These days I find myself reaching for the Mute button on the TV remote - to get the sound back - every time the IPL ads come up. Don't get me wrong. I think it is a sin to waste so much water for these matches when the whole state of Maharashtra is going through a major water scarcity. But the ads have been bang on the spot in capturing the mood - cricket matches are celebrated like a festival in India and God knows we need it, what with so much of negative news floating about not only in the country but worldwide.

One ad shows a woman cabbie who discovers, to her horror, that her passengers are a group of rowdy-looking men who are returning home from an IPL cricket match. They set her alarm bells ringing when one of them suggests she take a lonely dark street as it is a short-cut. The woman's unease shows up on her face and the man on the front seat picks up on it. He immediately admonishes his friend asking for a longer route instead so they can discuss the match for a longer time. The rest of them catch on and agree. The cabbie smiles and the car moves on the well-lit road. Another ad is of an old age home where a senior citizen is watching a match alone. One of the caregivers who is finalizing to watch the match with his friend notices that and joins the old man in watching the match instead. His expression on seeing the senior citizen enjoying the match is priceless. And one more ad is of a man who makes sure that a boy from a poor family is able to enjoy the match that is being telecast live on a big TV in the street.

Ah, we Indians have always been falling for emotional drama. I hate it most of the time, except when I love it :-)