So Julia Roberts was shooting for this movie called ‘Eat, Pray, Love’ and she had priests performing a hawan to ensure the movie does not bomb at the box office. The hotel she resides in has a unique Yoga center; and on the first day of the shot, she wore Indian attires and ate Indian food with her bare hands. She finds Gulab Jamun the most amazing of all (atleast Julia and me have similar and good tastes). She thinks “India is really amazing” (Courtesy: Rediff.com)

And this news becomes an article in most of the Indian newspapers. So the Indians are happy that she thinks India is amazing, the Hindus are happy because she’s performing sacred rituals, the media is happy because they captured an event that can sell. As usual, I’m the one who’s not happy. And as for Julia Roberts, she probably doesn’t even know that an article was written about her in an Indian newspaper.

Lets say the King Khan – Shahrukh came to Pittsburgh and ate a pepperoni pizza using a fork and a knife. He wore a hoodie which read ‘Old Navy’ and he wore GAP denims. Can you picture an article in the post-gazzette which reads ’Indian actor dines in American restaurant; he wore an American hoodie and jeans; ate using knives and forks; and he thinks Pittsburgh is a great place to be’? I would love to see something like that.

It certainly is a wonderful thing to know that someone 8000 miles away thinks our country is great. But that certainly shouldn’t be the source of our patriotism, right? That is not the only reason why we should feel proud about our country. Why wait for some gora or gori to groove on our Indian cultures and then bask in glory for belonging to that country? I really think the newspapers should get their priorities right.

I hate to preach. So I’ll make this as short as possible. If someone tells you that they think India is a great country – just tell them you know it already. But do not run around everywhere announcing that an X or a Y thinks India is great. That’s precisely what our newspapers are doing right now.