Ganesha/Left Trunk-Right Trunk

[Guest guest]

Home | Cricket | Feedback

Shobha Warrier Nine-year-old Stalin left his cricket bat near the temple and

started riding his bike. "I love this temple. This is how temples should be. I

prayed to Lord Ganesha to make me a great cricketer like Sachin Tendulkar," he

said. There was hope and anticipation in his eyes. At the same time, he was

slightly disappointed because he hasn't had a chance to bat in front of

Ganesha. "All the kids in the neighbourhood want to show Ganesha how they bat,"

he said. "I am yet to get my chance. Probably, I will be able to do it today."

Pointing to the girls who were cycling with him, he said rather contemptuously,

"They are not interested in cricket at all. They don't go and pray there." The

girls protested vehemently, "We like cricket, Ganesha!" But before long they

confessed: "Okay, okay, we don't like the game much. Who said it is so

interesting? It is boring!See? I told you they are dumb," Stalin exclaimed

triumphantly and began cycling at a frantic pace, for the girls had gone far

ahead of him by then! It is said that cricket is a religion in India and the

cricket mania here can only be compared to the soccer mania in Brazil. But it

seems there is something more to cricket in India. Otherwise, how can anyone

explain Lord Ganesha also becoming a lover of the game, and a Ganesha being

named Cricket Ganesha? When K.R.Ramakrishnan installed a small Ganesha temple

in one corner of the apartment and named the God, Cricket Ganesha, his wife

Saraswathi was amused; she thought it was quite childish of him to do so. "I

never used to watch cricket; but he was crazy about cricket. But I did not

expect him to be so crazy as to name Lord Ganesha, Cricket Ganesha! Slowly,

when India started winning matches, where its position was rather hopeless, I

also started believing in Cricket Ganesha." Saraswathi said, with an amused

smile on her face. It all began when K.R.Ramkrishnan, General Manager (Legal)

and Company Secretary at ACCEL ICIM Systems and Services Ltd bought a Ganesha

to install in the north-east corner of his apartment as he felt a Ganesha

temple should be there to guard the residents. The day was March 11, 2001. The

second Test match between India and Australia was going on at Kolkatta.

"India's position was very bad when I installed the Ganesha. Australia had

scored 190 for 1 then. Australia had an enviable record of winning 16 Test

matches in a row. I turned to Ganesha and prayed, 'If you are really powerful,

let India win the match.' I was just testing his power. Immediately after that,

Harbhajan Singh took a hat-trick. Though we were asked to follow on, we made a

huge total of 600-odd. Laxman made the highest score ever made by an Indian,

281. Rahul Dravid also made 180. Harbhajan took 13 wickets in the match and we

won the Test! " No, Ramkrishnan did not name him Cricket Ganesha then. He

wanted to Test the power of his Ganesha again. "I waited for the Madras Test,

and that also we won. After we won the Test series only, I started believing in

his strength. And then I decided that I should name him Cricket Ganesha."

Inside the temple, not only a Ganesha, with its trunk pointing to right, but

another one, with its truck pointing to the left, also is there. There is a

story behind that too. When Ramakrishnan found that his Ganesha was "helping"

only the right-handed batsmen, he decided to have a God to bless the

left-handed batsmen too. "When I saw a Ganesha with a left trunk inside my

friend's car, I asked him, 'Why do you have a left trunk Ganesha when the whole

world knows that a right trunk Ganesha is the most powerful?' His answer

perplexed me. He said, he was a left-hander and ever since he had a `left trunk

Ganesha', things started looking bright for him." Immediately, Ramakrishnan

installed a Ganesha with its trunk pointing to the left. Believe it or not, he

says, the Goa one-day match was played after that and Ganguly came back to form

after a long gap and scored 74 runs in 83 balls. No, it was not a coincidence,

argues Ramakrishnan. "You see, I am an ardent fan of cricket, and I am also a

devotee of Ganesha. I brought this Ganesha here to bring good fortune to all

those who live in this apartment but something else happened. I never had any

intention of helping cricket. But now, I feel this Ganesha helps cricket and

cricketers! People may dismiss this as a coincidence but I will not. He brought

luck to left arm seamers like Ashish Nehra and Zaheer Khan. Yuvaraj Singh became

the darling of all Indians. I will not say that it was by pure coincidence that

both the right-handers and left-handers started performing well." Sivanand

Naik, who lives nearby, also couldn't believe the relationship between the

Ganesha and the fortunes of Indian cricket. "Initially, I also wondered, why a

cricket Ganesha? Ganguly's knock at Goa, after Ramakrishnan installed a left

trunk Ganesha, was the first turning point. The next was the NatWest Series.

India's win made many in the neighborhood believe that there is a super power

and this Ganesha loves cricket!. When I found many young boys including my own

11-year-old son praying for victory in the NatWest Series, I also went there

and prayed! The whole thing may sound funny but it is true. I was also happy to

see children praying for others. It's a good change." According to

Ramakrishnan, the deity that he has is the cricket incarnation of Lord Ganesha.

So, every morning, while performing the Ganesha pooja, he recites, 'Om cricket

vinayakaya namaha, Om all-rounderaya Namaha! Om wicket keeperaya namaha! Om

sixer marnevala namaha! Om havame uchalkar gendh lenevala namaha! Om zameenpar

girkar gendh rukhnewala namaha! ... .' And, finally, there are special prayers

for individual players too. Tendulkar, Ganguly, Sehwag, Mongia sarva

deerkhayushman Bhava! Dravid, Laxman, Ratra, sarva deerkhayushman bhava! Zaheer

Khan, Ashish Nehra, Tinu Yohannan, sarva deerkhayushman bhava! Also, anya

Bharati khiladi deerkhayushman bhava! But Ramakrishnan was quick to admit that

it was not because of his prayers that India did well. "Maybe, Ganesha wanted

to prove something to the others. Let me add, if you just pray to God and write

an exam, you will not pass. Similarly, if the players don't work hard, India

will not win. If the selectors don't select the best players, India will not

win. Sincere and collective efforts are absolutely essential for a win. If you

play your part well, Ganesha will help you by removing all the obstacles that

are there in your path. So, you cannot blame God whenever you lose. How can you

win the Test when the selectors have not picked the in-form young players like

Kaif? Yuvraj also is not there." In short, cricket Ganesha would help only

those who help themselves. If cricketers from other countries think that

Cricket Ganesha would bring luck to them, they are mistaken; this cricket

Ganesha will help only the Indian cricketers. "Ganesha is an Indian God!

Naturally, he will bless only Indian cricketers."

Illustration: Uttam GhoshPhotographs: Sreeram SelvarajDesign: Uday Kuckian

 

U2 on LAUNCH - Exclusive medley &; videos from Greatest Hits CD