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A
lot of hullabaloo has been raised regarding the
‘racist’ treatment allegedly meted out to
actress Shilpa Shetty by her fellow contestants
in the TV Show, “Big Brother” that is being
produced by Channel 4 in Britain. This incident
even cast its shadow on the visit by Gordon
Brown, the man expected to succeed Tony Blair.
This incident has brought many issues to the
surface and has drawn attention to the need to
see this issue not in isolation but as an
integral part of the fabric of which society is
woven. Is a rethink on larger issues necessary ?
While the viewers “Big Brother” overwhelmingly
condemned what was being shown on TV in the name
of entertainment, the Indian media portrayed
Shilpa Shetty as a sniveling weakling who found
herself incapable to throw back punches and
whose tears did not deserve sympathy. Is this
assessment fair ?
If Shilpa Shetty knew what she was getting into,
I bet she would have been more cautious. Shilpa
shetty, and many of the Indian actresses make it
a self fulfilling prophecy ,when, even though
they make their living in the Hindi movie
industry, they discard their “bread earning”
Hindi module and switch to English when it comes
to interviews – even for Indian TV !!! Has
something gone wrong here ? According to an old
adage, to earn respect of others, you must
respect yourself first. The generation of
Indians who had self respect died in the British
prisons. The present generation is deaf to the
screams of their grandparents who were
indiscriminately hanged and made cannon fodder
for resisting British Occupation. Although we
may credit ourselves solely for kicking the
British out of India, the fact remains, that if
Britain hadn’t been crippled during World War
II, Shilpa Shetty would be getting worse
treatment in Mumbai.
If a movie gets nominated for an Oscar, it makes
big news in India. The film maker walks ten feet
tall, divorces his wife and acts like he is
going to be taking over from Stephen Spielberg.
Dada Saheb Phalke award should be the epitome of
honours for any artist in the Indian movie
Industry, but the fixation on Cannes and Oscars
is their undoing. A fine actor like Kabir Bedi
had an itch to act in Hollywood movies. He ended
up in the role of the 'bad Arab guy' in TV soap
operas. That same itch has gotten to every two
bit actor and actresses today. Yes, it is fine
to act in Hollywood movies, but as long as the
role is not derogatory to either the actor, to
India, and to the Indian value system. As I
write this, I am thinking of Late Amrish Puri’s
shameful role in “Indiana Jones and the Temple
of Doom”.
It is universally known that Indian marriages,
which are usually arranged and rooted in a
celibate upbringing, tend to last like Japanese
cars as compared to the “affair driven” linkups
that are like the mating of the insects that
happens in midair for as long as biology needs
it to be. Yet, “Bend it like Beckham” tried to
bend the value system and portrayed the
traditional Indian system as something to be
ashamed of and discarded. Despite all that,
still movies like ‘Vivah’ however, are beacons
of hope in this darkness of the self-inflicted
bankruptcy of self respect.
Today as India emerges as a major player in the
World economy and Indians hold key jobs the
Companies, Labs and Hospitals of America and UK,
Indians are demanding more respect on the
International Stage. Respect, however, must be
commanded – not demanded. One good way to
command respect is to keep from being a
‘wannabe’ and if one is an Indian, he should
look at himself as an Indian first.
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Comments: |
As much as I am inclined to agree
with author's view, I would say
these are all choices made by an
individual and it should be treated
like that only. There is no need to
make each and small useless issues a
judgment or commentary on India and
Indian culture. Shilpa Shetty made a
choice and she is learning a thing
or two about life, world and
universe in general. She would be
better off with it in the end. So
did Late Amrish Puri, Kabir Bedi and
Amir Khan. We don't have to be
judgmental about it and be more
attached to it than it is required.
I have watched Indiana Jones and
Octopussy many times but I was not
ashamed by the role. Why should I be
? He was an actor in a free country
and so he was free to choose
whichever roles we played. He was
just acting on his own and not
representing India in Acting
Olympics that I have to be ashamed
on their performances. We are all
individuals and humans. We all are
attracted to something foolish at
some point in our lives which in
hindsight appears foolish but then
life is a journey. May be in the
hindsight those decisions did not
turn out to be the best of decisions
but again hindsight is always 20/20.
We make mistakes, we learn, we grow.
Also, I do not have the data and
have not done enough research to
make the claim but I have seen many
love marriages and western marriages
which last life long like our
marriages in India. To me, it is
just a cliché that Indian arranged
marriages work better. I personally
believe that it may or may not. It
just depends on the two individuals
involved in the marriage whether to
make it work or not. Times are
changing, India is changing, Indian
value systems are bound to change
over time. All of us are smart
enough to absorb the good changes
and leave out the bad over time.
