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Journalism of Courage
The enduring image of Air India is of a portly Maharaja as a mascot. In todays weight obsessed world,like the airline it represents,the icon is sadly out of date. To add to the airlines never-ending woes,an air hostess,sacked for being overweight some years ago,has won the case in court and will have to be reinstated by the carrier.
In the fiercely cut-throat airline industry,how can Air India compete if its not empowered to hire or sack employees? In this particular case,the airline steers clear of making appearance an issue and says that overweight cabin crew pose a health risk and they need to be physically fit as a job requirement. Theyre not fooling anyone. The blunt truth is that they need to look good if they need to compete with the crew on,say,
Indigo. I quote Indigo as an example,because their crew is a shining example of international standards. They combine impeccable manners with a coolly professional demeanour. The girls wear trendy blue eye shadow,but engage with children,and are always pleasantly firm and aloof with passengers. The fact is,even keeping looks and weight aside,most of the air hostesses on Air India would never clear a job interview at any of Indias other private airlines. You can be disgusted by our shallow,youth-obsessed society,call it discrimination or whatever,but by and large,they simply dont cut it. And when you tell people youre flying Air India they tend to look at you questioningly with a shudder,and presume the ticket was a lot cheaper. Unless youre a senior government employee and can wrangle an upgrade to business (for free,of course) Air India is never first choice.
Not all thin people make great employees and not all fat people are unemployable. The fat bias ideally should not be split along gender lines but it appears its tougher on women than men. The Air India air hostesses complain that the male pursers arent held to the same rigorous standards of weight they are. Thats life. Aishwarya Rai-Bachchan was ordered to work out and get into shape before Dhoom 2,while Abhishek Bachchan sported serious tummy flab in the same film. Having said that,Bachchan Jr has faced enough flak for being unfit. And his career graph suggests hes suffered for it. Again,its about competition. He needs to be in shape if hes competing with Hrithik Roshan and Arjun Rampal,who flaunt perfect bodies. But its unlikely roles would dry up completely for him,based on weight. On the other hand actors like Bipasha Basu and Vidya Balan were in serious danger of being ousted completely if they didnt shape up.
A reasonably thin friend of mine,whos currently on a diet,complained to me recently that standards of slimness have changed. Blame Kate Moss,the original Size Zero girl. Christina Hendricks,who plays Joan on Mad Men,a show set in the 60s advertising world,is a stunning but voluptuous UK Size 12. Shes too plump for prime time for any show set in 2010 and a cruel reminder of just how much has changed. hutkayfilms@gmail.com
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