Skip to main content

The Fairer Distraction

Image Source: Google

Today's newspaper was all about the dismal performance of Virat Kohli in the test matches against England. All fingers were pointed to his so called girl friend Anushka Sharma. Then, the Indian team manager had the audacity to comment that "Only wives are allowed to be a part of the tour. Indian culture does not allow girl friends to come on a tour". Seriously? The guy actually went on to say that Anushka stayed with Virat in his room, until the third test match. I do not know what exactly he has a problem with. With her being there, or the fact that they were not married yet. If I am not wrong, we won the first test at England. And the Indian team was held on a pedestal for a record victory and the same Virat was hoisted on shoulders. So, this happened when Anushka was staying with him right? Then why all this hue and cry. I somehow cannot help but think if Anushka would be still blamed, had we won the series. Probably not.

I am not a fan of Virat at all, but still it is not his sole responsibility to get the team to win the series. Why wasn't the captain blamed? And what is wrong in having the wives and girlfriends as part of the tour? What kind of distraction are they talking about. Someone told that the cricketers get busy with their partners by shopping and sight seeing and hence miss the practice. Then, the cricketer should be blamed and not his wife or girlfriend. It is his responsibility to stay true to the game as he is the part of a sport that our country blindly worships. I have seen the media go berserk when a lover of a player comes to watch the match. Suddenly all cameras are pointed at her and she makes it to the front page of a newspaper the next day. Then when India loses the match, the same picture makes it to front again, albeit with a different headline.

Image Source: Google

This is what Wikipedia has to say:

"Distraction is the divided attention of an individual or group from the chosen object of attention onto the source of distraction. Distraction is caused by: the lack of ability to pay attention; lack of interest in the object of attention; or the great intensity, novelty or attractiveness of something other than the object of attention. Distractions come from both external sources, and internal sources."

Considering a woman to be a distraction to a player of the nation is absolutely baseless. And the distinction between a wife and a girl friend is outright ridiculous. If sex is what they are pointing to, then well some people seriously need a reality check. If having sex with the partner is going to result in poor performance the next day, then sex would not have existed at all. The people who work in companies don't have to perform work every day or what? So if I am unable to complete my target for a given day, does it mean that I had sex with my partner the previous night? Outrageous. India is such an ignorant nation and it continues to surprise me everyday with some baseless allegation one after the other. Dhoni's wife has been present on the stands for almost every match her husband plays, and yet he is considered the best captain India has had so far. What if we had lost those matches, then what do you think people would have said?

I have heard a few aunties complaining that their sons are faring poorly in studies because they study in a co-ed school with girls around. I want to give these ladies a slow salute. A woman is a human being too. She has a lot of other things to do, rather than be a distraction to someone else. If boobs is all it takes for a man to be distracted from his primary source of work, then well a lot can be spoken about him. No, I am not being a feminist here. But how many times have you heard of a man being a distraction to a woman? Well, I haven't until now. Dinesh Karthik was with his fiancee (not wife) Dipika Pallikal, when she won gold at the recent Commonwealth games. Had she lost, do you think people would have made a big deal about his presence? I doubt. After all CWG is nowhere close to Cricket. Right?

In a country obsessed with cricket and Bollywood, Virat and Anushka form the perfect prey. I do not like both of them personally, but blaming them for something like this is total nonsense. India still has a long way to go in terms of accepting reality and ignoring things based on a so called society rule book. Who the hell wrote the book and where is it? No wonder people here want to ape the west. At least there people can do what they want to without the media following them all around. Remember the recent FIFA World Cup? Where all the wives and girlfriend hung to their hunky partners and cheered for them. I am sure most of the German players had their wives and girlfriends with them, yet they lifted the cup. Didn't they? Does distraction by a woman occur only in India?

Image Source: Google

Sadly nothing has changed since the 14th Century

I fell in love with my husband when he was at the lowest point of his career. We met everyday and spoke at length. Soon, he got his dream job and our life changed only for the better. If I was a distraction to him from his goals, would he be here today? With my support and encouragement he was able to get past his tough phase and we slowly inched towards the light at the end of the tunnel. A woman can also mean strength, hope and courage. She needs to stand by her man and help him get past his daily battles. Be it a sport or plain regular work. But no, why does the Indian chauvinist man need support right? If he succeeds, it is all his hard work. If he fails, then it is because of the woman by his side. If this is not hypocrisy then what is?

