• Latest
  • Trending
[Scroll.in]Of ‘kaamdars’ and ‘naamdars’: Why Modi wants to identify himself with Dhoni’s legacy

[Scroll.in]Of ‘kaamdars’ and ‘naamdars’: Why Modi wants to identify himself with Dhoni’s legacy

3 years ago
[Times of India]Pakistan president approves Supreme Court review of judgments bill, clearing way for Nawaz Sharif’s return – Times of India

[Times of India]Pakistan president approves Supreme Court review of judgments bill, clearing way for Nawaz Sharif’s return – Times of India

2 hours ago
[Daily Excelsior]SIA Notifies Property Worth 30 Million In North Kashmir’s Kupwara Belonging To Banned Jamaat-E-Islami

[Daily Excelsior]SIA Notifies Property Worth 30 Million In North Kashmir’s Kupwara Belonging To Banned Jamaat-E-Islami

3 hours ago
[BBC]Imran Khan: Ex-Pakistan PM tells BBC crackdown on party is ‘untenable’

[BBC]Imran Khan: Ex-Pakistan PM tells BBC crackdown on party is ‘untenable’

3 hours ago
[The Northlines]GCET Jammu Gets Accreditation For All UG Engineering Disciplines By NBA – Northlines

[The Northlines]GCET Jammu Gets Accreditation For All UG Engineering Disciplines By NBA – Northlines

4 hours ago
[Kashmir Reader]Woman dead, another injured after bus hit scooty in Ganderbal – Kashmir Reader

[Kashmir Reader]Woman dead, another injured after bus hit scooty in Ganderbal – Kashmir Reader

4 hours ago
[The Jerusalem Post]What do Turkey’s election results mean for Israel? – analysis

[The Jerusalem Post]What do Turkey’s election results mean for Israel? – analysis

5 hours ago
[Kashmir Reader]China to send astronauts to Moon by 2030 as space race intensifies – Kashmir Reader

[Kashmir Reader]China to send astronauts to Moon by 2030 as space race intensifies – Kashmir Reader

5 hours ago
[Anadolu]Indian court to take up Kashmiri pro-freedom leader’s death sentence in August

[Anadolu]Indian court to take up Kashmiri pro-freedom leader’s death sentence in August

5 hours ago
[Daily Sabah]Erdoğan’s historic runoff victory celebrated worldwide

[Daily Sabah]Erdoğan’s historic runoff victory celebrated worldwide

5 hours ago
[Daily Excelsior]In 9 Years India Became World’s Frontline Nation: Dr Jitendra

[Daily Excelsior]In 9 Years India Became World’s Frontline Nation: Dr Jitendra

5 hours ago
[Aljazera]ICC officials visit Pakistan to secure World Cup participation

[Aljazera]ICC officials visit Pakistan to secure World Cup participation

6 hours ago
[Oneindia]A Dawood Link Crops Up in NIA’s Probe On Fake Rs 2.000 Notes

