Someone Save IPL

It all started with ICL; trying to capitalize on failure of BCCI cricket team. ICL replicated the model of EPL. But hardly anyone took notice of ICL. Not even when they created a Pakistani team and probably planted trolls to waive THAT flag with pride in India. But then, entered Lalit Modi. Entered BCCI. Within a blink, IPL had arrived in a big way.

The stalwarts of India queued up to have a bite in the franchises. The players were for the first time treated as professionals. Markets for the first time, decided, what the value of a player is. All of a sudden, the mythical 'Vibrant India' took real shape.

The controversies followed IPL right from the beginning. The communist guns started blazing at the "sale of players" and the "fat pay checks" they were offered. Media had a problem with IPL because a private company set its own norms for coverage. Moral Police had a problem because people liked the idea of cheer-gals. Purists had a problem because they saw the death of ODIs and/or Tests because a dumb common-man like me would embrace IPL. Still IPL steam-rolled. For the first time, Indians had a league which was comparable to EPL, NFL, MLB etc in its aura. India had arrived on the sports map, finally.

IPL drove ahead because it was backed by market; backed by people. Heck, it was a success even when it was forced out of India, in its second edition itself. The amount of revenue it generated had some corrupt politicians vying for more control of it. But unfortunately, the rich and influential were party to it. IPL could stand up against anyone. It did. Lalit Modi did. Almost.

It is no secret that many people loathed the idea of a team from Cochin. It didn't make much cricketing sense. Neither did it to Lalit Modi. But truth is they won the franchise fair and square, PROBABLY. Then there was this "Rendezvous" with Taroor. Modi Tweeted; Taroor retaliated; Sunanda sweat'ed. The opening to control IPL presented by itself. And have they not taken it with both hands ?

TAROOR FORCED TO RESIGN
Most people who know me would vouch how much I despise politicians. But, Shashi Taroor is one of the very few politicians I respect. Congress wanted a young, suave face to appeal to urban and urbane India. Mr. Taroor was their choice. His rise rubbed many people the wrong way. Then, there were many media created issues out of thin air regarding cattle class, five-star hotel stay, stance against passport amongst others. He was fast becoming a liability. The moment media started attacking Taroor regarding Sunanda Pushkar getting sweat equity, Congress snapped. Taroor is history, for now.

What was wrong with Sunanda Pushkar getting sweat equity ? For all I care, she might have been presented 99% of the ownership. Unless, it isn't proved that she got the money because of a shady deal, how can media try her ? How can Taroor, a junior external affairs minister have a "conflict of interest" with a private company which is franchise for a private league ? What did media try Sunanda and Taroor for ? Like Sunanda Pushkar apparently report according to a report, she was projected like a slut overnight. Taroor's gone; uneducated to rule us again. But Innocent, until proven otherwise, anyone ?

MODI MANIA
Does media have any hatred with the "modi" name ? First, it was the Modi from Gujrat. Now, Modi from Rajasthan. Modi had a drug related case against him 25 years back. What has that got to do with his involvement in IPL ? Modi's X relatives' Z son's Y daughter has a stake in some franchise, APPARENTLY. Why not prove that Modi did insider trading or until then shut the F up ? There were many such ridiculous media coverage. The award from my side goes to this bit of "news" : Modi knows some "bookie" and hence he is involved in match fixing. This is probably one of the worst articles I read and my computer was lucky not to get banged. When did betting and match-fixing become synonymous ?

THE GREAT INTERVENTION
The Modi-Taroor fiasco let way to the great political intervention. Yes, there were politicians involved before. But that was a "necessary evil" for IPL. But this fiasco has created an opportunity for complete take-over. IPL is being politicized. What is better than a medium which reaches almost every Indian to send across your message ? What is better to corruption than a company which is making millions of dollars and is growing 200% every year ? There are IT sleuths who are raiding the crap out of IPL and its franchise owners. Everything ugly is being associated. IPL is being methodically dismantled as a private company. Its image is being thrashed. Eventually, this all points to government taking it over. Sob.

Everyone related to politics is coming out and giving a statement. Its a issue in Parliament. They want a Joint Parliamentary Commission to probe it. Apparently, IPL was under the scanner for some time now. Then, what exactly was IT department waiting for - A tweet-buffet? [Anyway, concept of forced taxation doesn't makes much sense to me]. Some-one went to extent of telling that IPL should be dismantled. Why exactly ? What is the crime they have committed ? Fodder Scam, sir ?


