It is with incredulity that I've followed the newspapers from back home in the last few days, my increasing disbelief safely attributable to the charges of 'racist' that some idiotic cricket 'fans' have managed to tag themselves with.
I wonder which genius tried to spin the idea that the hooting and mimicry that went around the grounds had anything to do with misunderstood celebrations. If those sounds and actions are in a local language, then every evolutionist and linguist worth his\her salt needs to hotfoot it to India. Apparently, quite a few chaps in the country haven't bothered to make it onto the evolutionary ladder at all, forget qualifying for one of the numerous ancestral classifications, and getting these specimens under the microscope would be scientifically invaluable.
I suppose it's hard to get one's head around the idea that Indians, who are not the 'fairest of them all' by any stretch of the imagination, can be racist. People are, of course. And it didn't need the pictures and the media frenzy to bring it out. Every culture has words and expressions to describe another, and usually in a nonchalantly degrading way. It's part of the lexicon. Not everyone may choose to use those words, for the sake of principles or political correctness.
But in a country famous for its diversity, it becomes even easier to make distinctions. And Indians have been doing it for ages among themselves. Now, when the cricket team is being clinically taken apart by a superior team, these attitudes boil over onto the international stage. It helped that the Aussie who was playing a major role in the demolition job was non-white. All the better for the local morons to prominently display their lack of any cranial matter. It would be interesting to see how many of these reprobates would repeat their actions in front of Symonds, without the protection of group anonymity and the fences on the boundary. If there was anything left of their remains for positive identification, they could count themselves lucky.
Those harping on about our glorious culture and ancient traditions barely have a leg to stand on, in this case. If this is the end result of a 1000 years of culture, I fancy that the train got derailed somewhere along the way. Our newest captain or any one of the stars the team is chock-full of would have earned themselves some serious brownie points had they appealed to the public to at least make a pretence of intelligence. All quiet on the Eastern front, this time.
No doubt, Indian cricket related personalities have faced different shades of racism all over the world. For example - Harsha Bhogle at Lord's and the BCCI President at the Champion's trophy ceremony. And the public is aware of it. How can it not be, when the media whips up the appropriate amount of frenzy ? But, were the latest incidents necessary ? Where was the media indignation now ?
Granted, the whole world engages in racism, but what misplaced sense of competition led these alleged aficionados of the game to think that they needed to be crowned champions in this area ?
An eighty six day tour of Australia approaches, with a number of local fans already swearing holy vengeance. Never mind that Australia is pretty infamous for being racist itself. Got to give something to national pride, no ? After all, India doesn't own the patents to that emotion.
It's going to be an interesting tour, that much is certain.
Uttering idle words from a reprobate mind,
Clinging to strange promises, dying on the vine,
Never bein' able to separate the good from the bad,
Ooh, I can't stand it, I can't stand it,
It's makin' me feel so sad.
The glamour and the bright lights and the politics of sin,
The ghetto that you build for me is the one you end up in,
The race of the engine that overrules your heart,
Ooh, I can't stand it, I can't stand it,
Pretending that you're so smart.
Dead man, dead man,
When will you arise?
Cobwebs in your mind,
Dust upon your eyes.
- Bob Dylan
I wonder which genius tried to spin the idea that the hooting and mimicry that went around the grounds had anything to do with misunderstood celebrations. If those sounds and actions are in a local language, then every evolutionist and linguist worth his\her salt needs to hotfoot it to India. Apparently, quite a few chaps in the country haven't bothered to make it onto the evolutionary ladder at all, forget qualifying for one of the numerous ancestral classifications, and getting these specimens under the microscope would be scientifically invaluable.
I suppose it's hard to get one's head around the idea that Indians, who are not the 'fairest of them all' by any stretch of the imagination, can be racist. People are, of course. And it didn't need the pictures and the media frenzy to bring it out. Every culture has words and expressions to describe another, and usually in a nonchalantly degrading way. It's part of the lexicon. Not everyone may choose to use those words, for the sake of principles or political correctness.
But in a country famous for its diversity, it becomes even easier to make distinctions. And Indians have been doing it for ages among themselves. Now, when the cricket team is being clinically taken apart by a superior team, these attitudes boil over onto the international stage. It helped that the Aussie who was playing a major role in the demolition job was non-white. All the better for the local morons to prominently display their lack of any cranial matter. It would be interesting to see how many of these reprobates would repeat their actions in front of Symonds, without the protection of group anonymity and the fences on the boundary. If there was anything left of their remains for positive identification, they could count themselves lucky.
Those harping on about our glorious culture and ancient traditions barely have a leg to stand on, in this case. If this is the end result of a 1000 years of culture, I fancy that the train got derailed somewhere along the way. Our newest captain or any one of the stars the team is chock-full of would have earned themselves some serious brownie points had they appealed to the public to at least make a pretence of intelligence. All quiet on the Eastern front, this time.
No doubt, Indian cricket related personalities have faced different shades of racism all over the world. For example - Harsha Bhogle at Lord's and the BCCI President at the Champion's trophy ceremony. And the public is aware of it. How can it not be, when the media whips up the appropriate amount of frenzy ? But, were the latest incidents necessary ? Where was the media indignation now ?
Granted, the whole world engages in racism, but what misplaced sense of competition led these alleged aficionados of the game to think that they needed to be crowned champions in this area ?
An eighty six day tour of Australia approaches, with a number of local fans already swearing holy vengeance. Never mind that Australia is pretty infamous for being racist itself. Got to give something to national pride, no ? After all, India doesn't own the patents to that emotion.
It's going to be an interesting tour, that much is certain.
Uttering idle words from a reprobate mind,
Clinging to strange promises, dying on the vine,
Never bein' able to separate the good from the bad,
Ooh, I can't stand it, I can't stand it,
It's makin' me feel so sad.
The glamour and the bright lights and the politics of sin,
The ghetto that you build for me is the one you end up in,
The race of the engine that overrules your heart,
Ooh, I can't stand it, I can't stand it,
Pretending that you're so smart.
Dead man, dead man,
When will you arise?
Cobwebs in your mind,
Dust upon your eyes.
- Bob Dylan
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Bob Dylan