[Oneindia]A Dawood Link Crops Up in NIA’s Probe On Fake Rs 2.000 Notes

6 hours ago
  • Contact Us
  • Disclaimer
  • Privacy Policy
Monday, May 29, 2023
  • Login
Pakistan News Updates
  • Home
  • USA News
    • Bloomberg
    • Chicago Tribune News
    • CNN News
    • Fox News
    • Huffington Post News
    • Los Angeles Times News
    • ESPN
    • NBC News
    • New York Time News
    • Newsweek News
    • Reddit News
    • Reuters News
    • Time News
    • USA TODAY News
    • Washington Post News
    • Wall Street Journal
  • UK News
    • BBC News
    • Cambridge News UK News
    • Daily Express UK News
    • Daily Mail Online News
    • The Guardian News
    • The Huffington Post UK News
    • The Independent News
    • The Irish Times UK News
    • The Telegraph News
  • Chinese News
    • Beijing Bulletin News
    • China Digital Times News
    • China Military News
    • Chinadaily.com.cn News
    • Ecns News
    • People’s Daily Online News
    • Shanghai Daily News
    • South China Morning Post News
    • SupChina News
    • The China Post News
    • Xinhuanet News
    • Xinwengao News
  • Indian News
    • Business Standard News
    • Daily Excelsior News
    • Deccan Chronicle News
    • Free Press Journal News
    • Hindustantimes News
    • India Today News
    • Kashmir Reader News
    • NDTV News
    • News18 News
    • Northlines News
    • Oneindia News
    • Patrika News
    • Rising Kashmir News
    • Scroll.in News
    • State Times News
    • Telangana Today News
    • The Asian Age News
    • The Financial Express News
    • The Hindu News
    • The Indian Express News
    • The Quint News
    • Times of India News
    • ZeeNews 24 News
  • Arab News
    • Saudigazette
    • Albawaba News
    • Aljazera News
    • Arab News
    • UAE News Media
      • Al Arabiya News
      • Al bayan News
      • Al Ittihad Newspaper News
      • UAE today News
      • The National.ae News
      • Khaleej Times News
      • Emirates 24/7 News
  • Other Media
    • European News Media
      • French News Media
        • France 24 News
        • France Diplomatie News
        • Le Monde diplomatique News
        • RFI News
        • The Local News
        • The Paris News
      • German News Media
        • DEUTSCHLAND.de News
        • SPIEGEL ONLINE News
        • ZEIT News
    • Russian News Media
      • RT News
      • Russia Insider News
      • Sputnik News
      • TASS News
      • The Moscow Times News
    • Canadian News Media
      • CBC News
      • CityNews Toronto News
      • CTV News
      • Financial Post News
      • Global News
      • Reuters News
      • The Globe and Mail News
      • Toronto Star News
      • Toronto Sun
      • National Post
    • Israel Media News
      • Haaretz News
      • The Jerusalem Post
      • The Times of Israel
    • Turkish News Media
      • Anadolu
      • Daily Sabah
      • Hurriyet
      • TRT World
      • Yenisafak
      • NationalTurk
No Result
View All Result
Pakistan News Updates
No Result
View All Result
Home Indian Media News Scroll.in

[Scroll.in]Of ‘kaamdars’ and ‘naamdars’: Why Modi wants to identify himself with Dhoni’s legacy

August 31, 2020
in Scroll.in
5 min read
250 2
0
[Scroll.in]Of ‘kaamdars’ and ‘naamdars’: Why Modi wants to identify himself with Dhoni’s legacy
491
SHARES
1.4k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
[Scroll.in]Of ‘kaamdars’ and ‘naamdars’: Why Modi wants to identify himself with Dhoni’s legacy


Narendra Modi’s cricket acumen maybe untested (although he was once the president of the Gujarat Cricket Association) but his political antennae and communication skills remain razor sharp. Which is why it should come as no surprise that the prime minister chose to recently write a personal letter to former India cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni on his retirement that was soon made public through social media.

Clearly, Modi was seeking to identify himself with the remarkable legacy of Dhoni, one that is seen to typify the “kaamdar” (workman) versus “naamdar” (dynast) storyline that the prime minister has also sought to consciously embrace. As Modi writes, “You have been one of the important illustrations of the spirit of New India, where family name does not make young people’s destiny but they make their own names and their own destinies.”

There is little doubt that Dhoni’s story is one of the more compelling tales of our times. That a boy from the cricketing backwaters of Ranchi who briefly worked at a railway station in Kharagpur as a ticket collector should then go onto lift all of cricket’s major trophies is the ultimate dream come true.

Sachin Tendulkar was the middle-class posterboy of the satellite TV age, Virat Kohli is the iconic face of the millennials, Rahul Dravid may appeal to the more refined metropolitan mind, Sourav Ganguly is an all-time Bengali hero but Dhoni is the modern-day leader whose life journey strikes a chord that cuts across all divides.

It’s the kind of success story that the politician from Vadnagar who claims to have once sold tea at the local railway station likes to project as his own. After all, if Dhoni is the only captain to have won both the T 20 and 50 over World Cups, then Modi too is the first prime minister in nearly 50 years to have won two successive electoral majorities.

MS Dhoni with the 2011 World Cup trophy. Credit: AFP

Breaking the monopoly

If Dhoni broke the monopoly of the Mumbai-Delhi-Bengaluru big city boys once and for all, then Modi may well claim to be the political revolutionary who has triumphed over the traditional family elites. Modi has tilted against the Gandhi dynasty by artfully using the “kaamdar-naamdar” narrative to position himself as the anti-establishment outsider who is taking on the silver spoon, entitled so-calle Lutyens classes.

This, as much as his masculine image of a Hindutva nationalist, has worked in his favour: the self-made individual taking on those blessed with family lineage is a powerful magnet in a highly aspirational, upwardly mobile society. Modi may have politically benefitted from his long association with the Sangh Parivar but his early personal journey is one of struggle against adversity.

