If Indian government can blindly do a caste based racist reservation, and if the whole country has to sit tight with government's decision, I don think we should talk about Jade.
Did we Indians think about Arjun Singh's actions so seriously ?
Racism like all bad things will co-exist with all good things.We have to accept it and even pay certain amount of reverence to it as part of divine design. Each one of us should learn to live with it and not ever get infected by it. One must have faith in ones innate divinity like Maharishi Ashtavakra had, despite ugly and being laughed upon his ugliness he could laugh on those who called him ugly as he knew of his divinity and the divinty in others too and with a positive encounter the divinity in others could be easily aroused to elicit respect for oneself. Shilpa has done well to face it , not damaged her self and forgiven her colleague to silence the satan in her mind and tongue. Kuldeep Chandra
This depiction of racism on Television just shows a bunch of people's attitude towards an Indian. It does not mean that there are only three people in the UK that are racist, it signifies a larger picture of racism which is prevalent in all countries of western origin. This incident shows that 3 women from the UK expressed what they felt about an "Indian" in a televised show. It obviously will offend people because of the reach television has in today's society. Even if we fret and fume and show anger and outrage over this issue, it will not kill the fact that foreign cultures are hard to comprehend by people of the west, because of its inherent differences. When a person leaves his home country and travels to another civilization, it sets him up to be racially profiled by the natives of that culture. The only way to counteract this is to be understanding and have a lot of patience. To try and fight this is futile, it will not result in anything. Its the same when a white caucasian person or an African comes to India, people look at him and profile him all the time. They cannot speak the same language nor comprehend native terms and even the cuisine is hard to figure out. This is how the world is, the key to peace rests within ourselves. Jai Shri Ram
If someone calls 'The Indian' is that such a bad word? Is that what we call racism? Do we have such a low self-esteem problem or we lack clarity? You make food with your hands dont know where it was, shouldn't she have commented man, your sh.t is sticking out wash it? Why the f..k we even assume we can be racially abused in the first place? Whatever that guy said, she completely whined, wussed and cried about it and made it look like 'The Indian' a bad word, 'we dont know where the hand was' from those who use toilet paper which not matter what leaves some scrap always, and 'want to be white', why the F anyone want to be a pale, pallid, albino, ghost looking white in the first place?
RE:Why we are such a idiots?
by on Jan 22, 2007 11:20 PM
oh my god what are you babbling on about.albino ghost looking. you prat. at least we don`t smell like the food we eat.why is it you can make racist comments and get away with it. i bet you live in our country also, the cheek of you.
RE:RE:Why we are such a idiots?
by Governor General on Jan 23, 2007 05:36 PM
He is a Pakistani writing under pseydoname. Indian wannabe Pakistani. :) Ignore him.
Having lived abroad (the West, ahem) I believe I'm in a position to make some comparison between Indian society and other societies. Yes, we do have casteism, regionalism, classism and other isms some of which are nasty. Regionalism and classism is nothing peculiar to India. It's a characteristic that all complex societies have (unless one happens to be living in a country where all people look and sound the same). Today casteism by way of endogamous marriage is a matter of choice (limited choice) - it's power as an institution of discrimination has greatly diminished and is vanishing; we have people from all walks of life leading India as a nation and Indian business and enterprise. On the whole things are looking up but that shouldn't make us complacent - things should continue improving so long as we object to any wrong and keep the sensible dialog going; in this regard I have great faith in India. It is wrong to compare the vile behavior often seen in individuals and institutions that arise from deep-rooted prejudices and malice in which an entire people are denigrated and driven into the ground with any of the deficiencies that we have in India. By offering to make up after being insulted left and right, Shilpa is asking for more. This time she'll have to be more original than resorting to Bollywood antiques.
I have an explanation for the continuous lack of merit/judgement shown by the Rediff movie analysts. My verdict is Rediff reviewers are manipulating the rediff fans' emotions to increase their web traffic and the time they spend in the site. This they achieve by putting down good films like Guru and praising bad films like Risk. This they know will increase the passion of the common internet folks and would force them to react and hence increase the popularity of Rediff review team and the rediff site. Raja Sen like people want cheap publicity and the possible performance bonus with that. Rediff Editors are not worried about the validity of anything published as long as they meet the required revenue and growth targets for the site.
