A Myopic Epidemic!

A certain Richard Gere plants a kiss on an unsuspecting Shilpa Shetty and has a warrant issued against him for the oh-so-sacrilegious act; a designer-sari-clad Aishwarya gushes over hubby AB as he talks to the thousands of TV cameras in font; a look-at-me-I’m-not-dressed-as-a-police-inspector Jackie Shroff talks about… dabba-walas of Amchi Mumbai. “And oh yeah, we’re here only to spread awareness about AIDS- that deadly, deadly… (what is it again?!). And it’s not about us, it’s only about them- the poor victims. The whole world needs to hear their inspiring stories…” Right! When they get a break from your desperate publicity seeking stunts maybe?

Another World AIDS Day gone by with the same celebrity tamashas. What is the best way to get noticed if you don’t have any films lined up in the next few months? What’s the best way to make a place for yourself in the hearts of the public after a series of duds? What’s the best way to go from a nobody to a somebody? Go support AIDS! (Read: Go to a mega-glamorous function with half the media persons in the entire country present, kiss a few kids, dance with a few of ‘em- since your last movie didn’t have an item number, and talk at length about how much better a place the world will be if we together eradicate AIDS)….Yeah I know. It sounds like a cynical rant, but it couldn’t be more true.

They did get a few facts right. AIDS is a dangerous, incurable, life-threatening disease that needs attention- because prevention is the only known cure to date. But what has made the celebrity support so nauseating is that it has made AIDS almost glamorous, and certainly sounding like the last disease left on earth! What happened to killer diseases like TB, Polio, Hepatitis, Malaria that plague India to this date, and to which we haven’t found any solutions either? Oh wait, they’re not so important coz half the world doesn’t even know about them! Right? Wrong! Listen to this: More people die of these four diseases in India, than the number that succumb to AIDS globally every year. And a lot of it is thanks to the age-old problem of lack of awareness. Maybe the celebrities need to take off their blinkers and take a look around.

To face the truth, the search for a cure to the deadly illness has come to a grinding halt. There are the condoms, and… what else? Stories of new contraceptives being invented grab a select few moments in the spotlight and disappear into oblivion. In contrast, diseases like Malaria, Hepatitis and TB can be cured if detected in time. Our fervent Polio Campaign has also taken not one, but several steps backward. We have over 720 cases of polio detected this year, a record enough to dislodge Nigeria- the earlier top ranker. And we complain we’re not the best at anything!

The only hope now is that these myopic celebrities get a new pair of spectacles- or take a back seat. They have the power to attract the crowds, only wish they would exercise some discretion, and some much needed sympathy.