'Bharat Army', the true flagbearers of Indian cricket

Team India may have returned long back from West Indies after a disastrous first round exit, but with painted face, strange headgears and tri-colour dresses, the flag bearers of ''Bhrat Army'' are still in the Caribbeans enjoying every moment of the cricketing extravanga.

A mid-sized industrialist, Omprkash Gupta came all the way from Nagpur with his wife leaving his flourishing business in the hands of his sons, and for the past two months have been touring all the islands with aview to keep the flag of Bharat Army high.

''This is my third World Cup. Being a vegetarian I bring all the provisions from home, and me and my wife cook our food after hiring an apartment wherever we go,'' he said.

Wrapped in tricolour dresses, he is the unofficial leader of the Bharat army and one of the senior most professional cricket tourists, while the other members of the Army are young, successful entrepreneurs and professionals.

In every match, the Bharat army has forced the entire stadium to sing and dance more on the tunes of Hindi pop rather than calypso music.

''We are seven of us and we are coming every day with same dress and sit together,'' said a member of the Army Nagesh Shankar from Gujarat.

Interestingly, the fair sex of the Army are not far behind from their male counterparts in terms of enthusiasm, as they have been doing everything possible to get the attention of television cameras from the white blondes.

Meanwhile, the locals feel that the number of ''Bharat Army'' members would have been much higher if India was there in the race for the World Cup. But with the ''Men-In-Blue'' making an early exit from the mega event, the Caribbean hotel owners are complaining about a 40 per cent decline in occupancy rate.

But some flag bearers of the Army find it relatively difficult to accept the talks of big cancellation by Indian fans. It seems exaggerated to them and feels that most fans who booked their trip came irrespective of Team India's results.

''I doubt because back in India way it was marketed, there was no way to decide and come to West Indies at the last moment. Everything was booked and planned months ago so bulk cancellation at the last moment may be little exaggerated. For us it is cricket tourism. If India is not there, cricket is here,'' said one Ramesh Jain who came all the way from Mumbai along with eight of his friends and will leave only after the final.

UNI MT SSC BST1817

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