One of my biggest disappointments in life is the the batter I loved watching the most in my 20s is such a toxic combination of ignorance and bigotry.
You score 8500 test runs, 2 full triple centuries & almost a historically third triple century in test cricket.
But sanghi insecurity is drilled so deep that a simple T20 loss to Pakistan & you're actively tweeting anti-Muslim hatred and random Hindu self-pity.
This dude pretends to be all buddy buddy with Indian Muslim teammates and pakistani cricketers, but one loss by a team he's not even part of and he's tweeting rabid anti-Muslim dog whistles using imaginary sanghi tropes instead of just saying, well played, Pakistan.
BTW, the article @AatishTaseer passionately posts (which I read and scoffed at years ago) as a "mea culpa" is still less about calling out sanghism for the straightforward fascism it is. Blames lack of some mythical "real education". I've rarely read a lazier writer in the Times.
"perhaps the cynics are right" and "India will have to make do with the modi they have" are not the anti-Modi statements you think they are, Aatish. You're still trying to blame everyone but yourself and the fascists.
"Authoritarianism is one thing" is such a telling bit. Aatish was all cool with Modi the authoritarian as long as the authoritarianism was in line with his priorities. What bothers him (and Tavleen) is that this authoritarianism no longer is on their side. Niemoller type.
I remember a similar bit from some Jan 6 right wing terrorists crying "they are treating us like we are black".
Aatish or Tavleen have never had a problem with authoritarianism. They are just shocked SHOCKED that their Muslim heritage is being used against them by the BJP.
Throwback to the day we visited the most instagrammed game of thrones arrowhead mountain upthread but the highlight of the day were these extremely friendly and hardy dogs playing fetch with some pretty hardcore stuff! They reminded us of Andre the Giant in Princess Bride. 😍😍
It was so cutely bizarre. Extremely friendly, while keeping their distance. Calmly bringing rocks to play fetch with instead of a ball and spiky logs like they are twigs. 😂😂
Alright, let's make this a "dogs from our travels" thread.
Colombia dogs are unlike any I've ever seen. They are everywhere. But not feral or territorial, because locals & govts take care of them. That's true all over South America though.
Forget puristry. Test cricket even now only exists because of the players who play test cricket. We fans can sit and armchair it all we want. Test cricket will only live until players want to play it. Dhoni walked away from tests for T20s. He could be a pioneer or aberration.
In pure economic terms, test cricket stopped making sense in the 90s. If it was all about the money and what fans want, test cricket would have died by now. We "purists" and "test enthusiasts" love to pretend we are the saviors of the game. We aren't. It's the players.
The last few years have been an absolute golden age of test cricket. In quality of cricket and even general following. But that's by test cricket standards. Revenue wise, test cricket is more an opportunity cost than anything. The only real stakeholders are the players.
Diwali is around the corner, so prepare for a most bizarre outcome of American "soft power". The made-up "war on Diwali" that Indian fascists have blatantly copied from Fox News types. The war on Diwali is like the war on Christmas. It doesn't exist. It's a fascist tantrum.
The origins of the "War on Christmas" are very recent.
It's simple.
The American constitution prohibits the govt from favoring a religion.
So ACLU and other constitutional rights activists said, it should not be officially celebrated by govts.
Courts agreed. Logical argument.
All that meant was that govts could not say "Christmas display" cos USA has no official religion, but something like "Holiday display" was cool because most people celebrate that time.
Christmas is still THE biggest holiday in America, if not the world. Except in govt offices.
Every few days, a Puneri kaka will appear in my mentions with some bigoted "observation" with a smiley assuming it will be the last word. And then get upset when me, another Puneri kaka, calls their observation bullshit. And act very offended to be out-kaka-ed. It's hilarious!
Kaka, jar dusre vichaar paTat naahit tar koNi saangitla Twitter var yaayla aaNi mentions madhye shiraayla? Tikde insta FB WA aahet na? Tikde raha!
Ugich ikde yeun dhungaN daakhavla tar laath basNaarach, na?
Bhau, stop trying this aggrieved passive aggressive rhetorical question tactic to deflect from your bigotry. I'm a fellow Puneri brahmin. Won't work with me. And you're no Savarkar or Godse to get away with that tactic.