Ganesha guards Big Brother's Shilpa

Big Brother, aptly named 'Bigot Brother' by one newspaper, has shown to the world the grotesque depths to which Britain's culture-free class, as deified by Jade Goody and her partners in bullying, has descended. And what a humbling contrast we have before us in the figure of Shilpa Shetty. Underpinning her graciousness in the face of attack is her unshakeable Hindu faith. She has taken two deities into the Big Brother house with her, of which at least one is Ganesha, the elephant god.  Ganesh is the Lord of success and destroyer of evils and obstacles. And how well he is working for Shilpa now, as Jade destroys her own reputation for ever - we hope - in showing to the world her shameless envy and hatred for one that even someone of her limited intellect must recognise subconsciously as worlds better than herself. In the latest atrocities, Danielle Lloyd has told Shilpa to go home, and Jade has spent an entire evening accusing her of lying in a row over stock cubes. The BBC's Asian Network has been inundated with calls about the girls ganging up on Shilpa. What a window this opens to the world on our country today. I'll be voting for the first time ever in Big Brother this week, to get Jade off. I urge anyone who cares for the reputation of this country to do the same.

Viewers including myself were stunned by the sight of Shilpa weeping as she said this week: "Never have I been so mortified." This was shortly after her bullying assailants had refused to eat the chicken she cooked and made remarks related to Indian food about why so many people in India are thin. Seeing her crying, they accused her then of being false. The comments against her, some racist and some merely indicating how utterly common and absolutely thick Jade and her cohort bullies are, have been reported in The Times and elsewhere. Incredibly, Tony Blair and Gordon Brown have both been dragged into the row and 20,000 viewers have complained to Ofcom. I'll be number 20,001. India's High Commission is among the organisations that have pledged to look into the matter.

Shilpa made regular pilgrimmages on foot in Mumbai to pray at a Ganesh shrine in the run-up to Big Brother. She has 140 idols of Lord Ganesha at her home and recently said: "My family is a firm believer of Lord Ganesh." Anil Bhanot, of the Hindu Council UK, told me: "For a Hindu, faith and race are interlinked. They are two sides of the same coin. She is cool, not necessarily because of her faith. She is well brought up. She comes from a good family. These jibes against her, racist jibes or whatever they are, are being made because she is a bit different. I think they have made her a little bit insecure in herself, so she is now allowing herself to do things like take the Ganesh deity out to show them. There is a lot of insecurity in the environment created for her. Hinduism is not eye for an eye. It is more like turning the other cheek. From the Hindu side of things, she has behaved admirably. She has tried to placate, she has tried to talk to each person. She can only do so much."

Ganesh is the god of new beginnings. The son of Shiva the destroyer and Parvati the love goddess, he has 32 forms and 108 names. There are many stories in Hindu mythology about what he can do to those who upset him.

I have a theory about Ganesh. The Hindu belief system is essentially karmic. What you do in one life will haunt you or reward you in the next. We colonised India. Perhaps Shilpa could even be said to be a product of our public school system, at several removes. Shilpa epitomises the cultured, upper class ideal which our boarding schools were dedicated to turning out. We should be proud of her. And it serves us right, that our country's interaction with Asian culture is being defined now by the likes of Jade and Danielle. This, I would suspect, is Ganesha's ultimate karmic visitation, for the outrage we inflicted on his country and his people all those generations back. We have truly reaped our own reward in Jade and Danielle. Ganesh must be behind it. Besides, what else but divine intervention could explain the glorious synchronicity of Gordon Brown, who has never actually watched BB, being in India while all this is going on.

This video shows Shilpa in her Bollywood incarnation. Below are some more clips from Big Brother itself. For those readers who have resisted the lure of the show itself, they will give you some idea of why everyone is getting so worked up.

This one shows Jade's mum asking her if she lives in a 'shack'.

This one shows the girl gang attacking her cooking and much else besides.

'I'm sure Jade is nice,' Shilpa says in this one.

But stepping beyond the graciousness which her class and her faith have given Shilpa, and how she models a lesson to all of us on how to behave when under attack, this show has exposed Jade Goody as the nadir of a culture in which fame has become ubiquitous and in which people can become famous for doing worse than nothing. This particular element of the celebrity culture arguably began with the "It" girls such as Tara Palmer Tomkinson and has now sunk to plumbing the depths from which have crawled some of the latest CBB contestants.

Not all of course. Ken Russell is a great film director. Jermaine Jackson, himself a former Jehovah's witness who is now a Muslim and is another dignified figure on the show, was in a great band. Shilpa is famous, not in our culture until recently, but in Bollywood. Jade was and is just awful. One of Shilpa's great strengths, as these clips above illustrate, is that under attack from these really horrible people she has retained her calm and dignity. She is poised and controlled, beautiful and serene, undoubtedly factors that add to the irritation of her hard and rough assailants.

The power of this conflict is astonishing. Tony Blair was immediate with his response. By comparison, it took him days to respond to the execution of Saddam, over whom he sent this country to war.

Big Brother has done us all a service. It has shown us what this country is really like for gentle folks that come to live here. "She can't even f*****g speak f*****g English properly," said the inarticulate Danielle just now of the multi-lingual Shilpa. I am sorry that this is what a Bollywood star has to go through to become known in the West, but it will certainly have helped Shilpa break through the glass wall between us and Bollywood, and should have guaranteed her a starring role in film and television productions in the West, if that is what she wants. It will probably even have enhanced the celebrity status of Jade Goody and the other z-list celebs in her corner, once they've come out of the house and been through the inevitable racism rehab 12-step programme. (Step one: I admit I am powerless over racism, and my life has become unmanageable.) It has certainly enhanced the reputation of the near-noble Jermaine Jackson.

But for me, tonight, I am ashamed to be British.

Comments

[Tamil]

It's a pity Ganesha doesn't seem to be doing much good for the 700 million starving hindus living on one meal a day.Maybe Shilpa's curves have distracted his attentions...like Menaka did for Shiva or was it one of the other gods?

[Tom Jackson]

"Happily, scientific evidence demonstrated that this was clearly not the case and that tobacco was one sure-fire way of slowly killing yourself. "

I think, Tim, this illustrates the point I am making very well - although I don't accept fully that there is a clear parallel between having a faith and having a craving for tobacco.

Still, in the same way that scientific evidence was provided to demonstrate that the acceptance of smoking as a safe form of enjoyment was not justified, if similar evidence were available to prove God does not exist - or God can't possibly exist - and therefore faith and belief in The Almighty was misplaced, you might have a case.

