Desi Manifesto Blog: The Forum for South Asian American Men

We thought colonization ended already.

[Blogger: S.I.] Tongue in cheek (or in ear, from the looks of it). But really, fair or not, don’t you feel like spearheading an inquisition anytime you see a good looking Indo girl enjoying a fondle, courtesy of a white guy with ‘active hands’?

For the uninitiated, this is Shilpa Shetty, famous Bollywood star who recently revitalized her career by battling racism in UK’s version of “Big Brother.” She was India’s media “it girl” for a while, and one of her appearances was with Richard Gere, who proceeded to lay multiple kisses on her (after, it appears, he stole one of my father’s “Bleeding Madras” knockoffs from the 60s).

You may vomit now.

Well, read the article, and you’ll see what an uproar it became. Now, to be fair, Shilpa didn’t request that he kiss her. But she laughed it up, probably trying to play it off. Was it really a big deal? Not really, though it was an unwanted advance (unless she whispered sweet somethings to him prior, which we will assume did not happen). Is this whole media brouhaha warranted? No. There are more important things for the folks back homeland to think about, like corruption for starters.

That leads to question #3 (a two parter): Had the man been Indian, would they have cared? And have you ever felt like pitching a fit when you see an attractive South Asian girl being caressed/stroked/fondled by a Richard Gere type? I grapple with this hypocrisy of mine every day. If I saw an Indian guy “Gere-ing” a non-Indo, I would applaud his efforts. But the visceral reaction I have to the more common example, thank you Mr. Gere, is one I have not been able to curb.

I would spend more time examining my flawed logic, but I’m positive it will surface again soon. Besides, I’m busy. While I rally for the end of this modern-day colonization, I think I’m ready to join the Indian paparazzi.