Kathakali Chatterjee wrote this article.
The recent race feud between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, and Bill Clinton basically calling Obama a "boy", and the previous Senator Macaca mess -- all reminded me of the Indian cricketer being accused for racism as he called names while playing a test cricket series in Australia last month.
The Indian bowler Harbhajan Singh was accused of calling Andrew Symonds "a monkey" in the Sydney test cricket in Australia and was subsequently banned for next three matches. Here is Symonds in play:
The recent race feud between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, and Bill Clinton basically calling Obama a "boy", and the previous Senator Macaca mess -- all reminded me of the Indian cricketer being accused for racism as he called names while playing a test cricket series in Australia last month.
The Indian bowler Harbhajan Singh was accused of calling Andrew Symonds "a monkey" in the Sydney test cricket in Australia and was subsequently banned for next three matches. Here is Symonds in play:
An Indian cricketer calling names of the host is supposed to be the
eighth wonder of the world. Or, I think this is a time for brutal
directness - calling a spade a spade.
South Asians have a strong concept of politeness which sometimes
borders the impression of being meek, so when the Australians faced the
same "sledging" in the field what they thought as their only birthright
- the incident seemed to upset them a lot.
I am not sure whether Harbhajan Called Symonds "a monkey" or not but one thing is for sure Harbhajan never took Aussies' vicious "gamesmanship" with a good humor - he publicly called then "vulgar" and refused the Aussie-abuses go unanswered. Definitely that didn't make the Aussies very happy.
Once the famous Australian wicket keeper Rod Marsh greeted the British batsman Ian Botham in the field saying - "so, how is your wife and my kids?" It was taken for granted as a part of the game. Actually it was taken for granted as a part of the game for the Aussies. It was "gamesmanship" when they did it and it was "racism" when others repeated it.
Now, the fun was to enjoy the pleasure of winning the next test match against the best and most arrogant side in the world in their own backyard. Yes, Team India won the next test match in Perth. India won the match by displaying sheer cricket - sense, not by only being "tough." Ok, they were tough but they didn't have to hit below the belt to win - they just gave their best. Well, nice guys do win.
Now the question is, can nice guys be "famous" without being mean? I can only hope so. This incident took place during a county championship match between Glamorgan and Somerset in England. Glamorgan bowler Greg Thomas had beaten the bat a couple of times and informed Viv Richards: "the ball is red, round and weighs about five ounces, in case you were wondering."
The very next ball was given the King Viv treatment and smashed out of the ground, into a river - at which point Richards piped up: "Greg, you know what it looks like. Now go find it." Now that I call giving one's best. With all these, I wish Obama a great luck in coming weeks!
I am not sure whether Harbhajan Called Symonds "a monkey" or not but one thing is for sure Harbhajan never took Aussies' vicious "gamesmanship" with a good humor - he publicly called then "vulgar" and refused the Aussie-abuses go unanswered. Definitely that didn't make the Aussies very happy.
Once the famous Australian wicket keeper Rod Marsh greeted the British batsman Ian Botham in the field saying - "so, how is your wife and my kids?" It was taken for granted as a part of the game. Actually it was taken for granted as a part of the game for the Aussies. It was "gamesmanship" when they did it and it was "racism" when others repeated it.
Now, the fun was to enjoy the pleasure of winning the next test match against the best and most arrogant side in the world in their own backyard. Yes, Team India won the next test match in Perth. India won the match by displaying sheer cricket - sense, not by only being "tough." Ok, they were tough but they didn't have to hit below the belt to win - they just gave their best. Well, nice guys do win.
Now the question is, can nice guys be "famous" without being mean? I can only hope so. This incident took place during a county championship match between Glamorgan and Somerset in England. Glamorgan bowler Greg Thomas had beaten the bat a couple of times and informed Viv Richards: "the ball is red, round and weighs about five ounces, in case you were wondering."
The very next ball was given the King Viv treatment and smashed out of the ground, into a river - at which point Richards piped up: "Greg, you know what it looks like. Now go find it." Now that I call giving one's best. With all these, I wish Obama a great luck in coming weeks!
This is an important article, Katha, and it's good to see you back to being able to write for us again!
The Reuters YouTube report is revealing in that October Symonds was mocked with the "monkey" chant by an Indian crowd. Is that "sledging" or something beyond the pale?
It is incredible to me how, in order to defeat your opponent today, you must "demean" them first with belittling remarks or by animal association. I'm not sure what the point of that is -- to throw them off their game? To pre-defeat them with labels? To curry hatred?
NOTE:
Katha is currently traveling in India -- but please leave a comment for her -- she will reply to you as soon as she is able.
Of course it would have to come from Adelaide! I have to be a little amused at David's remark about "currying hatred" - pun intended?
I think in sports communication between teams should not be allowed. The game is about playing the game, not belittling somebody's mother.
Gordon --
Don't assign insults where none were intended!
"Curry hatred" is a common, colloquial, phrase and is employed in many contexts:
http://www.google.com/search?q=%22curry+hatred
I just thought it a funny coincidence because we were talking about Indian cricket and curry is, I think, what just about everyone thinks about when one thinks of a quintessential Indian meal. Quintessential Indian sport match with a delicious yet sometimes powerfully spicy meal. :)
Gordon --
Yes, you're right -- it is my failing because I eat a lot of Indian food, but I can't take any sort of heat or spice. Bland I am, all the way.
So I, strangely, don't associate "curry" with India in any way... even though I should as everyone else does! :grin:
Spend some time in England - it's an entire separate branch of takeout food. I know it well from watching Coronation Street and Eastenders.
Back to this article : I just saw a news commenter state that a lot of times when a politician knows they are losing they will just resort to name calling. To think I thought that went away after middle school.
Gordon --
Putting down your opponent in a nasty way -- if you can't do it in a reasonable way -- is the way of the world since Sun Tzu when military thinking took over political savvy as well as the socialization of the family.
Hi David,
First of all, thank you for the article and extremely sorry for replying so late – I apologize to all of you who took time to leave a comment here.
Coming to the point – I do agree the crowd didn’t behave in a very civilized way but the rest of the world learnt this behavior from Aussies.
For the Australian cricket team the game begins way before the actual match and beyond the field – they demean the opponent’s spirit by berating them, which is known as “going all the way”.
http://www.rediff.com/cricket/2003/may/23daniel.htm
I know the article is dated, the reason I am providing the link is to establish the fact that the Australians were the best cricket team in the world in 2003 and they still are. Their behavior was still in question – which remains the same.
The majority doesn’t believe in “Gandhi-ism” and they do have a limit of tolerance.
Hi Gordon,
You can't just "remove" sports communication between two teams; because if it is a team game - the two teams need to communicate even amongst themselves – if not with the opponents.
If I am not mistaken, football (I am talking about American football, not soccer) is another game, which has its own form of communication used by the quarterbacks to exchange ideas amongst his teammates.
http://www.sportandtechnology.com/features/0545.html
I think the sense of ethics can’t be injected or can’t be rectified by imposing rules – it comes from within.
Thank you for that extra insight, Katha!
Here's news from the BBC today:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/cricket/7256295.stm