Tuesday, March 29, 2011

It's the time to party!

Everyone, get ready! It's time to party once again. Let us stop bothering about the 2G and Adarsh Scams, let us forget that one more budget has given nothing to people, let us forget that the petrol prices and inflation are now going through the roof, let us also stop bothering about the nuclear catastrophe in Japan and the upcoming one at Jaitapur... because, the great party of all times is coming! Yes, India meets Pakistan in the semi-final of the world cup! That is the one thing we have been waiting for years, that is the magic cure of everything and it is here! Let 's party folks !


We are common people and common people have nothing to bother about the mundane problems like poverty, illiteracy, health and environment... All we need is our daily dose of media extravaganza and hysteria and we'll happily forget everything! See, when the likes of PMs, CMs, Prince Charming, Cricket Minister who also sells onions, and even the heart-throbs of Bollywood are dying for this event, how can we, their loyal followers, be left behind! We were, we are, we'll be there!

Tomorrow we'll religiously watch all the commercials, and forget that in the end, it is the sponsors who win and not India or Pakistan. One a side note, we don't have to forget it, because we never wanted to care for it -- that we the people of India not only SHARE ALL OUR PROBLEMS, BUT SHARE THE CRICKET HYSTERIA TOO with the Pakistanis. Tomorrow, we'll have only one thing to achieve in life -- beat Pakistan in the match. Nothing else, even recovering of all the money of 2G scam from Reliance, Tatas, Birlas, Mittals, will match it!

We'll happily buy all the products that Dhoni will sell to us, and just keep dreaming of those products for which we don't have that much money, because it is THEY WHO SOLVE all our problems. How does it matter even if that is only for one day, is there anyone else who can solve it even for one day?

Earlier they used to say that liquor is the solution. It makes you forget what you are, helps you forget agonies of your life, and takes you to that heaven where the world looks faltoooo..... Today that place is taken by Cricket. What a wonderful world we are living in. No longer individual solutions -- now we live on the mass consumption of the mass's addiction - cricket!

Well, we never demanded it... we never demanded one after another cricketing matches.. Just 7 days after the world cup and IPL will start... we did not demand that also. But you know, there some people who are always caring for our problems, and they knew how to solve them. So they created the IPL and the world cup and see.. the world is going ahead. Earlier there used to be one cup every 4 years, now there is one almost every 3 months.

We really love this manufactured life, consciously created world of cricket! 100 years back when the Gandhis and Bhagat-Singhs were fighting for freedom, could they ever imaging this kind of a solution to the problems of the country? Never! It is only the Airtels, Coca Colas, Hondas, Tatas, Arevas, POSCOs, Reliances, and all their brethren who could think of it! How kind of them of bestowing us with the honour of watching one cup after another!

Ignorance is bliss.Tomorrow the entire nation will curse Pakistan, taking revenge of all the hunger, poverty, corruption, illiteracy and everything! What a wonderful way to solve the problems. The Pakistanis, we're sure will do the same thing! But ultimately the one who wins the match has got the problems solved -- so we must win the match! Sachin, you must score your grand-ton, otherwise how can India's score on Human Development Index rise?

On a more personal note, we the people of Pune also want India to win because some restaurant has promised one Misal-Pav free on another if India Wins, Some Car seller has promised discounts, Some NGO has promised us free dessert on purchased food ... We're sure the government will announce holiday for one day if India wins!

Don't worry that Bastar is burning, bring all the fiddles, we are ready to play them!


7 comments:

Pranav said...

Hi Abhijit,
I read your blog. Good to hear from you. I am wondering what is making you so cynical about the cricket match. Yes, we need to focus on 2G and Adarsh Scam, Jaitapur, poverty, illiteracy, health and environment etc... but does that mean that we should not watch a cricket match?? Yes we are very passionate about it but whats wrong with being passionate about a sport? You may point about the excessive hype around India Pakistan match but such rivalries have been there world over and have never proved to be any hindrance for the progress of the nation.

I am an avid cricket fan. I have put up some point and would like to have constructive discussion on this. Looking forward to talking to you anyways.

