Indian Premier League – Karmic Cricket
The Indian Premier League is all about a lot of money: record prices paid by legendary players, with England’s Kevin Pietersen and all-rounder Andrew Flintoff, they broke the bank with $ 1.5 million each, the sale of media rights exceeded $ 1.5 billion and the individual coffers of Bollywood and major Indian industrial heavyweights literally overflowing with rupees and now rands.
What is really exciting, however, is the good karma that flows from the IPL and its organizers, a karma that is arguably only equaled in a few points by the enormous generosity of the English Premier League, the English football giant.
Karma – Yesterday’s actions predict future events.
The true essence of karma is simply that yesterday’s actions predict the events of the future and with the Indian Premier League’s commitment to improving the lives of thousands of people around the world through the proceeds of the massively popular Twenty20 carnival; they have every right to anticipate even greater follow-up and the consequent earnings.
South Africa, as the current host country, has been the main beneficiary of the IPL’s inordinate munificence with reports of billions of rand being pumped into the nation’s coffers.
Apart from the obvious investment in the tourism sector through international flights, accommodation and transportation during the cricket parade; the organizers have redefined the act of giving by literally handing out the promise of loot to underprivileged viewers of the game.
Through the IPL initiative, HEAT – Help, Educate and Teach – five cricket fans who attend the school are selected from the legions of IPL fans at each and every game and receive R15,000 for their education; Talk about instant gratification!
Big heart hand set
This big-hearted sleight of hand is only a small portion of IPL’s anti-poverty promise, yet they have dedicated R10 million in scholarship funds to struggling South African schools!
Each host city is also allocated 1000 free tickets for children from conflict environments; what a wonderful way to get the youngsters involved in sports.
The IPL, like the English Premier League, is clearly one of the sport’s biggest success stories and both are worth your time in the sun.
EPL’s ‘Magic Bus’ Initiative
The EPL has a number of fantastic initiatives, including the ‘Magic Bus’, where cash is raised to help the street children of India by promoting personal and social education through sports and adventures to the fresh air.
The recent announcement that the Premier League will expand its ‘good cause initiative’ is good news, indeed, as the global economic collapse effectively adds to the increasing burden on NGOs; there are going to be many more hungry mouths to feed in the coming years and athletes are clearly doing their bit. We wish you the best karma for many years to come!
