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Chee Chee Leaders!!!
IPL was a huge success, Few would argue on this, so was everything that came along with it. The Franchises made money and the T.V ads cashed on the over breaks and the technical interruptions. Nothing was left wasted. Cricket was constricted to its last fiber to satiate all, with the juices that flowed. Cricket was involving just more than 22 men. It had the over whelming fans divided on the basis of region and their heroes. Franchises including the richest man in India to the most popular stars. Camera men struggled to get all the shots telecasted correct when the roar and noise of the crowd, intermingled with their own anticipation of the ball. Something else that caught the attention of the young and the old alike was the “Cheer girls”. From the first day of the IPL they were not left unnoticed. They had the glamour, the moves and the controversies that persuaded the media to quench their thirst.
Vijay Mallya brought in the best of the breed and though he couldn’t use much of them as his team failed in IPL, the situation had slipped into something were the cheer leaders gathered all the attention. The attention they gathered was more with controversies than with their glitz and glamour.
Our politicians have still not lost the “flame” in them. The flame of morality continues to cause palpitations in the loins of our politicians. Maharashtra’s deputy chief minister R.R. Patil, who drove Bombay’s bar dancers out of business, says the cheer girls employed at Twenty20 games and the skimpy clothes they wear are “obscene“. And typically for our politicians (remember Salman Rushdie’s Satanic Verses being banned on the basis of Syed Shahbuddin’s review of the book in India Today?), Patil’s threat of “action” comes without the minister examining the evidence.
“I was not present at the India-Australia match but we will go through the tapes before taking any action. I am told their performance was vulgar and their movements left nothing to the imagination,” Patil, who belongs to BCCI president Sharad Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party leader, has been quoted by The Telegraph as saying.
Is it OK for cheer leaders to whip up excitement and keep the spirits up among spectators in a Twenty20 match, or is it not quite cricket? Are the hip-wiggling actions and jhatka-matka gyrations of the girls vulgar, or are they just a sign of the times? When the girls are not being forced to dance and prance around, does anybody have any business telling them what to do? Don’t our politicians have any better work to do, like say saving Maharashtra’s malnourished children? Or is protecting “Indian culture” from such transgressions more important than such mundane things?
The police may always be sleeping on the job, but the moral police are always on the job. Farmers are killing themselves in Vidarbha, inflation is soaring through the roof in Matunga, Maoism is penetrating Chandrapur, chauvinism is raging in Bombay… but the most important item on the agenda of Maharashtra’s politicians seems to be the “bulging breasts” and “gyrating bellies” of the cheer girls of the Indian Premier League.
Here is the truth that finds difficulty to bend its lip muscles to smile, the truth about our nation. The controversy was not just to IPL cheer leaders from Mumbai. There was more to add to the drama. There was racialism added in the most political way. After cricket these days cannot happen with controversies on racialism, and here it was
Two dark colored girls were asked to stay back from cheering for their team, though sources have it that they were hired for cheering, the irony is that Media found it difficult to frame the news here, more importantly to put the news in a politically correct manner.
Dark Skinned Girls? Talk about being politically correct. In the US the “two dark skinned girls” would be in a politically correct tone called “two African Americans”. So is the UK media going “two African Englishwomen”?
A while ago, there would have been nothing wrong if the statement read “two black girls”
But everything has to go correct politically these days. And I hope with the huge migration of Desis, one day - suppose two desi cheer girls are asked to sit out of a game because of their skin color, the media will report it as “Two tanned skinned girls”… oh wait that could mean anything. It could mean two white women who spent the last 24 hours of their life in a tanning salon.
Perhaps it would go politically correct like “two East Indian American girls”…
The argument continues here as to whether the girls were “cheer girls” or “chee chee” girls
Whatever, for the youth of the nation let the convulsions of their brain decide which is correct; At least we can hope that in the next generation we have a bunch of leaders who have more work to do, and believe in just the simple words “Live and let Live”
Thursday, June 26, 2008
IPL... Chak DE
Mmm is it IPL or ICL.. IPl yaar. That’s the one belonging to BCCI. Ya buddy but the basic idea for IPL came from Kapil who is now with the ICL. This was the regular talk that could be heard from pantries, eateries and even toilets a few months back.
For Indians the concept was new. Though PHL had brought in some hype with hockey being more popular, the plug died quickly.IPL is said to have been designed after an intensive study of the primary sporting leagues around the world such as the NHL, NBA, NFL and EPL. What has finally emerged as the IPL design is one that has been meticulously refined to work for cricket. As importantly, the league structure has been modeled so as to flourish in the uniquely Indian context, and drive the development of grassroots talent in Indian cricket.
The very truth of Symonds playing against Hayden and Dhoni against Yuvraj was the secret mantra for IPL. There was no barrier no country, caste or language. It was just cricket. The new breed of cricket which had everything colossal with it. Be it the maximum sixes, the cash flowing in, the music or the costly cheer girls flown straight front the NFL. Everything was large about this sports extravaganza and for a nation like India where patriotism reaches at its highest point on a day of cricket, IPL was a seven course meal served hot.