ALGUIEN SALVA IPL
Andrew Flintoff noted before IPL-3 that some players would be earning more through IPL than John Terry, skipper of Chelsea would, through EPL. IPL is one of the top sporting companies of 2009. IPL is a phenomenon.

And like always, corrupt people have smelt money bleeding from IPL too. They are now out in the wild, waiting to hound and siphon IPL. Hopefully, it wont happen. Hopefully it will remain a private company. Hopefully, IPL comes out of this unscathed; to give us cheer leaders for many more decades to come. Hopefully. SOMEONE SAVE IPL. ALGUIEN SALVA IPL.

I have a sense of humor. A Disclaimer. This is JUST my view of IPL and how I believe IPL should be. Article is based on my analysis only. I do not claim to know truth behind the curtains :)

Let Hockey Die

Once again, India apparently lost in Hockey. The same Hockey which is our national game. The same Hockey which we apparently were pioneers long time back, probably when American car-makers were making profits. Once again, we see people criticizing companies for sponsoring only cricket, some of them criticize "babus" [ government officials ] for corruption, some people asking for more funds to be allocated for Hockey, increasing players' salary etc. I say, Let Hockey Die.

SPONSORSHIP FOR HOCKEY
I am not a fan of Hockey. I have never played it in my life and hardly have watched it a few times. But thats not the point. Well, actually that is the point. The reason why cricket is popular is not because sponsors are ready to sponsor the game. But it is the other way round. More people like cricket, get entertained by cricket and are ready to part with their money for cricket. There is a market for cricket. Yes, market is the operative word for sponsorship unless have a personal gain to act likewise. The people asking companies to sponsor Hockey is similar as me asking you to take Person-X to Aragawa for lunch every day. I wont complain neither will Person-X. Will You ?

SUCCESS AND FAILURE QUOTIENT
People attribute lack of funds to fall of hockey and fall of hockey to lack of funds. The dreaded vicious cycle, you know. Well, India was never a top-dog in world cricket until recently. It was only in 2000s that a certain Sourav Ganguly captained Indian Team to a whole new level. Why did cricket survive until then ? English are foot-ball crazy but they are never that top-team in the world. A more obvious example is Africa where people are crazy about football. Their national teams are definitely no where near the best. Yes, success can bring people but that doesn't mean, success alone would bring people to watch a sport. How many of us actually have watched even one game of Vishwanathan Anand ? or Pankaj Advani ? Maybe, even behind every successful sportsman, there is a woman. But not viewers and market.

GOVERNMENT FUNDING HOCKEY
The very reason why Hockey doesn't generate enough funds is because people are not interested. Any government intervention would ONLY result in re-allocation of funds: from what people desire to what they are forced to have; which in this case is watching Hockey ! It is very similar to passing an ordinance tomorrow according to which all the money that people spend on onions would be taken away and will be used to for development of Hockey. Food without onion ? Bad Idea, me says !

QUALITY OF PLAYERS
Some people ask why Indian Hockey was successful previously and not now. There might be various contributing factors. Cricket might have taken away the funds and talent away from Hockey. Other Teams might have improved. The way hockey is played might have changed. People might now be more interested in becoming lawyers or engineers than Hockey Players. Or simply, there might have been better players by chance before. Most often people assume that lack of money in a particular game would inevitably result in sub-standard players. If that was the case, then we would not be having Vishwanathan Anand, Pankaj Advani, Clint Dempsey etc.

CONCLUSION
Lets allow the market and hence people to decide whether Hockey should survive in India as a sport or not. If people are not interested in Hockey, then so be it. Let it die - Deje a Hockey Morir. Else, I would want funding of Indian American-Football Team. Go Gators, errrr, Go Indians.

Agree or dis-agree with my views ? Drop in your shout in comments section.

Aaron Ramsey and unfair life

I was watching my beloved Arsenal play on Saturday; not surprisingly. And suddenly there was a tackle on this young talented 19-year old Welshman called Aaron Ramsey. I was completely shaken. Players were shell-shocked. Some were crying, some were motionless, some were angry. I didn't know how to react. There was a shattered leg and ankle. Shattered as in SHATTERED. It is probably the goriest real thing I have seen live. For those who want to see the HORRIBLE incident: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uguXXaIF_Dk

One of my friends came some time after the incident to my house. I was still evidently shaken. The first thing I told him was this football incident. Being football naive that he is, he just gave a blank shot at me telling that its common in football like I don't know what is common in football. I cursed my luck for telling him about the incident. It wasn't his mistake. He hadn't seen what I had seen. Probably, he wasn't thinking what I was thinking either. More on it later.

