Sandeep on the New York Times article about Deepa Mehta’s Water.
THIS is the problem with coconuts–to borrow Richard Crasta’s delightful term for pseudo-westernized Indians like Mehta–who stoop to any antics to impress the White skin by painting their own culture black. Add to this a dash of their message of social reform and liberation and you have a hideous caricature that defies description. On the contrary, this actually aptly describes the likes of Deepa Mehta. Deepa Mehta is no social reformer or maker of meaningful cinema but a crass opportunist who is out to earn fast money by misrepresenting a culture she is ashamed to belong to. Unable to counter genuine criticism by people like Gurumurthy, she takes refuge in pompous statements [Hindu-Baiting New York Times]
Is the author and the several commentators arguing that in 1930’s widows in Varanasi were not pushed into prostitution?
If so, they must show proof. The movie is not reflecting India today, it is reflecting a past that we have never owned upto.
Just because the many folks never saw a widow being ill-treated in their neighbourhood doesnt mean it doesnt happen. Go to Gujarat, Rajasthan etc and see how widows are treated worse than door mats in certain communities. And no it is not a economic thing, it is a social thing.
The first thing we as Indians should do is stop pointing fingers at other Indians and start taking responsibility for what is right or wrong.
Personally, I give a rats ass to what non-Indians believe at India. However, in my own eyes I would like to be respectable.
Bottomline: Friends look around and see if we should respect ourselves.