phir dil do...

The sight of Dhanraj Pillay with his flowing locks zooming past defenders , dexterously tackling them with his magical stick with the roaring crowd behind him was a sight beyond compare for anyone who followed Indian Hockey in the 90s. The super excited commentator provided excellent backdrop to the setting - Pargat to Dhanraj, Dhanraj takes it past the defender, gives it back to Pargat, Pargat hits it hard past the goalkeeper, Dhanraj interjects it and scoops it in the air and its a GOAL....

We had read stories about the Hockey Legend called Major Dhyanchand, we had read about how Don Bradman had once said that he scored goals like runs in Cricket, we had read about how he was instrumental in single handedly annihilating the US Hockey Team (we won 24-0, field hockey not ice hockey, but still), we were told that those were the golden days of Indian Hockey.
But for us millions of viewers who sat glued to the TV afternoon after afternoon, Dhanraj Pillay was the superstar and a victory against the German or the Dutch team (of course also the Pakis) a reason to celebrate.
Now that thanks to the World Cup, Hockey frenzy has gripped the nation again and it is indeed a reason to celebrate. Cricket is slowly becoming too commercialised for its own good, we are just playing too much of it and the corporate lunacy that is IPL is in the papers for all the reasons except cricket. Hockey still provides the old world charm and yet can set the pulse racing at a rate which Lalit Modi's pajama cricket can only dream of. How can one forget the sheer exhilaration that followed once India thrashed Pakistan 4-1 in the first game and the critical yet encouraging comments that followed India's defeat in the next game. People still care about the game and love it when their team puts up an encouraging show.

So, what about the Tournament - Today is critical, we need to beat Spain. England are the proving to the tournament's darkhorse. Match against South Africa should be a cake walk. I plan to go to the stadium for the India England match, it will surely a great one should we defeat Spain today. It will definately do the game a world of good should we reach the final four.

So as SRK said (sorry, I couldn't overcome the urge of putting it here) Chak De India.