Football World Cup time and everything around you is Messi, Ronaldo, Mbappé, cheers, tears, shouts and celebrations. Amidst all this din, one small news item suddenly caught my attention. It was about the way Japanese football fans celebrated. Their definition of fandom and frenzy seemed unique. Videos showed fans pouring onto the busy Shibuya Crossing after a match, cheering, singing and celebrating with unbridled joy. But there was one detail that stood out. The celebrations happened only when the traffic signal was red for vehicles. The moment the signal turned green, it was as if someone had flipped a switch. The crowd quietened, stepped back into the pedestrian zones and allowed traffic to pass unhindered. People heading to work, meetings or other commitments continued their journeys without disruption. That tiny news item stayed with me. It sent me reeling down memory lane, about four or five years back. I remembered a four-year-old creating a ruckus in a supermarket be...
Reflections of a random kind.