Yesterday, I read in the newspaper that Richard Gere’s kissing of Shilpa Shetty has triggered protests over what the moral brigade sees as an affront to Indian culture. They have even demanded that an FIR be filed against the actress for defiling her person and thus insulting her culture for the sake of money.
First of all, I want to put forward this question. What is wrong in kissing? Don’t brothers kiss their sisters? Don’t sons kiss their mothers? Don’t fathers kiss their daughters? A kiss is basically a sign of love. And love has many forms. Apart from the ones that I mentioned above, there are several others including the love between friends. Now, what stops a friend from kissing a friend if the friend being kissed has no problems? We have perverted minds. When we see two persons kissing, we tend to interpret it in the wrong sense.
Secondly, I think that the charge against Shilpa Shetty that she “insulted the culture for money” is absolutely ludicrous. It is actually shameful that we Indians are behaving like this. There are more pressing needs, like poverty, illiteracy, non-accessibility to civic amenities, farmers committing suicides, corruption, increasing crime, etc. that we need to attend to. Aren’t these greater insults to the nation than a kiss? What are we doing about these issues?
“We are a culture that worships women, we believe in ‘nari shakti (woman power)’. Padmavati, Durgavati and Rani Laxmibai are our ideals.”, says Sumit Mishra, Madhya Pradesh’s organizational secretary of BJP’s youth wing – Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha – in justification of his stand against Richard Gere’s kiss on Shilpa Shetty’s cheek. Nari shakti, yeah right!! Then why is the female foeticide rate so high in India? Why is the rape rate so high in India? Why are there so many incidents of domestic violence in India? Why do people demand exorbitant dowry from the girl’s side during marriage if they “worship women”? And why do they harass them afterward for more of it? Does this not amount to extortion? Why does prostitution thrive in a country which supposedly “worships women”? Does Mr. Sumit Mishra or the saffron brigade have an answer to these questions?
So, according to me, neither Richard Gere nor Shilpa Shetty has committed any wrong. I believe that morality of a person is shaped largely by the circumstances he/she goes through. And it can never be changed by force. As a matter of fact, none of us are perfect. Each of us has his/her own shortcomings. So, none of us has a right to point a finger at others.
2 Comments
April 19, 2007 at 4:58 pm
I am not against the kiss. But only need to know whether Gere has done this in his own country with well-known actresses or not. If yes, no problem.
If no, then it shows the scant respect he has for Shilpa
October 20, 2008 at 4:32 pm
why arent more people thinking like you?