Sunday, September 14, 2008

Being Madhuri Singh Dhoni

(No, I'm still Madhuri Rahul Dravid!!! But you'll understand the title of the post, after you finish reading the post... )
Obviously, I found MSD cute when he made his debut against Bangladesh on December 24, 2004, although I thought he would have looked better with his hair short, rather than long. Mom rejected her latest son-in-law with a “Look at his hair? Looks mad to me.” and a dirty expression on her face as if he’s from Dharavi slums.

When he hit that sexy 148 at Vishakapatnam and won the man of the match award, Mom was a bit impressed. “He can speak English”, she exclaimed. I referred to my latest crushes list and jotted down.

1) Kinda cute
2) Plays fairly good cricket
3) Decent wicketkeeper
4) Can speak English
5) Nice smile
6) A healthy 7 years of age difference between him and me

And then it happened. The long-haired dude of Indian team became the captain of Twenty20 team. Like, the rest of India, I was skeptical whether we would win the cup.
“What if we win the Cup?” I asked mom, as I usually ask her whenever any Champions Trophy, World Cup, Asia Cup etc. happen. She usually gives saracastic answers in reply.Can't remember any example.
I’m still kicking myself for forgetting what she gave in reply.

His next appearance was in the newspapers. With a new hair-cut. WOW.
Cutting a long story short, I was totally into him then. Mom’s smile whenever Dhoni appeared on the television, ensured Dhoni’s place as her new son-in-law was still alive.

There’s something about that guy which makes me admire him a lot. The emotionless, the ice-cool nature. Which I have started implanting in myself, recently.
I used to be very very very short tempered in school, and in my 1st and 2nd year of college. Never thought a damn who the opponent was, be it my best friend, my parents, my enemies, all received the same treatment. Shout, yell, abuse, walk off, bang a few things here and there, and well, in some cases, hurt the person physically and walk away.
Then came, 3rd year. Ganguly and Dravid were kicked out (I prefer saying that, rather than dropped. It sounds more meaningful, you know) because Dhoni and the selectors and Gary Kirsten wanted a youth-oriented team. Valid reason, but I was among those sensible cricket fanatics (what an oxymoron!)who thought there should have been a rotation policy. Make the seniors play 1-2 games and then rest them. But you can't kick them out, just to get young kids into the side, one fine day. Maybe, we Indians are just too sentimental. Chucking, the emotional crap. We won the Tri-series in Australia for the first time in history. No use complaining and protesting then, thought every cricket fanatic.
Proves that a captain has to be emotionless. People (Not us cricket fanatics, but the masses, the common folk, the mere mortals, I may sound arrogant, but I prefer keeping it that way) claimed Dhoni kicked the two seniors out of the team so that he could dominate the ODI team without any senior poking his nose. And Dhoni couldn’t have the balls to kick out Sachin, because Sachin is, well, Sachin.
The point of this whole post is, the angry young girl that I was, has started becoming indifferent. Emotionless. I hardly freak out over anything that happens now (except when dogs are nearby, I’m still trying not to be scared of dogs, heavens help me) But it’s great being indifferent. Without freaking out over any damn thing. It doesn’t pinch you at all. And it irritates the other person, which is the best part. Feels something like Gandhigiri, must admit. Indifferent to all the girly nakhras of “My kajal isn’t fine and I have a date with him” or “I have put oil in my hair so I can’t come to the mess for breakfast”. Indifferent to all the boys who put me down all the time. No reaction to the all the taunts showered upon South Indians, cricketers I admire (because I arrogantly believe they are made by the mere mortals who don’t know a shit about cricket). And of course, put on indifference when there is talk about my sister or my grandparents. *choked throat*

And I’m doing a great job. I never knew I had so much patience. And it’s coming naturally now. No longer put-on. How ?
Only wish MSD had come on to the scene before. The angry young girl wouldn’t have kicked so many asses (literally) in her temper then.

p.s- Haven’t referred to only my friend’s circle in the above example. It might just be you, that I’m referring to. Watch out what you say. I won’t react but I’ll just end up putting it on my blog. I’m so evil, I know it….
I wonder why I never bothered to inculcate Dravid’s patience into me. Would have saved a lot of energy, blood pressure rising, and of course, many people’s asses.

25 comments:

peter said...

u need a good psychiatrist beliv me ..how can u have so many guyz in ur crush list ? :P

btw u talked sense in the middle of it but i have hardly seen any gal having so much info about cricket!

kudos !

Mads said...

@peter- reaction to ur 1st half of the comment. Go away.

reaction to the 2nd half of the comment. *ignoring the 'i talk sense in middle of it'*

thank u :-) also, i thank cricinfo.com for the date of dhoni's debut :D I'm not a walking encyclopedia on cricket :P :P

Prabhu Dutta Das said...

Well I am glad and surprisingly surprised. I had pictured Dhoni in ads, Dhoni smacking the ball etc etc when I read the title of the post.

