For
next one month or so market media, sellers, manipulators and all kinds of attention
seekers will try to invade the mind space and eyeball frame. All for the bunch of
amazing mediocre but colossally exaggerated money spinners who go by the name ‘team
India’. Some six odd teams are competing for what is termed as world cup. Never
was world so short shifted. Mostly nations not known for sporting skills give importance
to something as sedate as cricket. The only saving grace is Australia and
England, the white men presence gives it the authenticity of ‘world’, as also
exposure to commentators from developed societies. This gives the credibility that
they desperately seek. Unfortunately cricket doesn’t have many followers in
these nations, as they are competent in other sports that need high level of athleticism
and skills. Cricket is mostly taken up by low calibre athletes. So the cash
rich Indian icons are playing the low grade sportspersons from these nations,
even in West Indies the region that produces best athletes. They don’t prefer
cricket and is quite a mediocre involvement. Even then Indians are not able to
win is a statement on mediocrity of this society as also manipulation of sport
bodies. They need minimum calibre upon which they arrange their sucking
machine. More than sporting skills, which is indeed is low in cricket (I have
seen ‘Bengal tiger’ –the travesty, running at the peak of his career. I couldn’t
help laughing!!), in India it is their selling skills, the market desirability
that plays a factor. I don’t think Sri Lankan players, despite being much
talented than many Indian icons, would make the cut into Indian team, nor do I think
Tendulkarji would have played for so long (and accumulated his inane world shattering
records) if he was in Australia (they would have kicked him out, and would have
shown no reverence to extend his expiry date and hence keep making the nation
proud. It’s a manipulation that works uniquely in India). Competence rarely has
anything to do with individual records in teams sports. But Indians are sucker
for records; it’s a path to nirvana for many. The kind of amazingly stupid
things people do to get into record books. It is rarely about skills or competence
but about quirk to show one as different (check the Guinness book entries of
Indians and astounding enthusiasm on these matters). It is an amazing affliction
this insatiable urge to create records. I guess it originates in uniquely Indian
mind that seeks to justify itself from squatter’s framework. From the entitled world
that is ordained to them our little fellow assumes himself to competent, it is
something that is gifted. The squatter’s framework guarantees it, it is
ordained. He/She is undoubtedly assumed to be cut above the rest, the stars are
aligned for greatness, now it is for our little fellow to prove it. In most
cases inheritance and hereditary benefits takes care of these, major hiccups
are cushioned. But for some individual it becomes a vocation, to showcase
themselves as superior. Unfortunately they are least of talented they therefore
choose innovative means to justify themselves, create records. Highbrow ones justify
themselves in areas where competence is judged subjectively, here they work on manipulations
and clout. You will see that most journalists/politicians/artists with pretension
will end up writing books, being an author is natural progression in the
entitled world, anything short of it unacceptable in the scheme of things. It maybe
a different matter that nobody reads these nor does it measure up to the scrutiny.
There are hundreds English magazines that one get to see these days, must be a
racket to convert black money. They also meet each other in literary melas (a
new market friendly fad) and assure each other of their uniqueness and
intellectual superiority. The only problem being subjective can be manipulated
to be great in Indian context but it rarely come anywhere near international standards.
Therefore amazing lack of Indians in international scene or where the competence
matters (rare examples are always there but you can be assured they never seek
support from market manipulation). Cricket is not an athletic sport, and no
Indian cricketer ever came anywhere near international standards of competence
as a sportsman. Even as cricketer they are mostly trivial exaggeration, it is a
market ploy.
It is the addiction into inane and peripheral trivialities
that seeks to make cricket compelling for Indians, the quirks, superstition, inane
anecdotes, personal lives so on. The so called ‘sport’ is amazingly limited while
effectively streamlined for senseless couch potatoes. They watch it whole day with
kind of puerile patience that comes as a second nature to bovine society like India.