The hype and hoopla over the Indian Premier League cricket continues and only gets more strident. High-profile team owners ranging from liquor baron Vijay Mallya to the country’s top industrialist, Mukesh Ambani; some of the world’s top cricketers to play in the league, and multi-crore rupee bidding have all made for some heady brew. Thousands waited outside as English auctioneer Richard Madley conducted the bidding. The glitz and glamour of bollywood was brought in. Thanks to the stylish King khan and bubbly Preity.
Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni attracted the highest price of $1.5 million (approximately Rs6 crore) in the first round of bidding for players in the Indian Premier League, ahead of international stars like Sanath Jayasuriya, Muttiah Muralitharan, Shane Warne and Adam Gilchrist. So came in all the money and all the glitz and glamour. No cricket fan could wait till April 18th when the clash would actually start. It had all the hype, attention that cricket could ever ask for. Some argued this was going to destroy cricket. They sighed “44 days of non-stop, pulsating excitement. The gentlemen’s game is now karamyudh, that is being fought between the Knight Riders, Royal Challengers, Deccan Chargers, Daredevils and all this happening in the presence of Bollywood stars, business tycoons and guess what a few cricketers are there as well.”
The debate continues and without taking a stance it’s always good to criticize the whole thing and also enjoy non stop cricket. The spirit imbibed by the game was arguably more than any sports extravaganza in India. Tickets were sold out like hot cakes and people rushed into the stadium in thousands. Women in huge number got glued to their TV sets finding more thrill in the “fast cricket” served to them than the pre scripted reality shows.
The inauguration ceremony didn’t batter the spirits expected from the T20.Vijay Mallya cashed in to give it all the glitz and glamour. Performers from all around the globe were picked up to add to the “Indian curry”. The mix of masala was perfect. Not very pungent and not too salty. It was all smacked up. Television partner Setmax brought in “Extra innings” show along with cricket. There was no Mandira Bedi this time though she was Setmax’s very own adopted female version for cricket. Instead the show had young anchors, along with veterans like Jadeja and Mpumelelo Mbangwa who is known simply as `Pommie' or `Pom’. The inaugural match saw some huge scores scored by the “Kings Men” Kolkatta Knight riders with McCullum looking like a perfect savage thrashing the ball to the fences to get his unbeaten 158 comprising of 13 sixes. So there was not just the glitz of the inauguration but also cricket.
There was cricket but there was also drama. The idea of Sachin playing a T20 match for Mumbai and opening with Jayasurya was like a dream come true both for the fans as well as the players. A groin injury caused Sachin to stay away from the initial matches. Bhajji and Sreesanth was involved in some “wrestling” though the two “brothers” patched up finally when their “Father” BCCI banned Bhajji from IPL for the season. Fair play award a new concept tried to keep cricket a gentleman’s game by giving credit to players who played it with “spirit”.Charu Sharma, the CEO of Royal Challengers got sacked for his belief that “test players would do well in T20” and was crucified by replacing him with Brijesh Patel. There were giggles, sledging and club fever. And above all there were crores flowing along with cricket.
The Drama and zeal of cricket had just begun. Some said it was end of cricket. Some protested against the IPL. Some others felt it’s the dawn of the new era of cricket. Cricket stars themselves had some interesting quotes to make
"When you go to your grave, people will remember what you did with your life rather than how much money you made." Justin Langer gets a bit philosophical while stating he's opting out of the IPL.
"There was a little element of feeling like a cow." Getting auctioned for US$700,000 got Adam Gilchrist in touch with his bovine side.
"I won't tell you what my first impression was." Says a beaming Shane Warne when asked about playing alongside his favourite foe, Graeme Smith, in the IPL.
The players talked about it, Fans waited for it. Television ads cashed on it. Businessmen utilized it. Bookies betted on it and in some stand in a packed stadium in Kolkata or Mumbai a little boy starting to love cricket sitting on his fathers lap would have looked at the stadium beaming in colors and a voice within him must have screeched
“Lights, Camera, Glamour and cricket”.
His vocal chords wouldn’t be a strong one to beat the noise and buzz in the stadium but the spirit imbibed in him by this new “Avatar” of cricket would sure make him tell stories of the change he witnessed in this game to his grand children some 40 years from now
Good or bad IPL is sure to stay. If you don’t like the form of cricket, just start accepting the beat it brings with it. For its going to rush into your blood soon, if you feel its getting on your nerves now…
For Indians the concept was new. Though PHL had brought in some hype with hockey being more popular, the plug died quickly.IPL is said to have been designed after an intensive study of the primary sporting leagues around the world such as the NHL, NBA, NFL and EPL. What has finally emerged as the IPL design is one that has been meticulously refined to work for cricket. As importantly, the league structure has been modeled so as to flourish in the uniquely Indian context, and drive the development of grassroots talent in Indian cricket.
