January 22, 2025

Shobhaa De’s take has always been irreverent. She has often displayed a casual, almost uninformed, view of things, places and people. Of course, she has the right to have her own style of offering comments. She has been making a living by being “politically incorrect,” as her column is named in The Times of India. But the author-columnist was in for a surprise when she labeled the efforts of the Indian contingent at the Rio Olympics as “waste of money and opportunity.”

De sarcastically tweeted that “goal of Team India at the Olympics: Rio jao. Selfies lo. Khaali haat wapas aao. What a waste of money and opportunity.”

Being a professional, De should have known that no one does what he does just for the sake of it. Does she write books only to go on promotional trips, sign books and appear on Page 3 of dailies? She writes books because she wants them to be read and make tons of money for her. Our athletes too play their sport to excel. If they are found wanting at the highest stage, it is for many reasons not the least being official apathy and the complete national focus on cricket to the exclusion of almost all other disciplines. The glitz, glamour and money associated with cricket has done harm to other sports and the government is absolutely disinterested in supporting Olympic disciplines. If our athletes still meet the qualifying targets for Olympic Games, hats off to them.

De has been taken to task by trolls on twitter. Abhinav Bindra called her tweets “a tad unfair.” Gul Panag supported Bindra in a series of tweets. A twitterati going by the name Vande Mataram was unsparing. He wrote “in all seriousness @DeShobhaa. For all your "class" and high society persona, u are a low life disgrace. Won't even bother mincing words.” The Times of India carried an article where the writer compared Shobhaa’s churlish behavior with the respectful tweets of Amitabh Bachchan who showed support by tweeting “Never mind Bindra/Hockey Men's team .. you played well .. we will win soon .. proud of Indian Team at Rio.”

Shobhaa De has definitely lost it this time. Or is it one of her well known ways of courting controversy and keeping the limelight fixed on her? Whatever, with this one indiscretion, De has lost a lot of admirers.