What you must remember about all the violence and injustice with a connection to religious belief that is strewn throughout history, is that human beings are renown for distorting and corrupting anything they get their hands on! The New Testament is unambiguous in teaching love and respect for each other but if someone has a mind to, they can mis-interpret and mis-represent the teachings and guidance therein to meet their own objectives.

When Islamic terrorism first became an issue, my first reaction was to dismiss any connection with Islamic teaching and beliefs because from my understanding and relationships with Muslim friends and colleagues over the years, I believed such terrorists were just another manifestation of the hijacking of religious belief to further worldly, political and financial objectives.

After extensive research, I can now identify the ambiguity that exists in Islam. It is this form of religious belief that supports the perspective you have of religion in the world, not Christianity and that is a significant difference.

As far as the imposition of Christian values and cultural framework upon the wider society is concerned - and you obviously do not accept that these are already fundamental to our way of life today and in the past - we are already beginning to witness a response to any threat or proposed change to the way we live our lives and the security and stability such values provide. I have every confidence that the majority of people still value the framework we have and will resist any moves to radically adopt any different, widespread approach.

[Emanuel Appel]

a letter from America

Dear Dr. Sharma,

I will make generalizations based on observation. This has been the way since Hippocrates. I reject the idea that this cannot be done in the social sciences.

My comments re India are based on conversations made possible by the Internet. In general, 99% of non-Moslem Indians I've talked to are far milder than most Westerners. They may have the common human faults but, mentally, I find them less vicious. Yes, I'm sure that among 1 billion people there are going to be exceptions.

Do I dare speak for Israel? The answer is obvious. Israel has 15 million spokesmen around the world.

My previous response was visually designed to highlight the difference between Israel ( the people ) and the average British respondent. Count the number of paragraphs in McBay's answer and mine. The Hebrew Bible, in the original, also works this way.

The pity for Israel is that our life has been intertwined with the West and with Islam for the last 2000 years and know very little about you. I discovered you and realized that we have more in common with you than with the West. What repels us are the superfical visual effects of Indian religious imagery. Aside from that, we can easily talk about Alexander the Great since he passed through both our neighborhoods.

[Tim Cooper]

Tom: Regarding the 'fairies' posting. The issue is not how many people claim to have seen the aliens, it is whether or not they have any direct evidence to produce for you to explore. The central tenet of religious faith necessarily implies the existence of doubt otherwise, like death, gods would be regarded as accepted, given certainties. On a different level, for four hundred years half the world thought that smoking tobacco was a very good idea. Happily, scientific evidence demonstrated that this was clearly not the case and that tobacco was one sure-fire way of slowly killing yourself.

There are many people who continue to smoke and a few who still do not believe they are harming themselves.

A related issue, linked to sure-fire ways of stepping in harm's way is to recognise the impact religious extremism has had on the world during the same 400 year period and to note the almost unquantifiable number of wars, sectarian killings, instances of violence and widespread civil unrest it has been responsible for. The difference in the analogy is that those who smoke, believe in fairies, or claim abduction by aliens, do not seek to superimpose their own values and cultural framework upon wider society, together with the unequivocal assertion that their own personal beliefs are actually based on hard facts.

[Tom Jackson]

Alistair, in the same way that there is no proof that fairies exist at the bottom of a garden, there is no conclusive proof that they don't exist. However, taking all factors into account, the likelihood is that fairies do not live at the bottom of the garden. That is a sane and sensible conclusion.

Now, the existence of the Almighty; that is a different matter. Whereas the number of people of believe in fairies is negligible, those who have come to a belief and faith in God over the centuries are countless. In itself, this proves absolutely nothing; even if every person who ever lived believed in God, it wouldn't prove His existence.

But what it does provide is a slightly more substantial case than that put forward by the "fairies at the bottom of the garden" brigade and for someone such as yourself to be so dismissive, suggests that you are not as open and objective as most of your comments suggest you to be.

I take the perspective that if one person tells me he has been abducted by aliens, I nod my head gracefully and ease quietly in another direction. If a room full of people claim abduction, I might feign interest and ask a few questions but still look for the exit. If several million people were to regale me with stories of their encounter with visitors from another planet, I think I would want to explore their experiences a lot more thoroughly - I would certainly leave open the possibility that they were not suffering from delusion!

[Emanuel Appel]

a letter from America

Dear Dr. Sharma,

With all due respect, stuff it.

What you propose in a sweet Indian way is censorship pure and simple.

Israel says "NO".

[alistair McBay]

Dr Sharma, my 'crude' rendition of the parable from the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad was merely an abbreviation of it for sake of expediency in the context of a web blog.

As for your request that I target my comments in mainstream sections of the media, and "not direct them to a religious weblog, which would obviously be aimed at ‘believers’", there I am afraid you are quite wrong.

This is a blog about all aspects of faith on all points of the spectrum - from out and out religious certainty to the very opposite, as befitting a national newspaper and as Ruth is happy to confirm. If it was only about believers agreeing with each other, then it wouldn't be very interesting. It has survived many attempts by certain believers to hijack it for their exclusive use, but there are plenty of purely religious 'for believers only' blogs that satisfy this need. Those who are prepared to have their ideas about faith challenged in the wider marketplace, whether they are atheists or Opus Dei members, do so here, in the interests of open debate and argument, and greater understanding. Occasionally religious certainty and absolutism needs to be matched in kind! All quite healthy really. And after all, there are quite a few people who assert humanism and athiesm are just as much a belief system as any deity-based religion, so on that basis we all have a right to be here! This is the Times, not the Church Times.

No-one has claimed that science has been able to answer all questions, or that it will ever be able to, and certainly I haven't. It has however been very good at explaining some aspects of our being here previously attributed to the God phenomenon. Belief in creation has been watered down to Intelligent Design, (creationism in a lab coat) and has reduced the almighty to a "God of the Gaps", for example. But it is not for me to provide the "unequivocal proof" to deny the existence of an Almighty, the soul or reincarnation, as you suggest. The burden of proof falls on the shoulders of those who claim there is an Almighty. Were this not so, you would be asking me to disprove something that hadn't actually been proved. Dawkins describes it thus:

"There may be fairies at the bottom of the garden. There is no evidence for it, but you can't prove that there aren't any, so shouldn't we be agnostic with respect to fairies?"

It's good to have some Hindu input to the blog, as I am sure Ruth will agree. Hope you stick around.

