Cricketification of Life!

Some things in life have such a deep impact on our thought process that we start living life by those activities. For instance a man deeply in love with food forms opinion about people and places by the food associated with them. A man passionate about reading judges his friends and colleagues by the books they read. A man obsessed with his clothing forms an opinion about others based on what they wear. Surprisingly, I too have one such rather weird habit of correlating everything in life by different scenarios in a cricketing context, all for my immense love for the game.

So if I am driving in a terribly choc-o- bloc traffic I kind of relate it with how Rahul Dravid would have patiently played a quality spinner like Warne or Murali, tactfully finding gaps between the fielders (read between the vehicles), ignoring the constant chirping of closing fielders (read honking vehicles) and on instances dancing down the track to maximize on the rare opportunity (read making use of by lanes to beat the traffic).

On scenarios when my wife is giving me an earful on anything that I haven’t done per her expectations, I tend to relate that barrage session with Tendulkar (read myself) facing Steyn (read my fearsome wife) on a green pitch and negotiating the on-fire assassin by leaving most of deliveries outside off stump (read silently listening to furious wife). As trying to hit back (read argue) an inform Steyn (read angry wife) is risking your wicket (read inviting more trouble in front of the indomitable wife). The same has also held good years back with my mom and her lectures too, though Mc Grath doned Steyn’s role then.

Often, I have also related the holy trinity of Indian batting i.e Sachin, Rahul and Sourav with the kings of Bollywood. With Salman being Sourav, for his maverick and shirt less ways, Aamir being Rahul for his perfectionist and impeccable approach towards whatever he indulges in and Shahrukh being Sachin for his larger than life persona and unmatchable popularity among commoners.

Similarly, whenever I have driven my car on the Mumbai Pune expressway, putting my foot on the pedal driving on the top gear, I have likened it to Gayle’s carnage against quality bowlers in the slog overs of any one day match. The analogy is all too obvious and similar, uninhibited but calculative.

Also, whenever I am stuck in a high pressure situation in office or elsewhere, which involves tactfully dealing with stakeholders and handling the situation with a very cool head I tend to relate it to how Dhoni would have handled the situation in a pressure cooker scenario during the fag end of a crucial encounter. All, with a very calm and composed head, handling it like just another event in life.

And there are multiple such scenarios and analogies that keep cropping up day in day out. I call it as ‘cricketification of my life’. Weird but funny! And I am sure this happens with everyone, its Cricket for me, for others it could be music, reading, travelling or any of their favourite hobbies. One probably tends to correlate various scenarios of life to what he or she is more attached to and thereby attempts to simplify life and keep learning from what one loves to do J!              

--

kin…