Wednesday, June 28, 2006

The deadly virus

What is this thing called Football Fever? Is that the same virus that makes my sweet & otherwise accommodating roomie snatch the remote from me & then completely ignore my earthly existence for the next 90 minutes?

I see that this virus is a wide spreading one. Rather, one fine day it caught inside the fat, slim, tall, short bodies of people around the world without any discrimination towards sex, caste or social class.

This makes people not to attend phone calls during certain times of the day and even if they attend scream "Gooaaaaaaaaalll" during the conversation thereby warning the caller not to repeat the crime thereon.

This virus, I observe, can sometimes lead to neglected kids to broken families and bitter divorces. People infected by the virus keep chanting the names of alien nations they have never ever gone to or intend to go to as if that would lead to their "Moksha" from this materialistic world.

I am proud of myself that I have managed to hide from the virus till date though there are times I was quite vulnerable. But the immunity is not gained by some expensive vaccination. It took years of self control and all sorts of spiritual & non spiritual disciplines to get to this stage.

Even if I search in the innermost & earliest part of my memory, nowhere I see myself posing for a photograph with a tennis racket or anything that remotely resembles a foot ball. Sport had always been as important as the GDP of Botswana for me.

I remember the time when Achan encouraged us to get up as early as 5.30 in the morning and go for a morning walk or run, that too when we were in the remote corner of India called Kodakara. That happened only on one day. The very next day I threatened to jump into the well if he dared wake me up at that unearthly time. Being a good Achan, he gave up.

My fourth standard teacher made the second attempt to dig out my hidden talents. She made me run with tens of other classmates in the pretext of choosing the fastest one to be sent to the district level competition. I knew it was a trap. Though I was a kid, I was a brainy kid. I fooled her by finishing exactly as the last one out of around fifty kids. (I still remember the face of that toothless, spectacled brat who laughed at me for that).

My brother cajoled me into being a wicket keeper at times. The moment I saw Achan starting his balling action, I would run as fast as I could so as not to hurt myself with his speeding ball. Mind you, that has got nothing to do with brother's batting abilities. But I always believed prevention is better than cure. Since the job description of the wicket-keeper didn't exactly match with my profile, I was fired.

My never-say-die Achan gave a second try on me by buying us a pair of Tennis rackets and some expensive ball. Brother and me ensured that Achan's money didn't go waste; brother by taking up Tennis as his latest fling and me by donating mine to any other neighborhood kid.

It was Amma's turn next. She tried to test my resolution by showing the black & white photo of a couple of college girls wearing a hockey uniform and pointing out to one thin, long-curly-haired and short girl with all sorts of emotions in her eyes and screaming "thats meeeeeeeeee". I commented that I have always liked black & white photos as they made me look fairer.

Under Achan's influence Amma told me bed time stories about her being the Caroms champion of her office and even showed me the stainless steel glasses & spoons she won for their inter-office competition. But I was determined not to indulge in such evil pleasures.

The moment my dear roomie start staring into the TV and get metamorphosed into one of those face-painted, weirdly tattooed people with a football haircut, I make sure that I leave the room and meditate against the temptation inside my bedroom.

Temptations will always be there, but here I am, standing proud, unaffected and determined to fight it at any cost. Atlast I have a cause to keep me going.

44 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

your posts are awesome. here is one of ur great fans.

2:12 AM  
Blogger Reshmi said...

Do u really mean u stay away from all kinds of exercises / games??:)
Nice post dear..:) As always..!!!

Jus added you to the blog roll on my site..I should give more ppl the privilege of knowing Dewdy, rite??

2:23 AM  
Blogger Gurdeepak said...

