Why Quality of Life matters - A cricket analogy

In a recent interview, the belligerent opener Abhishek Sharma spoke about his equivalent belligerent partner Travis Head and the Australian attitude. Whereas he would always face scrutiny by his father after every performance as was the case with his other Indian colleagues in the IPL team who would always introspect and worry about match performances, he found the Aussie pretty relaxed and minding his own.

Mayhap it has to do with the country they come from. Australians playing in IPL have nothing to lose. Whereas the Indians playing in the same tourney have everything to lose. An Aussie may have a one or to bad seasons after which he may be dropped. So, what he does even if he is not playing an IPL or similar other tournaments? He goes back to Australia, plays local cricket, spends time in his farm or goes fishing in the seas, ends weekends with a visit to the pub guzzles down few pints if not gallons of beer, goes home and spends good time with his family, even if he is not wearing much. He doesn't have to but "Quality of Life" it is assured for him.

For a Tier-B or Tier-C Indian cricketer, one season of IPL is gold even if he goes for few lakhs only. A good season with 10 lakhs means it earns him 20 if not fifty lakhs in the next season. And that is serious money for a Tier B Tier C cricketer who has tries to play every tournament from a corporate, local, club and domestic to earn a respectable living which can help him earn a decent quality of life. In India earning money is very important, as "Quality of Life" has a very heavy price tag.

Self Loathing

Time and again the General caste find themselves in the firing line and are always cast upon with aspersions primarily in politico-socio discourse. None so more than the Tamil Brahmins of the South. They are time again blamed for their historical antecedents of alienating or being disrespectful to lower caste. But what has happened over the years. They have turned to Self-Loathing - I mean Hindus can go to such extent to Self-Loath themselves, alter their identify and their own culture to accommodate another culture or gaining equivalence in front of the other eyes. Can the same be expected from other religions?

There may be some bad apples in the community as it is true for all communities, but to paint one community as the perpetrator was truly a result of a targeted strategy. No wonder we have likes of Kamal Hassan turning into an atheist, Ramchandra Guha taking a left slant, likes of Mani Shankar Aiyar turning out into absolute abomination for the community. Not even a moment is spent in understanding that how one minority community which has population share in single digits can be sole responsible. 

Tamil Brahmins always found a favor with the ruling class be it pre-British during British rule or even after the colonial times, which many attribute to the mastery of scriptures and being close to the political-economic matters of the rulers. The founders of progressive movement in Madras state which openly derided Tamil Brahmins, where themselves found out of favor from the British in matters of state and had to assert themselves on a political plank more so with India's independence looking imminent. And hence started the vilification on whom them could pin all the blame supported by the caste-based domination and exploitation angle theory which had already become strong in the social ecosystem.