Of late, shouting from rooftops about India‘s social evils has become a norm with our celebrities and artists. One couldn’t help but feel sick in the stomach everytime one watched an episode of Satyamev Jayate, the celebrated television series on India’s social evils that has catapulted Aamir Khan to an iconic status and led to him being featured on the cover of the U.S Time magazine. A rate feat indeed, considering that he is only the third Indian actor to be featured on the cover of the prestigious international magazine.
Aamir’s social awareness show was aired on television for thirteen weeks and saw the seasoned actor take up various issues which plague the Indian society. Predictably, the actor also faced the ire of several communities including the Indian Medical Association and the Khap Panchayats of Haryana for raking up issues that adversely impacted the formidable reputation of these institutions.
Ignoring the fact that Aamir charged a humungous amount for conceding to be the anchor of the show, a fee that could have fed several hundred thousands of the poor people in this country whose wretched condition he portrayed so effectively in his program, the serial is said to have helped set fast-track courts in the country to deal with the issue of female foeticide and flag off generic medicine stores across the state of Maharashtra.
Needless to say, these courts and stores have yet to create a ripple in the fathomless sea of social ills that prevail in Indian society.
What Satyamev Jayate surely achieved, sadly, was that it gave a sound beating to the already battered image of India to the outside world. The show further helped the developed nations establish India’s image as a backward, illiterate and savage nation where the female sex is abused even before being born and where people are butchered by their own families because they commit the crime of falling in love.
This is not to say that none of these evils reside in this country. Sadly, most of them do. However, the fact is that many of these social evils are widely prevalent in the developed nations, too.
According to Southern Connecticut State University, “There are an estimated 28 million battered women in the U.S., more than half of all married women in the country. In the U.S., one woman is beaten by her husband or partner every 9 seconds. Battering is the single major cause of injury to women between the ages of 15 and 44 in the U.S.; more than car accidents, muggings, and rapes combined. 70% of the assault victims seen in the emergency room of Boston City Hospital are women who have been attacked in their own homes. 3 out of 5 women in the U.S. will be battered in their lifetime."
Findings from the 2006 Australian Bureau of Statistics Personal Safety Survey prove that among the female victims of physical assault, 31 percent were assaulted by a current or previous partner.
How’s that for the two nations that claim to be among the most ‘developed’ nations in the World?
In 2008, when the movie Slumdog Millionaire was declared a cinematic genius, many patriotic Indians were aghast with the portrayal of the slum dwellers. Among the most noted critics of the movie was none other than Amitabh Bachhan, who wrote on his blog,
"If SM projects India as Third World dirty under belly developing nation and causes pain and disgust among nationalists and patriots, let it be known that a murky under belly exists and thrives even in the most developed nations."
It is also pertinent to note here that the children who played the role of slum dwellers in the Oscar winning movie were paid as little as £700 for the entire movie. Despite the tall claims made by the film director, Danny Boyle, about the rehabilitation of the slum children who were actors in the movie, the child actors continue to live in makeshift shacks in the illegal slums of Bandra, a suburb of Mumbai.
Another popular instance of the way the developed nations grab anything that comes close to India-bashing can be seen in the way the 2008 Booker Prize winning novel, The White Tiger, written by the Oxford educated author Arvind Adiga, was applauded by the Western world for its ‘innovative’ way of writing about the corruption in India and for dealing with the ills associated with caste, poverty and corruption in India. We were so impressed with his feat, and the popularity his work achieved in the Western world that we gladly forgave him for making fun of our most endearing Gods, including one of the most revered Hanumanji.
“These are the kinds of gods they have foisted on us, Mr. Jiabao. Understand, now, how hard it is for a man to win his freedom in India.”
Well, Adiga’s portrait of India is neither sacred, nor exotic. The book makes you feel bad for being an Indian. It is also interesting to note the comments of the esteemed jury that selected this book for the prestigious honor. Portillo, chairman of the judges, said that the novel had won overall because of "its originality". He said that The White Tiger presented "a different aspect of India" and was a novel with "enormous literary merit".
Ever wondered why the majority of Hollywood blockbusters are movies that portray American heroes saving the helpless mankind from annihilation and total destruction? Remember Rambo, Independence Day and so many more. Apart from a random movie, such as American Beauty, which talks of the spiritual vacuity that is an intrinsic part of the American existence, America dreads to face its own demons.
Isn’t it time that the esteemed U.S magazines put someone like Vandana Shiva, the tireless crusader against the evils of imperialism or our global Superstar Amitabh Bachchan who makes us feel good about everything Indian, on its cover. As for Aamir Khan, I will always love him more as the ambassador of the Indian ‘Atithi devo bhava’ spirit in the advertisement for ‘Incredible India’.
No comments:
Post a Comment