After Pundits – Talking Balls asks “Are Sadhus next for the Sunday Game and the Championship?”
Talking Balls Comments
The word Pundit is an Indian word as we explain. . . it sparked off an eloquent attack on some of the well known pundits sitting in your living room every Sunday night.
The dictionary definition of a ‘pundit’ is a learned man or teacher (from the Hindu Pandit); one who gives opinions in an authoritative manner, an authority or critic.
Talking Balls has learned that the obsession with wise men from the East has led RTE’s Sunday Game and BBC’s Championship teams to consider drafting in genuine Indian Sadhus to contribute to their programmes, such has been the success of the use of Pundits in recent years.
For the uninitiated, Sadhus make pilgrimages across the subcontinent of India spreading faeces and ashes on their body, while the most radical test themselves by holding one arm in the air for years on end or spending twenty-four hours a day standing up. (They would make ideal umpires and/or linesmen particularly at Ulster Championship games when the umpire’s arm is required to be erect for long periods – thus commented one disgruntled pundit who declined to be named.)
A more widespread characteristic, however, is their tendency to get stoned out of their minds on a regular basis. The Sadhu tradition consists of renouncing worldly ties in pursuit of higher values of life. Ideally a Sadhu lives in the society but is detached from its pleasures and pains – a bit like an inter-county footballer.
Sadhus typically survive on alms provided by families, and spend most of their time in meditation. A large number of Sadhus assemble for holy festivals such as the Kumbha-Mela, the Sadhu’s equivalent of the All-Ireland weekend. One commentator describes:
“The big gathering of the Sadhus is the Kumbha Mela and it takes place every four years at various points along the holy River Ganges. Here every kind of sadhu in India comes out of the woodwork to meet up with old friends and put on a few shows. There are yogis who bury themselves underground, men who have held their hands in a fist for so long their nails now grow out the other side. One friend told me how proud he was to see his guru pull a bus along with a rope attached to his penis.” www.roadjunky.com/guide/687/hindu-sadhu-guide-india
Neither Pundits or Sadhus are to be confused with ‘Studio Guests’ who rather than smear themselves in faeces, talk it – and occasionally have to don ashes with sackcloth following ill-judged and inconsiderate interventions on air. They too wander the country relying on alms, speaking to the over-fed and over-watered faithful at expensive fundraising dinners. As for pulling buses…
Talking Balls Link: Pundits and Sadhus at play: http://www.adolphus.nl/sadhus/
