Its hard to imagine a
trivial misunderstanding because of a guard could give a community an
identity, a language holier than thou and pride everytime we are
quizzed-”Where are you from?”.
“Karnataka”.
Circa 390-415 CE. A
certain MayuraSharma from the Kadamba clan embarked on a spiritual
journey along with this grandfather, also his Guru to Kanchi to
master the Vedas. Owing to some misunderstanding between a guard at
Ashvasanstha (a place of horse sacrifice),a quarrel arose in
which Mayurasharma was humiliated. There was born the seeds of
revenge against the Pallavan empire. From their erstwhile capital of
Banawasi, the flag with Genda Bherunda fluttered for the first time.
Today, it occupies a place of pride in every bus ticket, in every
government ensemble. Genda Bherunda stands for Karnataka.
It seems strange that I was
supporting a team which masqueraded to represent Bangalore without
the two headed mythical Genda Bherunda as the logo! Even a very
creative logo could have stammered in comparison to The Genda
Bherunda but having to contend with a logo which is used by a liquor
company? Surely, Karnataka deserves better. The initial excitement of
seeing Bangalore play on world stage has surely faded into a steady
disillusion with the owners,BCCI and most importantly with the fans.
Indeed, its amazaing to watch Chris Gayle tear bowlers to all parts
of the park. But taking a step back, not for a moment do I feel He
is representing Karnataka. Not for a moment, would I want Virat Kohli
to lead a Karnataka team. The state which has nested and craddled the
various profound schools of philosophies like Dvaitha(Udupi),
Advaitha(Sringeri),Visishadvaita(Melkote) has to represented by a
team owned by liquor dealers, captained by a Delhi brat who is'nt shy
to flash his middle finger at the drop of the hat.
But wait, dont dismiss me
with a simple “Why dont you support your Ranji team and just shut
up?” Thanks, I do that. I follow my team. I followed my team last
year at Gangothri Glades in Mysore, when the stadium got behind
Manish Pandey. Ah, Days! But in IPL, is the world stage. Would not it
be wonderful, if there were atleast six players for Karnataka in the
playing XI? We would not even care about the results if the team did
a decent job of representing us, the true inhibatitants of Karnataka
on the world stage. Thanks for all the Washington RedSox cheerleaders
from US. But, we would like the Yakshagana artists to entertain us
better. And a theme song in “Game for Life”? There is no denying
that, unless some other clubs (especially a certain club, whose
players wear an obnoxious yellow(:P)), we have never been trying to
prove our slum love.
Do this Vijay Mallya, for
us. Keep your liquor advertisements out of a team that we love. We
love RCB, but with the guilt that it does not represent us. Neither
can we hate RCB, for the last name says “Bangalore”. While
matches in Bangalore will definitely help you fill the coffers,
Mallya Sir, what about our brothers from other parts in Karnataka. A
couple of matches in Shimoga,Mysore and Mangaore will surely help
build trust.
While, we do want to see
foreign players in the league, we want them as players representing
my city and not a franchisee called RCB. Not that we expect a Gayle
to learn Kannada (of course, it would be pleasant if he tried doing
so.), but to see a superstar like him being captained by a Kannadiga
would do a world of good to fans. And for a land, which has given
birth to Javagal Srinaths, Gundappa Vishwanaths, Venkatesh Prasads,
lack of talent is a reason as genuine as lack of funds cited by the
government for every charitable work.
By the way, for a name,
Royal Challengers? Thank you.
