IPL – the Indian Political League

The IPL is over.. and now I can go back to watching sane shows such as “haunted house” and “Americas funniest home videos again”.. without really being distracted by the Great Indian MegaBucks TrillionDollar SuperDuper T20 tournament.

Before IPL 1 I had predicted that this would be the next big thing in the world.. for 2 reasons :

1. Our regionalism: We aren’t really Indians, we are Bengalis, Gujaratis, Marathis, Kannadigas etc.

2. Our character: Like a pack of hungry hounds, we will jump on a juicy fresh oppurtunity for making money.

and of course this is not a game for the weak hearted and ;a survival of the fittest; leading the way is the real IPL that is our constant source of media, entertainment and hype – the ‘Indian Political League’. Spiderman had once said : “with great power, comes great responsibility”. Did our politicians watch the hindi dubbed version which had Spiderman say “Shakti hai, toh looto”.

So while you were busy cheering for that next big six and that next big wicket.. while I was celebrating Dada’s success with the bat (not to stray away from the topic: he is still one of the greatest batsmen in the world).. A gazillion bucks were being spent on new teams, betting, black money, shady deals, sponsorship rights.. in fact for us middle class men : there are way too many facts and figures involved. So lets just say THERE WAS A LOT OF MONEY INVOLVED,  and I’m sure a part of the money was used for lucrative causes like making a money garland for Mayawati.

While you and me were away watchin the match and readin ball by ball reports in the newspaper, a few thousand more people died of hunger; more farmers commited suicides; poverty increased; a Dalit household was burnt down and the people inside charred to death because the dog was disturbing the upper caste people of the neighbourhood; earthquakes killed a few thousand more in China and Turkey; this list can go on. The media was following the lives of Lalit Modi and Shashi Tharoor.

Really, the verdict isnt out yet, but are there any surprises when the headline reads “Corruption rampant in IPL” .. tell us something we dont know. Too bad Mr. Tharoor and Mr.Modi get to feel the ‘axe effect’ and not the other scores of politicians and the mafia; but they just happen to be scapegoats, they dared to represent the Indian Premier League and blend it with the great circus of the Indian Political League : They got along like a house on fire, only to be burnt down to the ground.

I realise life is mostly sad, and most of us choose to live in denial of death and pain and hunger, but the least we can do is play our part in making this country a little better than wat it is.  Is anyone listening ???

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