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Vegetarians, fast bowlers and violence If myth is the father of belief, then no belief is more mythical than the one about Indians being mild, meek and gentle. It is difficult to be precise as to when the west began to accept this myth but it probably dates from Victorian times, strengthened by the unique, non-violent approach used by Gandhi to fight the British. Indian conversations, discussions and even arguments have a certain elliptical, very decorous, manner. While Indians can be highly inquisitive and very open about the most intimate matters, they often find it very difficult – or are reluctant – to say ‘no’ to situations which demand such an answer. They are more likely to say ‘yes’, or ‘maybe’ out of a quite unaccountable sense of inadequacy and, perhaps, in the hope that the problem will go away. This is allied to a severe dislike of what Victorians would have called ‘robust language’. In Great Britain, for instance, discussions or arguments between friends – of a fairly standard nature – may feature phrases like ‘What nonsense’, or ‘That’s rubbish’. It does not mean the two friends are having a violent quarrel but merely a strong disagreement about certain things. But in India, even between intimate friends, the use of such language would very nearly threaten the friendship. I was reminded of this very sharply some years ago when my nephew and niece, who then lived in India, visited me in England. During a discussion and disagreement, at one stage, irritated by what I thought was my niece’s feeble arguments, I said ‘Oh, what nonsense, come off it.’ In a similar conversation with an English friend the remarks would have meant nothing. My niece was very upset and I had to spend much time and effort to mollify her and make her see that I did not mean it as a deep, wounding, personal insult. In India there is still a sharp distinction between language that is spoken privately and what is considered acceptable in print. This was a distinction that existed in Britain, too, but over the years this has eroded. I can still recall the shock I, and most of the Indian cricket team, felt when in August 1979 the Sun led its front page with a one word headline: ‘BASTARDS’. The headline referred to the IRA which had just murdered Lord Louis Mountbatten by blowing up his boat while he was holidaying off the coast of Ireland. The murder came just days before the start of that summer’s
