My Club, My Story

Having gotten a cable TV connection last month only, it was sheer luck that I stumbled upon a channel showing a football match at near midnight. It was nearing half time & the score read Milan 3-0 Liv. I felt the game was pretty much over but seeing a live game after so long made me linger on. Honestly, I hadn’t heard of LFC back then & was kind of rooting for Milan to win. Then came the turn around that the world never expected, led by a young captain-Steven Gerrard. The first strike at the turn of the hour was magnificent & the next 30 minutes brought two more memorable goals & the rest as they is history. That was a magical night, if there ever has been one in footballing history. It was that game, that second half that made me a fan of the player, the captain, the legend. It was not just the footballing brilliance on the field that struck me. There have been & will be better players than Gerrard to have stepped on to the grass, likes of Maldini, Figo, Torres etc. have been known to produce magic on the field. But, it was the dedication, the ability to motivate the team & above all lead by example that has kept me captivated ever since with continuous repeat performances at all stages.

Naturally, that’s when my love affair with the club started. The overwhelming & sparkling history, an unparalleled success story & of course the associated bragging rights is what Liverpool brings to the table. The club’s history is seeped with great success & greater players. I know that every major club around the world boasts of this. But these great clubs don’t have what LFC has – ‘The Fans’. A patient lot who back their club no matter what, rejoice in its success & give deserved respect to other clubs fans’ & players. The support, the loyalty & the undying devotion even in adversity & crisis to see the club reach the zenith of success it once held so admirably. It is this attitude that makes watching matches at Anfield such a memorable experience & reminds me time & again of how complete I feel as a person when I’m in touch with the club, even though I’m sitting thousands of miles away in a hotel room in India. They are the reason I’m & will always be a LFC fan.

The Inevitable Wait

It’s that time of the year again when the colors come out, flags hanging outside homes & excitement & joy go hand in hand with the little kids as they move to fill the stadium of the clubs they love & support. Yes it is the beginning of the football season that captivates the whole nation, continent & perhaps the world, going by the popularity that these clubs have in countries as far away as Australia or Singapore. It is no denying the football is a global phenomenon & who it is to contest this fact when you see a Cristiano Ronaldo or a Robin Van Persie in each living room or out on the back of kids playing in the summer heat on the streets. It’s just not the home crowd that goes ga-ga come the month of August; it’s the same in many parts of the world as after an almost 3 month break, the heroes return on their field of exploits to enthrall the living.

Being a football fan for a long part of my life, I feel the sadness when in May the season draws to a close. There will be no more matches every week. No more going over the footage. No bickering over the tackles or the foul that was not given. In short the happiness if only momentarily, is lost. Then the wait begins. Wait for the dreaded summer to pass. As George RR Martin’s spellbinding saga, Game of Thrones comments, “The Winter is coming”, for football fans across Europe it couldn't come sooner. Three months is a long time for a football fan who is ready to live & die by his club, so is his dedication, love & support for the club, the players, the history. It is a pain to not turn to the noise coming from the stadiums as a goal is scored filling millions of hearts with joy & pain at the same time.

The close season though does offer the thrill of the anticipation of the movements in the transfer market. The chance for the clubs to get the players that would help them win all that they want to win & more in the coming season. It is also a chance to let go of the players you felt were undeserving of donning the same colors you wear. Rest assured, every fan has his views on the transfer policy of the club & who they should get in to bolster the squad & whom to let go to balance the books. Believe me the gossips floating around in media circles are far juicier than the news. As time passes, summer gives way to autumn & as the last grand slam of the year in US Open at the Flushing Meadows gets underway, so does the footballing season across Europe.  No need to tell that battle lines have already been drawn, to do one-upmanship on the nearest rivals, to shut up ‘The Noisy Neighbors’.

Every season starts with hope & pride filling up the hearts of the fans that are either smitten from last season’s successes or are looking to improve from the disappointments. It is a breath taking moment when time stops at kick-off time for the first game of the new season. The thrill is back. The nail biting finishes. Looking at the clock anxiously, yelling at the players, cursing the referee all to see your team get the morale boosting win under their belt. And within the first few weeks, predictions are drawn on where the clubs will lie come the end of the campaign.

Football is a game that brings people together. People from all walks of life, from different countries coming together to raise their voice in support of the colors they love to adorn on their backs, all the while filled with pride. Yes, all of this sounds a bit fanatical but to a true fan, this is his life. This is what he lives for in true sense of the word. It’s a passion that defines many lives; kids growing up supporting & loving their heroes, The Beckhams, Messis and countless others. You will do all the fighting, brawling, defending that is needed in the name & honor of crest you wear on your chest when you step out on the street, making your way to the stadium to join in the noise.

Change - Lost in Transition

Two months have passed since the incident that shook the nation. No judgement has been passed & the prime accused are looking at bail & possibly smaller terms due to botched up investigation & general apathy. Meanwhile, a terror strike in southern part of nation kills more than 20 people & injuring more than 100 people. The home minister shuns responsibility while other political parties bray for his blood. The nation needs a strong budget to reduce uncertainty  push reforms, address economic situation & with an eye on general election, the govt. is mulling a populist budget to suit its purpose. To hell with Fiscal Deficit, who cares about it anyways. We have & will continue to make money through countless scams (big or small). This is the mind frame of all the dacoits (as per Paan Singh Tomar) sitting the Indian Parliament. Those who have power are minting money & those who crave power want to mint money. Nobody is bothered where this country is heading and what their responsibilities are.
I wrote in my last piece how we should stand up, raise our voices against the govt. apathy & fight for what is our right - safety & end to corruption.I also made a point to let's not allow the circumstances we are witnessing to die & be forgotten in our daily lives. But after just two months, not only are we lost back in our cocoon styled lives but also have forgotten about everything that transpired. We desire sympathy/empathy from the govt. or the political parties wooing us for their votes but sometimes I wonder whether we deserve any of that or do we truly deserve their apathy as we can see day in & day out. In sports, it's a common saying that a captain is only as good as his/her team. It seems so apt looking at us today. Joker (The Dark Knight) said of Gotham, "This city needs a better class of criminals." I had for long felt that this nation needs a better class of politicians but I am not so sure of it anymore. We have the politicians we don't need right now but they are what we deserve.
I might sound all gloomy, disappointed & to some I might be just cribbing & fretting over nothing as I can't appreciate stuff (their words not mine) but to tell the truth I can't seem to get over the hurt when I look & can't find a clean politician or when I so wish I don't read about a new rape case in some part of the country & I see two cases on the news. I know, I am prone to preaching which people detest more than the hair growing out of their noses or ears but I can't help myself. In spite of the negativity surrounding me I am sadly still holding out for hope that one day this nation awakes & yells at top of its voice that ENOUGH!! I have not yet lost faith in the system which currently pampers to divide & rule & I often make myself believe that there is always HOPE & it is this feeling that provides some purpose to me in my daily existence. A question that springs to mind on going through this turmoil is, "Is there anything I can do?" But the coward in me sites the case of the problem being TOO BIG for a small ME & that one man can't change the system philosophy to make me sit back down & try & paper over the cracks of my moral fiber.
But change is needed & we need a leader who can be selfless enough to take up that task for us. Cause it won't be easy & it would require lot of sacrifices along the way. We need a Dark Knight, who can not be a silent guardian....