Bengaluru: As IPL fans across the world prepare themselves for the bat off of the Indian Premier League 2020 which begins in the UAE today at 7.30 PM the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) have drawn criticism about their tokenism toward the State’s language Kannada, in their new anthem.
For Indians, IPL has never been an ordinary cricket tournament, rather it has been a space for fans to express their state’s pride — a concept completely lost in the world cup. Each team represents a particular city in a state and they showcase the city’s state’s language, music, and culture through the franchise. Though the players are not chosen exclusively from a particular state, the collective identity of the team supposedly is loyal to the team’s base state.
So it is quite natural that when RCB came out with its anthem initially on Twitter, fans were thrilled and filed with both absolute love for the team, but there were those that were critical for its tokenism toward Kannada.
RCB rolled out two versions. The franchise first came out with a version of the anthem with a few token Kannada lyrics and mostly in Hindi and English. There was a huge uproar about the slighting of the state language.
The Official RCB Anthem is here! And it’s dedicated to the best fans in the world. Time to crank up the volume to the maximum, 12th Man Army. #PlayBold #IPL2020 #WeAreChallengers #Dream11IPL #RCBAnthem pic.twitter.com/zUBMfSM4U5
— Royal Challengers Bangalore (@RCBTweets) September 18, 2020
Stop hindi imposition on RCB anthem @RCBTweets
— Nagendra Vamshi (@that_chosenone) September 18, 2020
Four hours later, the team’s official Twitter handle released another version with more Kannada lyrics and a special rap by cricketer Devdutt Padikkal.
RCB Anthem ????? Rap ft. @devdpd07
??? ????… ???? ????… RCB! #PlayBold #IPL2020 #????RCB #WeAreChallengers #Dream11IPL #RCBAnthem pic.twitter.com/cR9KKfWgvd
— Royal Challengers Bangalore (@RCBTweets) September 18, 2020
Though Devdutt is originally from Kerala, he was reborn in the fields of Bengaluru. He started playing for Karnataka in the under-16 and under-19 age categories from the year 2014 and was selected by Ballary Tuskers in the Karnataka Premier League in 2017. In 2018, he was bought by Royal Challengers Bangalore in the player auctions.
While RCB’s second version seemed to win over the fans with the Kannada rap, one cannot ignore the socio-political effect that led us to this outcome. In both versions, English, our colonial legacy, seemed to be the bonding factor between the two languages English and Hindi.
Don’t know what RCB fans are complaining about in this song. Most frequent words are the “RCB…RCB” chant. A chant they like so much they use it at Test matches & Ranji matches.
ps: I find the tune very catchy. In a packed stadium over loudspeakers, it’ll feel very anthem like https://t.co/qT2yGdfia8
— Saurabh Somani (@saurabh_42) September 18, 2020
RCB’s fan base is not limited to Karnataka alone but is sprawled across the globe. Many if not most of the fans do not even understand the language of Kannada. It is perhaps this variation in demographics that led the team owners to go with a Hindi version for its anthem. In a desperate attempt to be a crowd-pleaser, RCB’s anthem has bits and pieces for everyone. There is a Hindi version for the Hindi speaking crowd and there is a version with Kannada rap for the Kannada speaking crowd. And, English is used to seal the deal for those whose comfort does not lie in either language.
CSK anthem is mostly in Tamil. CSK has fan base all over India and it hasn’t bothered fans one bit.
It’s ridiculous that RCB anthem is not in Kannada! https://t.co/zpS0sB6cVX
— Krish (@Kingkrish94) September 18, 2020
Karnataka has been very vocal about sustaining the state language for all transactions and signage in the state, and has vehemently opposed the imposition of the Hindi language in the state of Karnataka time and time again.
Starting from the 1980’s Gokak agitation that fought for the first-language status for Kannada to the blackening of Hindi on Namma Metro boards to the more recent ‘Hindi Gothilla’ campaign fuelled by ‘Hindi Theriyathu’ slogan by activists protesting Hindi-imposition in Tamil Nadu, both languages have had a very tense relationship.
Opposing the Hindi Divas on September 14, former Karnataka Chief Minister, H.D. Kumaraswamy said in a tweet that “There is strong opposition from a proud Kannadiga to the Hindi day as a symbol of linguistic pride.” Emphasizing the need to celebrate all official languages the minister suggested that November 1st should be celebrated as Kannada day across the country.
????? ????, ??????? ????????, ???????????? ??????????????? ?????????, ????????? ???????? ???? ?????? ???? ?????????? ????????? ???? ??????? ???? ?????????????. ????? #HindiDiwas ??? ??????? ???????. ???? ??????? ???????? ????? ???????? ?????????? ???????? ????? ?????????.
1/10— H D Kumaraswamy (@hd_kumaraswamy) September 14, 2020
Commenting on the influence of Hindi language on RCB’ anthem, Slangaluru—a popular Instagram handle dedicated to bringing Bengaluru slang in the popular domain—said, “I’ve always been against Hindi imposition, but obviously not against the language. So, it is okay to use Hindi because RCB has a national appeal and has a captain from Delhi and most players from other states.” She adds that she is not against the usage of Hindi but feels that they should have used more Kannada than just a few lines.
While other team anthems have not succumbed to this one for all mode, we must ask if IPL teams publicity material should be dependent on fan-base demographic, player demographics or simply the state it mentions in its franchise title.
