Hardik Pandya suffers from a lot of ailments. He can neither read nor write either in Gujarati or in Hindi. He has acute identity crisis,so much so that he considers himself a Caribbean,and a Black man and once even asked his parents if they were sure he was their own creation . Hardik could never focus on his studies . He proudly disclosed on Koffee With Karan that  he used to fail every exam yet his school somehow  (oh these same schools have bred liberals ) pushed him till the Tenth standard . Poor guy even conceded that he ditches his friends without compunction when hot women are around .Obviously all these was  said in lighter vein.

 

He is uncomfortable in his own brown skin ,which he strangely  assumes is  black .One might associate this with racism arising out of naivete ,but he concludes this  from his ‘cool’  quotient ,  upfront behaviour with females and love for dance moves  . But for a Cricket Board and a country which stood behind Bhajji during the Monkeygate ,it seems strange that they think that Hardick has  gone too far.  But here stands a guy who has the bravado  and pluck  to ask his parents if they are sure that he is their own   ? KwK  features these kind of  conversations .Hardik is that sort of a guy. At some level, all this is an act .But in a country bereft of any sense of humour ,everything,especially sex,  is laced with political venom .Feminists are forever on the lookout for  an opening . All the time .

 

Hats off to the parents of Hardick ,though .They kept faith in their son’s abilities and supported his cricketing career through thick and thin.This could not have been easy and must have required many sacrifices.They tolerated his pathetic grades,bore his awkward questions ,gave him sexual education and confidence enough so that Hardick ended up disclosing his loss of virginity to them .Their son did take some liberties and  turned  out to be a playboy, but rather than hounding him for his uncontrollable libido and philandering ways ,they tried to engage him by lending their patient ear and valuable counsel.So much so that their boy felt comfortable enough to list his various sexual partners before them.What more can parents do ? Wasn’t Anupam Kher as cool a baap in DDLJ ?

 

An Indian cricketer is supposed to be a national and cultural ambassador. Afterall ,he plays the gentleman’s game and is expected to uphold high moral and ethical codes ,unlike hooligan sports like football. A cricketer, more so an Indian one ,is expected to remain a virgin till marriage and faithful to his wife thereafter ,or atleast be discreet about his sexploits .He is supposed to blatantly  lie about his liasions ,if any frivolous person like Karan Johar happens to grill him about his sex life.A cricketer is a role model for kids,and Indian kids are not encouraged to talk about or indulge in sex .Since the airing of the Koffee episode,Indian parents are busy telling their kids as to how perverse Hardik is ,how disrespectful towards women,and how casual about his life and career.

“Just look at SRT ,or Virat ,or Bumrah .Learn from them.Learn from Dhoni.”

It must have been quite nightmarish for poor moms and dads ,who avoid discussing such uncomfortable topics with their offsprings ,this mayhem unleashed by this wannabe West Indian.

 

Hardick is frequently scolded by his captains on ground and he boasted that he grins his way through these moments .He can legitimately be accused of harbouring  poor aesthetic taste given that he finds Virat to be a better batsman than Sachin .Hardick also has loyalty issues as he considers Dhoni a better captain than Virat .Shreyas Iyer alleges Hardik doesn’t even flush his toilet properly .Rahul alleges and Pandya admits that the latter is an attention seeking diva. Like many hyper dudes in schools and colleges ,Pandya has a habit of spanking his friends (he says be targets guys’ ass,many others pound others’  backs as well).But does that qualify for sexual harassment or bullying ? Bullshit. Thats what the hoopla around this incident is.And Pandya is just a bullshitter,not even a proper bullshit artist.

 

As for the damage to his reputation,I don’t think Pandya could care any less,neither must  his potential dates.He has enjoyed a clean record so far.No woman has complained of any misbehaviour or even accused him of going back on any of his promises.No one has found him a creep.He didn’t take even one name on the show,unlike Dipika and Sonam some years back,who had trolled Ranbir quite openly .Clearly he knows how to navigate through murky waters. Hardik’s marriage prospects might suffer ,but his stardom and riches are not in doubt ,and hence his parents need not worry.

 

Feminists and tweetmasters have raised hell against him,and against the apparent misogyny which comes across in the show . Twitter has branded him as enemy number One. Even BCCI has issued him a notice,and quite publically so.He is being accused of not even bothering to ask the names of women he meets at nighclubs .He clearly explained that sometimes it becomes very difficult to hear,or remember names in such melee ,and since there is a lot to talk about, he tends to forget them .But for many,this is akin to outraging the modesty of the women he is hanging out with. Apparently his fetish for watching women move on the dance floor is also deeply disrespectful towards those he aims to hook-up with.Some super-prudes have a problem with his Instagram stalking of women.I wonder what Insta is for then ? For Disha Patni to post her lingerie pics ,and men to not look at them and rather block her ?

 

All these ‘main karke aya aj’ (after losing his virginity) and ‘ye,ye,ye’ (pointing sundry women to his parents  at a party when they asked ‘tera wala kaun sa hai’) would have been very cool had Hardick Pandya been the son of Rishi Kapoor or some ace industrialist.But given his desi Gujju, subaltern background,lack of intellectual pretensions and devil-may-care attitude,all this is intolerable cruelty for feminazis and holier-than-thou middle class tweeters.

“What a pretencious little prick ! Let us show him in bad light and earn some Fem-credits.”

 

A very disturbing example is when Karan asks what happens if both Rahul and Hardik end up liking the same woman. KL Rahul,the smart cookie that he is ,says it depends on the woman .Hardick ,the honest one,quips  ‘Aisa nahin hai,jisme talent hai leke jao’. Feminazis suggest that is it is the divine right of females to choose their probe . Pandya disagrees and suggests it depends upon the guy as well.One who has talent,or skills,or guts or anyhow manages to impress the woman ,takes her home. I don’t understand the hullabaloo being made.Is this not what dogs and peacocks do as well?

 

Today, Hardick finds himself  alone against this angry fusillade.His own Board has issued him a notice  .His Brand Managers have let him down.In face of trouble,he would have been advised to apologise and move on .He would have been shown the mortal fear of feminazis who might  label him as some kind of pernicious influence on civilised society  who is inspiring licentious behaviour and molestation.Poor guy had no choice,and hence he apologised with his tail between his legs.

 

Hardik Pandya needs to take this trash and trolls in his stride and move on.Crass he might be, cringeworthy even,but misogynistic he was definitely not (on the show). A playboy enjoys the same rights and should be enjoying the same freedom to express his sexuality as LGBTQI and Females.Fans expect him to be the next Kapil Dev.Instead he is  turning out to be a braggart who can give  Ian Botham a run for his money.I hope he goes onto break some records.If he breaks some beds and a lot of hearts along the way, I would still celebrate his cricketing exploits.