The very truth of Symonds playing against Hayden and Dhoni against Yuvraj was the secret mantra for IPL. There was no barrier no country, caste or language. It was just cricket. The new breed of cricket which had everything colossal with it. Be it the maximum sixes, the cash flowing in, the music or the costly cheer girls flown straight front the NFL. Everything was large about this sports extravaganza and for a nation like India where patriotism reaches at its highest point on a day of cricket, IPL was a seven course meal served hot.
The hype and hoopla over the Indian Premier League cricket continues and only gets more strident. High-profile team owners ranging from liquor baron Vijay Mallya to the country’s top industrialist, Mukesh Ambani; some of the world’s top cricketers to play in the league, and multi-crore rupee bidding have all made for some heady brew. Thousands waited outside as English auctioneer Richard Madley conducted the bidding. The glitz and glamour of bollywood was brought in. Thanks to the stylish King khan and bubbly Preity.
Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni attracted the highest price of $1.5 million (approximately Rs6 crore) in the first round of bidding for players in the Indian Premier League, ahead of international stars like Sanath Jayasuriya, Muttiah Muralitharan, Shane Warne and Adam Gilchrist. So came in all the money and all the glitz and glamour. No cricket fan could wait till April 18th when the clash would actually start. It had all the hype, attention that cricket could ever ask for. Some argued this was going to destroy cricket. They sighed “44 days of non-stop, pulsating excitement. The gentlemen’s game is now karamyudh, that is being fought between the Knight Riders, Royal Challengers, Deccan Chargers, Daredevils and all this happening in the presence of Bollywood stars, business tycoons and guess what a few cricketers are there as well.”
The debate continues and without taking a stance it’s always good to criticize the whole thing and also enjoy non stop cricket. The spirit imbibed by the game was arguably more than any sports extravaganza in India. Tickets were sold out like hot cakes and people rushed into the stadium in thousands. Women in huge number got glued to their TV sets finding more thrill in the “fast cricket” served to them than the pre scripted reality shows.
The inauguration ceremony didn’t batter the spirits expected from the T20.Vijay Mallya cashed in to give it all the glitz and glamour. Performers from all around the globe were picked up to add to the “Indian curry”. The mix of masala was perfect. Not very pungent and not too salty. It was all smacked up. Television partner Setmax brought in “Extra innings” show along with cricket. There was no Mandira Bedi this time though she was Setmax’s very own adopted female version for cricket. Instead the show had young anchors, along with veterans like Jadeja and Mpumelelo Mbangwa who is known simply as `Pommie' or `Pom’. The inaugural match saw some huge scores scored by the “Kings Men” Kolkatta Knight riders with McCullum looking like a perfect savage thrashing the ball to the fences to get his unbeaten 158 comprising of 13 sixes. So there was not just the glitz of the inauguration but also cricket.
There was cricket but there was also drama. The idea of Sachin playing a T20 match for Mumbai and opening with Jayasurya was like a dream come true both for the fans as well as the players. A groin injury caused Sachin to stay away from the initial matches. Bhajji and Sreesanth was involved in some “wrestling” though the two “brothers” patched up finally when their “Father” BCCI banned Bhajji from IPL for the season. Fair play award a new concept tried to keep cricket a gentleman’s game by giving credit to players who played it with “spirit”.Charu Sharma, the CEO of Royal Challengers got sacked for his belief that “test players would do well in T20” and was crucified by replacing him with Brijesh Patel. There were giggles, sledging and club fever. And above all there were crores flowing along with cricket.
The Drama and zeal of cricket had just begun. Some said it was end of cricket. Some protested against the IPL. Some others felt it’s the dawn of the new era of cricket. Cricket stars themselves had some interesting quotes to make
"When you go to your grave, people will remember what you did with your life rather than how much money you made." Justin Langer gets a bit philosophical while stating he's opting out of the IPL.
"There was a little element of feeling like a cow." Getting auctioned for US$700,000 got Adam Gilchrist in touch with his bovine side.
"I won't tell you what my first impression was." Says a beaming Shane Warne when asked about playing alongside his favourite foe, Graeme Smith, in the IPL.
The players talked about it, Fans waited for it. Television ads cashed on it. Businessmen utilized it. Bookies betted on it and in some stand in a packed stadium in Kolkata or Mumbai a little boy starting to love cricket sitting on his fathers lap would have looked at the stadium beaming in colors and a voice within him must have screeched
“Lights, Camera, Glamour and cricket”.
His vocal chords wouldn’t be a strong one to beat the noise and buzz in the stadium but the spirit imbibed in him by this new “Avatar” of cricket would sure make him tell stories of the change he witnessed in this game to his grand children some 40 years from now
Good or bad IPL is sure to stay. If you don’t like the form of cricket, just start accepting the beat it brings with it. For its going to rush into your blood soon, if you feel its getting on your nerves now…
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