Indian origin model Nina Davuluri won Miss America contest this year, which sparked negative responses from some people and it became sensational news in India.
The patriotic Indians became furious over the racist comments made by some through some social networking sites. But, why such a fuss? Surely, Miss America contest itself doesn’t aim at promoting Indian culture, but a celebration of Americanness. The values it propagate, the style they celebrate, the success they promote, everything is American. Of course, that doesn’t mean anyone can laugh at the model who won the price.
The point is, celebrating the success of Nina because of her Indian origin and denouncing it because of the same, both are wrong. If you are criticizing, criticize the very concept of beauty contest, which itself is racial. Who is determining ‘style’, whose ‘style’ is being judged and what is ‘style’ in their point of view? These are the questions that need to be asked.
One advantage of this controversy is that the event got a good market including the Indian peninsula. In other words, otherwise a local contest in one of the countries in the world became a hot topic in one of the most populated countries in the world, India.
"You do not consist of any of the elements -- earth, water, fire, air, or even ether. To be liberated, know yourself as consisting of consciousness, the witness of these. You do not belong to the Brahmin or any other caste, you are not at any stage, nor are you anything that the eye can see. You are unattached and formless, the witness of everything -- so be happy"(Ashtavakra-Gita).
Showing posts with label Social. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Social. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 18, 2013
Nina Davuluri- Indian origin Miss America
Tuesday, September 3, 2013
"Drink Alcohol, Be Healthy!"
“Do you know the problem of the ‘liquor policy’ of our government?”One of my friends asked. I wondered, as if I just came from Mars. It never even came to my mind that the Kerala Govt does have a liquor policy, except the fact that it runs many liquor shops in Kerala to promote drinking; in the same way we promote art and literature (Do we promote art and literature?). I immediately surfed the Internet and found one PDF copy of the liquor policy of the govt. I didn’t know that our rulers are so humorous. One of the main attractions of the document is ‘the basic idea of the govt is not to promote drinking, but to decrease the use of liquor among the Keralites’. With that mission, the govt has formed a new corporation, named Kerala State Beverages Corporation. Of course, the aim of the corporation is not to sell coffee, tea, or soft drinks, but liquor. Hey, why you are saying so, ‘beverage’ means not tea and coffee, but alcohol drink, don’t you know that? An average Keralite would wonder? According to Merriam- Webster Dictionary, ‘beverage’ means ‘a drinkable liquid’. However, for Kerala Beverages Corporation and majority of the people of Kerala, it means only alcohol. You are so naïve in thinking all this. The govt is selling liquor to give quality alcohol to the public, thereby limiting the chances of selling methanol, and at the end the aim is to control drinking in the final stage, the people reason. Then, why the govt banned soft drinks like Coca Cola, Pepsi etc, but leave alcohol as such, you may ask. You are completely wrong my friend, we are banning these drinks to show that we are fighting against the MNCs.
However, I cannot find fault with the governmental system because we are living in a country where a religious document such as the Sama-Veda talked about different ways to make liquor. The govt is trying to revive the ancient civilization by forming an institution such as KSBC, and the people are just supporting that endeavor of the govt!
For further reading, see here and here.
However, I cannot find fault with the governmental system because we are living in a country where a religious document such as the Sama-Veda talked about different ways to make liquor. The govt is trying to revive the ancient civilization by forming an institution such as KSBC, and the people are just supporting that endeavor of the govt!
For further reading, see here and here.
Friday, August 30, 2013
Fight Superstition
Do you think we need to ban 'Satan Seva', Jyothisham' and other superstitions in the country?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)