By Kimberly Rowe- ‘Which side are you on?’ – The IPL tagline protrudes out of the umpteen hoardings lining the flyovers. The banners full of flashy colours question your choice. Scores of people all over the country are shouting themselves hoarse at the stadiums over some local team’s name. Indeed, it was an exceptional plot by the cricket-businessmen to make their cash-rich tournament of cricket popular across India by naming the teams after some cities. They hoped to polarize Indian citizens by regional sentiments. BINGO! They were immediately successful as persons from all cities immediately started going gaga over their home team. Undeniably, speaking about unity in a country like India is astounding for a foreigner when he sees varied realities.
India is a diverse country with different languages and culture and for the sake of unity it is important for every regional group to be respectful of each other. Yet, the obnoxiously rich businessmen running the BCCI wanted to maximize their profit by striking at the heart of the unity of India by evoking regional sentiments. Not only this, we Indian citizens were more than happy to play ball with them. However, this does not suggest that IPL is threatening India’s political unity, but it is definitely creating discord among the people, especially in large cities. Needed to be kept in mind is the truth that although these teams are named after cities, they do NOT represent the city according to team composition. Is the power of regionalism so strong that we are blinded by a fact that has been staring us in the eye for the past 5 years?
Awaken! Supporting your home team is acceptable but not to the extent of running down other teams and creating differences between people. Every team competing in the IPL puts in that extra bit of effort and hard work and thus, every one of them deserves appreciation when they succeed. The game of cricket is to be enjoyed in a positive spirit. Negative emotions such as jealousy, revenge, hate and contempt should not be allowed to hinder the competitive spirit of the game of cricket.
To top it all, the young generation, the generation who are believed to be the torch-bearers of change and the future of India, are almost always updating their status on Facebook or Twitter voicing their opinions on a particular team winning by “luck” or claiming that a specific match was “fixed” or writing other malicious messages and creating cartoons aimed at maligning other teams and players to glorify the team or player they support. Majority of these young adults have been students of reputed schools, colleges and companies – in short, they are expected to set an example. In that case, what is the reason for such narrow-mindedness and prejudiced judgment? We desperately need to get our priorities right.
We, my dear friends can make a difference with a slight change in the way we think. Why do we want to divide ourselves and run down each other when we can be a part of one happy family enjoying the fruits of the game of cricket? All we need to do is amplify this notion and activate it through word of mouth. The media too must remember that it is responsible in its words and actions and can shape the attitudes and outlooks of the people.
Let us promise to enjoy this IPL season with an optimistic, sporting and competitive approach, cheering for the team that triumphs and motivating the teams who couldn’t achieve their goal.
“Whether you win or lose the game or it ends in a tie, it is the game of cricket that always wins.”