Perspective

A friend: Dhoni got married 

Me: Big deal !! 

A friend: You really hate sports that much?

Me: Cmmon Man' I don't HATE sports , I just don't get a kick out of it.

A friend: 
How is that even possible? How can anyone not get excited during an India-Pakistan cricket finals? How can anyone not get excited during Soccer world cup finals? I don't see it. All the people I know feel the same way. I think you pretend. I think you actually get as excited as us, but you wear this mask to look different from the rest of us.

Me: 
Whoa! That's serious allegation man. Let me ask you this, do you get excited/agitated/emotional when you look at a clear night sky? 


A friend: You're kidding me! Who would? 
Me: I do  
A friend: Bullshit! Why?  
Me: Well, it's hard to explain. But, I get this feeling of insignificance, that overwhelms me. What I mean is that, when I look at the sky and see all those stars, I feel this uneasiness. It doesn't bothers me in a negative way but it makes me realize & you would have heard or read the same anywhere, that our planet is a very ordinary one which orbits a medium sized star which is somewhere in the corner of a very ordinary Galaxy. There are billions of stars like that and there are billions of similar galaxies. What overwhelms me is the knowledge that we are the only ones in such a huge space. I wonder -how is that possible?



A friend: Well, that's right but how does it make you insignificant? 
Me: Don't you see, this makes us microbes on an Ant hill. There is just so much around and we aren't even ON THE SCALE. 



A friend: Okay, we are insignificant? Well that's sad, but…  
Me: No that's not sad. You aren't looking it the right way. I like to think that it makes us important. In fact we might be the most important thing in the universe. Because we can look at the sky , like we are doing now and wonder about the mysteries of Universe, something far bigger than our wildest imagination. This gives me hope. I think its the hope that excites me. Isn't it hope that excites you in these games?  

A friend: Ummmm… in a way. But, suspense plays a bigger role than hope. You hope that the team you are supporting will win, but then you aren't sure. So you hope that things will turn your way but it might change at the very last moment. I think this is what gives me a kick. 


Me: Actually you are right. Suspense does plays a big role, can we synonomize Chance with Suspense?  

A friend: Synonomize! Is that even a word? But anyways I get the drift. Chance and Suspense. Hmmmm.. Interesting thought 


Me: See. Suspense gives you kick because you don't know what's gonna happen. Similarly when you are playing Kreps or on a slot machine, you don't know what's gonna happen.Right. It's all on chance. Throw of a dice, so it's this chance that gives you a kick. So actually it's not the game that's giving you a kick it's the chance!  

A friend: Dude look , I think you are twisting this conversation. But we also see the performance of the players. Like who scored how many goals, or who has the highest batting average etc. So its the score that's important as well. 


Me: Okay. But is the score of any use without the game. As score is a part of the game and it exists only within the context of the game. There is no such thing as "Highest batting average" if a person doesn't know what batting is. 

A friend: What?  
Me: I mean. If you go to some part of the world where no one knows what Cricket is, would Tendulkar matter? Will his Genius have any impact there? Any impact, at all? 

A friend: What kind of a question is that man? What has it gotta do with liking sports? Don't we live in a society. What does society mean? I don't know the dictionary definition but I think that society means a group of like minded people who live and let live. So if you are living in a society you know that you don't have to define what cricket is in order to start discussing about it. I mean how boring and unnecessary will it be to live in a place where people don't even feel and understand what you are talking about. I mean how can a person be so ignorant. 


Me: Exactly. But the truth is that ignorance is defined by society. What everyone knows is standard knowledge, if someone doesn't know what is standard he is called ignorant. However this whole idea can be turned on its head if you change locations. You are ignorant if you go to a tribe living in a jungle somewhere and don't know which fruits are poisonous. For them THAT is the most basic knowledge because your survival depends on it. 
They will think, this guy must be a real bozo if he cant figure out how to survive. It's Life and death man! 

A friend: But why do I need to know about poisonous fruits, I am living in a society where I don't have to worry about these things. So my world is this. Also, I know that it's very difficult to strike a conversation with a stranger if you don't know about sports. I mean look at you man, what do you do when all your friends are celebrating a goal in a pub! Don't you feel tempted to shout? Don't you feel alone? 
Me: You mean to say you like sports because they are great ice breaker? Are you sure you need to break that ice so often, that you need to change your priorities? Well, I don't think so. From an ice breaker perspective, I think Movies and Music are much better ones. Actually Smoking is considered one of the best ice breakers, but, you won't start smoking just for that.  

A friend: Hold on. Hold on. I LIKE SPORTS & IT'S ALSO AN ICE BREAKER. I didn't say that sports are an ice breaker so I like it. I think what it boils down to is feeling.  
Me: Now what has that gotta do with Sports. 

A friend: Well, I feel good when I watch sports. Do you feel the same when you look up at the sky?  
Me: Yeah I Do. What i mean is that even if you are living in a tribe with no knowledge that there is a modern world out there, you can look at the sky and wonder. You can still be awed by it's scale & beauty. This might not be true for all sports, let alone the ones you like or your friends like, but this "sense of wonder" is a constant. 

A friend: Yeah i think so. But the point is that if you feel good about that and it's of no harm to you or anyone, you don't need to justify a reason for liking it. Why do you care if someone likes sports or not, someone likes Quantum bull shit or not? Isn't this feeling of appreciation good enough?  


Me: Exactly! Anyways, how about a drink?