!! Wavin' Flag !!

... to indicate FIFA's back! Trust all is well and June was swell.

FIFA fervour takes me back in time when I was in Germany (who won the rights to host FIFA-2006). I got lucky. By chance. Coincidentally, I was in Paris the day of the finals (if you remember France ended as runners-up.If you don't, clues like Zidane-Materazzi will ensure a total recall). I don't know why destiny chose me to be there at that time as I don't follow any sporting event actively on television. I read about them and so I am aware of what's the buzz, who are the favourites, under-dogs etc (to some extent). My younger brother is a soccer fanatic ; He plays only soccer with his friends, on his PlayStation, worships Drogba etc and follows every League and Liga! Goes without saying that he was supremely jealous of me and resorted to channelising his jealousy by giving me a huge list of football paraphernalia I was to purchase for him.


                      I remember scouring for a Michael Ballack t-shirt (pronounced Michelle  Bal-ack in German) in German cities but I never found the original easily. You see, my brother wouldn't wear fakes (!tough customer to top it!). Several other players' were also in his list. I did manage to find a few eventually but they were so exorbitant (Michael Ballack was Germany's star player who is not playing this time) , I would have had to cancel my trip to Paris in order to afford the t-shirt. I made the 'selfish' choice in an instant. I am no miser, so I bought my brother some FIFA memorabilia & other things I knew he'd like. You can ask him. :-) Football/Soccer for me is always synonymous with my brother. I spent the most on him as he was so excited for me and I also think he missed me the most those 3 weeks ;-D 

About my experience during those couple of weeks, I'll let the pictures do most of the talking. You know, I clicked away to glory & I can't believe all that is finally coming of some use. It feels like my raison-d'etre of being a blogger!;-)

//click on the images to enlarge//

** Footballs were on display everywhere. I loved the football  "plant" & it was so hot during the day I did want to sit under the football fountain!

** Here and there, I saw so many groups of boys/men playing on the pedestrian sidewalks & roads. Passing enthusiasts would join in and within no time there would be a crowd watching too. Cricket-fever in India is nothing when you compare the same to European soccer craze!

** Entire Germany was festive with flags - this was the dining area in our hotel ;-)

What was very " Indian " was post-celebration excitement - To give you a taste, the otherwise shiny roads used to be littered.

** This was the crowd gearing up to watch a match. Yes what you see behind is the Gottlieb-Daimler stadium (pic on the right) in Stuttgart. I don't remember the teams playing on that day. But but..Just so you all know I am not a total gavaar (illiterate in hindi), Germany had finished 3rd  defeating Portugal in that very stadium.

** Whenever Germany won, there was celebration all night. As a rule, honking is prohibited but their excitement knew no bounds & there would be chaotic jams, drivers honking in celebration incessantly, waving flags, bursting crackers, fans singing 'Deustchlaaaand, Deutschlaaand' in chorus, smiling & posing for everyone.

** One of the shopping malls had listed all the FIFA champions. Italy took the cup in 2006 (they would have updated that). So who now?

** Strasbourg (France) was preparing for 'Tour de France' the day I visited. There were barricades put up all over & I nursed secret dreams of catching a glimpse of Lance Armstrong.. OK I know that was toooo much ;-D  What you see behind is Strasbourg's oldest and most famous Cathedral (also extremely beautiful inside).

** No relation to FIFA. I had to share this. This is one of my favourites. Cops are called 'Polizei' in German. I found them fascinating - their uniforms, bikes! But I was also scared of them. I'd heard a lot of stories all starting with 'may I see your passport please' so although I wanted to click their picture I held myself back. I used to pester my friend who would ignore me. One of the last few days, my friend  upon my insistence requested the polizei for a picture. He agreed & this is his smart and suave pose. Notice the amused passersby behind! My friend told me he would take a picture with the seemingly amiable Polizei and me, but really, that was pushing it too far ;-)

Incidentally I flew back to Bangalore the day after the finale. The airport was full of foreigners leaving - some happy and some disappointed. In the flight, I bought a miniature model of the Boeing (my shopping didn't end till I landed) and they surprised me with one whose nose was shaped like a football (Special FIFA edition) !!! :-)

There ends my FIFA moments! I'm reminded of a line from U2's song - "sleight of hand and twist of fate" that sums up my sentiments about those weeks (although the words in the song were in an entirely different context!).

p.s. - This post title, Wavin' flag (K'naan) is the official theme song of FIFA-2010! I like it looooooots! :)

          So who am I waving flag for this time you might ask? Wrong person totally. I haven't watched a single match yet!! :) 

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Do you still remember I had to offer some excuses explanation? No? Don't care? Well the post is incomplete without it so... Every year, during the end of summers & pre-monsoon season, I catch the flu without fail. Usually it lasts a few days. This year I was coughing and croaking for weeks :-( , also fever kept showing up and disappearing in turn. After I recovered, I felt lethargic. For inspiration, I read Anna Karenina (Leo Tolstoy). Don't roll your eyes! The day has come when Russians don't intimidate me anymore. So I will be reading more of them. Apologies to one and all as I tried to keep track of all your latest posts, but  didn't quite make it. Thanks for the concern and peptalk! I hereby close this post with a pledge to pull up my socks & go on a reading spree. Like my friend Arkansas Patti said , I shall try to "pound the keyboard" too!