In case you have been living under a rock, India lost the semi-finals of the Cricket World Cup to Australia yesterday. Of course, most of us were disappointed, but seeing that nobody expected India to reach this far in the tournament, I think it’s a big deal for Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Co. to win seven matches in a row. India’s loss at the World Cup was still not reason enough to make my blood boil; it was the disgusting assumption that it was Anushka Sharma‘s presence at Sydney that made Virat Kohli ‘not perform well enough‘. The man had a bad day at cricket. How many of us can claim to have 100% productivity each day at work?
It started as a joke by some people on the Internet which later turned into a full blown hate-fest. Calling the actress ‘bad luck‘, ‘a distraction‘ and other unmentionable things, people (both men and women) took the pathetic joke to new lows. Of course scumbags like KRK and other losers joined in the defamation of the actress, but that’s exactly how people other than their mothers will pay them any attention.
The most annoying part is that vermin like KRK don’t have to deal with FIRs or defamation charges; they are just re-tweeted, laughed at or ignored. Is it because a lot of us are inherently misogynists? Do we think it’s ‘okay‘ at the end of the day to speak crap about a public figure? Especially if it has nothing to do with her work or something she said? I don’t think so. Thankfully, a LOT of people agree with me and I saw people rightly calling out the ones blaming Anushka for India’s loss. Celebrities, normal people and some sane news anchors publicly shamed the people who thought it was funny to call someone’s girlfriend (who was there to support her partner) ‘manhoos‘. Funnily enough, Virat has never been blamed for an Anushka Sharma starrer that hasn’t worked well at the box-office. So if this isn’t misogyny, I don’t know what is.
But, as I said before, the positives outnumbered the negatives and an overwhelmingly large number of people were saddened by the behaviour of a few Indian fans. I just wish there’ll be a day when the presence of a famous woman supporting her famous partner (and vice versa) is not considered good or bad luck, but just a sweet gesture.