Fans and fanatics

I'm a Liverpool fan and i prefer to walk alone. Always did. Been cheering the team for more than a decade now. I've seen it rise and fall and ebb. Players come and go. Only somebody like Gerrard or a Carragher sticks around. However, despite my concern for this particular club, i can't claim to be a hardcore Scouser. I just can't. Maybe by birth. Not because i haven't been lucky enough to visit Anfield or Melwood yet. It's actually basic common sense. I have nothing to do with those places to begin with. I can't even point out where Liverpool is on a map—not that it matters anyway. All i am is a Liverpool fan. I love the integrity it shows on the field and i admire the way it plays and the way it's run. There's no point in being more organic than necessary. The problem with the current lot of Indian football club fans is they want to be part of a history they shall never be. This behaviour would have made more sense if Indians were fond of clubs that aren't in the top-5. But that's not how it is. Success is the key. A majority are plain glory-hunters though they'll never admit it. They want to touch the peak their favourite club did in the past. They are offended by slangs that were coined much before they were born. And the worst part: they generally don't respect other clubs or their fans. Generalizing football fans is wrong but when it comes to adherence to clubs, it's alright to kick logic.

Hit & Run

The media in our country is often chided for neglecting North-East India. But after what happened in Guwahati recently, there must be some hushed cries implying it was better off neglected! Having said that, this attitude won't solve the underlying problem. What would do the trick though is a well-executed kick right in the nuts of the perpetrators. Better still, a real hard one. Or two. The thing is anti-social elements (read: chauvinists, sexists, pricks, jerks and ilk) have been in the society long before men learned the art of masturbation. To make future worse, they'll always be around. There's nothing one can do to stop them from taking birth but we can definitely stop them in other ways. I don't know what they are but I'm sure that intolerance can help. For a start, at least. Too much nonsense has been (and is being) tolerated. And silence is not a safe word anymore. For a change, change has to make some noise. Maybe it's high time!