The Observer Volume 21 Issue 14

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The Observer An IIJNM publication

Women living alone find it very difficult to get accommodation in the Karnataka capital | P 2

Vol. 21, Issue 14

Website: http://www. theweeklyobserver.in

People are adopting veganism but food items aren’t readily available and are expensive | P 3

Employers think that males are more capable

By Shristi Achar A

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A study done by Coursera says India has the highest female learners across the world; however several news reports have said only 14 percent women hold STEM jobs | Credit: Shristi Achar women. Usually, if the working conditions demand night hours, then men are preferred. But there are some women who do take on such roles as well,” she said.

The perception is that men are more capable of practical and technical thinking, Napses added.

Shylaja R, a former COO of a

Epaper: https://issuu.com/ theweeklyobserver/docs

Saturday, November 20, 2021

Girls graduate in tech in large numbers, but not many get jobs espite graduating from engineering and technology colleges in large numbers, few girls get employment in them, say women professionals.

Isha Doshi, an associate consultant from Mumbai, informed The Observer: “I don’t know the reason, but there is a trend I see; with each level of seniority, the number of female employees in IT companies is less.”

A study titled ‘Women and Skills Report’ by Coursera, released earlier this year, said India has the highest female learners across the world, with two major courses being computer programming and machine learning.

Champa Napses, a software architect from Bengaluru agrees the gender ratio is skewed. “I have seen more men in the field than women. Though I have not faced any rejection, I have heard about it happening to other

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software company, concurs. “Definitely there is a bias. The perception of people in coding is that of highly intelligent men who only think in certain ways. No one relates such occupations with women. And especially if the boss is a woman, she is perceived to be ‘bossy’ or someone with attitude.”

Minister of Education Dharmendra Pradhan, in a written response in the Lok Sabha in July 2021, said the percentage of female graduates in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) at the tertiary level is higher compared to developed nations like the US, UK, Germany and France.

However, several news reports since then have said that only 14 percentage of women hold STEM jobs. A similar statistic was quoted by Smriti Irani, minister of Women and Child Development in the year 2019, at the Women’s Science Congress.

Even small facilities placed in support of women help them in their careers, Shylaja said. “My former organisation had a daycare in their campus. And the office was near my house. Such facilities helped me manage having a family and a satisfying career. These are small things, but they reduce the pressure of having to balance the two by a lot.”

While multiple studies and reports on this issue talk about the increase in number of female graduates of STEM, the gender ratio is still rather imbalanced. ►Continued on page 2

News briefs Indore, Chhattisgarh are cleanest city, state In the Swachh Survekshan 2021 awards presented by President Ram Nath Kovind, Indore has bagged the ‘‘cleanest city’’ award for the fifth time in a row. Surat and Navi Mumbai bagged the second and third positions respectively. Chhattisgarh has been awarded the cleanest state award in the annual cleanliness survey.

17 people reported dead in Andhra rain Following incessant rain in Andhra Pradesh, 17 people have been reported dead and 100 are missing. Visuals from Tirupati show hundreds of pilgrims trapped in massive floods. A three-storey building collapsed in Anantapur city, killing three women and a child.

Two ships will join the Navy tomorrow, Nov 25 Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will inaugurate the commissioning ceremony of Indian Navy Ship (INS) Visakhapatnam, the firstguided missile ship of Project 15B on November 21. It will be held in the Naval Dockyard of Mumbai.

Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Karambir Singh will be the chief guest at the commissioning of INS Vela on November 25.

Young people who want to be own Self-help books gave bosses turn towards freelancing peace in the pandemic Enjoy freedom, undeterred by erratic payouts

By Simran Sharma

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espite irregular payments, many young people are freelancing alongside doing their regular jobs.

Riya Agarwal, 21, a freelancer who has a job, informed The Observer: “I chose to freelance because it gave me the freedom to work with different types of projects at the same time. Working according to your schedule, no one being your boss, having flexible

Freelancers enjoy being their own boss and have flexible working hours | Credit: Simran Sharma working hours are the reasons why I chose freelancing.

One should ask for advance payments to avoid facing any problem in the future , she added.

