My teenaged daughter who is preparing for the National Law School entrance exam is, predictably, a Sania Mirza fan. Yet, for some reason, she did not seem bothered by her icon’s second-round exit from the US Open and the inevitable drop in her ATP ranking.
But the other day, learning about our hockey team’s drubbing at the recent World Cup, she was quite upset. She asked, “What is this, Papa?”
“What is what?” I asked, a little taken aback at the suddenness of the query.
“Our team has finished 11th!” she complained, as if I were running the hockey administration of the country. I did not like her tone but felt good that at last the country’s youth was paying attention to sports other than cricket. If this continued, things would definitely improve, I thought. Presently, to console her, I said, “Take it easy, dear. I never thought you set such great store by hockey.”
“But don’t you think it was a bad performance?” she asked.
“It certainly was. But see, our boys tried their best. International hockey has become very competitive and our best penalty corner shooter got himself shot accidentally and could not participate in the tournament,” I said.
{{/usCountry}}“It certainly was. But see, our boys tried their best. International hockey has become very competitive and our best penalty corner shooter got himself shot accidentally and could not participate in the tournament,” I said.
{{/usCountry}}“Was it not a cop’s bullet that got the poor fellow?” my wife chipped in, and added, rather scornfully, “Besides, what can you expect with a former IPS officer running the show in Indian hockey?”
This touched a raw nerve. Since the day she married an IPS officer, the police in general and IPS in particular have became my wife’s favourite punching bags.
Realising that it was time to rise to the occasion, I said, “How can you blame us cops for everything? Things are equally bad in other sports, too. We are always in the bottom half in cricket rankings. Why, look at Sania Mirza’s ATP rank!”
“That is not so bad, Papa. I only wish our hockey team had done slightly better.” My daughter said, leaving me mystified. It does not help me that as she is growing, she is becoming more and more inscrutable. Just like her mother. “And what difference would that make?” I asked.
“You don’t understand, Papa. It is so easy to remember 70th rank. If only our team had finished a notch higher, it would have been easy for me to prepare for the general knowledge paper.”