And for a Friday, almost midway thru IPL cricket mania, enroute to the coffee plantations in Coorg….. some thoughts…..
Courtesy tamil.samayam.com
Hats off to Lalit Modi and his team of Innovators who created IPL, a perfect cocktail of Glamour, excitement, Fun, business and Cricket…. the only National Religion truly accepted from Kashmir to Kanyakumari and Bhuj to Cherrapunji….. the format….. unbeatable. Global superstars share the dressing room with absolute Novices from hinterlands of India. Australians, Bangladeshis, Irish, Africans….. all speak one language, cricketing lingo….. superb.
It’s big Money involved. Star Sports paid 16500 crores for a 5 year right. Advertisers pay a million of Rupees for 10 second TV spot. Teams and Marquee players are as busy off the playing fields launching products, promoting services and ofcourse some excellent NGO work, social causes and societal reform messages. Now TV broadcasts and expert opinion is also available on Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Bengali channels. Huge Fan base….. 650 million Indians all over the world follow IPL.
In IPL-11 the irreplaceable Dhoni is the Super Super Star. Families from US and Gulf are checking into 5 star Hotels where He stays just to get a Selfie with him. I experienced first hand on Sunday at ITC Kakatiya in Hyderabad.
Why then should local problems and divisive issues be bought up. “Cauvery water distribution” is a serious problem. But there are hundreds and hundreds of problems in such a vast and complex country as Ours. There are forums for each of those problems. Let us not mix Politics into this otherwise enjoyable summer bonanza. Let the Aunt, Nana, mamma and Abba and Anna and Chechy and Bhaiya and….. and….. enjoy the summer.
Chennai Super Kings under Dhoni and Kings XI Punjab are sure to be in the top four. Who are the other two…. let’s guess. Well, let’s all enjoy. Let’s keep negatives away. Let’s build a sporting India, the Fun way, the Ethical way, the SEEGOS way.