(Harish Khare is a senior journalist, commentator and a research scholar)Last Friday, an abusive attack by fans of Sachin Tendulkar on tennis player Maria Sharapova made headlines. They were angry that she was not aware of the existence of what they call the "living cricket legend."
Maria Sharapova is a wonderful athlete, a remarkable combination of good looks and superb tennis skills, and is credited with a charismatic presence rarely seen on court. She is a Russian and lives in the United States, and there is no earthly reason why she should be cognizant of Sachin Tendulkar. Yet, the so-called Sachin fans took to social media to heap scorn and ridicule on the tennis star for her "ignorance."
Since cricket is the only game in which we are able to boast of some kind of international success, it is only natural that an icon of the game like Sachin Tendulkar gets elevated to the status of a god in our popular cultural conversations. It is no secret that many commercial interests have a stake in promoting this kind of hero worship around Sachin. A nation without many genuine heroes will not take kindly to any heretical whisper that may seem to deny the "existence" of our super-hero. Hence, the outlandish trolling against Maria Sharapova.
But there is much more to this far-from-polite anti-Sharapova exuberance than meets the eye. This boorish behavior is one of a piece with our new penchant for ugliness in the public sphere. Indeed in the last few years we have been encouraged from certain political quarters to be loud and disagreeable. The soft-spoken and decent Manmohan Singh was dismissed as effete and boring; and, in contrast, Narendra Modi, who was all too willing to raise his voice, use crude language and ugly metaphors, was seen as a daring leader and a He-man.
In the last two, three years his managers have been suspected of designedly encouraging a kind of abusive, aggressive patrolling of the social media highways, and anyone and everyone less than reverential towards Modi is to be pounced upon. Internet-warriors, at home and abroad, made their presence felt and contributed to steering the national discourse towards Mr. Modi's corner in the run-up to the last Lok Sabha election. Ugly, and at times, abusive outpouring was sought to be explained away as harmless, and perhaps much needed, catharsis. But among individuals, as well as societies, such experiences do become a habit-forming trait.
Our willingness to take offence at the outsider is part reflection of our post-colonial brittleness. We want to see the twenty-first century an "Indian century" and that in itself is a noble quest, but for now all that we are able to display is a brittle nationalism, insistently wanting to occupy the global high table. But we remain uncertain and unsure of our collective capacities and societal vigor and discipline to make the world listen to us.
Many of us voted for Modi because he promised he would make the world take note of India and the Indians. And now that he has taken the centre-stage we feel entitled to express ourselves in a disagreeable way. There was a time when the world disdainfully talked of 'The ugly American.' We unconsciously seem to be aspiring for that unhappy distinction.
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