Leave the stiffness at home
Oh, good Lord. Can we all get a sense of humor, please? This news about Australian fans getting arrested (arrested, would you believe it?) at Mohali is ludicrous. They had T-shirts with some piss-weak quips about the Mahatma, the bookie Gupta, and Indira (and I believe them when they say they were referring to Indira Naidoo, not the erstwhile PM). And they got hauled off to the brig, and had to apologize? Please. I grew up in Delhi, cracking dirty jokes about the Mahatma, singing rude, offensive songs about the Ramayana, and participating in just about every joke you could make about the Gandhi family. Everyone seemed to have a sense of humor about it. And now this? The Punjab Police is pretty thick-headed, I agree, but still, this is a bit much. I suspect some over-zealous patriot in the stands decided to make a complaint and the police, bored by all the sitting around, decided to "act".
posted by Samir Chopra at 10:06 AM
6 Comments:
Hi SC,
I do not think this is a overzealous patriot issue or blowing it out of proportion.
Agree we all make fun of our own past heroes and or our own ethnic aspects, however the medium through which it is being projected is a strong one and it just goes out to say that as a Country we do care. I am not being patriotic here...its just the sense of professional conduct and keeping the safe distance of being sarcastic/funny and being abusive.
PA: I think I'm just reacting to the what seems like an over-reaction: the arresting of the kids. Surely we should be resilient or secure enough to handle some humor at our expense, even if it is directed at national icons or heroes? If someone had a truly racist or derogatory slogan, then I think I would object as well (some of the stuff at Aussie grounds comes close like the 7-11 banners that some guys brought to the MCG or the turbaned lot but its just this side of truly offensive). I think the really vicious stuff is the stuff that people yell out (I've heard lots of crap at the SCG for instance). I hear you on how some people might be offended; fair enough, but should people be *arrested* for that?
agree...arrest is not the way to go...
Over-reacting to Aussies has been the norm in India. Hence the arrest.
PB: Arrests still seem to represent some sort of extreme. On the other hand, India does also show extreme hospitality to those who visit.
Hi samir,
found ur blog link on circinfo..and i must say that i have enjoyed ur blogs....Now,a small correction,the aussie fans where as such not arrested,what happend was that they where taken to the police station and question about the supposdly derogatory tees to which they expained there ignorance...The cops having been convinced about it..send them back to there hotel rooms and got them to change there t-shirts....so as such there was no arrest...and the fans where certainly were not kids....and..i was there at mohali when sachin went passed brain lara =) (presently in ambala).....watched the first three days of the test match ......was my first expreince of watching a live cricket match and needless to say it was awesome
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