Many freelancers have faced irregularities in payments. Anisha Jain, 21, a student who freelances, said: “It is the most flexi-

ble job as you work on your own time and your payment terms. I know a lot of people who switched to freelancing because their jobs were underpaid and overburdening. They felt freelancing was more rewarding. Some months you get a lot of money for the work, and sometimes you don’t.”

She advised freelancers to clearly state their terms & conditions to avoid any problems.

Kavya Singh, a student, had asked a freelancer to write a resume and cover letter. “She made her terms & conditions clear at the beginning and we fixed a priceI paid some amount in advance and the rest amount after the work was done,” she said. ►Continued on page 2

By Swarali Bodas

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here was a significant rise in the publication and readership of self-help books in 2020 among youngsters because of the Covid 19 pandemic.

Srikant K, manager of The Bookhive, Church Street, informed The Observer: “There was a surge in the purchase of selfhelp genre books last year in the first unlock. Many students from the city came to buy books like Rich Dad Poor Dad, Who Moved My Cheese and Atomic Habits.”

According to a WHO survey, the Covid-19 pandemic has disrupted critical mental health services in 93 percent of the countries worldwide while the demand for men-

tal health is increasing. As a result of this, people suffering from mental health issues are going for alternative means to make themselves feel better, said Manasi Likhite, a Mumbai therapist.

“Self-help books are those books which aim at giving people tips and hacks to deal with certain psychological problems, change behaviourial and habititual patterns. Basically to improve their quality of life,” she added.

Sanidhya Sharma, 21, advertiser at The Glitch, a creative agency, said: “I read Atomic Habits and The Almanac.“They made me understand why I lacked motivation, and why it was essential to counter that.” ►Continued on page 3

CITY

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The Observer Saturday, November 20, 2021

Women living alone find it hard to get accommodation in B’luru

Say restrictions by landlords are unreasonable

By Saumyangi Yadav

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omen living alone in big cities like Bengaluru struggle to find a home as people are unwilling to rent out apartments to them.

Sugandha Agarwal, 25, a software engineer who came to Bengaluru in 2018 for her job, informed The Observer: “For bachelors like us, and especially for women, searching for an apartment is problematic. You have to look for safe locations, easy commute and… other factors. On top of that, people do not want to rent out apartments to single women for some reason.”

Even if they get an apartment, single women say, a lot of “unreasonable” restrictions are imposed on them. “These… are imposed on us on the pretext of our own safety. They make us feel that being a woman, we have to follow certain rules just because the times are not good. We are asked not to stay out too late. I cannot invite people over as every male friend that visits me is seen as my boyfriend,” Agarwal added.

There are safety concerns too.

Divya Arora, 25, a backend programmer at Infosys, shared:

Around the city B Praak Live, Music Concert, XU Fashion Bar Kitchen, Bengaluru, Saturday, Nov 27, 6 pm.

Jo Bolta Hai Vahi Hota Hai feat Harsh Gujral, Comedy Show, Good Shepherd Auditorium, Bengaluru, Saturday, Nov 20 onwards at 6:30 pm.

Sunny Tunes, Music show, Hard Rock Cafe, Bengaluru, Suday, Nov 21 onwards at 1 pm Divine: Johnny Walker Revibe the Night, /usic show, UB City Arena, Bengaluru, Saturday, Nov 20 at 7.00 pm.

Wild Saturday Tiger Tiger Brew House, Tiger Tiger Brewhouse, Saturday, Nov 20 at 7 pm.

Nrityakatha 2021, classical dance event, JSS auditorium, Jayanagar, Bengaluru, Saturday, Nov 20, 6 pm onwards

Quiz 1. In the popular TV sitcom Friends, what was Phoebe’s made up name?

2. How many categories of towels did Monica have?

3. What song does Ross sing for his pet monkey?

4. what was Chandler’s profession?

5. What was the breed of Rachel’s cat?

6. What disease’s poster did Joey model for? ►Answers on page 3

Single women need to consider various safety concerns while looking for an apartment in the city | Courtesy: Pexels.com “While I was living in my previous apartment, one night my broker got drunk and entered our flat. He verbally harassed us and asked us to pay the rent. Brokers are allowed free 24hour access to our flats which becomes a major concern for the women living there. They should be more respectful and considerate towards us as we are living alone in a new city.” No action was taken against the broker after the incident.

