What to do at the IITs.... and Confessions of a Rustic True Blue

Part Two: Confessions of a Rustic True Blue

Some things never change. (If you wonder ‘things like what’, read along…)

18^th Sept 2011. The get together with friends at IIT Madras had just got over when Pala asked me what next. It was Super Sunday that day. Manchester United was to meet Chelsea at Old Trafford, and a Champions League Victory against Benefica was a good sign to the Cobham blues. It was an year since I watched a Premier League match, and I decided I will stay back for the night at IIT, watch the match and return the next day morning. The TV at my home was busted in a power fluctuation months ago, so there was no way of watching the match at home either.

A couple of years ago on any weekend evening, the most probable place to find me was the hostel common room where the most ardent football fans flocked together. We showed no mercy – we used to kick all the cricket fans out! Apart from the Premier League, there were less frequent Champions League and World Cup matches to keep us busy round the calendar. The packed common rooms provided a feeling equivalent to that of a gallery. People in your side, opposite side and some indifferent fans of some other team whose boos and roars and sighs of despair and taunts that followed livened up the air.

Of all the football clubs across the world, I found Chelsea FC the most liking, due to their unique style, glamour and relentless spirit. For a decade I have been their fan. Saw the flourish, fame and the recent fall, and the unbelievable losses in the previous season which hammered blows over my hopes on Chelsea. It was rather a gradual decline, as after Roman Abramovic sacked Jose Mourinho, no manager was able to pull off stints of success that lasted for more than half a season. Avaram Grant was the luckiest of the lot yet the most defamed.

At the same time to the fall of Chelsea, the Catalans achieved uncomparable class and brilliance, and the Manchester United, now the richest club in the world, rose to unquestionably the next best football club in the world. In this backdrop my emotions for Chelsea started eroding, and of late, a ‘transfer’ to Barca was imminent. The doubt whether I have become a turn-coat was the only worry that kept me from switching my ‘home-ground’.

But……

CHE vs MANU.. or rather MANU vs CHE, to term it in the right sequence – is an event which revs me up to otherwise impossible adrenaline highs. By the time Pala and I reached Krishna hostel common room, match had started, Chelsea was a goal down, 18 minutes into the first half.

In a second, all my hard-feelings for Chelsea melted away, and I was back to the game again! 90 minutes were up in the flicker of an eye. Man Utd defeated Chelsea by a deceiving margin of 3-1. A true football fan never believes the stories that the scores belie. The main highlights of the match was the amazing passing and intercepts by Man Utd lads (the average age of their first eleven was 23 !!!) and the relentless spirit displayed by Chelsea, spearheaded by Torres. He impressed, though he made an early bid to the miss of the season when he fired a ball out of an open post after deceiving De Gea with a precise dribble.

Albeit the loss, there was a lot of promising moments for Chelsea. I returned to Pala's room as much a die-hard fan of Chelsea as I have ever been. Some things like this, never change. Blue blood, I will claim I have!