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The One v/s. Sawa lakh maths is a
tough thing, Bhajji
Dilwala Singh
 What
kind of accolades has cricketer Harbhajan Singh brought to his
community? There is absolutely no need for Indian cricket fans to
rejoice over the so called victory in the case involving Harbhajan
Singh.
Official Indian
establishment and the Board of Control for Cricket in
India
flexed financial muscles to save Harbhajan from serving a ban.
Clearly, at least this one Sikh young man suits the establishment.
Cricket, we were told, is a gentleman's game. It is now clear what
the BCCI and India considers gentlemanly behavior.
What kind of
countrymen celebrate the occasion when their players are caught
hurling sexually explicit expletives and are fined for so doing? Or
should our young ones now learn these new lessons of interpersonal
conduct on the field and in their lives where it is okay to use
expletives as long as you don't let it make racial. Subtlety in
hurling slurs was celebrated with bhangras and Indian TV channels
declared victory since the ICC lifted the 3-match ban on the player.
 There is one
thing Indian cricketer Harbhajan Singh can do nothing about -- the
fact that he is a Sikh, looks one, and is recognised as one. He must
be a good cricketer; at least that is what we are given to
understand. But he seems to be one hell of a PR disaster.
Mindlessly, he will appear in liquor advertisements, becomes partner
in hair cutting saloons and then withdraws, almost utter four letter
words on the ground and unleash the adolescent in him at the first
available opportunity and almost always in full view of the TV
cameras.
Saner minds like
Tendulkar will stay away from all of these but Harbhajan would not
think twice before finding his foot and shoving it with the full
force of his existence into his mouth.
 He may be the
darling of Indian TV channels for a phase in his life but eventually
PR disasters live for long in the life of a celebrity. Few Sikhs
look upon him as an iconic hero from the faith community and the guy
has as much value as a stand up comic as in the role of a spinner on
the 22 yard stretch that is the length of
India's
attention span as a nation currently.
But after the
badgering in
Australia that
he received, from Aussie players as well as media and public in the
grounds, Harbhajan seems to lurch back towards the one source that
he thought will not fail him. In response to a query, he shot back
saying: "One Sikh is enough for 125,000 people."
How much does he
actually understand of the import and gravity of the words of the
tenth Sikh Master is a matter of debate but what is clear is that
Harbhajan Singh cannot simply wish away the fact of his religion,
not even when many Sikhs and the SGPC have written him off as a Sikh
idol. It is time the community must also understand his predicament
as a clearly identified Sikh on the ground in a billion eye-ball
game. It is all very well to say that we will rather have Ishmeet
Singh as an icon than a Harbhajan Singh but the fact remains that
the Sikhs need as many youthful icons as they can get. Also,
Harbhajan's remarks too suggest that he has finally found that he
does need his roots, roots that link him to his origins, links that
tie him to his faith community.
 In
Adelaide,
Harbhajan courted infamy by uttering the Punjabi choice abuse of
"Teri maa ki..." against Symonds. That he later escaped a ban and
was happy that he was merely found to have dragged someone's mother
into sledging and expletives may have given him momentary joy but it
is clear that he too found the need to quote the Tenth Master, Guru
Gobind Singh, rather than hide behind some angry soundbyte about
something he intended to do to the mothers of the Aussies. Life and
sportsmanship go beyond an ability to spin a ball, and if Harbhajan
harbours any hope of becoming the community's poster boy he will
have to do more.
We recognise
that he carries his religion on the ground because there is little
he can do about it; we will like him to carry his values too that
come with being a follower of that great religion. If the Tenth
Master's words are his inspiration, it is time to follow other
commandments of the Guru. If not, the Sikhs can well do without some
heroes.
8
March 2008
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