Opinion
Sandeep Goyal
Jan 14, 2019

Blog: Hardik Pandya - macho or ‘mawali’?

The author shares findings of a research conducted by the Indian Institute of Human Brands (IIHB) among millennials on social media

Blog: Hardik Pandya - macho or ‘mawali’?
Hardik Pandya and his ‘Mai’ made headlines in the media all week, this last week. Social-media too was agog with L'affaire Hardik. Memes, tweets, forwards … but rarely a kind word for the embattled, and bruised, cricketer.
 
The Indian Institute of Human Brands (IIHB) commissioned a research amongst millennials over last Friday and Saturday (Jan 11/12) on social-media. A total number of 589 respondents were covered. The findings are being shared exclusively with Campaign.
 

Hardik Pandya

 

 

 

 

Agree

Not Agree

Don’t Know

Macho

275

299

15

‘Mawali'

473

106

10

Vile

462

115

12

Sexist

502

63

24

Egotistic

375

182

32

Narcissistic

312

232

45

Misogynistic

460

107

22

Naïve

407

137

45

Boastful

507

50

32

Arrogant

357

167

65

Gullible

388

129

72

Uneducated

510

39

40

Crass

502

67

20

Talented

366

178

45

Aggressive

302

252

35

Good cricketer

402

145

42

Nice, but misguided

207

275

107

Unable to handle fame

522

27

40

Needs counselling

475

87

27

Has a future

360

196

33

 

Agree

Not Agree

Don’t Know

Trapped by Karan Johar

522

55

12

Just boastful, didn’t mean it

320

234

35

Got carried away

475

100

14

Shows education is necessary

501

81

7

Poor family values

495

80

14

Poor upbringing

475

92

22

No mentoring

312

233

44

Can be helped

355

212

22

Kohli should have been more supportive

172

362

55

BCCI being too harsh

407

150

32

Social-media over reacting

275

259

55

Media being too critical

260

257

72

Media is kinder to Bollywood stars

393

145

51

Punishment will be deterrent

407

87

95

Punishment will be example to peers

517

65

7

Likely to lose endorsements

522

47

20

End of the road for him

275

232

82
 
Verdict obviously is highly weighed against Hardik Pandya. Public opinion is heavily negative on the cricket all-rounder. Hardly any sympathy for the man. The entire social-media noise has centered more on Pandya being uneducated, hence crass. The misogynistic aspect of the cricketer has largely been discussed on Twitter and Facebook more related to his lack of adequate education, and insufficient attention accorded by his family to his proper upbringing. In the IIHB survey, this is being more than adequately reflected.
 
Respondents signalled very strongly that Pandya would lose his endorsements. While the survey was in progress, the first of his big endorsements, Gillette, announced it was distancing itself from the hard-hitter. So, the public knows. 
 
Despite all the negativity, it was still felt that BCCI is being too harsh. Maybe Diana Edulji needs to go somewhat easy on the young cricketers.
 

Koffee with Karan

 

 

 

Yes

No

Regularly see KWK

184

405

Saw episode with Hardik + Rahul

86

503

Saw episode/saw again after controversy broke out

422

167

Missed seeing the episode

175

414

Unfair of Star to pull down episode from the net

532

57

Read "Aaj mai kar ke aaya!" on social media

512

77

Everything else except "Aajmai …" was okay

236

353

Rahul said nothing really objectionable

542

47

The pulling down of the Koffee with Karan episode by Star TV has not been very positively received by the survey respondents. Interestingly, the boast, "Aaj mai kar ke aaya!" that seems to have ignited all of Hardik’s woes, was seen by most people in social-media rather than on the television episode.

K L Rahul

 

 

 

 

Agree

Not Agree

Don’t Know

Guilty as Hardik Pandya

72

506

11

Unwittingly in the same frame

536

43

10

Not really guilty

542

33

14

Being on Koffee with Karan avoidable

235

282

72

Merits no punishment

510

59

20

Should be let off with a warning

530

54

5

BCCI being unfair/judgemental

522

65

2

Nice guy

435

94

60

Good behavior reflects good upbringing

497

70

22

Restrained behavior shows good education

472

104

13

Has a future

460

112

17
 
K L Rahul by all accounts has just become a default victim of the entire episode. His only crime seems to be that he was on the show with Hardik Pandya. Just bad timing, as far as he was concerned. Or perhaps, to be more accurate, bad company. The contrast in the comport of Rahul versus Pandya is also not lost in the feedback.
 
Dr. Sandeep Goyal, a doctorate in Human Brands, tracks, chronicles and analyses all major happenings in the celebrity space.
 
 
 

 

 

Source:
Campaign India

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