The extent of media coverage, bigger frenzy than the game itself, seems to be a good indicator of how large a space the heady mix of business, entertainment and sports - in that order (!) has come to play in this country.
IPL vs BPL: On one side millions given away as tax concessions; on the other side millions of real people starve.
We are not even sure how to count those living below the poverty line (BPL). So says the hapless decision-makers; those at the very top. Not joking, my BPL friend!
Our great decision makers are on the horns of great IPL vs BPL dilemma. Neither are they able to count the millions of dollars that IPL makes! Nor can they count the number of poor!
They are, as we can see, truly well balanced. They maintain a level playing field for the rich and the poor. So the story goes, without counting, how to help.
Helping the poor could encourage ‘moral hazards’. How sad! It will corrupt the poorest, God Save this Land!
The family that starves due to lack of work will become addicted to doles and refuse to work even when there is work!
And India will take a free fall into negative growth rate. So, no, no! Not by any means, should we corrupt the poor! Not with subsidies, not by doles, not through direct-cash transfers, not by food for work, ... No, not at all!
BTW, don’t we have better jargon? Haven’t we changed the terminology? It is no longer PC to call corrupt as corrupt. They are just market savvy and smart! Others are lost in an idealistic world or are plain downright lazy to be smart enough.
Due apologies to all those people and entities better known by these two alphabets – P and C. Believe me, no pun was or is intended. Given the stress of understanding IPL and BPL, it may have just crept into my subconscious mind. Or just surfaced like one of those IPL team shareholders. What to do when such things crop up? This, unfortunately, happens at the most unwanted moments, in the most unlikely situations, by a tweet, in a bog, in an email or through plain speech. Sorry folks! If you discover some pun and think it is intentional! No way! You are mistaken. Apologies, if you don’t believe me!
Now, back to the tale of the poor and corruption
Oh dear! Poor getting corrupt? That is far too dangerous. There are so many of them out there. No! No! We don’t want the economy of volumes in merchandising our smart ways. No way!
Surely, it is good to have pure, unblemished poor!
It is better the poor are made to work harder, with or without food, and asked to watch IPL to forget the hunger!
Is there any point? I mean, in this IPL vs BPL?
Well, we should not give subsidies to the BPL, lest it corrupts them and dirties the system. What a waste – waiving off loans to farmers! What nonsense assuring work and setting aside such a huge amount for NREGA/ MGREGS. Why have PDS? Does it work?
Grudge every single paise for the BPL.
But, by every means 'facilitate' the virtual neo-casinos, I mean IPL – the huge speculative global business model this country has produced. Truly remarkable story of how intangible values based purely on speculation pulls in so much money. Like a black hole, it drags into it the Who-is-Who of business, the top film stars, the media tycoons, the crafty politicians, and others, ad nauseum.
Come to think of this. Isn't this the greatest National (or is it International?) integration that has happened - all the big-wigs of the Indian business, the top film stars, the best sportsmen (so far only the males!), the entire Media, the top politicians, no religious or caste barriers, only the moolah and glitter counts!
Being very smart and successful, are they really being drawn into it, by the sheer pull of the glitter, the glam, the razzmatazz and lastly, their new found love of sports (my foot!)?
Not if they are really savvy and smart!
Why do all roads now lead to IPL? Going by the leaked profit projections of the IPL teams, the team owners must be great fools indeed, to invest so graciously and take such risks! What martyrs or foolhardy sports lovers these shrewd business folks are! Imagine, taking in losses after losses, year-after-year, into fairly long foreseeable future!
May be fools like me and the BPL kids are missing out on something!
There must be many a slip between the franchisees and their cheer leaders and between the late night after-match partying and the clinking of champagne glasses that we ordinary mortals and the BPL kids do not see. Is everything so intangible and purely speculative? Or are there misuse of public money and institutions involved?
The real leaks are of the public money into private pockets. Getting subsidies for spinning a global speculation business that reeks of alleged insider trading, betting, outcome fixing, and so on.
Is all this legal or aren’t there serious crimes – criminal offences, not just civil transgressions – being committed using public money and institutions?
Sometimes, you think they are the Gods sitting on judgement on all of us! Phew! How self-righteous they sound. They don’t read out news any more. They admonish!
You feel guilty sitting in front of the idiot box. Don’t you?
We ask you to come clean, warns the news reader! We have the leaked emails! We have the proof! We have damning evidence! Come clean!
Oh, my God! They have all that and more? Really?
They righteously want accountability. They want to expose the system.
Despite the deep surgical investigations, even the best of business and economic analysts in the media do not want to tell the BPL masses of how much is the true subsidy to this international gambling racket.
The probing by media of the media has been very meek, indeed.
What is the true extent of tax breaks? What is the extent of tax evasion? What is the level of money flows out of the country into dubious accounts? Who, indeed, are the ghost owners of the teams? What is the estimate of black money? What is the extent of kick-backs?
When there is so much money flowing in so many directions, in and out of the country, through channels and pipes, legal, illegal and digital, how come the profit projections are negative?
Is there a Da Vinci Code to read the worksheets that jumped from the IPL office to the Minister’s lap, err, laptop? A normal reading does not seem to make any sense of all this. Or are we too foolish to understand this new business? Are we asking the wrong questions?
Surely, we are not smart enough!
Now, listen carefully my dear BPL friends! Hush! All these money flows are in all kinds of currencies. Just some of it happen to be in Indian Rupees! And, they don’t use Indian Rupee in IPL any more!
And, they don’t pay taxes! They don’t buy rations from PDS. They get their entertainment well and truly subsidised in millions of Dollars (or is it billions? lost count!) so that they can enrich themselves under the guise of sports!
And, these rich don’t get corrupted, unlike the BPL masses! They just get smarter, night after night, after every IPL match!
Oh, dear, this is hitting me hard! So, bear with me, friends! Let me take a break!
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