EVERYBODY KNOWS YOU CAN BE THE CHAMPION






Pic.: Anand Sreedhar

I had not heard about the song – ‘DJ Bravo – Champion’ – till it went viral after the victorious West Indies team walked into its hotel lobby (Trident) dancing and celebrating the way only the Caribbean could do… The video, I am told, has already crossed four-million viewership… and it is still counting!

What I loved the most about this grand entry into the hotel lobby is the natural exuberance of the West Indies… The dance-steps were so simple, that I found myself moving my hands forward and backward from my chair… And, the lyrics?

Well, here are they:

DJ Bravo
DJ Bravo
DJ Bravo
DJ Bravo

Champion, Champion
Champion, Champion
Champion, Champion

Everybody knows... Bravo a champion
Champion, Champion Champion,
Champion Champion, Champion

Everybody knows Bravo is a champion
Champion, Champion
Champion, Champion

[?] is a champion
[?] is a champion
[?] is a champion
Marshall is a champion
Lara is Champion
Don't forget Michael Jordan, Obama a champion
Mandela a champion
Wendy a champion

Champion Champion
Champion Champion
Champion Champion

Everybody knows Bravo is a champion
Champion Champion
Champion Champion
Champion Champion
Everybody knows Bravo is a champion





Martin Luther King Jr. was missing in that… Pele was missing… Muhammad Ali and Michael Jackson too… Oprah, Carl Lewis and Lionel Richie too… Mike Tyson and Stevie Wonder too…

And, how can we forget: Clive Lloyd, Viv Richards and Andy Roberts?


Just today, in my class, I had burst out: “You guys have got everything ready on your platter… You lack that under-dog fighting-spirit… that fire in your belly!”

Everything should not be given to us ready on our platters… It destroys our toughness. I am a firm advocate of this life-philosophy. The fire in the belly is needed to be the champions in life… the winners. You fight the best when you are suppressed, deprived of what you truly deserve…

The Black had been a suppressed and oppressed lot of mankind. That, to me, is the only reason why they are such magnificent fighters in life!

Sunday night will be the Finals. I will be the happiest person on this planet, if West Indies take home the Cup. Never mind, they defeated us in the Semi Finals... They have won our hearts… I did not see a lot of gloom when we lost against them on the night of the Semi Finals… Did we? Just look at the way the guests in the hotel – almost all of them Indians - greet them as the ‘Champs’ dance and walk into the hotel lobby!






Everybody knows you can be champion…
I can be a champion,
He can be a champion,
She can be a champion…
We all can be champions…

Yes, if we have that fire in our belly… That underdog fighting-spirit!


GERALD D’CUNHA
Video: YouTube

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