[Dr Raj Sharma]

Dear Mr McBay

I am mindful of your affiliation with the National Secular Society of Scotland and I can understand your views that you hold dear, as a Medical Doctor and humanitarian. Your crude rendition of the parable from the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad relating to the deficit Shvetaketu experienced, even though he had undertaken all manner of academic studies, was his father’s way of explaining that no education was complete without self-realisation. That is to say, where we have come from, who we are and where we are going and as a father, I am sure that you can relate to this situation.

You obviously are an intelligent man and knowledgeable of world faiths, after all how else are you to succeed in your crusade against God. However if a person of faith will seriously doubt their beliefs simply by questioning the issues you raise, then they evidently lack definitive conviction.

I respectfully request that you target your comments where they will be appreciated, as you have been doing, in mainstream sections of the media, and not direct them to a religious weblog, which would obviously be aimed at ‘believers’.

Above all world faiths, Hinduism has stood the tide of time despite numerous attempts to undermine it. It is highly tolerant to all schools of thought, including your own and is referred to as Sanatan Dharma, the eternal order. Whether we believe in God or not, it does not change the eternal order. For instance simply because people could not explain the process of healing subsequent to being wounded, it did not preclude the fact that there was a universal process at work.

Science has not been able to answer all questions and until you have unequivocal proof to deny the existence of an Almighty, the soul or reincarnation, I humbly request you to allow others to practice their Faith and refrain from maligning their deep-rooted beliefs. Try to win hearts through compassion and gentle persuasion, rather than emulating tactics employed by evangelists that often have disastrous results

[alistair mcbay]

Yeah, I'll give you home and board, Frank. Atheists are compassionate too, and you will at least know that I am doing it because of my humanity, not because of self-interest in securing an afterlife.

Dr Sharma's comments remind me of the tale in the Upanishads, in which the sage Uddalaka tells his son to dissolve a salt cube in a glass of water. Once dissolved, the lump has disappeared but the salt is still there. This tale supposedly illustrates that 'god' is there, although you may not necessarily see him. Ho hum.

[Frank Schnittger]

Can I be a pikey pleb too? How do you apply? Is there a tiered membership as in the CofE? I.e. do I have to be a regular attender at some smokey rundown pub drinking myself silly and making hoary/leery comments at the TV screen above? Is there a special term of abuse for middle class people who aspire to be working class? Do I need to learn a particular jargon or patois? Are multiple three syllable words allowed in the same sentence? Is tennis still an acceptable hobby? I’ve been a lifelong outsider. Will somebody please take me in?

[Dr Raj Pandit Sharma]

Dear Ruth

Your weblog highlighting Shilpa’s belief in Ganesh is commendable; however, judging by the comments generated from your piece, it is important that I shed some light on the significance of Lord Ganesh. Your descriptive using the word ‘mythology’ is ambiguous and reminisces to a bygone era when all non-Abrahamic faiths were considered heathen.

Hindus believe in one almighty being referred to as Brahman that can manifest itself in different forms, that is to say, no form is greater than another is; they are just different representations of the same entity. For instance, water is liquid at room temperature, solid (ice) below zero and a vapour when heated to above boiling point.

Ganesh did not appear with the head of an elephant (Gajaanan), however in his youth he was instructed by his mother to stand guard while she prayed. Whilst obediently executing his mother’s instructions, in a conflict, which arose from a misunderstanding, he was beheaded. Unfortunately, his head was misplaced and was transplanted with that of an elephant (Hindus such as Sushruta have practised reconstructive surgery ceturies earlier!). Despite this impediment, Ganesh overcame it and developed attributes such as wisdom (buddhi), courage, ingenuity and compassion, to name but a few.

Whether you believe the actual circumstances, it is important to understand, what Ganesh actually represents. Although we often judge a person by physical appearances (as too often in the west), Ganesh exemplifies that by cultivating ‘inner beauty’ and sound character, we can overcome all difficulties.

Hindu scriptures advocate that Ganesh be invoked for success at the beginning of any new enterprise,

“Vidyarambhe vivaahe cha praveshe nirgamme tatha, sangraame sankataschaiva vighnastasya na jaayate”

“Whether sitting an exam, starting a new chapter in life (marriage), entering a new environment, prior to embarking on a long journey, when heading into battle, or facing adversity, by venerating the Almighty in this form, you will be free from all obstacles.”

Ganesh is a role model to all, shows obedience to parents, thereby enhancing strong family cohesion, and emphasises the importance of thinking before we embark on important things in life. We are reminded to transcend physical appearances and to develop deeper characteristics, thus enriching society and ourselves.

Shilpa has followed this model and having developed both cerebral and physical attributes, may just prove the belief that is not mere superstition, but the profound conviction of almost a billion people (Hindus)across the world. We are all praying for a successful outcome to the whole affair.

[Andrew Baptista]

As an Anglophile, and an Indian, I have two good reasons to be interested in this row.
Although I've watched about five Hindi movies in my entire life and do not read Bollywood magazines, I have no doubt that Ms. Shetty is extremely well educated, and also well bred. I've never watched a single episode of CBB either (it's available here in Singapore, but I haven't been that bored yet), yet I'm sure that Ms. Shetty speaks using the Received Pronunciation, unlike Mesdames Goody and Lloyd (this is again from what I've read of the furore).
But to my mind, all of the above is inconsequential. I've spent quite some time in Britain, and almost everywhere I've experienced courtesy from the 'working classes': cabbies, bus drivers, milkmen, policemen, shop-assistants and so on.
IMHO, the key word when discussing the pudding known as Jade Goody is 'cultureless', not the various derogatory substitutes for working class. It's obvious, at least to my mind, that her problem is a lack of exposure to ANYTHING which is wholesome, edifying, improving or educational. And while the Goodys certainly are representative of themselves, there definitely are other people like them; and not just working class people, I'm sure (I hold more or less the same opinion about Paris Hilton and her friend Nicole Something-or-other) I feel that everyone who watches the sensory abortion which is reality TV, should think long and hard about the part they've had to play in legitimising sloth, ignorance, selfishness and bigotry in popular culture.

[Very Rude]

J Pearce, may I thank you for spelling out to the fools what I was clearly trying to say. It was quite obvious that I regard the 'P' word as offensive and the attempt to make me out to be a racist bigot is precisely why I am so contemptuous of the middle-classes. The term 'racism' is now a stick for them to beat the working classes back into the gutter with. The fact that it causes more racism matters not a jot to them, hypocrites that they are. Ruth, stop pretending to be faux working class, you are middle-class, with the snobbery and hypocrisy that entails. The fact that you are prepared to tolerate them, J Pearce, proves you to be a better person than myself. However, I still prefer to live in an egalitarian society (not the USA) where people are judged on their own merits.

