Trial by Media and Shilpa Shetty

For the past few hours, everywhere that the eye sees, one sees Shilpa madam. The Indian government minions not one to miss a chance to be associated with glamour is pitching in by expressing its horror against racism (note that this is the same govt promoting racism's close cousin - casteism) against one of its citizens.

As I am writing this, the closest thing I heard to a racist remark that was made against Shilpa Shetty was somebody calling her a "Paki" (I don't consider "cunt" as a racist remark, or someone as racist if he/she does not share my taste in spicy foods). Now, my fellow desis, how many times have you called a Chinese guy a "chinku" ? In fact, most of the Indians I have known classify blacks as "kallus" (the most recent nickname doing the rounds being "ShyamSundar"). Does that mean desis in general are racist ? Of course, if
we go by how we are judging the British.


The basic problem is that with our tendency to group people (mindlessly, I must add) into groups so that the actions of individuals,good or bad, don't matter. In other words, stereotype groups without accounting for actions of individuals. So, whites are always racist, Muslims are all evil, blacks are violent ..... the stereotypes (both good and bad) are plenty. And I will be restating the obvious if I say that these stereotypes will stand till such a time that, as one of my favorite comedian says, we will be all of a uniform color - beige.

Now, Shilpa's closest are putting up an "Oh-So-sad" face. Her mother is saying that it pains her when people abuse her and she has to put up with it (Read the antics of that criminal bitch here). Fine, good ..... we will know the authenticity of those sad feelings when Shilpa Shetty decides to return the humungous 3 crore Rupees (approximately $0.7 million) that she is supposedly getting from the show. Let us see how much that pimp she calls her father loves her and hates what happened to his daughter to return the money that she will get.

Lastly, what are the protesting people protesting against ? What constitutes racism ? Was Shilpa Shetty singled out ? Of course not. As far as I know, the whole point of the reality show is to bitch, moan and backstab. OmaRosa actually used the racism bludgeon to gain celebrity status. And why isn't the "racist" cast picking on Jermain Jackson ? He is black, isn't he ? He certainly isn't complaining of racism.

Shilpa Shetty is, of course, partly to blame for her own misfortune. She acted like an ass when she introduced herself. What was she thinking when she introduced herself as a star (in her movies she displays everything else but her acting ability) and regaled them about her celebrity status ? Of course, she probably forgot to mention that her father (rightly so) is fighting in court for issuing death threats on her behalf. And sundry other trivia ... like her connection to the underworld (whose bitch the whole of Bollyword is). So, Shilpa was so far out that she probably did not get the sarcasm when they nicknamed her - "The Princess". That being said, only the most clueless would boast about their celebrity status to a room of ..... shall we say people who have been on the less glamorous side of life .....including such gems like Jermaine Jackson (who is paranoid about sharing toilets), an illiterate nurse, a fiesty (fine print meaning uncouth) journalist. (The rest of the gems that they picked up for the cast can be seen here. You can see that they were definitely scaping the bottom of the barrel ..... The choice for Shilpa speaks volumes about what they think of her vis-avis other members of the cast)

Needless to say, these people have had their figurative teeth knocked out while living their life .... and here was a sexy star boasting about how good she has it going. Next time, Shilpa-jee, go to the poorhouse and boast about how much money you have. See what reaction you get.

No one is disagreeing that the behavior of the cast is reprehensible but only on the personal level. Of course, if I don't like your food, I am going to say "screw you, I'm not eating that" ..... what if Shilpa chose not to have beef cooked by somebody ? Would that be "racism" on Shilpa's part ? If someone calls her a cunt, she can call him a dick. But being brought up in the cloistered and protected environment of Bollywood stardom, will she have the balls to do that ? After Aishwarya Rai's toe-curling cluelessness on the David Letterman show and Shetty's weeping visage being shown around, that answer has got to be a big "NO".

And oh yes, I agree with Anand ..... Priyaranjan Das Munshi can go fuck himself...... And may I add that he does look like a pimp.

Update - While something like this, goes unnoticed. Will these patrons and products of whores protest against something like this ?