Pranav.

Unknown said...

Prestige, Status, entertainment,Fun,comes first then comes Life.... SO World Cup is more IMP....

Abhijit said...

Nothing wrong about loving sport. Unfortunately India is not a sporting nation either! For almost all of the population there are no sports grounds and equipment (ofcourse all that comes after food naah!) ... and there is no game other than cricket. 9 countries play the game and we call it world cup! One needs to understand that in India the admiration for cricket, TODAY, is more because of the media generated hype, mass hysteria, and "we've nothing else to do in life" syndrome, than genuine love for sports.

Unknown said...

Its fine only 9 countries play this game.. so what? Are you going to dictate what people should like and what not? (that too how many countries play it!)
People like it and they watch it, nobody drags them to TV sets or grounds.. Nobody has right to doubt genuinity of India's cricket love as it needs no certification or no warrant.

Amit Karpe said...

I agree with you that this level of cricket is "media generated hype". I am a big fan cricket and Sachin. Still I feel we ( India ) can do much more in other sports. I think sports and various activities help us to develop our self. But just watching and enjoying wont really help us. I will more happy to spend one-two hours on ground for exercise or playing games than just watching cricket.

srajwadi said...

World Cup – A Nation’s True Victory?

The crazy world cup fever is back again to India. Round the clock telecast by the media and the spirits going high. But the big question is- “Is Winning World Cup A Nation’s True Victory?”

Does winning world cup make any difference to the people of the country...? Media has been live telecasting about it from past 2 days.., where they are many vital issues which had to be focused upon, nation is gearing up for a mass fast in support of ANNA ji and gearing up for second freedom fight, but none of the news channel focused on it. Apart from these they were many serious issue ignored.

In a recent survey by Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham) under the aegis of its Social Development Foundation (ASDF), It was found that drinking in the age group of 16-20 had risen by a thumping 100 percent, an official said. "Youngsters between 16-20 years who consumed one to two liters of beer a week have doubled their consumption during the day-night encounters. The consumption further increases to three to five liters a week when India is playing, the reason for this in the survey was found because of Easy availability of alcoholic beverages, cricket fever, lack of parental supervision, peer pressure, a means to de-stress and unwind are reasons for such an increase.

They have been blatant violations of law after yesterday’s win; Noisy crackers give patients, senior citizens a tough time even though the law says that residential areas cannot be subjected to noise levels above 55 dB. But what we saw on Wednesday and Saturday nights proves that the law was not enforced at all, celebrating such a momentous victory is understandable, but disregard of rules should not be tolerated. Ant law enforcers who do not hesitate to arrest and lathi charge if the people of displaced villages come onto streets for justice, failed to take any action against those who openly boozed on streets and were driving after getting drunked.

It’s good to gear up for a sport but we need to remember the fact that it is just a game. It does not make any difference in our lives. At the end of the day glory of the world cup will be forgotten within few days but the problems faced by the nation will continue, which requires the utmost attention by the media and the people of this country.



Sashank Rajwadi

Student/Activist

9966932399, srajwadi@yahoo.com

Associated with National Alliance of People's Movements.

http://twitter.com/#!/srajwadi

http://napm-india.org/node/24

Unknown said...

I totally agree with Abhijit and Sashank. Not just cricket but any sport is only a bunch of players competing to generate the excitement in viewers. It assumes significance when people start to associate it with some rivalries, legends, myth and so on... In our times, the media plays a significant role in shaping the image of a sport. One gentleman responded to abhijit's post, saying that nobody drags people to TV sets. in reality i feel, the TV woos people. Even those that are not interested in the sport will be forced to spent some time in front of it, thanks to the packaging phenomenon. Having said this, lately, i am a little confused regarding the above said. I find some better human beings in our society who fight for social issues, engaging in and enjoyng the sports they love. They attribute this to the idea that struggle is not life, rather a part of life, we can enjoy life at its fullest but it is necessary to respond to injustice when they occur. I find this true but still, contradictory to the image of such activists. please respond.

Arun.