The League’s Shivakamini Somakandarkram Explained

As a fantasy football-centered TV show, the title of the trophy in The League, Shivakamini Somakandarkram, has an important meaning. The League follows a group of friends in Chicago who participate in a very serious fantasy football league every year. The lead-up to the draft, the season, the playoffs, the prize for the winner, and the punishment for the loser are all treated with the intensity and respect of a religious ceremony. The likable cast of characters in The League play dirty, prank, and occasionally commit crimes in their attempts to win that year’s fantasy football league and obtain bragging rights until the next year.

The series premiered in October 2009 and lasted for seven seasons, following the same group who returns every August, just as rabid to win as the year before. The League benefits from its hyper-specific focus on the highly relatable event that is fantasy football. Everything the characters say, the problems they have, and the tricks they pull to win are all recognizable to anyone who has participated in one of these addictive but admittedly absurd game leagues. Even something like the trophy awarded at the end of the season, the Shivakamini Somakandarkram, is similar to the beaten-up token of gaming accomplishment that many hope to win.

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Shivakamini Somakandarkram Is The High School Valedictorian The League Named Their Trophy After

“The Shiva” is the name of the trophy that the league awards to the winner every year, passing it around after every season. It’s a large gold and wood statue with the names of every year’s winner carved in at the bottom along with the year they won. At the top of the trophy is an awkward photograph of their classmate and high school valedictorian Shivakamini Somakandarkram (Janina Gavankar). It’s a dumb joke that the group thinks is hilarious until it’s revealed in season 1 that Shivakamini has matured into a beautiful, talented, self-possessed urologist while the members of the league have more or less remained the same.

Every member of the league is infatuated with Shivakamini after meeting her years later, Kevin (Stephen Rannazzisi) especially, considering he lost his virginity to her in high school and has never quite gotten over it. Yet, they still refuse to take her picture down from their trophy, much to her frustration. It’s a testament to the immaturity of the league that, despite everyone now having affection for Shivakamini, they can’t bring themselves to listen to her if it means changing any aspect of their league whatsoever. Fantasy football rules all.

Why The League’s Depiction Of Shiva Isn’t (Quite) As Problematic As It Seems

In one sense, The League is literally objectifying Shivakamini as her photo sits atop an object the league essentially worships. This could be problematic if it weren’t for the fact that, time and time again, the members of the league, which includes one woman, are shown as tactless, immature buffoons. Shivakamini isn’t so much disgusted by their behavior as frustrated by their ridiculousness. She sees through their obnoxious actions to the childishness underneath and treats them with the appropriate flippant behavior. Some fans of The League may not know that the series was written by a male and female couple.

These showrunners clearly understand the dynamics of immature men obsessing over someone who is, literally and figuratively, out of their league. Unlike the members of the group, Shivakamini has grown up. She’s matured past her classmates many times over. If there’s anyone in The League who would be a pleasure to play a game with, it would be Shivakamini, not the insufferable man-children and woman-child of the league.

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