मन सुख-दु:खाच्या पलीकडे


आम्ही रडायचं सोडलय

अदृश्य अश्रु हे सगळे

आम्ही पुसायचं सोडलय

IPL to pay entertainment tax in Maharshtra

The Maharashtra Government has decided to levy entertainment tax on the organisers of the Indian Premier League. The decision was taken at a cabinet meeting on Wednesday

IPL Chairman Lalit Modi reacted swiftly saying he has no objections. "We will pay entertainment tax if we have to," he said.

In the first season, no state other than Maharashtra had exempted IPL from paying entertainment tax (meaning that most of teh states have already collected their entertainment tax from IPL). Interestingly, IPL had not demanded any such exemption.(Agreeing that IPL is a form of entertainment)

Now the question is if IPL is entertainment, is this form of entertainment like other forms like movies, theatre, etc. scripted too?

One of the persons mentioned in the I-T report is Samir Thukral, who, according to the report, "has an opulent lifestyle despite having no apparent source of income" and "carries out the betting on behalf of Lalit Modi where insider information as well as outcome fixing are hinted at". Some seniors have allegedly been influencing juniors, often from their own regions, to fix matches. Probably for the first time in cricketing history, senior and junior cricketers playing in rival teams jointly fixed the outcome of matches, the official said. A clear pattern has supposedly emerged where a particular bowler has bowled easy deliveries and dropped catches, while his 'partner in crime' went on a scoring spree.
Now thats some news from Mid Day and NDTV...

It is just that we donot want to accept our Gods to be involved in this dirty pit, our perceptions will remain positive for them. Else, why was Mumbai selected for the semis and Finals inspite of so many terrorist activities over Bangalore. Why wasnt a neutral venue like Dharmasthala chosen if Bangalore was unsafe? How come K. Pollard dint bat above Harbhajan? Was the dropped catch of Raina so difficult that too twice? Above all, can someone explain me, how is that Doordarshan not hosting this national event?

Think...

I watch for entertainment

It is the last ball of the innings and the Chennai Super kings needed one run from one ball, the entire nation is on the edge of their seat! My neighbour, Seeta aunty has totaly fogotten about the milk pot that has been placed on the burning stove... Raju has agreed to sideline his studies for upcoming exams (apparently tommorow) to "catch the action live" on Set Max... Runs in Irfan Pathan and ... there is a wicket! No wait! There are three wickets! One - The boiling milk has decided to celebrate the wicket and has "jumped" out of the bowl, Two - Seeta aunty has been run out as she was unsucessful to save the milk, and Three - Raju...well he has been clean bowled as he has not prepared for the exams tommorow!

"Arey Dikara! Yeh toh unki galti hain, they should know what to prioritize!" - Parsi Bawa. (I remember him once carrying a large placcard into Brabourne stadium that read - "If Cricket is religion, Sachin is God") Today he delivers Gyan on how without Tendulkar this country would loose identity (he till date donot have any clue of what was the Simla Pact or even what are the two capitals of Maharashtra!)

How many of us watch cricket? Well, according to statistics (just made up) around 68.35% of the total population in India (who are able to think) know what cricket is and the rules of the game. After studing a bit of human pschyology, all I understood is, we as living beings are very attracted to things where we can do better and often our hidden desires are manifested in the social behaviour. Both are applicable to cricket :P Hmmmm, quiet a theory! But if you ask me, I watch cricket for entertainment. For me cricket or any sport is a source of entertainment. Just like few people who are addicted to Kyunki Saas bhi.. or Balika Vadhu or even the stupidest Alif Laila, some are addicted to sports like cricket, football, tennis, etc.

Getting back according to the theory Theodre Levitt, hopefully you would know him, (principle of Marketing Myopia (refer Harvard Business Review: Levitt, T. (1960). "Marketing Myopia") The principle activity of sports or TV serials is largely to entertain. So technically speaking there is no difference between Rakhi Sawants Syayumwar or India playing against Pakistan. "Abey Shaney! National pride ka sawal hain!" - Koney ki Dukaan wala Peter. National Pride? WTF! (Lady readers, please excuse my language here) Where is National pride when India lost to Pakistan in Hockey a few weeks back? Or where is National pride when Kasab is given the utmost security (more than the PM himself). And BTW, Peter has already applied for Dubai Jobs through one of the Kerala agencies offices. So certainly, it is a lame excuse. And if it were really a National pride issue taken so seriously, we would have atleast managed to grab more worldcups.

