Ashis Nandy on T20
Outlook has this Q & A with Ashish Nandy:
Will the loss of Test cricket be lamented in India?Read the whole thing, it’s here.We have lost the language of lament in modern India. That is why Indian creativity in social knowledge has been so cramped. Modernity can become creative only when you have thinkers like Nietzsche or Dostoevsky, who recognise what we have lost in being modern. That sense of loss humanises society. We Indians are only supposed to celebrate the gains of progress, not the losses. I doubt if many will miss Test cricket.
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Why do Bollywood and cricket unite India?
They do so because only three areas of our life—cricket, cinema (Bollywood) and crime—recognise capability wholeheartedly and unconditionally. Unlike other channels of social mobility, these have no caste or religious prejudices and are least bothered about social background and polish. That’s why all three areas have become so important for so many Indians and have acquired a pan-Indian presence. They are the three most popular professions today.
He is bang on with the first one about ‘lament’.
Comment by Anil — October 4, 2007 @ 4:59 pm
Ashish Nandy is a thinker well worth reading. Interesting idea about cricket and cinema being not being bothered by social background and polish. In sport, when not contaminated by illicit drugs, it is performance that counts.
Comment by Candadai Tirumalai — October 30, 2007 @ 1:43 pm