[David Keen]

It's the Colosseum on TV - throw in a few bits of fresh meat with the wild animals and everyone can sit and watch the carnage. Time to check the gates for barbarians - any culture which produces something like Big Brother is surely in terminal decay.

[Emanuel Appel]

a letter from America

Simon, Simon, Simon

Poor Ruth spent I don't know how many hours composing an essay as to how NOT to be white trash and you show how hopeless the job is of many a dedicated primary school teachers. You never understood the lesson.

You can't argue issues but must bring everything to the vulgar personal and or crude ethnic issues. Do I give a fig as to how much support you provide Israel and/or the U.S.? Is my day made when you "agree" with me? Blast you!

It's odd that the rare Indian that contributes to the general discussion of religion and values does so when I mention Untouchables. It's this failure to stand up to you and some of your crazy ideas that may have contributed to the length of the colonial rule.

Now, what is "white trash"? In the American context, it refers to those Celts in the Slave States that were marginal farmers. Those who owned no "Nigras" because of poverty or conviction. Yet, the plantation owners were able to convince this class to be cannon fodder for regional patriotism. It was a replay of Culloden and bonnie Prince Charlie in the New World.

In a British context, I hold that it refers to those who give offense without cause. For example, this paper has a cartoon showing the current Israeli Prime minister standing in "awe" of the Lebanese cedar. No mention is made of the border raid by the other side that started the conflict.

Also, I'm watching the current episode of "Rome" after Caesar's death. Octavian's household has a Jewish bodyguard and the writer's make Mark Antony utter an anti Jewish slur out of context. It's straight out of Shakespeare's Shylock. Now, that is white trash.

[Frank Schnittger]

CBB viewer ratings have tripled from 1.7 to 4.5 million since the controversy began. Shares in the company that makes it, Endemol, were up 1 per cent yesterday, having doubled in value in a year, and it is currently up for sale. Carphone Warehouse, its sponsors, have gained huge kudos from taking a moral stand on the issue.

Everybody wins! Isn't capitalism great! Who says there isn't a market in racism, shock horror editorialising, and a bit of moralistic competition? Eh – just be careful about inviting a Moslem on the show next time around, lads…

[Tim Cooper]

'World's better than herself' Ruth? [Who suggests that Jade Goody, albeit dim-witted, recognizes that, in human terms, she is worth far less than Shilpa Shetty] And you are glad that Jade has destroyed her 'reputation'?

I am the first to abhor racism and I support human rights, but typical Christian values here - instant judgment based on this one episode; delight taken in someone else's misery, thoroughly justified through appearing to be on the side of the righteous; benign endorsement of perceived grace and status; harsh rejection in terms of perceived low class. This is just another more refined ganging up.

Do the programme makers, who must recognise that this poor women is obviously limited, not bear any responsibility for this debacle - ruthlessly putting her in a situation where she is likely to disgrace herself? No, of course not, because now, thanks to the slavish and unscrupulous media, Big Brother, Jade Goody and Shilpa Shetty have had more publicity than they could ever have dreamt of. JPearce is absolutely right - endless talk shows, 'celebrity' interviews, magazine articles etc. etc; absolutely nothing intelligent or worthwhile will come of it. These 'reality' programmes are surely a homage to irrelevance and another chance for the chattering classes to demonstrate superiority by firing at easy targets.

[Kate]

I have not seen 'Big Brother' but I have heard it discussed with horrified amusement - along the same lines as one might comment on the antics of chimps i.e. interesting, perhaps funny, but less than human.

'Little Britain' which I watched (briefly) at Christmas would seem, from all the comments above, to cater for the same audience. Comic denigration of a sub-class fascinated by their own obscene ignorance.

I am somewhat disabled in these comments in that the language (LB) was incomprehensible! So too with Jade's mother (above).

"The English have no respect for their language, and will not teach their children to speak it. They spell it so abominably that no man can teach himself what it sounds like." (GB Shaw). I am reminded of Henry Higgins famous line in 'Pygmalion' - "Why can't the English teach their children how to speak".

Basic grounding in language, pronounciation and comprehension is the first step on the ladder of social mobility. Regional accents are not immune to any of these. 'Very Rude' is correct in his wrath but the problem has escalated beyond that experience.

Ruth too is correct, if somewhat pedantic, in her definition of 'working class'. But these 'exhibitions' (BB, LB) promote celebration and elevation of a socially and educationally deprived class.

It is the product of rampant capitalism married to ideological 'do-gooding' and 'dumbing down'. Twenty-odd years ago, I had A-level literature papers returned by an English board on the grounds that I was marking "too hard"!! This, I presume, because I was accustomed to the standards required by NI Grammars i.e. literacy and the ability to 'think' beyond rote learning.

The working class of my youth (60s/70s) were employed in mills, factories, on the land; generations of printers, mechanics, joiners, weavers, miners etc etc. They formed solid, caring communities with a purpose. The grammar schools catered for the academically able; for trades and crafts, training in 'Technical schools' and apprenticeships.

All changed, changed utterly. The 'class' celebrated in these shows were then in a very small minority. Today, even once-respected broadsheets are in thrall to the obscene wealth of ignorant, decadent 'celebrity'. Posh and Beck? Pete and Kate? Jade Goodie?? This, of course, is the decadence that leads to the fall of civilizations - not, as some would have us believe, civil rights for decent, law-abiding gay men.

[Tim Cooper]

Well Tom, according to Ruth, Shilpa Shetty's Hindu faith underpins her graciousness, whilst Ganesh the elephant god is apparently working in her favour - ensuring that Jade Goody destroys her reputation. I agree that religion has little to do with the wholescale lack of politeness, which WAS the point I was making. However, religion has a lot to do with the appallingly unequal faith-schools system which, together with a whole raft of other factors, is responsible for producing the racially intolerant, dumbed-down, thickheaded level of society you describe in your earlier posting. I'm agreeing with you surely.

Judging the relative value of others, even if some of us are to blame for the 1960s shift in cultural perspectives, is often, in these threads, the province of religious bigots; and it is presumptious, if not impossible, to claim to assess Jade Goody simply by her perceived persona, or Ms Shetty. And education and self-discipline go some way to cancelling out 'control'; a term much favoured by totalitarians and non-liberals.

