Call me naïve or a resident of the Utopian world but I have always believed that one’s personal experiences help in forming a humbler outlook towards life and others around. And by others I mean those who are facing similar hardships as you faced once upon a time.
For instance, during my university days in Sydney I worked at an Indian restaurant for about a year or so. It was, just like any other international student trying to earn an extra buck in order to make the burden of expenses for those back home a little less. Working there was an eye opener in more in than one ways; cleaning the toilet, picking up leftovers, washing dishes, weekend craziness and the most heart trenching of all…serving arrogant ABCD kids from university who for no apparent reason looked down upon us, off the boat students.
I learnt two very important lessons;
a) A job is a job….is a job!
b) I always had the option of walking out since money was never an issue. But the same free will was not available to all.
I guess this experience in some ways made me a compassionate human being. At least so I would like to think. And then I met Rakhi Sawant. Nope, not the boisterous woman who dazzled us with her antics on the small screen and managed to win our hearts via the simplicity route. The Rakhi Sawant I am talking about is one hardcore bitch with a pretentious attitude deeply rooted to her soul.
Shocking! Well tell me about it. As a fan I was disappointed but on a humanity level I was thoroughly disgusted! I mean here is a woman who claims to have had a miserable childhood, equally struggling teenage years before finally fighting her way through the prejudice workings of the Hindi Entertainment Industry. And yet there isn’t an ounce of humility in this woman.
To a certain extent I can understand her throwing her weight around on those belonging to the Industry. For example, the media…production staff, co-stars, etc. One kinda needs to act pricey once in demand such is the workings of filmistan. But the manner in which she treated her very own staff was just incomprehensible. Abuses, taunts, insults were all part and parcel of being the most popular item girl’s employee.
When I mentioned the above (basically my observation over the three days of running behind Rakhi for a 20 minutes interview) to my family, my mum immediately laid the blame on her lack of healthy family environment during her early years. Simple acts of modesty, respect, gratitude are inculcated during adolescent years and not in adulthood. Some things are just khandani, a few of my friends remarked.
But somehow these reasoning are not doing much to satisfy my mental alignment. As I mentioned earlier, for me my own struggle during student days (be it of much significance or less) made me sympathetic and understanding towards others needs, especially the less fortunate. However this doesn’t seem to be the case with Ms. Sawant. Her experiences have only made her bitter and for some reason revengeful towards those with lesser stature.
Also personally, as being someone who takes everything at face value, her demeanor towards other individuals, is extremely mind boggling. When in focus they talk of Jeejus…appreciation…kindness…charity…humanity. And when out of focus, “Sale kutte mera hot water glass kahan hai?”…is what you hear.
Comments
9 comments | Add your comment »
Divya
Oct 25th, 2008 at 3:26 am | #
I agree. It IS mind boggling. I am usually pretty bad at understanding non-standard normal behaviour
But then, I always thought of Rakhi Sawant as a proper brute in the complete sense of it. Rustic and uncultured. Somehow the way she looks even, no finer aspects of personality show through. Just my view, now confirmed by you
Anshul Sushil
Oct 25th, 2008 at 6:26 am | #
Well Sakshi, in my opinion, humility looks good in a person who has achieved something in life or in a person who really wants something…Rakhi is more of a frivolous star who wants to hog on the limelight…for her visit to an orphanage is nothing but a media stunt…I think looking for humility in her is little too much…
M
Oct 25th, 2008 at 6:37 am | #
Your mother couldn’t be more right, IMO.
I still don’t understand it when an educated person considers him/herself an RS fan. Watching her antics and laughing _at_ her quirkiness, maaaybe – but when you say you’re a fan to me that means that’s someone you admire and aspire to be like. RS has no class, that she’s been raised in an underprivileged environment is more than obvious, she has mediocre talent at best, unless flashing your boobs is considered talent, come to that she’s not even attractive with her mongrel face and fake boobs. A fan following with a truck driver mentality I understand, but educated people? Naah!
SwB
Oct 25th, 2008 at 10:33 am | #
I think the question to ask yourself first is what it is you liked about Rakhi that made you such a fan? Just because someone’s stage persona appeals to you should not automatically lead you to assume everything else about them will too.
Bollywood stars have always been known to throw tantrums and behave badly. I was witness to a film shooting at the Fariyas Hotel in Lonavala once and the way the spotboys and extras were treated was just apalling. Some of those extras might hence have gone on to become bigger stars, and for all you know may be treating those junior to them the same way they were – like shit! There I agree with some of the comments here that it finally comes down to the values imbibed in you when you were growing up. That’s what makes all the difference.
So I guess to avoid a situation like the one you found yourself in wrt Ms. Sawant, the best thing to do would be to stick to watching them on TV and stay away from them in real life.
Other than that, how are you Saks?
Blogging Tips
Oct 25th, 2008 at 2:02 pm | #
Very interesting write up. I see your the biggest Rakhi fan on earth :p
Antonio
Oct 28th, 2008 at 6:05 am | #
Hey Sakshi,
I have been reading your blog for the last two years and in a lot of ways I am a fan of your writing. But this Rakhi Sawant thing is sumthing i have never EVER understood.
Finally you have seen sense!
Ambuj Saxena
Oct 28th, 2008 at 7:24 pm | #
Rising from poverty doesn’t necessarily mean acquiring humility. People can either become humble towards others (what you were expecting) or they can vent out their anger that they have accumulated all those years. Being somewhere in between is also very much possible.
Separation of ‘Idols’ from ‘Ideals’ was something I realized as necessary quite a long back. Since ‘idols’ are real people, they have follies of human being and even if perfect in an art or discipline, it is rare to find them being super-role models. In order to actually be able to worship or aspire for any ‘ideal’, one should disconnect the ‘idol’ (as a person) from it. For example, one should say “Rakhi Sawant is a great dancer” rather that just “Rakhi Sawant is great”. Once you succeed, it will become possible to learn even from Hitler (he had great discipline), yet not be a Nazi.
Saakshi O. Juneja
Oct 31st, 2008 at 11:43 am | #
I never found Rakhi Sawant to be a good actress or a great dancer. But what did impress me about her was the “in-your-face” attitude. In an industry where only the tough manage to survive, this woman came out of nowhere, won and how.
Her ‘what you see is what you get’ stance was freaking believable. That is until I met her in person. Her in-human attitude towards those around her is something I am yet not able to grasp.
Priya Florence Shah
Jun 10th, 2009 at 11:48 am | #
Everyone has a good side and a bad side – you, me, everyone! Even the people we love have parts of them that we find abrasive and unacceptable. If you throw out everything that you liked about her, it’s like throwing out the baby with the bathwater, isn’t it? It’s unfortunate that she has no class, but she definitely has the guts to tell-it-like-it-is and that I admire.