Winter of 05!

Roz subha ko 6 baje uthke,

Brush karke nahake dhoke,

Ready hoke mein college jaun,

Aur phir lecture me so jaun..

.. College ke baad project ke bahane,

Canteen aur frenz ke ghar jaun,

Full-to timepass masti karke,

ghar pe thakela muh leke jaun.

Mummy soche beta ye mera,
dekho kitni mehnat hai karta,
Par toh ye sirf hum hi jaane,
Khud ki kare hum aise deewane,

... These were the best days of my life!

Oh Yeah, back in the campus of Bhagubhai.

(next stanza for professional life)

Boss ki wife ko Bhabhi bulakar,
collegues ke saamne use bhaiya kahenge,
Boss ke saath meeting me jaakar,
Sharma sir ke jaise shayari kahange.

Company ke, AGM me jaake.

Jahbak ke jaisi comedy karenge.

Senoirs hume kuch kaam bole toh,

Reema maam ke jaise Shut-up kahenge,

Hamare saare collegues ko hardam,
Saxena sir ke Paath padayenge,
Aur hamare juniors bechare,
Unke liye to hum devils hi rahenge.

....Those were the best days of my life

... We learnt all this in Bhagubhai

Oh Hun,,, Campus.. campus of Bhagubhai.

The above poem is written by Bhavin Mehta (thats me) in memory of college days of NM BMS spent in the capmus of Bhagubhai Mafatlal Polytechnic.
Statutory Declaration: No offence intended to any one. Neither the professors, nor the college nor the campus.
its was all fun to be there.
Regards,
BM.

ICL- A failed league or just bad marketing?

Some time back when Kapil Dev along with Subhash Chandra announced the inaugral of a parallel cricket body with the BCCI in the form of ICL- Indian Cricket League, it had definitely brought a grin on a lot of faces of the board officials with regards to the future of Indian Cricket. However, at the end of the Edelweiss T20 challenge of the ICL, everything for BCCI seems to be a smooth sail with no possible threats as expected from the league.

They came, they played and they went away. Nor did they conquer anything- Fans, media or sponsors. There was hardly anyone very enthusiastic about the tournament. The event was a failed attempt and the loser? Kapil- No, Players- No, Sopnsors- No, Cricket- Yes! Who to blame for this failure.. Was there something wrong with the concept or the marketing guys couldnt sell it well or just lack of proper planning?

I personally feel that the concept is very promising and good enough to generate interest among audiences. But certainly it was timely counter attack by the BCCI with the announcement of the Indian Premier League IPL based on the same format. The only difference- IPL has all current international players and ICL just content with a few retired international players and some domectic players. People need stars, they need excitement whuch was all missing. May be they would have tried hard, but there must have been some more popular players from the international cricket and international domestic cricketers as well to give it a global feel. The league had players like Chris Harris, Chris crains, Nathan Astle (NZ), Russel Arnold, Upul Chandana (SL), Heath Streak (ZIM). Jason Gillespie. Damien Fleming, Damien Martyn (AUS) and a full fledged team from Pakistan(oh!).

Secondly the timing of the league was also not proper. It started from 3rd march or so and went on till 6th april. This period in India is time for EXAMS! School or college students all either giving exams or reeling under exam pressure. (After all everybody knows, they have IPL waiting for them after exams, who wants to waste time on ICL).

Today is the era of glamorisation. But the glamour of ICL was not accepted. The cheer leaders dancing in skimpy outfits in South Africa T2o world cup was a digestable fact. But this thing is not readily accepted in Indian culture. The family head avoids going to such events where his children are exposed to such westernization. Moreover the matches were not even held in proper metros. They were held at the mercy of Lalu Prasad Yadav who offered them railway grounds after BCCI restricted the use of National cricket grounds for ICL. So bollywood sizzlers Celina Jaeitly, Neha Duphia, Rakhi sawant et al performing was for an empty house dull audience, some of who dont even have cable tv at their homes.

Instead, the glamourising could have been in terms of getting a few high profile sponsors- no matter if it came for a low price. There was no print or media partner, no airlines partner, no refreshment partner, drinks partner or telecom partner. Even if these slots had gone for almost free, the corporates would have atleast ensured a decent success for the tournament. Dont know about Zee sports, but Ten sposrts which also telecast all the matches(except semis and final- cant figure out why) did not have even a SINGLE AD for the whole innings. Even edelweiss did not come up with a ad clipping.. disappointment all around.

It would have rather been wise to issue some free tickets as part of contests, than to have no audience in the house. Local schools students could have been given free entry on ID cards, college students discounts, benefit for group booking, support camp/teams benefits, freebies of team support and so on..

Though its easy for us to sit here and criticise any event, it actually takes a hell lot of resources to build a successful one. Many more points yet to be discussed but frankly a bit tired right now. Well its 1.29 am on the clock and i better stop giving my gyaan on issues that dont need mine at all.
I wish best of luck to both the ICL and IPL and hope that whatever be the case, it ultimately severs the purpose of developing the standard of the game all over- the game which is not just a sport in our country but a Religion called "CRICKET".