I don’t usually watch Koffee With Karan but I have my cravings for Bollywood gossip which drives me to watch episodes during my office timings. The last episode I had watched was Karan Johar talking with the team Bahubali, (S.S. Rajamouli, Prabhas and Rana Daggubati), which I fairly enjoyed as I peeked out of the wall that Bollywood superstars have built. After that, I missed the next episode where the Kapoor siblings (Sonam, Rhea and Harsh) have a chat with Karan.
But I was excited for the following episode where for the first time, two cricketers were going to be present on the glamourous chat show. As an ardent cricket fan, I was really looking forward to watching the episode and knowing a bit more about what goes on in the cricketing world and it was really amazing as they had brought a rather enthusiastic Hardik Pandya and a calm, composed KL Rahul together on the show. As the show commenced, I skipped Karan introducing the two stars that I had already seen on the field donning the blue jersey.
As they descended on the couch, I expected a real fun episode with KL Rahul revealing things about his buddy Hardik Pandya. But what followed was a total blasphemy that kicked off when Pandya said, “I asked my parents if they were sure I was their child. Had they swapped me with a West-Indian child?” Now I would like to understand what sort of comment that was but I just cannot process his way of thinking. But without getting judgmental, I further watched the episode and discovered some horrific statements that were cringe-worthy as well as unnecessary.
Narrating what he does at a nightclub, Pandya stated that there is not much talking there and I keep watching what happens and observe how they (the women) move. While his so-called 'observation' is about how the girl moves around him and if she’s throwing out indications, there's a difference between searching for a connection and being a creep.
And further, Pandya chose to justify this by declaring that he ‘is a little from the black side’ and had to see first how they (girls) moved. I still don’t understand how his prejudice towards the ‘black people’ works but this was outright wrong and totally offensive.
I am still cringing over his face while describing this. Apparently, KJo was talking with Rahul over an incident of the Indian opener’s teenage days when his father had caught him with a condom. As the topic further drifted, this is what Pandya stated that his mother only used to give him a condom which is a really appreciative thing. But the national cricketer further said,
I have been open about everything with my family. When I lost my virginity, I told my family. They knew about it and were cool about it. When I lost my virginity, I told them aaj kar ke aaya. And my parents were like okay.”
Virginity is a sensitive and personal subject and it's progressive that Indians are openly talking about it, but being a national sportsperson and a youth icon, isn’t it stupid of Hardik Pandya to talk about losing it and signifying it as some sort of achievement. I personally feel that he must have mistaken stupidity for coolness when grins and blurts out, ‘Aaj Kar Ke Aaya’. The way he said things just doesn't feel right because in 2019, such misogynistic statements by influential people ruins the progressive wave which came in only last year.
Continuing further about how open (in a weird manner) he is with his family, Pandya exclaimed that once when he was with his family at a party, his mother and father saw some girls and asked Pandya, "Isme se tera konsa konsa hai?"
To which he replied by pointing towards some (maybe all), "Ye, Ye, Ye." He stated that he told his parents that he had some sort of relationship with everyone. To which, he claimed his family replied with a sense of awe. Surprisingly, the Indian all-rounder here has made misogynistic comments by objectifying the girls but he seems to think he is some sort of Casanova who can charm everyone and just by pointing towards anyone would make that person 'his'.
A rather shocked Karan Johar was a mere spectator in Pandya trying to play it out cool.
All I want to convey here must be understood properly. I am not an advocate of good or bad and I am in no position to judge Pandya, but as a random spectator from the audience, I feel that he must realise that it is okay talking with his friends about such things where such discussions usually are teased. But he was talking on national television where thousands of his fans idolise him and look up to him. He is not the wild youngster he once was and has grown proportionately in comparison what he was when he began.
He is free to speak what he wants to; he is free to do what he wants to do. But there are certain etiquettes when you are a national celebrity; when you are more than Hardik Pandya and you have certain responsibilities that define your image in front of people as an Indian. For these aren’t just words that ‘with great power comes great responsibility’ and there is a difference between playing it out cool and being stupid.
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