No learning, no intellect involvement just crass noises of collective
justifications and some feeling of satisfaction for the nation, this then is
sought to be milked. The bovine audience is now readied as buyers. Watching cricket
is an amazingly trivial way to value time. You could sleep, you could go for a
walk and observe things, or even watch something meaningful on TV. Cricket effectively
destroys these, as they glue for hours and hours. It is sad they catch them
young, it is the worst thing that can happen to a youngster. Coco Cola boy (also venerable Tendyaji, sucker
for records, positioned as humble gentleman, never takes responsibility for
ills of game, always market tuned for lick. It will take some time to regain credibility
for Bharat Ratna. It’s been severely degraded) is spreading happiness, they aim
children and make enthusiast out of them. It is extremely sad that children are
exposed to these. It is a disaster, as this game can be addictive and then it
is smooth sail as senseless couch potatoes, eventually buyers with all kinds of
lifestyle diseases. It is colossal waste of time and human resource. It attracts
people with limited intellect and irresponsible nature. There is so much to see
and know in this world. Watching cricket severely dents these, it is nothing but
a sheer waste of time and energy. Indeed I would even venture to say that not watching
cricket can be in itself productive, it brings meaningfulness as also negates orchestrated
market traps enrolled in crude jingoism. Hopefully responsible parents understand
values of these, and prevent children being sucked into these exploitations. Cricket
has the potential to convert normal individuals into couch hugging market friendly
zombies who knows to see, clap, consume and feel exhilarated about his waste.
The
feudal nature of society has seen to that many in the lap of luxury and
wasteful ways seeked redemption in cricket, it also brought them close to their
colonial masters, the attention they craved. Since they had clout they pushed
cricket down the throat of Indians, in the process these mediocre people become
sports icons. It need be noted that Indian cricket despite icons and record breakers,
as also low calibre of competitions from international teams, never ever did
well. Out of six odd teams they rarely won ‘world cup’ (till recently, more to
do with ineffectual oppositions) is a statement in itself. While the
intellectualisation was done by people who studied in England and swing some
bats, ofcourse being least of talented they worked on their English and ended up
as writers, journalists and sport columnists. They did the spade work of
creating halo on mediocre cricketers and creating icons out of amazingly
limited sportsmen, in the meanwhile romanticising the game with their compelling
narrations and eased into our conscious. These elites gave credibility to the
farce, and now it has become part of market ploy to trap wasteful irresponsible
Indians. The grip is tight. The nonsense called ‘world cup’ precedes everything
in the market media’s conception of world. Other sports suffer, not many will
know that National games are happening and many talented athletes are putting
in their best. In the skills and athletic calibre many are much talented than
overrated and exaggerated mediocre Indian cricketers. But you can already
predict their arduous path, in the context of things Indian cricketers have become
curse on Indian society.
One
recent example would really put things in context. An Australian cricketer died
sometime back as he was hit by a ball, despite the fact that it was domestic
match for Indian market media and commentator worth their soul it became the news. They poured on it, it was main
news for days, articles, columns and god knows what all were written. They were
grief stricken; I am told that the concerns of Indians deeply touched Australians.
It should, that is what Indians are good at. The concern for tribulations of whites
(I have written earlier, Indians in Britain are such agreeable people has left
even Britisher’s consternating, some even think that they could have carried on
ruling Indians. Such fantastic people!!) and the games they play has been a
constant narration with Indian elite. There are sportsperson in India who suffer,
die or are grievously injured in sports. Indeed a jockey died, a footballer died (from Mizoram, Peter Biaksangzuala in the picture) last year, in case of Jockey it was
not even reported while footballer was a minor incident and the so-called sport journalists (mostly sucking on doles
falling from cricket) didn’t show much concern. The kind of concern that Indians
showed for domestic Australian cricketer when put into the realities of India
will show what kind of scoundrels these people are. It is the same narration on
which ‘world cup’ is being celebrated. It is a farce on Indians, in the name of
Indians. Many cricketers who amount to nothing in their own country are icons in this manipulative mediocrity seeking nation. Many Australians (and to some extend England/Pakistan players) make
money even after retirement, as players (in money sucking travesty called IPL),
they work as commentators, experts in TV channels and even have become part of entertainment
industry in India. How much trivial can it get?