Shilpa - An Epilogue

So, the show is over. Kahani khatam, paisa hajam. Everyone gained except the 5 million suckers who sent sms's and made Vodofone richer and gave Channel 4 a new lease of life.
Our desi channels had nothing else to do but flash the winning cry of shilpa, the fireworks, the interview with CEO of Big Brother and footage of Shilpa's domestic servants singing paeans about their "Madam"

Shilpa's career in Bollywood had gone to seed. Her mother is a shrewd businesswoman. She grabbed the offer refused by Kareena and Mahima and sent the seed to London where fortuitously the soil was rich and a miracle fertiliser called Jade Goody did the rest. Mom flew to London, ostensibly to give moral support to her daughter close at hand, but in reality, to reap the golden harvest, sack the previous agent, grab new contracts and offers from the tabloids, hosting tv programmes and writing a book on her experiences. Maybe a Hollywood offer is in the offing too. So, when rains, it pours. Shetty beti is riding high. The sacked agent is now threatening to pull the skeletons out of the cupboard such as shilpa's seeking help of the mafia to recover her dues from Garden Silks, the arrest warrants against her parents, et al . But who cares. Nothing succeeds like success.

Now it is time for us to introspect: Are we using our fingers correctly, why do we undercook our chicken, why do most Indians live in slums? What about our accent?
I for one feel that we should continue to be what we are. These are our USPs and if India sells, it is because of these oddities. India shines! Mera Bharat Mahaan!

Shilpa Shetty's forays into reality shows

Now, don't tell me all this hullabaloo is about nothing.

It is a cleverly orchestrated publicity gimmick to boost Channel 4 viewership and incidentally Shilpa's career.

One wonders why she has not made a formal complaint to the producers of the show without which they cannot take any action on the so called offenders.

By the way is racism something new? When recently recruited nurses from Kerala were targeted in Uk, called Pakis, stones thrown at therir windows and car tyres deflated, it did not make the headlines and not a single channel in India aired it. And dont we ourselves practice color discrimination, The booming sales of fairness creams tells the story. Much worse, we still practise untouchability in our villages and small towns, dalits live in ghettoes.

Bitching? Most heroines of Bollywood bitch against each other in private and sometimes in public. Their vocab may not match Jade's but surely hurt as much.

Why is it that her mother is not in the least bit perturbed and calls this a learning experience for her daughter so she can grow as a person, from the cocooned existence she had till now.

There is lot of moolah involved a cool 35 million and if she stays till the end may be a prize money much higher than that.

So keep your fingers crossed and pray for Shilpa baby. She is growing up fast.

Incidentally could not Tony Blair,Priyaranjan Dasmunshi, Chidambaram, Sitaram Yechury, UK's Chancellor of the Exchequer, spared their breath for mightier causes such as coming elections in UK , withdrawal of troops from Iraq, the agitation in singur and directions for next year's budget, etc.

As they say bad publicity is better than no publicity as long as u hit the headlines of UK's tabloids and broadsheets and most of the aaltu phaaltu chananels in our own country.

Long l ive Big Brother and all his bitchy sisters.

I think therefore I am

Famous words of Descartes written four hundred years ago.

Does it mean if u cease to think, u cease to be? Or u control your thoughts and u control yourself? Is thought your master or you his?

I heard a simple parable today from my Yoga teacher. A youth eager to seek self- r ealisation and and attain enlightenment, went to a revered Master entreating him to take him as a disciple and help achieve his desired goal. The Master asked him to take a round of the Monastery , talk to other disciples and comeback to him.

The youth went round the monastery and talked to some of the Master's disciples. He asked them how long they had been there and whether they had achieved self-realisation. One replied " I am trying to achieve it for the last twenty years and I think I am on my way to enlightenment. Another said " I have been here for thirty years and am yet to reach my goal though I feel i am very near" The youth, disappointed, came back to the Master and told him : "I cannot wait for so long. Show me a short cut so that I can achieve enlightenment instantaneously" " Well, my son" replied the Master, " there is a much shorter route of course. All that u have to do is to come here at sunrise tomorrow and take one round of the monastery. There is, however, one condition. While circumambulating, u must not think of the camel.If u think of a camel even once, u have to start all over again" The youth was delighted. He had never seen a camel and would certainly not think about it while performing the assigned task. He promised to come the next morning at sunrise.

The Next day, the youth came at sunrise, his mind fresh and determination writ large on his face. He started from the door of the monastery and went a few yards when he was reminded of the stern warning of the Master "U shall not think of the camel" The boy thought "Woe betide me! Why should I have been reminded of this warning? Oh all my efforts have gone waste." He was back at the door starting his round. But the thought of the camel would just not leave him and every time he would return frustrated to start afresh. This went on and on till the youth realised his folly and fell at the feet of the Master asking for forgiveness for his impetuosity in seeking a short cut.

We can never control our thoughts. We can, however, learn to control our minds. The mind is the fountainhead of all thoughts and if we block the source, the flow downstream can be controlled. Easier said than done! Yes, but therein lies the secret of spiritual enlightenment.

Thinking about the plight of the youth, I was reminded of the original sin according to the Bible. God specifically forbade Adam and Eve from eating the fruit from the tree of knowledge. And they did exactly that and thus began the fall of Man. The serpent was incidental. The temptation ( serpent) lies within each of our minds. The more u r asked not to do a certain thing, the more determined u would be to do it. Often just as a matter of defiance or for the heck of it.

And here is another superlative piece of masterly non-cognitive detatchment from the "Buddhagosha" . The disciple asks the master Mahatissa "Perhaps your reverence has met a certain lady?" and the Master replies " I know not whether man or woman passed. A certain lump of bones went by this way"