What evidence do you have of the 'meaningful values' Ms Shetty might possess? Are they assumed, purely from what you have inferred from the culture she represents? Unless of course you regard being motivated by money as one desirable standard, in which case she is much like Jade Goody. What you mean possibly is that Ms Shetty arguably has some manners and brains, whilst Ms Goody demonstrably does not.

Did the rosy age you describe really ever exist? Post-war rigidity, gender discrimination, class definition, blind acceptance of authority, poor social standards, higher levels of poverty, intolerance towards some sections of society, people knowing their place?; these are all in the mix in the years immediately prior to the sixties. I agree wholeheartedly however with your earlier statement over education. Intelligence does promote tolerance and, as I said in my posting, creating a world-class educational framework, unencumbered by religious dogma, could be responsible for drastically raising horizons for young people and equipping them with a wider, more tolerant perspective, in which idiocy, in all its forms is regarded as undesirable.

[Frank Schnittger]

Weird. I've never watched reality TV or bought tabloids, and yet I'm supposed to get all worked up about what goes on there?

Is this supposed to be about the contrast between the ethereal, idealised mating rituals depicted in the Bollywood film excerpted by Ruth, and the crass, infantile emotionalism of Celebrity Big Brother?

That either could be taken as representative of their respective cultures, implies a lack of respect for the intelligence on the part of the viewing audience, and of readers here.

As I understand it, participants are selected on the basis of their ability to generate controversy and viewer interest, and agree to take part because they need the money or the exposure offered by the show to further their careers.

Every drama needs its good guys and bad guys to create tension. We see a lot of bad acting, playing to different audiences, and self obsession. I struggled to maintain interest in the short clips included here – and now at least know why I don’t watch the stuff.

But unless people seriously think this is representative of large parts of Britain today, why all the generalised comments about religion, education, and social classes? Is Big Brother just a convenient peg on which to hang all of our usual hobby horses?

Did Britain not have an underclass when Christianity was the dominant state religion? Were the working classes not generally more moral (in the traditional sense) in their everyday lives than many of the supposed aristocracy? Can it be moral to be dedicated to elitism and conspicuous consumption in the midst of abject poverty?

I find it instructive that Tony Blair can prioritise comment on CBB whilst doing nothing to stop the destruction of southern Lebanon and taking several days to find some words on the Execution of Saddam.

A useful distraction from the really serious issues facing all of us perhaps? We can all guffaw at the ignorance of the lower orders and pride ourselves on our refinement and superior wisdom? A useful vehicle for our prejudices? Or just the time honoured Christian practice of feeling “holier than thou” and taking to the high ground on the other side of the street when the riff-raff come along?

PS Ruth – the standard definition of working class is those who do manual labour – salaried white collar “knowledge” workers such as yourself are archetypes of the middle class.

[Simon]

J pearce

I think Simon's criticism of Very rude is a bit off the mark - VR used the term "P@ki" in inverted comma's, thus denoting the fact it was not being deployed as a term of abuse, but as an example of a term of abuse. There is a difference. (Simon later calls Emanuel a "moaning little twerp", so I guess alls fair in love and war…). But I think it's a shame VR has to feel so disenfranchised by (his/her?) "regional accent and a comprehensive school/redbrick university education". I had the same thing and certain people (including one or two in these very pages) have looked down their nose at me - do I give a flying feck about it? Nah. I have as much fun taking the p*ss out of the pompously self-important middle classes, as I do the pikey chav scum working classes!

Typical pikey pleb!

[Simon]

[Insert closing blockquote after "...45 minutes."]

I wonder if that will work :)

[Julie]

Jade does work, actually: I have seen her at it,and very industrious she was too, signing copies of her book in Waterstones at Cribbs Causeway in Bristol one day last year. Probably this is not the only day upon which she has ever worked. Previous to that she had set up and was running her own beauty salon, which was the subject of another TV series 'Jade's Salon' but it was not a financial success.

[alistair mcbay]

Personally, I think after Simon's attacks on Emmanuel and me, that Simon should be voted into the house! (is that the correct expression?)

I wonder what the image would be to the world if Simon was seen on our TV screens around the world?

Beter still - let's have a religious Big Brother. Let's see now - the Pope, Stephen Green from Christian Voice, Presidents Ahmahdinejad and Bush, Sayyed Muqtada al-Sadr, John Sentamu, Rabbi Lionel Blue.

Compulsive viewing, but.......hey, no women (no surprise there!).

Christina Odone, maybe, or Melaine Phillips, or La Widdecombe? Or Mrs Schori?

[J Pearce]

Ruth said:
"Actually, Very Rude clearly does not understand the class structure in Britain. I am a member of the working class. I work. Jade Goody is not. She does not work."

You might want to be a bit careful about definitions of class structure, Ruth. You're a journo, so that makes you at least a member of the professional strata, yes? Therefore, in sociological terms, you are middle class. Goody may come from an underclass background, but in terms of income, she would be defined as middle class as well (and she does "work", if you stretch the term to include what slebs do as "work". She's not officially unemployed, at least.)

I think Ruth, you are making the common mistake of mixing up inherited value systems with the more common way of measuring class, which is by income and material wealth. Sociologically speaking, I come from a working class environment - low income family, poor area - but I was brought up with what would be termed a "middle class" value system. I am now "officially" middle class because I'm a professional. I would aver that the same applies to you.

In regards to the CBB "racism" issue and the cretinous Jade Goody, I would say the following: the problem with this country is that it idolises working class culture in a voyeuristic sense, but doesn't want to spend too much time living there. And having experienced living and working amongst "the working classes" (or to be more accurate, the pikey underclasses), I can't say I'm too enamoured of the lifestyle either. You would hope that Goody and her various leeching hangers on get the slagging they deserve after this incident, but you watch what'll happen - she'll get vilified, then turn it around to her advantage, by doing various "My Life of Hell After Racism Row" sleb magazine interviews - and the slate will get wiped clean.

I think Simon's criticism of Very rude is a bit off the mark - VR used the term "P@ki" in inverted comma's, thus denoting the fact it was not being deployed as a term of abuse, but as an example of a term of abuse. There is a difference. (Simon later calls Emanuel a "moaning little twerp", so I guess alls fair in love and war…). But I think it's a shame VR has to feel so disenfranchised by (his/her?) "regional accent and a comprehensive school/redbrick university education". I had the same thing and certain people (including one or two in these very pages) have looked down their nose at me - do I give a flying feck about it? Nah. I have as much fun taking the p*ss out of the pompously self-important middle classes, as I do the pikey chav scum working classes!

[Simon]

Alistair

It is but a flea on a rhino's backside compared to illegally invading a foreign country on made-up stories of WMD ready to be used against us in 45 minutes.

