There's a big cricket match tonight between Pakistan and India. 'P' came over to my desk today and said "I am very tense". So I of course asked him why, and he explained the phenomenon of cricket, and especially the huge significance of a game between India and Pakistan, given the political unrest between the two countries. His final description of a passionate cricket match was "a war without the shooting".
He will be going to a theatre on 74th street tonight, where he expects to watch a satellite feed of the match from 11pm until around 5am. In India, life will pause as the whole nation remains glued to their TV screens. Apparently, this is expected to be the most watched event in the history of TV. After all, there are a billion people who live in India, and this is a national passion.
In fact, 'P' is so concerned about this, he has been fasting and praying for a win, and even asked for my prayers. I think he is trying to improve the odds by getting everyone's various gods involved. I wimped out and said that I hoped he (India) would win. I've never been sure whether it's 'ok' to pray for a sports win. But I was excited that he even views me as a praying person.
And then it suddenly occurred to me to ask if anyone on the floor is Pakistani, and he said yes. And I didn't even realize. So I will need to be careful of whom I congratulate and who I commiserate with on Monday!
He was dumbfounded when I admitted that I know nothing about the sport, and wouldn't even recognize what it was if I saw someone playing. He showed me a picture of Sachin, the best player in the world. But I have already forgotten if he is a bowler or a batter, (since I don't grasp what the players do).
He patiently tried to convey how important this is to both Pakistan and India, and showed me the major newspapers of both (online). What a dramatic example: The front page news headlines were over 50% about cricket, and there wasn't even a mention of yesterday's terrorist bombings in Madrid.
I see that if I am to try to bridge the cultural gap and learn something about my Indian co-workers, I must learn something about cricket.
Tomorrow morning when I wake up, I will find out whether 1/4 of the world's population is happy or sad.
No comments:
Post a Comment