The Spell seems to be Working

Statutory Warning: This post has nothing to do with Superman. But hell, why don’t you understand, he interferes everywhere. 

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Sreesanth, the fast bowler, who once, was part of the Indian Cricket team, whose alleged relationship with bookies put him behind bars for weeks without trials, who hails from Kerala, the South of India, who is the tangible example for the North Indian bias towards anything and everything southern, got bail.

At last, the boy came back home and ate homemade pickles.

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In fact, cricket has lost its grounds based on this degraded controversy, at least, in my eyes. I do not watch cricket on TV any more. Moreover, I do not think I would be alone in this tryst. However, the masses, that I see watching the game in galleries, make me think about cultural addiction and social dementia. We forget that in the name of the game the managements and players played fraud. We forget better things in life, like helping socially backward communities and poor children; instead, we sip from the intoxicating charm of cricket. As a society, perhaps, this attitude is the root cause of the still remaining epidemic of poverty and malnutrition in India. Not ‘cricket’, but the attitude, the inclination to hold on to any form of addiction. This behavioural pattern reflects in individual level as well. Gudka, pan-parag, toddy, alcohol, ganja, charas, and opium, are only a few names in the long list of drugs, the ‘common man’ in India is addicted to. What about prostitution? What about self-pity?

Yes, all these moral and psychological diseases exist in varying degrees within the cultural genome of the nation. Did I forget corruption? No, in fact, I do not want to mention corruption as an isolated instance of addiction. The political community and bureaucracy seem to possess an unimaginable and indelible taste for corruption. The level of this addiction surpasses any sense of normalcy, and often bribes become part of the daily routines of government offices. If you want passport, the procedure requires your clearance certificate from any police cases. Take it an example; there are forms to fill in the police station, to declare you free of any charges. As a token of your appreciation of the services provided, at the end, you should pay a small amount of INR 200 or USD 3.44. For INR 200, you could buy two chicken biriyani or at the current price, one kilo chicken. The amount is not very small, but still, everyone pays it; and for that matter, this amount is not that big either, when passport is concerned. It ends up as a pure reversal of the ‘normal’.

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Corruption is not exactly the city centre, if we take that analogy; it is the city itself. If one looks for a pavement and parking lot for a convenient observation on the monument of corruption, one is making a mistake. The monument is visible, of course, but that is not exactly what you think it to be. You demolish the city centre. Someone else will build another, the very next day. Ending corruption has been the constant devoir, almost all the political parties and NGOs concurred upon. Great many times, they demolished the city centre. Corruption still exists in every office, school, college, university, and organization, in one form or another, though. No one looks at the bigger picture. Corruption is the city itself, and no isolated city centre. That was what I said; I would not say corruption is an isolated instance of addiction. Instead, corruption is the result of many other reasons, from poverty to self-pity. The city is connected with many roads. Many roads lead to the city of corruption.

Compared to rape, murder, or burglary, corruption is a graver crime, because it provides suitable environment for all other crimes. In New Delhi, a young girl student was raped and murdered in what could be called the epitome of brutality. The police could not prevent it, and neither could it save the girl. Child rapes became unstoppable, recently, and the authorities could not stop it either.

However, something was different lately. The masses grew extremely discontent on how the investigations went. The matters gathered even foreign attention. The emotional bondage of Indian culture with ethical Ram and moral Gandhi flared up and rose in violence on the streets. Consequentially, the police force of the capitol came under criticism. There is nothing odd or unusual in pointing the finger on the police. According to a newspaper report on April 29, 2013, Delhi Police Commissioner, Mr. Neeraj Kumar was on the verge of losing his job, due to this unrestrained criminal orgy, and the people’s demonstrations against incapable policing.

 

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Instead of cleaning the city of corruption, the Delhi police, quite quickly found another option; demolish some minor buildings. They implemented their plan to save themselves by taping calls and sneaking into some of the cricketers’ life. Not even religion attracts this many number of people as the game of cricket does, in this nation. Therefore, the investigation was supposed to get some serious attention from the public and to redeem the police department from accusations of corruption and inefficiency.

Everything worked according to plan, and the police arrested the players under charges of spot fixing. It all went a very professional manner. Delhi police arrested three players from one of the IPL teams, including an international player.

S. Sreesanth was the hot shot among the others, the cricketer with international reputation and a potential game turner in the upcoming cricket world cup. Just after the arrests, Delhi police, under Neeraj Kumar, participated in a reality show that, in spite of the lack of any credible evidences, raised the hairs on the neck and arm, and everyone felt gooseflesh.

Considering the efficiency in the working of the system in covering up corruption, Keralites never expected Sreesanth back at home. Nevertheless, it seems the “Akram, Bakram, gili…gili…” spell, I casted in the previous post, worked quite efficiently. Anyway, I think that’s enough.

Note:

The newspaper referred in this article is available on this link: http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/delhi-police-commissioner-neeraj-kumar-to-go-this-week-as-capital-seethes-over-attacks-on-children-s-360569

It’s strange, though, how none of the national media reflected upon this possibility, during the spot fixing scandal.