My Dear Students | In these cynicial times, a case for the spirit of life and joy in it

"Our lives owe much of their appeal and enjoyment to the fact that we don’t just follow rules of conduct but that we conduct our lives with joie de vivre (joy of living). We must go through our lives, enjoying rather than merely marking our presence," writes Nuggehalli.

Why not appeal to the hard rules of cricket rather than the wishy washy nature of its spirit?

5 min readNew DelhiJul 17, 2023 10:31 AM IST First published on: Jul 16, 2023 at 12:53 PM IST

(‘My dear students’, a fortnightly column that is a conversation with young minds on current events, books, popular culture — just about anything that’s worth talking over a cup of coffee.)

My dear students,

Two weeks ago, an English batsman was dismissed in a test match against Australia. It was no ordinary dismissal. It was supposedly against the ‘spirit’ of cricket. I don’t want to belabour the details.

In these cynical times, the spirit of cricket appears to be an anachronism. Why not appeal to the hard rules of cricket rather than the wishy washy nature of its spirit? For spirit deniers, the point of spirit is only to enable people to appeal to the extortions of spirit when they can’t take recourse to the rules. Well, I think saying there is no such thing called the spirit misunderstands the role of rules but that’s a discussion for legal philosophy enthusiasts. I have bigger fish to fry today. I want to invite you to swim against the popular cynicism we encounter today in many walks of our lives. I want you to consider if the spirit of cricket might teach us a little about how we should conduct ourselves in our lives.

I suspect people have been dissing the spirit of cricket without having read it. The Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) is responsible for the laws of cricket. The MCC started making laws for cricket in 1788. In 2000, MCC included a preamble on the ‘Spirit of Cricket’. The following is the abridged text of the Preamble:

“Cricket owes much of its appeal and enjoyment to the fact that it should be played not only according to the Laws, but also within the Spirit of Cricket. Respect is central to the Spirit of Cricket. Respect your captain, teammates, opponents and the authority of the umpires. Play hard and play fair. Create a positive atmosphere by your own conduct, and encourage others to do likewise. Show self-discipline, even when things go against you. Congratulate the opposition on their successes, and enjoy those of your own team. Thank the officials and your opposition at the end of the match, whatever the result.”

This looks like advice we should follow in our lives, never mind cricket, and I have modified the statement above with some embellishments of my own. Let’s see what we can make of the following statement:

Our lives owe much of their appeal and enjoyment to the fact that we don’t just follow rules of conduct but that we conduct our lives with joie de vivre (joy of living). We must go through our lives, enjoying rather than merely marking our presence. We must in fact expect our leaders to conduct their lives in this manner. But let’s face it, a life full of spirit extends to everyone-students, teachers, parents and colleagues.

Respect is integral to the lives we lead. Respect your parents, teachers, fellow students and the authorities you engage with. Study hard and play hard. Try to create a positive atmosphere by your own conduct, and encourage others to do likewise. Stay focused on your goals and the manner in which you engage with other people even when things go against you. Celebrate not only your achievements but also those of others in your communities.

This advice appears sound enough to me. Live your life with a sense of adventure and good humour, and revel in other people’s successes. I know that most of us find it hard to follow. We fail to respect others, in small and big ways. It’s easy to be negative but incredibly hard to create an positive atmosphere, particularly when things are against you.

I recognise that much of this advice reads poorly when arraigned against modern standards that depend on metrics. There is no metric that can measure precisely the role of living positively, let alone the idea of respect.

Respect is also one of those words that is bandied about that has lost its currency. But if it means anything at all, it must mean that you make a genuine attempt to listen to people and are courteous to people. Anyone who watches Indian news on television might think this is a lost art. Attitudes of snark and belittling others that began in the popular media have now become commonplace in other contexts. In my communities, folks provide their opinions vociferously but amidst the babble there is hardly any active listening to other people’s views, or an attempt to take other’s opinions seriously.

Our weary world views do not admit of soft exhortations to a more genteel life. Perhaps your generation can resurrect a more accommodating world for us, where winning at all costs is actively discouraged.