Bleeding Red, Bleeding Gold. But bleeding KingFisher?

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.