A Nation of Hypocrites?

We got to London days before Shilpa Shetty's controversial Big Brother win. From being a fairly unknown Bollywood actress, she had graduated into an Indian icon, and we were amused. I wasn't particularly sympahetic, despite being an Indian with zero tolerance for bullying of any sort. However, India's reaction to how she was treated during the show had us amused. Were we as tolerant as we wanted the Brits to be?

I went to college in Pune, and the setting couldn't have been more cosmopolitan. We were a class of 100 odd, with students from all over, on either side of a huge fence. On one side were us madrasis (irrespective of which southern state we belonged to, unless ofcourse you were Bangalorean) and on the other side were the northies (usually the Delhi-ites). The maharashtrians and bengalis fell on either of the two sides depending on who their friends were. But the madrasi and the northie rarely became friends.
We were labeled conservative (luckily the accents weren't "teasable") and tame. Our parties were mild and if we missed class, it was because we'd overslept after reading a book late into the night. The northie thought he was cooler, because he walked in late nursing a hangover, wearing clothes from the previous night. We (who were conscientious students as far as attendance was concerned) merely sniggered and whispered, "Gosh, what a loser." We both were guilty of nursing prejudices that weren't necessarily true. The madrasi (assumed to be smarter) wasn't always dedicated and goody goody, and the northie wasn't always a well-dressed duh! Well yeah, we were giving eachother labels, so why were we offended when Shilpa Shetty was called "The Indian" or "Shilpa Pappadam?"

These prejudices aren't merely regional or an embarassment of the past. Even today I know of brahmins who refuse even water in a christian's house. A neighbour who walked in cautiously a while ago, exclaimed, "For a Christian, you have a clean house." I'm always amused at what she thought she'd find in our house. Walls painted with goat's blood, and a cow's head for a show piece perhaps?!

To Shilpa's advantage, the controversy worked to her advantage. She won herself a lot of money, huge opportunities, and truck loads of fans. While she was being called graceful and an epitomy of Indian culture, Jade Goody was being terrorized. Magazines sold like hot cakes, carrying stories of how she was scared to leave behind some unfinished chicken tikka masala, for fear of being labeled anti-Indian. They also carried stories from Shilpa's two-timing ex. Akshay Kumar sure didn't see this coming.

For a while, Shilpa continued to inhabit the papers before giving way to more popular Brit gossip (Prince William-Kate Middleton split blah blah). Then she reappeared again after Richard Gere reportedly kissed her in public. The arrest warrant in her name had me in splits. It seemed like we were a nation of prudes who were living in denial. Sure we weren't used to public displays of affection, but did not seeing something openly mean that it didn't exist atall? Why were those adorning the cloaks of morality focusing on a harmless kiss, while being tolerant towards panchayats in villages where a daughter-in-law is forced to divorce her husband after being raped by her father-in-law? Tales of rape, extra-marital affairs, and crimes of passion find small corners in the newspaper, and soon they are forgotten. However, when Shilpa Shetty gets kissed in public, the nation is outraged.

Amidst all these chaos, Shilpa Shetty seems to be shifting base to London. The Metro proudly announced her decision to buy a house and start a chain of restaurants in England. That is probably good news for the desis. Let's just hope the food is good and the prices affordable. I do however hope that she finds a better name than "The Shilpa Shetty Dinning Hall."
Ro suggests "Badi Behen."
What do you think?