Two incidents motivated me to write this piece: a mail I read this afternoon and my father’s reaction to a match’s highlights!
Being a huge cricket fan, I’ve had my share of praying, switching off the television when India is about to lose, shouting at the top of my voice at 1 in the morning when we lift a cup and so on. My most vivid memory was the Independence Cup at Dhaka in 1998. India was chasing Pakistan’s score of 314 and Hrishikesh Kanitkar got us through! I was in the prayer room earnestly praying, another friend crying and yet another, a millimeter away from the TV screen. It was late in the night and all the entire apartment could hear was screaming and screaming alone!
My family is known for being sports crazy, be it cricket, football, even kabaddi! So most believed that I was carrying it in my genes. It happens to this day, I do not let my mother watch the game when Sachin is batting ‘cause he gets out the minute she sits in front of the box! On the other hand, when a tense situation arises, dad and I would’ve no nails left to chew and mom, not able to see this, would bang the door and stay indoors and wait till she hears a cry of joy or otherwise!
But as my friends’ circle widened, the list just extended! Girls had cut-outs of Dravid, Kumble and now Dhoni which are countless in number. But mention must be made of two guys; one, my fiancée and two, his friend who I just know by name!
My fiancée claims to be the biggest Sachin ‘bhakt’ ever! I remember this incident when one guy, who hates Sachin, sent out a mail saying he was not GOD but the reverse! So my fiancée, Rohit, dismantled a rod from his bay and actually came running to where this guy was sitting and chased him till the entrance!!! Hilarious as it sounds, we were shocked that someone could be so crazy!
To beat this, here comes Rohit’s colleague, Ayan, who sends across a list of things he’s done to beat the fact that he’s the best bhakt and not the former! Here are some of the things this guy has done:
• Broke off with a college girlfriend b'cos I preferred watching Him bat rather than spending time with her
• Went to Melbourne and New Zealand (with posters saying Travelled 7,641 and 9,217 kms to see Sachin)
• As well as 8 stadiums in India for the sole purpose of seeing Him live (once in Chinnaswamy I just had day 1,2,3 tickets in a Test match against Pakistan and I cheered when Laxman got out hoping India would follow-on soon and I would get to see Him bat again)
• Always keep TV volume divisible by 3 when he is at the striker's end,
• Always sit on 2 cushions since that is lucky
Whew! I am already dumbfounded! And here comes my dad to top it all! The recent Compaq Cup between India and Sri Lanka which the former won – the highlights were on. As usual, we were glued to the set when Yusuf Pathan dropped the catch and my dad actually was on the edge of the seat and swore! He was aware that it was after all the highlights but emotions just took over.
Who can forget the entire theatre audience at the edge of their seats when the last ball was bowled in Lagaan? Whether it is the famous Sachin fan who travels everywhere with truck loads of paint all over him or a recent 60+ (age) gang who have come together and claimed that from now till the 2011 World Cup, they will travel wherever Sachin is playing.
BOTTOM LINE: Indians are the craziest fans of the game!
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
The other way!
She/he walked towards my auto-rickshaw and I freaked out! My hair was tussled and she/he extended her/his hand for money. My mother nudged me to give the money and I obliged. As I put the coin in his/her hands, the hand went towards my mom and touched her head this time and out came the words, "May you be blessed with good health."
I smiled at my mother. Was it the relief that she/he left or that the blessings suited my mom best? I couldn’t tell. I only knew that I always despised this clan and swore to myself that I’d write an article opposed to such behaviour. I never did so, but a program I saw a couple of days ago summoned me to write this piece but with a changed view!
This set of people, call them eunuchs, transgender or anything you please are always associated to being those who harass us, men especially, for money and are also known to be sex objects. I believed this to be true, still do. The number of times I have seen them place their hands on unmentionable places of embarrassed men just for those notes, makes me puke! I still remember grimacing when I was filling out an application form in a prestigious college in Chennai when the ‘gender’ column had space for transgenders too.
But the grimace has now changed into a sense of empathy, not entirely, but to some extent. Those grotesque visuals of the weirdly dressed, harassing men are not helping much to convert myself to being empathetic entirely!
There was this show on Travel and Living which showcased the lives of this group in Bangalore, about how they got into such groups, thrown out by their families and what they do for a living. I was astounded by the fact that they were well-educated men, who wanted to consider themselves women. One such was ‘Radhika’, name obviously changed! She came from an affluent family, did the usual ‘boy’ stuff, playing cricket, eyeing girls et all. But the dominance of feminine feelings took over and no surprises, he was kicked out from the family! The metamorphosis is striking! Nose ring, waxing, long hair – no traces of being a man at all, except for the voice!
Most of them come into the eunuch groups with a similar story. One even had ‘his’ mother come over every month just to pay a visit to her once ‘son’! The mother laments that she cannot take her child back in any form considering the society and her own husband. While on the other hand, the converted openly revere Elton John and the like for being a self-acclaimed homosexual.