Yawn. It was not illegal because there was a UN resolution sanctioning it! In fact there were many UN resolutions following the constant cat and mouse games that Saddam played after invading Kuwait, which included paying the families of anyone in Palestine who successfully massacred Israeli women and children a small fortune - whilst massacring hundreds of thousands of his own people just because it helped him get an erection.

Do you have a clue about how the UN is different from the League of Nations, and why ? I doubt it. You people moan and spread lies, that the enemies of free society use against us. We went to war against Iraq with international sanction. The fact that Russia, France and Germany had too many fingers in the pie to actually become involved themselves is irrelevant. All three countries have been either weak in fighting against evil, or instrumental in trying to spread evil around the world. The arab states that surround Israel have invaded Israel on a regular basis as soon as it existed, without any sanction from any international body whatsoever. The fact they were incompetent, even when invading on the Jews most holy day, and eventually gave up, means that they are excused in the minds of flim flam Guardian readers. But of course Blair is evil and fighting an illegal war. I would laugh if it wasn't so sad. All the people that moan are universally ignorant of history. The fact is that the Pentagon showed their usual incompetence, and disbanded the Iraqi army. If the Brits were in change that would not have happened.

We know Saddam had WMD's because 'we' (cf. France, Germany, Russia) sold them to him! He used them on the Kurds. He was nearing the ability to launch an attack on Israel, to fulfil his vision of himself as the new Nasser, the new Nebuchadnezzar. And that would have been even more messy than the disastrous situation we are now in. But you lot that winge on and on about this situation none of us are comfortable with seem like you should be in a playground singing "..and I'm the king of the castle...".

Parliament voted, something that was not even required. If you don't like the way parliament voted then stand for a different system. Else quit your lying winging.

And that's not directed at you specifically Alistair, but at all the people that come out with this "illegal war" shite, then in the next breath legitimise the fact that Palestinian kids are taught to believe they will get scores of virgins in heaven if they kill themselves in such a way that some Israeli women and children are taken with them. Your culture of death is not that dissimilar to the one that drives the Sunni's and Shia's blowing each others brains out in Iraq.

[Tom Jackson]

"Because this Indian lady has religion it does not immediately elevate her to sainthood, nor does it reduce Jade Goody to a pariah".

Religion has very little to do with this - apart from the fact that as far as this particular lady is concerned, a belief system has obviously been a cornerstone in her upbringing and her life. Caring, responsible and stable parents with no religious belief whatsoever could have achieved the same result.

This issue illustrates a difference between an intelligent young women with a set of meaningful values (religious or otherwise) and a young woman whose lack of standards and values is an indictment of our society.

[Richard]

Just one correction, Jermaine Jackson is actually Muslim, having previously been a Jehovah's Witness. It's the Osmonds who are Mormon.
(thanks for this, have corrected post, rg)

[Tim Cooper]

This is rubbish! People who put themselves up for Big Brother, earning unfeasibly large sums of money for 'entertaining' our burgeoning sub-class of mindless idiots deserve all they get.

Because this Indian lady has religion it does not immediately elevate her to sainthood, nor does it reduce Jade Goody to a pariah, although I can see why the thoughtless and unintelligent comments have caused offence.

Being a racist requires some form of developed intellect. Children catcalling in the playground are not immediately arrested and charged, which ably allies with the mindset of those participating in Big Brother, from what I can see of it. It is nevertheless a shameful comment on perceived middle-class 'values' that the personal aspects of this issue have been so prominently commented on; surely reporters like you Ruth should rise above it rather than taking sides?

Ethnic cleansing, gratuitous violence and mass murder are some considerable way from referring to someone as 'The Indian', albeit it is clearly very disrespectful. Don't waste your time voting Jade Goody off Ruth, use your prominent position to complain to Channel Four about the appalling quality of their programmes and push for a system of inclusive social education that phases our discriminatory faith schools and seeks drastically to reduce the amount of young people, for whom the meaning of life is far too simple, wrapped up as it is only within the narrow definition of popular 'culture'.

One way of reducing the likelihood of racial disharmony is to develop a system of integration from an early age, which promotes and normalises multi-cultural perspectives. Achieving wider, higher standards of education, is also a means through which dire concepts such as Big Brother, or an unhealthy emphasis on the minutiae of street culture or celebrity, would inevitably be regarded as regrettably laughable, pointless or simply not interesting.

[Simon]

Emanuel Appel

If you must feel ashamed of being British, I feel there are plenty of other reasons. This is just superficial.

Mr Appel

I used to generally support the Palestinians in most arguments. But now I generally support the Israelis as I feel they are more interested in peace, and the Palestinians are still waiting for Israel to be obliterated.

Fortunately I'm fairly stable in my views, if I were not I would possibly have become a supporter of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad purely due to the views you express. By starting all your comments "a letter from America", you even make some like me (who is disgusted by some of the cold war activity that seriously damaged the world, but generally supports the US as a good but childish force in the world), feel like America is the enemy.

Please shut up. You are an idiot. An embarrassment to the US and to Jews around the world. What makes you want to come on a British site and spew your nonsense from your safe corner of America ? Over here we've had the IRA, that you financed, and now Islamic extremists, which you generated whilst your general public was unaware of what was been done in your name. Usually I can accept that the intentions were basically good, but when I read your posts it makes me wonder about the sincerity behind US actions implemented with such incompetence. Maybe there is no good intention behind it all ?

Fortunately I refuse to let one little moaning twerp like you, and a few senior grunts in the Pentagon, influence my judgement of a whole nation that has done many great things and generally stands for good things. But you should realise that every post you make has the opposite effect of what you are intending.

Describing Africans as cannibals was the straw that made me realise you don't even know what a camel is. Your views are far too ignorant for me to ignore any longer.

[Christopher]

Dear Very Rude

If I may jump to the defence of Ruth, sure, the Bible says a lot about idol worship and 'false gods' but I think Ruth was only reporting the way the cult of Ganesha functions within Hinduism for those of that faith. I personally don't think that need compromise her christian faith; this is a religious blog not a specifically christian one, much as the Jills and Alans want it to be otherwise; as a reporter of religious affairs Ruth is in a sense acting as a student who does not privilege her own beliefs over those she is reporting/studying. And like you, I hate the endless attacks on gay people on this blog that the perpetraters try to pass off as christian morality but what is actually naked bigotry. I do not think Ruth is one of them.

