From the Blogs: I saw hockey at Hardvard University

Thursday, August 06, 2009

India vs USA… Women’s Junior Hockey World Cup 2009
Most of you will not know, but there is Woman’s Junior (under 21) Hockey World Cup 2009 going on in Boston (USA) these days; even I didn’t know that. I went to my usual visits to MGH (Massachusetts General Hospital) this week & saw a young India girl sitting there in a sports dress which said Indian Hockey. It’s always exciting to see Indians when you are living abroad, special when they don’t seem to be ABCDs or the obnoxious types (trust me, many Indians become so obnoxious, mean & just crazy living in US… I guess we Indians love to hate other Indians). So just out of curiosity I asked her that what was she doing there; I thought they were here for some training or something form some school , but it turns out that she was here with Indian woman’s hockey to play Junior World Cup 2009. I was surprised to know that there was a world cup happening in Boston/Cambridge & even India was playing in it. There are no hoardings or posters and not even any kind of promotion or advertisement around here for this. But anyways, the girls name was Vandana (from Lucknow) I& found out from her that one of there player Vaishali got injured in there match with Australia (they defeated them 3-2 & also defeated Belarus a day back with 6-0). Then I talked to there Physio Vikas & told them that I’ll try to see there match with USA on Thursday (which was today).

I wasn’t feeling very well today & had lot of work to do as well so was not sure if I’ll be able to go or not. But I was able to wrap-up my work by 6.15pm & I decided to go & see the match (afterall India was playing yaar!!). The matches are being played in Harvard University grounds which is around half an hour away from my place (click here for directions) & I had asked few people but no one else seemed interested to go. It was my first time to Harvard (which is a very nice place & I really liked it) and I managed to reach the grounds. My only introduction with hockey before today was through Chak De India (many of you might know hockey stick as a weapon too though) & because of which I knew that the match is played for 70 mins (remember the motivational speech Shahrukh Khan gives to girl saying “sattar minute”). I was not actually even watching the match but just talking on phone initially. Then I started looking in the ground to identify the girl I met at MGH & maybe take some pictures too. The Indian team was trying to make a goal at that time & the ball was being dribbled amazingly between those hockey sticks by our Indian girls. I suddenly realized that it’s not a movie & it’s not sure that this will turn into a goal… & it did not. & I was so damn disappointed, really I was. And then I totally forgot about searching for that girl or taking any picture; I was so engrossed in the match. My heart was pounding & breath running as the ball was running on that field (I was literally gonna pass out I felt). I was one of the very few Indians there & the stadium was filled with all Americans cheering fro US team. But I didn’t feel lonely, I felt proud.

In the break (there are 2 rounds of 35 mins each) I saw few more Indians there but it really wasn’t enough. No cheering, no banners… nothing. We need to do better for our country & our girls. In the first round India was down by 2-1 & after the second round we lost the match by 4-2. I was not really disappointed though, it was nice to see India playing (and we are already into the next round by wining 2 matches) also there was lots of foul play & cheating by the umpires (they didn’t give us 2 penalty corners & turned one goal into a foul). It was really sad to see see our Indian girls who looked so malnourished though, US girls looked like body bulders. We need to take care of there fitness, but they still are doing a great job. I met the coach Mr MK Kaushik & he said to me, “sorry, we disappointed you. we couldn’t win this. But we will do it in next time & further”. I was really touched, really!! I congratulated him on the earlier wins & told him that I am waiting to see them in finals & then winning the world cup too. I also told him that I’ll try to bring more friends & fans next time. The next match is on Saturday with England & I’ll try to go. You tan check the whole schedule by clicking here. I really hope there are more Indians cheering for our team next time onwards. I know that hockey even being a national sport is not much in India; & on top of its woman’s team. I read in an article that when this same team won Challenger’s cup, only one of our top 5 newspapers even cared to report it. We really need to recognise the great talent in our country in each & every field & give them due respect. Anyways, leaving the politics apart I really hope that India wins this or atleast performs great & we have a good turnout from us Indians. BTW, you know which song was being played when India made a goal…. ofcourse “Chak de India”.

As for rest of stuff, all’s okay. My back pain is improving & I am getting better. haven’t been out in Boston much yet but I do not have many great things to say about Boston yet. I’ll try to keep you posted with the world cup updates & my life too. Till then… keep reading, commenting & enjoying. This is RAHUL saying Good Bye & Good Luck… JAI HO!!!!!

Courtesy: iambetterthanthebest.blogspot.com/