Has humanity and love gone out of the window for us Indians? Or is Anushka in the news only because they want someone to blame? It is just a sport. Someone has to lose so that the other can win. Why dig into the personal lives of a player if he does not perform well? I remember Sajid Khan (I can't believe he makes an appearance on my blog), making a statement saying that his movie 'Himmatwala' failed because he took a holiday with his then girlfriend Jacqueline Fernandez. I can't believe she dated him actually, let alone go on a vacation with him. Even if she did, I am sure it is because of his own will and I'm sure he was not dragged into it. But yet, it did not take him a minute to blame her for the debacle of that movie. He was single when he made his latest 'Humshakals' right? So, how many crores did that one make?

We Indians always need someone to take the blame, even though the person is as honest as he can get. And in a chauvinist country like ours, it is always the woman to be blamed. A man is not succeeding due to lack of business sense, but blame his wife for being unlucky for him. Son fails an exam, blame his school for having girls with skirts in the class. A man misses his promotion, blame his girlfriend for being the distraction from his work. We recently celebrated out 67th Independence Day right? Women sadly have never been independent in our country. She is only known to be of use to her man. While she is doing that, she is termed as a distraction. Wow! If the news of Independence day celebrations are mixed with these media tit bits, then well, what are we celebrating?

Comments

  1. Honestly, this was bull shit at its lowest. The team manager had some balls to come with this crap. And Im not going to say any more about this because its just going to be a string of profane words!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. He sure did. Annoying as hell this news was.

      Delete
  2. I completely agree with you.I liked what you said - "She is only known to be of use to her man. While she is doing that, she is termed as a distraction. " India still has a long way to go in accepting the fact that woman is a human being too and a mere sex object.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I am not a fan or both these celebrities in question. This is not a one to one game like badminton. Even in badminton you dont blame girlfriends ! Cricket is a team game and it is not even logical to blame one person for failure. This is something like what happened with Brazil without Neymar. Atleast they dint play blame games like this ! Anyway the team manager has a bad case of sour grapes. Anushka and Virat look so great together :D

    ReplyDelete
  4. It is all a game of what sells. People love to read about girlfriends. Wives are boring you see. Deepika was blamed for Yuvraj's bad performance as well. One day, these media walas will start tapping phones of the cricketers. Maybe they talk too much to their girlfriends and then feel sleepy during the game :p

    I feel for the stars in our country. They are loved and hated with equal ease without substantial reason.

    P.S. I can't believe it either that Sajid made an appearance on your blog!!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. LOL, sleepy? Seriously? Poor stars I agree, every thing they do is scrutinized.

      P.S. I know!

      Delete
  5. You are right. It's such a hypocrite society. If not blame it on women then blame the guy for being distracted 'coz of her. So much judgment, so much bias, so much rubbish... privacy seems to have lost all it's meaning...
    a very veryyyyyyyy well written post...:)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Do you know which game Indians play better than cricket(which again they're not so good at).?? The blame game. We Indians(most of us) want to own our victories but need someone else to own up if we fail. Virat is going through a rough patch, like every player goes through at some/several point(s) in their career. He will bounce back. No one is to be blamed.

    PS: I too am not a big fan of Virat. Mainly because of his attitude. And also because people have started pitting him against Sachin. But that hatred is more directed towards the morons who do that. He is a very good player, but only time can tell if he is that good enough. May I know why you don't like him.?? :P

    ReplyDelete
  7. I really dont understand the behaviour of us Indians at times. You treat the same team like Gods when they play good and you come out with meanest, dirtiest jokes about the same team when they dont perform good. I mean its a game. Why cant it be seen that way? And yes, we just need a tool to blame upon. It was Anushka this time.

    P.S. Even I cant fathom how Jacqueline dated Sajid Khan :P

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We Indians are weird! Poor Anushka, wrong timing I guess.

      P.S: Hahaha you bet!

      Delete
  8. well we have not even left out GOD out of this .. If we dont get what we want then its god's fault , he is not looking at us , he does not want us to do good ,but when we get what we want we say we worked hard for it :)

    and I am astonished at what the guy said about Anushka and Virat .. and this guy is someone who is representing india in a foreign land almost with the indian team.. WOW

    even i dont like virat that much as i think he has become arrogant and has a attitude which is not reflecting on his game.. but he is still the best player in the team...

    Bikram's

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I agree with everything you have to say. He is a good player, people should only focus on his game.

      Delete
  9. I have written a lengthy comment on this piece which was published at Women's Web. You might want to take a look.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Just like me, say what you feel. While constructive criticism is welcome, please keep it subtle and kind. Thank you!