The Race against RACISM

Epilogue

Although I was always confused about blogging, I was pretty much clear on what topics would be part of my blogs. Having never tried my hands on serious blogging like humanity, ethics, patriotism, for the fear of not being able to do enough justice to them. Here I am to talk about RACISM, just to break a barrier which I created for myself.

SAY NO TO RACISM

Thanks to half a dozen news channels aired everyday, Shilpa Shetty seems to be the only name that would flash across our minds, every time we talk about racism, for the next month or so.

But how serious is racism in India, does it prevails only in the east, are we well equipped to fight against it, is it over-hyped by the media ? are the unswered questions.

Inpite of spending having spent 20 odd years down south (if you call Hyderabad South), Hindi is not an alien language to me, much against the perception of most people in Delhi. However words like “Ghati”1, “Chinki”2 & “Madrasi”3 weren’t a part of my Hindi dictionary until I reached Delhi.

Will someone take the pain of explaining people that, it is not that tough to find fair people in Chennai and not every Mallayalee makes a weird sound while eating, not every Andhrite has pickle 3 times a day, and you get sandwiches and toasts in Bangalore apart from the regular Idli, Dosa, Wada, Uttapam.

And by the way, neither does every Punjabi uses the term “benc***d” twice in every sentence, neither are snakes & reptiles a part of the regular diet of people from the NorthEast, and not every Kashmiri is a militant.

Such perceptions are something that have unfortunately been imbibed into the society, I would definetly want to live in a society without perceptions.

The media (both in India and abroad) have raised a furor on racism about Channel 4’s Celebrity BigBrother show involving bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty who has been been subjected to bullying, allegedly with undertones of racism, by fellow participants Jade Goody, Jack Tweed & Jackiey Budden.

Shilpa’s victory is a mere eyewash, as it highly likely that the result has been tampered by Channel 4, so that victory would be overshadowed the entire racism episode, also considering the fact that they were far more deserving candidates in the form of Jermaine Jackson & Dirk Benedict who managed to stay away from controversies all along the show.

However, I must admit that I have rejoiced Shilpa’s victory like any other Indian would have, but the focus here is on racism not on the victory.

In a country like India where racism prevails within our own people on such a large scale, where the fairness products market is worth a staggering Rs 800 crore, what example are we setting to our younger generation as well as the people outside India ? Is it fair enough to blame the entire west for the racist slurs raised by a few individuals??

Have similar protests be raised (anywhere in the world) when Rohit (Kushal Punjabi) abuses Stephanie (Shannon Esra) and terms as her as a “Blonde Bimbo” in the Bollywood movie SALAAM-E-ISHQ ??? NO !!!

The only reason why “White” is considered superior to “Black”? is the fact that most of the developed countries have white skinned people.

The moment a country starts making economical progress, people stand up to respect its culture, its movies, its people (which has started to happen with India now, and has been happening with the US in the past 50 years).

So the day when the term “White skinned” would be marked as a racist slur is not far, considering the progress India has been making off late…….

What path each one of has to take to make turn this dream to a reality, is the crux of this post, which is unfortunately a missing piece of the puzzle.

PS: Off the record, In the Times matrimonial, I would still hunt for a “Fair girl” and will continue to use Emami’s Fair & Handsome Men’s fairness cream….. [:D]

1. "Ghati” (A derogatory term used to describe people from smaller towns who have vernacular influence on their accents, and fail to match the living standards of people in the bigger cities; Considered to have originated from Maharashtra)

2. “Chinki” (A term associated with people from the North-Eastern States, & a few asian countries (China, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Hongkong)

3. “Madrasi” (A term used to associate people from Madras and every other place down south)

Disclaimer: The opinions and views mentioned in this blog are that of the authors and might have either been influenced by a section in the society or under the influence of alcohol. No individual/community/religion has been targeted either intentionally or unintentionally, any offence taken is purely unintentional, and intentional ones do not deserve any apologies. The author’s views or not biased towards any individual/community/religion. Any objectionable content would be brought to the notice of the author, which would be reviewed and taken off the blog, if found genuinely objectionable.