But then I had forgot for a moment that you are Mads.I guess you look up to sports persons as alter egos. C. Ronaldo for flamboyance etc. etc. But then it comes down to having balls to make decisions.Dhoni is level headed for his age. We need his likes in Indian Cricket!

P.S. I went through a whole lot of others sports person while I was going through it. Refreshed my memory! So I kinda ogled out bits and pieces from everything in nutshell. Don't sue me for being incoherent.

Mads said...

:-) jai dhoni forever....

Nidz said...

I have never watched cricket. but m glad it somehw helped u got to cool ur anger. Cheers!

Gaurav Kant Goel said...

A good read!!! :)

Carry On....

Mads said...

@nidhi...lol :-)
@gaurav... thank u so much :-)

Kunwar Krishna Khurana said...

the worst cricketer that can be?
and u have a crush on him?

yaar chahe mei itna famous nahi hun :P
lekin former cricketer to mei bhi hun :P

dilli ko represent kar chuka hun :(

mei mar gaya tha kya :P

Mads said...

@kunwar, go away.. :P

alx said...

it s so nice wen u can imbibe gud habbits frm othrs....n u knw f evry1 cud do dat d world cudnt hav gt bettr....though i wud luv 2 c hw dhoni reacts wen d team struggles n yeah wen he turns a 33 whthr he wud find sense in fieldin old legs....

btw u really like d fkin new iphone??...or s dis template jz 4 d heck f it?

Mads said...

yeah that wud be interesting to see how dhoni will mature from now...

i suck at judging iphones and any gadget basically, unless it's a pink one, i dont really care :P many ppl asked me to change my template,and i suck at finding out new templates and all so peter gave me his template :P :P :P why, u dont like d iphone kya?

The Seeker said...

Not a first timer, been reading regularly! and also I read the ranbir post! liked it much! and mads I love your humour !! good work, dropping here regularly for a good dose of ROTF laugh...

Mads said...

@ the seeker..thank u so much for ur comments..hope to keep u laughing :D :D :P

Kunwar Krishna Khurana said...

hey i also have some added advantages...
as no more play cricket :P i wont be away much :P

i also have special allrounder of the year awarded by baroda district for 2007, i have won 3 north district cricketer awards
and most runs for 2 seasons and best bowling avg for one season awards and many more :D

i could have probably and can play for delhi at ranji level but am not being allowed to :P

so errr what say abt me :P
fancy being madhuri krishna khurana[:P]

Nidz said...

hey mad there is some prob of my link in ur website. update it. its www.nidhimangal.blogspot.com

Mads said...

@kunwar....why couldnt u play for delhi at ranji level? n ur talking to madhuri singh dhoni.. :-)

hey nidhi, yeah i just noticed today and changed it.. :-)

Kunwar Krishna Khurana said...

beacause mere parivaar walon ne mereko selections ke liye jane hi nahi diya :) coz they dont think of cricket as a career option and also of 12th

Anonymous said...

I see you are really into cricket ! Unusual in times that we are facing now.There used to be a time 8 years back when everyone was so crazy about cricket but now I see things are different.Still,I admire your enthusiasm.

Yes,he is cool but calling him emotionless - well you need to give it a little more thought.shouting out aloud is not agression- it was your very own Rahul who said that and MSD follows this mantra well.

As for haircut n all- well you could tell better as I am not the right person to talk fashion.

Loved the flow of the post.
Rock on !

Mads said...

@kunwar..oh..sad..anyway hope ur pursuing cricket as a hobby still :-)

@mishra :P I loved the way u said 'your own Rahul' :P :P
i called MSD emotionless since he kicked out the seniors, whom he respects and admires so much, without giving a second thought..they must be his good friends too..which i can never do...in a basketball team, i cannot kick out my best friend if she's a bad player..i'll make excuses and keep in her...i meant it that way...

thanks a lot for ur comments.. :-)

Kunwar Krishna Khurana said...

in the mid of 2007 season, when i was appointed captain because of poor results by sidharth, i made him swarmthe benches for 5 odis and 2 3-dayers, because me didnt let me play the quarters of the previous season,
all abt revenge[:P]

Anonymous said...

Hmm...In that way,I will accept your 'emotionless' remark with all my heart.Its always difficult to seperate the emotional and ethical side of personality.But,honestly,he has induced professionalism in Indian cricket and maybe...maybe..we will learn to appreciate that in days to come.

Unknown said...

hmmm..somehow i hv a hard time believeing u hv stopped kicking ppl's asses...wonder y?;)
seriously, if it's true,then i thank Mahi for dat!
tats wd hv loved dis post!

Mads said...

@lavanya duh, wow my own sister doesn't believe me. stay in US, man. :-|
i know :-) thathaaaaaaaaa

AB said...

I also like Dhoni very much! But I just don't say it in public! ;P

Mads said...

@ abhinav..lol...keepin ur private feelings for him is completely okay too :-P