CSK lost or the last of CSK?

It was the finals of sixth Indian Premier League (IPL).   Chennai Super Kings (CSK) had yet again reached the finals. CSK has been one of the most successful teams of IPL. They have reached the finals 5 times out of 6 and won twice. CSK played well in 2013 IPL, but lost in the finals. Has CSK just lost the finals of IPL or has it lost a permanent place to play in the IPLs that are to be conducted in the forthcoming years?

IPL is the most recent treasured jewel in the cricketing world. With both Indian and International cricket players from all over the world benefiting from the madness of cricket that engulfs and holds the whole nation, it has ensured its success. As Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is the richest cricketing board in the world and also administer of IPL, not much could be spoken against it. Until IPL, cricket was usually played by teams from different countries. The full member cricketing teams are South Africa, England, Australia, Pakistan, India, Srilanka, West Indies, New Zealand, Bangladesh, and Zimbabwe. For the past several decades, every time a match was played one would devoutly support their own country. All this changed with IPL. The teams of IPL have regional affiliations. They belong to cities including Chennai, Delhi, Punjab, Kolkata, Mumbai, Rajasthan, Bangalore, Pune, Kochi, and Hyderabad. Also, the names of the team featured the cities they were from (example; Chennai Super Kings, Rajasthan Royals, Delhi Daredevils, Pune Warrior India and so on). Each of these teams bought both Indian and International cricket players through auctions. People of India, immediately embraced the teams from their own regions or regions closest to their place of origin. The fact that Indian players from these teams had different regional affiliations never mattered (for example, the Chennai Super Kings team captain MS Dohni was from Punjab). What mattered most was the name of the team.  The obsession for what I would call as the fans’ ‘home team’ has ensured its success. This obsession for fans ‘home team’ interestingly extends outside India. I had gone to watch the finals of IPL (CSK Vs. Mumbai Indians) in an Irish Pub run by an Indian in Zurich. There were few others present there to watch the finals. Among them was a South African. Like India, South Africans take cricket seriously. This South African was ardently supporting Mumbai Indians because he loved Mumbai and had been there six times. He did not support them because he liked certain players in that team. In fact, to make it more interesting, there were two South African players in CSK and none in MI. And precisely it is these fans’ madness that stretches across the cricketing world and the obsession for IPL that will take it to its doom. Such a huge popular venture has its own share of controversies of which CSK was very much a part of it.

IPL 2013 saw three players from Rajasthan Royals going behind bars along with several bookies having underworld connections. It is also said that there is international interests in the money laundering that is taking place in IPL. There were charges of money laundering and spot fixing on Meiyappan, controversially the team principal of CSK. Over the years, it has been continuously denied that Meiyappan held stakes in CSK, while reality suggested something else. Among the other things that suggested his involvement, he bought players on auction and spoke on behalf of the team. With the arrest of Meiyappan, CSK has totally isolated him from the team and we are led to believe that he is nothing but a common cricket enthusiast.  Until the day before finals, it was unsure if the finals would take place. Of course, there is so much money involved, why would ethics count? Or were the charges mere allegations?

With such controversies going on, rules have become stricter. Players are not allowed to carry their cell-phones into the dressing room. Each team has been assigned a person who would monitor their activities. With such strict rules and controversies, the future of IPL is uncertain. Even if IPL sustains itself, the future of CSK is at stake. On the other side, the blind madness of the masses that consist of a billion people and the political and wealthy power centers that has the capacity to tweak through the system will ensure its continuity. 

Though Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and 17 again belong to different genres, they explore similar concepts. They maintain that choices that we make in life are the best.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind revolves around the concept of erasing memories. After a series of fights Kate Winslet decides to erase Jim Carrey, her lover, from her memory. She hires Lacuna Inc. for this purpose. When Jim Carrey gets to know this, he decides to do the same. During the course of the procedure, he realizes that his relationship has been too beautiful to be erased from his memory. During the whole procedure he is subconscious and within his mind he fights to retain her memories. Nevertheless, he loses all the memories that are related to her. Both of them now have no memories of each other and one day they meet accidentally and are immediately attracted to each other. Similarly, the secretary of Lacuna Inc has a crush on the doctor of the company and later on finds out that she was in a relationship with him before she underwent the procedure to remove their relationship from her memory.

In 17 Again, a 37 year old guy is upset about a decision he took at the age of 17. At the age of 17 he is a successful basketball player and has a bright future with a scholarship to college. When he gets to know that his girlfriend is pregnant, he leaves his career and starts a family. Without a degree at the age of 37, he is devoid of opportunities in his office and blames his family for his ‘failure’ to do well in life. He wishes that he was 17 again to choose the other path and hurray! he is 17 again. The story goes on and at the end he realizes that the decision to choose his pregnant girlfriend over scholarship to college was the best he could have taken.

Both these stories talk about ‘regrets’ in life. In 17 again, the 37 year old guy blames his wife for an unsuccessful career and wants to go away from her. In Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, the ‘momentary’ burden of the relationship is so heavy on them that they want to erase their love relationship from their minds to lead a new life or in other words choose again. But in both movies they are unable to choose differently. 17 again is a light-hearted movie and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is a serious science fiction movie. The idea of ‘no choices in life’ is completely laughable in 17 again and makes you brush it aside but Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind makes an impact. However, the impact is absolutely short-lived, as the movie over-exploits its core concept of erasing memories and fails to meet my expectations.

A Nationalist Propaganda

The Smithsonian Institution claims that they are the world's largest museum and research complex. They include 19 museums and galleries and the National Zoological Park. Most Smithsonian museums and the National Zoo are free and open every day of the year except December 25. For want of time and space in this review I write about National Air and Space Museum and National Museum of the American Indian. These two museums, as I see it were explicit in their purpose of existence.

Let’s look at some of the major artifacts on display in the National Air and Space Museum. The Wright Flyer which was built by the Wright Brothers occupies a prominent place in the museum. This is the original aircraft and not just a re-construction. Skylab 4 Command Module, a crew cabin for going to and from Skylab, the first U.S. space station. A replica of the Voyager-200 engine from the Voyager aircraft could be found in the welcome centre. The commonality between the above mentioned artifacts and every other artifact on display in the Air and Space Museum was from the United States. Of course, no other country apart from United States has contributed to the development of this field.

The story is quite different when it comes to National Museum of the American Indian. The museum is housed in a beautiful building with an artificially created waterfalls and pleasing surroundings. The interiors of the museum are no less extravagant. The welcome area has some sample exhibits that gives you an idea of the objects used by Native Americans. The feeling of ‘exotic’ is certainly not lost. Since, I don’t seem to have pictures from my visit to substantiate my claims; I started looking at other sources. It becomes more amusing, when I looked at the conservation staff. None of them have a specialized degree in ‘Native American studies’ and in fact one of them have a minor in Art history, French, Chinese. It would be interesting to know, if any of them have a Native American origin. Marian Kaminintz is the Head of Conservation of the museum, she gave a talk titled ‘A conservator’s perspective’ and the introduction to the talk says, “The museum was established by an Act of Congress in 1989, the museum works in collaboration with the Native people of the Western Hemisphere to protect and foster their cultures by reaffirming traditions and beliefs, encouraging contemporary artistic expression, and empowering the American Indian voice”( http://www.r2.co.nz/20041209/). From the above statement, it is apparent that the feeling of ‘exotic’ is intended. Capitalization of ‘N’ in Native is not a random mistake of mine. America is of course considerate of the weak and believes in pushing them forward and recognising their independence.

Take away from these two museums - America is a superpower and has reached far places of the universe. Although they have achieved great heights, they are humble and are ever so considerate of the weak.