4 February 10, Delhi: Shiv Shankar Prasad Chowrasia wins the Indian Masters in Delhi on February 10 and pockets $416,660 as prize money

4March 2, Kuala Lumpur: Team India beats South Africa to lift the Under-19 World Cup

4March 4, Brisbane: Team India beats Australia 2-0 to win the Commonwealth Bank Series

The city of sport, the city of Sourav, is on a high.

Calcutta’s favourite son has had nothing to do with the hat-trick of sporting highs, but that has not stopped the city from going into celebration mode.

So what if the Calcutta link has diminished from the total to the tenuous — starting with RCGC boy Chowrasia’s moment of glory and ending with Manoj Tiwari taking the field as a substitute at the Gabba on Tuesday, with Liluah lad Sreevats Goswami’s exploits in the Under-19 win thrown in? The mood is as upbeat as it gets.

“It is not only normal for a city to be on a sports-win high, it is sometimes also considered healthy, especially in a place like Calcutta, that is considered a political city with lots of tension and antagonism. These are moments when we forget our problems and become united in celebrating something that all the people here identify with,” said sociologist Prasanta Roy.

Nowhere was that more evident than in the sporting arena. “The euphoria of such a thumping win lifts you above all other concerns. Everyone seems so happy,” said Bengal U-19 cricketer Jayojit Basu.

“No one is blaming anyone any more; instead, all we are talking about Sachin’s batting and Dhoni’s captaincy,” added the all-rounder who plays for DKS in CAB tourneys, terming the string of sporting successes “happy occurrences”.

Budding golfer Ranvir Mehta agrees that the “happy mood” will dominate the sports-crazy city for days. “The same happened when Chowrasia won the Indian Masters. The city’s golf courses were abuzz.... Now come the twin cricket triumphs.”

As India inched closer to victory on Tuesday, Calcuttans started flocking to television sets in offices and on the streets. “I did not expect India to win.… But when Symonds fell, I ran to the canteen to catch the rest of the match,” said Vikas Gupta, an employee of an IT company in Salt Lake.

And soon after the boys in blue finished their victory lap, the techie crowd hit a Sector V bar, running.

The euphoria infected workspace tech and traditional. “A win like this against Australia really calls for a celebration,” said Munmun, a bank employee, calling up friends to plan a mid-week party.

The party had begun by late evening on Tuesday at nightclubs and star addresses around town, with wine, beer and even champagne flowing on the house and dinner bookings showing a sudden jump.

“People have been calling up to enquire whether the hotel is doing anything special to celebrate the win or to book dinners. This is certainly not going to be just another Tuesday night,” said a spokesperson at a five-star address.

The ‘straight-set’ win over the Aussies on Tuesday lifted the mood at cricket cradles and campuses alike. Former Indian opener Devang Gandhi, now a coach at the Ultra Plus Steel Balak Sangha School of Cricket, said the seniors’ win was “out of this world”, and was quick to salute the U-19 team’s ability to “hold their nerves” and win in Kuala Lumpur.

Rohan Sharma, a second-year student of St Xavier’s College, was less restrained: “Wow! This is the first time that the CCD behind college was packed with students all watching the match. I think interest in cricket which had dipped after Sourav Ganguly was dropped, is back with a bang.... This win will be the talking point on campus for some time.”