Personally given the globalization
and modern times, I feel its best to
be open enough to take good and
learn from everywhere everyone.
Everything Indian is not good and
everything non-Indian is not bad. -
Ravindra Kumar - Jan. 20, 2007
Finally, someone who has the guts to
call it what it is. Yes we should be
proud of being Indians. But for
various reasons we seem to lose
touch with the "Indianness" within
ourselves. While the time for
assigning blame is never the right
time, I think it is always the right
time to assume responsibility. I
have not personally seen the show in
question and therefore cannot
comment on what Shilpa Shetty should
or should not have done, however,
the comments reportedly made on this
show by the other participants are
not so uncommon. It saddens me to
see that we may be causing the
problem to propagate by abandoning
our culture and irresponsibly and
shortsightedly adopting a western
culture which is even as we speak
beginging to understand the dreadful
ramifications of its own mistakes. -
No Name - Jan. 20, 2007
Well stated.
Amrish Puri's role was extremely
embarrassing.
How do we explain this to our kids.
Monkey brains, eww!!
Westernized Indians are more
assertive however, a transplanted
visitor like Shilpa, who clearly has
a strong sense of self has not been
exposed to this level of aggression
from Western females. Their level of
aggression is perceived as very
masculine and gritty. Down and dirty
fighters. Great skills needed for
corporate America.
When the economy is at its worst,
deep seated racism surfaces... i.e.
post World War - I Germany prior to
the the brown shirts taking over.
Jews were envied by the lower class
Germans.
Harsh economic times typically
reflect lack of tolerance, with
episodes and periods of racial and
social backsliding as such.
Additionally Bollywood has insulated
itself into a fairy wonderland that
life is fair with a happy ending. It
is not!
Older Indian movies addressed
meatier issues facing the Indian
human condition. With the influx of
the t&a videos the movies lack
substantial substance. The
consciousness has taken a vacation.
I do hope that it is just a part of
a learning process and/or journey to
self discovery. - Kam Perrotti -
Jan. 20, 2007
I completely agree with Author. We
need to respect ourselves first. In
our Indian society there is a system
which divides on socio-economic
status and hold on to caste
hierarchy. We see person competence
depending on where he comes from
rather than seeing his skills and
capability.
Every Indian has abilities and
capabilities. This will be shown
only when opportunities arises. That
is why migrating to other countries
they have succeeded in life and
career.
However in growing economy of India
we still have fights on caste,
religion. We need to eliminate
thoughts and perception on this and
cultivate humanity and humility
towards other Indian as human rather
than their socio-economic status or
caste basis. It is vital that every
Indian must feel proud of
themselves.
Behavioural change is vital for
society; which come across in BB
show. Having name and fame does not
change your behaviour and attitude.
Media has a role along with
Bollywood to root out these
problems. Education is a basis to
change someone's behaviour. This
applies to all over world. -
Selkars - Jan. 21, 2007
Racial discrimination is not new to
Indian society, its deep rooted in
ours cultural ethos. It's prevalent
every where, and has made westerns
hard to believe that have potential
and we can also do better. But we
have more important issue to ponder
upon, Shilpa doesn't represent
India, she went on individual
capacity as is handsomely paid.
Being Indian, we cannot be blind to
the evils that we see everyday in
life, that's make the difference
when we compare the Indian caste
ridden society with other
contemporary societies where you are
seen as human being.
Living normal life without
'connections' in Indian setup is
challenge! - Akhilesh kumar -
Jan. 21, 2007
It is indeed interesting to see how
every one is tied up in knots about
what happened to Shilpa Shetty in
British TV show!
Perhaps we need to turn the camera
at ourselves. Look at the hate that
is pervasive in India - Biharis
getting killed in Assam just because
of who they are, Bihari students
getting the threat in Bombay,
communal riots in Gujarat - just to
name a few. As many readers have
noted - Indian Journalists are more
than eager to fan the flames. When
we Indians respect each other and
treat each other like human being,
the world will treat us better. Till
then all the noise about Shilpa
Shetty is just meaningless noise. -
Sanjay Kumar, Longmeadow,
Massachusetts - Jan. 21, 2007
Why are we worried so much about
Shilpa Shetty and Big Brother in the
UK when in our own reality show, The
Big Boss, the abominable Dipak
Tijori calls Ravi Kissen "bombil
jaise face wale in Biharion ko kaun
khada karega modelling industry mein".
See here.
Where was the I&B minister of India
hiding when this incident happened?
Let us first set India in order
before accusing British of racism. -
Thakur Vikas Sinha, Powai, Mumbai
- Jan. 23, 2007 |
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