Karan, Coffee, Gere and China

 

When will Indians stop nodding their heads to everything an American says or does without even thinking of what the context is and the implications are, besides making a fool of himself?

All Richard Gere had to say day before yesterday in Coffee with Karan, the celebrity talk show by film director Karan Johar, was unfortunately or fortunately, critique on the Chinese stand on the Tibet and their hard heartedness.

Granted: What is happening is most probably true. Many are suffering, that way under the Chinese. But when he says that India is a happening place today (which he feels for the first time in his relationship with India for 30 years and adds that if India also helped raise the education levels, and uplift the poor, it would become a greater culture especially in South Asia and certainly better than China and stay so for the next 200-300 years(??) To that Karan Johar replies, with a smile of gratitude, "We hope so". We hope so? Who? So when did Richard Gere become a culture evaluator? By what scale is he measuring the greatness of Indian Culture? And what makes us better than China? How can we even compare both countries in matter other than GDP growth? And why in the world does Karan Johar have to pay faithful doggie who is glad to have a bone thrown his way by his owners' friend? So does he believe that India will become better than China, if Richard Gere says so? And who is 'we'? The Bollywood heroes? How many of them can name ten Chinese cities? How many of them can openly speak against the atrocities done by Government in Nandigram? They can't.

But when Mr. Gere blames China and thinks if we can eradicate poverty, we could become a great culture in South Asia – he can nod his head in appreciation of the generous words spoken by an actor from a country who bombarded and mutilated a country and continues to do so, for a reason, which they are still trying to figure – no reason. I'm talking about Iraq. Certainly, American culture, must be "the way" or it atleast  seems that way in Bollywood movies with fresh numbers of "wanna - be" styles being shown, as if typical India had all that.

Atleast in the future, prominent talk show hosts should not endorse the opinions of foreign celebrities, without realizing the ass he would be making of himself, because it is something deeply political, the seriousness of which, in that moment of excitement of having a Hollywood celebrity on the show, may not be fathomed and be misplaced. I don't want to be racist but Mr. Gere is entitled to his opinion, the problem I have is with Indian's   who think that they have to endorse all that they say.

Endnote:  Atleast the foreigners can say what they want o Indian TV and get away with it. Freedom of speech for an Indian and a foreigner. Not in many countries, I must observe "certainly not in China".