By the time you read this, the Cricket Club of India (CCI) will be into its second day of elections. The run-up has been fractious, even by current club election standards, which have hit high-decibel levels since the past few years. In fact, new lows have been reached in almost all clubs of late
By the time you read this, the Cricket Club of India (CCI) will be into its second day of elections. The run-up has been fractious, even by current club election standards, which have hit high-decibel levels since the past few years. In fact, new lows have been reached in almost all clubs of late.
Poisonous leaked emails, bitter contests, pre-election parties at five-star venues are de rigueur. In one instance, cops needed to be summoned to control the acrimony on Election Day. Your friendly neighbourhood club or snooty club-hub, memberships in which put you right up there in the snob stakes, have turned into unrecognisable battlefields.
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It is time for clubs across the city to resolve their problems by making contentious members sit across the table. In many cases, it is ego rather than issues that cause friction.
It is naïve to believe that things functioned smoothly in clubs, earlier — there were internecine rifts then too. Today, though, thanks to social media and a more aggressive press, these are played out in turbo-charged accounts in front of the public eye. Today, the stakes are higher too. There are pricey contracts to be awarded, halls to be booked for functions, high-profile events to be hosted at clubs, people hankering for memberships to be turned down.
Perhaps the innocence is lost as club elections now mirror the intensities of state and civic elections. Let these institutions at least retain the sporting spirit and social aims they have in their charter.
Fight elections in the right spirit — don't get unbelievably dirty to win by 'hook or crook'. Play fair, and, once you win, bring unity into the team. Most clubs in the city have a "gentlemen's ethos" in their charter. Let that 'gentlemanliness' prevail through the election processes and the governance tenures. Game on, Mumbai clubs.
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