Future is here

I just noticed that its almost a year since I wrote anything light. It does not mean that I stopped enjoying ligher things around. 

Recently, I was waiting for my bus at my regular stop in front of a bakery run by Malayali (In Bangalore, if it is not an Iyengar's bakery then it is most likely a bakery run by Malayali brothers). Malayalis a.k.a Mallus attract mallus and so you get to see nice chit chats in native tongue. That day, I saw a man in his 50s, one in about late 30s and a couple of 20s who run the bakery in a very serious discussion. Thanks to Mohan Lal and Mammooty I can understand about 70% of a casual conversation in Malayalam.

The topic of discussion was cooking a particular dish with tomatoes. The 50s person with a beedee in his mouth explained his recipe and the method of preparation, the person in his 30s gave a twist to it and a variation using some lentils which the 20s guy debated as a seperate dish prepared a little differently and called as somethign else. They were damn serious of their discussion and confident of their recipes. As the discussion ended, they went their way before which each of them invited the other for lunch that was either politely declined or moved for a later day.

The above episode which lasted for just about 10 minutes before they dispersed reminded me of the numerous futuristic plays and movies made under a couple of decades ago when I was in school with a comical sense with the theme of men becoming 'house husbands' and women becoming the master of the family. 

In the world of 'house wives' such discussions were common across fences of row of houses or at the gate meetings of neighbours but one difference that was striking to me was the end, the gesture when they part.  While the women folk used to share, teach and guide neighbours on recipes at more length and detail, I have never ever seen one invite another for lunch or dinner as they part away from the discussion. Either it never occured to them or it was a social expectation that inviting neighbours and friends for lunch or dinner is the 'mans' duty.

Maybe it was one of the reasons that inspired such plays where people wanted to see themselves in the other gender's shoes or slippers.

Indian Betting League

IPL (Indian Premier League) er IBL is what I would like to call the latest money machine of India.

A brain child of

 Lalit Modi a scion of a conglomorate, IPL caught the market within no time. With Cricket as the youngest religion of the country, involving modern day gods and goddesses (in term of

 their followers) like Sachin, Sourov Ganguly, Yuvraj and flamboyant brands like Shah Rukh Khan and Vijay Mallya, failure was not an option. It is money, money, money all over the place. 

Betting is not new in cricket especially in the shorter versions of it and 20-20 format provides good volume and more interest on this business due to its shorter duration. We have seen great stars of the game have a shameful exit by getting involved in betting 

and match fixing scandals. The recent announcement of competitions through SMS adds an official version to the underground betting racket.

SMS

 competitons are common in the Indian TV arena, more and more programs invite participation through SMS but the reason why I see the IPL SMS competitions dangerous is because it has the potential to burn a deep hole in a poor man's pocket before he realizes it. It is like stealing someone's money and in such a large scale of small pockets. The options are so tempting even for a person like me who hardly follows the game that it will ensure multiple transactions from each mobile phone of the nation. 

The nailbiting finishes of every match being played which invariably drags till the last over last ball scenario plants a doubt in my mind that these are all orchastrated moves. Similar to WWF, one goes boom boom boom and once there's a pause the other takes on. At times the doubt almost gets confirmed when some insignificant part-time bowler gets surprise valuable wickets while the professional experts get beaten-up. 

 With these we get to see, read and hear of off the ground tantrums of team owners, team politics, sponsorship money and of course not the least the sizzling cheerleaders. Indeed a good entertainment, it is...!

As I generally say, where there is more money and Indians, there must be corruption. I see the idea is being over exploited to maximize everyone's earnings in a short time and I fear that the golden egg laying goose will soon be killed out of greed.

P.S: My post when the idea of leagues for cricket was implementedinitially : http://indiaeveryday.blogspot.com/2007/08/india-vs-india.html