Although I agree on some of the things you brought up in your "How dare you kiss in Chennai?" article, I object to many of your comments bordering arrogance. Here are a couple of points that jumped into my mind as I read your article:
1. Cultural values vary from place to place. You need to understand, value it and respect that even if it sound illogical to you. Just on the kissing / holding hands issue -- I can always take it a step further too. There are a lot of "nude beaches" allover the world. That doesn't mean its appropriate or a culture that should be followed. A practice that makes sense to you might be "silly" to others. REMEMBER NO CULTURE IS BETTER THAN THE OTHER.
2. I would have appreciated if you had tried to condone "polygamy". Instead you use it to defend another "silly" statement made by a silly actress. If I am right her quote as I read it in "Rediff.com" was -- " No educated man will believe his newly wed wife is a virgin". If you this is the culture we are trying to adopt, I think its a bit far fetched.
You can have your views but stop ridiculing a culture that had withstood the test of times.
yes, of course the scenes described are somewhat true, except the last one (Ms. Shobha Warrier has really got good imagination. She should try script writing for masala films, especially Telugu films!!).
It is bare truth that still Chennai is worried about culture. That's why unlike in Delhi, girls are not gang-raped in running buses and cars. Big brothers, anywhere in India, act the same way and so is the Guardians of Chennai city. There is nothing special to criticize But, in chennai, they dont rape the girls in the park like what had happened in Delhi.
Yes, even in discotheque and parties the culture is maintained. That's why Jessica Lal sort of incidents are avoided.
RE:good scenes!
by K on Oct 05, 2005 04:14 PM Permalink
I suppose Mr. Arivazagan watches more telugu movies than tamil.
As Ms Shobha Warrier doesn;t have damnest to condemn one specific city if she doesn't belong(I wonder whether she belongs to it), so do Mr. Arivazagan doesn't have damnest to refer if he has never lived and knows the ethos of that place, even if tht place is part of one big country.
hi shoba.. heres my take on your article. i found the article quite insulting to the chennaites, yes, i do agree with you that recent events (artist khushboo's comments, photographs in dailies, etc..)have laid an over-emphasis on chennai's culture, but, for crying out loud..chennai is a great city to live in. im sure the current hysteria over the culture issue will mellow down soon and things will get back to how they were before. let's face it..no matter what we indians do to portray a 'cool' image, we will always have that conservative streak in us. its in our blood. now, i dont mean to say that i am against the disco/pub culture and the other western influences, i myself am one like you. but we shouldnt overdo it and should learn to be ourselves and wear our own identity. chennai is a happening city and will always be. its got just the right balance of just about everything.of course it does have its bad sides, but then, which city doesnt?its on par with banglore, mumbai, pune, chandigarh..to name a few. ive got no grudges against you shoba, its just that both of us share different views on this subject. looking forward to contradictions n anti-chennai mails.
RE:how dare you kiss in chennai
by clark on Oct 05, 2005 03:23 PM Permalink
Plz don compare chennai with mumbai.. u cannot compare chennai with the best city in the world.. mumbai rocks.. and plz keep the culture thing in chennai and don spread it across to all parts of india esp mumbai.. we are doing gr8 without ur cultural lessons
Being born and brought up in Chennai for 26 whole damned years, I was happy that the city is coming to life, with a little bit of westernization, which we should say Thanks to, or else Chennai would suck big time without any IT infrastructure and any kind of MNCs which keep the state going, literally operating.
Police are handed over too high an authority, and the government needs to know where it stands with respect to the citizens rights and not one woman's perspectives. Are we being taught moral activities by a lady, sorry, woman who would not even know the word morality existed ??
ok i agree with some points of your article..but to just single out chennai out of all the cities in india is just ignorance and stupidity.. what about the shiv sainiks who do the same things like "big brother" in mumbai.. is it soo hard to mention that?
RE:wat crap
by joydeepd on Dec 03, 2005 03:57 PM Permalink
Pleasezzzzzzzzzz,
Grow up India!
Can someone please explain to me what's so insulting about a plain clinical statement asking people to use a condom or whatever protection before having sex.
What's so morally inexplicable in telling that sex exists in India and its happening right now as I write?
What's so inappropriate about saying that Tamil men must not expect virgins?
To my mind, nothing. I might not agree with Kushboo's take on morality, I mean who is Kushboo to tell me what to expect or not to expect when I go bride hunting. Right?
But why I feel so violated and trampled is the way people voiced there protest against the actor.
A silent march across Chennai displaying placards would have been more than enough for the actor to judge and be discreet about what she voices in public.
But to treat her like a whore by the same people who raised a temple in her honors, its a shame.
Are we so starved and lacking as individuals that a comment, however strong to inappropriate in our opinion, can blow us off our mental balance.
I bet you wouldn\'t be quite pleased yourself to see your sons,(leave alone daughters) necking in public places with their girlfriends, then why this hipocracy?
Actress Kushboo, just didn\'t comment on safe sex to aviod STD\'s but to aviod pregnancy. Anybody with the least amount of civic sense and responsibility would be offended by such statements. Well she\'s entitled to her opinions but I guess you\'ve gone a step further in flaunting this absurdity.
I could easily go on and write a whole article about your unthoughtful and myopic view on this issue. But I\'m sure the \"Big Brother\" you are talking about doesn\'t stand to benefit from asking couples to maintain restraint in public places in lieu of degrading moral values in the society.
Yes I do agree with the Big Brother: You are not supposed to kiss in public places. Have some respect for Indian values. But it is perfectly alright to take a leak or dump in the open as this has been an Indian Tradition for long now. Great.