Single men in the city comparatively have it easy.Sahil Choud-

hary of HSR Layout said: “While looking for apartments, I did not face a lot of problems. Some of my friends did face some problems, but I easily got one using the app Nobroker.” His landlord does not impose any restrictions on him.

“Ideally, as it should be, my landlord doesn’t care about the time I go out or the time I come back or who comes to my flat.”

Aarti Hegde, who has rented out her apartment to single women, said: “People in my building complain about the tenants living in

my flat, especially if they are single women. A lot of times I get complaints from my neighbours that the women drink or smoke in my flat. We get complaints regarding their male friends visit them. Because of such persistent complaints, we often ask the women to leave. Other times, they themselves leave the building as people keep bothering them about their lifestyle.”

There is no law in India that penalises landlords who deny accommodation to women.

Anagha Kulkarni, a lawyer, explained: “These are private properties, so they can legally deny accommodation to people on any basis. Housing societies make their own bylaws, so there is nothing that the law can do for these women. If the contract that both these parties sign mutually mentions some particular rules and restrictions, then women can do nothing but abide by them.”

The government needs to invest in housing for working women “because as long as they are seeking private properties, they will have to face these problems,” Kulkarni further added.

In April 2021, the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) earmarked Rs 35 crore to build a government hostel for working women at Tardeo, central Mumbai. The Karnataka government has not taken any such initiative yet. saumyangi.y@iijnm.org

Citizen’s Voice Voters, don’t forget BJP called farmers terrorists The Centre repealed the three farm laws on November 18, after numerous deaths, and allegations by the BJP that the farmers were terrorists and Khalistanis. It’s not the unrelenting protests but the upcoming elections in UP and Punjab that made the government take this action. Let’s not forget the fight, and crimes against farmers, when we vote in the upcoming assembly elections.

Supriya Mehta

The silence of movie, sports stars is baffling After Modi announced to repeal the three farm laws, there was complete silence from Bollywood A-listers and prominent sportspersons on Twitter. The same people had tweeted en masse when an American pop star tweeted on the issue. It seems the fear of falling out of favour with the ruling party is weighing on their minds.

Sourasis Bose

Govts have ignored the need for police reform Police reforms are the need of the hour. Though various bodies — the National Police Commission in 1977, the Ribeiro Committee in 1998 and the Padmanabhaiah Committee in 2000 — recommended measures to improve the working of police forces, there has been no action by successive governments to implement them.

Jinit Parmar

Female students face Some companies do not bias in STEM colleges prefer hiring freelancers ►Continued from page 1 ccording to the All India Survey of Higher Education by Ministry of Education, the share of male students enrolled in engineering and technology colleges is 70.8 per cent, whereas female enrolment is only 29.2 per cent. While there are 73 women to 100 men in Bachelors in Computer Engineering, there are only 42 women per 100 men in Bachelors of Technology.

Shreya Grover, a student of Jaypee Institute of Information Technology, told The Observer: “My batch is of 30 students and I am the only girl there. The teachers are often sexist; they think a girl can’t think analytically and practically. There are boys in my class who don’t even know how to code, but you will almost never find girls who are like that.”

Asked about her peers’ attitude, she while her peers have been supportive, the placement process was problematic. : “Due to perks like diversity hiring for females, they think that we get an advantage over them.”

Debangi Mukherjee, an electronic and communication engineering student, said: “In some of interviews, employers pointed out to me that I needed guidance

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from a proper mentor because coding is a sector where majority of men have qualified.”

Dr Ritu Dewan, Vice President at the Indian Society for Labour Economics, says that this gender parity is a result of not only the existing systemic patriarchy, but also because of increased unemployment. “In the current economy, it is obvious that unemployment is high, especially amongst the youth. So when there so few jobs, there will be an increased competition, which leaves women at a disadvantage.

The attitude that women aren’t as technically capable, or they might have familial responsibilities, affect their possibility of getting hired. Problems like sexual harassment make it more difficult to hold onto jobs,” she said.

