There is a show that is telecasted every Sunday night on NDTV called "We the people". Hosted by Ms. Barkha Dutt, its a show where a bunch of people gather to talk about stuff. Stuff that is important, of course, to the people who are talking about it. But the reason it is being talked about on NDTV rather than in smaller groups over a large number of coffee, tea, lunch, breakfast or dinner tables spread out across the nation is that the importance of the subject matter extends beyond the studio- to the nation, to the world, to humanity and so on. And so the discussions and the conclusions reached (though one must admit, the issues taken up are such that we begin with a grey and traversing through the black and white, end up at the grey again) have national, international, personal, cultural, social, religious....implications.
I watch the show when I can. I like to hear what people have to say. Listening to people gives you a good idea about where you, as a nation, are at.
The topic under discussion this week was "Fit or Fat". It grows out of an awareness that more and more Indians are trying to lose weight. Shows like "Biggest loser jitega" and the fact that air hostesses of Indian Airlines are not being allowed to fly because they are a few kgs. over the prescribed weight, add fuel to the fitness/fatness fire.
So we have an overweight Pooja Bhatt sitting next to a slim and pretty model and beating her chest about how she likes being "Big", and overdoes it by suggesting, more than once, that thin people have "withered brains and withered souls" (!). Ms. Bhatt also spoke the most, and interrupted others and basically wanted to have the last word every single time. The model was poised and was of the opinion that you don't look for an air hostess wearing dungarees, you want someone who looks good- "That's important in the hospitality industry".
Anyway, I won't get into the nitty gritty of who said what and then contradicted themselves by saying what.
NDTV put together a collection of what Barkha Dutt called "Big Women who are considered beautiful by a large number of people". The intention, as far as I could tell, was to suggest that one need not be slim to be considered beautiful by the public at large.
Have you started thinking about who might have been part of the slideshow? Write it down. Because you will probably not believe the list when I disclose it in a few moments.
It included - Shakira, Beyonce Knowles, Madhuri Dixit (not as her figure was in the last few films she acted in, but the sexy MD in her "Choli ke peeche" days), Helen, Priety Zinta, Rekha. I have left out a few, and I cannot remember who they are (I was in a state of shock you see) but I think, I THINK, I also caught a glimpse of Sharmila Tagore making her first appearance (and was it also the last?) in a swimming costume.
Barkha even went so far as to call them "The beautiful bulge".
Now in my opinion, none of these women are fat, and most of them have bodies that many women would give an eye and tooth for. Shakira and Beyonce Knowles are known more for their abs and a-- respectively, than their singing. I think all the women in the list are just examples of women who happen to have a figure- bust, waist and hips - that is identifiable (as opposed to the cylinders we see walking the ramp these days).
I think NDTV should have chosen their examples more sensibly if they wanted to make a point.
After this, they cry about girls wanting to be "twiggy". Well, what do they expect? If I had a body like Madhuri Dixit (Yeah yeah, IF is the operative word!) and they started honouring me with the title of "the beautiful bulge", no one should blame me for wanting to shed a few more kilos.
It also put the entire discussion in perspective for me. When NDTV said FAT, I wasn't thinking Shakira.
