The cheerleader controversy

Political leaders are passé and cheerleaders are in. And that even applies for a politically sensitive city like Calcutta.
Irrespective of what our sports minister Subhas Chakrabarty or few other ministers and political leaders have to say about cheerleaders, cheerleading has become a hit both on and off the ground.
Not only Calcutta crowd on ground is lapping up cheerleaders like anything, even they have become competitors to cricketers when it comes to post match analysis in the tea shops or in Writers’ Building.
There has been lot of discussions in recent time whether slightly over the top cheerleading (no pun intended) is a distraction to the cricketers or not, but the fact remains it definitely caters to the obstruction of viewing cricket. At least that happened to me during the Kolkata Knightriders match with Decan Chargers.
As a boundary was hit or a wicket tumbled, the cheerleaders started gyrating; hijacking the attention of most in the crowd – who stood up their feet, jumped on the seats, waved and ogled, not necessarily in that sequence – even as the batsman prepared to face the next ball. And in the process completely blocking those who wanted to see something else (read, cricket) other than cheerleading in the ground. Any protest and you are bound to be hopelessly outnumbered!
“This is bound to happen in a sex starved country like our’s, where few years back even a kiss was not allowed by the censor” observed a clearly exasperated middle aged person sitting beside me and struggling to see the match through the dancing crowd in front. “Doesn’t the guy look like an auto driver in city road who spends more time looking sideways rather than straight” quipped another pointing towards a teenager who was waving frantically towards the cheerleader girls even as they settled down after a bout of cheerleading.
“Don’t complain, in that way most in the stadium look like auto drivers” countered another. “Actually the whole thing has a social angle, it is a big turn on for most to see some firangi girls dancing to the tune of Indian music for pleasing indian spectators” observed another trying to delve into the mind of spectators per se.
Coming back to opinions regarding the sanctity of cheerleading, a complete contrast is on the plate.
“Don’t we ogle through out night watching skimpily clad girls parading their staff in beauty contests and even takes national pride when a Sushmita Sen or an Aishwarya Rai wins? What happens when our bolly bellies bare all not only in films but also in television within the privacy of your living room? Then why single out the cheerleaders”, is one kind of opinion.
“Agreed, the society has changed a lot and all these have entered in our daily lives via consumerism. But still our society is not ready for this kind of on you face titillation” is another.
“Why blame the cheerleaders, they are after all a small part of an entertainment package called T 20 cricket. If you are interested in this brand of cricket, you have to accept the cheerleaders as well” is kind of middle of the road third opinion.
And there are interesting other opinions as well,sample this one.
“I do not have any opinion about the cheerleaders but I am happy that because of them there has been less unrest within the crowd… crowd is so busy appreciating them that there was hardly even a murmur of protest when the local team lost so badly to the Mumbai Indians few days back, almost unthinkable in Eden Gardens” commented a senior police official.
Food for research for the social scientists?