But Ronaldo is not near the cup ...
But Ronaldo is not near the cup ...
2006-06-13T15:44:00
The onset of monsoon brings with it a number of `fevers', the most fatal being those caused by mosquito/rats. This year, a less lethal variety is doing the rounds. It's called `soccer fever' and is induced by the mere sight of a lot of men with weird hairdo's fighting to get hold of a ball infront of ten thousand men and women who appear to have just gotten out of the nearby lunatic asylums. The TV shops are loving it; so are the local liquor vendors. The morality of the local population has suddenly been boosted - the run-down theatres which used to lure young and old alike by playing "A" films are screening soccer matches - the call of the ball has firmly extinguished all baser desires. Gentlemen who strive hard to bring an end to social inequality by taking stuff from the rich and giving it away to the less fortunate (themselves) are having mid-career blues; many of them are thinking of shifting over from their BPO style night-job to more professionally rewarding hard-core "development" fields like politics. The local boys who always love a good quarrel are enjoying themselves thoroughly - last night, they had a chance to rough-up the poor poster-wallah because in a `group photo' of great ball-hitters, they didn't put Ronaldo near the cup. What disgrace! The friendly next-door barber has flown to Munich to take a crash course in advanced barbering to satisfy the latest fashion requirements of the abovementioned "boys" - the local univerisity never taught him how to decorate a man's head like a barren field freshly ploughed by a tractor. News of the great enthu for ball-kicking in far away God's own country has reached the ears of the football federation president. Insider info has it that he is seriously thinking of having the next great carnival of `men-running-after-a-ball' in our own Keralam! It is said that however lofty be your goal, there will always be skeptics. Mamu Mappila, after watching a "match" on the idiot-box, thought aloud in amazement: "Why are all these poor boys fighting for ONE ball - I shall immediately give away a ball to each one of them so that they can all go home in peace".