The recent visit of old-time actor, Anupam Kher to the great Lalbaugcha Raja in Mumbai has caused a disturbance in the social media. Kher posted on his Instagram that he was lucky to see the deity without any special VIP treatment and that this made the whole experience more natural and special. He posted videos and photos, glorifying the discipline and order of the crowd, the obedience of the millions of visitors.
His post was intended to be an emotional homage to the spirit of the festival but instead was instantly viewed with suspicion and a flood of trolling by netizens. His assertions were seen as hypocritical by many social media users who remarked on the gross disparity between the experience of a celebrity as a non-VIP and the harsh reality of hours-long lines and harsh conditions of the average devotee. The scandal sparked an even greater debate regarding privilege and equity in social areas.
Netizens’ Reality Check: The VIP vs. Commoner Divide
The strong response to the post by Anupam Kher was driven by the sharp difference between what he wrote and what the common people are going through. Comments came in and several users expressed their plight.
One of the users wrote, I want all common people to be similar to how you were when you had darshan. Others were blunt in saying that they found the experience anything but easy and some had taken up to 20 hours. This contrast shows a major social problem: all the privileges associated with the status of a celebrity, even in the environment where all should be equal.
Although Kher could have actually been in a particular queue, it is the mere virtue of being a public personality that often grants a special form of access and treatment, be it a formal VIP ticket or simply the good will and attention of the audience and the event planners. The popular response appears to lie within a long-standing sense of resentment against the system that tends to favor the connected over the ordinary person.
The Unspoken Truth of Celebrity Darshan
The case with Anupam Kher illuminates the little-known facts about celebrity tourism of sacred locations. One can be an ordinary devotee and call himself or herself an ordinary devotee, but his presence itself alters the relationship.
Responsible people and guards are more alert than usual and religious fellows tend to clear a way or extend a hand. This does not have to be a formal “VIP arrangement”, but a de facto privilege. The scandal is not about the devotion Kher is supposed to have, but about the perceived inability of his depiction of the experience to be related to the lived reality of his fans.
It raises the question of whether even a famous public figure would be capable of true common darshan, and whether any such assertion, however well-intended, will sound tone-deaf to the millions who endure the real problems of a large-scale pilgrimage.
A recent media graduate, Bhumi Vashisht is currently making a significant contribution as a committed content writer. She brings new ideas to the media sector and is an expert at creating strategic content and captivating tales, having working in the field from past four months.