Dewan further added. “In recent times, we are seeing an increased level of intolerance towards any progress. So the progress that was somewhat being made in terms of gender equality, one can it slipping back; something that is called as the de-equalisation trend. So be it food, clothes or holding STEM jobs, one can see the current situation not getting better, if not worse”, she said. shristi.a@iijnm.org

►Continued from page 1 any students wish to freelance despite the challenges.

Jay Kumar Khedle, a 21-year-old student, said: “Payments are not very regular in this field and the flexibility of work depends on the client and the work that you are doing.

Still, I have chosen to freelance as I find it better than a regular job.”

The Observer found that many rganizations hire freelancers.

Pranita Bajoria, owner of Red in the White, an advertising agency, said she has been working with freelancers in her agency. Sindhu Biswal, who is head of digital marketing at Betterhalf, said her company hires freelancers to save time and to get better work done.

Aditya Agarwal,owner of The Ad Network, said: “We don’t hire freelancers because we want full commitment from our employees.

Hiring freelancers is quite expensive if the work is recurring as they charge per content piece whereas employees working fulltime take a fixed salary.”

Prof. S.R. Keshawa, an economics professor with Bengaluru University, said: “Every economy transforms as it progresses. The trend is changing towards the gig economy where employment is

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Freelancing provides flexibilty to students | Credit: Simran Sharma temporary as well as flexible. As of today, youths wish to be independent and do not want to work for 8 to 10 hours a day. They prefer jobs which they can do when they wish and work with different people. It is not only lucrative but also gives them job satisfaction.”

A survey done by market researcher YouGov in collaboration with Mint reported that 80 percent of working adults believe freelancing is a good alternative to full-time jobs and they might take it up in the future. Around 2,709 respondents out of a total of 5,038 were millennials, and 1,188 from Generation-Z. simran.s@iijnm.org

LIFESTYLE

The Observer Saturday, November 20, 2021

Low demand makes vegan food unaffordable for enthusiasts People confused over PETA certification

By Tina Freese

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any people want to turn to veganism, but it is exclusive to only a small section of society. Reason: Food items are not readily available and are extremely expensive.

Ankita Kumar, 25, a software engineer, tried being a vegan but could not sustain it. “I was a vegan for around 45 days and then quit. The lifestyle is very difficult to follow, especially in India.

There is a lot of confusion in the market regarding what product is vegan and what is not. Most of them are not even PETA certified.

Apart from that, the cost of living this way is very high. The cost of a litre of almond milk is 5 to 6 times more than regular milk.”

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals certifiesthose products that are animal free and vegan.

Abhinav Makker, 24, an analytics consultant, informed The Observer he wants to be a vegan but is unable to. “The vegan alternatives are not readily available, and there is also the cost issue.

Plus, dairy items dominate Indian diet. It is difficult to leave them. There will always be someone who will say, ‘why don’t you drink milk or eat curd?”

Vaidehi Ashar, 20, a student decided to go vegan because of the

Quiz answers 1.Regina Phalange 2.Eleven 3.The lions sleep tonight 4.Statistical analysis and data reconfiguration 5.Sphinx cat 6.Venereal disease

Twitterati Talk @SaketGokhale The victory of our farmers is theirs alone. ALL Opposition partie fought the law in Parliament.

Leaders from ALL Opp parties stood with farmers.The credit belongs neither to Modi nor to 1 leader.It goes the grit of farmers & the 700 martyrs who laid their lives #FarmLaws @Kisanektamorcha With the year long protest, farmers went thru’ alot. Fake allegations, torture by govt & wht not But at the end, won ovr the violence & aggression as Modi govt announces to take bck farm laws. #FarmersDefeatedArrogance @SriSri I congratulate PM @narendramodi ji for honoring the wishes of farmers. In a democracy, people’s wish should prevail. #FarmLaws

Vegan food can be made affordable by choosing homecooked meals over expensive market food | Courtesy: SampoornaAhara.com cruelty animals have to suffer.“I chose this lifestyle because I wanted to live a guilt-free life. I don’t want to hurt any animal for my sustenance. I faced a lot of problems initially because leaving dairy and looking at every product to ensure that they are vegan is tiring. But now after two years of living this way, I don’t find it very difficult to continue with this kind of lifestyle,” she said.

