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What’s the story?
NBA star Kevin Durant has stirred up quite the news after sharing his experience of his visit to India. Very contrary to his expectations of the country, he says India is not like what he imagined it to be, instead is ‘20 years behind in terms of knowledge and experience.’
“It’s a country that’s 20 years behind in terms of knowledge and experience. You see cows in the street, monkeys running around everywhere, hundreds of people on the side of the road, a million cars and no (booking o) traffic violations. Just a bunch of underprivileged people there and they want to learn how to play basketball. That s*** was really, really dope to me,” he said in an interview to the Athletic.
The context
The Golden State Warriors star visited the country for the first time, in the last week of July earlier this year, much to the joy of his fans. He seemed to be very happy with the heartfelt welcome and passion this country has for it’s second fastest growing sport.
Besides engaging in workshops for young athletes in the country at the NBA Academy, and inaugurating new basketball courts, the 28-year-old also visited the famous Taj Mahal, something that had been on his bucket list for a long time. It was his experiences from this visit that Durant talks about while speaking of his insights about the country.
The heart of the matter
While he seemed in awe of the Taj, his observation of the places around, on his is what led him to make such a comment. He seems appalled by the condition of the roads, with cows and monkeys running around everywhere and the poverty evident in the hundreds of people in the side of the streets. He was also unimpressed with the number of cars and the lack of adequate monitoring over traffic offenses.
His expectation from the place had been starkly different. Considering it was one of the Seven Wonders of the World, he had imagined the area surrounding it would also be super protected and clean. While the Taj did not disappoint him as the celebrated player only had words of awe to express how he felt, he was appalled by the neighborhoods where there were houses without doors and muddy puddles everywhere. The stark contrast between this monument that was 500 years old and the conditions around it was an eye opening sight for him.
Having heard stories of royalty and gold, Durant had expected when he came to India, only to be disappointed with what he saw around him. Despite this, he went on to say that his experience in India was a unique one.
What’s next?
It is yet to be known what people’s responses regarding his statements about the country are going to be. There is a subtle possibility of these statements sparking off a controversy.
Author’s take
There is no denying that there is a bit of truth in what Durant has had to say about the country, given the contrast that is evident to the human eye. But the question regarding sensitivity remains to be an important one, nonetheless; maybe he could have worded his comments better?
Twitter had a lot to say on the issue, as expected.
Tweets
