Much is being publicized nowadays about Sachin Tendulkar's book.
In my opinion, cricket is one of the opiums of the masses in India ( the others being lives of film stars, reality shows, fashion parades, etc ).
The Roman Emperors used to say, if you cannot give the people bread, give them circuses. The French Queen Marie Antoinette put it slightly differently. In India it is, if you cannot give the people bread and employment give them cricket ( or the lives of Amitabh Bachchan, Kareena Kapoor, or other film stars ). Keep the people involved in cricket ( or film stars ) so that they forget their socio-economic plight.
What is important is not poverty, unemployment, malnutrition, lack of healthcare and good education, etc for the masses, what is important is whether India has beaten Bangladesh or New Zealand ( or better still, Pakistan ) in a cricket match, or whether a film star is having an affair.
Hari Om !
In my opinion, cricket is one of the opiums of the masses in India ( the others being lives of film stars, reality shows, fashion parades, etc ).
The Roman Emperors used to say, if you cannot give the people bread, give them circuses. The French Queen Marie Antoinette put it slightly differently. In India it is, if you cannot give the people bread and employment give them cricket ( or the lives of Amitabh Bachchan, Kareena Kapoor, or other film stars ). Keep the people involved in cricket ( or film stars ) so that they forget their socio-economic plight.
What is important is not poverty, unemployment, malnutrition, lack of healthcare and good education, etc for the masses, what is important is whether India has beaten Bangladesh or New Zealand ( or better still, Pakistan ) in a cricket match, or whether a film star is having an affair.
Hari Om !
