‘If Hardik Pandya was a woman, she would be hailed as a sexual revolutionary’

Hardik Pandya | Facebook

Rich liberals attacking Hardik Pandya same as Right-wing trolling of Naseeruddin Shah.

I am amused by the kind of things that angers us Indians. The latest being cricketer Hardik Pandya getting ‘called out’ for his statements on Koffee with Karan.

Journalists and intellectuals have been dissecting the terribly important talk that Hardik Pandya delivered on the show. This chatter was then picked up by news sites that lurk around cyberspace like out-of-work dementors, sniffing for outrage.They then splashed their ad-ridden sites with articles and editorials on what he should and shouldn’t have said.

As a journalist, it makes me feel ashamed.

Koffee with Karan is a sleazy, silly show where the host gets his friends to reveal how many times they sleep with whom and on which days of the week. Running through the show’s invitees will give you an idea into the depth of the show – Fardeen Khan, Zayed Khan, Rakhi Sawant and Himesh bhai. The tagline of the show is Stop Making Sense, not Aman Ki Asha. 

Are we really going to intellectualise that show? What next? A psychoanalytic conference on Sasuraal Simar Ka? The Freudian slant in Bhabiji Ghar Pe Hain? What even is going on?

I am sick of the politically correct nature of Indian media. They play this stern, moralistic hostel warden, running around and telling people what to think. Hardik likes women and brags about his exploits – so what? If a woman did it, she would be hailed as a sexual revolutionary. And why do we expect every cricketer to behave like Bharat Ratna Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar?

And what gives these journalists the right to judge these people? Are they all perfect in thought, word and action? Or assuming they become massively-followed millionaire celebrities tomorrow, will they all become perfect role models?

Role model—that’s always the word thrown around, isn’t it? Cricketers are role models. In fact, everybody is a role model in our country. Actors must be role models. Parents, teachers, elders, writers, their neighbours, the milkman —every person in this country needs to be a role model. I don’t get it.

Role model for kids, apparently.

Pray, who are these kids learning life-lessons from Koffee with Karan?

If that’s where you’re looking, I’m sorry but you’re a kid whose life looks bleak anyway. How long are we going to throw this dumb, carcass of a logic that people are affected by TV, films and books?

It is this stupid logic that has led to our films coming with cuts and disclaimers. It’s the reason why television shows in India cater to the intelligence levels of orangutans.

People can be influenced by anything. Dayanand Saraswati saw a rat eat a laddoo and decided to eradicate the caste system from the country. Sanjay Gandhi travelled to Europe and got inspired to dump half a million people on the other side of the Yamuna overnight. How does it matter who gets influenced by what?

This politically correct nature of Indian media is (like most things) a rip-off the sickening PC culture in the West. Appallingly, we in India have way more important issues than flipping out over what an actor said.

And why should Hardik Pandya apologise for his statements?

What is this culture of bullying someone for what they said? This is not very different from what Right-wing trolls do to people like Naseeruddin Shah. It was something he said, to a pointed question, on a talk show that is meant to be sleazy. He was not in the Lok Sabha, for heaven’s sake!

Till a decade ago, our popular culture had normalised stalking and following women. A lot of us English-speaking urban people have moved beyond and called that out because we had access to education, exposure and there’s no other way to say it – privilege.

That’s the thing about PC culture. It consists of enlightened people who realised something about the world, and WHAM! They want everybody to fall in line, irrespective of their upbringing or roots.

Hardik Pandya studied till Class 9. In Surat.

He then moved to Baroda as a kid, playing cricket for schools and leagues till he and his brother earned money and fame for their family through their skills. He did this till he ranked among the 11 best cricketers in the country by the age of 22.

And now you expect him to become an exemplary citizen, a role model?

Thanks to the outrage, BCCI has sent a showcause notice to him, and might ban cricketers from non-cricketing talk shows. Does that make you enlightened people happy? Does it give you dil chandan sa thandak? 

Hardik Pandya is 25-years-old. He is paid to play cricket that is what is expected from him. If we all were good enough to be in Top 11 in India in what we did, we wouldn’t have the time to outrage over such dumb events.

Hardik Pandya isn’t paid enough to live up to your high moral standards. Nor is he morally obligated to be a role model for kids.

Go ahead, Hardik Pandya. Win matches, party, date women, have fun. If only just to piss off Twitterati.

An unedited, uncensored version of the article first appeared on the author’s blog.
The author is a humour columnist who writes for a number of newspapers and websites.