Indian Society and IPLGate

I heard one of the more interesting conversations about IPLGate on Cricinfo. Harsha Bhogle, Sanjay Manjrekar and Ayaz Memon made some extremely valuable points there. But the point that really stuck with me was made by Sanjay Manjrekar. He said "I wish for the benefit of India cricket that Indian cricket fans didn't love the game so unconditionally. I wish they were more demanding".

It was an absolutely awesome statement. Two of Indias finest nicities are they they are not very demanding and they are extremely forgiving. It almost comes to a point where some people have started exploiting these virtues. India finds itself in unprecedented times today. The growing economy, the wealth, the importance and the belief that the times ahead promise much more are something that hadn't happened anytime before. There is a tremendous sense of achievement and confidence. However, there are some attributes passed on from previous generations that haven't gone away.

My parents generation was the first one after India's independence. It was probably a time when most of the country had indulged itself (knowingly or unknowingly) in nation-building. Government had tons and tons of work to do. And thats why Government jobs were abundant. Having a Government job was the norm, in fact prestigous. It came with decent salaries and most importantly security. However, poverty and simple livelihood were pretty common. And since people didn't have too many resources at their disposal they were not very demanding. They didn't need everything to be perfect. They were happy to just enjoy whatever they had rather than worry about what they didn't. This in turn makes people more forgiving as well.

Compare this to an American or European society where people have been well to do for generations. They've almost got used to things being just perfect and therefore anything other than perfect draws a lot of ire. For e.g. Indian roads haven't been in the greatest of shapes for years (they've improved now). But that didn't make people pelt stones or burn effigies of the concerned officers. Compare this to an incident where an American freeway has some pothole. Police with immediately shutdown the freeway (or at least that lane) till the time it is made perfect.

But this will change. The India of today is rich, glamorous and is getting used to things being perfect. They can afford a better lifestyle and are getting used to it. I don't think newer generations of Indians would want to go to an ordinary cinema hall once they've been to a multiplex. And once this better lifestyle becomes the norm everywhere, it will mean that people strive to get the best of everything.

So if an IPLGate happens again in a few years, people will not be that forgiving. It will take a lot of effort to win their confidence back. But till then, let's just hope that controversies such as these are few and far between.

-Shri