Emotional Entities

Why are we so emotional? 'we' as in Indians. Isn't cricket a sport ? Isn't the BarmyArmy of England sportive enough to support a dumb team like the English cricket team, even though they lose more often than not ? Life of an Indian is mercurial. Extreme is normal, normal is abnormal, abnormal is undefined to most. From pointless stardom worship in Xollywood (X = {B,K,T}) to weird unhealthy cricket fanaticism, we Indians are in a way sentimental idiots. In fact, soccer followers are even worse in certain countries. Once a soccer coach said , soccer is not about life or death, its much more than that. So now I can proudly say, most of the people in this world are sentimental Idiots. English premier league fans aren't half wise as Barmy Army is.So to re-phrase "Why are we so emotional? 'we' as in humans".

India lost to Bangladesh in a cricket world cup tournament. Then managed to lose to SriLanka. Given the uncertainty of the game, anyone who knows the game and has some part of their head above their shoulders would accept the defeat and get depressed for a day or two and get to live their own life then on. But in India, it isn't the case, burning effigies, hurling stones at players' residence is a standard way of expending anger. From the players perspective, its even more sad. You play for the country, with all the passion one could imagine, and since people have unwarranted, unrealistic expectations and you--though might have 14000 odd runs and the maximum possible experience one could ask for--cannot meet those expectations all the time and you get berated and cursed for doing an innocuous thing - 'doing what you love'.

I have learned that supporting a entity(a person, a team, a cause) with all your heart is expensive and I have learned this the hard way. All I did was support a team, namely Indian cricket team, with all my heart, more often blinded by their fame than their game and I eventually was hurt beyond my imagination. It plays on your mind, the same feeling you get when you fail in a big exam. Its simple when you get out of the blues and see the past and analyze why what has happened to you, happened to you, you will realize this: the closer you stand to something, the more the thing will affect you, the thing may be a bomb, your dad, Indian cricket team, your girl friend.

So now that I realized the cause of the misery, what am I going to do about it ? Answer: Nothing. Just because your mom has a bulls eye shot at your heart, you cannot do away with her, can you? But your mom is not the same as the Indian cricket team. It sounds so logical but being an Indian, cricket is an inherent part of every desi. So doing away with cricket is next to impossible.

The good thing about these passionate entities is that they also have a very good way of keeping you mentally healthy. Your moms comfort is what you need when you are in US, when you just cannot handle the pressure. And they are like demons, if you chase one out other kicks in from behind you. Your mom gives you a nice blow, Sachin tendulkar's straight drive calms you down like a soothing balm. When India loses to Srilanka, calling up home to speak to your mom ceases the fire.

So its all a trade-off, a balancing act. There will be times such balancing act won't work, say when Sachin retires, It would probably take more time to sink in. But once you have understood the dynamics, you will be happy.