The cost of vegan products is higher than that of normal prod-

ucts. Almond milk and soy milk are substitutes to regular milk.They cost almost five times more.Cow’s milk is around Rs 5060 per litre and on the other hand almond milk ranges somewhere between Rs 250 and Rs 300.

Manoj Erappa, a veganism enthusiast and Instagram influencer, explained: “There aren’t a lot of vegans in the city, and that’s why the goods have a low demand and high cost. The manufacturing cost of these vegan

products is higher as they are produced in small quantities.”

Tax on plant-based milk is 1218 percent.This further increases the price of these products.

Dr Achyuthan Eswar,a lifestyle physician and co-founder of SampoornaAhara, a whole plantbased enterprise serving vegan meals, believes veganism can be made economical.“If you want to have milk, you can make it easily at home. All you need is two spoons of peanuts,” he said. People who want to adopt veganism can easily make it work by making a few lifestyle changes.

Sajid Rafiq Sheikh, a nutritionist, said: “There are numerous benefits of a vegan diet. The protein and carbohydrates that plants give are easier for the body to digest. Therefore, the body feels lighter and healthier. If people have indigestion problems or even diabetes, this diet can do wonders.” But he acknowledged that the diet is quite difficult to follow as some of the ingredients are not easily available and are costlier. “But one can easily avoid those costly items and eat a home-cooked vegan meal.”

According to a report released by Veganuary, a global vegan organization, Bengaluru stood sixth in the list of cities in the world to have the highest signups. London, Santiago, Buenos Aires and Berlin were the others in the list.

A report published by Citycast, an IIJNM student publication, said there was a rise in the sale of vegan sweets this Diwali. tina.f@iijnm.org

3 This day that year On this day in 2007, Amazon began selling the Kindle, a wireless electronic reading device that played a key role in popularizing e-books.The introduction of the Kindle was met with some skepticism, with doubts raised over who would pay the relatively high cost for the unit priced at $399 for its initial release even though titles for the Kindle generally cost less.

Nevertheless, Amazon.com sold out its entire inventory of the devices as soon as the product went on sale.

Quote A wise woman wishes to be no ones’s enemy; a wise woman refuses to be anyone’victim.

—Maya Angelou

Weather Maximum temp: 24°C Minimum temp: 20°C Precipitation: 20% Humidity: 78% Wind: 11 km/h

Sale of self-help books sees a rise in pandemic ►Continued from page 1 elf-help books were quite helpful for Muskan Bihani, a working professional, since they helped her maintain peace of mind even in tough situations. “During the pandemic, everything was very dull and stressful. These helped me find peace and also taught me how to be patient,” she added.

Rutuparn Kulkarni, a management student,from Mumbai said that these self-help books somewhat help readers. “I read Atomic Habits and it made my perspective wider and tried to make me a punctual person,” he said.

According to Goodreads, a website for book recommendations, 110 self-help books were published in 2019. This number increased to 124 in 2020.

There is a big market for selfhelp books, said Aruna Naidu, a self-publisher from Bengaluru.

“In the beginning of March 2021, for the self- help book I was publishing, we got 150 pre orders. By the month–end, we sold almost 3,000 copies. That is how demanding the self-help genre is.”

About the topics that come under self-help genre, she explained: “Motivational, healing,

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Motivational and mental health are some of the most read self-help books | Credit: Swarali Bodas spiritual and mental health are some of the major topics. Apart from that, now there are self-help books on other topics like finance, startups and women.”

“There were a lot of bulk orders from the corporate sector and some schools,” Naidu shared.

Yash Asrani, an NMIMS student, said self-help books enable

one to revamp one’s thought and provide a fresh perspective. “I read Ikigai, The Secret, and Grow Rich…. These books emphasized on the basics and taught me how consistency and honesty set successful apart from the rest.”

Swarangi Karnik, another student from Mumbai, said she read a few self-help books recommended on the Web. “I read Think Like a Monk and Who Will Cry When You Die during the pandemic as I was going through a rough phase. These are extremely helpful if you apply it in real life and do the exercises recommended by the authors.”

