Pseudonationalism

For one with no significant loyalties to any single IPL team, at least none based on geography, the shift to South Africa will not make such a big difference - and certainly not at any emotional level. I mean why the hell should I care if the Indians play the Superkings in Centurion or Chinnaswamy as long as I can pop a beer open in front of the TV? Is this just me?

I just might get really pissed off if the government sold off the Bharatanatyam or the Taj Mahal or the Himalayas. Or lets just say, the Maha Kumbh was shifted to Brazil for security reasons. That would drive me mad. But when the media whipped itself into a frenzy over Gandhi's personal items being auctioned off, I could not care less.

There is no doubt that the IPL belongs to all Indians far less. Its owned clearly by big business, and a year is not enough for a sporting tournament to eat into a nation's ethos/zeitjeist. But the reactions led by the (once?) poster-boy of hate, Narendra Modi, would pencil it down to "national shame". Shorn testicles, if the I in IPL is his rationale!

The IPL does not belong to any of us. Of course, they did try to get us to feel some amount of ownership through the purchase of jerseys and our presence at the venues, but that was never meant to be exclusive, baby. It was just y'know we kinda misunderstood the commitments we took upon.. Certainly never offered us a say in determining venue the next year, and neither did we pay for that right. It might have been sold as a domestic tournament in some quarters but the minority of local representation in teams was a constant reminder that it was not.

Yes, last year I did not catch a single match from a stadium and I will admit I was looking forward to the experience this year. Other than that, as long as I dont have to stay up too long into the night to watch them, I'll be watching almost every single game. Whether there is a massive noisy crowd or not. Aren't there enough Indians, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis around the world to make noise wherever it will be staged?