From Kapil sharma’s comedy on body shaming to Kapil dev’s commentary on mental health.

From Kapil sharma’s comedy on body shaming to Kapil dev’s commentary on mental health.

We’ve literally seen it all.Kapil Dev said during an event he does not understand ‘American words’ like pressure and depression.If he had known that 1,64,033 people died by suicide in 2021 in India, perhaps he might not have said what he did.Hum unme se hai jo peeche jhaank ke nahi dekhte hain’ , said Sharukh Khan in a movie. Kapil Dev echoes this philosophy but misses the woods for the trees.
“‘Pressure’ and ‘depression’ are western phrases,” he thundered and I fell off my chair.“You have not moved on Kapil Paji,” I wanted to tell him, “You are in an elite cocoon, blinded by stone-age ideas.”Instead, he might have said, “Studies and exams can cause pressure and you have successfully managed to get through. Congratulations, guys!’ He might have said, “Remember the four P’s — Play, Prayers, Pranayama and Peaceful Sleep — that help in calming down.The applause would have been louder and would have sunk into the brains of the thousands who watched the video of his talk.If it had been me instead of the Legend on the dais, I would have asked the students to share their strategies to beat the blues and achieve mindful states during their planning and preparation stages.To pronounce that “pressure and depression are western concepts” was unfortunate. I would exhort the captain of India’s 1983 World Cup champions to move away from the arc lights for some time and listen to the voices of the parents who have unfortunately lost their children to self-harm. They are in the thousands.The great allrounder forgets that the world is changing, even if the human brain has not changed its size shape, colour, volume or weight.Depression is more common now than malaria and dengue.The rapid pace of life and the adverse effects of globalisation have their own casualties in the form of lifestyle diseases and depression. There are nearly 20 crore people with mental illness in India.In this scenario, I wish Kapil Dev and all other leaders in sports become mental health ambassadors like Deepika Padukone, Karan Johar and Virat Kohli.

Only then will I agree that Kapil Dev has “moved on”.