Sunday, May 29, 2011

Finally Its Over :D

I am sooooo........ happy, finally the IPL season is over, uffff it was such a pain, frustrating , it seemed it will never end. Its not like I do not like cricket. Infact at one time I was a big cricket buff, ok that was a century ago, yeah yeah, those were the days when it was just school, & afterwards college, cricket used to be mostly test matches, one day matches were fairly new. We never thought that test matches were kinda dragging on, we followed the game, gave our expert comments, between our friends & family ofcourse.

We had our favorites, I sort of owned Sunny, my friend Pearl likewise owned Kapil, & between us , we shared them too :D. No one was ever allowed to say anything negative about their game. When Sunny played, I was most of the time secured that he will stay on the pitch for atleast two days, so I went about with attending classes, & other stuff along with watching the match or listening to it over the transistor. When he did go out for a duck or ended up getting out early, I had to face huge humilation from my anti Sunny side, especially Pearl. She used to gloat, (atleast I felt she did), though she did agree to the fact that my Sunny was indeed a very good player. Sunny was a slow scorer most of the time you see, so if he went out early that means he left with low scores. Whereas Kapil, he set the stadium on fire, within fifteen to twenty minutes Indian score board used to gallop double triple folds, & excitement, energy used to swell out from the stadium, and every homes, watching the match on their TV sets. Pearl used to just walk out of the class to catch the first bus to go home & catch the match. Yes, some of us had our transistors on in the class in very low volumes. Thats the beauty of college, at the most we shall be asked to get out, which worked in our favor. Besides even the lecturer would be interested to know the scores after all, as long as his/her class is not disturbed. And so Pearl would declare, "excuse me sir/maam, Kapil has come to bat, i have to go". Soon I followed her, & then some more.

Sunny released the book Sunny days, & I had to get it, after all I had to support my Sunny. So I read the book. Today if someone asked me how it was, I would say boring. But at that time it was a question of loyalty. I did fine it boring at times, but i had to read it & finush it, discuss it with my gang, all for the show of solidarity to dear Sunny.

Life was so simple then, a ctricket match means TV the whole day, with neighbours joining in, Mom making goodies to supply us all when we are busy watching the match, keep scores while we take a peek at the bathroom. Nature doesn't wait for any Kapil or Sunny you see :D. When we attended maths classes during our tenth standard, a bus ride from Juhu to Khar, we were constantly in touch with the fellow passenger with a transistor, & he was expected to keep relaying every ball, every over. Ofcourse out teacher at the tution classes was not so entertaining, she would throw us out if she found any transistor in her class, but she did at times announce important bits once in a while. So sweet of her, she knew our SSC results depended a lot on the cricket scores :D.
Sitting back now on my couch i am thinking what made me get so tired of cricket. Have I become old, or just another boring housewife. I don't think either. The answer lies in the game itself. Too much cricket. All the year round thats the only game one hears of, the players never seem to get exhausted of playing, after all they make big money. Looking back at some of them, they rose from dust to riches, money earned through the game, prizes, endorsements, the popularity, media & public attention. Whether they play in every game or in one or two, it doesn't matter, as long as the endorsements keep comming, the media keeps talking, & they continue to get treated like demi Gods, everything is good. The match fixing exposure didn't change things much, even now the same continues. All they have to do is deny, an enquiry is conducted, the matter dies down, some heads get knocked off, that is IF they don't have any lobby to support & bail them out, otherwise due to lack of evidence the matter is closed down.

I also wonder why only the mens cricket matches are given so much of importance, we do have some very good women cricket players, but how many of us have actually heard of them, I just know one Diana Edulji, & thats it, only because womens cricket never ever get that kind of radio or television time for their games. Not just womens cricket, it is the same for very other sport in our country. Hockey, supposed to be our national game, is now reduced to a beggar like state. Same for football. Tenis gets good attention though, compared to them. When we compare the mode of travel between our cricket players & hockey or football players, the cricketeers travel by air, bussiness class, whereas our other sports persons, end up with a train ticket, that too a seconed class. Even when they get the cup for any international tournament, one hardly ever comes to know of it. The media might just give a fleeting mention about the event, with no coverage what so ever of their return to the country with the cup. There are no special coverages, pre & post tournaments, no expert panels & all the other fuss that happens with the cricket tournaments. Why, we even have seperate cricket channels on television, to continue telecasting old matches long after they are done & over with, & they keep getting TRPs too. A cricket world cup gets the players lakhs of rupees as awards from the government & from their respective states, along with more endorsements at even higher prices than what they were getting earlier. I hardly ever come upon any other sports person getting such royal treatment. The cricketeers are treated on par with not just hindi film stars but even Hollywood. I wouldn't be surprised if tomorrow along with the Aishwaryas, Sonams & Dipikas, they too walk the red carpet in the next Cannes film festival. IPL has already pushed them to almost that state. The moolahs that go into the tournament, & the glamour that surrounds it, it all seems more like a film awards night than a match, with half clad girls prancing around in costumes, resembling more of circus performers, & from politicians, bussiness magnets, to film stars, all showering so much of interest, money & time to the IPL, its more a money making party than a game. Not my problem, only why do the other sports in this country not get atleast some of the spotlight they deserve. A recent movie Chakde, made on womens hockey, had a very inspiring song, which is played for cricket related programes on the TV. Im sure with the kind of support cricket has today, some enthusiastic lyrist can write a song especially for the pampered game.

As for TV programes, well that went to the dumps since the world cup & after that IPL, had started. Gone were serials like Modern Family, How I Met Your Mother, whatever popular serials were shown, was put in the late night time slot, & new seasons were kept on hold till the IPL got over. Plus the every evening fight with my huisband for the remote, he invariably switches between the cricket & news channels, & after that dozing before the TV. Now there is a flood of new serials waiting to take over the TRPs. Quite a few hindi serials, Kaun Banega Crorepati. Although I don't watch many hindi serials but I am very happy, Modern Family is finally coming up with the next season, How I Met Your Mother has already started. I just hope 18 To Life is brought down to a watchable time slot, from the late night 11.30 pm slot, & then my evening shall be made. I look forward to more interesting peaceful evenings, happy viewing :D