When A Kiss Is Not A Kiss

Ever since a Buddhist Richard Gere pecked at the hands and face of a Hindu Shilpa Shetty, wannabe culture vultures around India have come out strong with demonstrations and burnt effigies of both.

One political party has also called for Gere’s arrest on the grounds that he has insulted the culture of the country.

Public displays of affection may be frowned upon in India but nowhere in the Indian Penal Code is there a law against it.

Whether the kissing (on the cheeks and hand mind you) was a publicity stunt or not, are the political parties in India not guilty of seeking publicity by making uncalled for statements in the name of protecting the culture of the country?

And who made them the guardians of Indian culture and quite honestly do they even know anything about it?

India is the country that gave the rest of the world the Kama Sutra, principles handed down for centuries in writing.

It is India that has the famous Khajuraho temples in Madhya Pradesh; a celebration of the human form.

It is then inconceivable that in the second millennium, a mere peck on the cheek, albeit flamboyant and public, by two actors should cancel out the wisdom of centuries past.

India’s so-called guardians of culture should, I believe, hold demonstrations against the grinding poverty that so many of their countrymen suffer. Or burn effigies of corrupt politicians who hang on to power by the skin of their teeth.

As citizens of two free democratic countries both Gere and Shetty exercised their freedom of expression and if the lady did not protest how does it become anyone’s business?

The truck drivers were not unhappy, the media was overjoyed because they could get away from the mundane and the majority had a good laugh because they know theirs is a free secular country that does not have a problem with expressing itself.

Now if Shetty were pecked at by a Muslim man would these ‘guardians’ start a riot and burn the country? Tell us what you think.

Nirmala Janssen
editor@alnisrmedia.com