# Kapil Dev, the brave Jat, breaks down inconsolably on BBC when Karan Thapar reminds him of Manoj Prabhakar‘s claim that he had offered Rs 25 lakh to him underperform in a one-day match.
# L.K. Advani, whose very name makes millions cry, says Taare zameen par made him cry and then actually cries (“without glycerine“) in an interview with Rajdeep Sardesai on CNN-IBN and with Barkha Dutt on NDTV while touting his memoirs My country, my life.
# Siddaramaiah, the former deputy chief minister who bearded former prime minister H.D. Deve Gowda and his sons, comes to tears before the media because he can no longer stand from Chamundeshwari assembly constituency because of delimitation.
# S. Sreesanth, the medium-pacer who looks at opposing batsmen menacingly even when he has bowled long hops and donkey drops, weeps in front of a Bollywood actress when punched in the face by Harbhajan Singh.
Why are Indian men using their lachrymal glands so much in public and bawling like babies? Despite our claims of being the stronger sex, are we instinctively weak; less in control of our bodies than women in corresponding situations? Are we incapable of holding back our emotions? Is our machismo just a put-on? Or are we seeing a new Indian mard—melodramatic, insecure, uninhibited, chaalu—using welled-up eyes to gain sympathy and convince the world of our case?
Tags: Barkha Dutt, Churumuri, H D Deve Gowda, Harbhajan Singh, Kapil Dev, Karan Thapar, L.K. Advani, Manoj Prabhakar, Rajdeep Sardesai, S. Sreesanth, Siddaramaiah
28 April 2008 at 9:49 am
Four men tear up and we extend that tendency to all Indian men? And then also ask if there’s something wrong with that?
I can’t quite decide if this is bad statistics or even worse postulating. Let me go cry a little bit, maybe it will come to me.
28 April 2008 at 10:27 am
Men are human. Macho does not mean, not crying. Crying does not mean feminine or weak. It is not a gender issue. And if were, nature would not have given men any tear glands at all. Instead of thinking they are putting on an act, I would say they are exposing their vulnerability before the camera/media to the world –momentarily. Unfortunately, it is these images that persist in public memory, rather than their other performances –also in full view of the world.
28 April 2008 at 10:55 am
Am I missing the point of this post or what? Oh wait, the tears have blurred my vision, let me read it again.
28 April 2008 at 12:01 pm
Very very sexist post man… which one of these four people claimed to belong to a stronger gender? Is that not your inherent bias and misconception. You confuse the Indian male with the English/American one. We are not shy to dance, we hug when we greet each other, and are not ashamed to cry when sad. There are other macho exteriors of indian male but you hit the wrong button.
28 April 2008 at 1:09 pm
Crying is for everybody; Wife-beating is OUR prerogative.
Public weeping is ok; Public puking after drinking, is for women and little boys.
28 April 2008 at 5:24 pm
Is it one of the avenues for getting the publicity mileage?
28 April 2008 at 6:21 pm
I didnt understand this line “Despite our claims of being the stronger sex, are we instinctively weak; less in control of our bodies than women in corresponding situations?”
Speculative? I am not sure if women have been slapped in the field in the first place, let alone seeing if they cried or didnt. I dont know why churumuri has to be this cheap to bring in speculation as a fact.
28 April 2008 at 7:46 pm
nagO hengasu, aLO gandasu – ivarannu nambabEDA anta ellO gaade kELida gnaapaka……….
28 April 2008 at 11:55 pm
This is evolution in progress. Men are the new women!
29 April 2008 at 1:05 am
L.K. Advani, whose very name makes millions cry
disgust perhaps, but crying? ekstra uppu ekstra khaara churumuri. little bit excess only it became. (solpa jaasti aaytu)
a tad too bipolar worldview and a tad too western for my taste.
raavana, duryodhana they wrote reams in praise. but they were primitive, the evolved man in daaDi and kannaDka, one would think would strive to do one better. a more nuanced world view only they would take one would assume. but in an age of namm theory is our namm dyaavaru too much to expect.
nimm site-u nimm theory, whose father’s knot goes?
29 April 2008 at 1:08 am
onthara harry potter world view. good vs. evil. with us or against us. bushism repackaged.
29 April 2008 at 2:57 am
TS,
Maybe its time to start your very own balanced and ‘eastern’ blog?
Or if you already have one, doing something to get some hits/comments?
29 April 2008 at 9:02 am
Who can be more lachrymose than the whole Gowda clan? Apparently, Daddaraamayya hasn’t forgotten everything he learnt from the sage of Paduvalahippe.
When women cry, they are not necessarily confessing their weakness through tears. Crying is often an expression of anger for them.
What I find interesting in this vale of tears called life, handkerchiefs are not enough for our fountain-eyed pols. They need towels. I hope Hosa-Belaku can explain this evolutionary development.
When Indira Gandhi went to Bhopal to see for herself the damage caused by the Union Carbide Disaster, she flooded the whole city with her tears for those blinded by the gas. They were rendered poor and blind then; the situation is still the same. But Indiramma came across not only as Durga, but also . . . . Name a goddess famous for her crying.
29 April 2008 at 9:08 am
Last night on ETV Kannada, B.S. Yediyurappa admitted that he too cried loudly in the privacy of his pooja room when he heard of Muslims being slaughtered after the Babri masjid fell, when he heard of the Gujarat pogrom after the Sabarmarti Express was torched, when he heard of the Muslims in Mangalore being targetted by the thugs in his party.
Ooops, sorry, I am halucinating.
Last night on ETV Kannada, B.S. Yediyurappa admitted that he too cried loudly in the privacy of his pooja rooms when he heard that JDS was going to withdraw support to him.
29 April 2008 at 9:22 am
what AG, you have not read good stuff about duryodhana or ravana?
29 April 2008 at 10:01 am
TS,
Whose father’s HOUSE knot goes ;)
1 May 2008 at 3:29 am
Kharge cried yesterday.
1 May 2008 at 12:59 pm
@ P-T-L,
If pols is short for politicians, then there is no evolution as such. Most of them fling a towel over their shoulders and it comes handy.
Often, I come up with simple (simplistic–the one close to me says!) explanations for things —naan solpa hange. Be that as it may, I seriously think people –men, women, children are increasingly leading their lives under the glare of the media. There is no privacy, sometimes even to shed tears in solitude. On a more philosophical plane, I think “lights, camera, action” bring on the melodramatic element in many.
Thankfully, people are judgemental and can differentiate between crocodile tears and emotions gone awry. It is another matter that they are unduly harsh on public figures who break down.
2 May 2008 at 8:11 am
Hosa-belaku,
I did not mean to imply that your conclusions appear to be simplistic. I am in fact delighted that you bring theory into discussion so often.
“Media Glare”–hence the resort politics.
2 May 2008 at 5:37 pm
Nenne Mandyada thava alagurinaage namma kumbaarasamy joraagi athnanthappo. “aapresanu aada myaage nimma kade bandiddeeni, baddethava, inga neevu nange aarthi madadu”? andnanathe.
There was much tension out there. People created a commotion when the former chief minister and the future prime minister started talking about how much the state needs him. This is what happens when the audience is not prescreened. And what are party rowdies for?
6 May 2008 at 8:14 pm
There is an adage that crying men are not worth believing. If they are politicians we should double check on them. This can also be called as Crocodile tears. These politicians cry because their contribution to their constituency is nil. During their long stint they would have made it a model area. One has to check how they could get elected for many terms. The media instead of hilighting their crying should turn their camera and microphone towards the people who are suffering i their hands