Football(the Soccer kind!!) vs Politics
As yet another weekend unfolded , i woke up (later than normal because it was a Saturday and was catching up on Lost the previous night) to two different pieces of news, one the news of the Indian Elections and second news of the English Premier League title decider.
The two couldn't be further apart, and yet be somehow related, the premier league is based in England. The Indian Elections, are the greatest showpiece of Indian Democracy since..independence from England!!. The premier league runs every year whereas the elections are normally held every 5 years or so.
However , the Elections and Football matches can incite passion to otherwise mundane living.
The similarities and comparisons can probably end there , except for the fact that it is more enjoyable to watch football games every Saturday morning rather than follow the politics that goes on back home.
Watch Football games of Liverpool Football club to be more precise, which until this weekend were the most successful club in English football. Try as much as they wanted , playing brilliant football for most of the season , Rafael Benitez (the manager) along with Gerrard , Torres , Alonso, Kuyt and others couldn't prevent Manchester United from claiming their 18th League title equalling Liverpool's record. They even thrashed United 4-1 at Old Trafford. But sadly it wasnt enought and on Saturday managed to get enough points to win the title by prevailing over a hapless Aresenal .
While Liverpool will no doubt regroup this summer to try and snatch back the throne of English football that they have knocked off, it was pretty sad how the season ended.
It may not be really relevant in the larger scheme of things , but it is the feeling any true sports fan would feel after passionately following their team. There is a lot of highs and lows , joy and excitment in following a team and watch them mature and progress.
On the other hand i was pretty happy to read that Dr. Manmohan Singh and his party got the majority of votes through the monthlong elections held in India. It was definetly a triumph for Economic reform and secularism and i feel India is definetly moving in the right direction, with the Indian Electorate getting more maturer and wiser in its selection of leaders.
It was one of the rare occasions that i was haapy on reading about Politcs and ironically it came on the day that football brough little cheer.
Of course the Indian elections are more important , and with this outcome a lot of older miniters will be moving out and younger blood moving into the PM's cabinet. I really feel that the right man and government(forward minded) are at the helm to take India through this economic recession and build on its excellent growth for the past decade or so.
The INC had been fading out of Indian politics slowly in the last decade , but have come back .
It might sounds strange but Liverpool had also been fading away from the thrones of English football , maybe their time has come , maybe next year will be the year after many many tries for the past 20 years. There is hope and i guess at the end of the day thats what brings a better and more longlasting cheer than just results.
P.S.- I am dreaming of being there at Anfield when Liverpool claim their title!!!
