politest of tones: "Please excuse me for another 30 minutes, the first session of the match will be over by then and I'll come."

Knocks out even your fuse box, doesn't it?

* * *

Cricket is a great unifying factor, cutting across regional and language bias. Though it is not uncommon to find good company during train journeys and people striking interesting conversations, there are many who like to keep their own company either through reading a book, gazing through the window or enjoying one's favourite music.

But Sunday proved to be different to many train passengers when the crucial cricket match between India and Pakistan was on at Lahore.

Though strangers to each other, they were only enthusiastic to involve every one around them in the game of cricket. One could have thought that the whole coach might have belonged to a large contingent of friends and relatives.

While those receiving regular updates on their cell-phones immediately shared the news with eager fellow passengers, there were others who called up family members or friends and started sharing the live commentary they got from them.

It was literally ball- to-ball account those travelling in the train got.

When the game was finally won, most of the passengers, who had Ugadi specials packed for their dinner, shared it with fellow passengers, while others opened sweet packets and distributed to all. Some way to celebrate cricket!

* * *

Rules are supposed to be followed by everyone. But those who have money, influence and political connections seldom care for rules.

The police, who always eye the ordinary and the not-so- influenced, simply choose to let off such people.

This car zooms past policemen who are busy challaning auto-rickshaws and two-wheeler riders. Are there no rules for this driver?

And the number plate too indicates how much the vehicle-user cares for rules. He, however, is fair enough to admit it on his rear windscreen.

* * *

Netizens and citizens. First grade citizens and second grade citizens.

The Chief Justice of the Tamil Nadu High Court, Justice B. Subhashan Reddy, came out with a futuristic picture of the world that would invariably be technology driven in the days to come.

"The world would be vertically divided between the IT savvy and the IT illiterates. Those adept at computers would automatically become first grade citizens and those who are not figure lower the rung, even if they are literate in general terms. Such would be the sweep of the IT revolution," he maintained.

By Dennis Marcus Mathew, M.L. Melly Maitreyi, R. Ravikanth Reddy, and K.V.S. Madhav

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Reporter's Diary: Cricket crazy or shock?