AS IF MALABAR HOSTS THE WORLD CUP

For a host of reasons, Malabar still shines the brightest than any region in India. Besides its geographical or cultural factors, lies the most relevant in its intrinsic ‘football mania’, which is arguably acclaimed as prerogant to inhabitants themselves by here. As 2014 Fifa World Cup is round the corner, they appear all set to so warmly celebrate it with their blood, sweat and even tears. Not only have they been breathing spirit of soccer thus far, Brazil, as the genuine homeland of the sport for a slew of its avid faithfuls, comes to host the extravaganza, is also doubling their inborn craze tenfold. With just some dusks and dawns are left for the mega event, a vast array of fans associations have sprouted like mushrooms among its residents, almost all and sundry. Despite numerous political conundrums in at the state and national level, they remain highly competitive each other decorating their streets and roads, with superhuman-sized posters of Messi, C.Ronaldo and other demigods in football. Of all keralites, they seem to have feverishly celebrated it to an extent that any village, any town, any junction and any road can be vividly seen carrying the flags of favourite teams and cut-outs of star players which may catch our minds in the blink of an eye.  Amidst the hotted up debates of ‘politricks’, they seek a paradigm shift to football chats.while huge flags fo England, Brazil, Spain, Argentina, Portugal and geramany adorn roads in Malabar,some pockets in the cities have painted graffiti in their areas. Soccer fever is catching up like an epidemic in the nerves of Malabar.

            Seeing such humongous hoardings and cut-outs, fixed atop in the roads Malabar, no doubt one would wonder if the world cup is going to take place in its own soil. The preparations made by them to welcome the event are as much above someone strange can simply think of. The whys are, undoubtedly, clear. Unlike in others, the fever is rooted in its veins, deeper and much more.

            Along with the star players’ elegant cut-outs, the banners read a side’s advantages and strength over its archrivals, highlighting others’ feebleness at its core. Given it, what is all more humorous lie in the aggressive warning against the opponents to keep all bleak in their glimmer of hope. As one of the last world cups’ banners, which can be read us ‘No Kakas will fly over Messi’, (Kaka means crow in Malyalam), some help us burst into peals of laughter.

            “Roses went unwanted, dogs went unwalked, wives went untouched”, a commentator had had his remarks whilst a juxtaposition of Ashes and Wimbledon. Truth to be told, the same goes for scores of fervid fans by here. Likewise in election campaigns, they hold mass rallies through the streets, with huge flex boards of favourite teams attached to their vehicles. Here in Malabar everybody wakes up to football, breathes it, dreams of it, lives for it and devotes himself for it. It is beyond their moms and dads, kith and kin.

            Will Messi mesmerize again? Or will C.Ronaldo rule the roost? Can Scholari’s gamble pay off? Can Lahm’s side strike gold at ease? Their anxieties with heightened expectations know no boundaries. Most of the coffee shops and hotels happen to host reviving debates about various aspects of the mega event-ranging from the cup’s probable to the prospects of different teams. Footbal umbrellas,sandals and even dresses that bear flags and names of countries are another attraction.

            Even more funny about their ‘foot ball craze’ was seen evidently the wake of gone Loksabha poll results. During a local party’s celebrations that fielded only two candidates and both secured thumping victory, the fervent activists carried their party flag in one hand and bursting us into laughter, flags of their dearest sides in another. In spirit, in politics and soccer are two sides of a very coin, though their predecessors focused on the former and disregarded the latter.

            With the phenomenal kick off of the extravaganza, even the pocket roads look jam packed, sport clubs hire the skilled musicians to double the strains the celebrations. Heightened fever soars beyond all exaggeration .Malabar is the lone heartland, wherein you can find the banners of relatively feeble sides like that of Ghana and of even North Korea. Rather than the love for the team or players, it was a symbolic move by the people living here to announce the arrival of World Cup.Beholding the profusion of enormous banners, set up by Argentina and Brazil fans, one may surprise if the inhabitants by here back only both, nothing else. No, but what matters most is that they prefer them to any another. For them Argentina and Brazil are dissolved in their blood as well as the gush of spirit, once its icons are just heard of. In the days from June 12 to July 13, a spate of buses, auto rickshaws and other taxis, painted vividly in favourite teams’ jerseys, often to stop running as those’ owners may be glued up to televisions.

            Its football mania is exemplified in even its cakes and chapels, coloured with flags of different football playing countries. Even more astounding is that some of them are boasting themselves in christening their streets as Argentina Nagar and Brazil Nagar. 

            With the mega event about to kick off,the zeal and fervour exist but has been tonned down. Even though the sporadic rains, election hangover and an unexplained stoicism have plagued the preparations of hardcore fans thusfar, most of them are optimistic about the revival of festivities and hope it’ll match with the gone years’ celebrations.Given the advanced technologies, their craze in social media is not an exception. As the flex battles in streets spark off vying each other to set them up more atop as well in its size and shape, they give best of themselves to post, share, tweet and retweet their teams’ updates with flying colours. As the world cup inches closer, neither their celebrations nor the preparations know the boundaries, to say the least.

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I hereby certify that the article above is my own and has not been given to publish anywhere else.

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From

YOONUS E

Mail  :  helloyoonus@gmail.com