I wish you're hit by Brazilaria some day :)

2:30 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

oh, come on. it is like the best thing in the world. it only lasts 100 mins. not like those stupid cricket matches. i have been kicking myself for the whole of last month for not saving up to buy a TV. have to stay back in office till 2:15 to watch the matches and stuff. the suspense is like unbearbale sometimes. it can shame a lot of those thriller movies. and what kind of a mallu are u if u dont like football? getting up at 5:30 for anything is neurotic. and morning walks can be dangerous. it becomes a morning run when the stray dogs gets after u.

2:32 AM  
Blogger CyberRowdy(Q8TechDrive) said...

i hate foot ball....I jiz luv cricket...but football is full of rowdiness and perhaps I should join the UK fans to takeout my rowdy nature in germany...LOL

2:39 AM  
Blogger srijithunni said...

yeah.. C`mon..! Jus give a football, a hard kick.. See how it moves and glides over the air..

Thrashing a ball with a bat high up in the air for a six.. I actually would pump out 1 year`s supply of adrenaline in your body.. So just try it..

However, I think you look pretty lean, and wouldn`t need much of exercise, but sport, it`s a passion and has to be experienced.

From an avid football Fan..
Shivering with football flu..!!

Srijith Unni.

2:43 AM  
Blogger neermathalam said...

Reading/rereading a post of 'best dayz of my life' will keep doctor away....
Dew...this is a wonderful post...
(me..)
But how could you avoid world cup...Anyway u avoid world cup and you may not be having anything productive to do at that time i assume.. So pray for Argentina..while meditating inside the self created tranquility amdist chaos of the festival...
(Argentina fan in me..)

2:44 AM  
Blogger Dew Drops said...

@A
Thanks dear .

(u wud have put a name atleast. now all my fnds will think i have commented as anonymous as i was too damn impatient to wait for the first genuine comment... LoL)

@reshmi
yup.. till date i haven't indulged in any of such henious activities

@gurdeepak
nooooooooooooooooo

@country fellow
one more down with fever.. i wil pray 4 ur fastest recovery

@rowdy
may u become a world famous rowdy. btw, i wud bear football anytime than cricket. i cant wait for the whole day in front of the idiot box. football gets over in 90 mins.

there is one more thing. football is so simple to undertsnd. there is only one way u can score .. GGOOOOOOOAAAALLLL.

in cricket, u get runs if its four, sixer, if its wide blah blah blah plus ppl win in runs or in wicket.. man that crap is rocket science

@srijith
spare me. i choose meditation over football

@neermathalam
if i ever pray for one team, that will be Brazil. i just love the football shaped head of that chap, Ronaldo ..

2:58 AM  
Blogger Inder said...

haha... good one :D
i used to be disinterested in football. that was when i got to watch only the matches played by indian football teams that DD telecasted. those matches were like group-tennis - player of team A kicks the ball to player of team B. he then kicks it to another random player of team A. there never used to be more than a few passes within the same team. too many fouls, offsides, ball kicked out of field often - they made me dislike football. but recently i have started liking football. when played by better teams, it is quite fascinating. all the best for you to stay immune to football virus :)

3:01 AM  
Blogger . said...

Hoho! What a resolute person (the politest I could find!) to disappoint so many, even the virus!

Nice account and even nicer humour in it. I loved the naughty giggles hidden here and there between the lines.

3:10 AM  
Blogger Unknown said...

since when u decided to get into BLASPHAMEY.... Dont' do such things gurl...

One really has to play it to know what its all about... U simply cant comment from outside about it.. u will certainly change ur opinion if u play it...

3:12 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

i will pray that u come to ur senses soon too. :)

3:25 AM  
Blogger CyberRowdy(Q8TechDrive) said...

you always score over me when you reply...you are 999999999 and me still on 0...

I am a rowdy...keep that in your mind...LOL

3:35 AM  
Blogger ~*. D E E P A .* ~ said...

:)

okie !

i used to be crazy abt FIFA .. but now .....

4:16 AM  
Blogger Heart of Gold !! said...

Ye with all interest for you that i write:

You really dont know the pleasure of playing any game/sport NOT because of your so strong IMMUNITY buy because you are a sad lazy ass!!!