I agree with you Big Brother is garbage - only a TV show as Emanuel points out, but it is addictive garbage, lucrative for the Endemol shareholders but culturally impoverishing for the rest of us. It all reminds me of the sketch the Two Ronnies and John Cleese "I look up to him because he's upper class, but I look down on him because he's working class.

So this time I have made a deliberate policy not to waste my time with it, so I cannot properly judge the Goodys. I am with you, I hate the snobbery but in a way Jade Goody has the last laugh since she cashed in on something strange in our culture and become immensely rich following her own Big Brother success. I wonder if she had been a nice middle-class girl would she be forgotten by now?

[Tom Jackson]

I agree; Channel 4 has indeed done us all a service. Jade Goody does not represent the majority of people in this country anymore than football hooligans did but they are both examples of extremes which do throw some light back onto the rest of us and our society.

When you observe an attractive young woman who believes Winston Churchill was the first American, black President (because she lives near a black marble statue of the war leader) or a young man who has no idea what an embryo is, it begs the question; are these representative of young people produced by our educational and social system in this country or just a minority?

With ignorance comes intolerance, an inability to express yourself effectively, a frustration with the world around you, a distortion of what is of real value in life and a susceptibility to herd together and be influenced by others. I would question the inclination of anyone who - given the choice - would rather spend time with Jade Goody than Shilpa Shetty (as annoying I imagine that young lady can be at times).

Shilpa Shetty is the product of a culture which places great emphasis on education, manners, self-discipline and control. At one time, those were characteristics of our society and we cannot blame people like Jade Goody for the deterioration of areas such as education and family life which have resulted in someone like her.

We are to blame; at least, those of us who now feel ashamed to be British. You can trace back the deterioration through Margaret Thatcher and the so-called swinging 60's but these are only examples of a trend which began some time ago. You reap what you sow and on that basis, we have a lot to answer for.

It will be interesting to see - should I live long enough - if the younger generations are so appalled at the issues raised by examples such as Big Brother to do something about it. I hope so. We need to improve educational policies to a point that the managers and administrators, politicians and industrialists of the future get a grip on the way this country operates, that they show a degree of commitment and expertise which has been sadly lacking over the past few decades.

Maybe then, the Jade Goody's of this society will be a thing of the past.

[Simon]

Very Rude

Before condemning the working classes Ruth, please remember that the fish rots from the head down. Try setting an example, for a start stop calling us "chavs", it is just as offensive and unacceptable as "P@ki". FYI, I would never dream of watching this manipulative middle-class garbage, neither does anyone in the UK I know, so stop blaming the working-classes for the problems it has caused.

The very fact you use the word "P@ki", in a discussion about an Indian person being victimised by ignorant twats, shows that Ruth was right to use the word "Chavs".

Very Rude

while in the UK I am sneered at for having a regional accent and a comprehensive school/redbrick university education. It has a deleterious effect on my career, so for this reason I treat my native country as a holiday destination only.

What industry do you work in ? I can only imagine that the "public-schoolboys" you refer to were disgusted by your racist bigotry. And I can only wonder about what kind of country would make you feel so much more welcome than here with such a chip on your shoulder. By the way Hollywood has changed from depicting British people as the noble hero, to being the villain in the story, I can only guess that you now live in the US ?

(rg adds: thank you Simon. Actually, Very Rude clearly does not understand the class structure in Britain. I am a member of the working class. I work. Jade Goody is not. She does not work. She bullies and emotionalises. She is the underclass, the nonworking class, the misbegotten earthling from the underworld. I could go on. I better not. If I am classist, I apologise, I can't help it. The working classes have always resented those beneath them in the social pecking order in Britain.)

[alistair mcbay]

Thankfully I have no idea who Jade Goody is. No doubt that means I am the modern equivalent to a High Court judge in the 60s not knowing who the Beatles were (in terms of popular culture) but from the tone of Ruth's piece, I suspect that the woman has no reputation as such worth destroying.

I am just curious about Ruth's use of the term Hindu "mythology" - Why not the Hindu "religion"? If Dawkins wrote a piece referring to Christian 'mythology', there are countless Christians who would go berserk at the suggestion that their sincerely-held beliefs were nothing more than old fairy tales and timeless legends.

The production company responsible for this garbage must be thrilled - ratings rocketing, advertisers competing to get slots and all that jazz. But as for Ruth's statement "What a window this opens to the world on our country today", please - sense of perspective. It is but a flea on a rhino's backside compared to illegally invading a foreign country on made-up stories of WMD ready to be used against us in 45 minutes.

And Ruth - please, please don't vote on this thing as you say you intend to. Don't lower your personal dignity to lend this TV trash any more credence - it simply doesn't warrant it. God help us (said the atheist) if our world image is to be played out and assessed on the basis of trash television like this.

[ramachan]

I think Simon's comments posted above are very apt. It is a pity that some one like Jade with three children out of wedlock and a current boyfriend who should be in school, and her lesbian mother who looks like a nightmare on Portabello Street, should be deemed representative of Britain.
As regards untouchability in India referred to by Emmanuel Appel, it is a shame. The problem though has been greatly overcome by the efforts made by the leaders and the government since the country achieved its independence, but isolated outrages continue. Someone from the erstwhile untouchable class has just been appointed the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court in India - that is a great achievement for the country. Some one in similar position was the last President of India.
I do not think untouchability was justified by Hindu religion as such - it was a distortion of the system wherein certain trades and professions were undertaken by certain people,just as we have had weavers, potters, milkmen etc here in Britain.
In any case, all organised religions have tended to be bigotic and suppressed free thought and expression. Before Christianity, all over the western world we had the pagan gods and worships. People needed (and still do) myths to explain phenomena they could not understand. With Christianity, all such phenomena got attributed to one Christian God, as proclaimed by Constantine the Roman Emperor, and the Bible was to be be-all and end-all of everything . Of the 150 or so heresies in the 4th century AD, one even referred to earthquakes which were to be seen only as wrath of God and were not to be explained as natural phenomenon. Then there was the Irish Archbishop Ussher who proclaimed, based on the Bible, that the Earth was created by the Lord in 4004 BC on a particular day and at a particular time precisely!
Unfortunately we now currently see increasing influence of organised religion in matters in which religion should not have a place. It is high time we realised that religion is only just one aspect of our life, and organised religion is just like another business or trade union.
Politics will be so much better without religious interference.

[Andrew Brown]

"deified" -- don't you mean "defined"?

