India vs Pakistan – the bubble or the cricket mania that matters !

Ever heard of a 'Cricket bubble' ?

Well ! Not a sportive version of 'Credit bubble' though on a lighter note ! It's the events surrounding a cricket match like India vs Pakistan (a day to go) that can create a bubble mania much bigger than the match itself.

Be it political rivalry, national security threat, game of cricket, or just an amateur sport of rural youth like the gilli-danda; India facing off Pakistan kindles the interest of massive spectators. That’s not all ! the mass media hypes vociferously about the incident in most dramatic form. Eventually, the news spreads by latitude and longitude, whether good or bad. All over the world, people tirelessly speculate on this subject and spill the beans in vivid forms. As always, the interested parties who are willing to take advantage of the situation enter into bets and odds to book profits. Mind you ! this is just a capsule of my observation.

You don't need a magnifying lens to see the spurt of events encompasing India face-off Pakistan in Cricket World cup 2011. Undoubtedly, it would have circumvented all the boundaries of political, economic or national tolerance. At the start of World cup 2011, this cricket fever was dormant in the minds of cricket fans which consequently erupted into a jubilant volcano after the quarter-final round. To catch of glimpse of this mind-boggling craze is just incredible and unimaginable !

Ouch ! can you believe it? Patients have postponed operation; houses turn hotels ahead of the clash; match tickets sold in black for a whopping INR 125,000; no fly zone over Mohali stadium; tight national security as never before; and much more drama in store yet unraveled. Sachin’s 100th century (against this Pakistan clash) estimated INR 6,000 crore to change hands on big bets. Not only is the match slated to be a firecracker; the odds set by the bookies are no less volatile. India is slated as favourites at 62 paise, while the Pakistanis are set at Rs. 1.58.

Ironically, people have liked to watch India-Pakistan as rivals more than wishing an amicable bilateral relationship. God forbid! an eternal curse to Indo-Pak ties.

To me, as an ardent cricket fan, it’s a break from my routine work, bunk my office, give lame excuse to my boss, restore my eatables provision before match-day, and watch it on television along with my cricket loving friends. Doesn’t matter what the outcome will be, (though ! I couldn’t refrain from supporting my national team INDIA) I will sure have fun !

Will India’s players succumb to the pressure ? Can Captain cool cleverly whisk away the tension factor and gel the team for a superb contest? Will the bookies benefit from the bubble surpassing the match outcome ? Else, Would the match be abandoned due to unexpected turn of events ?.....let the future decide!

So, don’t give an ear to the bubble mania and just join me to freak out at this stupendous cricket mania !

O ! MAN I am still alive in OMAN

A month passed as I stepped out of my nation ‘India’.

Leaving things to destiny, I landed in Muscat international airport, Oman on an employment visa on 29-Jan, 2011. Flying time was just 3 ½ hours, my heart-beat grew faster as I reached the terminal inter-twined with happiness and anxiety. Unfortunately, stranded for two hours for lack of proper visa clearance. Nevertheless, things went on well and found my way back home with the support of near and dear ones here.

One day passed ! A week ! A fortnight ! and a month now !

An incident that kicked off minuscule in Egypt cracked ripples across Middle-East. Egyptian rights groups protested for stepping down of their president Mubarak. Thereafter, the forces and anti-social elements working in near-by states Libya, Armenia, Tunisia staged mass protests and demonstrations against their governments. Economic activity came to a standstill. And, inspired this footage, the Omanis here initially launched soft disapproval for want of salary hikes and removal of ex-pats in certain industries. All of a sudden, they became outrageous and set ablaze some shopping mall in a city named Sohar.

People here believe in the ruling power and supremacy of ‘His Majesty’ who has transpired Oman over 40 years and led to its development. Yet, this turnaround of events would not stop disturbing the peace of mind for expats in Oman. The fact that 15-20 years ago a similar kind of protest had happened and did not blew up further may have pacified a few expats. In the meanwhile, the Indian embassy made the right move to advertise and call for requisite information (passport and civil resident card details) of Indians living here for updating in their central database for use in case of exigencies.

I never panicked and was too optimistic that Muscat will not be hit by any bad angels. Spoke to some Omanis in my office, they were sharing the same opinion as mine. Few were sarcastic, trying to frighten, albeit I kept my cool as always (All is well !). Never ever in this months’ time I grudged of living in this part of the continent, as it was truly great and worth relishing.

(dropped my eye-brows, put down my glasses, deeply took off meditating into next month events !)