Actress Shilpa Shetty has just won what she couldn’t accomplish all her career. Huge money, endorsement offers, meaty film roles, fame and even big money for giving ‘exclusive’ tabloid and TV interviews. Eventually, she would give so many of them that none of the interview would remain ‘exclusive’. Why refuse money when it is coming!
We surely have reasons to delight at her award unless and until we ponder over reasons that enabled her to get it. No doubt, racism in Britain is still predominantly present and the alleged racist comments by certain participants in the show were just an off-shoot of the prevailing undercurrent. After all, it were the grand fathers and great grand fathers of the present-day generation who had written “Dogs and Indians not allowed” outside restaurants or thrown a well-dressed, well-educated person named Gandhi out of a train. The treatment meted out by the Memsahibs and their male counterparts are still written in the annals of our past literature.
We are deriving too much out of a stray incident, some of you may say. As proof to substantiate what we are saying, we cite certain passages from column ‘London Diary’ by Anil Thakraney written in Outlook (November 26, 2006) prior to the shaping of events and controversies surrounding Shilpa Shetty.
In his column Thakraney mentions of “suspicion and derision” merely because he was ‘brown’. He writes: “One legendary taboo in London is making eye contact inside the tubes. It’s always been considered offensive to stare at the fellow commuter. The locals arm themselves with newspapers and books mainly to avoid any possibilities of eye contact. Well, apart from other things, the terrorists have changed this, too. I am stared at long and hard, usually with a mixture of suspicion and derision. Because not only am I ‘brown’, I cheerfully move around with a rather bulky green-coloured backpack. Never felt so important in London before.”
At another place he writes: “Most locals (living around London’s Finsbury Park mosque), I gather from any letters to editors, want the mosque eliminated ASAP. And Jack Straw wants the irritating veil unveiled.”
All this is happening because of the aftermaths of 9/11 and train-bombings that killed several people; you may say as a counter. But what would you say if a white policemen stares from beneath your daughter’s skirt up to her panties. Do they harbour suspicions that bombs can be carried inside? Sample this passage from Tahkraney’s column:
“On a night out at the happening Bond Street, I spot a group of overzealous white cops bodysearch some rappin’ Black teens. Reminds me of that provocative scene in Crash, where a racist cop orgasmically fingers a black lady up her panties. Mercifully, on this occasion, the officer is only looking up the girl’s skirt (swear, I didn’t make this up). And what exactly is their crime, I enquire. “The youngsters are suspected of soliciting and drug-dealings on the streets,” coolly informs Steve, one of the policemen. The tamasha carries on for a while, until one female member loudly accuses the cops of being unfairly racist, and threatens to file counter-charges. Taken aback, the policemen quickly disappear into the night. Makes me wonder. Shouldn’t they be focusing their energies on brainwashed Muslim kids of Brick Lane? Why go after soft targets? Mumbai mein bhi aisa hota hain, na?” (As long as they are Muslims, the media won’t complain.)
How would you react if our own Mumbaiite cop does this with a European lady visiting or staying in our country? After all, suspicions of drug-peddling by certain white-skinned Europeans have surfaced from time to time.
All this is prompting me to become racist for a while. Kudos to Ratan Tata who through purchase of British steel-giant Corus has shown the mettle, that ‘Brown’ is definitely a stronger colour than ‘white’.
We surely have reasons to delight at her award unless and until we ponder over reasons that enabled her to get it. No doubt, racism in Britain is still predominantly present and the alleged racist comments by certain participants in the show were just an off-shoot of the prevailing undercurrent. After all, it were the grand fathers and great grand fathers of the present-day generation who had written “Dogs and Indians not allowed” outside restaurants or thrown a well-dressed, well-educated person named Gandhi out of a train. The treatment meted out by the Memsahibs and their male counterparts are still written in the annals of our past literature.
We are deriving too much out of a stray incident, some of you may say. As proof to substantiate what we are saying, we cite certain passages from column ‘London Diary’ by Anil Thakraney written in Outlook (November 26, 2006) prior to the shaping of events and controversies surrounding Shilpa Shetty.
In his column Thakraney mentions of “suspicion and derision” merely because he was ‘brown’. He writes: “One legendary taboo in London is making eye contact inside the tubes. It’s always been considered offensive to stare at the fellow commuter. The locals arm themselves with newspapers and books mainly to avoid any possibilities of eye contact. Well, apart from other things, the terrorists have changed this, too. I am stared at long and hard, usually with a mixture of suspicion and derision. Because not only am I ‘brown’, I cheerfully move around with a rather bulky green-coloured backpack. Never felt so important in London before.”
At another place he writes: “Most locals (living around London’s Finsbury Park mosque), I gather from any letters to editors, want the mosque eliminated ASAP. And Jack Straw wants the irritating veil unveiled.”
All this is happening because of the aftermaths of 9/11 and train-bombings that killed several people; you may say as a counter. But what would you say if a white policemen stares from beneath your daughter’s skirt up to her panties. Do they harbour suspicions that bombs can be carried inside? Sample this passage from Tahkraney’s column:
“On a night out at the happening Bond Street, I spot a group of overzealous white cops bodysearch some rappin’ Black teens. Reminds me of that provocative scene in Crash, where a racist cop orgasmically fingers a black lady up her panties. Mercifully, on this occasion, the officer is only looking up the girl’s skirt (swear, I didn’t make this up). And what exactly is their crime, I enquire. “The youngsters are suspected of soliciting and drug-dealings on the streets,” coolly informs Steve, one of the policemen. The tamasha carries on for a while, until one female member loudly accuses the cops of being unfairly racist, and threatens to file counter-charges. Taken aback, the policemen quickly disappear into the night. Makes me wonder. Shouldn’t they be focusing their energies on brainwashed Muslim kids of Brick Lane? Why go after soft targets? Mumbai mein bhi aisa hota hain, na?” (As long as they are Muslims, the media won’t complain.)
How would you react if our own Mumbaiite cop does this with a European lady visiting or staying in our country? After all, suspicions of drug-peddling by certain white-skinned Europeans have surfaced from time to time.
All this is prompting me to become racist for a while. Kudos to Ratan Tata who through purchase of British steel-giant Corus has shown the mettle, that ‘Brown’ is definitely a stronger colour than ‘white’.
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