Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Nightmare

I've always had very vivid dreams.. nightmares a few as well. This one stood out on the strange-scale and had me pretty weirded out for a couple of weeks. Last July 2010..

It was a fairly big lunch party. 10-20 people from the looks of it. All kinds’ Indian, black and white. A long table was set on the largest open area in a sort of bathroom, a hostel one. People were lounging around the room. A slight disturbance could be noticed among scattered members of the party. Worried looks and puzzled glances. While walking out of hall, I walk by big black man(basketball uniform clad) surrounded by friends, looking very upset. Told myself it was none of my business but when I happened to see him cry just before I shut the door, I asked if he was okay. Big Black man nodded his head vaguely and I walked out, passing the shut door of another room.
Cut to kitchen. Three women were cooking pie. They were joking around at ease. They playfully teased big blonde (4th grade mum in New adventures of old Christine) about being a career woman. Big blonde tells petite blonde that it is good that Petite Blonde has decided to go back to her husband after committing some grave sins. Petite Blonde seems to be in much greater spirits than she was previously. They slice the cheesy pie on a pan which was a bit bigger than the pie itself. Petite Blonde was making up to her husband.
Cut to living room.
Brother’s watching TV. By now, definite bad vibes were apparent. I look out into the sky and see war-of-the-worlds-cloud formation. I tell my brother but he isn’t very shocked as this has seemingly occurred before. So we knew that we’d be safe for a little while longer.
Cut to bedroom. Mother is changing. I ask her if she’s noticing what’s happening. She replies that she hasn’t, but she did realize it was getting darker. I show her the cloud formation. Being too short she, had to crane her neck.
I start walking back to dining room. From a door emerges level-headed Mowlik (or it might have been my dad) who I walk up to. He looks half amused-half concerned. I ask him if his friends inside are okay. He says no, something bad is about to happen. I share my experience of Big Black Man. He nods and walks back in, as I wait. He returns and tells me he does not know what is going on, but his friend just said the world will end on March 17th . March 17th, he says.
I woke up with a jerk.

March 17th of this year is gone.. so hopefully posting this jinxes out the possibility of March 17th, 2012 happening.
Cheers!

Sunday, May 1, 2011

Cheerleaders versus Cheerqueens



So one of the new franchisees of the IPL decided to do away with those bold and busty cheerleaders as had become customary, and instead introduce traditional Indian dancers to do the cheering job at the sidelines. What is it with these Pune and Mumbai people that makes them think they're better Indians than the rest of us. I mean look at them: Mumbai INDIANS... Pune Warriers INDIA.. No other teams have India in it do they? It seems to me like they have this inherent need to convince others of their superior brand of patriotism. And then this new cheerleaders development.

For most of us (women, at least) the bimbo cheerleaders were rather annoying and borderline demeaning even, feministically speaking. I wonder if they would have dancing men wearing thongs for a women's version of the IPL... I hope not. Most of these girls especially the foreigners aren't even that pretty.. they just show skin, vapidly smile and dance un-coordinately. And except for the first part, the other two are mighty hard to do in the Indian heat so hats off to them.

What were cheerleaders originally meant to offer to sports, anyway? We've grown up reading books and watching movies that project getting into the cheerleading team as the ultimate fantasy of any high school girl.. which by corollary means that you get to date the soccer captain of course. The idea of an activity developed for sole reason of boosting male egos seems so pointless, frivolous and insulting. Thankfully Indian high schools haven't adopted adopted that particular fad yet. I'm not saying cheerleading is easy. God knows how crazily athletic you need to be to get those moves right, but then why not just call it gymnastics?

Which brings us back to the IPL cheerleaders, who the franchises clearly utilize not because of athletic prowess but only due to sex appeal. Like everything else about the IPL, if you think about it. The IPL is like the pleasure I imagine one would derive from a tasteless energetic quickie.. a one night stand, as opposed to a test match that gives us the satisfaction of a fulfilling marriage.. initial excitement.. ocassional bland patches.. but so much more wholesome. So now that we've justified the role of the cheerleaders in the IPL ie. to tantalise and nothing else, is there a need for the interference of Mohiniaatam, Bharatnatyam and other elegant Indian art forms into this tacky display? Obviously, Subrato Roy, with his righteous moustache 'n all wants to make a statement, but I think its unnecessary. Ultimately, the dancers themselves go through a whole lot of hassles with costumes, make-up and choreography to cheer a crowd that understandably isn't in the mood to appreciate the detailed nuances of such dance forms. It doesn't make sense.