For a span of about one and a half month or so, the whole nation goes frenzied and frantic thinking about whats in store for them for that period of time. Yes, I am talking right, it's the Indian Premier League (IPL) that takes the front seat on par with other shows thereby increasing the channel TRP's. Every individual wants his or her club to win!
Nine teams, handsome bunch of players, nine franchisee, supposed-to-be-beautiful-size-
Of the eight matches that Bangalore hosted, I managed to squeeze in for four matches where the home team played against Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad, Mumbai. Bangalore known for its cosmopolitan culture and the other benefits it exhibits, people across the country move down in search of a comfort living and posh lifestyle the city has to offer. What surprised me was the support other teams got when their heroes came to play here, the best rivalry being that between Bangalore and Chennai. Was it just a game of cricket?? Hell no! It is similar to the adulation India vs Pakistan, Roger Federer vs Rafael Nadal or Real Madrid vs Barcelona gets. With half of the city's and MNC's population overtaken by the Tamilians, and not just that, playing the blame-game in our own city under our nose, it was a matter of pride and prestige. I was shell shocked to see at least half of the stadium spectators supporting the men in yellow. Thanks to the rain gods for spoiling the party thereby preventing any kind of misconduct, verbal or actions that could create a huge ruckus.
And aahh, how can I forget to mention RCB vs MI match? A five foot, two inches tall man, whose supposedly, arguably 'the god of cricket' according to three fourth of India's population, Sachin Tendulkar, comes to the garden city for a game of cricket and there goes the crowd, crazy, nonsensical and bizarre! A ticket which was worth rupees 300 went sold for 1.2k, the figures just went augmenting with each passing day. Yes, I too paid the price and went to cheer my team, to experience probably the last match of this year's IPL in Bangalore. I met this group in the stadium who were originally kannadigas, cheering 'Mumbai-Mumbai' displaying placards which caught my attention and made me ask why were they supporting Mumbai when they were talking in kannada and from Karnataka, for which came the reply, 'Madam, as long as Sachin is there in any team, we support only that team irrespective of our origin and place', hmmm, I smiled and wished him good luck. I admit I like ST as a human-being and not as a player. I am no communist and the last person to talk about communalism, but my senses said be loyal to your roots first then an individual. There was nothing right or wrong about the group nor was I but whom was I trying to convince, a nation which is driven crazy only by one cricketer?? On the whole, ninety percent of the crowd had come just to get a glimpse of the maestro but were also supporting the home side which lit up my face. It was the best match I had witnessed so far in my life, had RCB won it for us, it would have been the cherry on the cake. We lost a close match, so near yet so far! Second best was against Deccan were we won a thriller!
One should attend the high profile, running late into the night IPL parties to know the other side of these cricketers whom we almost ideally bank upon. After a tiring, exhaustive match, I had very little energy left to attend the much hyped about post match party where one gets to party with the famous and not so famous stars, not literally though. Girls flaunting their micro-minis and high heels to woo away the cricketers, men were not far behind too in their fashion sense. Boozey, food, hard-core DJ mixing, fasionistas, actors and actresses, players and a whole lot of money goes into making such extravagant, flamboyant parties. The players boozed all night, there were performances by the cheer girls, they can do anything to earn their bread and butter, and rightly so because the glamour goes hand in hand with cricket these days. Vijay Mallya, in spite of his detriment, can throw such parties each time there's a match, goes to tell that he indeed lives life king size that makes me change the abbreviation of Indian Premier League to Indian Paisa-Vasool League!
The gentlemen's game in its true sense, is not anymore just a game of cricket!
