Image via Indiatoday.com
Large swathes of rural India, from the badlands of UP-Bihar to the golden brown wheat fields of the Punjab, from the arid dunes of Rajasthan to the frond lined paddy fields of Tamil Nadu, are in the throes of a cultural revolution. Villagers in these parts now prefer watching Arnab’s NewHour to traditional cockfights, the favored pastime of the countryside.
“The craving to watch Arnab’s staged cockfights over real cockfights has to be seen to be believed, man,” raved Chaudhury Kallu Singh, the mukhiya of Pelkha village in Western UP. “Come prime time and people drop everything to congregate around my diesel power generated TV set to catch Arnab and his panelists having a go at each other.”
Kallu laughed heartily when asked whether ignorance of English comes in the way of villagers following the NewsHour debates. “Does one watch a cockfight to comprehend what the cocks are crooning or to enjoy their tearing each other apart?” was his mirthful reply. Kallu’s views were echoed by his counterpart from a village in Tamil Nadu’s Kanchipuram district, Muthu Pandian. “People here consider Arnab’s staged fights to be the real deal. No cock fight, however savage, comes close to the spectacle of, say, Arnab tearing apart an Abhijit Mukherjee.”
NewsHour also witnesses heavy gambling with villagers picking sides. “Fights involving Pakistanis and Arnab draw heavy crowds, especially a Hilaly vs Arnab fight since both are capable of giving back as good as they get. Though of late, Hilaly has been getting better odds,” Kallu Singh said.
Sanjay Jha vs Arnab cockfights also command a huge following. “Jha, though clearly the weaker side puts up a brave fight before getting slammed by Arnab and people get a kick out of that,” Kallu said. Vinod Mehta, though, is an exception. “No one likes to watch a cock fight in a state of inebriation,” was Kallu’s terse explanation.
However, Arnab’s most recent battle with Ved Pratap Vaidik ended up incurring huge losses for the villagers who bet on Arnab. “Many villagers bet on Arnab to tear Vaidik apart, but lost out heavily when Vaidik reigned supreme. We’re hoping Arnab bounces back soon. Otherwise, the government will have to announce a gambling debt waiver scheme,” Kallu added.
(Based on an idea by Ashwin S Kumar)