Playing football is done like this:

Imagine your reporting managers (steph??) face (also substitute with better parts) and then kick !!!
yOu sure will enjoy it !!
try it some time!

SAD that i am not around you ... Else forget all that late morning sleep... you would hve water poured on you any minute after 7.

Run, play, like you said
"there is no fun in easy sailing,........"
Put that to practice you preacher
:*
John

4:19 AM  
Blogger Dew Drops said...

@inder
man, i am telling u ... u better stay away b4 it get u "sofa-ridden" in front of the TV

@behrooz
reading bet the lines, eh?

@koutilya
i'll change my opinion IF ONLY i play it .....

@country
no thanks.. i enjoy this insanity

@rowdy
but i dn't have a fundoo name like rowdy. there u score 999999999

@reverend
botswana???? read Amartya Sen touting abt the country in some article... u can refer to www.google.com

@deeps
man, u r the only soul on earth cured of that virus. u r a psychological miracle

@HOG
somebody send sme gunda's and beat up this guy. he always comes up with something smarter to beat me ;)

(now that gets me interested in the game. not my reprting manager, but this nerd of a colleague i have. wow.... kicking on his .. errrr.. i mean head??? .. eeeeeeee, help ......... noooooooooo. i can't let myself fall prey to such temptations)

4:31 AM  
Blogger Prash said...

You ask what is the football fever ?

Come to Europe, you will know what it is. Yesterday it was France-Spain (France won btw with 3-1). You should the busy bees in Paris are closeted inside their appts. or in bars or in cafes. Nobody in the streets during those couple of hours. It is crazy not to answer phone calls and all. But there are crazy creatures in this world. I think it is almost the same in India when there is a India-Pakistan world cup cricket match.

This virus comes once in 4yrs and it goes off..so it is ok, i guess.

You have a cause which keeps you going ?...Go girl! don't get tempted and then corrupted.

*smile*

6:03 AM  
Blogger Reshmi said...

hillarious post sweety...one of ur best i should say..keep it up..

6:37 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I have a feeling you are gonna end up as the sports ambassador for botswana :D

8:34 AM  
Blogger മര്‍ത്ത്യന്‍ said...

You take us so well down the memory lane :)

3:38 PM  
Blogger yetanother.softwarejunk said...

Imagine a scene from Indulekha(novel).

Athil Namboothiri Indulekhayodu chodikkunnu: "Kali bhranthundo kuttikku".

Athu thannodu chodichirunnekil Ayalude karyam enthakumayirunnu ?!!!


Nice Post :-)

6:43 AM  
Blogger milieu said...

I think the best way is not to resist. It only gets worse. You can play dead and it might leave you. :-)

8:04 AM  
Blogger Sarah said...

FiI never ever joined anything in sports and the only time I was forced to participate.. school level discus throw.. the discus flew mightily across the sky and fell down 20 cm away from my big toe.. that was it.. then end of a glorious olympic style sports career

3:13 PM  
Blogger mathew said...

ayyo..u are lucky to have a dad who forced you to see futball..should be great fun watching together!!!!!!

9:27 PM  
Blogger jac said...

That means we have something as common. I am in to jogging but football fever...a never. I haven't watched a single match yet.

And Kodakara is not so small now. LOL

10:50 PM  
Blogger Dew Drops said...

@prash
yes, that is my only solace that its brutal attack comes only once in four years

@nair
a big ummma for that

@aqua
man i am spechless with joy to find someone sharing my emotions

@aqua
not a bad job, provided they dnt force me watch those craps. otherwise i am convinced they will offer me 10 times my current pay pack

@marthyan
;-)

@ysj
ennodengannum athu chodichchirunnengil namboothiri vivaram arinjene

@sreekumar
noooooooooo. i am deaf toward ur tempting words..

@immi
same here same here.

