In this episode of South Central, hosts Dhanya Rajendran, Pooja Prasanna, and Leena Reghunath discuss RCB's long-awaited IPL victory and the tragic deaths that followed in the stampede at the franchise’s success meet in Bengaluru. Sports journalist Venkat Ananth weighs in on the discussion with important pointers about fandom, the team’s lack of responsibility in organising the event, what the police and state should have done, and what such incidents do (or not) for the sport.

“Maybe, RCB must win more often, so that so many people won't be so eager to see them!” says Venkat, on a fun note.

Dhanya adds, “After all, the franchise is a commercial venture, and commercial establishments which make money cannot put people’s lives on stake or be irresponsible.”

Leena says that there is also an underlying issue of how we lack heroes to look up to, and why that makes several people put their own safety at risk to come out and celebrate something good that has come after so long.

In the second section, the panel delves into the Kannada language origin controversy, sparked by actor Kamal Haasan’s comment on how Kannada originated from Tamil in a promotional event for Mani Ratnam’s Thug Life. Professor Purushothama Bilemale joins the discussion, making poignant observations about why Kamal and Kannadigas must not fight, but rather, learn from one another. “The common enemy is imperialism and the ‘invisibilisation’ of languages other than Hindi,” he says.

Leena adds, “We can also never know if such controversies around big releases are genuine or manufactured.”

Dhanya, Pooja, and Anisha Sheth agree that whatever the case, language cannot and should not be a tool for communalism. “Such controversies also have an impact on free speech. Courts must be cognisant of that,” Dhanya says.

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Audio timecodes
00:00:00- Introduction
00:03.43 - Headlines
00.5.47 - RCB’s post-win tragedy
00.40.53 - Kamal Hassan vs Kannada
01.17.15 - Recommendations

References
Bengaluru’s tragedy: Piecing together the Chinnaswamy stampede
Exclusive: Hospital, police records suggest at least 79 deaths in Kumbh stampede
When language meets box office: The Thug Life controversy explained

Recommendations
Pooja Prasanna
RSS Aala Mattu Agala
Amasa by Devanooru Mahadeva

Anisha Sheth
Off Side

Leena Raghunath
Ullozhukku
Sookshmadarshini

Prof Purushothama Bilemale
A Dravidian Etymological Dictionary
Comparative Grammar of the Dravidian or South Indian Family of Languages
Dravida Bhashavijnana
Kannada Bhasha Vyasanga

Venkat Ananth
Fever Pitch

Dhanya Rajedran
RCB’s game plan: How a title-starved team is reshaping the sports business
Uncover: Calls From a Killer

Produced by Megha Mukundan, edited by Jaseem Ali.

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