From Diwali 2022 To Holi 2023, Virat Kohli Resonates With India’s Festive Mood
Virat Kohli after completing his 28th Test hundred [Source: AP]
As a science geek, I am often fascinated by how we humans tend to behave contrastingly from our microscopic constituents. Usually, the atoms and molecules we are made of shy away from changing their respective states, while we keep oscillating between different emotional levels.
It's natural for us to seek some freshness in our lives. And that is why we celebrate festivals, adding different flavours to our mental state and elevating our mood to cloud nine.
But what if we empathise with someone undergoing a prolonged torrid phase?
We mentally enter his shoes, and our mood starts synchronising with his. We no more remain the same individual as once we were. We desperately pray the God to end his failure drought with the showers of success, and no festival uplifts us more than his happy face filled with satisfaction.
In a cricket-crazy nation like India, it's absolutely normal for a cricketer to have a billion fans, who, in their subconscious, move to and fro with his highs and lows in their daily lives. And if that player is Virat Kohli, you can pretty well imagine the huge sample size of emotions on either side of the graph.
The reason behind Kohli becoming such an essential part of our lives is the joy he has given to us throughout his fifteen-year-long international career. Despite being critical of his gameplay at times, deep down we all know why we should be indebted to him, as we are aware of the umpteen times he has stepped up for India with the willow in hand.
The fact that Hotstar's viewership skyrocketed upon Kohli nearing his 28th Test hundred, and thousands of congratulatory tweets popped up on my timeline when he accomplished it vividly represents how India celebrates him regardless of fandom, making him equivalent to a festival.
And who says the legend doesn't know it?
He loves seeing us happy, which is why he ensured we had a joyous Diwali last year, executing one of the greatest-ever run-chases in cricket history, that too against the arch-rivals on the biggest stage.
While his stupendous fireworks at the Gee formed the core ingredient of our Diwali celebrations, his gritty Test hundred in Ahmedabad was no less than a dessert we crave during Holi.
Despite his friend-cum-foe Steve Smith playing all his tricks, Kohli was unfazed as he painted a billion Indian hearts with the colour of happiness. And he celebrated Holi with us, with a distinct colour of satisfaction spread all over his face as soon as he nudged it for a single to complete his ton.
Although his calm celebration was entirely out of phase to our jubilance, his soul resonated with ours. We felt what he felt; we were him, and he was us.
 "Debashis Sarangi")