I was looking at an youngster who is arguably one of the most talented footballers in the world. His current worth at the age of 19 is probably more than what I would ever be worthy off in my life. He was slated for glory, fame, money and what-not. Now, in an instance, everything had changed. Everything, that he dreamt off.

He might never be able to kick a football again. His career as a footballer might be all but over. He might never be the same again even if he comes back to football. Worse, he could have even got his leg amputated. The dreams built with gold and platinum has been threatened to collapse in an instance. Life definitely is with a touch of irony.

"Luxury cars, Posh Restaurants, Designer Clothes : these are the things life is made off" is one of my most favorite lines. When I started to put things in perspective now, everything looked so silly. Striving for luxuries, striving for security in life, striving for establishing one's beliefs : everything seemed minuscule. "Broken Bones, Splattered Blood, Destroyed Dreams: These are the things life is made of" was all I could think off now. Life they say is unfair. Its definitely true, isn't it ?

Bias against Prostitution..!!

A few days ago, there was an inspired discussion between three of my friends regarding prostitution and ills of it. Just when they were about to stop, I uttered the most sinful sentence they would have never wanted to hear : Everyone owns his/her body.. Legalize Prostitution!!!

It amazes me how even the most capable people forget liberty and easily give into the "concepts" of law and morality. I believe that in the every-lasting quest for objectively perfect world, we have lost vision of subjectivity and liberty. We have become slaves of rules and rule-makers. Prostitution, one of the world's oldest profession, is the best example.

We, as humans, should have rights over our own body. The way it should be taken care should be left to the discretion of the person. When a female "voluntarily" wants to indulge in prostitution, its her choice. Any law, any act to prevent her from indulging into it, is infringement of rights over her body. Its not the voluntary act of prostitution which should be punishable; any act to prevent it should be.

People argue that prostitution is heinous, causes body pain, results in death etc. Its amazing how an propaganda and false assumptions can make even the most educated falter; falter bad in formation of opinions. If we look at it, is there any profession which does not cause any harm to human body ? Every profession causes physical effects and/or mental stress. If body pain or causing death is a parameter then, all, I mean all professions are guilty of the same. In true sense, every day we work, we are a reason for someone's hunger, someone's pain and someone's death. By working, we are taking away an opportunity for someone else to work and hence to earn and hence to take care of oneself and his/her family. Coming to the 'heinous' part, it is a very subjective term. There is no parameter to measure 'heinous' nature. What is pain for me is enjoyment for a masochist.

People most often fail to realize the difference between legal and illegal options. It is not the illegal prostitution that I am defending. Illegal Prostitution, just like illegal guns and drugs are bad. They are done through force. It is the violation of the most basic right over one's body and it should be punishable under law. It most often involves cartels and anti-social elements. When people speak about prostitution, they most often speak about illegal prostitution. Legalized Prostitution is like any other business : There are producers(service providers) and there are consumers. There is a mutually agreed transaction.

The most bizarre argument that I came across was in the lines of prostitution breaking families. It is a typical example of missing what is not seen. Call-center jobs for example, might lead to very bad family balance and cause breakups. Doctors' profession is another example. Money, lack of it or drive for it, cause break-ups. Since money can be a reason, every-thing that money can buy is a reason : costly dresses, speedy cars, posh restaurants etc etc. If people believe that the moment prostitution is legalized, every man and/or woman would be queuing infront of prostitution houses, then it simply means, it is a basic necessity for life !! [Just a thought: In olden days, does it mean, everyone was visiting prostitution houses and there were no families? ]

Liberals actually dont walk alone on this issue. For a change, we have some socialists for company in fight for legalization of prostitution(and drugs). The similarity ends there though. They have their own reasons which we liberals despise anyway : It allows for taxing the money obtained from legalized prostitution, it would allow to regulate prostitution through law, it provides more job opportunities, it would pave way for prostitute unions, provide employee rights etc.

Then why was Prostitution ever banned ? I find this question a pretty intriguing one. During the course of 'evolution' of man, there have been lots of bad policies, wrong theories and human rights violation amongst good ones. Everything is not black and white. The very concept of 'evolution' depends on where we stand, what we see and when we see. In India, betting is illegal while in UK, it is legal. If we were staying in Holland, we have evolved from the days when prostitution was illegal. If we were staying in India, we would have evolved from the days when prostitution was legal. If liberals like me are successful, in future, hopefully, every-one would have evolved to respect right over one's body. A door at half-way, after-all tells us nothing : It can be on its way to shut close or on its way shut open.

