IT’S everyone onto their starting blocks today when the opening matches of the Indian Premier League are played in Cape Town.

With very few South Africans able to escape the all the glitz, glamour and razzmatazz for the next couple of weeks, no-one can ever claim that this country is dull.

No sir, for thrown in between all the cricket madness are the South African general elections, set for Wednesday, and then the Confederations Cup which follows in June.

Each of the above-mentioned events brings unique entertainment and reporters in newsrooms across the country will be at full stretch providing day-to-day coverage.

But for the moment it’s the IPL cricket that will hog the headlines, both in this country and abroad, especially in India.

The IPL was moved to South Africa after the Indian government made it known they would be unable to guarantee the safety of their own and foreign players because the event clashed with elections.

The fact that South Africa is also holding elections while the IPL is on should not be overlooked and is even more reason to feel confident that peace will prevail on our election day.

There are two ways of looking at the staging of the IPL and the Confederations Cup – depending on which side of the line one is.

For people who are employed and can afford to attend games it’s a time to look forward to, while for others – those forced to eke out a living or unable to make ends meet – it probably makes no difference at all. These big events can just as well be held on Mars.

If that’s the gloomy a picture, then let’s hope that the opportunity of watching the cricket and soccer unfold on our doorstep live on television will brighten up an otherwise dull day.

Somehow it’s almost obscene that the IPL, with all its money, pomp and celebrities, was founded in a country in which poverty is no stranger to many millions.

Yet daily life carries on just as in South Africa, where so many live beneath the bread line and so many have lost their jobs due to the slump in the world economy.

If anything, there’s a message for the young in all of this. They must embrace every opportunity that comes their way, whether at school, university, college or in the workplace.

Hard work and discipline never killed anybody, the old saying goes, and even in this modern world of ours where old and trusted values have close to disappeared, this saying still holds true.

It’s an unfair world at times but only if we let it remain one.