Bamboo shoots: A non-funny repartee

“Are you from Pakistan?” our man asks in Bangla. The grumpy man replies in the affirmative, in Urdu. Now the conveniently placed lamp furthers the story line. The Indian looks at it and remarks, “Bangladesh gave this lantern in your hand,” referring to the whitewash of Pakistan in the ODI series in April.

The Pakistani tries to ignore and concentrate on the paani-puri. At which point, the Bengali fellow butts in again.

“You got bashed up, so much that now you are feeling hungry.”

The grumpy Pakistani man gets up and fetches a bamboo stick, hands it to the local, and says: “You are going to Bangladesh, no? Milega. Barabar Milega.” Cut to a number of Bangladeshi youngsters, singing, “bamboo is on.”

Normally, the story wouldn’t have merited a mention, but it unfolded at a time when PM Narendra Modi was to visit Dhaka and the bonhomie between the two countries was on a high.

There were attempts from Bangladesh’s players and the country’s mainstream media to nip any anti-India sentiment in the bud. Bangladesh ODI captain Mashrafe Mortaza, in fact, urged fans to respect the opposition team. “It has been excessive, to some extent,” he was quoted as saying about the ad in Prothom Aalo, a Bengali daily.

The matter was also brought to Virat Kohli’s notice in the press conference on the final day of the match. “Ab ad wale hain, boss. Kya karen,” he laughed it off.

If you were to take my views on the ad, I didn’t find it offensive. But I didn’t find it funny either.

It was cringe-worthy. When it comes to making cool ads, the bachcha hasn’t quite grown up, yet. He still mistakes crass with class and pun with sense of humour.