Shilpa Shetty may have won the hearts of 63 per cent viewers as well as 100,000 pounds in prize money, but many continue not only to dismiss her experience in Celebrity Big Brother as trivial and contrived but also to suggest strong reactions to it will deflect attention from ‘real’ incidents of racism. Yet to underplay the incident by arguing that the racism directed at her was fabricated to boost TRP ratings, or that she was shrewdly playing the racism card to garner public sympathy, is to miss the point and gloss over the gravity of racism in an increasingly intolerant West. For many people of Indian origin, Shilpa in Big Brother served as a mirror-image of their own experiences.

While the show was on, some suggested that Shilpa should leave the Big Brother house if she “cannot take the heat”. It was evidently their way of pointing out that Shilpa was just not tough enough to cope with the petty cat fights that she as a Hindi film actor ought to be well-versed in, if not smart enough to have anticipated it, given the sensationalistic nature of Big Brother. Frankly, their stance was as patronising to the Hindi film industry as it was towards every polite Indian who is raised to display a generosity of manners in tough situations. For many people the Big Brother house had become a metonym for the UK. The matter thus was not only about Shilpa but also about the people she represents.

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