The movie about India's cricket world cup victory was released last week after much anticipation of a good part of 2 years. Needless to say, it did live up to the hype. It’s a story well told of how a young inexperienced leader managed to inspire his team of veterans and rookies to perform above and beyond what they could, to earn a sensational victory in England after beating a condescending English media and a mighty West indies team.
We may think it was all about the game of cricket. But in all honesty, as a nation it changed our attitude towards life. A rebuilding nation, hungry, desperate for parity with the rest of the world. Tired of tyranny and disrespect from the upper echelons. for the Baby Boomer Generation and Gen X a glimmer of hope and a subtle change of attitude which even they did not realize. it would take another few decades for South Asia to understand what 1983 meant. I am including India's neighbors because it is fair to share the joy with our neighbors. Just because some of our neighbors don’t like us, we have to reciprocate in kind with the hope that they will come around. I digress…………back to 83 the movie. What happened at Tunbridge wells in the match against Zimbabwe, where a young captain, burdened with carrying the team, against all odds, played the game of his life to turn things around, was long overdue. I am glad it was delivered to us by a man who worked his butt off to get where he got. A simple, lovable soul that’s all I can say. I don’t know him personally. In fact, he himself admits going into a trance and not realizing the amazing feat he achieved. it can be compared to the New England Patriots team down 3-28 in the middle of the third quarter, coming back and beating the Atlanta Falcons to win Superbowl.
I am sure the movie will be a commercial success. There is enough Bollywood spice added for good measure. However, the message if you can read between the lines is loud and clear. we have broken free from the shackles of compliance and self-doubt. Yes, that's what the western colonialism wanted us to remain in. we broke out of the rooster coop(paraphrasing from Aravind Adiga's book).
As a 20-year-old young man, I watched the motorcade carrying the victorious Indian team go by standing outside Mahim church and caught a glimpse of a few players including Kapil with his trademark grin. Little did I know what he did on June 18, 1983 in Neville Ground of Tunbridge wells will inspire a whole nation to aspire for more. Almost 40 years later, if you connect the dots, many of us achieved the heights that we yearned for and millions of us are marching towards the goals that they set for themselves. and for that I salute our captain Kapil Dev Nikhanj for his contributions and inspiration.
"The heights by great men reached and kept were not attained by sudden flight, but they, while their companions slept, were toiling upward in the night."- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.
