Thendi-Thendi - Indian Prime-Time League

Thendi-Thendi, the new Indian Prime Time League, is my brainchild and there are so many teams vying for the top spot already, it looks like. This year's edition will have 8 teams and I invite bids for the same, along with suggested team names. Seriously, looks like the Premier League 20-20 edition is turning into a tightly contested "Thendi-Thendi" match, with all the exchanges of love and affection on television, twitter and internet. The chap who started it didnt probably think it will boomerang and burn his own chair. Anyway, the point is, without the concerted efforts of the people behind it, Team IPL Kerala would never have materialized. That Kerala won over the "high" and "mighty" others is obviously a shock and matter of jealousy for many. So kudos to our MP and we simply need to stand behind him as United Kerala.

IPL itself is a money spinner and crores are spent, exchanged, transacted on several aspects of the sport. The teams were picked in a closed envelope bidding. So where is the question of power, beyond that of the council and league heads? Are they worried the power is leaking out? As the MP rightly said, mainstream cricket has been so far been a fort of power, money and charm, and cornered and abused by a select few. We have all heard how team members get selected and how much our netas fought for getting into the councils. Take a look at who governs these cricket councils and its evident.

Getting a team for Kerala was a hard fought battle, it looks like obviously, and what is wrong with a person passionate about cricket coordinating the efforts? If the team went to another state, would we have ever heard of these issues, irrespective of the people and money involved? It is so unfair to target the MP who probably worked with the best of intentions. If money was the intention, he is smart enough to do it better and much differently! It is heartening to see the party is going to stand behind him, and take on the powerful coterie.

Bringing up a person's personal life or saying his proxy friend, who is a person of the opposite sex adding to their convenience, benefitted sweat equity (and how in the world did this 70 crore figure come!?, and is it not natural that anyone who floats and executes an idea will obviously be a shareholder) is shortsighted, and typically the usual cheap politics and the convoluted mindset of our frustrated lot. And the fact that the person is a female and good looking must be good fuel. But then, does this mean all the friends of ministers should stay away from anything worthwhile, profitable or beneficial? Are we then going to examine all the friends of the owners of all the other teams? Are we sure we wont find any other ministers or politicians? If yes, then we should probably examine the mighty cricket council itself and the people who operate it. Where do all the billions go every year?

And most importantly, we should then extend this suddenly discovered and conveniently adopted concept of transparency and corruptionless governance, by both our politicians and the media, to mainstream politics as well. Will we be able to examine all our politicians and their friends, and the way deals are done in this country?

If yes, then we can say the match is won. By the people of India.

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Kerala This Week, Ver 2.02, 2008

I have heard that long ago, a Communist Government in Kerala, under the pretext of fighting feudalism and "muthalalis", declared that all paddy field should be owned by the workers, and went on to divide paddy fields. The result was that agriculture as an industry became very disorganized, failed to succeed in Kerala, and over the years many farmers have committed suicide and paddy fields have largely remained underutilized.


While the politicians continued to capture the heart of the workers by portraying that its all the fault of the rich and affluent farmers and ofcourse the opposition parties, decades later, the current rulers of Kerala are not far away from repeating the same kind of..shall we call it lack of sense? Or inability to govern intelligently? The current state of the farmers and the paddy fields is simplified for you very well here. But ofcourse, its all FOR the sake of the poor and needy people of Kerala.

More recently, our political leaders decided that their hard battles against the "rich and powerful" have yielded great results. Now that the poor are no more poor according to the communists, they have decided to take-over the Golf Club in Trivandrum - the rationale: its time that the sport is not limited to the affluent, and the poor and downtrodden should also get a chance to swing as well. But more importantly, the club will also be an ideal venue to host party meetings and a perfect party spot for district committee leaders and panchayat members to conduct their drinking binges. So why not?. Are we, their donkeys, ever going to protest?.

Well, I guess nobody would have protested, not even the impotent opposition parties, had it not been for the clumsy way in which the golf club take-over was attempted - once again displaying why our political leaders need to have minimum education, even if its just to do something really silly and atrocious.

The other "thing" thats keeping our leaders occupied and the people entertained is the "text-book issue". In their efforts to transform Kerala into a totally communist state, the leaders have decided to revise the state board textbooks and add chapters that highlight communist values, allegedly, so that the "next gen can grow up understanding the values better". But again, due to the lack of education, the guy in charge of executing the work didnt probably understand the difference between communism and communalism. That has set off a series of protests, hartals, battles, etc., between religious leaders, student leaders, and the political maestros of the state. Interestingly, nobody protested when our CM was, again allegedly, caricatured as a "father-figure", once again in a class V text book!


Picture Courtesy: Outlook India

Taking public-private partnership to a new low, the government has decided that we dont need Police in Kerala anymore. Instead the red brigade will administer their version of peace-keeping and ensure lawlessness. Even the commissioner will henceforth work according to their instructions, it seems. This applies to the press as well, while the "saadharankar" can watch and be entertained as usual.

Blaming the weatherman, once again, the electricity department and the KSEB have decided to re-introduce power-cuts in the state again. While the rest of the world has become educated enough to rely less on rains (including neighbours TN who harness even wind energy), 100% literate Kerala, along with its 100% illiterate political clan, are all set for darker days and nights. After all we dont have big factories or industries to run. In fact, the power-cuts will encourage our fastest growing industry - crime and theft.

Overall, we are in for the good times. Ofcourse, we asked for it, right?.
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