Sharmistha Gooptu in Manchester
As a civilisation we have always worshipped the rain deities. And even for as long as the movies have existed there have been rain songs from Dev saab (Dev Anand) to Sridevi, to the famous rain song the the 2001 film Lagaan – the villagers are forced to play against their British tormentors because lack of rain leaves them with a drought situation and unable to pay lagaan (tax) .
Today, every Indian who is at Old Trafford is begging the rain gods – we’ve all gone back to worshiping every god and goddess in a bid to induce rain! On the other side, the British journalist whose seat is right next to me in the media centre grinned at me as soon as he walked in – ‘Dry eh?’ The sky is still overcast though and the air is heavy and still. The pitch cover is kept handy close to the pitch given the prediction of rain until midday.
Indian fans are not any less in numbers here today given the team’s dismal showing yesterday. The families and groups have turned up – and everybody has ‘barish’ on their lips.
Even now, as I watch the Indian team warm up before the start of play, I’m watching and praying for an umbrella to go up amongst the ground staff, generally our first indicators inside the glass box of any rain.
Did I just see that drop? No birdie; a voice in my head tells me. It’s just your mind playing tricks…
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