And yet, howsoever symbolically significant, there is a need to place the Dhoni-Modi “kaamdar” trajectory in some historical context. We sometimes forget for example that not too long before Dhoni there was Kapil Dev, another cricket revolutionary who also came from a relatively unknown cricketing centre of Chandigarh. Indeed, Indian cricket is littered with stories of subaltern heroes, none more so than my first cricket hero, Eknath Solkar, the son of a groundsman who went onto become a more than useful all-rounder and arguably the best short-leg fielder India has produced. The short point is that Dhoni is not the first cricketer to have battled the odds to make it to the top.

A child of Partition

We also easily forget that just before Modi, there was Manmohan Singh, whose life story in a way is perhaps even more inspirational than that of the man from Gujarat. Singh, after all, comes from a small village in Pakistan, endured the scars of Partition, and only through sheer hard work and scholarship went onto achieve academic and professional distinction. He may have been an accidental politician but he surely wasn’t someone who had a family surname taking him to 7 Lok Kalyan Marg.

We can look at other contemporary biographies in politics too – from a Lalu Prasad to a Mamata Banerjee to a Mayawati – to realise that Modi’s ascent from relative social and economic backwardness is not unique.

This is also not to suggest that all “naamdars” on the cricket and political field are necessarily inferior performers to the “kaamdars”. Sunil Gavaskar’s uncle, Madhav Mantri may have played for India but the Little Master far outstripped his uncle’s achievement to become a record-breaking run machine. So did a Mohinder Amarnath, man of the match in the 1983 World Cup final, who by the end of his career was much more than just the “son of Lala”.

Who is to also say that on the political field a Naveen Patnaik, now one of the longest-serving chief ministers in the country, has not gone beyond the legacy of his redoubtable father Biju Patnaik?

Narendra Modi and Amit Shah celebrate their victory in the 2019 elections. Credit: AFP

The short point again is that it is not axiomatic that children of privilege are less talented or deserving than those who maybe considered outsiders. This is also to some extent true of the Hindi film industry where the raging dispute over nepotism fails to recognize that “star kids’ may get their initial break because of family networks but eventually will be judged by a ruthless box office.

At the heart of this debate is the notion of merit, an intangible concept that often lacks a universally accepted definition. How does one define merit in the absence of objective criteria? This is where cricket and politics take divergent paths. Cricket, and sports in general, can legitimately claim to be truly meritocratic: for all the occasional selectorial whims, the best 11 cricketers do get a chance to represent the country. Whether you are a “kaamdar” or a “naamdar”, there is no substitute to performing on the field.

By contrast, politicians can deviously manipulate and cut corners to succeed: the skill-set required to be a successful politician is not based on any core values. Cricketing success is based on a level playing field while a politician’s triumph often stems from capturing’the field. Which is why in my view, Modi’s winning an election ranks lower than Dhoni lifting the World Cup. And which is also why if Dhoni ever decides to enter politics, he may have to unlearn a lot of what he learnt as captain on the cricket pitch.

Post-script: I am more “naamdar” than “kaamdar: my father remains the only Goa-born cricketer to play for India but that wasn’t enough for me to represent the country. Cricket needs real talent; in politics you can still get away with a famous surname!

Rajdeep Sardesai is a veteran journalist and author. He can be contacted at rajdeepsardesai52@gmail.com.



Source link

RelatedPosts

[Scroll.in]JKPSC AE recruitment 2023: Apply for Assistant Engineers (Civil) posts from May 30

[Scroll.in]Hockey, Men’s Junior Asia Cup: India progress to semi-finals after comprehensive win over Thailand

[Scroll.in]Hockey, Men’s Junior Asia Cup: India held to a thrilling draw against Pakistan in Pool A

Tags: CricketCricket World Cupdhonidhoni retiresDhonisidentifykaamdarslegacyMahendra Singh Dhonimodims dhoninaamdarsNarendra ModiScrollinOfsports
Share196Tweet123Send

Related Posts

[Scroll.in]JKPSC AE recruitment 2023: Apply for Assistant Engineers (Civil) posts from May 30
Scroll.in

[Scroll.in]JKPSC AE recruitment 2023: Apply for Assistant Engineers (Civil) posts from May 30

by Latest Headlines
May 29, 2023
[Scroll.in]Hockey, Men’s Junior Asia Cup: India progress to semi-finals after comprehensive win over Thailand
Scroll.in

