Cricket is indeed the ‘dharma’ for Indians. We eat, sleep, breathe and live cricket and for us, cricketers are the ultimate patriots and sportsperson. Hence, it is no surprise that we call Sachin Tendulkar the God of cricket. In fact, so much is our love for the game that our actions and love for the cricket team depends on their win or loss.
Here is a story from 1997. India played a series of one-day matches against Pakistan in Canada. India won the series by 4-1 and won the hearts of the biggest democracy on the planet.
When team India reached the airport to board the airplane, they were surprised to see thousands of fans waiting for them at the airport. The airport crew also displayed their love for the team by not charging them for extra baggage. In fact, the porters carried their luggage for free and praised them for their near-perfect game.
After few days, team India visited Pakistan to play another series. On the home turf, Pakistan beat India by 2-1.
This created a great furor in country and people started to hate the players for their bad performance. All the love vaporized in a moment and some people also burnt effigies of the cricket players.
When team India reached the airport, they were surprised to see that no porter helped them carry the luggage and they had to carry it themselves. Also, the airline crew charged them for extra baggage just like any other customer. Many cricketers like Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid were shocked at this treatment.
We are a a bit too emotional, isn’t it?