It's not cricket, say objectors to gyrating cheerleaders

LETTER FROM INDIA:Millions are titillated by the uninhibited gyrations while others want them banned, finding them a licentious western import that is offensive to native conservative traditions.

The presence of the cheerleaders is passionately debated in newspapers and on television news channels and the jury is still out on whether India, the land of the Kamasutra, is ready for the semi-clad dancers.

One of the cricket teams taking part in the tournament has ditched the cheerleaders, while another has insisted they cover their bodies following objections to their robust and "offensive" movements.

"We want people to come and appreciate only cricket and not anything else," said Shriram Ramdas, the entertainment- in-charge of GMR which owns the Delhi Daredevils team, as some cheerleaders were shipped back home to London and other European cities. Several overseas cheerleading troupes have been brought in to liven up India's 40-day $900 million maiden domestic cricket tournament in which eight teams are competing in a truncated version of the traditional game, with the two sides playing for 20 overs each.

The league has been envisioned as a fizzy cocktail of cricket, Bollywood entertainment and celebrity show that has caught the imagination of India.

It has also revolutionised the genteel sport of flannel-clad players and equally serious spectators who politely applaud their teams as they demurely sip tea and eat muffins.

Television rights for the six-week-long tournament have sold for millions and players from the teams, many from overseas, auctioned for large sums of money.

Somewhat akin to baseball, the league has proven a big hit since it began earlier this month with packed stadiums and a television viewership of tens of millions across cricket-crazy India.

But the spectacle of the scantily clad foreign women and a few local girls dancing boisterously in high boots and revealing skirts has triggered an angry response from Hindu nationalists and Communist parties alike, who blame organisers for blindly aping western culture.

"It is difficult to find cricket in these matches with all the indecent dancing," said former Hindu nationalist federal minister and Bollywood star Shatrughan Sinha.

Meanwhile, in the port city of Mumbai (formerly Bombay) the cheerleaders now appear in skintight black lycra tights covering their hitherto exposed midriffs and thighs following an outcry from the local Hindu ultra-nationalist Shiv Sena party.

They are also surrounded by a police cordon to avert any untoward incident, having complained that they were heckled and propositioned by spectators.

"The scantily clad foreign girls' dances are obscene and do not gel with Indian sensibilities, culture and ethos," said home minister Siddharam Mhetre of Maharashtra state of which Mumbai is the capital.

"These are things meant for foreigners and not us. Mothers and daughters watch these matches on television and it does not look nice," he added.

City officials liken the suggestive movements to dancing by the city's bar girls which was banned on grounds of obscenity two years ago.

"All the organisers are doing by making scantily clad white women dance in front of huge crowds is to stoke the base, voyeuristic and sexual insecurities of the Indian male. It's revolting and crude," said historian Ramachandra Guha.

But many cheerleaders say they are "disgusted and disturbed" by the suggestive remarks of Indian spectators.

"We do expect people to pass lewd, snide remarks, but I am shocked by the nature and magnitude of the comments people pass here [in India]," said cheerleader Tabitha from Uzbekistan.

"Be it a 70-year-old or a 15-year-old kid they all letch at us and make amorous advances. We are living in constant fear of being molested," she said.

Some of the cricketers also objected to the cheerleaders. "The girls in skimpy dresses should be removed from the ground as this is distracting to batsmen," said Pakistan's aggressive scorer Shahid Afridi.

Cricket itself is the entertainment and does not need cheerleaders to entertain, he said.

But the professional Washington Redskin cheerleaders, enthusiasm undaunted, are continuing to perform for the Bangalore Royal Challengers in the southern Indian city.

They have even extended their engagement for the duration of the league, which ends later this month, and have trained a team of local cheerleaders as replacements.

Knowing nothing about cricket, however, does not faze them.

"More than money, we get exposure to something completely different, a new country and a new game," said Olga Yarysheva, a 21-year-old cheerleader from Russia.

Her troupe, which earns $625 a fixture - a third more than it would make at a football match in Russia - has broadly figured out cricket and when to begin gyrating.

That's when the ball crosses the white [boundary] line, Yarysheva said knowingly.