In India they have this game called cricket. You may have heard of it. Apparently it is a pretty big deal in many countries other than America. Anyway, there are some kids in the neighborhood where we live that will drop by to visit Todd and I once every day or two. They often come right after playing cricket together. On Monday when they dropped by they invited me to come play Cricket with them sometime. I guess they play at about 5pm on most days. I told them I'd play on Wednesday, so yesterday they dropped by and grabbed me to come play cricket with them.
I followed them around the neighborhood to an area I had never been to before. They hopped a fence to get into a field. It felt sort of weird and wrong to do that, but I did want to play with them and start getting to know them better. Besides, I figured it was probably just a shortcut. Once on the field I noticed that there was not any way to enter the field without hopping a fence or opening a locked gate. I started having visions of being arrested by the Kolkata police for trespassing. I don't think that's a phone call Kristin would have appreciated. There were other people in the park, and I never got arrested, so it seems like that's just an accepted part of life.
There were about 5 Indian boys (early teens I think) and 3 young men (early to mid twenties) playing... plus me. I had no clue what was going on, and they tended to talk with each other mostly in Bengali. I think they wanted to make me a team captain, but I declined. Then they had me up to bat first. I asked them what I was supposed to do, and they seemed surprised. Apparently they assumed I already knew how to play cricket. To teach me, they had me sit and watch while someone else batted. Someone else pitched, and the batter hit the ball off into far left field. One person went and got the ball, but everyone else just stood there. They informed me that our team now had 4 runs. The same guy batted again. After a few more bats they said he was out. It wasn't at all clear to me what caused him to be out or if that even means the same thing as in baseball. Now it was my turn. I hit the ball a few times, then they told me I should go stand over by the pitcher. I think I was out, but I wasn't really clear on it. They told me our team had 13 runs and was doing well.
We played some more, sometimes they told me to stand in certain areas and try to stop the ball from crossing certain boundary lines. Sometimes the batter would start to run towards the pitcher after he hit, but then would turn around and run back to where he was batting. Multiple times play would stop and they would start yelling at each other in Bengali. I think they were arguing about a call, but I can't say for sure. Maybe they were just excited about an amazing play that I missed the significance of. After about 45 minutes we stopped playing. I don't know if my team won or lost. I don't even really know exactly who my team was. I certainly don't know how in the world the game works, but I think I'll go play it with they again sometime. Perhaps I'll wait until after I read up on the rules of cricket online.
After the game I spent about another 45 minutes wandering around the neighborhood with a 25 year old Indian man named Indranil (Not sure on the spelling). He showed me some areas I didn't even know existed, then took me back to his home where his mother served us an amazing cup of cha (tea). He was a really nice guy and I enjoyed spending time talking with him. He only lives a block or so away from Todd and I, so I hope to continue building a relationship with him during my time here in Kolkata.
1 comment:
I hate cricket.
When I was in India, there was this major match against Pakistan going on, and it was just cricket everywhere. Every tv, every newspaper, all these conversations - cricket. It may be my least favorite game of all time. And don't believe them when they tell you it's popular everywhere. It is only popular in Britain and in countries Britain colonized. Noone else in their right mind would play this game. It is the laziest game ever ever ever (a million times worse than baseball) and fielders in cricket are quick honestly the most useless athletes I have ever seen in any sport. Just watch it on tv for a while - you won't be able to stand it.
As for the rules, if you hit it over the far line in the air, it's four runs. If it rolls or bounces over the line, it's three runs. If you hit it decent but it's not going over the line, you can start running to the pitcher and back. I think they get one run for getting to the pitcher, two for getting to the pitcher and back, and so on. If he doesn't think he can score (or if the balls going over the line) he just stands there after he hits. There's prolly other rules for scoring - matches are won by teams with, like, 900 points (I saw one player score 300 runs in a row) so the rules are pretty ridiculous. There are different rules for getting outs, but catching it on the fly is definitely an out (as is knocking the little bars off the sticks, but it didn't sound like you were playing with those).
And yes, if I do ministry in India I will love this game, just like I will love Bollywood and Indian pop. But for now, bball and hip-hop are just a little more favorable. :)
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