Imagine an Absolut(e) World

The videos say it all. This is how my ideal world would be.No religion. No money. No fighting whatsoever. Of course it's not going to happen anytime soon or maybe ever..but then there's no harm in dreaming a little..

Imagine - John Lennon

Absolut commercial

Give us a break,Mr. Modi

IPL is back with a bang! and with a new innovation(read : irritation) may I add.

Indian cricket fans are quite used to watching cricket on television knowing who the bowler is only in the second ball of the over, as the ads in between overs run till the first ball is released by the bowler. And then the commercials will be back on before the batsman completes the run in the last ball of the over.

With IPL3, Sony Set Max which telecasts the DLF IPL T20 matches, have gone a step further They’ve started to show advertisements every now and then in the middle of the over as well. Ad tickers or even the L shaped display ads covering more than half the TV screen are OK, but giving a break in between and stopping the commentary just to show Akshay Kumar going amok on the screen resembling Rahul Mahajan is a bit too much to bear.

While this may not be pleasing to the eyes of the viewers, the Indian cricket board is clearly loving it. According to media planners, the third umpire screen is valued at Rs 6-7 lakh per 10 second slots, which is 50% higher than the television ad slots. The blimp is also big money. In fact, costing anywhere between Rs 1 crore to Rs 3 crore, it is estimated to be one of the most expensive on ground ad spaces. MRF, the tyre maker, has its blimps on display during matches in all the six IPL venues.

In the middle of an absorbing over, fans won’t mind watching captains changing field positions more than once yet, after almost every ball is bowled, the camera diligently pans to a giant screen on the ground that plays advertisements.

The strategic time-out is another case in question.It had come in for a lot of criticism in the second edition of the tournament, when fans across the world thought that its only objective was to earn money out of it and nothing else. There were many players who had then questioned the utility of the break including the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, as many thought that it had affected their momentum.

Sony Max should look to utilize the ad slots in between overs and during the strategic time outs in IPL T20 more effectively than trying to push in ads in between balls. Give us 6 balls without a break, please.

Hockey- National Shame of India

There is no upper limit to shamelessness and indifference it seems as I go through the sports column horrified to see the condition of the women's hockey team. Hockey, supposedly the national sport of our country, is in shambles with both the men and women's team going through a financial crises. The men's team has finally got its due(Rs. 1 crore) courtesy their sponsor Sahara but when it came to the women's team their case was brushed off by the concerned authorities with the excuse that there wasn't enough money for their achievements(winning the Champions Challenge-II and making the final of Asia Cup last year).

How long is it gonna take before the sports authorities and people in general understand that sports ain't just about cricket leave aside the issue of equal pay for both the genders. It took a revolt and a huge step taken by the women's team by opening up a self-help account to wake up the sleeping heads of the sports authorities.

People like the Madhya Pradesh chief minister Mr. Shivraj Singh Chouhan(respect for you Sir) should be applauded for showing an interest in helping them out by pledging a sum of 1 crore and by also taking the decision of bearing the team's future expenses. It's high time that other people with the sources take a cue from this and start looking beyond cricket.

If this is how the authorities are planning to function in the times to come then this is just the beginning of the end of the sporting culture in our country which is dying a slow and silent death in any case.