IPL and me

Engrossed completely in the intricate debugging for of the Service request creation scenario, for once I took my eyes off the 14" addictive screen in front of me and my heart jumped. Looking around I could see only a few people in the sprawling floor of my building. Dazed, I looked at my watch to see what time it is of the night. What !! it was only 6:45 p.m. in the evening !! Am I dreaming or has my watch stopped, the silence was characteristic of an idyllic night. Suddenly I realised its IPL time and people have left to catch the action in screens that are meant for entertainment, unlike mine.

I am always enthused by the name of the cricket and is in awe with the indomitable spirit of the game that makes people mad with frenzy. I used to devour news about teams and players one month before the show-down actually began and participated in heighened discussions about all aspects of the game during my journey from office to home which is otherwise nondescript. My passion for cricket gave me sleepless nights during the IPL and I used to have mood swings with the vicissitudes of fortunes of my favourite teams in the matches. With bonafide interests, Chennai Super Kings was always a team of meticulous attention and I always wanted them to slay their opponents with diabolical precision. They were doing it quite well until they lost to Kolkata Knight Riders. That had instigated me to kick the wall in disgust and limp for the next 2 days. Bangalore and Deccan were two other teams I would swoon for. I would hardly blink when Raina and Dhoni would set the screen on fire with their scorching speed and incredible majesty. Although Gilchrist and Hayden are quite old for my liking, their sheer presence would keep me glued to my seat for 180 mins and later have cold dinner and a back pain that would necessitate my room-mate to go in search of pain balm.
As I watched in despair Dhoni walking out of the ground and my favourites for the Finals, Chennai.vanquished, one thing struck a chord. The illustrious and much vaunted line of sports stars did not assure any victory. Victories went to opponents who played smarter as teams - teams that knew their own and colleagues' strengths and prevailed as seamless machines, with brilliant defences and aggressive tackles.

True the days were exhausting with relentless high priority messages and the nights were long with the nail biting finishes of some of the matches in the IPL, yet the body and mind garnered all the energy to keep me fit and fine for this one month of sheer exuberence. Now that the IPL is over, tomorrow is another day, to live on with the same zest as the fervour of the IPL. Sure, it will be fun moving along.