Two sides to a coin

Everyday on my way to college in the mornings, I pass by a specific slum area when I get to see the bitter side of reality of how life is people who live out there and the kind of lives their children lead. But one thing strikes me hard every time I pass, the happiness with which the tiny tots of the slums happily run around screaming their throats out and playing with each other. All that those kids know are that and nothing more than that. No high-funda spendings, the ability to get themselves trained or nothing of that sort, but still they have their own physical activity to keep them engaged irrespective of the surroundings around them. To the little boys out there, their Sachin Tendulkar rocks the bat made out of some left over piece of wood, their stumps drawn with black charcoal on a pavement wall and their ball made of some worn out hard material. But what is heartening to see was the fact that they actually know every single detail of the game. The vigor and enthusiasm that is shown on their faces during their play is outstanding, shouting in joy when they dismiss a batsman or when a boy hits their makeshift ball high in the sky. As I go ahead a little further, I come across this well known school, where I see young boys coming out wearing track suits, with the cricket kits and talking in English about their practice session they had just been to. What a contrast I just saw within a matter of just ten minutes. Totally distinct from each other yet very similar on only one thread – the love for the game ‘Cricket’. It is then I realize that cricket in my country, has no boundaries and it truly is the unsaid religion of India. The kind of background that especially children come from, don’t matter at all. To them how they play, where they play, with whom they play, when they play is of least importance, it is the sheer love for the game and the joy of playing that matters at the end of the day for all of them. With the two mega cricketing festivals, the ICC World Cup and The IPL round the corner, everybody has a lot to look out for and enjoy!!!