Quick ticket to fame?

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Deana Uppal is in tears these days. And the whole world is watching her crying. The present Miss India UK has been facing racial abuse by her housemates on the reality show, Big Brother.

As we saw Deana’s housemates mocking her for eating with her hands, which housemates ridiculed as an Indian habit, Shilpa Shetty’s confrontations with Jade Goody back in 2007 resurfaced in our minds.
However, the duo is not alone. Recently, The Sun reported that Shobna Gulati British television actress of Indian origin, was forced to quit Twitter after some users mutilated her photos and uploaded them with some “sick comments”. Born to Indian parents in Oldham, Shobna said that the racial abuse shocked her. The viewers back home are also quite appalled.
“One expects racial abuse to be a thing of the past. But such racist remarks in full public view are very shocking,” says model Noyonika Chatterjee. That sure they are and since it is happening not for the first time we can’t help asking why do we keep going back to get insulted? Do we really need this sort of fame?
Or is it just a quick ticket to fame, asks Joginder Tuteja, a film critic. “Any publicity is a good publicity. At the end, it can be the easiest way to gain some mileage,” he adds.
No doubt that Shilpa Shetty shot to fame overnight after the Big Brother racial controversy and ended up winning the show. The series was also termed as being the most complained about. So much so, that Wikipedia has a page called ‘Celebrity Big Brother Racism Controversy.’
But it’s not easy being there and doing that, says Shraddha Pandey, a model who recently went to China for the Asian Super Model Contest. “Indian models at international pageants and shows are very competitive. But partiality and discrimination cannot be ruled out,” she adds.
What surprises actor Meghana Kaushik is the lack of strict action against those who initiate such behaviour. However, she emphasis seeing the positive side of the story and insists that we keep trying to make our own mark. “From time to time we have managed to overcome these obstacles. The winner of Miss Asia Pacific in Busan, Korea, Himangini Singh Yadu, is an example of an Indian who won an international beauty pageant after 12 years. We have also seen many designers and actors being inspired by Indian traditions and cultures. It’s this positive side that we should keep attempting to achieve,” she adds.