Thursday, April 16, 2015

The great Indian Thamasha

Called IPL is back to torture the likes of me.As most sports channels are connected one way or the other with this thamasha, either I have to watch some other equally uninteresting sports channel or listen to Arnav Goswamy screaming his head off.

I have written earlier how this IPL has killed the gentlemanly game in its body and spirit.Except in England and to some extent Australia test cricket is dead as evidenced by the near empty stands everywhere else.

The one dayer is at least tolerable with some scope for exhibiting ones cricketing talent,But twenty twenty cricket [read IPL] is sheer murder of innocent bowlers and mad exhibition of mad hitting.It is better to watch the sham wrestling channel wwf if one wants grass titillation.

The why do people go in such numbers to watch this game. Urban India is full of young men and women who have come to money and are looking for avenues to spend. The other is marketing the products by the advertisers. It is not just the actual numbers who take the trouble of going to the venue to watch, but a vast number of other stupid Indians who watch the matches on television. According to one estimate given the dependence on the bureaucracy and police the actual tickets available is just 50% of the total number of tickets.The rest is given away as compliments to the above mentioned class. Persons like me whom I call true lovers of cricket and who are members of the association, don't go to watch as evidenced by the empty member's stands.

The pre match build up by the likes of Sidhu who seem to conduct some kind of orchestra involving skimpily clad dancing girls is nauseating to say the least. Then why do people not boycott this ugly spectacle which eats up four hours of valuable time in the evening and night?

I have a theory to explain this phenomenon. Most urban Indians are bored stiff and don't know what to do when once they are home. You watch the numerous advertisements during, before and after the match? They are either for cars,motorbikes,junk food products, smart phones, aerated drinks, garments and the like. Mostly useless but when promoted by the likes of Dhoni, the Khans,Bacchan and the like, our impressionable [I used the word earlier stupid] and moneyed young men and women actually buy these mostly useless products [in real practical life]

Going out to a movie theater, or a music concert or even to a friend or relative's house has become an impossibility due to the bad roads and traffic. Given all this, the vast numbers both male and female are held captive in front of their respective idiot boxes and every one has a good time.

Hell with the great game of cricket when money means everything to nearly every one!

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