AM I A RACIST OR IS RACISM ALL IN THE MIND?


“I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.”
- Voltaire (1694 - 1778)

I was talking to a friend of mine yesterday evening and this thought suddenly popped into my head.
Should you be called a racist if you are not thinking like a racist?

This friend of mine Jesse, is South African. He is a coloured South African (his words) as his father is brown (of ancient Indian origin) and his mother is British.

And so do I feel any kind of racism against him because of the colour of his skin?? Certainly Not! Nor for that matter do I think that the‘whites’ are superior in any way.
However of course I have no qualms about calling Jesse, Nigga. He too does not mind as, I’m sure, he knows its only in jest.
So does that make me a racist? I don’t think so!

Of course it helps that I refer to him as in the hip-hop flavored Nigga as opposed to the more literal Nigger or god forbid, Negro.

The recent Madhuri Dixit (phew here comes the filmy reference again) controversy about the usage of the word Mochi in her song created a fury in India. So much so that the self annointed messiah of the poor, Madame Mayawati (who incidentally likes diamonds and traveling First Class) even banned the film in U.P.

So the question therefore; Is Mochi really a derogatory term?

Is it Racist or Caste-ist? I am not sure but I wasn’t quite convinced by the argument they were putting out that referring to a person by his profession is wrong.

What a load of Bullshit.

So does that mean, that we can’t call a Doctor a Doctor? What about Lawyers, Chefs, Engineers….?

And why did only the Mochis complain? If I remember the song has also mentioned Sunars (goldsmiths). Isn't that too a profession?

The real problem, I am guessing, is that it was because of the inference in the song that in a fit of madness even Mochi’s were being stupid enough to compare themselves to the Sunar’s.

"Mohalle mein kaisi maramar hai, bole mochi bhi khud ko sunar hai”

(there is so much commotion in town that even a mochi thinks he is a sunar).

Now that must have lit a fire up the Mochi buttocks. And Understandable So. But then why not complain about that directly instead of trying say Mochi in itself is a derogatory term. It certainly is not.

As I was once told by a wise old Irish priest in school, no work, if honest, is ever disgraceful. You can be a dishwasher or a sweeper, but if it is helping you to earn a fair living it is an honorable job. Just like Mochis too should be.
Dignity of Labour, I believe is what they call it.

The next para in the song goes on to say “Mujhe Deta Udhaari Halwai Re” (even the sweet shop man gives me credit) which is to say that she is so pretty that even the traditionally scrooge (Halwai) gives her credit.
Isn’t there some kind of insult hidden there too? Shouldn’t the Halwai’s protest? Or does it not matter because the Halwai is not exactly lower caste?

Is political appeasement making the lower caste to thin skinned?

Isn’t political correctness going too far now-a-days? What happened to having a sense of humour?

What do you feel when you look at the pictures in this post?
You can smile and understand that it is just a joke and that means that you are NOT a right-wing freak.
Or you can feel that Mother Teresa & Co are being insulted. That’s fine too and its your opinion but does it make ME a fanatic? Afterall it is MY opinion too.

And like some wiseguy said, Opinions are like assholes, everyone has one.

While in college in Bangalore we had a friend, Farshad from Sri Lanka who is a Muslim and we used to, and still, call him Mozzy. It was never an issue with us even when, he in turn, called us Chinkis. Afterall he was a Mozzy and we were Chinkis (cute ones though).

If my colored friend doesn’t mind being called a Nigga why should the cobblers be so offended that some song in some movie makes a general passing reference?

However I am not a Mochi so I guess its easy for me to sermonize but then this is MY blog so I will do just that.

Or maybe you could just tell me;

“Vishal Tennu ki Farak Penda Hai?”

And I’d say;

“Because Aae Wai”