Kahi pe nigahe kahi pe nishana!
I never could understand cricket diplomacy, a state sponsored extravaganza (very much public money involved) that seem to make the leaders happy. And then with some rich Punjabi types crossing the border the people to people contact also is filled in. It seems to bring the nations closer. This blogger has doubts on it.
Blatant jingoism and celebrations are nothing but crudest expressions, very rarely it is positive. I am not against the cricketers they are doing what they are expected to do, that is to play. The exaggeration, gross hype by market, is what is nauseating. It is a rip off at the grandest level. If patriotism is what it is then why not boycott all the products coming in the obnoxious ads (i would like to meet these people who decide to buy car or bike watching these nonsense), they interrupt and take away the charm of the game. That sure is anti national, going by the framework. But then i guess viewers are trained to accept (it’s a Pavlovian thing) this as part of the sport!. Amazing. (Can we have TV Channels without these ads?, I for one don’t mind paying extra to get it out of my vicinity). Again i have nothing against the sportsperson. Sehwag is fun to watch so are Tendulkar/Yuvraj and so on, Dhoni is a good captain. Sidhu is an absolutely hilarious masterpiece. The hype is what has killed its spirit, it has become a market tool and everybody involved are sellers. The game is reduced to absurdity. The much hyped Indo-Pak match was quite boring, indeed i didn’t watch much and unlike what the market want us to believe about “billion people heart beating” there were lots of people on the streets of Bangalore who had other things to do than glued to TV. Many people d
o watch cricket, it will be an insult to call most. It is a small trick called branding, it helps in getting sponsors and therefore money. The match was amazingly mediocre by any standards, what was sustaining it was jingoism and constant reminder by the market media that something big was happening (i take very strong exception to Hindi commentator saying “Umar gul ki bathi gul”, even at the level of viewers too it seems to bring in the worst form of behaviour against the opponent. To expect minimum code of conduct is asking for too much...well the mob has decided to celebrate they seem to have found the reason for their living). Every selling pitch in last few weeks is trying to capitalise on this frenzy by few million people, so whether it is deodorant or bike it has something to do with cricket and therefore patriotism. It seems patriotism has become the refugee of scoundrels out to make some fast money. The tax exemption to one of the richest sporting body in the world is sickening (already the State is spending a fortune by providing security and so on), wonder what does the Election Commission thinks about it? It is a shame. How about PHCs in small villages for 45crores? (or will we have to depend on Joys of givings!). There is a debate on the BPL line but what cannot be disputed is that substantial numbers of people in this country are poor. This kind of largesse is an insult, it is an avoidable populism. Where they couldn’t even build storage for tons rotting food grains, and then nobody less than the PM finds it necessary to refute the SC on why not to distribute this to poor than let it rot. “India” winning “world cup” is not going to change common people's life (they might be able to sell few more products or most likely convert their black money) but what is sure is that it will add to nuisance value. This blogger wishes good luck to the players and may the better team wins. In the meantime god save us from the market hype.
