As the World Cup kicks off in Brazil, a captive audience of close to 100 million in India, myself included, is settling down for a month in paradise: long, enthralling nights in front of a television (most games begin after midnight here) and short, imaginative mornings spent calling in ill at work before tumbling back into bed.
India's current ranking in the FIFA world standings is an abysmal 154th, and India's vast soccer audience — now in love with the teams of Manchester United, Real Madrid, Spain and Brazil — developed independently of any real relationship with the moribund Indian game and primarily after the satellite television revolution of the 1990s.
No Indian fan seriously hopes that India will qualify for a World Cup in the course of his or her lifetime.