"If prostitution can be legalized, then DUI should be allowed", thundered a friend of mine. Technically speaking, we have economists like Jr. Rockwell who actually argue for legalization of DUI : http://www.lewrockwell.com/rockwell/drunkdriving.html. I have a different take on DUI legalization but its a different topic. Coming back, DUI for me is a completely different proposition to prostitution; as different as circle and square. DUI 'can' be harmful to entities not involved in the act. How-ever, prostitution is not harmful to an entity not involved in the act, in any special way. Prostitution, if anything can be compared to the act of drinking, not DUI. Just to flip a bit, if prostitution can't be legalized, then why should smoking, drinking, soda, over-eating, fat products be legalized ?

One of my friends recently commented that its a bit too rich for someone who doesn't even drink to have strong feelings on subjects like drug legalization etc. It is not; because issue for me is "regulation" of acts which doesn't involve or cause violation of property rights, which for me is blatant violation of liberty. To quote Lord Acton, "Liberty is not a means to a higher political end. It is itself the highest political end."

On a closing note, is it selling that makes prostitution a taboo ? is it sex that makes prostitution a taboo ? If either of them is, then, almost all men and women on the face of this earth are guilty of it. To quote someone: "if selling is legal and sex is legal, then why is selling sex not legal ?"

Agree or dis-agree with my views ? Drop in your shout in comments section.

Idea -- joh zindagi badal de..

Idea. On the surface, its just a four letter word - nothing special to drive home. Its neither used as frequently as S--T nor does it generates vivid emotions like F--K. On the surface.

It fascinates me how deceptive this idea of idea is. If we think of it, ideas and men are inter-twined like inseparable. The civilization of man has been based on ideas and civilization of ideas and idea of civilization has been under-taken by men. Men create ideas, ideas go on to become ideals, ideals create men. Well, Ideals create men, Great/Notorious men create ideas.

I am sure all of us have debated quite a few times about some-thing or the other. That is the most fascinating thing about ideas and ideals. Almost each and every idea has its contradictory partner/s. And each of them has its own suitors. Its these idea(l)s which make humans interesting. Maybe, on the contrary, humans make idea(l)s interesting.

Ideas don't die, like men. They cant bleed, they cant get hurt or battered. But, they can make men bleed. They can hurt men and get them battered. The idea of monopoly earlier by kings and now by some governments has left millions of men dead. The idea of religion, the idea of race, the idea of equality et al have caused same effect.

We, as men, cant escape ideas. The idea of escaping from idea(l)s is in itself an idea. I found it amusing as to how we are guided by ideas without our realization. Ideas are inescapable. Ideas can only be created or transformed but cannot be destroyed.

P.S: This is probably the first time, I am going out of my comfort zone of economics, politics, poetry etc while writing on this blog. Like or No-like the post, drop in a shout in the blog comments. Btw, I know a word "dislike" exists :-)

Jai Telangana.. Jai Jai Telangana

"Jai Telangana.. Jai Jai Telangana" were apparently the slogans which reverberated throughout Telangana today. For me, it was just a mere reflection of failure of the system, failure of socialism. Yet again.

I had been going through each and every material related to the Telangana issue since the inception of hunger-strike-blackmail about 10 days back. No, I have no attachment to either Telangana, or the 'imperialist Andhra', as it is called by Telanganites. This 30+ mins video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ElF6PaRDZDI on youtube tries to give a lot of reasons as to why a seperate state needs to be carved out. The reasons, unsurprisingly are mostly cultural and economic.

ECONOMIC IMPROVEMENT
Most of the arguments for the separate state start with economic disparity shown towards Telangana. I dont deny the fact that government has failed miserably in developing Telangana. How-ever, comparing to other places in Andhra was naive. There is no country, no state on this earth which is equally developed. There will always be economic centers and low-development centers.

The people of Telangana follow farming and weaving inspite of it not being lucrative. In economic terms, Telanganites made irrational investments over generations.

Telangana has a representation of 119 MLAs out of 291 in Andhra Pradesh, which is a sizeable number. P.V. Narasimha Rao, who headed both the state and nation, hailed from Telangana. How exactly has it change anything ? Telanganites fail to see that its the corrupt politicians and socialism which has caused them their wrecked state and not their association with Andhra. In their ignorance, are now sizing themselves up to hug the same monster in a more lethal way.

