In recent weeks, reports that a leading Bollywood starlet had been subjected to racist remarks while participating in a reality show sent shockwaves throughout the country. Debates and discussions were held and widespread agitations observed. Protestors demanded that the U.K based show apologize personally to the contestant ,as well as the Nation. Moreover when on Eviction Day,the starlet’s apparent tormentor was ousted from the show,
India breathed a sigh of relief.
This entire episode meant that people everywhere were critical about the ongoing saga.Very long editorial articles and media debates followed .People on the streets too were found discussing the event in question ,even though ,most of them had no notion of how the show functioned or what racism actually meant. The people of
India have always been critical about racism and will never tolerate racism of any kind was the unanimous opinion. This self-contradictory statement startled me greatly.
We live in a society where matrimonial pages are seen sporting advertisements asking for “fair/beautiful brides ,a society where fairness creams rule the roost ,a society where the relatives of a newborn baby are often found discussing how their newborn has inherited the fair/dark complexion of his/her parents.Does it matter?Of course not they reply .If so then why discuss all of this?
To be brutally honest, even after 60 years of independence India is still to recover from its obsession of “fair skin” and “fair skinned” individuals.In my opinion, most Indians suffer from an inferiority complex regarding their tanned skin,something which I fail to understand.
If we look at modern India ,discrimination on basis of caste/creed/colour is evident. Private/Public sector companies have often spoken of them, preferring people having greater presentability .In short ,they refer to people who speak better English,people who have better communication skills over a person of same/greater educational ability.What they fail to understand is that communication skills and looks are something which people are born with and hence the entire selection episode becomes a farce.
In the field of education,it is commonly seen that people from rural areas have been consistently outperforming their urban counterparts in Board exams .Yet, if we look at the number of people making it into reputed business schools,we find that the majority of the students are from urban India.While B schools have often ruled out suggestions that they do have a bias towards urban wards during the selection process, it is evident that unknowingly a bias creeps into our mind when we have to choose between a convent educated person say A with a person B with greater educational qualification yet with ordinary looks and a stuttering accent.
Thus in short,India will always prefer listening to a Krishna Menon with his Victorian English than an A,B,C reciting the same.
Today’s India does not endorse a Pather Panchali,does not endorse a La Dri Biciclette claiming that the above films show the world in bad light.They claim that they show to the world, only the poor and the destitute and minimize the glorious achievements of a country .Yet if such views are repackaged and made into a movie that receives critical acclaim, as well as commercial success, people claim that the movie has “woken up an entire generation” and write long articles on how the movie has changed their lives for the better.
One of the main characteristics of a capitalist economy is the fact that people are profit maximizing and overlook larger social issues. Today’s news media is no different. For them ,TRP ratings/newspaper sales have become more important than much larger social responsibilities .They are found telecasting events,writing articles and debating over otherwise useless topics like celebrity gossip and who’s seeing whom etc.Not for an instant do they look at the cause of the increasing number of farmer suicides in parts of India or the effects of acquisition of fertile land which has resulted in lots of people leaving their respective homelands and thereby facing financial crisis.
While these stories may not sell, the media should refrain from turning itself into a full fledged capitalist organization ,an ideology which it helped defeat in Tsar ruled Soviet Russia and during the war in Vietnam.
The news media should not play with communication, rather should act as a flag bearers, leading the country forward ,not taking it a step back.
Thus,as I sit in the confines of the four walls of my house,I wonder whether our generation will take our country forward,wonder whether we would be able to bridge inter-caste and inter-religion barriers?I hear John Lennon singing in the distance-
“You may say I’m a dreamer but I am not the only one,
Hope someday you’ll join us
And the world will be one..”
It is then that I stop writing.