Arun and Liz Nayar (or Nair or Nayyar)

Here's an interesting piece of a not so interesting story as reported in the Indian Express. After Liz Hurley's father-in-law Vinod Nair publicly disowned the couple, Liz Hurley allegedly went ballistic. The beauty however is the part in bold - how she raised the family's standing in India. This would have been hilarious stuff if not for the reek of the "typical" British attitude towards Indians.

From the Indian Express:
A spokesman for Hurley was unavailable for comment. But the source told the tabloid: "Liz was furious and went absolutely ballistic when she found out what Arun's family had been saying about her. She feels that what was the happiest day of her life has been tarnished and doesn't understand how after everything she has done for them-raising their social standing in India through the roof, for example-they could do this. But quite frankly she is also a little bewildered by all of this and was totally unaware about the extent of their grievances. Liz feels she made every effort to be a part of their extended family and fit in."

This is rich coming from a failed actress more known for just being known.

Ramachandra Guha noted this patronizing attitude - although in a different age - in his recent column in The Hindu. Oh yes, there is a final flourish to the story.

Again from the Indian Express:
It has also emerged that the couple offended Indian relatives after issuing guests with a bizarre set of do's and don'ts , advising them to ' bring bacterial wipes and not give money to beggars'.

I am sure she meant anti-bacterial wipes. The full story can be found here.

Drawing dangerous conclusions from insufficient data is usually enjoyable. But this fits into a larger trend - that of the West cherry picking aspects of Indian (and other) realities that they like and ignoring others. So elephants and palaces are acceptable as long as those darned beggars are not around. Yoga is excellent for a sexy butt and not much else. IT and BT boom is great as long as one is chauffered through those filthy slums and can pretend they don't exist.
Ever notice that all those modern Indians who are celebrated in the West are the natives who have gone native?