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Pandya isn’t the only problem

In the great game of cricket, the players are gods.

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Rohit Mahajan in Chandigarh

In the great game of cricket, the players are gods. They exist in a bubble in which it’s easy to lose touch with reality. Their path is littered with material and corporeal temptations. Everything they desire can be theirs, including young and beautiful women.

A few years ago, I went to an IPL after-party to see for myself what happened there. The place was swamped by beautiful young women, including models and cheerleaders. Also present were special invitees, and regular fans, who had paid good money to join the party. As the big hall filled up, and people got drunk and wild, a special entertainment zone was created by barricading part of the hall. The cricketers — the pride of the night, the commodity that had sucked in the guests and the fans and their money — were guarded in this zone. The loveliest young women were allowed access into this restricted zone. The girls were trying to catch the eyes of the cricketers.

Anonymous accounts from cricketers clearly stated that after such parties, women were happy to join the players for a “bit of fun” in their rooms. One of the superstars of the first IPL, Shane Warne, whose flings, “texting and sexting” have caused controversy even in the permissive West, was a mentor to his team. The youngsters, no doubt, saw him as a great cricketer and a macho man worthy of emulation.

One South African cheerleader, Gabriella Pasqualotto, had stated, “We are practically like walking porn. These cricketers are the most loose and mischievous I have come across. I have a long while still here, so I must remember my tip list: beware of the cricketers!”

Extremely successful sportsmen attract women like rockstars do. In the West, it’s less of a scandal. Wilt Chamberlain, the great basketball player, claimed to have slept with 20,000 women. After Earvin Magic Johnson was diagnosed with AIDS, he said: “I confess that after I arrived in LA in 1979, I did my best to accommodate as many women as I could.”

These are the trappings of extreme wealth and success in sport. In this environment, it’s difficult to figure out exactly who’s using whom. The predatory players are piling up numbers — the girls would just be a number to them; for the girls, fleeting intimacy with someone hugely famous and rich is temptation enough — and they know what they’re getting into. Hardik Pandya’s is a case of a single man bed-hopping with multiple willing partners. He seems to treat women very badly, but it also seems that the women are willing to take it.

A cesspool of impropriety 

When Pandya and KL Rahul met Karan Johar on Koffee With Karan, disaster was a huge probability. The talk show focuses on relationships, scandal and sex. The questions to be asked during the show are discussed with the guests beforehand, so it was not that leading questions were sprung on Pandya and Rahul when their guard was down. Pandya, especially, dived headlong into a cesspool of impropriety. Pandya is a semi-literate, super-rich man who became a millionaire when he was barely out of his teens. He lives in an environment in which women are throwing themselves at him for consensual sex. He seems to regard women as mere objects and also possesses an unfortunate father of a man, who considers his son’s outrageous comments about women as harmless. 

“He is an innocent boy with a very fun-loving nature,” said Pandya’s father. Pandya said on the talk show that his family lauded him on his sexual exploits, and were happy when he informed them that he was dating multiple women. Would they be similarly proud when discussing the sex life of girls of the family? Seems unlikely. Then again, this is not just about the father-son Pandyas. Deep in our psyche, most Indians nurture horrible notions about gender, race, religion and ethnicity. Several of our representatives — MPs and MLAs — regularly spout hatred or prejudice against women or certain marginalised groups. Mulayam Singh Yadav, for instance, had spoken against the new anti-rape law because “boys make mistakes, why hang them?”

The entitled Indian male

Yadav was criticised for his comments. Pandya has been roasted on the media, was dropped from the team, and faces further penalties. But it’s clear that he was merely speaking the language of the super-successful, entitled male; his comments also give an insight into the ever-changing sexual mores in the Indian society, and dating practices that are evolving without the older generation being fully aware of the change. Bawdy, sexist and racist locker room jokes are common in our society. We’re not yet sensitised regarding sexism, racism and several other isms.

Pandya is not the problem. He is merely a representative of the toxic masculinity that has no respect for women. And he’s not misogynistic — he clearly loves women and their bodies; it’s just that he’s got no respect for them. And he’s not alone. At the IPL parties, teams expected their cricketers to be present — without the players, there would be no party, after all. The players were exposed to temptation, but the cricket board made no effort to mentor the players and sensitise them regarding gender issues.

When icons fail

Pandya was honest, but he deserves punishment for two obvious reasons. One, as a cricketer in a young nation, he’s a role model, and he’s clearly encouraging his young fans to treat women like shit — as if it’s absolutely cool.

Two, his honesty bares obnoxious aspects of his personality. Many of us, in the privacy of our homes, utter words that are disrespectful to women, marginalised groups, different ethnic or religious groups. But people must follow a different norm in public life. In case of celebrities, that norm is enforced by the financial carrot and stick — when Tiger Woods’ sexual improprieties were revealed, many of his sponsors immediately got rid of him. Pandya, too, has taken a financial hit, and might get banned, also. Will this be a lesson to young players? They will be more guarded, for sure, but it’s unlikely that they’ll suddenly become more sensitive on gender issues — that’s a societal issue much bigger than them, Pandya or Indian sport. 

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