Serendipity

                                                                        'Senna' makes for an intense, heart-wrenching, visceral experience. 

It was the summer of 1996. A handsome young man,dressed in immaculate whites,stepped out on to the hallowed greens of Lord's and promptly made an indelible statement for greatness. I was in school,beginning to discover my love for the game,eagerly devouring all newspaper reports and TV clips; those were the days when cable television was still a rarity, Doordarshan ruled the roost and watching cricket on TV hadn't become a tedious affair where the actual action on the field is superseded by a plethora of inane advertisements. The young man in question had made his debut on the back of a highly successful first-class career. He was, perhaps, not considered a 'prodigy' who becomes an overnight sensation, but, instead, went meticulously through the grind, to stake his claim for the India cap. That moment finally arrived in June '96. Thus began a journey which was silently spectacular, one which reminded viewers that cricket was indeed a gentleman's game, one whi...

Dreams fulfilled. Prayers answered. Smiles,laughter,cheers all around. Extreme ecstasy. Drunk in happiness, delirious in joy. Am I exaggerating? Naah! I don't think so. It WAS a Night to Remember. When an entire nation which had, for weeks, held its breath, hands folded in prayer, fingers crossed in anticipation let out a triumphant roar. It was a sort of victory where every common man felt like an equal winner, everyone had the freedom to share in that indescribable feeling of having the world at their feet. True it would make no difference to their mundane daily existence, it would not swell their bank coffers by even a penny, but for a nation which thrives on passion and emotions (which sometimes borders on plain hysteria) it was the feeling that counted. The right to proudly proclaim  "We are the best in the world", never mind that this 'world' comprised of only a motley group of twelve to fourteen cricket-playing nations. When each day's morning...