"It may be that all games are silly. But then, so are humans." ~Robert Lynd

World cup season

Today I thought of writing again, exactly one year after I posted my first blog, on some sensitive topic. I still remember some of my friends said "Ohh Myy G..G..Godd kaleem what you have written man, ignore these things ..... politics is dirty and many such things". I had written my first blog when I was really very angry. But today after one good year it is a different day, last week when I was watching opening match of 2011 cricket world cup between India and Bangladesh, I found many of my friends were excited about it.. May be it was India’s first match in the world cup or may be they thought the match would be neck to neck ha..ha...haa that was funny but i guess not to some people.

So here I am doing what I am really bad at… expressing my thoughts.

The GAG

Its a game where out of 600 odd balls (excluding extra) a single ball decides whether the player will become an idol or will have serious character assassination, and of course yes.... in the next match it can definitely be the other way round. it is weird but I have got use to it now... :)

Height of Stupidity

In our country when it comes to cricket, some consider it as a religion and few cricketers are worshiped as Gods ...

I mean... how ??

I mean... how could they ??

I mean... how could they possibly even think of it ?? (ok I know I am exaggerating :P)

I think is absolutely rubbish, I can write a complete book on this but for now just wanted to clear my view on this.

Garbage in and Garbage out

As the world cup has now started, whether you like it or not ,you have to listen to all these expert comments and detailed match summary from each one of your friend, cricket lover around your cubical, your neighbors and the best part is you like it not, knowing unknowingly even you tend to comment on it. Just like in IT as we call it as garbage in and garbage out.

Like they has some black box processor, some input goes in, black box processes it (GOD knows how) and the extreme out put comes out as ...

"Man, He should be thrown out of Indian cricket team",

"Man, he is a GOD of cricket",

"Man, I tell you India gonna win this world cup, we have XXchin" (like its the first world cup he is playing)

The Reality

Most of the cricket fan goes beyond “the limit” to support their favorite cricketer. Make them their idol, call them GODs of “XYZ” and “PQRSTUVWXYZee" and cannot even stand any comments against them, like a true Bhakt (Believer).

They support them even in their worst time i.e. Australia trips (as I say :) )

I lost my senses after seeing such a thin line between "the stupidity" and "The reality".

I mean...

I mean... how ?? (ok not again :P)

The Devil of the Details

Cricket is claimed to be common mans favorite game, but the question is ....“is it really so?" ..... These common men are the ones that drive the craze of cricket all over country and are the only ones who are kept away from seeing the world cup live from the stadiums. The average world cup ticket price should not be more then Rs 500 but the fact is that these tickets start with around Rs 2000 plus .

So for whom exactly is the world cup played for? Definitely not for the majority of the people, and absolutely not for the average college kid. Why is the cost of the ticket so high unlike IPL?...... This is because every city has its very own cricket association. Lets consider the final match of the world cup which is to be played at Wankhede stadium ,where according to Times of India 20,000 tickets are for Bombay Cricket Association. Now 20,000 is a huge number and it will be more interesting to dig out how one can become a member of this cricket associations, again 9000 tickets (again according to Times of India) are reserved for international Cricket Council and remaining around 10,000 seats in Wankhede stadium are for the masses i.e " the common man" ... these 10k tickets will surely have huge huge demand, and if tickets are not available easily, we see city mayor coming in media and crying for not getting a free tickets. There are many more facts for you to find out....

Some Gyaan (Knowledge)

Cricket should not be more than a source of entertainment, follow your game have fun, slag, fight, cherish the victory, pity the loser but it should all end as the game ends, no one likes the over cooked food.

Calling someone GOD even if you don’t mean it, is way too much. I truly don’t have words to condemn this. I just want to respectfully leave this to GOD’s mercy. Any fan, following any sports person must have some modesty in what ever forms of support he/she is demonstrating. Though the modesty is the least of all laws, but yet it is the law which is most strictly observed.

One must remember that at the end of the game and all its debates they all have to return to their home, friends place or work place and not to their sports star's place to collect best supporter's trophy. There is no sense in fighting on such ridiculous topics.

Honest Disclaimer

There is no special power rested in me by holy GOD to judge other people, but these all are purely my thoughts, my perspective .So if any of giant cricket lover do not like this post, he/she can simply smile and ignore (or at least ignore :) ) and let the peace prevail. I am not anti-cricket, even I enjoy watching it (sometimes) though I still seriously believe that it’s a stupid game, and am only against the "in human" display of affection towards this games. I think I have made my POINT very much clear.

Your comments and thoughts are most welcome.

So bye for now see you all soon, Chao....

Peace

-Kaleem