The dust has finally settled on what has been known in the cricket world as "Monkeygate". The terrible misunderstanding that brought the cricketing relations between India and Australia to the brink of breakdown has been cleared.
Oh, I would have given my left hand to be a fly on the wall when Harbhajan Singh cleared the air with Andrew Symonds. But since I couldn't (that is, be a fly on the wall), I did the next best thing. I found out from my ever reliable sources what had actually happened.
And now I have on good authority that Bhajji, with his conscience clear that he had never used the Monkey word, simply walked up to Symonds and explained things man-to-man.
Harbhajan told Symonds, "Hey, mate, I never called you monkey. You know us Indians. We won't -- we can't-- make racial remarks. I just made some polite comments about your Mother's private parts. Hope that's OK with you."
It apparently was. Not just with Symonds, but with Cricket Australia, too. Apart from general good sense prevailing, money played an important role in sorting out the misunderstanding. Once the financial implications of the Board for Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) asking the Indian team to abandon the Australian tour hit Cricket Australia (CA), the rest was easy.
In case the tour had been aborted, CA would have to had to pay huge amount of money as damages to the sponsors. Besides, they ran the risk of being sued by the company which had bought the TV rights for telecasting the last edition of three-country one-day series hosted by Australia, featuring India, Australia and Sri Lanka.
Money can be such a persuasive thing. Just how persuasive it is, can be gauged from the fact that Symonds and Harbhajan are now likely to feature in an ad for an Indian chewing gum company.
Harbhajan's understanding of what constitutes a racial remark and what doesn't in the Australian context is clearly flawed, and Symonds hasn't picked up the finer nuances of Punjabi to understand that he wasn't being called a monkey, that it was just his mother's private parts that were being referred to. But both are more than aware that it is money and not love and fresh air that makes this world go around. A fact that was no doubt impressed upon both the players by their respective boards.
And now I have on good authority that Bhajji, with his conscience clear that he had never used the Monkey word, simply walked up to Symonds and explained things man-to-man.
Harbhajan told Symonds, "Hey, mate, I never called you monkey. You know us Indians. We won't -- we can't-- make racial remarks. I just made some polite comments about your Mother's private parts. Hope that's OK with you."
It apparently was. Not just with Symonds, but with Cricket Australia, too. Apart from general good sense prevailing, money played an important role in sorting out the misunderstanding. Once the financial implications of the Board for Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) asking the Indian team to abandon the Australian tour hit Cricket Australia (CA), the rest was easy.
In case the tour had been aborted, CA would have to had to pay huge amount of money as damages to the sponsors. Besides, they ran the risk of being sued by the company which had bought the TV rights for telecasting the last edition of three-country one-day series hosted by Australia, featuring India, Australia and Sri Lanka.
Money can be such a persuasive thing. Just how persuasive it is, can be gauged from the fact that Symonds and Harbhajan are now likely to feature in an ad for an Indian chewing gum company.
Harbhajan's understanding of what constitutes a racial remark and what doesn't in the Australian context is clearly flawed, and Symonds hasn't picked up the finer nuances of Punjabi to understand that he wasn't being called a monkey, that it was just his mother's private parts that were being referred to. But both are more than aware that it is money and not love and fresh air that makes this world go around. A fact that was no doubt impressed upon both the players by their respective boards.
So, a compromise was reached, an agreement was hammered out, a joint statement stated Harbhajan had never called Symonds a monkey. All he had used was a swear word which is pretty common in the land he comes from. Everyone, from the BBCI boss, Sharad Pawar to Sachin Tendulkar to Anil Kumble to the Australians, were so happy when it emerged that nothing racial was said. There was just the little matter of some unsavoury remarks about Symonds' mother.
Once the racial charge didn't stick, it appeared to be acceptable to everyone around that an international cricketer had used abusive language about a fellow cricketer's mother. I can't quite remember the last occasion when so many people were so relived and so happy about an international sports person using such foul language in public.
It is odd that no one found what Harbhajan really said as far more offensive than what he was originally alleged to have said. May be it is some misplaced macho sports ethics where it is ok to say something so distasteful about a fellow player's mother, yet get away with nothing more than a light slap on the wrist. May be I am too old fashioned.
Wonder if someone's checked with Mrs. Symonds about what she makes of the whole thing.
Harbhajan should consider himself extremely lucky that the man at the receiving end of his verbal volley was a cricketer called Symonds and not a footballer answering to the name of Zindine Zidane.
France's most celebrated footballer, Zidane is as famous for leading his country to World Cup glory in 1998 as he is for headbutting Italian defender, Marco Materazzi in the 2006 World Cup finals after the latter made allegedly abusive comments about Zidane's mother and sister. In a post-match interview Zidane said he didn't regret what he had done. He said anyone who insulted his mother or sister had it coming to him.
Zidane is obviously such a bad sport. Lucky he plays soccer, not cricket. That kind of defiant talk is not taken lightly by international cricket administrators, who are forever drafting new laws to curb proliferation of bad behaviour and unsportsmanlike conduct in the game of cricket.
After all cricket is not a contact sport like soccer and is still very much a gentleman's game.
As for you lot who might have thought otherwise in the wake of the Sydney Test, I hope you do remember what Harbhajan said to Symonds. You wouldn't want me to repeat it, would you?
Once the racial charge didn't stick, it appeared to be acceptable to everyone around that an international cricketer had used abusive language about a fellow cricketer's mother. I can't quite remember the last occasion when so many people were so relived and so happy about an international sports person using such foul language in public.
It is odd that no one found what Harbhajan really said as far more offensive than what he was originally alleged to have said. May be it is some misplaced macho sports ethics where it is ok to say something so distasteful about a fellow player's mother, yet get away with nothing more than a light slap on the wrist. May be I am too old fashioned.
Wonder if someone's checked with Mrs. Symonds about what she makes of the whole thing.
Harbhajan should consider himself extremely lucky that the man at the receiving end of his verbal volley was a cricketer called Symonds and not a footballer answering to the name of Zindine Zidane.
France's most celebrated footballer, Zidane is as famous for leading his country to World Cup glory in 1998 as he is for headbutting Italian defender, Marco Materazzi in the 2006 World Cup finals after the latter made allegedly abusive comments about Zidane's mother and sister. In a post-match interview Zidane said he didn't regret what he had done. He said anyone who insulted his mother or sister had it coming to him.
Zidane is obviously such a bad sport. Lucky he plays soccer, not cricket. That kind of defiant talk is not taken lightly by international cricket administrators, who are forever drafting new laws to curb proliferation of bad behaviour and unsportsmanlike conduct in the game of cricket.
After all cricket is not a contact sport like soccer and is still very much a gentleman's game.
As for you lot who might have thought otherwise in the wake of the Sydney Test, I hope you do remember what Harbhajan said to Symonds. You wouldn't want me to repeat it, would you?
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