Event: Screening of the most-talked-about ICC World Cup semi-final match between India and Pakistan.
Location : Curry Student Centre, Northeastern University
I entered the packed hall with just about twenty overs left in the match. "Huuuhuuu!!" was the first pulse of voice I heard that resonated across the hall. That was the reaction when the Pakistan batsman only defended the ball shot at him. "Oh nooo..." reverberated through place even when only a single run was scored off a good ball. Well, the atmosphere was as though life depended on India's winning the "coveted match-against-our-neighbours".
A wicket falls down, and everyone stands with hands up in the air, cheering the bowler. I catch a sight of the stern professor of Indian origin, smiling at the screen with his pizza in his hands.
A student captured the visuals of the enchanted audience on his cool camera alongside following the match fervently. One moment he has his face hidden behind his palms when the Pakistan batsman hit the ball over the boundary for a magnificent six. Next, he exults when our bowler restricts the batsman.
As the match drew closer toward the finish line, the audience went pins and needles. A couple of non-Indians walked up to the students to ask what game this was; who we were playing against; and if we were winning. To the last question the answer was "yes, I guess. you never know... but we pray (with a nervous smile)". And yeah, there were screams of "Ganapati bappa moriya".
The most beautiful sight in the hall was the "Sine wave by the audience" which I have started to call the "Blue Wave".
And, we won.
PostScript:
Just before I left the computer lab to go catch the last moments of the match, an American friend of mine gave me the details of the score so far. I wondered how he knew so much about cricket. "My roommates are Indian. Cricket is pretty popular" he gushed.
*****
Current Song:
"Jab kisi ki taraf dil jhukne lage" from the movie Pyaar to hona hi tha
"Chaahne jab lage dil kisi ki khushi
Dillagi ye nahin ye hai dil ki lagi..."
Location : Curry Student Centre, Northeastern University
I entered the packed hall with just about twenty overs left in the match. "Huuuhuuu!!" was the first pulse of voice I heard that resonated across the hall. That was the reaction when the Pakistan batsman only defended the ball shot at him. "Oh nooo..." reverberated through place even when only a single run was scored off a good ball. Well, the atmosphere was as though life depended on India's winning the "coveted match-against-our-neighbours".
A wicket falls down, and everyone stands with hands up in the air, cheering the bowler. I catch a sight of the stern professor of Indian origin, smiling at the screen with his pizza in his hands.
A student captured the visuals of the enchanted audience on his cool camera alongside following the match fervently. One moment he has his face hidden behind his palms when the Pakistan batsman hit the ball over the boundary for a magnificent six. Next, he exults when our bowler restricts the batsman.
As the match drew closer toward the finish line, the audience went pins and needles. A couple of non-Indians walked up to the students to ask what game this was; who we were playing against; and if we were winning. To the last question the answer was "yes, I guess. you never know... but we pray (with a nervous smile)". And yeah, there were screams of "Ganapati bappa moriya".
The most beautiful sight in the hall was the "Sine wave by the audience" which I have started to call the "Blue Wave".
And, we won.
PostScript:
Just before I left the computer lab to go catch the last moments of the match, an American friend of mine gave me the details of the score so far. I wondered how he knew so much about cricket. "My roommates are Indian. Cricket is pretty popular" he gushed.
*****
Current Song:
"Jab kisi ki taraf dil jhukne lage" from the movie Pyaar to hona hi tha
"Chaahne jab lage dil kisi ki khushi
Dillagi ye nahin ye hai dil ki lagi..."