What made my heart melt was the process of castration. Each of them gave their gory version of it – Before even having the castration, they had to spend a whole year massaging lorry drivers’ body, bathe them, and sexually satisfy them. Only if they managed to endure this period, would the castration take place. And when it does, it is not a very pleasant experience for them. One, they are happy that they will do away with their masculine qualities but the process is arduous.
In a dimly lit room, steel beds await them. They are fully aware that the place is unhygienic, but do they have a choice? They are castrated in a hurry and it is disheartening to hear what they go through. Their choice you may say. True. But it does hurt. Period. Not everyone can afford sex-changing operations and they make do with what ever available. One even complained that it took 8 months to heal but that was no excuse for all the sexual acts they went through.
Now, I actually believe that the college in Chennai did a commendable job by having reserved some seats for them too. I don’t think it will hurt them or us, if they are given some respect in the society. Why would one agree to live the life of a prostitute if something better was in store? One of them said she was ready to sweep the streets everyday, if only she got the job. I know your hair stands up every time they approach you to grab all we have but I don’t think they’d want to do it either.
When I was casually mentioning this, my friend shot back saying some men, just to make quick money, would wax their bodies, drape a saree and go around carrying out this heinous act! I almost fell off my seat. How could people even think of this?? This will all stop when:
• We show this group some respect and accept that this is their way of life
• Give them a chance to work amidst us
• Yes, there are loopholes everywhere, no one is perfect, but if one lives life with dignity, the rest are bound to follow
I’d like to end by mentioning one such eunuch, Rose. She is featured on a Tamil channel, where she talks to those distressed, has talks on general issues and the like. I must tell you, she emanates a lot of knowledge. My friend even had a personal chat with her and she cleared my doubts. She was a woman with a lot of conviction and passion. Such people are to be looked up to whatever their gender maybe!
I smiled at my mother. Was it the relief that she/he left or that the blessings suited my mom best? I couldn’t tell. I only knew that I always despised this clan and swore to myself that I’d write an article opposed to such behaviour. I never did so, but a program I saw a couple of days ago summoned me to write this piece but with a changed view!
This set of people, call them eunuchs, transgender or anything you please are always associated to being those who harass us, men especially, for money and are also known to be sex objects. I believed this to be true, still do. The number of times I have seen them place their hands on unmentionable places of embarrassed men just for those notes, makes me puke! I still remember grimacing when I was filling out an application form in a prestigious college in Chennai when the ‘gender’ column had space for transgenders too.
But the grimace has now changed into a sense of empathy, not entirely, but to some extent. Those grotesque visuals of the weirdly dressed, harassing men are not helping much to convert myself to being empathetic entirely!
There was this show on Travel and Living which showcased the lives of this group in Bangalore, about how they got into such groups, thrown out by their families and what they do for a living. I was astounded by the fact that they were well-educated men, who wanted to consider themselves women. One such was ‘Radhika’, name obviously changed! She came from an affluent family, did the usual ‘boy’ stuff, playing cricket, eyeing girls et all. But the dominance of feminine feelings took over and no surprises, he was kicked out from the family! The metamorphosis is striking! Nose ring, waxing, long hair – no traces of being a man at all, except for the voice!
Most of them come into the eunuch groups with a similar story. One even had ‘his’ mother come over every month just to pay a visit to her once ‘son’! The mother laments that she cannot take her child back in any form considering the society and her own husband. While on the other hand, the converted openly revere Elton John and the like for being a self-acclaimed homosexual.
What made my heart melt was the process of castration. Each of them gave their gory version of it – Before even having the castration, they had to spend a whole year massaging lorry drivers’ body, bathe them, and sexually satisfy them. Only if they managed to endure this period, would the castration take place. And when it does, it is not a very pleasant experience for them. One, they are happy that they will do away with their masculine qualities but the process is arduous.
In a dimly lit room, steel beds await them. They are fully aware that the place is unhygienic, but do they have a choice? They are castrated in a hurry and it is disheartening to hear what they go through. Their choice you may say. True. But it does hurt. Period. Not everyone can afford sex-changing operations and they make do with what ever available. One even complained that it took 8 months to heal but that was no excuse for all the sexual acts they went through.
Now, I actually believe that the college in Chennai did a commendable job by having reserved some seats for them too. I don’t think it will hurt them or us, if they are given some respect in the society. Why would one agree to live the life of a prostitute if something better was in store? One of them said she was ready to sweep the streets everyday, if only she got the job. I know your hair stands up every time they approach you to grab all we have but I don’t think they’d want to do it either.
When I was casually mentioning this, my friend shot back saying some men, just to make quick money, would wax their bodies, drape a saree and go around carrying out this heinous act! I almost fell off my seat. How could people even think of this?? This will all stop when:
• We show this group some respect and accept that this is their way of life
• Give them a chance to work amidst us
• Yes, there are loopholes everywhere, no one is perfect, but if one lives life with dignity, the rest are bound to follow
I’d like to end by mentioning one such eunuch, Rose. She is featured on a Tamil channel, where she talks to those distressed, has talks on general issues and the like. I must tell you, she emanates a lot of knowledge. My friend even had a personal chat with her and she cleared my doubts. She was a woman with a lot of conviction and passion. Such people are to be looked up to whatever their gender maybe!
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