If Tharoor sulks, then can Modi be far behind?
He was nestled in a corner in a white lungi and a broad smile across his face. And he was chuckling in choicest of Malyalee to all and sundry! Just the coconut oil was missing from the hair! Yes, he was the suave and very urbane Shashi Tharoor courting the glamourous and charming lady with the sweat equity! Today, the same man languishes in a corner but sans the glamourous aide! That is what time and acts do to one. I am none to dismiss him as one who is guilty of impropriety. Nor am I a judge to comment on his ability to play the right “strokes” when in company of people who run the IPL. To borrow from Sunny Gavaskar, his “stroke selection was found wanting”!! But then it is sad to see the rather pathetic and dismal end to one who promised a lot. Yet another flower on the Indian political horizon has withered even before it bloomed!
If I am saddened by the turn of events involving Tharoor, then I am also relieved that the Indian masses may now be protected from the “Thugs” of Indian cricket. We Indians are gullible to the extent that we sacrifice our future at the altar of silly games like cricket( Oh! how my wife would be enjoying this! ) Cricket has long ceased to be just a game or rather a Gentleman’s Game. Today it is a game of rogues( apologies to all those “Genuine Gentlemen” who wielded the Willow in the yesteryears and some like Sachin even today!) be it those who flaunt the white( or coloured) flannels on the green field or those who wield the power in the corridors of the BCCI or those who decide the fate of the match even before it is played!
IPL may have taken the world by a storm as people are sitting glued to the idiot box from the time the coin spins in the air to decide who bats first till the last word of the presentation ceremony. Even those who had words of scorn and contempt for the game which stretched over five days, are seen scurrying home to enjoy a few hours of exciting cricket. But when the truth of match fixing and other dubious acts like the “IPL nights” dawns, then there is anger and frustration. Anger at being cheated and frustration at being incapable of doing anything to set the deviants right. Most cricket enthusiasts are raging at what is going on in the IPL today. Modi may have done wonders in marketing the new product-the T20. But that does not allow the man to perpetrate crime of fixing and arm twisting. Give him credit where he deserves and condemn him where his acts defame the game and the values of a civil society. We should be allowed to enjoy the game. And players should be allowed to play the game as a game where one tries his level best to win. Not to loose and fill the coffers of those who operate the players by remote control! The credit of the past should be carried over to cover the misdeeds of the current and the future.
There is a general feeling that Lalit Modi has grown too big for his boots. I am not inclined to give my personal opinion on the matter but I do feel that none should be greater than the game itself. A sport is an act that reflects a healthy mind and an equally healthy body. However, when a sport links a healthy mind but with an unhealthy mind, then caution needs to be exercised and exterminate the cause(s) that lead to this. If one man or a group of people indulge in melting the healthy values of the society and replace them with mouldable and flexible not so healthy values, then the society should act as a whole and ostracize the offenders promptly. Otherwise the rot sets in. Games that generate money that changes hue by the hour, can gnaw at the vitals of our society. Dishonest means generates dishonest money and this brings dishonesty to the society. We should not allow this.
If Tharoor sulks, then can Modi be far behind?
1 comment:
Dear Abdullah Bhai...
Embezzlement …..!!! Seriously I don't care anymore. And why are you so bothered about this embezzlement that you are losing your breath on? Come on Abdullah Bhai, being Indians and that too very aware ones, we must be very very conditioned to this where we have seen these acts being repeated ad infinitum. Be it Indian Polity, Administration, Judiciary or Commerce we have seen the geisha of greed and lust attracting the high and the low. At least, this time we are getting some entertainment in return unlike those potbellied beasts called politicians and devilish bureaucrats who just pocket the ‘moolah’ for the sake of getting fatter - by all means. And, why not Mr. Rizvi? Which person in what part of the world is not greedy? We all are...are we not? Given the opportunity, the insatiable lust for power and wealth overcomes all ethics and morality and this my dear sir, is a Universal Phenomenon. Have you not noticed the ‘The Leeson Debacle’, the Enrons and the Worldcom crumble, the Wall Street biting the dust, the Concorde discord, greed for gold yellow or back…..and the list goes on…it’s so repetitive...and this is irrespective of faith, creed, cast, color, ethnicity. These may be communal sobriquets defining a common agenda but hardly a uniting force..for instance OIC...the organization is conspicuous by its in-organization or disunity.... !! But, the only force to reckon with, that unites people together is greed and lust..Bush n Blair, examples galore!
I think brand IPL is a wonderful product/brand that follows almost all laws of economics but in addition it also has an audience who are generally the consumers at the same time. That's how the market is different. It has been built on a cinch of genius and extrapolated to mint the greenbacks. The glitterati of cricket and the glitz of showbiz forms a deadly potion that rejuvenates India at the onset of twilight....If someone is willing to pay 1750 crores, I am sure he stands to earn a lot more than that... if Modi asks for little bit as a royalty of his brainchild, so be it. Demand and Supply rule. I am sure Modi and Tharoor spat was probably more than what meets the eye, if Tharoor wanted a pie from the dandy, then Modi probably wanted to eye the candy. Well who knows? But in this spat or the alleged in appropriation the common man is not directly affected, economically at least.
As far as the changes in the game are concerned, nothing defies the laws of nature. Some experience evolution, some metamorphose and some undergo cataclysmic changes. We have witnessed the long enduring Test Matches transformed to so call Pajama cricket, but then the spirit remains unchanged. The battle has indeed become fiercer, competition stiffer but the end result is money for stakeholders, fun for the onlooker...not bad equation at all! :)
On this extravagant note………
Au Revoir!!
Danish Samad
dansmartbuddy@gmail.com
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