The ad in the newspaper caught Mr. Chatterjee's attention immediately.

The ad read: "Jump the queue! Watch Channel X and you could play for Australia or England or Pakistan in the forthcoming World Cup. Live your dream!"

Mr. Chatterjee pondered - he was 51; has already taken a VRS from his comfortable Government job, had a beleaguered, nagging wife and ran a PCO. His son was settled in US of A, married to a Jamaican girl.

His post-independence engineering days were filled with profound and hefty books and notes and tutorials. Then he got married to his dad's old friend's youngest daughter. And then, he got his job, to which he stuck on to till he retired. He lived his job-life signing yellow, papers carefully folded in files and visiting factories for inspection of materials and scraps.

And now, suddenly, thanks to BCCI, his dreary life looks to become colorful, forever.

Had BCCI not created IPL, there would not have been so many players choosing IPL (Read: Money) over World Cup. And then, Mr. Chatterjee would not have got this opportunity. He never would have.

As luck would have it, Mr. Chatterjee was chosen the lucky winner of the 3.6 million entries that had come - the channel said so. But an insider told me that there were only 6 entries ...psst! Such things are never expressed in public, so please refrain. The Channel also has to justify the lakhs of rupees that it had spent to promote this contest!)

The D-day arrived soon enough. The venue was sparsely filled - not many people like boring, long 50 over matches these days, you know. And especially, if it is World Cup. And who cares about Andrew Symonds and Ricky Ponting fight it out against another team? What is the fun? It is not like Symonds and Harbhajan being in the same Mumbai team...that is what you call "fun"!

Mr. Chatterjee's luck was not brilliant, actually. On the very day, his car engine went kaput. And he had to walk a kilometer to hail a taxi. In short, he got late.

Meanwhile, the Australian camp started panicking. They had exact 11 players, including Mr. Chatterjee. Symonds started saying a silent prayer to God. He murmured something in the lines of "......and I promise God, not to make false complaints to referees against opponent players. Only if you please send that Chatterjee bloke quickly to the venue....."

The sound in the stadium was anything but deafening. Come on guys. How many times do I have to remind you that it was ONLY a boring ODI? So what if it was the World Cup starter?

The boomers in the stadium started announcing... "Mr. Chatterjee, aap jahan pe ho, jaldi se Autsralian pavilion pe aa jayiye! Aaapki sakht zaroorat hain yehan par!"

Mr. Chatterjee fielded pretty well. He bowled an over and conceded a few runs. The crowds did not like him much. You never like a kanjoos bowler, do you? What is the fun if there are no boundaries and sixes? And Mr. Chatterjee spoilt the fun for them.

I heard some of the spectators were asking for a refund already. The TV spots rates were at an all time low. Some channels even offered free spots during the live telecast - who cares about ODI's anyway? The hoardings for the contest also were the ones with the least visibility - who wants to see them anyway? The radio spots were the ones that played between 2 and 6 in the morning. Who wants to hear them anyway?

And as for BCCI, the filmstars-turned-team-managers, the cola companies, the sports channels and many other beneficiaries of the IPL - let them rest in peace. The money will do them good. Their grand-children can use it to make arks - when the global warming phenomenon would have melted all the ice and they would be floating around the world. Fun??

By the way, who cares about the millions of Mr. Chatterjees who actually pay for these matches, their transfers and for the food bill, the laundry bills and many such bills of the BCCI honchos? You look surprised?

The link is very simple - BCCI gets money from the team managers, who in turn earn money from TV channels, who in turn money from the companies advertising during the matches, who in turn, earn that money, spent in advertising by selling the products to the zillions of Mr. Chattrjees. So guess who actually pays for these transfers and these cricket matches? Yes, YOU! And your neighbor. And his. And so on and so forth. And Mr. Chatterjee.

I do not know what happened in the match or for that matter what happened in the World Cup (..the same "who cares" line). But for Mr. Chatterjee, am sure his life was made. Last heard, he succumbed to a Harbhajan Singh bouncer and died on the spot.

Like they say, consumer is the king (no more)!