BENGALURU: For the longest time, summers were about vacations. About mangoes and blockbuster
movies, and lazy afternoons spent sleeping or reading a book. You visited your grandparents in your native village and made your peace with the searing heat.
But all of that changed over a decade ago. The Indian Premier League made its way into our lives in 2008 in an innocuous manner. India had won the maiden T20 World Cup, and it was decided to launch a league where teams from different cities would compete against each other. Some purists complained about the format being dangerous, but like most humans in history, we didn’t bother listening to our elders. Just a bunch of cricketers playing – what could go wrong?
And then, you began to notice slight changes. Your favourite TV shows were hurriedly brought to an end. Lead characters were killed off in puerile accidents, and plot lines that had been trudging along for decades were brought to a grinding halt. The next to suffer were movies. Summers brought with them the biggest movies, targeting children who had completed their annual exams. Gradually, summer films began to dry up. Except for the Hollywood summer blockbuster, there are hardly any films that release during these two months.
After television and films, IPL then turned its evil head towards newspapers. Open any newspaper in the months of April and May, and you’ll be bombarded with advertisements of cricketers peddling everything – from pencils to houses. Advertising as an industry gets hijacked too. The advertisements do not even bother being smart or creative, all seemingly written by drunk copywriters working overtime without pay. The advertisements are forcibly linked to cricket, even if the product is light years away from the cricket pitch.
If it’s an ad for a shampoo – the line will say, ‘Wickets will come and go, but once dandruff comes, it will never go’. Use Permaclean Shampoo and Conditioner. If it is an advertisement for cement, it will say, ‘Build partnerships on the ground, and build houses outside the ground’. I guess all work and no pay has made copywriter a dull boy! Step outside your house, and you are met with cricketers hawking other goods and services. Newspaper pamphlets are about cricket matches. Hotels and pubs are renovated with flags of the various teams.
In such dreary times, I fell back upon my old summer friends – buttermilk and cool drinks. Sadly, even they haven’t been spared from the all-conquering IPL. I found cricketers on my buttermilk packet too! IPL has taken over the country, and it doesn’t look like its iron grip is going to loosen anytime soon.
If you are not a particularly big fan of the IPL, the frenzy could make you feel claustrophobic. Here I’ll have to admit I’m a fan of cricket, but the IPL doesn’t make me lose any sleep. I like cricket, but I love my summers even more.
I checked the schedule for this year’s IPL and found that it will run for another month. As an honest, law-abiding, tax-paying citizen, I would like to use this platform to express my minor displeasure in the wanton hijacking of my summers by the Indian Premier League. I am not a violent person, so I will not take to the streets and stop trains. I will take the constitutional route. I plan to file a PIL against IPL.
The author is a comedian and a writer