Any loss of life is tragic. But life lost in celebration is sickening. 11 people killed in a stampede during what was an unnecessary event in the first place. It makes you wonder if a sports league is worth this much trouble. It was not as if we had won the soccer world cup. IPL is held every year. It goes on for a painfully long time in peak summer, enough to drain some excitement out of the most fanatical. Despite the franchises being tied to cities, the teams are not regional and players keep moving around. Hence the rivalries are not cut throat. Why would people emotionally invest themselves so much in the outcome of the tournament? There are many explanations possible – we are a hero worshiping society, there is herd mentality, but the biggest reason is FOMO created by a self perpetuating hype.

It has now been revealed that over 800,000 people gathered for the victory celebrations. That is a mind mindbogglingly large number for any city, on any day. Leave aside the prospect of getting trampled under, why would such a large number of people gather on a working day, in inconvenient surroundings, to catch a distant glimpse of players they have been watching almost every other day for the last 2 months? It is just FOMO. There is no rational explanation for it. FOMO is what makes people queue up from midnight to grab an expensive Iphone. FOMO is what makes people incessantly record live performances instead of enjoying them. FOMO is what makes people fall from cliffs while taking selfies. The negative impacts of FOMO need to be studied in detail by sociologists.