Fairy Tales

This was written on the night that Liverpool lifted the Champions League trophy in Istanbul in 2005, right after the epoch-making moment.

Fairy tales. How stereotypical can they get? They begin off on a happy note only for the scene to turn miserably, gut-wrenchingly sour. But then things roll and the end is again always just as sweet so that everyone can live happily ever after. Obviously, real life doesn’t exactly follow the Hans Christen Andersen script. Or does it? I saw VVS Laxman inspire India to an unfathomable series victory against Australia in 2001. I saw India perform uncharacteristically out of their skins to almost win a test series in Australia in 2003-04. I saw Greece redefine the phrase ‘fairy-tale ending’ at Euro ’04. And then I saw Liverpool pull off something similar last night in the Champions League final. Perhaps something greater(?) if not similar. Liverpool is a team that needed a Gerrard screamer against Olympiakos with 5 minutes left on the clock to keep them in the Champions League a few months back. A team that overcame that hiccup to play unbelievable football and overthrow Juventus and Chelsea (both, who have won their respective domestic leagues this season). A team that finished dismally below their reputation in the EPL (even below their Merseyside rivals to make it worse). A team that managed to score 3 goals in the space of 6 minutes against an Italian defence to level things when all seemed down and out. A team that lost one of its greatest icons, Michael Owen, at the beginning of the season. A team that might just manage to salvage their greatest remaining icon, Steven Gerrard, now that they’ve managed the unthinkable. So did the best team win the crown for the Champions of Europe last night? No. Harsh but true. But, that Liverpool, as of this moment, are the Champions of Europe, has been etched in stone. Such is life. Completely deviant from the normal, a dream and a romantic dream at that… but life nonetheless.

Makes me wonder. What really is the formula for scripting fairy tales in flesh and blood? Is it dedication and application? Or perhaps, focus and/or sound leadership. In Liverpool’s case, all the above should have added up to a better place in the domestic league along with their newfound European glory. Is it the ‘Underdog’ phenomenon? OK, so I’ve been a fan of the ‘underdog’ phenomenon for quite some time now. It’s so much easier to participate as an underdog. The expectations on you to perform are lower, all you have in mind is a dream and even if you lose, you win… sympathy. We have been all been labeled underdogs at some points in our lives. But has the fairy tale proven to be an accurate forecast in all those cases? Where’s our glory? They say luck favours the brave. But that too has been proved right and wrong an equal number of times to be judged conclusive either way.

I wonder if I’ll ever know what it really feels like to be a part of a fairy tale… especially the end. The romance of unwarranted success, the thrill of a victory against all odds. I want it all. At least once. I can only dream of a day, sometime in the ‘ever after’, when I can sit back and recall those better moments, “Once upon a time…”