JOIN USI recently watched Kabir Khan’s movie 83. It brought back a flood of memories. I am sure it did for a whole generation. I was 12 years old back then and vividly remember how my sister and I sat in our neighbour’s home and watched the match late in the evening. Like the thousand others who had their own superstitions, we believed that India won the World Cup that day because of us. You see, whenever we took a sip of water, a West Indian wicket fell!
The scenes where they show the antennas being turned around to face the TV tower so that the signal could be clearer reminded me of how sprightly I was while climbing up to the terrace which had no stairs. Today, it is called parkouring and is a rage on social platforms. Back then, every family had at least one member who was an expert climber.
The journalist typing out his article on the typewriter made me smile as I thought about the Remington that I had and how I learnt to change the ribbon by trial and error. My journalistic foray began on this machine, thanks to a benevolent uncle who allowed me to use it. I would type my letters to the editor for magazines and newspapers and my joy knew no bounds when they appeared in print. I would proudly show it off to my friends. I still do when my middles are published!
As I relived the experience of the fantastic victory, I realised what the victory meant to us as a nation. Till then we were a nothing country. No one believed that we could do anything. But here we were suddenly lifting the World Cup, beating the biggest cricketing nations. The other cricketing countries started to believe that the invincible Windies were also vulnerable.
More than that, the victory gave millions of Indians the belief that we had it in us to excel. It also subtly shifted the power base of cricket from England to India. The 1987 Reliance World Cup held jointly in India and Pakistan showed the world what potential our nation had in terms of marketing possibilities. It was no wonder that within four years, P V Narasimha Rao brought about economic reforms that had a far-reaching impact.
As I teared up after the victory scene, I realised that we Indians owe it big time to these heroes who changed a lot for future generations. Like P R Man Singh says, they are true freedom fighters. Thank you, Kapil’s Devils, for giving millions of Indians a shot at the future!