@mathew
how did u know that my dad froced me to watch futball? du read between the lines?

@jac
ahhhhhhhh. here i find one mor vaccinated buddy

11:14 PM  
Blogger the sunflower said...

brilliant post...

u n me sailing in the same boat. i never quite understtod ppl's fascination for sports

11:24 PM  
Blogger pophabhi said...

I think sports is another reason to live. All others doesnt exactly qualify as reasons for living :).

Arrr..Genttt...Inaaa..

Awesome post, as usual!

12:41 AM  
Blogger ketki said...

gud one!
well....there are not many people in india who like both footbll and cricket
i mean when beckham makes a goal,
they scream "four !!!!!!"

5:32 AM  
Blogger Ujj said...

Os no kind of exercises , whatsoever, you would ofcourse have played that game kids play, sitting in a circle and then someone chases someeone, or rigna ringa roses, or nything..those are sports too. just ebcause they dont show it on TV, doest mean, its not a good sport..
lovely post.

Ujjwal
;-)

12:03 PM  
Blogger Dr O2 said...

Oh on the other hand I am a footie addict!!! It hits me bad at times!!

This worldcup is somewhat weird with all these results. I expected Argentina win last night...

10:47 PM  
Blogger ARK said...

really good post but I quite don't know what kind of anti-virus you have programmed within you to fight off such a huge temptation. world cup football is something even rip van winkle or kumbakonan will wake up to see. I was thinking of writing a post on my addiction to sport which would be like an antithesis to this one. I think you don't have to fight the virus all the time. atleast on july 9, you can give in.

11:03 PM  
Blogger Dew Drops said...

@sunflower
cheers buddy

@pop
true .. resisting sports is just another reason to live

@satish
;)

@ketki
really?? doesn't really bother. either way i am not exited.

@ujjwal
mmmmm, in that case, i think i am a sports woman too.

11:51 PM  
Blogger CyberRowdy(Q8TechDrive) said...

"mmmmmmmmmmmmmm nadkkatte nadakkatte" - aaam trying my luck! well u dont know how diffy it is to be alone here in the desert!

1:07 AM  
Blogger Dew Drops said...

@arjun
that is why they are rip van winkle or kumbakonan and i am the one and only Dew Drops ... ;)

@rowdy
just keep off from the "taliban" types is all i have to say

1:14 AM  
Blogger CyberRowdy(Q8TechDrive) said...

sure....I am a Decent R0WDY!

me singing...."you are my honeybunch....yummy...yummy...."

1:25 AM  
Blogger hope and love said...

hmmm i am resigned to my fate till the football fever is over..
:))

7:42 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Ha! that was pretty different & innocent ? It was nice to read this post, it brought happiness ...

its pretty late. Will check ur other posts later.

And I think ur not going to like my blog and my latest post ! ;-)

(it was a coincidence. I swear)

12:56 PM  
Blogger starry said...

nice post.

3:11 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I read a lot of blogs but no one receives as many comments as you do! You are becoming more and more popular day by day!

Nitin

9:24 PM  
Blogger Dew Drops said...

@rowdy
common, u can't expect ppl to take 100% of wat u say. lets go 50-50. lets agree on the rowdy part and leave the descent part fot the time being.

@hope
i can understand ur feeling

@anon
so that is the reason u didn't dare to give the link to ur blog, eh?

@starry
thanks dear

@nitin
thanks a ton for the second part. but i doubt about the first.

10:39 PM  
Blogger Suneesh TP said...

first time here....nice post!!

3:45 AM  
Blogger Unknown said...

no ways that possible...

watching match with friends in local pub is tooooo goood..

this time it was full of surprise and thats ever more fun.

cheers,..

PS: admire your writing skills - will bookmark your for more.

4:09 AM  
Blogger Lost in trance... said...

i cant believe that the world cup is over. n that too such bad timing, to coincide with everything else.

how u?

11:11 PM  

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