Telanganites blame the Andhra government for not providing education, water, bank subsidies (really ? that's legalized robbery, sir !) etc. How-ever they easily forget that they have a sizeable chunk of representation in the government. The failure of Andhra government is failure of Telangana representatives. In democratic terms, failure of people of Telangana.


CULTURAL FACTOR
Unlike many, I believe cultural differences is definitely non-trivial. It is neither exclusive to India. We can cite the example of Catalans in Spain who have an 'international soccer team' of their own or China. Its not without a reason that there is a Little Italy, China Town or an Indian Street in USA. Birds of same feather, indeed flock together.

Yes, it is true that having a seperate state or a nation for a particular culture creates a sense of pride. Unfortunately, for a country like India with 600 odd languages and many different cultures, it is impossible to have a separate recognition in the form of a state for each culture.

Telanganites want to protect their culture by creating a seperate state. World won't embrace Telangana culture just because a new state is created. Telanganites follow their culture and it remains that way. It make zilch differnce, state or no state.

THE FUTURE
Hyderabad, a part of Telangana, is the capital of Andhra. This division would take out half soul out of Andhra[ other half being Thirupathi], in my opinion. I believe, we might need to embrace for the counter-protests and violence from non-telanganites now. This issue, friends, romans and countrymen, is just heating up.

Assuming the formation of Telangana, lets see what progress is achieved. Telangana might try to develop some dams which would help them with storing water(which is one of the major bone of contention). But it will affect the other people. It is not going to add any new resource to the nation, at best can transfer from one place to other. If these dams start building and there is a shortage of water in Andhra, it going to lead to another water issue between two states. In any issue, people lose, politicians win.

We might have more and more 'cultures' coming out asking for a separate state. A coorg-state and uttara-kannada in karnataka, rayal seema in AP, Vidharba in Maharastra, Bodoland in NE come to my mind instantly. Is government going to yield to all these demands ?

Government failed miserably in developing Telangana. Then, some opportunists tried to gain mileage asking for a separate state. Political parties tried to gain mileage by promising one election after election. They dig so deep, that got stuck in their own pit. Shooting at their own foot ? Not really. Like I said, in any issue, people lose.

One Side of the Story

A few weeks back I stumbled upon a speech by an African Author, Chimamanda Adiche titled "The danger of single story". It is easily one of the best speeches I have ever heard. She explains how knowing just one side of the story is dangerous. She gives examples of how prejudiced people are when they think of Africans because of stories people have heard about Africa. She cites her own experience of how she thought Mexico was a wrecked nation based on the opinion she formed from things she heard in US and how surprised she was when she went there.

I have been a victim of such ill-formed opinions many times. I am sure all of us have been. An instantaneous example that comes to my mind is how I thought of America as a nation where everyone is reliant on machines for everything and dont do any physical work. But when I saw people cycling and jogging in Gainesville, I realized how wrong I had been. And once I visited Boulder, I realized I wasnt just wrong, I was stupid !

Interestingly, we humans also tend to see only one side of the story; our side of the story. We fail to see the other dimensions in the story. Every story has multiple dimensions. Everyone looks at things differently. But we humans, believe that what we see is the right way to see. No wonder, 'why dont you understand me ?!' is one of the most often used sentence on this earth. Guys, Half opened door is half closed too !

This incident happened very recently. One of my closest of friends had gone to a foreign nation for work-related stuff. She loves traveling. She was telling me that she is planning to go to this country, that country etc. I hit back saying that it means we wont keep in touch for few days. After some-time I started wondering. I love soccer and If I was Europe, I would have gone to Emirates Stadium, London at every possible opportunity to watch Arsenal. That's exactly what she was doing. She was doing what she loves. But being a dormant, reluctant traveler, I felt she was wasting her time. Till then.

Another interesting aspect is how often we try to convince others to accept our side of the story. We try to make them believe that what we do is better. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but not always. Take for example, music or food. Every person has a different taste. And everyone believes that they have the best taste for music/food and most of us try to convince others why our taste is better. We as humans, have a lot of ego, dont we ?

We form and create wrong opinions about people, places, things; look stupid because of ignorance; strain relations, hurt others feelings et al. All this because we fail to look beyond one side of the story; look beyond our side of the story.