A month ago, we barely knew what a javelin was. Now we know what it is and everything about India’s gold medal winner Neeraj Chopra. And let’s face it, the fact that he is attractive looking means that he has received more attention than he would otherwise have as an Olympic gold medal winner. Everyone wants a piece of him and everyone wants to do something special. So when these Radio Jockeys interviewed and even danced for him it was a bit much.
Popular RJ Malishka tweeted this. There are a bunch of women dancing to ‘ude jab jab zulfein teri’.
On the laptop screen, we see Neeraj Chopra seeming to force a smile. Looking at the poor guy’s smile, my immediate thought was ‘if embarrassment had a face’.
Yes, this made me cringe, do question. I mean I was embarrassed for everyone: those women who decided that dancing would be some sort of tribute/entertainment; and for the poor guy who has been thrust into the limelight and all sorts of uncomfortable situations not of his own making.
Some felt that this was just a bit of fun and everyone should just lighten up.
This comment expresses the view that this is actually similar to some wedding traditions and that this was enjoyable.
People were soon trending this hashtag and calling out the RJs and the incongruous song and dance.
The rough translation of Chappri or Chhapri would, I think, be ‘attention seeking light-weights’.
Why? People were puzzled. What was the need for the song and dance in an interview?
This part of the interview is very uncomfortable-making. This would be perfectly normal behaviour in the circles that a Mumbai Based RJ would inhabit. For a young athlete from a small town, this would be just plain uncomfortable.
Some of the tweeple outraging against the incident said that had the genders been reversed; had a man danced for a woman this would have been called sexual harassment. That may be the case. It is also true that sexual harassment of men doesn’t receive the sort of attention that it should.
Yes, the behaviour of Malishka and the other RJs was inappropriate and it personally made me cringe. However, it was misguided and embarrassing more than anything else. To equate this to sexual harassment is unreasonable. The fact that these women received so much hate points to the fact that the actions of women face far more scrutiny and abuse than do men’s actions. The bottom line is that these women thought the dance would be funny and fun, but it wasn’t. It all backfired a bit.
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