IPL Mess...who would have thought?

Hi All,

During the past two weeks, we have seen so much controversy involving cricket, politicians and business houses that it promises to thrill no less than a typical Bollywood film. We have encountered controversies in the past [we live in India!] but this one seems to be a lethal mix of money, politics and patronage.

The IPL’s fall from grace surprised many. [To be frank, I am still a little perplexed] After all, this was touted as India’s answer to other major global events like the EPL and the UEFA Champions League. Some even brazenly equated IPL’s introduction to India finally arriving on the global stage and claiming its rightful place in the comity of nations. With a dynamic commissioner, cash rich franchisees, raving media and crazy fans who were waiting to lap up everything that was thrown at them, the IPL had everything going for it. But it was not to be. Not when you have somebody from the inside who decides to blow the whistle and bring down some really powerful people along with his imminent exit.

As the puzzle untangles, we are led into a world of murky business dealings, proxy owners and shell companies. What is even more shocking is the global angle to all this mess. The IPL truly seems to have taken globalization to a whole new level. Suddenly we have Mauritian companies trading with Singaporean ones for media and distributor rights for IPL. So much for countries that don’t even have a significant cricketing viewership or for that matter a significant population to start with!

Now leaving all the politics aside, I am starting to wonder what’s coming the game’s way. With so much negative publicity, IPL’s image has surely taken a beating. What’s next for the IPL, the teams who have invested millions and the players hoping to rake in some money before they retire and the fans who have shown so much love and affection for their favourite teams?

What happened to the other sports?

Hi All,

Let’s be honest...we are primarily a one sport nation. We virtually eat, sleep and breathe cricket. [And many other un mentionable actions...:)] It seems that if you are born Indian then your default sport is cricket. Your sports icon is Tendulkar and sports entertainment means watching cricket in channels dedicated for cricket!

So where did all the other sports go? Just offhand any one of us can probably count 5 other sports which are so popular globally but are barely included even in small talk in India. So why is cricket so disproportionately popular? Who is to blame for this anomaly? And more importantly how can we rectify this lopsidedness?

As for apportioning blame, I guess it has to be shared among various sections. The administrators of various sports who haven’t really been aggressive in promoting their respective sports, the viewers who simply refuse to even temporarily shift loyalties to other sports and even to some extent history! The British Raj left a long lasting impact on us in the form of cricket.

Before proceeding further, I wish to reiterate that I am making a conscious effort to follow different sports. These days’ hockey and tennis are regulars in my sporting menu. I am also anxiously waiting for the world cup in SA later this year. [Now I won’t have hypocrite tags thrown at me...:)] Regarding the question of making other sports popular, I was thinking we must incentivise patronage. So prizes, money and possible fame will lead our masses to new sports. Government support for non cricketing sports will also help.

I am sure you must have heard about 2 new teams which are going to be added to IPL 4. What might(actually must) have shocked you more is the staggering amount of money the winning groups are willing to pay to own these teams. The IPL mopped up more than 3000 Crore Rupees for the 2 newly auctioned teams. [Wow...how many poor kids can that amount of money educate/feed/clothe....anyways let’s leave that discussion for another day...I wanted to focus primarily on sports in this post...]

Rampant consumerism

Accumulated agony from my weekly visits to a mall located close to my residence led me to write this post. My roomy and I usually like to shop for our weekly necessities during the weekend at the mall. Every visit of ours just reiterates one point. Consumerism is increasing and this trend is here to stay.

Consumerism drives the economy, say the economists, as it’s the demand for goods and services which actually keeps the economy running. It creates jobs, generates wealth and provides robustness to the economy. All well and good. But it can get to your nerves when it becomes obscene or ostentatious. After all, too much of anything can never be a good thing.

It’s as if necessity has been sacked and greed has taken total control. Nowadays it doesn’t seem to matter it a certain commodity is actually required or not. Let’s just get it seems to be the attitude. As long as it’s affordable and within one’s reach, it’s deemed to be required. [What happened to our ability to discern between what is a necessity and what is not?]

This trend is especially discomforting in a nation like ours where millions go without a square meal a day. It’s just not fair that some have so much of everything while many don’t even have little of some thing. Nothing ticks me off these days like a rich (often FAT) kid spoilt for choice and deciding to get whatever falls within his eye range! I don’t wish to pursue further down this track as my original intention was to highlight the trend of consumerism and the rich poor divide in our country.

My roomy feels the same about this trend but sometimes dismisses these thoughts as ramblings from a poor bloke who just can’t afford to be part of the ‘consumerist gang’. I am confused though, am I reading too much into this trend or is it actually that bad.

India win; only on paper

Hi All,

Sunday's clash between India and South Africa went right down to the wire and till the last ball it was still anybody's game. Even after the last ball was bowled, spectators had to wait with bated breath for the verdict from the third umpire. Apart from the nail biting excitement the match brought to me, I felt something else which I thought I should pen down and share with everyone.

