Adios....MEN IN BLUE

Good things seldom last forever. This is 'paramasatya' or the ultimate truth of life. Even sports cannot be untouched by it. However, kings of good times are larger in number in the sporting world than in real life. Fantasies are more often realized in sports than in our ordinary lives. That’s why we mortals follow the immortals (sporting gods) in order to fulfill our desire to be charmed by our very own (ya..we do consider them to be one among us). When you are young or even otherwise like Ramachandra Guha, you tend to feel that your hero is not just another human being, expression of yourself. There were times I had been let down by Sourav. Friends making a mockery of my hero during his failures felt like a personal insult to me. Sourav also gave me countless occasions to hold my head high among my peers. Heroes and their teams become attached to our lives. Following my Indian team has been more than a pastime for me. Even experiencing extremes of emotions (total gloom to uncontrollable ecstasy) would not have been possible without team India. When you follow a team, everything associated with your team becomes a revered symbol or an item of joy. So was the colour blue for me. I admit, with a sense of guilt, that even my love for the Indian tricolour was enhanced to a certain extent (say from 90% earlier to 95%) due to team India. Whenever I was asked by others about my favourite colour, I used to get confused between 'sky blue' or 'light blue'. Thankfully, I had settled for the 'Indian blue'(colour of our jersey) quite a few years back. Team India and the colour blue seemed to co-exist with each other. It was bound to remain so even if Dhoni’s grandson were to play for India........... but alas, the tragedy was to come. The Men in Blue were no more- they are the men in deeeeep blue now. I felt betrayed to see this happen. Indian cricket fans have to live with the terrible truth. And what followed were 2 consecutive losses. It felt as if Indian players were robbed of integral element from their armour. Some things must remain the same and for me, the Indian blue is one of those. Hope never dies. Here's one Indian fan hoping that journey of the Men in deeeep Blue is short-lived. For the time being, adios…. Men in Blue.