How To Milk The Mauka - Chidanand Rajghatta
Making the most of Indian multitudes from Madison Square Garden to Melbourne Cricket Ground
The Indian moveable feast is spreading world wide. From Madison Square Garden in the US to Melbourne Cricket Ground in Australia, Indian throngs now express themselves in a medley of noise and colour, signalling their arrival as an exuberant force that provides ballast to their country's growing international profile generated by domestic growth. It is a magnificent sight, impressing host countries and influencing their outlook of India in ways not seen before.
The Australian writer who noted a majority of the 86,000 spectators being Indian at the India-South Africa clash last Sunday at the MCG said the spectacle added to “the ever-growing impression that cricket in any outpost now is essentially a branch office of India“. The MCG, he wrote, “took on the aspect of Jaipur during the Holi festival".
Similar sentiments were expressed in the US when 18,000 Indians filled Madison Square Garden last fall during the Indian prime minister's visit.
Indian presence on foreign shores is not a new phenomenon, although the scale, energy and most of all economic clout underpinning the mobility are all new and evolving factors. In the cricketing world itself, the so-called Bharat army , a take-off of the British barmy army , has been tailing the men in blue since 1999. It has caused the Indian team to feel perfectly at home even in England, a country that birthed the Tebbit test to check the loyalty of immigrants to the English team. Today , English cricket would be sunk without immigrants, both on and off the ground.
Notwithstanding recent aberrations, it's no coincidence that Indian performance overseas has improved in recent years given this home away from home comfort. Homesickness is a distant excuse. There are many corners of the world that are decidedly Indian, none more than a cricket ground.
What is also interesting is that cricket, a sport once dismissed as a “gentleman's game“ (euphemism for elitist) played in whites only in a few commonwealth countries and former colonies, is now becoming universal.Countries ranging from China to the US (itself a former colony which hosted the first international cricket game in New York in 1844; lost to Canada by 24 runs) are now making a beeline for the sport, drawn by its power and influence.
Reports of American cricket fans not just those of Indian origin travelling Down Under are not vastly exaggerated, nor are stories of China's push into the game. The Chinese Cricket Association, which became an associate member of ICC in 2004, has set itself an ambitious goal of qualifying for the World Cup in 2019 and gaining Test status by 2020.The US has more realistic timelines, but expect more than their cheerleaders to be at IPL in the decades to come.
Both the US and China in particular, not to speak of Britain and many of its former colonies, have recognised that India's soft power, buttressed by its movies and cricket, is advancing its sphere of influence in the neighbourhood and beyond. Afghanistan and Sri Lanka, recent playgrounds of strategic shadowboxing, are but two examples where New Delhi is exerting itself. ICC now has close to 40 associate members, from Argentina to Zambia, besides 10 full members.
The ongoing World Cup is being viewed in countries as far apart as Israel, Peru and Malaysia. Inasmuch as soccer will continue to reign as the planet's supreme sport, cricket, aided by American razzamatazz and fuelled by Indian and subcontinental fervour, will not be far behind.
Of course, China too has its soft power and diaspora dividend, backed by immense economic growth. But the Indian heft is broader, underwritten by reasonable proficiency in English, managerial ability , and a female workforce that displays wider skills. A recent commentary on an upcoming competition in America to identify a new MacGyver, a fictional engineering superhero, conjectured that it could be an Indian woman.
Indeed, there are more head honchos of Indian origin (including women) in Fortune 500 companies and academic institutions in America than from any other country save the US. Eventually , this will extend to the Anglophone world and beyond. China will build the bridges; India will walk the talk.
So a country that capped capital outflows but allowed unbridled emigration has now created not only one of the largest diasporas, but also a massive commercial expeditionary force that bumps up local economies wherever they travel, from Miami to Melbourne. Beyond cricket and Bollywood, their success, their numbers, their exuberance and their visibility are starting to exert influence on a range of national interest issues, from border rows to trade disputes.
The demographic dividend beyond India's shores will allow New Delhi to speak both from a position of strength and with a sense of confidence.
But success also comes with perils.Whether in Alabama or Australia, the dangers of ethnic and racial stereotyping are no less than in India, a country that itself comes up short in the way it treats its less fortunate. With growing power there will also come responsibility. American exceptionalism is said to have defined US dominance in the 20th century. India, in its quest for global status, will have to identify its own exceptional qualities that its dynamic diaspora and travelling hordes will carry across the world in a way that will earn respect and admiration.
Directions: Read the following passage carefully and answer the question given below it. Some words have been printed in bold to help you locate them while answering some of the questions
1. What does the author want to convey by the statement “took on the aspect of Jaipur during the Holi festival”?
(a) That the MCG were full of colours, which we use in Holi
(b) That the MCG looked like Jaipur city during the Holi festival
(c) Because of the presence of the so many Indians in the MCG, anybody can feel the warmth and the essence of India.
(d) Adelaide was looking like Jaipur during Holi
(e) None of the above
2. What are the similar sentiments that were expressed in the Madison Square Garden?
(a) The people wanted to hear the India PM’s speech
(b) The people want to witness the Indian PM’s visit
(c) Presence of Indian in large number In MSG can prove how the Indian people are outnumbering on the international scale
(d) The people of India can go anywhere in order to show their support for Indian PM and Indian Cricket Team
(e) None of the above
Directions: Which of the following words is most opposite in meaning of the word printed in bold as used in the passage?
3. Throngs
(a) horde
(b) flock
(c) mass
(d) multitude
(e) scattering
4. Exuberant
(a) lively
(b) eager
(c) lethargic
(d) vivacious
(e)zappy
5. Unbribled
(a) rampant
(b) controlled
(c) runaway
(d) unstoppable
(e) unquenchable
Directions: Which of the following words is the same in meaning as the word printed in bold as used in the passage:
6. Razzamatazz
(a) fun-fare
(b) excitement
(c) extravaganza
(d) carnival
(e) gaiety
7. Fervour
(a) apathy
(b) ardour
(c) indifference
(d) detachment
(e) lack of concern
Answers Key:
1. c
2. c
3. e
4. c
5. b
6. b
7. b
No comments:
Post a Comment