2. Sporting Heroes

My first memories of watching football are that of a lanky, baby faced person dressed in white performing a cartwheel after scoring a goal. Thatha said, "Hmmm, this Close is a fine striker", in his typical Mysore cadence from the British era. "Clos-ah" thatha, I corrected him, with the smugness of a thirteen year old who had just started paying attention to football commentary. The year was 2002, Brazil were the only football team I'd known till then, and therefore I naturally rooted for them to go all the way. But, the world cup in 2002 introduced me properly to the wonderful world of sport. Sure, I had been watching cricket for as long as I could remember, and had it embedded in me that Tendulkar was God. Sure I'd started watching Formula 1 in 2001, and had been told that Schumi was untouchable. But it was the 2002 World Cup that actually got me to start following sport, and more importantly, let me have my very own sporting heroes. 

An introduction to football in 2002 led me to become madly infatuated with the game. I started following the fortunes of a team from the Northwest of England, mainly because I'd heard what a good player Beck-ham was. But all that changed when I found my first true sporting hero, Ruud van Nistelrooy. There was no better striker in the game according to me. Teams were studied, squads memorized, and even a (fake) jersey was purchased. But one thing remained firm, van Nistelrooy was my favourite footballer. Thatha's incidentally was Thierry Henry. He would point out that van Nistelrooy was useless outside the box, when I would point out that his finishing was much more clinical than Henry's, and the argument would go on endlessly. The beauty about this entire episode is that, as I found my sporting hero in my teens, Thatha found his in his seventies. 

That was almost twelve years ago. van Nistelrooy has been followed by Rooney, Ronaldo and many more who look to dethrone them. Yet van Nistelrooy has endured in my mind as one of my most adored sporting hero. The best part of having sporting heroes is that almost everybody has them. I had my formative years in the 2000's and loved the Indian cricket team to bits. Sidvee, in one of his many fine articles on cricket has written about heroes in Indian cricket - "Tendlya walked on water, Jumbo parted seas. Our mothers were happy that we had nice heroes - down-to-earth prodigy and studious, brilliant bespectacled engineer. They were honest, industrious sportsmen, embodying the middle class".  That being said, I am not that big a fan of many in the current Indian setup. Sure I love rooting for Che or Ajinkya, but Kohli is one of those towards whom I don't show much regard. I recently found myself wondering how Kohli was my 8 year old nephew's favourite cricketer. Tattooed, foul-mouthed, brazenly genius Kohli. But to that kid, he is an idol.

The power a sporting hero wields over us commoners is special.  Who doesn't dream of hitting the winning six, score the winning goal or lift a trophy while being cheered on by thousands of fans? Heroes enable you to live those moments through them. 

We were there with Dada when he ripped his shirt off on the Lord's balcony, we were there with the team when they lost the 2003 final, we were there at the Wankhede when Dhoni twirled his bat. Deadlines aren't met, homeworks ignored, and exams forgotten when heroes play. Because, at least for a brief period of time, they let us live the lives we want to lead, rather than the lives we have to.