Shobhaa’s Take: The patriot games we play

My word! Are we touchy... or are we touchy Our skins are getting thinner and thinner by the day. I am planning to consult a competent dermatologist once this ridiculous Aamir Khan controversy dies down. And die down it will, because along with a paper-thin skin, India is also suffering from a serious ADS (attention deficit syndrome). It’s Aamir Khan today. It was Shah Rukh Khan yesterday. In between, there is A.R. Rahman. Tomorrow it will be someone else. We’ll be done with flogging Aamir by then. And the “Patriot Games” will continue.

The thing is, Aamir does not make unguarded statements. That’s his personality.

The legitimate question to ask in that case is: Was Aamir really caught off guard in Delhi I find that even harder to believe. When he agreed to be in conversation at a high-profile function with Ananth Goenka, surely, he must have known the general tone and content of the interaction given the prevailing mood in the country. The “tolerance-intolerance” debate has been raging for a while. And Aamir is smart enough to have anticipated the line of questioning. Besides, Aamir is not just India’s most talented actor, he has also positioned himself as an influential opinion shaper. He is perceived as an icon who stands for the “right values” (whatever those are!). And, as the face of the Incredible India campaign, Aamir has inspired countless young people to feel good about their Indian identity. Which is precisely why his recent comments have caused such havoc.

Said Aamir: “Kiran and I have lived all our lives in India. For the first time she said, ‘Should we move out of India ’ That’s a disastrous and big statement for Kiran to make to me. She fears for her child. She fears about what the atmosphere around us will be. She feels scared to open the newspapers every day.” Well, darling Aamir. You ain’t the only one! We all feel pretty scared to read the newspapers these days. But for different reasons! I go shudder-shudder when I encounter major bloopers, typos, spelling mistakes, wrong captions, dreadfully written headlines... the list is long and annoying.

But Aamir isn’t talking about shabby reportage. He is talking about India’s shabby social environment. So shabby, in fact, that pata nahi kaisey, but his private bedroom conversation slipped out into the public domain.

It’s not easy being Aamir Khan. Especially when the nation, which worships you, suddenly turns around and calls you a “traitor”.

Aamir has had the good sense to stand by his comments. Only a dolt would have denied them or insisted they’d been taken out of context. While he has not apologised, and he isn’t ducking from taking responsibility, he has had to underline and emphasise the obvious: “India is my country and I love it...”

This is the far more worrying aspect of the ongoing debate. Why should any citizen feel the need to publicly swear allegiance to and declare his/her love for the country How childish, simplistic and unnecessary. Do we really need to be instantly mollified by coercing Muslim celebrities into saying, “I am a proud Indian ”

Aamir knows the power of his own words. I am pretty sure he has thought deeply about his remarks. We need to think deeply about them, too. We also need to analyse the reactions to those remarks more closely.

Aamir is not the only person expressing disquiet. Instead of abusing him for daring to speak his mind, we should get to the root of his disquiet. Was Aamir over-reacting Is he justified in feeling there’s something wrong in the moral/social climate of the country Is the situation truly all that alarming Is running away from these realities the only way forward What would he and his wife be fleeing from Has he been physically attacked or threatened Does he feel like a second-class citizen in his own country Unwanted, maybe Or is he reacting to the bigger picture, like all the others who have earlier expressed their hurt and outrage by returning awards

Recovering lost ground may take a while in Aamir’s case. But I can see a sympathy wave engulfing the beleaguered star in the near future. He will soon be seen as a bit of a martyr, bravely battling hostility and prejudice, hatred and rage.

Aamir has a powerful voice in India. It’s a voice that deserves to be heard. His statements have already made international news. Let’s not ignore what he’s saying because it makes us uncomfortable. Aamir was not “betraying” India. He was holding up a mirror. If the reflection is not pleasing, it is not the fault of the mirror!

There is no getting away from it. Aamir has touched a raw nerve. A really, really raw nerve. Rather, he seems to have started a raging bush fire that no forest ranger in the world can easily extinguish.

As things stand, Aamir has gone back to doing what he does best — acting. He has resumed shooting for Dangal in forests outside Ludhiana. I believe he will come out of this impasse with his well-constructed image still intact. Endorsement deals will not dry up in a hurry. If anything, potential advertisers may rejig their future scripts and reposition Aamir.

From Mr Brains to Mr Heart. Not a bad transition at all!

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