To all those who are Anything But United

Every person has a passion in life. Whether its becoming an incredibly rich person or romancing a hot girl or even having the best cuisine available in the world, it is this passion that drives people towards the destination of the Journey of Life. I pondered a lot over what my passion is. Was it doing well in academics? Was it watching movies? Was it quizzing? I do like scoring good marks in whatever subject I pursue, but is this a passion in life? Nah. I love watching movies and am absolutely besotted with quizzing. But again, calling them a passion in life would be taking it over the borders of truth. What is it then I ask myself? Am I one of those rudderless souls that go through their entire lives without passion in their hearts? Just then an answer pops into my head. Not an answer per se but an image, an image that has been burnt into my conscious so vividly that my existence would be grossly incomplete without it. That image is the red crest of Manchester United FC.

I have been a United fan for about 9 years now. Those were the days of Beckham, Giggs, Yorke, Cole and co. in ther full pomp. Since then I have been riding this rollercoaster of fandom. When exactly was it that I turned from a fan to a zealot I don't know. But what i do know is that right now Manchester United runs through my veins. It brings joy so unadulterated into my being that I find it overwhelming everytime I so much as look at that crest. I share their happiness, I feel their pains, I rise with them and I fall with them. I can say for sure that in the moment when Edwin Van der Sar saved Nicholas Anelka's penalty, I had been the happiest I have ever been in my life.

Having said all this I feel obliged to add that I am not only a fan of Manchester United but also a worshipper of football/soccer in general. May be not with the same fanaticity. But to be a United fan or for that matter any club's fan would require one to be inevitably a football fan first. To love one would require one to love the other. To not do so would just amount to pretentious behaviour. Imagine loving the Beatles and hating Music in general. Preposterous isnt it? Being a lover of football I love and respect everything that is genuinely to do with it. I respect good footballers and I respect their desire to win. Even if you are a Liverpool fan or a Chelsea fan, I would at some level respect you if you are a true fan ( even if it would be tremendously hard for me). Of course there would be a certain amount of pleasant banter. That is something unavoidable because it brings out the raw passion that underlines football.

However, if there is someone who calls himself a Liverpool fan or a Chelsea fan or an Arsenal fan just so that he has a pretext for hating Manchester United then that person is a disgrace to football. The same goes for the so called 'fans' of any football club. How are you a fan when all you are obsessed about is booing the other team just because they are more successful than the others. How can you not see the effort that they have put in to get there? How can you be so cynical that seeing the rival team lose causes in you more joy in you than seeing your own team score? How can your life be so sad that you vociferosuly jeer the rivals and merely applaud your team's efforts? If you want your team to win the title and because of that you want the other team to lose, then that is acceptable. But if you want to watch your rivals stutter just to derive sadistic pleasure out of it, then it borders on conduct so malicious that you might as well grow horns and tail and call yourself Lucifer.

There might be people who think that this guy is getting frustrated just because his team's performances have hit rocky waters. To this I would say: Ofcourse I am frustrated. Which true fan would not be? Our shortcomings cause me more pain than anything. But watching people jeer us for no conceivable arrogance on our part brings about in me disgust. Disgust in such copious amounts that it is always advisable to let it out lest it spread poison in my system.

Its a call from me to all the true football fans. Save football from such frivolous hatred. Save it from these so called 'FANS'. Otherwise what once was heavenly fun would soon become nightmarish paranoia and loathing. As for me, this is my first and last outburst against this menace. Now I will go back to the shadows and continue my personal quest for achieving NATIVITY IN RED.....