Agree, cricket is a great entertainer. But be fair, let the status for cricket be cricket. Donot make it bigger than it ideally should be. For players, cricket is a profession. They are being paid for what they do. They cannot be greater than any other person who works in a late night call centre even when he / she is not well gaining the confidence of his overseas counterparts to get more businesses here. Players are humans, not Gods. Or why would Mhd. Azharuddin be banned for his humanely unethical behaviour, or Tendulkar be banned for ball tampering. I would not be suprised, if someday, I see Sehwag selling Parachute Narial Tel to women, or Tendulkar endorsing Whisper! This is why they principally play to make money via entertainment of crowds. Watch cricket for entertainment. If you feel that it signifies National Pride, then I am not sure how the super abuses used on feild (captured on the camers) helps us build it, or our diresome losses in world cups glorifies it.

I am waiting for a day, when Kasab will be auctioned in the IPL auction. I am waiting for a day, when cricketing will be considered a religion in the constitution of India, I am waiting for a day when Tendulkar will get a sainthood, for a day when Hockey is banned in India. Because if Cricket is Entertainment, Tendulkar is Rakhi Sawant! - Poora Paisa Wasool!

Planning a Social Media Strategy?

Define Strategy! A coarse voice I heard from the podium and I was awakened by one of my neighbours, unlike me, trying to stay awake in the seminar. I turned around just to see if anyone was awake. To my surprise, I could see more than 25 hands representing the wisdom of their owners that was just about to flow out of the well maintained brains safely kept below the roofs of airconditioned classrooms. I felt ashamed at this. "What are you doing Mr. Dengle? Why the hell arent you ready with the answer" I questioned myself. 22 years of my life had given me ample opportunities to sit back and ponder on this question, but everytime I got this opportunity, I was faced with more severely distratcting questions like "When will they catch Osama Bin Laden", "Do UFOs really exist?" and "What will be there for my dinner tonight? I dont want to eat the bhindi my sister got yesterday". And everytime, I decided to work on the later questions.

All my life has been like a small work of a great artist who was never noticed by the world. Atleast, that is what I felt. And I had all the reasons to beleive in this. I mean, even before someone spoke about "social media marketing" I was segmenting my markets on the Orkut and was making full efforts to add them to my friends lists. I had my own targets - preferably from Mumbai, single, small hair, with a good smile, etc. etc {;)}I was using Orkut already to market my bachlerhood and acquire new talent! My positioning was simple - A guy with easy going attitude and loads of friends... And today they write about Social Media. There are books that are becoming "best sellers" in this category... Today Tweeter is enjoying the benefits, FAcebook is already a world leader, why dint Orkut notice my presence and efforts on their own site? They just made a product and left it in the market to die.. Shabby business!!! Another set of questions that pulled me out of the Strategic question raised by the old man with hair growing out of his ears which prevented him to hearing the yawns of most of my classmates, making his life easier amongst us. But I was determined to answer this. just then she stood up to answer the question... Strategy is the road map of the desired goals of the organization which can be measured on specific set of objectives and milestones.... She looks pretty today.. she looks prettier with every passing day... what is she doing in this classroom dominated by inflated brains ready to explode... ..... The face placed between the hairy ears spoke - Right miss pink shirt, but give me the technical words.... She looked around for help, I just ducked the same way Ponting did against Curtly Ambrose in his early days of cricket.... probably 1996... Ah, I remember, he played every shot was super style.... "Get back Mr. Dengle, get back... you need to answer this....." the voice inside me was taking over me... meanwhile there should have been atleast 3-4 more brains and hands that were disappointed by the hairy eared mamoth... and then cam the moment of judgement... the monster turned at me and said, "let us have your opinion "Mr. never awake" I stood up, as surprised as Sushmita Sen when she won the Miss Universe titile.. ahhhh, how gorgeous she looked, but then why did she had to adopt a kid and not marry.... I mean.... arrgghhhh.... The whole stadium was looking at me.. It was my chance of being a hero... I looked around, all those exploded brains had already made up their minds the way they would laugh at me... I knew, I would loose the entire battle if I dint hit a six like Chetan Sharma....... No no no Focus focus... what is the question? Strategy... is (what I did on Orkut) Segmentation.. Target ... Postioning...and couple it with the 4Ps... and there was a complete silence in the entire room.. the mamoth had fallen, the Golliath finnaly faced his David... He said, you are right.... sit down. I looked at her... she smiled back.... Man, she looked like Preity Zinta in Soldier.... the same movie where I dint tickets and had to buy in black... whuy dont they regulate......