IPL Shocks Again: Ooops

Photo Courtesy by 'The Hindu'

Modi, Modi, Lalit for this one:
IPL auctions for new teams shocks the country again by garnering more than $600mn for Pune and Cochi alone in total. Just unable to comprehend the maths behind paying more than $330mn each for Ahmedabad and Cochi as any rationale I am trying to arrive at snubs by left bran thinking as some might call it.

As Harsha Bhogle said on TV sometime ago, to him it's like buying a stock for many a times its face value with an appreciation prospect of many times over. Hmm just hope in this case it was the work of those skilled with investment expertise and not a mere business gamble.

However what is intriguing the most is the means by which the two winners will fund everything from auction price to teams...especially considering that off late Sahara is not in the good books for its not so correct PR in the media. More interestingly, the Cochi owner Rendezvous Sports’ genesis is unknown to anyone. Even our all time favorite sniffer Google too failed miserably in giving us any information on this new entity.

However all it means to cricket aficionados is only one thing...IPL is going to get bigger and more fun (‘going to’ because from where the players will be sourced is yet unclear).

Hmm now I am going offline and will be back shortly to end this post.

March 23, 2010:

Just resumed writing this post as the headline in Business Standard today said 'Sahara Mulls IPO For New IPL Team'. WOW WOW WOW...looks like Indian businessmen have really come of age or at least are trying to be there where the Wall Street-goers blink. I mean ‘AN IPO!!!’

As this ongoing surge in confidence of Indian businessmen and their thinking looms large, the day is perhaps not far when Indians give developed countries a taste of their own medicine by redefining how businesses are run and thus clinching new deals which are unheard of :)

One Hell Of A Curious Case

Went to a DVD library to rent out a movie yesterday evening and ended up bringing 'The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button'. Now after having completed this two and half hour movie I must say it was one joy ride worth not missing. The entire story with every emotion of human life embraced in it makes up for ones cravings to watch a quality movie.

Everything in this movie right from script (adopted from a short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald) to dialogues to perfect delivery of scenes by actors of the likes of Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett have taken it to a class of its own altogether. One very interesting reason why most including me have watched this movie is because of its Oscar glory in 2009. Now after having watched two highest Oscar winners of 2009 'Slumdog Millionnaire' and 'The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button', I now believe that Slumdog was simply overrated vis-a-vis the latter. With due respect to the makers of Slumdog, one thing that takes the cake out of its way is the intricate decipherment of every aspect of ones birth till death that is otherwise shadowed in our subconscious alacrity.

From a rather deemed intellectual point of view some may argue that there is something to be learnt from everything. But either in an ignorant or a snobbish manner most tend to dismiss eternal statements many make and that is where this movie beautifully conveys the importance of Human Life in probably or perhaps one of the most spectacular ways possible. If not more there are at least few dozen instances and dialogues in the movie that uphold one or the other fabric of life and relationships which act like the source of constant inspiration and direction to tread the remaining life.

Few of my favourite dilogues from the movie are as follows;

Benjamin, we're meant to lose the people we love. How else would we know how important they are to us?
Life can only be understood backward. It must be lived forward.
Our lives are defined by opportunities, even the ones we miss.
For what it's worth: it's never too late or, in my case, too early to be whoever you want to be. There's no time limit, start whenever you want. You can change or stay the same, there are no rules to this thing. We can make the best or the worst of it. I hope you make the best of it. I hope you see things that startle you. I hope you feel things you never felt before. I hope you meet people who have a different point of view. I hope you live a life you're proud of, and if you find that you're not, I hope you have the strength to start all over again.