IPL and the threat to Indian sovereignty

Suddenly, IPL is opening up cracks in Indian sovereignty. A bad precedent is being set by blocking Sri Lankan players from entering Tamil Nadu, but allowing them to enjoy the rest of India. Everybody seems to be focused on the advantage it gives the Chennai Superkings, but nobody has picked up the Indian pride angle yet. 

India is already set to condemn the war atrocities of Sri Lanka which the Sinhalese majority in that country had managed to hide from the world for a long time. But apparently only Tamil Nadu feels outraged while the rest of India goes "Meh". If this pattern continues, we will have low morale across many institutions, including the Indian military.

What's next? If there is trouble in Bangladesh against non-Muslim Bengalis and they scamper to the West Bengal border, will the IPL only block the Bangladeshi players from playing in West Bengal? Are only Indian      Christians supposed to feel the pain when Christians are attacked in Egypt and Iraq? Are only Indian Shias supposed to feel the pain when a mosque is bombed in Pakistan? Are only Indian Sunnis supposed to be outraged when Syria starts gassing its own citizens?

This is a slippery slope. You can pretty much guarantee that Tamilians and concerned Indians will be protesting outside all cricket grounds in Maharashtra, Delhi and anywhere else they muster enough numbers. And it will not take long for BJP and Shivsena to represent the Indian side of the coin. IPL may be tax free, but it is merely a vehicle for filling up Congress coffers in various quarters.

Whatever happened to the solidarity that was shown during the South African apartheid era?

How to fight terrorism

As terrorists get bolder and bolder and more delusional, it is time to give them a reality check. Terrorists can never stop and will simply move on to the next target after one disappears. For example, terrorists elements within Sunnis go after Shias if they run out of other groups to hate on.

Here are the steps.
1> There are quite a few people, especially in the US, middle east and UK, that say, "We just send money to terrorist groups to get revenge". Report these people to authorities. Money is what drives terrorism.
2> Keep an eye out for people that have uncontrolled rage against other groups out of nowhere. These are the kind of people targeted for recruiting and action. Again, watch for the word "revenge". Report them directly or anonymously.
3> Watch out for people that say that terrorists are only against government and not the people. These are the people most likely to fund terrorists. Report them directly or anonymously.
4> You are likely to hear such words mostly from friends or other that share a common religious or ethnic background. Report them directly or anonymously. Terrorists are not followers of God, they are the devil incarnate. Hateful conversations from any religious group is bad.
5> Do not donate to charities unless you are absolutely sure what they do. Donate to Prime Minister or Chief Minister relief funds when in doubt.
6> Do not carry money on behalf of others when visiting India or Pakistan. Unaccounted money often ends up in the wrong hands.
7> Do not use hawala or unofficial channels to transmit money. The underworld fanatics get a cut out of those transactions.
8> Do not do unofficial bets on cricket games. Corrupt cricket officials get a cut out of those transactions and they are tied to extortion/terrorist groups. BTW, Pakistan will have a spectacular defeat soon just to mess up the spread, now that Javed Mian gets to select the whole team.
9> Walk away from conversations that are hateful. Terrorism begins in the intelligent mind and get implemented by mindless moron. Sindhi master, Punjabi blaster. (Reference: Mad Max movies)
10> Be the possibility of peace and harmony. This is the most important step. Ofcourse, kill a terrorist before he can do harm. But be an incarnation of peace otherwise.

Cricket angst...

With the heartbreaking Mumbai Indians loss to the Rajasthan Royals, Indian fans get to feel the angst that goes with a city based franchise. Unlike national teams that we support unconditionally(think Harbhajan), our relationship with a city based franchise is more complex as we get bombarded with more up to date information and get to experience them more up close and personal. Plus there are more direct viewing opportunities.

Now we know why Wankhede games have a different feel compared to the DY Patil games. Apparently 70% of the Wankhede tickets are sold inhouse, so it leads to a grumpy knowledgeable crowd, very much like a British crowd. DY Patil has not yet gathered such a crust, plus it is a bigger stadium.

But the IPL finals will not have any such allocations, so a true fan can watch the game more easily. Ofcourse there is always a danger of a rabid crowd like the ones you see at Eden park. But that is probably more a sign of a dead city; Mumbai folks typically are more diverse and will not be subject to such combustions.

Mumbai Indians are not out of it yet. A loss by Chennai Superkings can still open the door for Mumbai. And with the semifinals and finals in Mumbai, they will be a very difficult opponent to beat.

As Shane Warne has indicated, having semifinals at a "neutral" venue is not a good idea, there is no advantage for the top seed. Infact, if the local team scrapes through to the semifinal, mentally they end up becoming the top seed due to the support that they will receive. The semifinals have to be held at the home team ground. The finals can be at a rotating prearranged venue as it allows for better planning and showing off of the climactic event of the league.

Cheerleader morality!..

Mumbai's morality police has had success with bar dancers before. Now they are training their eyes on the Cheerleaders in the IPL league. Yes, Cheerleading is an envelope pushing activity in India. Some of the cameramen even went one step further and got into camera angles unseen in the US, mostly because the cheerleader platforms are raised above the ground. Looks like nobody noticed this with the ICL league. Even more funny is the fact that film star politicians are raising the issue.

Looks like you can do these kind of things only in a film and not anything "live". If males can do bodybuilding, then surely females can do cheerleading, the ultimate female body and attitude showoff activity.

Only Chennai has an all Indian cheerleading team and they were absolutely miserable. One of the females considered just her presence to be good enough and would not even join in the dance routines!

Hopefully other parties will pick this up in other states and make sure that our "In-den-ness" is preserved.

Karunanidhi utters Hindi words...

It is a sort of an apology, not a direct one. But by talking in Hindi. We will be on the lookout to see if he ever invokes Ram Rajya. And thanks for the bandh and bringing Tamil Nadu to a standstill. Someone probably said something stupid and caused all of this to happen to begin with.