President Obama finds himself in the eye of a storm once again, this time for taking political correctness to absurd levels, drawing flak from not just feminists and the politically correct types but practically everyone. The President, an avid IPL fan, praised female IPL reporters, Karishma Kotak and Rochelle Maria Rao, for, of all things, their cricketing acumen. “Rao and Kotak are brilliant and dedicated and they are tough,” Obama said before pausing to check himself and added, “Oh, they also happen to be, by far, the best cricket analysts in the country.”
As soon as he made those remarks, feminists were one again up in arms. Sagarika Ghose was the first to express her disapproval, saying, “I know he was trying to be politically correct after the Kamala Harris incident. But to hint that Karishma and Rochelle are on IPL Extraaa Innings for their cricketing knowledge and not their fetching looks is taking things way too far.”
IPL organizers and the producers of Extraaa Innings T20 also expressed their disappointment. “We take pride in adhering to high standards when it comes to selection of female anchors. We sieved through hundreds of Big Boss contestants, former Miss Indias, VJs and pretty young things with zero knowledge of cricket before zeroing on in these ladies and for President Obama to praise them for everything but their looks feels like a kick in the groin,” lamented Sougata Basu, head of Set Max. Harhsa Bhogle, mouth wide still wide open with incredulity, was heard muttering incessantly, “If Rao and Kotak were picked for cricketing knowledge, then I can bowl faster than Steyn and hit bigger sixes than Gayle.”
Soon world leaders also joined the growing chorus of ridicule with UK PM David Cameron saying, “Whoa!! Obama needs to balance political correctness with credibility. That was way over the top.”
Rajiv Shukla attempted the douse the surging rage. “I will talk to Obama sir and explain that this is India, not US, where you don’t have to be hyper-politically correct. I’m sure it is cultural misunderstanding. I will ask him to praise Kotak and Rao for good looks and then jig to Jumping Japaang (sic),” observed the IPL commissioner.
President Obama later issued a retraction. “In hindsight, my earlier statement sounded incredibly phony, given this is the IPL. So let me rephrase it and speak my mind: Karishma Kotak and Rochelle Rao are brilliant and dedicated and last but not the least, they are on Extraaa Innings T20 because they are awesomely smoking HOT. WHOO!”