Therapist Likhite said: “A good self-help book has some roots in psychotherapy approach, so they guide well. Self-help books are like Band Aid. They will heal a scratch and a surface-level wound; they will be of no use in case the wound is deeper and requires deeper intervention.”

On the other hand, some people had a completely different view about these self-help books.

Joannmaria Mathew, a Reva University student, said that these self-help books don’t really help. “I think they will only help for few days, and after that you

are back to your old self.”

Ninad Gadre, a management student from Mumbai said of The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: “I read this book in the pandemic and did not like it one bit. The book is all over the place. It starts off well but fails to keep a grip over the readers and defeats the purpose of a self-help book.”

Asked why he chose to read it, he said: “It was all over social media, hence I was curious. The only good thing about the book was its branding and marketing.”

Amruta Sanjay, a graduate, accessed audio self-help books during the pandemic. “I had a major accident some months ago and was bedridden. I was stuck physically and mentally. That is when I heard about Ikigai and The Monk who sold his Ferrari. They taught me how to deal with negative thoughts and how to change my perspective of life.”

Some of the self-help books in the Amazon Best Sellers list of the year 2021 are The Power of Your Subconscious Mind by Joseph Murphy, Think like a Monk by Jay Shetty, Atomic Habits by James Clear and Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill. swarali.b@iijnm.org

CITY

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The Observer Saturday, November 20, 2021

With 1 cr vehicles, A game sans sportsmanship B’luru has high No. of accidents M Cricket: it is unclear if it is a game of colours and emotions or memes and abuse, writes Shristi Achar A

Easy access to driving licence and congestion on roads are the main causes of road accidents in the city | Courtesy: KPN

Recorded 646 deaths in 2020, says NCRB

By Saumyangi Yadav

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engaluru ranks third among 53 big cities to have the highest number road accidents, data show.

According to NCRB data, Chennai accounted for 4,389 accidents (9.2 percent) of the 47,289 road accidents in 2020 with 872 deaths; It was closely followed by the capital city Delhi, which had 4,028 (8.4 percent) cases and 1,151 deaths. Bengaluru reported 3,233 cases(6.8 percent) and 646 deaths.

Prof. M.N. Sreehari, the Karnataka government’s traffic adviser and transport infrastructure consultant, explained: “With an increasing population in the city, the number of vehicles has crossed the 1 crore mark. The vehicle density in the city is dangerously high. In addition to that, there are a lot of trees alongside roads, so the streetlights do not illuminate the road surface properly. There is construction work going on almost every road that further reduces the road capacity.

Another very important factor is the poor condition of the roads.

The roads are filled with potholes, making them accident-prone,” he informed The Observer.

Another reason for accidents and deaths could be a poor mangement of traffic on roads.

Sudastava, a 25-year-old fuel cell engineer who recently met with an accident, said: “It happened onNew BEL Road. I was turning to the right at a junction when a speeding bike that was on the wrong side of the road, rammed into my car.

There were no traffic police at

the junction at the time, when it happened, just a signal.”

Mohammad Irshad, 24, a businessman, shared his experience of a road accident: “It happened on Langford Road. A speeding car that was driving on the right side of the road bumped our vehicle with heavy force. There were no signals or cops at the point where the accident happened. Had there been a signal, maybe we could have avoided the accident.”

Yelahanka, Peenya and K.R. Puram are among the most accident-prone areas in the city.

Dr Prabhakar V, a doctor at Sri Venkateswara Hospital, Peenya, said: “We get road accident cases every other day. Mostly they are minor fractures and injuries. ”Sometimes the situation is more severe, with people suffering traumatic brain disease, paralysis or spinal cord injury. “Sometimes these conditions can get very serious and sometimes could lead to a fatality.”

Prof. Sreehari added: “It is very easy to get a driving licence in the city. You can do so just by completing a 10-day-training course.

This is a very dangerous thing as these drivers are not road experts on the road yet.”

