Gargi  awakened in the morning at 8 pm after a night of uneven sleep,as a result of which she was in a morose & sullen mood.To top it she had not even had her morning cuppa' & her mother dropped the bombshell " indu  is not coming for work today. So better hurry-" have your bath,help me peel potatoes,do jhaddoo & scrub the clothes before putting in the washer". Indu means their daily servant ,a short,frail,malnourished women with no family & sly sense of humour.  Great !! mumbled gargi to herself.There go all the plans for the day-she had planned. A  leisurely bath, temple & then onwards to the library after work.Now everything was kaput-added to it was the sullen wet downpour of rains till the last week of sepetember.An unheard of event in mumbai!"But looks like the weather alongwith the fortunes of mumbaiites were on an upswing since the last few years".

                   By 8.30 am gargi had finished her ablutions,brushing & morning tea & was ready to tackle the mountain of work for the day with gusto.She started with mopping the floors,scrubbing the clothes & then took a well deserved break of 15 minutes by going through the morning newspapers. An  activity she loved & favoured normally!!

She took a keen interest in the stockmarkets & read out important snippets to her father & would hate to miss the page 3 column & find out who is where at which "latest party".By this time it was past 9 am & she had yet to peel the veggies ,plus go the bank ,which she had completely forgotten in her disturbed thoughts.   She finished this additional chore by 10.30 am & on her way back home received the most boring & stupendous news by the liftman.

"Babyji .......hurry......there is going to be  a crowd near our front gate.....some important people ....coming."Gargi could make no head ....nor tail of it & almost screamed at him in her frustation "what is it idiot ?"why don't u just tell me the news unhesiatingly in a single sentence ?"

                     " THE INDIAN CRICKET TEAM IS GOING TO PASS BY OUR MAIN GATE & BUILDING BY 11 AM ,ON THEIR WAY TO THE WANKHEDE STADIUM"

                     Gargi looked at him blankly.......& grumbled to herself "big deal" "as if brad pitt & angelina jolie are coming"but it was a big deal ,especially to lot's of her fellow countrymen ,her father & her silly younger sister "keta" who taught in a school opposite their home.She came home & casually mentioned it to her father......who shot out of his seat like  a spring & went to the window to have an immediate look.It was crowded but the team had not yet passed.it was 11.25 am.Gargi was amused,amazed & irritated by this herd mentalilty & sensational euphoria.She was no sports & especially cricket fan,Her interests lay more towards art & music.She just stood at the window out of mild curiosity & was shocked to discover hundreds of people on the streets ,includiing her own colony people,roadside vendors & hutment people .Majority of them were school kids who were staining the barricade to have better glimpse of thei r icons. People were thronging the roads mid-day ,one would think they had no work,homes or offices to go to. They were all of various age groups & strata & their was a faint rumble of "WELCOME HOME THE HEROES-OF INDIAN CRICKET TEAM"

                      BY NOW IT WAS 12 PM & THE CROWDS WERE IN FULL GLORY & A FAINT CHANT OR MURMER WENT THRU THEM AT THE PASSING OF EACH MOTOR CYCLE CAVALCADE,IMPORTED CAR, IN A LINE OR ANYTHING THAT LOOKED LIKE A BUS OR VEHICLE TO CARRY THEIR DOZEN HEROES. THEY WERE NOT DIAPPOINTED AS SHORTLY, "an open air truck went by carrying musicians & dancers in their full element .at a gap of 1 mtr came the open air mumbai transportaion bus festooned with garlands & ballons & on the upper open deck were our heroes ."STURDY,HEALTHY,HAPPY,THUMPING ELEVEN YOUNG MEN " who had made the country proud by winning the world cup aginst tough competion .Chants like "Dhoni keep it up",agarkar well done & such like- littered the air......Our men, the heroes were lapping it up,waving shouting ,greeting ,cheering & shamelessly playing it up for the moment.All this just last ed for a full 5 minutes ,but one would think seeing the happy public .... it was a momnet of a lifetime....mused  gargi to herself.....she too was pleased & gone was her cynical amused reaction.It was replaced by a look of awe....surprise....satisfaction & pride " FOR HER COUNTRYMEN ....HER HEROES.....THE INDIAN CRICKET TEAM & THE THE WORLD CUP ACHIEVERS.