Monkey Menace

I seriously suspect that during the upcoming tour of India by Pakistan, Mohammad Yousuf, with his excellent skills with a cricket bat, penchant for scoring runs and, not to forget, a flowing beard with a shaven moustache, is going to be targeted by the crowds at some part of India or the other.

We Indians are hugely racists, if the definition of racism is taken from western books. The only difference is that in India, a dark complexioned person can invite occasional taunts from their own parents and siblings. This makes it difficult for us to believe about the existence of the problem itself.

The problem is that we are still very raw and unsophisticated while dealing with many things and especially when it comes to public behaviour. At a traditional level, Indian might be more tolerant than others but the modern Indian society still has not come in terms with the true definitions of plurality. Our ineffectual education system, ostrich like attitude and hypocrisy does not help.

Having said all that, I also believe the taunts to Symonds were primarily taunts only and it was merely a case of even more taunting when the aggressors realise that their victim is getting affected. One can come across such juvenile behaviour in high school and college classroom where students keep finding ways of mocking their teachers by making monkey noises and mimicking a dog’s barking and cat’s mewing. Symonds had openly tried to take on the entire country and people, in addition to the players, when he said that the Indian reactions to the twenty20 win were 'vulgar'. Most people noticed a streak of bullying in his comments and behaviour on and off the field. That also explains why he was roundly booed as well, with or without monkey chants. Of course, this does not exonerate those involved. But it merely explains exactly how a particular character managed to bring out the inherent boorish behaviour of the Indian masses, and may be the so-called classes.