We're bleeding blue!

As much as I try to stick to design and design related stuff, or at the very least semi-arty stuff....I cannot NOT write about the cricket fever that has taken over our country. And I cannot even get creative and think of a designy way to  segue into it....cricket is cricket! Its a sport and has nothing to do remotely with design. America has baseball, Norway has soccer, Canada has curling....we have our cricket! Its the great national equalizer.....rich, poor, old, young, villager, city dweller, enemy and friend.......come a good cricket game and we are all glued to our TV sets. And if the team we are playing is Pakistan.....then its even better. And if we are playing them in a semi-final game....then nothing can beat it!


So yesterday afternoon, at 2.30 pm IST, in the blistering heat of a fast approaching summer, India and Pakistan took to the field in Mohali, Punjab....the wheat growing, mustard eating heartland of the country.....to play in the semi finals of the World Cup! Ordinary life in the country came to a standstill. Kids bunked school, corporates and executives called in sick, call centers shut down, Facebook statuses went berserk....and all one could see on the roads were street dogs and the occasional ignorant stray Indian!!!! 


And so I joined the ranks of all those match watchers.....armed with food and drink to sustain us through the 8 hour thriller! It was typical of any cricket game....dropped catches, bungled fielding, loud vociferous appeals, erupting crowds, bhangra dancing, banners, flags and so on. BUT IN THE END WE WON!!! So at 10.55pm, fireworks were heard all over the city, people shouted and screamed, horns blared, my dogs freaked out and then we all went to bed, exhilarated and now intensely excited about the finals on Saturday against Srilanka! Even though for most of us beating Pakistan was as good as winning the final..


So then, here are some pics to show how cricket mad this country was, is and will always be.....

A Pakistani prisoner, left, poses with an Indian prisoner during the Pakistan-India cricket match

Indians react as they watch the ICC World Cup cricket semifinal match between India and Pakistan, on a television set at a hair salon in New Delhi

Indian laborers listen to a commentary

Indians react as they watch on a television set

Pakistani spectators celebrate during the ICC Cricket World Cup semifinal between India and Pakistan, in Multan, Pakistan

India supporters cheering.....

 Members of Pakistan's Hindu minority pray for victory for their team Pakistan during a collective prayer ceremony, in Karachi, Pakistan 

An Indian cricket fan throws flames as others cheer during an event organized to wish the Indian cricket team good luck ahead 

And if this hasn't gotten you cricket crazy yet, watch this....

I can only imagine the scene when we win on Saturday! GO INDIA GO!

All images via