[Scroll.in]Hockey, Men’s Junior Asia Cup: India progress to semi-finals after comprehensive win over Thailand

by Latest Headlines
May 29, 2023
[Scroll.in]Hockey, Men’s Junior Asia Cup: India held to a thrilling draw against Pakistan in Pool A
Scroll.in

[Scroll.in]Hockey, Men’s Junior Asia Cup: India held to a thrilling draw against Pakistan in Pool A

by Latest Headlines
May 28, 2023
[Scroll.in]ICC Men’s ODI World Cup 2023: Schedule to be revealed during World Test Championship Final
Scroll.in

[Scroll.in]ICC Men’s ODI World Cup 2023: Schedule to be revealed during World Test Championship Final

by Latest Headlines
May 28, 2023
[Scroll.in]Delhi University academic council passes motion to remove chapter on Urdu poet Iqbal
Scroll.in

[Scroll.in]Delhi University academic council passes motion to remove chapter on Urdu poet Iqbal

by Latest Headlines
May 28, 2023
Pakistan News Updates

Our Robo collect all news published about Pakistan and Kashmir in International Media. We are covering more than 80 newspapers & news websites.  

Disclaimer | All logos, Trademark, Newspaper Name, News Agency Name, Brand Name, Websites Name/address, News content/articles, Pictures/photos/images, and videos are copyright, trademarks™ or registered® trademarks of their respective holders, used in this website is for Information, research and/or reference purpose only. The Source link is provided with every post. The use of them does not imply any affiliation with or endorsement by them.  

  • Contact Us
  • Disclaimer
  • Privacy Policy

Follow Us

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • USA News
    • Bloomberg
    • Chicago Tribune News
    • CNN News
    • Fox News
    • Huffington Post News
    • Los Angeles Times News
    • ESPN
    • NBC News
    • New York Time News
    • Newsweek News
    • Reddit News
    • Reuters News
    • Time News
    • USA TODAY News
    • Washington Post News
    • Wall Street Journal
  • UK News
    • BBC News
    • Cambridge News UK News
    • Daily Express UK News
    • Daily Mail Online News
    • The Guardian News
    • The Huffington Post UK News
    • The Independent News
    • The Irish Times UK News
    • The Telegraph News
  • Chinese News
    • Beijing Bulletin News
    • China Digital Times News
    • China Military News
    • Chinadaily.com.cn News
    • Ecns News
    • People’s Daily Online News
    • Shanghai Daily News
    • South China Morning Post News
    • SupChina News
    • The China Post News
    • Xinhuanet News
    • Xinwengao News
  • Indian News
    • Business Standard News
    • Daily Excelsior News
    • Deccan Chronicle News
    • Free Press Journal News
    • Hindustantimes News
    • India Today News
    • Kashmir Reader News
    • NDTV News
    • News18 News
    • Northlines News
    • Oneindia News
    • Patrika News
    • Rising Kashmir News
    • Scroll.in News
    • State Times News
    • Telangana Today News
    • The Asian Age News
    • The Financial Express News
    • The Hindu News
    • The Indian Express News
    • The Quint News
    • Times of India News
    • ZeeNews 24 News
  • Arab News
    • Saudigazette
    • Albawaba News
    • Aljazera News
    • Arab News
    • UAE News Media
      • Al Arabiya News
      • Al bayan News
      • Al Ittihad Newspaper News
      • UAE today News
      • The National.ae News
      • Khaleej Times News
      • Emirates 24/7 News
  • Other Media
    • European News Media
      • French News Media
      • German News Media
    • Russian News Media
      • RT News
      • Russia Insider News
      • Sputnik News
      • TASS News
      • The Moscow Times News
    • Canadian News Media
      • CBC News
      • CityNews Toronto News
      • CTV News
      • Financial Post News
      • Global News
      • Reuters News
      • The Globe and Mail News
      • Toronto Star News
      • Toronto Sun
      • National Post
    • Israel Media News
      • Haaretz News
      • The Jerusalem Post
      • The Times of Israel
    • Turkish News Media
      • Anadolu
      • Daily Sabah
      • Hurriyet
      • TRT World
      • Yenisafak
      • NationalTurk

Our Robo collect all news published about Pakistan and Kashmir in International Media. We are covering more than 80 newspapers & news websites.  

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Create New Account!

Fill the forms bellow to register

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.