Thanking Sachin the Bengali way
9 Nov 2013 3:19 AM IST
Bengalis have had to live with the cultural stereotype of being people who are ‘all talk, no work.’ Interestingly, the linguistic tribe, despite conquering the farthest of the world’s corners in search of academic or professional excellence, often live up to the persistent typecast, and give all of us, self-critical and self-flagellating Bengalis included, a chance to laugh about our singular inadequacies. The latest and a shining example is the comedy of errors that marked the penultimate test match played by the on-the-verge-of-retirement Sachin Tendulkar at the spectacular Eden Gardens. Naturally, the otherwise ‘Saurav Ganguly fanatics’ lapped up the chance to settle scores with the master blaster and actually kiss and make up this time round. So, the Dada- and Gurudev-loving clan decided to pay homage to the God of Cricket, keeping aside Ma Durga and her divine retinue. But as the heavens would have it, Bengalis, who don’t goof up, are hardly faithful to their kind and who better to demonstrate that honest love for Sachin and their own selves than the Cricket Association of Bengal?
So, after having made a faux pas in spelling Sachin’s name as ‘Sachine’ on the electronic scoreboard, the CAB blundered its way to score yet another self-goal, excuse the cross-sport metaphor. The scoreboard this time addressed Tendulkar’s wife as ‘Mr Anjali Tendulkar’, and the welcome message kept flashing long enough for everyone to get a good and hearty laugh about it. Of course, the CAB felt a trifle embarrassed, but then we could very well be presumptuous at this point. In other words, ‘Welcome Mr Anjali Tendulkar’ is hardly the indication of the Bengalis’ inefficiency or their repeated endeavours to make perfect fools of themselves. It is rather a toast to the glory of Sachin, with a little stand-up comedy thrown in. In fact, by misspelling the veteran batsman’s name, adding the extra ‘e’ at the end, what the Bongs wanted to prove was that irrespective of their constant and unending veneration of the consonant-heavy Ganguly, their vowel movements would always be about the little master. So there, thanksgiving just got a makeover, or not?
So, after having made a faux pas in spelling Sachin’s name as ‘Sachine’ on the electronic scoreboard, the CAB blundered its way to score yet another self-goal, excuse the cross-sport metaphor. The scoreboard this time addressed Tendulkar’s wife as ‘Mr Anjali Tendulkar’, and the welcome message kept flashing long enough for everyone to get a good and hearty laugh about it. Of course, the CAB felt a trifle embarrassed, but then we could very well be presumptuous at this point. In other words, ‘Welcome Mr Anjali Tendulkar’ is hardly the indication of the Bengalis’ inefficiency or their repeated endeavours to make perfect fools of themselves. It is rather a toast to the glory of Sachin, with a little stand-up comedy thrown in. In fact, by misspelling the veteran batsman’s name, adding the extra ‘e’ at the end, what the Bongs wanted to prove was that irrespective of their constant and unending veneration of the consonant-heavy Ganguly, their vowel movements would always be about the little master. So there, thanksgiving just got a makeover, or not?
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