It's Karma, Baby

I was out all morning so when I came home and found out that Lalit Modi's entire plan is going kaput, I was literally giddy with excitement.

Read the other crap here if you're interested: Rediff

Like I was saying, this is plain and simple karma. Not that I don't enjoy cricket. It's just what the IPL is doing to most Indians.

For example: A friend of a mutual friend of my cousin who is a political activist with a youth group recently sent around some scraps on Orkut talking about how disinterested teenagers and young adults are in voting. There was one particular example she took from a Facebook status update that really pissed me off.

Here's the specimen:



The fact that people would actually support Lalit Modi instead of the one thing that just helps India qualify as a democratic republic and prevents her from being nuked by some crazed country wanting to instill democratic freedom everywhere - the elections - proves that as citizens, we still have a long way to go. The mere idea that someone would fight for provision of Z-grade security to international players and IPL sponsors, and not for people who actually take out the time and effort to vote for their leaders (and to protect the privacy of said vote) kind of disgusts me. It's one thing if the IPL is a government franchise. But the whole thing is a mega-private scam, threatening not just cricket as we know it, but stressing on regionalism when there are no actual boundaries on these regions in the teams to begin with. I can see it right in schools, at homes, out on the streets; people are torn between supporting what they assume is their own state's team and the state they live in. Some would say that by legalizing use of arms by trained and certified bodyguards for protection, the government can prevent hassles like this. But do you really think that Lalit Modi, King of Cash Scams and President of the Association of Pathological Liars is really going to spend money out of his pockets (money that we and the sponsors gave him in the first place) to secure safety procedures for the common masses who come to view some hedonistic display of supposed athletic prowess? I really don't think so.

The IPL is a hoax. And a hoax, I have to say with no shame, I thoroughly enjoy. But if I had to pick between a Chennai Super Kings vs. Rajasthan Royals match and the possibility of electing a party whose cabinet candidates truly promise tax waivers in fuel-petrol, I'd have to say: Screw the IPL. There'll be plenty of T-20 matches to watch in the immediate future, but petrol without the 150% sales tax + VAT isn't exactly an easy and near possibility.



UPDATE:

Narendra Modi, Chief Minister of Gujarat, has answered my prayers. No, he didn't gift me a private jet, he did the other thing. Modi totally just called out on the inefficiency of the current governments of the states that wouldn't give security for the IPL, saying that he wouldn't shame the nation in the same way and would provide security if he was asked to.

Moreover, he threw the final bomb by stating the well-thought argument that if the governments are so unprepared to send out security teams for a measly set of 3 hour cricket matches, what the hell is it going to do during the Commonwealth Games?

Basically, Modi worked with the standard Indian cultural influences - cricket, pride and a bit of a controversy. If that doesn't make people vote for him, I don't know what will.
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