Despite apologies, Goody fails to cut much ice in India

New Delhi, Mar 2 (UNI) Her assertions of regret over what happened on the 'Big Brother' show notwithstanding, British actor Jade Goody's four day visit to the Capital turned out to be a classic case of ''much ado about nothing''.

It may have generated a lot of excitement in media circles initially, but Goody, who in a brief tete-a-tete with the mediapersons here on Tuesday expressed her apologies to the Indian public for the hurting their sentiments by her racist remarks made against Bollywood actor Shilpa Shetty, failed to generate much of a response or curiosity among the Indian public.

Contrary to what Goody's assertions, as she bid farewell to India yesterday, that,''I really liked the experience and I'm more than willing to come back'' may suggest, the visit by the British reality TV star has evoked feelings ranging from indifference to hatred among the people here.

Infact, during her stay at the Le Meridien, Goody is said to have received many hate calls from people expressing anger over her arrival in the Capital, specially after her alleged racist comments against Shilpa Shetty.

Goody, who said she was on a mission to donate all the 'dirty money' earned through 'Big Brother' to charities for the underprivileged children, did not meet with the expected response from the underprivileged children either.

Sources said that during her visits to the offices of the Railway charities to meet the underprivileged children in slums in Mayapuri and Nangal Raya in West Delhi, neither the local residents nor the children seem to have been impressed by her talks of charity and ''alleviating the misery of the underprivileged''.

While many of the local residents in the slums did not seem to be even bothered to pay attention to her, others saw her visits and acts of charity as nothing more than a way to assuage her guilt.

''We don't want her here. It's not enough to get a picture clicked with a few children and think that's atonement for the deeds. She has insulted our nation,''said one of the residents of a Mayapuri slum.

Further, Goody had to face angry protests when she visited a children's home in West Delhi with several residents of the area surrounding her car and shouting slogans against her.

It was evident that the Indian public had far more important matters to worry about than the arrival of a British actor who had hurled racist remarks against the Bollywood damsel.

The media, too, lost the initial excitement and Goody's visit failed to figure in its line of priorities as the news shifted from Front page to the inside ones.

On the face of it, the lack of response could well be attributable to the bad timing of the visit - Goody's arrival in Delhi came on a day when Railway Minister Lalu Prasad was to present the Railway Budget for 2007-2008 while the subsequent day saw media focus on the Economic Survey, the annual Union Budget presented by Finance Minister P Chidambaram and the results of the assembly elections in Uttrakhand, Punjab and Manipur.

However, the overr-biding impression seemed to have been that Goody's announcement, at a press meet in Delhi earlier this week, that she intended to donate all the "dirty money" earned through the reality show to various charities for underprivileged as her atonement for the ''hurt'' her actions had brought to the Indians was nothing more than a way to assuage her 'guilt' and rebuild her image that had taken a beating after her conduct on 'Big Brother'.

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