Billion Blues

Our Sri Lankan housekeeper Mary walked towards my brooding frame at the breakfast table today morning and hesitatingly asked, 'Sir, what happen match.....India won?'. Having stayed up all night to witness India's abject surrender, that didn't make for a great appetite.

Actually, all omens leading up to this match were kinda negative. First, the food at Chat Masala was spicier than we wanted and the Mojito a bit sweeter. Second, an office crisis meant we only started watching the match from the 18th over of SL innings. Third, I was watching it at Esh's place - 7 Indians & 1 Aussie in a Sri Lankan's home! And to top it all, Smits - my luck charm for India - left halfway through the Sri Lankan innings : Chamara, Vaas and Russell then took over to guide SL over 250.

I think the 1-tip-catch cricket we played in the intermission defocused us a bit and led to the madness in Uthappa and Ganguly (although Ganguly's bad hair day might also have caused the blood clot that fogged his brain). Tendulkar seemed to carry the burden of a billion Indians on his shoulders and that affected his agility - imagine taking a step forward with all that weight!! Yuvraj confused Tandoori chicken with Headless Chicken (they sound similar, esp. if you're munching Bingo) and lost his wicket in the process - I really want to know what he was running to. Poor Dhoni. He seemed to be in a real hurry to get back to shooting for Green Signal - didn't even wait for Murali to appeal. When Agarkar refused to acknowledge the common sense Dravid was offering for 3 consecutive balls and spooned a catch to mid-on, it became unbearable. I felt a pain in my chest; I think it was the sweet tea prepared by Vidya - hurts to see such affection :-).

I'm now counting my losses. Have to see how much all the airfare of my planned Carribean trip adds up to. Also, what do I do with the leave I have lined up. Maybe I'll go for a Vipashna session to clear my mind Will need that, else I'll have to endure a Billion Blues, thinking about the "if only's" from last night. If only Ganji had not gotten up from his sofa for a cig...........