(No I meant deified. In that Jade, prior to this, along with Daniell and Jo, were goddess-like role models to the young who are descending the ladder to rock-bottom commonalty behind them. They have been deified by us, the media, and hence are now of celebrity status of the kind we are witnessing. It will be interesting though to see what happens to them all when eventually they emerge from the house. Will they go into some form of race relations rehab? Will they do memoirs describing their roads to enlightenment? Or will nothing happen and all be forgotten? rg)

[David Williams]

As a matter of balance, my wife reminds me that, when the Goody family arrived in the house, Germaine referred to them as "white trash". Why no protests?

[Emanuel Appel]

a letter from America

Dear Ruth,

It's only a TV show!

I don't know why the Indian and his idols are supposed to be the model of grace and metaphor but methinks your gender is interpreting religion and nationality in a unique way. The Indians should be judged by their record and not by the actions of particular low class clowns on a televison show.

Let's talk about the concept of Untouchables. Can anything be more cruel? Yet, the Hindu tradition holds this to be normal based on reincarnation and some type of justice based on the individual's previous actions. Every nation has strong and weak points.

If you must feel ashamed of being British, I feel there are plenty of other reasons. This is just superficial.

[Simon]

A great post Ruth, but I'm not ashamed to be British. On a superficial level I think Channel 4 should be ashamed for making the worst elements of our society feel like they are special. On another level I love the fact they have exposed the empty nature of popular culture. Why is Jade a celebrity ? Because she indulged herself publicly with her use of empty wine bottles ? Because she clearly couldn't answer a single question on Mastermind or University Challenge ?

Her mother thought that the fact she pretended to be a prostitute, but actually ran away with the punters money rather than doing the deed, was some kind of legitimisation. To me that seems like someone far worse than a prostitute.

But that's kind of irrelevant. The fact is that most British people would see Shilpa as the slightly spoilt, but decent, honest and beautiful person she is. And of course the BB house is a place where everything is exaggerated. But the fact remains that we have an underculture of ignorance in this country. And the excessive bend-backwards-as-far-as-we-can, supposedly "tolerant", attitude of the militant leftists, is in fact a recipe for disaster.

In the days when the people who represented Britain were those that were educated enough to be exited about different cultures, Britain was respected around the world. Now that we have a populist culture, those with talent and a sense of decency succeed in countries all around the world, they hold up that sense of respect. But in our own culture we have lost that self-identity that people around the world admire. We have developed a shallow culture where people buy papers and magazines because Jade is in them. We have tabloids, and magazines like Heat, which treat celebrities like Gods that need to be exposed for their failures at being our gods.

I'm no fan of elitism. But I do regret the way we now worship people who are basically ignorant in every sense of the word. And I think its disgusting that people keep buying magazines and papers that promote (or rather feed) this adoration of celebrities. The new secular society of Britain has ended the Grammar schools that gave an opportunity for able children from poor backgrounds to achieve their full potential. It has destroyed the competence and efficiency of the civil service. And it has destroyed the confidence in our Christian identity that was previously like a beacon of hope to the rest of the world.

We may as well accept Shari'a law, now that the glorious nature of the Magna Carta (that engendered a stable organic system), and the true independence of the second chamber, have been lost to the ignorance of the likes of Jade. Churchill once said that democracy was the worst system of government, apart from any other that anyone had ever though of. Later, when asked why he thought that, he said that five minutes talking to the average voter convinced him of that. If only we could avoid the problem of power corrupting people, there would be many great solutions!

I used to be far less elitist than I am now, and I still loath the city boys (and girls) who work in banks and get outrageous bonuses (with the exception of a friend of mine :). But we used to have a tradition where we valued learning and cultural diplomacy. The genocide of hundreds of thousands in Rwanda can be directly blamed on the incompetence of the Belgians. The current problems in Somalia can be directly blamed on France and Italy. Britain has an amazing record of leaving the places it colonised at least as well off as they were before. If it weren't for the Muslim separatists, Britain would have even left India in a far better state than they found it.

But now that we have political correctness ruling the roost, people like Jade Goody represent Britain to the world. I hate racism, and I hate elitism that blocks able people from achieving, but I loathe the fact that modern culture has made people like Jade and her mother representatives of our nation. We must seem to other countries like a nation that stops their car and sits for hours watching an accident on the other side of the road. Its sick.

[Very Rude]

Do you have any idea how ridiculous you sound chattering on about Ganesh "protecting" this woman? You are supposedly a Christian, in which case you cannot believe that Ganesh exists. What does the Bible have to say about the worship of false idols? If you are prepared to jettison one of the central tenets of your faith in order to be a trendy PC person perhaps you could stop the endless attacks on gay people as well.

[Julie]

The media is making the mistake of regarding Jade and her family as being representative of British working class people in general, but this family is not 'what this country is really like'. The Goodys are representative only of themselves, and in common with all people, they have more and less commendable sides to their characters. Personally I am finding the tendency of the 'white middle class' media to point to the Goodys as somehow accurately reflecting the attitudes of working class people to be almost as offensive as the Goodys recent behaviour in the Celebrity Big Brother house. They overlook to remember that Jade was selected to appear in the BB programme not because she is entirely typical of her peers but precisely because she is not.

My blog includes a bit more castigation of these white middle class attitudes, which are just another form of prejudice, yet equally ugly.

I agree, Shilpa has performed magnificently under pressure, but doubt that many people at home or abroad really believe that the Goodys, or a reality TV show, are truly representative of Britain.

[Very Rude]

If the working classes of this country are bullies Ruth, it is because of the constant bullying they receive from your "superior" class. Having spent their lives being treated as trash is it any wonder that they imitate the behaviour of their tormentors? Look at the language used in this paper against them from your fellow commentators (eg Rifkind and Knight): Scum, chavs, skanks, sluts and other vile words employed by the middle-classes. I travel a lot and have personally witnessed more drunkenness, sluttishness, dishonesty, stupidity and drug abuse from the middle-classes than from the proles. I have lived in several countries and have always been judged by my personal qualities, while in the UK I am sneered at for having a regional accent and a comprehensive school/redbrick university education. It has a deleterious effect on my career, so for this reason I treat my native country as a holiday destination only.

This whole palaver was quite deliberately engineered by the public-schoolboys who produce this show. Predictably the ratings have gone sky-high, so why should they care if it has caused a row with India or damaged the nation's reputation abroad? Before condemning the working classes Ruth, please remember that the fish rots from the head down. Try setting an example, for a start stop calling us "chavs", it is just as offensive and unacceptable as "P@ki". FYI, I would never dream of watching this manipulative middle-class garbage, neither does anyone in the UK I know, so stop blaming the working-classes for the problems it has caused.