Falling icons

Presently, there is a lot of hullabaloo being made in Indian Press about the corrupt and fallen icons of Indian cricket.

Basically the human being -- whether Indian, Australian, South African, Pakistani or English -- is kept "in line" by the fear of being caught doing something illegal and the subsequent punishment he must face if and when he is caught. That is why the 11th Commandment "Thou shalt not be caught" has become so popular.

When he sees that everyone around him is making money and getting away with it, he feels that he is the one who is odd man out to be behaving in lawful ways.

When fodder-scam team members are enjoying 5-star holidays in prisons, he feels that something must be wrong with the morals inculcated in him by his parents and teachers. And then he thinks..."Should I continue to be dumb like this"?

And when a bookie approaches him, he thinks "Mr. X and Mr. Y have been doing this for many years, have amassed millions and scores and have been getting away with it, so why not me?

Then instead of turning himself from the bad ways, he probably approaches Mr. X and Mr. Y for the "know-how" which they offer for a "fee" and bingo! He also goes into the multi-millionaire bracket!

Only a grass-roots cultural revolution (not the Mao type, but probably what our Jayprakash Narayan had in mind in the mid- 1970's) can change this. As things stand, icons will fall so regularly that, God forbid, ten years from now people will take it in stride.

K.B. KALE

Pune, India