Hurt Sentiments I

Many Indians are known for being touchy on social media, quick to respond to any perceived slight. So when a dim CNN anchor appeared to assume that the latest winner of the American national spelling bee, a winner of Indian origin, of course, like 17 of the last 21, was “probably used to using” Sanskrit, there was a collective howl of indignation. That’s racist, tweeted scores of the easily offended. The anchor was joking, ham-fistedly, about the Sanskrit roots of the Trump coinage ‘covfefe’ when she made her incoherent remarks to the 12-year-old champion. Did the anchor think the little Californian girl’s parents speak Sanskrit at home? Was she referring to the ‘word origin’ question that bee contestants ask to help them spell obscure words? And why do we care so much? Sometimes clumsiness is just clumsiness.