Whats with cricket?

My fascination with cricket commenced with the 1996 World Cup held in the Indian subcontinent. I had just moved to India and the home and soul of cricket - Mumbai. Televisions, newspapers, radio stations, posters everywhere had cricket and only cricket and the sole most improtant event happenening. As an Indian cricket supporter, its popularity also lies in the fact that in the field of sport, cricket is the game India is any good at.

Cricket's charm lies in the fact that as a game it is the most diverse and complicated sport in existence. Probably why it is played by only a handful of countries. The difficulty in gaining popularity from a fan's perspecive is in this complications and diverse nature of the sport. But amongs its strongest supporters, this is it's strongest attribute. Test cricket, 50 over cricket and 20 over cricket are very different that require a substantially different skill set. Players (bowlers and batsmen) that can master all 3 forms of the game tend to be its greatest.

In recent times Cricket has gained commercial success thanks to India's growing middle class. Millions of dollars are paid to top cricketers from the top 4-5 nations around the world and players command endorsement figures as high as some international football players. Most of this money comes from India as multinationals line up to target a high consumer base with its most famous people. Players enjoy celebrity status and with the advent of social media can now interast personally with their fans thereby increasing their marketability.

Out of the 3 forms of the game Test cricket still retains its charms. Ofcourse, a game that goes on for 5 days, sometimes without a result will lose viewers in the long run with expendable time being such a scarce commodity noawadays. Most of Generation Y and Z tend to have low attention spans as well, which does Test cricket no favours. But a players skill, temprament, adaptability and patience is sevrely tested in this form. For a die-hard cricket fan, there is nothing more scared and revered that test cricket.

As the World Cup this year once again enteres the subcontinent, with India and Sri Lanka going in as favourites to win, again cricket's popularity will be at fever pitch. Even with the long drawn out schedule it will be an entertaining event (after the group stages).

I personally look forward to it, the excitement of supporting the strongest team in the tournament for the first time. No clear favourites can be ascertained yet, with conditions favouring hard hitting batsmen only, anything can happen.

After the success of last year's Fifa World Cup, it is cricket's time to shine.
   

Why do we hate being called fat

I have over the past few years noticed a difference in the way people perceive themselves to be. Growing up, we called people fat, thin, tall, short - without any malice intended. When you met a fat kid at school, you would call him fat. Nowadays I believe people have started to become more sensitive about the slightest of things. For example: If you had a workmate who was over-weight and wanted to go to the gym, you would notice straightaway other collegues chip in and say, 'Nah, you're fine. You don't need to lose any weight. Just be happy.'
I don't believe being fat is necessarily happy. Same way I don't believe being thin is either. It's more about being healthy. Living a sendentary lifestyle has a lot of negative connotations to your body. Yet, In Australia in particular, if you are fat, watch TV as soon as you get home and drink copious amounts of alcohol on the weekends - you are generally considered 'happy'.
I used be an overweight kid growing up and absolutely hated it. It may have something to do with me being a little vain. In the course of the last 11 years of my life, I have maintained regular exercise and controlled my diet. I am fairly proud of my physique though my biggest gain has been my inner health. Touchwood - I sleep sound, don't take any sick days in a year and my skin feels great too.
Exercise, going to the gym, controlling one's diet have a lot of positive aspects to overall well-being associated with it.
Being fat is not always 'happy'. Being healthy truly is.

Where do you belong

It is pretty surprising to see how religion has become such an important issue in today's world. Living in another multicultural country I see in everyday life how religion brings about disputes/differences of opinion/arguments and basically moves people apart, when in today’s world what we do need is to come together.

Being a sport fan, religion seems to have pervaded in that sphere too. Watching the Asia Cup football in 2007, every time the Omani or Qatari team scored a goal the whole team knelt down to touch their forehead to the ground as a sign of prostration to Allah for giving them the talent to play well; Matthew Hayden crosses his chest every time he scores a century for Australia; the ‘God’ himself Sachin Tendulkar looks up and says a thanks to someone upstairs when he scores big too. AC Milan striker Kaka even displayed a t-shirt saying, ‘I belong to Jesus’ after scoring in the World Club Championships in Japan. The Pakistani cricketer, one of the best batsmen in the world of cricket, Yousuf Yohanna who only a little while ago was catholic, thanks Allah for all the success he has been having.
Makes one wonder, how hard do you have to really work if everything is God given? And if religion is having such a big impact on our lives than do we define ourselves just by religion? Do we owe no relation to the country we belong to? Are we Hindu/Muslim/Catholic first, or are we American/Australian/Indian/Pakistani? When Yohanna thanks Allah for the success he has had, does that mean that the other Pakistani players in Pakistan who are not Muslim should convert to Islam in order to do well? Does he owe no thanks to the country that has given the opportunity for him to do well by selecting him in the team in the first place? Should not Kaka’s t-shirt have read, ‘I belong to Brazil?’
Most of these players have done well in their field of sport predominantly because of where they are from. They grew up watching and playing the sport that was popular in their respective countries. So who should they be thankful too?

Religion only works when it brings about peace and understanding between one another. We all have differences of opinion, and when you do live in multicultural countries, this divide magnifies. There still are a few ‘yobos’ out there who claim to be better than the other based on religion and believe only one religion should exist. There is not much anyone can do to change their way of thinking. As Gandhi said, “You must be the change you want to see in the world.” Living in a country like Australia, which is not to dissimilar too America, makes one realise where one’s loyalty should lie. If you earn your bread and butter living in a certain country, then I believe that’s who you belong to. You may not agree with everything the country’s politicians say, but you still belong to that country, and maybe one day your voice will be heard. It just depends what you say and how you say it.