From the ashes they rose, resurrected like a Phoenix

Time stood still, for what seemed like an eternity, as the ball soared slowly through the air, flying like a saucer on a mission it sailed effortlessly into the Garware Stand at the Wankhade, that moment, that very moment, an immovable force engulfed 1.21 billion people for all times to come, and before we knew it we were World Champions.

Magnanimous is too mild a word to describe those few moments on the 2nd of April 2011, 28 years of pain buried for good, 28 years of indignation pushed aside for a life time.

Never again would we have to depend solely on images of Jimmy Amarnath running like a grasshopper on weed after winning the 83 cup, we now had a whole new set of images to live with and live for, Dhoni hitting that ball into orbit to lift the cup, Bhajji and Yuvraj overtaken by emotions, Zak in arms with the team and Virat carrying Sachin on his shoulders around the ground on a well deserved Victory Lap, but the image that stands out for me, the image that gives me the chills, the image that will cross my mind when I am on my deathbed, will be of Yuvraj Singh on his knees, fists clenched, arms raised, a man possessed, a man who believed we could win this, a man who had just beaten the once mighty Aussies, take a bow !!!

And now that its all over, I can look back and find it extremely hard to hold back my tears, 19th February to 2nd April, what a journey, an experience of a life time, an experience unforgettable and incomparable.

Thank you Team India, thank you cricket, for giving a million others and me a reason to live for again!!!