IPL v/s EPL and the ‘Goan’ Franchise

-by gasper crasto, Kuwait

“Which league do you watch?... Support?” asked a colleague from Delhi, “The Indian Premier League (IPL) or the English Premier League (EPL)?”

I said, “Comparing IPL cricket and the English Premier League football with it’s chanting, scarf-waving, ever-hopeful fans is akin to comparing oranges to apples. Both are entirely different in their own means - EPL happens whole year around on the weekends while IPL is just a six week affair. The money involved in the EPL is extremely humongous when compared to that in IPL...”

“But the recent buzz for IPL shows clearly the huge popularity that Indian Premier League is enjoying...”

“English Premier League already boasts of a huge number of Indian die-hard fans." I answered, "It would take a monumental effort for any franchise in Indian Premier League to create a similar group of die-hard supporters and fan base. Football as a game may not be as popular as cricket in India, but it is slowly gaining popularity…”

“Popularity? Among the new generation???.. ” He laughed sarcastically.

“With the increased globalization and increased number of Indians traveling abroad, the reach of English Premier League is going to be an upward graph. And with the Indians' inborn attraction of anything Western, it would seem 'cool' for many young people to follow and to proclaim to be a fan of Manchester United rather than Shah Rukh Khan’s Kolkotta Knightriders.”

“But..." he retorted, "with the extreme popularity that cricket enjoys in India, Indian Premier League is sure to remain as the most popular league, atleast for a few more years.”

“Well, for the dominant position to continue, the players and management have to provide unadulterated ‘fun’ for people watching it - on television and on the ground.”

“So you watch the game just for the ‘fun’ of it, hmm?.. like most others..? Ha.. ha.. Delhi Daredevils – that’s my team. You know, I was born in Delhi… By the way, aap ki kaunsi team hai?..”

“I’ve been supporting Mumbai Indians right from the beginning although I have no connections with the Mumbai world.”

“Mumbai Indians? Yaak!!! It’s not owned by any of your favorite heroines? Why Mumbai? You could atleast support Rajasthan Royals and be proud of Swapnil Asnodkar, your only 'Goanese' playing in the IPL..."

"Well, you may very well argue that when football teams like Churchill Brothers can have die-hard fanatical supporters appreciating the quality and standard of their game when they become Champions of Indian Football League even when they field non-Goan starting elevens (barring the foreigners), why not be loyal to a team having Tendulkar and Jayasurya – players who have given happiness to millions just by their presence? Anyway, I have decided to be a fan and supporter of our nearest neighbor till we have a team like ‘Susegad Goans’ with a franchise of it’s own...”

GOODBYE GOA.

GOODBYE GOA.
By Valmiki Faleiro.

Nothing in the universe is static. Everything is dynamic. Change is inevitable. That isMother Nature’s basic law. All manner of things – including humans – change or evolve,usually for the better, at times for the worse. I write this with a heavy heart, not with an objective mind. For two reasons: one major,the other incidental.

First the major. All good things, they say, must come to an end. The Goa we once knew – the land, people, music, food, culture, the East-West blended fabric – as most of us would know, is changing. For the worse. The Goa we knew is dying. Let’s delve into this sad the next few weeks. The “incidental” reason. This ‘Goodbye Goa’ series marks the end of *All-‘n’-Sundry.* Even if I have no idea of how good (or bad or indifferent) this Sunday column has been! There sure was reader feedback, albeit mostly from non-resident Goans who read via e-mail or internet mail lists.

I have written every Sunday for the last three and half years, without a break. Goa has many talented writers and I hope one of them will take over. The real reason I need to stop this weekly distraction, though, is to help me concentrate on some other serious writing work I always dreamt of doing. (I had started this column with some pieces on Margao; I shall end it with a few more on my hometown, at the end of this series.) * * * * *

For the fundamentally changing profile of Goa, everyone blames migrants. Rich migrants from India’s metros, and the bulk, poor migrants, in search of better economic prospects. From all over the country. From Punjab to the five North-Eastern sisters, from Kashmiris and Lamanis at every Goan beach to Malayalees and Tamils, with whom, incidentally,we have a historic link, dating back to the 16th century. Are migrants really to blame? They admittedly are the most visible manifestation of the metamorphosis that Goa is undergoing, but I do not subscribe to the view that migrantsare the only – or even the chief – cause. It lies elsewhere, as we shall see later in this series. Besides, Goa, down history, has been a land of migrants. It would be worth the while to begin here.

To review that interesting kaleidoscope of a story of how Goa got populated. From between 4,000 BC or 3,000 BC, upto 1961. I guess it’s more or less accepted that the so-called ‘Goan Identity’ is as it was on the dawn of December 19, 1961. Beginning the next Sunday, let us briefly run through the story of in-migrations to Goa. From the Proto-Australoid or Austro-Asiatic tribals from south and central India, to the Indo-Aryans from north or north-eastern India, to a sprinkling of our countrymen from across the Ghats, till the morn of self-rule. For sequence and chronology, I shall rely on Anant R. Sinai Dhume’s ‘The Cultural History of Goa’ (1986), now reprinted. But take it with a pinch of salt. Dhume himself, at Pg.64, added a caveat:

“Now, let me describe the tribes … possibly on a chronological scale, warning that the chronology is tentative up to the advent of the first wave of Aryans in Goa.” * * * * *

AN APPEAL: I appeal to you to exercise your franchise on April 23. Voting is a sacred right. Many around the world have been imprisoned, tortured and killed, fighting for that privilege. I know you may be disgusted with the local scene, but please keep the national perspective in mind. If deciding who to vote is difficult, remember it simply boils down to just one question:who would you like to steer India’s destiny over the next five years? People like Dr.Manmohan Singh, PC Chidambaram, etc., or people like Lal Krishna Advani, Narendra Modi, etc.? There, you have your candidate! In North Goa, you have one for the former(Congress/NCP), one for the latter (BJP). In South Goa, you’re luckier. You have one for the former, and a choice of two for the latter! * * * * *

SUPREME INFALLIBILITY: The Supreme Court of India is the flavour of the times in Goa. Mull over this maxim: “The Supreme Court is not supreme because it infallible; it is infallible because it is supreme.” (ENDS.) The Valmiki FALEIRO's Weekly column.