My title might make you think that I’m going to talk to you about a Bollywood film…but I’m not. What I’m here to talk about is the kissing controversy between Richard Gere and Shilpa Shetty. I have never been more embarrassed and shocked in my entire life. I say embarrassed because, here I am sitting in my office, miles away from my country in the U.S. and my colleague walks in and says, “So, did you read about the criminal kiss between Richard Gere and that Indian actress?†And I couldn’t help but wonder, what she must think of the Indian people. Is that how backward we really are?? It’s absolutely unbelievable and ridiculous to see how the events related to these harmless kisses played out. People were on the streets, burning posters and effigies, screaming, calling for an apology, filing a case and now an arrest warrant?? According to various media reports, people stated that the public display of affection was ‘vulgar’. Well, excuse me for saying this, but I think people don’t know the meaning of the word vulgar. They termed the kiss ‘obscene’. Infact, Judge Dinesh Gupta was quoted saying that the kiss “transgressed all limits of vulgarity and has the tendency to corrupt the society.†So, here’s my question to all those people who have had a problem and an issue with this simple act,especially Judge Dinesh Gupta; Have you seen a Bollywood movie lately? If this kiss is going to ‘corrupt’ our society, then I wonder what happens to us after we see all the crap that goes on, on celluloid. What does he and all the people who created such a ruckus have to say about Mallika Sherawat and Emran Hashmi going at each other in Murder; or Shashi Kapoor and Simi Grewal in this clip? And believe me, I can come up with a dozen other examples, but I think I’ve made my point! This outrageous behavior simply makes no goddamn sense!!
Also, aren’t we completely missing the big picture here? The two celebrities were out there at an HIV/AIDS awareness summit. According to statistics by UNAIDS/WHO here is some raw data:
| Gender | Cumulative AIDS cases |
| Male | 88,245 |
| Female | 36,750 |
| Total | 124,995 |
According to the Indian National AIDS Control Organization (NACO) 5.21 million people were living with HIV in 2005. Also, this is only data that has been reported. Many a time people die and the virus hasn’t even been detected in them. The reason for their death is simply attributed to a disease such as tuberculosis. The Indian people have completely detracted from the main point; which is the big problem of AIDS that hounds almost every country in the world. The unnecessary focus on the kiss, just proves that our thinking is backward. It simply makes it highly embarrassing for us to face the zillion questions that our counterparts here in America have… “So, is it like illegal to hold hands with a man?†; “Are girls and boys not allowed to date?â€; “Can you not kiss your husband / wife on the street?†Don’t these people realize that we are living in the 21st century and it’s high time we stopped overreacting about stuff like this. Pardon me for saying so, but I truly think that the masses in our country need to do something more constructive with their time.
I have so much more to say, I can go on and on…but I guess it’s safe to stop here and wait for you guys to respond and let me know what you think.