Let's analyze each professional at Rediff on his incentives and compensation and try to rationally explain his actions.
Rediff Chief Editor -------------------
Performance criteria - Growth in the web traffic to Rediff and possibly the revenue in ad hostings that increase with traffic.
Incentive misalignment - Objectivity in the review reports and truth.
Hence Chief Editor may not be worried about fairness or truth in the reviews.
Reviewers ---------
Performance targets - Increase the traffic for their reports.
Incentives - Positive for growth in traffic to the reports. Neurtal for Good and valid report. Another misalignment that forces people like Raja Sen to be controversial rather than genuine.
How should Rediff change this? ------------------------------ If a journalist reviews a movie, his compensation for the review should be tied to the popular verdict on the movie like BoxOffice performance or the Average Critics Rating for the movie. This will force the reviewer to be honest and truthful. Rediff will also benefit from the increased reputation among its readers.
I have been noticing that any comment which tries to look inward towards how we Indians are are being reported for "abuse" !!! I just found that people are being truthful for a change. But there seem to be some sort of a planned and concerted effort to wipe out views which comments on our own outlook towards caste, religion, states etc.. If thats "Reporting Abuse" at Rediff, PLEASE BAN ME TOO !!! Coz I too believe that we could be chosen as the most racist country, if that word is taken in its real sense. But unfortunately, Racism just means the skin color I presume !!!
RE:Reporting Abuse ?
by Governor General on Jan 21, 2007 07:07 PM
Biju,
Can we argue over this?
1. You say our country is the most racist. I as an individual have never ever involved in any racist activities. I don't believe in caste discrimination either. I also give benefit of doubt to Shilpa Shetty so she is also not a racist. So in our country with majority of racists (as per your statement) there could be a handful of people who might stand out. Do you agree?
2. Shilpa was racially abused and we should fight that.
Irrespective of whether Shilpa and I are racists or not we have the rights not to be racially abused. Do you agree?
Shilpa was clearly racially abused. This the majority view in Britain and India. Do you agree?
Given that Shilpa was racially abused, people like me have the rights to fight that due to legal and moral (since I am not a racist) reasons. Do you agree?
Now can you please tell me where all you disagree and why so? Thanks.
- A non-racist Indian (In a country full of racists - as per your judgement)
RE:RE:Reporting Abuse ?
by Governor General on Jan 21, 2007 07:09 PM
Do you think people like me have to put up with all the racism in every part of the world because you think India is the most racist society?
RE:JADE ADMITS SHE MADE RACIST COMMENTS ON SHILPA
by SUNIT MEHTA on Jan 21, 2007 07:40 PM
I am totally against the racist comments made against Shilpa and Indians on the "Big Brother". However, most Indians need to change the way they live abroad. I live in the USA myself and consider myself an American Indian. I have walked into a lot of convenient stores where the "indian owners" have acted cheap, sold expired food and given below par customer service. It is OK to do this in India I guess, but please do not try this in a foreign country. "In Rome, do as Romans do". I have witnessed countless times Indians walking into stores trying to bargain items on Sale. I have even witnessed them talking to a commissioned salesman for an hour, in the end just walking away without purchasing the product. What are foreigners supposed to think of this attitude and behavior? Time and again..and then again. I feel sad to be stereotyped in this country because of the behavior of Indians abroad who still think they are in "India". I am against the racist comments made on Shilpa, but this behavior and attitude of Indians abroad needs to be changed. Do not go abroad if you cannot adopt the way of the people of the land, atleast the attitude. Jai Shri Ram.
since the only person who spokefor shilpa was gordon our wonderful chancellor to be pm next , and rani and amitab tatally were inept on media along with rest of bollywood , im glad mrs shetty on her way . this was clearly racist as racial equality comissions stepped in and reconfirmed it, GOOD FOR US BRIT INDIES .but im disheartened by the total lack of action by indian middle classes and bollywood too , if this happenned at my workplace to an indian , id make the racist beg on their knees .
