A Fixed Match

That hushed silence, that beating of the heart, biting of the nails, and that racing of the blood excitement in the stands, tension in the pavilion, frenzied munching of popcorns in the galleries - As the bowler thunders down that run up tarmac eyes on fire, chest thumping, raw blood boiling A single glare at the batsman, the batsman giving it back with a whack down the pitch, ball flying past the infield Fielders scattered all over, racing towards the boundary - the palpitation, the frenzy, the nerve wracking suspense, oh! Ah, ah, ah, they all know that it is a "fixed" match - who's gonna win, who's gonna score how many runs how many no balls, how many wide balls in each over everything, everything is fixed - you don't believe? Why it is as clear as the daylight, my sir! The way that batsman edged it to the first slip The way that bowler deliberately over-stepped The way that fielder dropped that sitter - my school going son would have grabbed that chance, sir! And the way the umpire gave that "knowing" smile The way they gossiped The way they chuckled - Ah, it w-a-s a fixed match. And still they clapped, laughed and blew their bugles And still they whistled, danced and beat their drums they egged on the batsmen, pleaded with the bowlers each leg glance relished, each stumping was cheered and there was a collective sigh at each falling of wickets and that funeral like silence when the home team lost. This world is a stage, you are only an actor When a match is played, the outcome is fixed There will be only one winner, one - one only How it matters if this team won or that team lost? When a girl is wedded, her fate is fixed. when a child is born, his stars are fixed life is fixed, love is fixed, death is fixed - And still there is joy and there is revelry that bated breath, that secret excitement when a girl is wedded, when a child is born or a fixed match is played to its rehearsed perfection. ****** (The poem was short-listed for the AIPC-2013 National Poetry Competition)