Friday, May 15, 2009

Out Of Hibernation ... With IPL & IPL !!

Truth be told, I have been a bit lazy and have been putting off posting something here for quite a while now. Thought it was high time that I did post something or the blog might start feeling ignored and neglected :) So, here goes...

Well, was thinking of something suitable to write about and as it so happens, 2 things have gripped the nation this past month or so and a lot has been written about both by my fellow bloggers as well as newspapers / magazines etc. For those who may not have guessed it by now, I'm talking about IPL and well, IPL!! Confused? Don't be. I mean, of course you know about THE IPL that’s currently on in South Africa & is nearing its business end what with the semi-finals and the grand finale coming up.

 A lot of jokes were cracked when it was announced that the 'Indian' Premier League would be held, not in India, but abroad. It isn't hard to understand at all why this lucrative event was shifted rather than being cancelled or postponed. It is money that's driving the game today and nobody who's associated with the IPL (that has the backing of the cash-rich BCCI) would've liked a damp squib after the success of the league last year. And so, off the circus proceeded to the Rainbow Nation.  As for me, I really don't care whether they conduct the Indian T20 league in South Africa or Solomon Islands. So long as I'm getting my share of the entertainment... he he

Anyway, am glad to see that Delhi Daredevils have performed well in this edition thus far and have already made it to the semis. Hope the team can go one better this year and win the league rather than stumbling in the semis like last year.

Now, as for the other IPL that you may be wondering about, it's the bigger and more important circus that played out closer home – the Indian Political League. In what is the world's longest electoral process, Indian went to polls to elect its new PM for the next 5 years (hopefully!). The past one month has been entertaining to say the least, what with most major publications carrying articles day-in, day-out speculating about who will form the new government at the centre.

Delhiites voted from their respective constituencies on 7th May. For a lot of people, it was a once-in-a-five-year chance of bringing about a difference to how this country should be run (yeah, right!), for others, it was merely a holiday. Well, I know a lot of people - friends, relatives et al - who went and cast their vote and felt proud afterwards, I on the other hand, did NOT vote in case you are wondering. Ummm ... let's just say that Indian politics just brings out the cynic in me and rather than voting for someone with a history of crime, someone who can’t write his own name or someone with one foot in the grave, I simply choose to not vote. I know that some may criticize this decision of mine. As a counterpoint, I'd just phrase something here that my Mom once taught me - "In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king". To conclude, I feel that till the time the Indian political system remains a quagmire as it is right now and till the time that 'one-eyed' person comes along who's worth voting for, I'll be an abstainer for sure.