Bengaluru ranks among the most congested cities globally. A report by TomTom Traffic Index said Mumbai ranked second and Bengaluru sixth in traffic congestion among 416 cities across 56 countries. Delhi was eighth and Pune 16th, according to the study carried by the Tom Tom indexafter the unlocking of cities.

Traffic congestion and poor roads in the city makes road accidents more likely to happen.

In October 2021, The Times of India reported that BBMP had failed to meet its promise to pay compensation for deaths or injuries because of potholes and bad roads in the past seven months. saumyangi@iijnm.org

Team Observer Editor: Shristi Achar A Reporters: Swarali Bodas, Tina Freese, Saumyangi Yadav, Simran Sharma, Shristi Achar A Copy editors: Tina Freese, Swarali Bodas. Saumyangi Yadav, Simran Sharma

Photo editors: Tina Freese,Shristi Achar A Saumyangi Yadav, Swarali Bodas, Simran Sharma Page layout: Tina Freese, Saumyangi Yadav, Simran Sharma, Swarali Bodas Supplement: Shristi Achar A

inutes after Pakistan broke India’s nearly three-decade record of not having lost to Pakistan in a world cup game, a slew of memes flooded the internet. Some of them were far from sporting.

Some fans correlated religion and the players and trolled Indian pacer Mohammad Shami endlessly, while some Kashmiri students were beaten for allegedly shouting pro-Pakistan slogans. In a game where sportsmanship is the mainstay, fans had clearly strayed away from it.

Kashinath, a geology student from Kerala and an ardent fan of the sport, agrees that such hatred was subtle before, but has grown over the years.

Sports supplement “People started the ‘mauka mauka’ advertisement back in 2015, which began as a hilarious way to market the India v/s Pakistan match. But such ads put fuel into the fire. When we won the Champions Trophy in 2017, I saw that some of my neighbours were using the slogan from this ad to abuse Pakistani fans on social media. However, this isn’t just about India-Pakistan.

If you go on OnlyFans, you can see that Australian fans are quite racist towards us after a match with them. So I guess it is everywhere,” he said.

Shaurya Dutt, founder and secretary of KHOJ, agrees with this, but thinks it is due to the history both countries share. “A simple look at trends on twitter will reveal all the tension expressed in vile language. This goes back to our historical issues which remain unresolved. With

Widespread popularity of the sport can be witnessed in the smallest lanes of the country | Courtesy: KPN the freeze in diplomatic relations itself isn’t toxic, it only turns and a lack of people-to-people toxic when a few irritants create contact since the 2008 terrorist problems by abusing players for attack, the toxicity has reached a few bad overs or by breaking its peak. So in such games, all of their TV sets, he added. this pent up tension gets reAbhishek Singh, a Ranji Troleased,” he said. phy player from Chhattisgarh, Bansal Shah, a cricket fan from says that this kind of toxicity is Bengaluru, however blames the limited only to fans watching the Indian Premier League for this game, not the players. toxicity. He said, “While cheer- “We obviously use slurs against ing for their IPL franchise, fans each other on the field. That forget that it is just a sport. kind of harmless trash talk does What this has resulted in is that happen. But this is just a manifans want Virat to do well, or festation of the pressure players Rohit to do better, or for Bumrah are under on the field, and has to bowl better than Shami. This nothing to do with the players on was different earlier. Obviously, a personal level. Which is why it there were Dravid fans and makes no sense when fans abuse Sachin fans, but ultimately what players; especially questioning mattered was how they per- their patriotism, because the formed for India,” The rivalry in players are as Indian as the fans,” he informed.

Narasimhan Dwarakanath, a psychologist from Bengaluru, boils all this down to the obsession that people hold for games,especially cricket, a subtle manifestation of addiction.

When asked about why such behaviour prevails among people, he said: “I’ve had a client who was an ardent football fan, who would slip into depression once his favourite team lost. It is essentially just a deep obsession with a sport or its associates that then morphs into abusive behaviour online or offline.”

He added that access to social media — where everyone’s thoughts are on display — people feel the need to display their thoughts and opinions on said issues as well, which leads to memes and trolls online.

Shaurya hopes for people who love cricket to show their genuine support for all teams, and things might just get better, at least for the players who display their talent on the pitch. shristi.a@iijnm.org