The Indian Obsession: Cricket

India is a country obsessed with cricket. A game played by a handful of countries and dominated financially by India owning to the fanatics for it.
Ever wondered why other sports in India are not doing so well. Well I did wonder about it and sort of came to a conclusion which many people will not like. My take on this issue is that the money and visibility associated with cricket has brought about a down trend for other games. While a cricket player is treated like a royal, the India team members for other sports are treated like worthless trash at most occasions.
Recently it had come to notice that Indian hockey players were forced to stay in dormitories with stinking toilets, beds with no bed sheet and bunched up 5-6 in a room. While a similar situation in Cricket will most certainly turn into a national calamity, this incident died soon after it came to notice.
What is it about cricket that has made us so fanatic. It is a game of the lazy where people stay out in the sun standing for the whole day and waiting for their turn. While most other games, a player is not provided more than a moment's respite before his next move is supposed to happen. So why is this obsession.
Its not like Indians have been a lazy race in there pedigree. Indians have always been looked up in the world as one of the most intellectual races and I loathe to think of intellect going along with laziness. So the question once again is why the obsession.
It may have started with the zeal to beat the Britishers at their own game for ruling us for so long. But it so happens that we are not able to do that. India might have won the World Cup of Cricket but what value does a world cup hold for a game that is played by 8 countries who are assured to make the cut to the cup. Isn't it ironic that we are calling ourselves World Champions for a game not even played in most of the civilized regions of the world.
India's national game "USED" to be hockey. People used to love Dhyan Chand and kind. India really dominated hockey in those days like Aussies did to cricket in the recent era. Hockey has lost all its significance in India and our team is in worst state than the current West Indies Cricket team which had its glory days back in 70s and 80s. India has seen a similar fall in Hockey but to a deeper ditch.
What has Cricket given to India. We may say we are united behind cricket but what good being united behind a game which not many would challenge you to.
For India to take all games seriously we need to remove the veil of cricket from the people's eye and open them to the endless possibilities present in the sporting world.
Lets fight for our esteem at other sports. The other sports deserve it and our nation deserves lot more medals than we luckily are able to scavenge at times.