India is a vast country. Spread over three million square kilometres and divided into 28 states and eight union territories. It’s a country with rich diversity from North to South and East to West. Both geographically and culturally, it’s the kind of buffet spread which keeps changing taste with every few hundred kilometres travelled in either direction. Understandably so, every part of the country has a different day to celebrate and an even different way to celebrate it.
From the Lohri in the North during the chill of January to the widely celebrated Diwali in October-November and then ringing in the New Year vibe with the Christmas on December 25, months change, seasons change, regions change but the festive vibe remains the same. No matter how hard the day, week or month has been for some, there is still someone out there celebrating a festival. And this is not likely to change any time soon. Such has been the fabric of our multi-cultural nation and it’s deeply etched in its DNA.
It’s August right now and most of the country would have started stocking up on kites to litter the sky with different hues on August 15. The moment bruises on the fingers from sharp flying threads heal, it will be time for the celebration of brother-sister bond with Raksha Bandhan. Yet, the two immediately approaching festivals are least talked about as Navratri, Kali Puja and Diwali have taken centre stage well before households even start planning for garba outfits, pujo pandals and the sudden increase in calories intake during Diwali week.
The C in ABC (Astrology, Bollywood, Cricket) of what India consumes the most hasn’t made an ideal match with F (festivals) and it has put a certain BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) in an awkward position less than two months before the 2023 World Cup in India.
India vs Pakistan, Navaratri and security
As The Indian Express had reported last month, concerns were raised regarding the security situation in Ahmedabad with the high-profile India vs Pakistan fixture clashing with the start of Navaratri. The concern forced BCCI into a huddle and the Indian cricket board made some tweaks to the schedule by not changing the venues but moving some dates around and some start timing of the games. The official word was that couple of Full Member ICC nations had objected to the schedule and “minor adjustments” were required to address their concerns.
The revised schedule is not out yet, and is likely to come early this week, but has already caused a lot of embarrassment which has pointed fingers towards the handling of affairs. Delayed schedule, now tweaked schedules and then the delay and suspense around the sale of tickets. With Garba beats still reverberating in their ears, early Diwali fireworks have triggered more panic which is not allowing an ideal build-up to a prestigious event by world’s richest cricket board.
And now Kolkata….
Before the Navaratri situation could have been taken care of, via official announcement of the tweaked schedule, reports have emerged out of Kolkata regarding “security situation” as England vs Pakistan on November 12 clashes with Kali Puja and Diwali. While no word of substance has come out of anywhere yet, it has already triggered a lot of panic.
Not turning a blind eye towards the security situation, the period from last week of October to start of November is a beautiful time to be in Kolkata. The city is beaming with joy and drenched in festive vibe, and it’s really unfortunate that the C and F can’t exist during a time they can be the perfect ingredients for a delicious recipe. Just like they could have been during the energetic vibe which grips Gujarat during Navaratri.
What next? That is the more important question here. More security situation checks in another state where a fixture clashes with a festival? Why not check Delhi? One of the oldest Ramlilas will be staged at the Red Fort between October 15 and October 25 and it will attract thousands. Around the same time, England play Afghanistan (October 14) and Australia play Netherlands (October 25) in Delhi. Will Delhi Police now raise a concern? Anybody’s guess for now because DDCA’s meeting with the concerned authorities is not happening before August 20 but those tracking developments say it wouldn’t be an issue “because Pakistan isn’t playing”.
The concern here isn’t Pakistan or security or the multiple issues in the build-up to the World Cup but the fact that in a such a diverse country, C and F are not able to co-exist. Instead of rubbing their flavour onto each other, they are facing a this-or-that situation. Unfortunate but the sad truth.
The charm of Boxing Day
Can an Australian cricket calendar be complete without a boxing-day Test in front of capacity crowd? It falls right between a holiday week where the entire country celebrates like there is no tomorrow and has now become part of the festivities.
In between the mad week, those five days of cricket are as important as Christmas on December 25 and New Year’s eve on December 31. And we are not talking about few thousands thronging the stands, it’s a capacity crowd cheering for cricket in full glory!
No home season
India are one of the only top Test playing nation to not have a proper home season. Back during N Srinivasan’s term as BCCI chief, there were strong explorations regarding India’s fixed home season and a window between Dusshera (October) and Lohri (January) was being looked at. It never materialised but was certainly more than a passing thought and probably what Indian cricket needs the most right now to allow the F and C to co-exist.
There are some concerns regarding fixing India’s home schedule as Team India does a lot of travelling to help other boards survive but someone, somewhere has to find some way. Habit doesn’t develop overnight and a proper fixed home calendar will allow the security agencies, cricket authorities and the beautiful game of cricket and flavour of festivals to co-exist.
Team India will travel over 10,000 kilometres across the country during the World Cup and rather than dodging the ‘F’, the ‘C’ should embrace it and give the billions of fans around the globe an experience like never before.
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