018_Yellow… golden yellow… all over Chennai!
Yellow.
Golden yellow.
Turmeric.
The favourite of the Gods!
Mangal.
Pure talent…
What am I talking about? Some mumbo-jumbo about colour therapy? No. I am talking about the colour that is associated with CSK… well, not just CSK, but also with Chennai as a city.
Chennai, CSK, and this wonderfully sublime colour connect to give us a world of entertaining cricket that has won hearts, if not the IPL trophy twice. Yes, CSK has talent, cricketing talent, but more importantly, it is this colour that simply links all the key words that I have mentioned. This link is what even the average Chennai-wala recognizes, loves, and appreciates.
Just look around when you are in Chennai – the auto-rickshaws, the back of trucks, the posters on the walls, cars, helmets that people wear, the tilak on foreheads, the carpet of flowers on the ground anywhere, walls of houses, and even the sun-shades that junior school students seem to prefer – all in shades of yellow and golden yellow! Is this all a coincidence? Well, if it is, I must say it is one helluva hot coincidence. One coincidence that makes CSK click and tick with the masses so much that they don’t shy away from even voicing their genuine and heart-felt suggestions for the team.
001_Yellow… golden yellow… all over Chennai!
008_Yellow… golden yellow… all over Chennai!
016_Yellow… golden yellow… all over Chennai!
011_Yellow… golden yellow… all over Chennai!
007_Yellow… golden yellow… all over Chennai!
015_Yellow… golden yellow… all over Chennai!
By the way, the Wikipedia states that “Chennai is popularly known as the ‘Street cricket capital of the world’ or the ‘One-pitch city’, because when you travel to Chennai, you can see street cricket everywhere. The term ‘One-pitch city’ was coined by the cricket legend Kapil Dev to express that all the street cricket players in Chennai consider one-pitch catch as a wicket.”
It isn’t just ‘street cricket’ that is popular here it is a rather involved and evolved sort of connect that people of Chennai have with cricket. They are fearless about voicing their suggestions here… and point out that they would love to see their revered captain go up in the batting line-up as they want hits and smashes right from the word go… and they want talented players from outside India to be inducted in the team. Obviously, the basic reason why they would love to see these changes is because they love action, hits, sixes, and a high score that wins them matches!
This inherent wish to give cricket that go-getter image is probably also linked to that one factor that I mentioned right at the start: colour! It is this yellow or golden yellow shade that makes the team seem so hot on the popularity charts. So much so that I am tempted to write these few lines…
Yellow
Golden yellow
Piercing through the armour
To win all matches
Yellow
Golden yellow
Piecing together emotions
To make the world better
Yellow
Golden yellow
Prancing through eyes
Winning hearts with a smile
Yellow
Golden yellow
Priceless shade that
Chennai and CSK love!
One can safely conclude that the presence of a golden yellow colour theme throughout the city is simply symbolic of the fact that this city breathes cricket, dreams cricket, thinks cricket, and talks cricket. Thus it is a hearty spill of this charming yellow and golden yellow that permeates the city in every possible way… and the Chennai Super Kings could have adopted no other shade than this to stride forth with confidence, people-connect, and the blessings of the Gods.
017_Yellow… golden yellow… all over Chennai!
014_Yellow… golden yellow… all over Chennai!
006_Yellow… golden yellow… all over Chennai!
003_Yellow… golden yellow… all over Chennai!
004_Yellow… golden yellow… all over Chennai!
009_Yellow… golden yellow… all over Chennai!
010_Yellow… golden yellow… all over Chennai!
012_Yellow… golden yellow… all over Chennai!
005_Yellow… golden yellow… all over Chennai!
002_Yellow… golden yellow… all over Chennai!
Note: This was the post that I had written when I had gone to Chennai for the Aircel-CSK audition.
Arvind Passey
Written on 28 March 2013
2 comments
Akanksha Dureja says:
Apr 4, 2013
From Yellow yellow dirty fellow to Yellow Yellow Golden fellow 😛
Hope Chennai treated you well 🙂
Arvind Passey says:
Apr 6, 2013
Yes, I had a great time interacting with the CSK manager, watching a few players in the swimming pool there at the hotel… and defending my post for the audition. 🙂 I am one of the winners… though designated as the back-up guy!