From the chronicles of the obvious: Thackeray has claimed cheerleaders seduce the spectators in a stadium. [link]
“I am a lover of good sports and music. It is the secret of my cheerfulness. I have a special affinity towards cricket. But till now only cricket was played in the field.
Of course, there Thackeray has conveniently forgotten when his thugs dug up cricket pitches to prevent Pakistan from playing in India during the 90s, thereby disrupting, you guessed it, the game of cricket. So much for loving the game.
However, now things are changing with the bringing of cheergirls to seduce the crowd,”
He also claimed the stadium was being turned into a dance bar. The question for Thackeray is “so what?”. Assuming what he was saying was true, what is so wrong with a dance bar, since no one is being forced to do anything against their will?
The he resorts to arguments that would put Godwin to shame.
“At a time when farmers in Vidarbha and Marathwada region are committing suicide because they are burdened by debts, it is not clear what the people, who are pumping money to bring cheergirls, want to convey,”
Speaking of confusing apples with papayas. Or if we want to go by Thackeray’s warped logic, I’m not sure what the Thackeray sponsored Michael Jackson concert in the 90s achieved for these same farmers.
My entire reaction to cheerleaders in the IPL? Personally, I have no problem with cheerleaders being a part of any sport. Their purpose in cricket, besides being a novelty and buzz-creators, is unclear to me. Once the infatuation wears off, it will either be accepted or rejected by public opinion. If it stays, and that’s a big if, cheerleaders in the IPL will, over time, evolve into more Indianized versions. I highly doubt the economics of importing NFL cheerleaders will work over longer periods of time. If the cheerleading trend sticks, lets say over 2-3 years, then public demand and economics have worked themselves out and it would become an integral part of the game, and by some perverse default, a part of “Indian culture”.
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