A drawn result would have been more comfortable with me, for the kind of character that the South African lower order showed and for the not so extraordinary performance displayed by India. Before I get branded as a traitor, let's get something clear here. South African top order, sans Jacques Kallis, did collapse and probably deserved to lose. But help came from unexpected quarters and how. From about 180/7, the lower order ensured that the match went down right to the last ball.

The temperament shown by the SA batsmen especially Wayne Parnell is applaud able and worthy of a lesson for any lower order batsmen. The way he stood up to the challenge and nudged his team almost to the finish line will probably live in our memory for some time to come and serves as a constant reminder to the unpredictability of the cricket. Indian batsmen could take a leaf or two form Parnell's books.

P.S. Yesterday's MOM Ravindra Jadeja was also the same man who lost the match for us against Australia last year when India were chasing a huge total and Sachin made 175 and almost single handedly won the match for India.

Tall leaders...?

Hi All,

We all know a political veteran passed away last month. Condolences came in thick and fast from every corner of the country and leaders, across the political spectrum, heaped praises on him and his ability to connect with the masses. Before I go into the topic, let me clarify that this post is not about this man.

Watching this spectacle made me ask one question to myself....how does one measure a leader's effectiveness. Who should be called a good leader and who is the rotten one.Should the number of years a person spent in politics be a figure of merit? Or should we take into consideration his/her volume of supporters after all ,as the phrase goes, there is strength in numbers...

I have observed that we Indians tend to get confused when asked to rate a leader and in good old Indian fashion play it safe and brand him a great leader. Especially when he is above his 60s at the time of death and had had a good fan following in his heydays. The media, for its part, starts to go on a sympathy overdrive for the very man they thrashed a few days back. And bingo....we have a 'great leader' who has just passed away. How sad...

So should we finetune the standards that are used to measure a leader's effectiveness and success. Pour in your thoughts....

Frivolous Ads...

Hi All,

Something has been ticking me off these days. The ubiquitous irritant is delivered through the idiot box right into my living room and the only way to avoid it, is probably to switch off the box altogether. Yes, I am talking about ads. The little messages which come in between your favourite shows, the ones that television channels broadcast when you are on the edge of your seat and biting your nails not knowing what will happen next. It makes economic sense for them as ads are the revenue lifeline for them.

Let me get something clear from the start. I don’t have any issues with ads across the board. Most are ok and some are even revolutionary, innovative and way ahead of their time. My sticking point is with the ones that are misleading, stereotypical or just downright disgusting.

Take for example the ‘Pond’s Age Miracle’ ad- the one that shows a husband going out of his way to woo his wife to marry him ‘again’ just because she applied the stupid cream and looks younger. Repulsive isn’t it? Since when did husbands start disliking their spouses just because they have grown older and have a few wrinkles on their face? [At least this is not case in India and hope it remains that way.] The ad also denigrates women who would, I believe, wish to be judged and liked by their content of character and not by their appearance.

The other one is the ‘K factor challenge’ ad which promotes the eating of cereals to lose weight. The problem is the way in which it does it. The mother consumes the ‘magic’ cereal hoping to tone down and fit into that ‘red dress’ upon her daughter’s request. [Just petty at its best, I would say.] Have more ads like this and the time won’t be far away when every kid in the block is going to place unreasonable demands on the physical appearance of his/her mother.

So what do you people think about these ads. What can we do to ensure that young impressionable minds are not influenced by these seemingly naïve ads?

Copenhagen

Hi All,

I am back after quite a hiatus. I was watching skeptically the circus going in a faraway land called Copenhagen and as if God had implemented my thoughts, the conference ended with no solid result to show. After all the attention and hype this conference received, we certainly deserved better, much better.

We had expected some sort of a legally binding agreement which would mitigate climate change and incentivise migration to greener technologies. Something that would put the brakes on development that damaged the environment irreversibly. Something that would scorn on usurping resources without any consideration for sustainability. But that something never came. If the leaked draft is to be believed, it is never going to come either.

So at the end of Copen[Hope]Hagen, what we have is loads of world leaders who had a gala time at the expense of taxpayer's money and worst still emitted tonnes of pollutants during their stay. [Limousine rentals companies were on a roll during the conference period, so much so that some had brought in cars from other cities.]

As I suspected Copenhagen became an exercise of geo political influence, convenient acronyms[BASIC...Brazil, SA, India and China!] and wasted time. Rich countries intentionally flaunting their wealth, the powerful arm twisting their meek counterparts and the poor hoping to grab whatever is thrown at them.

So this is what I saying. Let’s have more of these useless conferences. Let’s keep fighting among ourselves. Let’s come up with some arcane law which exists only on paper. Lets have more of these silly acronyms[How about RACE, Romania, Afghanistan, Canada, Egypt]. Let’s ignore the fact that we all share the same environment. Let’s keep polluting our environment and consuming natural resources as if there was no tomorrow. Let’s put the onus of fighting climate change on our children, who will pass it on to their kids. [Hey there are just following our diligent footsteps!]