While the reaction was over the top, when I saw the video of Gere forcing himself on Shilpa, I was disgusted. She clearly didn't want this guy kissing her or bending her over backwards, she was wriggling to turn away. Who the heck is Gere to forcibly kiss a woman? He looked like an old goat.
It reminded me of Adrian Brody kissing Halle Berry a few years ago at the Oscars. Totally out of line. Both men deserved to be slapped.
As an Indian citizen in the US for the past few years, I personally don't feel "offended". But what Mr Gere failed to see is that Indian society is still relatively conservative (or, at least, large swathes of it -- and that number translates into millions of people). I guess what ticked people off was the whole "swooping" and bear-hug combo. It is essential that a Buddhist like Mr Gere learn to draw boundaries in social theaters that he may not be familiar with. If this were a private gathering of like-minded socialite, no one would have bothered. But to do what he did in front of thousands of folks is very uncomfortable and upsetting for a lot of people, in a society in which public display of affection is generally frowned upon (I am, of course, not referring to the urban, hip crowd).
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EK DUM BAKVASH BUDHO KISS KARI GYO
While the reaction was over the top, when I saw the video of Gere forcing himself on Shilpa, I was disgusted. She clearly didn't want this guy kissing her or bending her over backwards, she was wriggling to turn away. Who the heck is Gere to forcibly kiss a woman? He looked like an old goat. It reminded me of Adrian Brody kissing Halle Berry a few years ago at the Oscars. Totally out of line. Both men deserved to be slapped.
As an Indian citizen in the US for the past few years, I personally don't feel "offended". But what Mr Gere failed to see is that Indian society is still relatively conservative (or, at least, large swathes of it -- and that number translates into millions of people). I guess what ticked people off was the whole "swooping" and bear-hug combo. It is essential that a Buddhist like Mr Gere learn to draw boundaries in social theaters that he may not be familiar with. If this were a private gathering of like-minded socialite, no one would have bothered. But to do what he did in front of thousands of folks is very uncomfortable and upsetting for a lot of people, in a society in which public display of affection is generally frowned upon (I am, of course, not referring to the urban, hip crowd).
Here is the youtube video http://youtubeplayer.googlepages.com/yt160407.html